Major Kira sat in her small office studying her computer screen with great interest. It was a recent security report prepared by Constable Odo. According to Odo's report, someone has been illicitly accessing the stations secure subspace communications array. The culprit (or culprits) obviously had extensive computer skills because they managed to circumvent all of the stations security systems, send their transmissions and then remove all traces of themselves from the computer. Odo had found out about it when the stations subspace array was taken off line for maintenance and the stations communications traffic was transferred to the Bajoran subspace array for transmission. It was at that time that Odo noticed a discrepancy between the transmission manifest and the actual data stream itself. More data was being sent than it said. Because the Bajoran array was older the extra data caused a minor backlog in the transmission rate and raised a few computer flags. Whoever was sending the messages was careful enough to add a small bit of code to the data stream that erased the message if there were any complications in the transmission. Therefore, Odo had no copies of the illegal transmissions. He also had no idea where they were going. All in all it was a very puzzling mystery.
Normally something like this would have lead Odo straight to Quark. However no one in Quarks staff had the computer skills to pull this off. Odo had checked to see if it was possible that Quark had somehow laid his hands on a piece of special software that could do this for him but the evidence suggested such a program would be tremendously large and complex and there was no place in the stations computer such a program could be hidden. If it was stored on a isolinear rod it would still leave evident traces of itself in the computer.
Odo's next thought was that it might be the Rebels. However their ship was equipped with its own communications assembly. That left the Maquis. However most of the Maquis crew from the Dragon stayed aboard the Aurora. When they did come onto the station they were carefully monitored by Odo's security teams. All of that brought Odo back to Quark. Only he had no idea how Quark was doing it.
Kira shook her head. She too had little doubt that it was Quark. She also was adement that both the Maquis and Rebels were involved. Over the last week Quark had been working like a trooper getting supplies and ship parts brought in from "independent sources". Evidence suggested that a large amount of latinum was flowing in and out of the station. On several occasions one or both of the Aurora's Lambda class shuttles had departed for area's unknown and returned anywhere from a few hours to a few days later. But since they always landed on the Aurora there was no way to check and see what they carried.
The door chime sounded, interrupting Kira's train of thought.
"Come in," she said shuting off her computer monitor.
The doors parted and the robed figure of Luv Shara slipped into the small office.
"Major Kira?" Shara asked.
"That's right." Kira replied.
"My name is Shara, Luv Shara, I'm the Capt-"
"I know who you are." Kira said interrupting.
Shara nodded. "I suppose you do..."
"What can I do for you?"
Shara was silent.
"Look, I'm very busy." Kira said with a slight edge of annoyance in her voice.
Shara nodded again. "I'm here to ask you for help, and to remind you of promises you made but left unfulfilled."
"What are you talking about?"
"Does the Stardate 48467.3 mean anything to you?" Shara asked.
"Not off the top of my head." Kira said punching the button on her computer. "But let me check. Computer display all logs from Stardate 48467.3."
"Working." the computer replied.
After a moment the logs started to scroll up Kira's compute screen. Kira's expression darkened considerably. Kira stabbed the button shutting the monitor off.
"Are you asking me about Tom Riker?" Kira asked.
Shara nodded. "That day on the bridge of the Defiant you found out that he was sentenced to life at the Lazon II Labor camp. That day, in front of many other Maquis, you promised you'd get him out."
"I looked into it." Kira replied. "It was imp-"
"48467, Major," Shara interrupted. "He's been rotting in that hell hole for 3 years."
"And what do you expect me to do about it?" Kira demanded. "Lazon II is 200 lightyears into Cardassian space. It would have been impossible! Then, if we just had the Cardassians to worry about, maybe. But now with the Dominion... what did you expect me to do? Steal the Defiant like he did and go charging in there?!"
"Not at all." Shara said. "There was nothing you could have done."
"Then I don't understand what the purpose of this is. What did you come here to do, other than to drag me though the fact that I made a promise I can't keep?"
"You can keep that promise Major." Shara said. "We're now in a position to help each other."
