War Stories (Book 1) - Keith R.A. DeCandido [20]
Instead, she kept the topic comfortable. “I hope his birth went more smoothly than Molly’s.”
“You could say that. Worf didn’t have to deliver this one, at least.”
Gomez laughed. Worf’s impromptu midwifing of Keiko had happened less than a week before Gomez left for the Oberth, and had gotten her a lot of storytelling mileage on that one-year assignment. She had forgotten that the Klingon, too, was now assigned to DS9. It’s like it’s old home week….
O’Brien continued. “But, ah, it was actually Colonel Kira who carried the baby to term. It’s a very long story,” he said quickly, obviously not wanting to get into it.
Taking the hint, she said, “I wish I had time to hear it, but I need to get to the meeting in the wardroom.”
“I won’t keep you, then,” O’Brien said.
“Actually, I need you to tell me how to get there. I’ve gotten completely turned around.”
Chuckling, O’Brien said, “Cardassian architecture.” He quickly gave a series of clear directions that included a turbolift ride two levels up.
“I really did get lost, didn’t I?”
“A bit, yeah,” O’Brien said with a smile. “Don’t worry—I won’t tell. Your reputation’s safe with me.”
“Thanks. And give my love to the family—oh, and in case I don’t see him, say hi to Worf for me.”
“Will do. Take care, Sonya!”
Following O’Brien’s directions brought Gomez to the wardroom in under three minutes, and only five minutes after the meeting’s official start time—which meant, of course, that not everyone was there and it hadn’t begun yet. Gomez’s CO, Captain Anna Maria Amalfitano, was already present, along with the Sentinel’s first officer Lt. Commander Kuljit Patel. Gomez took some satisfaction out of the fact that she couldn’t see their tactical officer, so she wasn’t the last one to arrive.
Of course, given the crowd in the wardroom, she might have missed Grimnar, their Bolian tactical officer, but a two-meter-tall blue-skinned humanoid tended to stand out, even in a room full of Klingons, Romulans, and Starfleet officers. The senior staffs of the Musashi and the Fredrickson made up the remainder of the Starfleet personnel, and she assumed that the Klingons and Romulans were involved in whatever their mission was.
Grimnar finally came in about two seconds before the arrival of Admiral Ross, Captain Sisko, General—no, Chancellor Martok, and a Romulan general she didn’t recognize. As soon as they did, many took seats, with most of the rest standing along the walls, as there were far more people than available seats. Gomez found herself wedged between a surly-looking-even-by-their-standards Klingon and a bored-looking Starfleet officer with full lieutenant’s pips.
Sisko began without preamble, speaking in an intense, deep voice. “The mission we have for you all is twofold. The Sentinel, the Musashi, and the Fredrickson will be dispatched to the Dominion outpost in Sector 25013.”
Amalfitano blinked. “That’s a bit deep into enemy territory, isn’t it?”
Martok chuckled. “Not as deep as others shall go.”
“A fleet of twelve warbirds, aided by some Klingon vessels,” the Romulan general said, sounding almost pained at having to even acknowledge the Klingon contribution, “will be moving under cloak to the Orias system. That system is under constant antiproton scan by the outpost you will be attacking.”
Nodding, Amalfitano said, “So you need us to take down the outpost, or at least distract them long enough for the cloaked ships to sneak in and wipe out the shipyards on Orias III?”
“Exactly,” Sisko said. “With the Breen energy-dampening weapon neutralized, and the Cardassian resistance sabotaging their ships, we need to strike at a decisive target and start to get our momentum back. We think this attack on Orias will aid in that.”
“The timing will be critical,” the Romulan added. “We won’t be able to communicate with each other, obviously, so you must arrive at the outpost at the designated time so we can begin our run.