Kira leaned back in her chair, confusion written all over her face. "I don't understand."
"We're now in a position where we can go and get Tom and bring him out." Shara replied.
"Wait a minute... 'We're now in a position to go and get Tom?' When did he become Tom to you? He was in prison before you ever joined the Maquis. What is really going on here?"
Shara sighed heavily and dropped herself into Kira's only other chair.
"You're right, I've never met Tom Riker." Shara said after a long moment.
"So why come in here like this is some personal crusade to rescue your good friend Tom from the Cardassians?"
"I have my reasons." Shara replied. "Isn't that enough?"
Kira was silent for a moment. "At one time that might have been, but not now, things are different. We're sitting on the brink of war with the Dominion. Any rash or idiotic action can only serve to hasten that war, and that would not be good for Bajor because this area is sure to become the focal point of that war. So if you want my input or help with something you better tell me why I should risk Bajor to help you."
"Your war is coming Major." Shara said with strength in her voice. "Every piece of intelligence I have seen from what few sources we have left tell me that there will be no escaping it."
"That may be, but every day there isn't a war we have an extra day to prepare for it." Kira replied. "Which still doesn't explain to me why one man is so important."
"Because he's all we have left!" Shara snapped. "At one time the Maquis numbered in the thousands. We fought the Cardassians and we were winning! We were a small force, poorly equipped, no training and fighting against tremendous odds, yet despite those odds we were holding out own. Why? Because our cause was right!"
"I'm not going to debate the merits of the Maquis cause with you." Kira replied. "Like it or not the Maquis were destroyed by the Dominion. It was a great tragedy but there is nothing that can be done about it now."
"No." Shara shook her head. "There is nothing that can be done about it now. Now all the Maquis have left is each other. We have no homes, most of us have lost our families. The only thing the Maquis have left is the Maquis. We're not interested in making war with the Cardassians, or the Dominion. We just want to get our people and find a new home. But to do that we need a leader."
"And Tom Riker is your leader?"
"He's the only one left. Cal Hudson is dead, Michael Eddington is dead, Ro Laren is missing, probably dead, that leaves me or Tom Riker." Shara said. "I'm not enough, but Tom Riker can lead us out of this."
"What about your friends, these Rebels, I thought you were part of their cause now."
"That is one option. Unlike the Federation the Rebels fully understand what the Maquis were up against. Unlike the Federation they understood why we had to fight. The Empire, like the Cardassians, like the Federation, underestimate what the spirit and determination of people fighting for their homes, family and freedom can accomplish. The Rebel leadership made it very clear to us that if we wanted it, a place could be found among them for all of us. They're not fighting for a dozen words in a small corner of space, their fighting for the freedom of millions of worlds.
When the Maquis found the Rebels, the Rebels had just found their way into this universe. We were a bunch of beaten down survivors in badly damaged ships. We helped each other. They treated our wounded, we found a hiding place for them. We agreed that the Maquis and Rebellion could work together. We told them from the beginning that we wanted to rescue our leader and in exchange for our help they pledged to us theirs."
"And these Rebels are your secret weapon to use against the Cardassians?" Kira asked.
"They're prepared to help us Major, they know the value of a leader. We have intelligence, a ship, fighters, Commando's, everything's ready to go."
"And you think that you're going to fly into the Lazon system, battle the Cardassian and Dominion ships there, rescue Tom Riker and fly out again? You're crazy, you won't get a dozen light years past the border, even with a cloaking device, never mind the other 178 light years to Lazon II."
"He's not at Lazon II." Shara said. "When the Klingons attacked Cardassian space the Prisoners at Lazon II were moved to Kladis VI. Then when the Dominion came in, some kind of facility was built at Kladis VI and the prisoners were moved to Torvan V. The Torvan V facility is new and not very well guarded."
"Torvan V." Kira said activating her computer monitor and punching several buttons to call up a inquiry.
"Torvan V is... 680 light years into Cardassian space..." Kira said. "At Warp 9 it will take you five and half months just to get there, never mind the five and half to get back out... You call that not very well guarded? You're crazy..."
"Now there you are wrong Major." Shara said with a smile. "I'm completely sane, and the trip will only take 11 hours in, and 11 hours back out. The whole time we'll be undetectable by Dominion or Cardassian sensors."
"11 hours.." Kira said in disbelief. "That can't be, that's faster than Warp 9.99..."
Shara smiled a wide smile.
"You're talking about taking one of the Rebel ships." Kira said. "Not the Aurora?"
"No!" Shara said in shock. "The Aurora is a Medical ship. No the ship the Rebels are loaning us is a full cruiser. Plus their loaning us 2 full squadrons of fighters, 50 well trained Commando's and a half dozen shuttles."
"If you have all of that what do you need from me?" Kira asked. "Do you think I'm going to be some big help to you on the ground? I can't fly any of the ships you mentioned."
"We don't need your help in a military sense." Shara said. "We need your help in the intelligence area."
"Your intelligence is better than mine, I had no idea Tom had been moved." Kira responded.
"It's not that..." Shara replied. "We need accurate, very accurate astrogation data so we can plot a clear jump to and from Torvan V."
"I don't understand." Kira said. "The Torvan system is shown on unclassified star charts..."
"We need better data than a standard Federation star chart." Shara said. "A Hyperspace jump is a very exact process, and to pull it off we need the exact location of the system, it's motion on a galactic scale, any possible mass shadows between our point of departure and Torvan V, we can't scan ahead of ourselves while en-route and adjust our course like you can when you travel at Warp and we can't risk dropping out of hyperspace to get our bearings..."
"And Quark can't get you this information?" Kira asked.
Shara shook her head no. "Quark can get a lot of different star maps but none with the detail we're looking for. Warp drive makes many of the variables we need to account for moot so they're are not registered and kept track of with any degree of precision. The only source of super detailed information like that would be from Federation Intelligence itself."
"And you want me to get it from them."
"Yes."
"I'm surprised Quark couldn't pull that kind of info out of the stations computer, I hear he's got some new hot help in the computer department." Kira said punching some keys on her monitor. "You wouldn't know anything about that would you?"
Shara looked at Kira for a long moment then smiled. "I'll make a deal with you Major, you give me the data I need to plot a course from Minos Korva to Torvan and back and I'll give you Quark."
"I'll have to talk it over with Captain Sisko." Kira replied. "I should have an answer for you in a day."
Shara nodded. "I'll be waiting."
Kira nodded as Shara stood up and exited her office.
Kira sighed heavily then hit her communicator, "Kira to Sisko, Captain may I have a moment of your time?"
Kira found Shara in Quarks about an hour later. Shara looked up from a large mug of steaming tea with a hesitant but expectant look.
"I have the information." Kira said holding up a data Padd.
Shara smiled. "Good. Now all we need to do is put you and the navigator together."
"Is he on board the Aurora?" Kira asked.
"No, he's on the Mon Creyal at the Minos Korva system." Shara replied.
"I don't have time to go to Minos Korva!" Kira exclaimed. "It's easily 40 light years from here!"
"And you'll be gone less than three hours, I promise." Shara said. "Come on Major, the humans have a saying: In for a Penny, in for a Pound."
Kira sighed and nodded.
Twenty minutes later they were standing in the Aurora's cavernous landing bay near what Shara called a Lambda Class shuttle. The landing bay was a hive of activity. The most prominent feature was the large shape of the Peregrine Class Heavy Fighter sitting on it's stubby landing legs. Stuffed around the large ship was a scattering of smaller one man craft many of them showing obvious signs of battle damage.
"It looks like it was one hell of a fight." Kira said looking at the damaged sections of the Dragon again.
"It was." Shara said.
At that moment, two humans and an alien Kira had never seen before approached them. The first Human was a male, easily 50, dark blond hair starting to grey and a serious look on his face. The second human was much younger, maybe in his late 20's and he followed close to the alien, close enough that Kira figured that they were a team. The alien was a tall hairless humanoid with curved horns on the top of his head and a mouth full of sharp teeth. The alien bore a strong resemblance to a race of ancient beings from Bajoran mythology known for their evil ways.
"Major Kira may I introduce Captain Lorran of the Rebel ship Aurora." Shara said indicating the older human.
"Captain." Kira responded with a courteous nod of her head.
"Major." Lorran responded with a equally courteous nod.
"And these two are Grevas and T'Rik," Shara continued. "Who shall conduct us on our journey."
Kira nodded at the young human and his alien companion.
"The Shuttle is pre-flighted and ready to go," the alien said in a clear pleasant voice. "We can leave at your leisure."
"I guess there's no point in putting this off." Shara said indicating the extended landing ramp underneath the nose of the shuttle.
"No." Kira agreed walking up the ramp and into the shuttle.
The take off, Kira noted, was smooth and well executed. The Pilot, a Devaronian Shara said, seemed to take extreme pleasure in his job and kept up a steady stream of small talk with his co-pilots, Shara and Kira. Kira would have preferred if the pilot did less talking.
"We should be there in about 40 minutes." T'Rik said. "When one of the navigational computers is done with the calculations we'll make the jump to light speed."
"You're sure this is safe?" Kira asked Shara in a low voice.
"Quite safe Major." T'Rik replied. "Hyperdrive technology has been around for several millennium."
"Course set." Grevas said.
"Excellent." T'Rik said reaching forward on the control panel and pulling a small lever towards him.
Kira had the sudden impression of tremendous speed as the stars suddenly stretched into lines the leaped into infinity...
Kira was on her second review of the data on her Padd when an impatient chirping started coming from the pilot's control panel. Kira looked up suddenly in alarm.
"Coming up on the Minos Korva system." T'Rik said glancing at a small meter that was counting the seconds down to zero.
"Already?" Kira asked in surprise.
"It was the same for me my first time." Shara said. "I think it's technology that would make warp obsolete in this universe."
T'Rik muttered something to Grevas who nodded and reached forward and pushed the Hyperdrive lever forward. Immediately the stars returned, much to Kira's relief.
"Sensors coming up." Grevas said. "Reading 4 ship, snub-fighters, 018 closing fast."
"What are snub-fighters?" Kira asked.
"Nothing to worry about." T'Rik said. "Probably a patrol."
"X-Wings." Grevas said. "Looks like a flight from Agressor Squadron."
T'Rik keyed a communications channel. "This is the shuttle Carashin requesting permission for flight access to the Mon Creyal."
"This is Agressor 3, permission granted and welcome. We'll give you an escort in," came a sharp voice over the shuttles comm system. "Maintain your present course and speed."
"Affirmative Agressor 3, Carashin out." T'Rik replied closing the communications channel.
"There it is." Grevas said pointing at the shuttle's transparisteel window. Ahead dimly visible against the backdrop of stars was the small cylindrical shape of the cruiser, Mon Creyal.
One of the X-wings slipped in ahead of them taking a position ahead and slightly above the shuttle. Kira studied the small craft intently.
"It doesn't look very big." Kira said.
"Don't let the size fool you." Shara said. "They're not nearly as powerful as Federation fighters, but they do okay for themselves."
"And you'll be taking those against a Cardassian warship, probably a Galor class or a F'Ador class?"
"Yep." Shara replied defiantly. "We are."
Kira sat back in her seat. The Bajoran resistance had engaged major Cardassian military craft in small barely space worthy craft. They had suffered huge losses but were ultimately successful. Even Starfleet which was known for their large capital ships being the backbone of their fleet made use of fighters. The Maquis and the Jem'Hadar had demonstrated just how effective in a combat situation smaller ships could be when employed correctly.
The Mon Creyal grew. At first there were no details to be seen except for the two shuttle bays. As the Carashin drew closer Kira suddenly realized that the ship was much bigger than she originally thought, about twice the length of a Galaxy Class Starship.
"Twelve hundred meters long." Shara said in answer to Kira's unspoken question. "Six hundred eighty officers and four thousand plus crewers."
"Prepare for docking." T'Rik said to Grevas.
"Ready to start the landing cycle." Grevas replied.
"Shuttle Carashin this is Agressor 3, this is where we leave you." the voice of the fighter pilot erupted from the shuttles comm system.
"Affirmative Agressor 3." T'Rik said. "See you on the inside."
"Affirmative, Agressor 3 out."
"Start the landing cycle." T'Rik ordered.
"Aye sir."
Kira stepped off the shuttles boarding ram and put her foot down on the Mon Creyals deck and looked around. The shuttle bay was impressive in scale, much larger than she had originally estimated. It was as wide as the main shuttle bay on a Galaxy class ship but much higher. It was relatively empty, it contained the Carashin and five other shuttles. Crew members from what Kira would have guessed to be about a dozen different species worked in and around the large winged craft with an equally wide assortment of droids. As she surveyed the scene a second time she was struck by a sudden insight. Droids... and Quark...
Kira was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice that T'Rik and Shara had come down beside her, or than another two beings had approached them.
"Major?" Shara asked quietly.
Kira turned to look at the Bajoran woman sudden anger following her sudden insight.
"You gave Quark one of those Droids didn't you?" Kira asked.
Shara nodded. "Actually it's more like loaned him one..."
"And he's been using it to break into the stations computer and access our communications array." Kira continued.
"We needed access to secure communications." Shara replied defensively. "And the Federation had decided not to give us any more help."
"So you took what you wanted." Kira said. "Is it any wonder why no one trusts you?"
"We are at war." Shara said coldly. "During the occupation don't tell me you never did anything like that... Or worse."
"That was different!" Kira snapped defensively.
"Was it? Only in scale Major, only in scale."
"Excuse me?" one of the two beings said interrupting them.
Kira turned to look at them. The first, the speaker, was a tall human around 50 or so with a very regal bearing and short cropped blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a light gray uniform of a very militaristic cut that fit him exceptionally well. Although she couldn't recognize his rank devices she immediately was given the impression of great authority and self confidence. The same air of authority and confidence that Captain Sisko gave off even when out of uniform.
The second being was a slightly shorter bipedal, salmon-colored amphibious looking species with webbed hands, a high-domed head, and huge eyes.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," the human continued extending his hand. "But I'm Captain Fedel, Captain of the Rebel Alliance Cruiser Mon Creyal."
Kira nodded and took Fedel's hand. "I'm Major Kira Nerys of the Bajoran Militia."
Fedels grip was as strong and sure as his demeanor and he released Kira's hand and turned to the alien beside him.
"May I present my Executive officer Commander Mojari." Fedel said.
Mojari nodded his large head curtly. "Major."
"Commander."
"If you'll come with us Major we'll try and get this done as quickly as possible." Captain Fedel said.
They led her to a large set of double doors that opened to a surprising large lift. Fedel, Kira and Mojari all stepped aboard and the doors closed.
"Deck one." Fedel said to a unseen pickup. The lift immediately started to move. Kira made a quick survey of the lift. It was large and roomy with a very opulent and unmilitaristic feel to it. It was not the kind of lift she would have expected to find on a warship. Less than a minute later the lift hummed to a stop and the doors opened and Fedel and Mojari led Kira into a long wide corridor.
Kira frowned. There were aliens of all shapes and sizes moving through the corridor with seeming purpose. Many wore a uniform or some kind of utility outfit. Many nodded to Fedel and Mojari. The corridor itself bothered Kira. If she extended both her arms from her sides as far as she could reach it would take two of her to touch the walls. The flooring seemed to be made out of some kind of a pleasant cream colored sound deadening material. Kira was almost tempted to bend over and touch it.
"Is something the matter Major?" Mojari asked in a gravelly voice.
"I don't know." Kira replied. "In my military career I've been on a lot of ships. Many of them warships."
"And this doesn't seem like a warship to you?" Fedel asked.
"No." Kira replied. "It doesn't."
"She's very perceptive." Mojari said to Fedel.
"Yes she is." Fedel replied looking at Kira with a faint sparkle in his eye.
"So what's going on?" Kira demanded.
"This ship was built by my people." Mojari said. "The Mon Calamari. We are considered to be among the best ship wrights in the galaxy. We are also a people of peace. This ship was originally built as a luxury cruise ship, not a warship."
"A luxury ship?" Kira asked in disbelief.
"I know what you're thinking Major." Fedel said. "And let me just say this to you. The Mon Calamari are such excellent ship wrights that even this former cruise ship can be made into a ship of war. You won't find an imperial cruiser with a stronger hull or more powerful engines. It may have wide corridors and large rooms but it also has a power grid that with only slight modification was able to handle military grade ray and particle shielding. Our engineers have found and identified area's on the hull that can be easily modified into weapons hard points. The wide large shuttle bays that were originally designed to house and service fancy yachts and leisure craft now house shuttles and fighters."
Mojari nodded. "When our work is complete, this ship will be equipped with 48 high powered Turbo Lasers, 20 Ion Cannons and six tractor beam emitters."
"The shuttle bays," Fedel cut in. "Will house eight assault shuttles and four full squadrons of fighter craft. This ship will carry a crew of more than five thousand and house twelve hundred troops."
"You said 'when our work is complete'," Kira said. "How many of these modifications are left?"
"I'm afraid that information is restricted Major." Mojari replied.
Fedel shook his head at his executive officer. "I don't think she's an imperial spy. Besides Imperial engineers will have a good idea of what we can and can't do to these ships."
Fedel turned to Kira. "Currently our engines and shields are at full strength. We have 28 of our Turbo Lasers in place, 10 of our Ion Cannons and 2 of our tractor beams."
"So you're saying that this ship only has half of it's weapons installed." Kira said. "And you plan on taking it into battle?"
"We've already taken it into battle Major." Fedel said. "And we probably will several more times before we're done."
"If Commander Mojari's people are such excellent ship wrights then why aren't they modifying these vessels, why are you doing it here?"
"My people still live under the heel of the Empire." Mojari replied.
"I'm sorry."
"What you have to understand Major," Fedel explained. "Is that there was a series of opportunities that we just had to take advantage of. The first was discovering this universe. In our universe we're hunted by the Empire, treachery and betrayal are a constant threat, in this universe with only one entrance and exit we were able to eliminate that problem. Just after we discovered how to open the wormhole, a sympathetic benefactor gave us the opportunity to 'acquire' these vessels from a repair facility. We would have had to pass that opportunity up if it wasn't for this universe. There was no place we could have hidden five ships of this size in our own universe, the Empire would have hunted us down relentlessly or someone, somewhere, would have betrayed us. By bringing them here we had a safe place to work on these ships, to build the first true fleet for the Rebel Alliance. These ships represent a significant amount of our forces both in material and man power. Before these ships the largest ships, we had were four aging Nebulon-B frigates like the Aurora. Two were medical frigates and two were converted warships. Probably 80% of the Rebellion's fighter strength is on this side along with a significant portion of the spare parts and supplies."
"You found a secure hiding spot and you decided to take advantage of it." Kira said nodding her head. "I can understand that."
"When this fleet is brought up to full strength we fully intend to return it to our universe permanently." Mojari said. "At that point it will stand a fighting chance to defend itself against the Empire. But until that time we are forced to skulk about like thieves."
"That's something else I'm all to familiar with." Kira replied.
"Yes, Captain Shara has told us stories of your peoples struggle, believe me when I say we can sympathize with you."
"Okay, let me ask one last question." Kira said. "If these ships are so important to your Rebellion why are you willing to risk one to go deep into hostile space to rescue a single man?"
Fedel nodded. "There are several reasons Major, the simplest is that when we joined forces with the Maquis we made several agreements, and this was one of them. But probably the most important to me Major is that the Maquis have fought and died for our cause and it only seems fair that we help them with theirs. Add to that the fact that I think we have a good chance of pulling this off."
"Well then Captain, why don't we get to it?"
Captain Jeffrey Shawn sat in the command chair of his Flag Ship the USS Trafalgar and frowned. The soft velour's of the new starship's bridge contrasted sharply with the black mood he was in. For the past 14 days a fleet of 21 Federation Starships and 8 Klingon ships had been jumping from one star system to the next trying to figure out what the Dominion was up to.
The mission itself, as far as Shawn was concerned, was a exercise in frustration. The Jem'Hadar were indeed present but they showed no inclination to stand and fight even when they encountered odds significantly in their favor. This was out of character for them considering the boldness they had shown earlier when attacking the USS Pompeii.
Adding to Captain Shawn's increasing frustration were the attitudes and antics of his "co-commander" the Klingon Commander Krenn. The Task Force was assembled with the understanding that Captain Shawn would be in over all command and that Commander Krenn would defer to him. In addition to the Galaxy Class Trafalgar two other Galaxy-class ships provided the bulk of the power for the Starfleet force. Three Akyazi-class vessels, one Intrepid class ship, six modernized Miranda-class vessels, five Peregrine fighters piloted by the Starfleet Marine Corps and three Excelsior class ships rounded out the force. The Klingon contingent consisted of three Vor'Cha class attack cruisers and five D-7 battle cruisers. However Shawn later learned than an additional squadron of ten of the new Swiftfire Class fighters had also been attached to them by Chancellor Gowron to be used at "the sole discretion of Commander Krenn". It was to be a week before Krenn even bothered to inform Shawn of their existence and then he flatly refused to put them under Shawn's operation control. Krenn instead opted to send the small ships out in all directions. In Shawn's eyes, the action made little sense. He would have sent the small cloak-capable ships into Cardassian/Dominion space to search for fleet martialing points or advanced supply bases.
So the Dominion allowed its ships to be seen in star system after star system. -------Usually just one or two ships and as soon as they were detected Shawn moved ships to intercept and tried to move the fleet into a position to best support those ships without spreading themselves to thin. The Dominion withdrew each and every time only to show up in another system somewhere else causing Shawn to regroup and re-deploy his forces only to have the Dominion melt away and appear yet someplace else. It was turning into a cosmic square dance with the Dominion calling the tune.
Through all of this the normally outspoken Commander Krenn seemed perfectly willing to follow Shawn's lead and dutifully deployed his ships where Shawn ordered. Shawn couldn't help but be disappointed. He had heard rumors that Krenn was considered one of the best tactical minds in the Klingon Empire. No one had ever beaten Shawn so ruthlessly at 3D chess. Shawn had hoped that the Klingon commander would share some brilliant insight with him that would allow him to bring the Dominion to battle and defeat them. The Klingon kept his silence. Until today...
"We'll hold out positions here." Krenn informed him several hours earlier. "I have recalled my fighter forces, they may arrive in time to help, they may not."
Shawn was more than a little surprised. They were in the middle of nowhere, close to no star systems and a half dozen light years from the border. Their scouts and sensors showed no signs of Dominion ships. Shawn ordered Krenn to proceed on course. Krenn, politely refused the order and requested that Shawn recall his scouts and deploy here for battle.
"You're crazy." Shawn accused the Klingon. "If you think we're just going to sit here."
"No more fluttering about like wing clipped pah'tog birds." Krenn had said. "We choose the ground and make the enemy come to us."
"What enemy?"
"They are coming Captain. Prepare yourself." Krenn said as his image faded from the Trafalgars view screen.
And so they sat for the last four hours... Waiting...
Just as Captain Shawn's patience wore to a breaking point the sensor alarm at the tactical station started to beep alarmingly.
"Ships!" Commander Anten exclaimed from the tactical station. "I am reading multiple warp signatures!"
"Number and type!" Shawn snapped back. How had he known? How? It must have had something to do with the way Krenn deployed those fighters, but how?
"It looks like ten Galor class cruisers and..."
"And what?"
"Forty plus Jem'Hadar fighters."
Shawn settled back into his command chair keeping his composure. It was as facade, he had to sit back because he doubted his legs could have supported him.
"Open a channel to Starfleet command." Shawn said with more calm than he felt. "Tell them... Tell them that it has begun."