Star Trek: The Dominion War

Chapter Two

"Leaving warp now Captain", Lieutenant Nassil said full of worriedness. It was not just himself who was full of concern, his Aenar side told him that the crew was anxious. No one did expect that they would get in such a difficult situation right away. If somthing disappeared in the Gamma Quadrant it was almost sure that the Dominion was behind it. Since the  first contact with the superpower the relations continuously worsened from day to day. The Dominion had rarly contact with the Federation, but when they communicated their diplomats, the Vorta, behaved arrogant and condescending. Some representatives of Starfleet Admirality even wanted to prepare for war, luckily it was just a short percentage.

"Sensors show nothing Sir, not a single lifesign. But the station seems intact at last.", K'Brell told the captain. "They transmitted a distress signal, something MUST be here.", Gary Hamilton replied absorbed in his thoughts. About 50 people were on this station to uphold the values of the Federation on its outer frontier. "Thoughts Number One?", he asked his First Officer. "I believe it is the best when we take a look at this ourselves. With your permission, I will lead an away team to investigate what happend.", Jackson said. "Permission granted, good luck.", his captain replied. "Anderson, Lavon you will accompany me to the outpost", he commanded while leaving the bridge. He could see in the corner of his eye that the two officers left their stations quickly and transferred them to their replacements. "Jackson to Havin.", "I hear you commander, how may I help you?", the doctor asked curiously. "You always wanted to investigate an abandoned station in a godforsaken quadrant, right? Seems you'll get your chance now", the first officer replied sarcasticly. "Of course, it was on my list just after a visit to Rura Penthe", the powerless Trill answered, who knew that the joke was meant as an order.

The soft tickle of the transporter beam only lasted for seconds. After that Linda Anderson had to focus on the away mission she was assigned to. Although it was not her first away mission she always felt some kind of thrill for the unkown, maybe it was one of the reasons she joined Starfleet. She made her first careful steps from the transporter pad of the station and was surprised. There were no signs of a fight, a fire or anything that would make a crew disappear with or without a trace. Ensign Lavon was to her right and took out the tricorder shortly after they arrived, scanning the environment, looking desperate for an answer. "Well at least we were not killed immediateley by a horde of angry Jem'Hadar, that's a start.", Doctor Tovor Havin said to brighten up the situation. He was almost certain that the attempt to lift the spirit of the young officers would be instantly countered by First Officer Jackson, Tovor was right. "Don't worry Doc, there'll be plenty of time for that, we're not leaving before we found out what hit those people.", he said while clearly enjoying  the annoyed face of the risian doctor. "I think it is the best to spread out, if you find something report it directly.", he added to his statement. The three of them replied with a short "Aye".

All four where astonished of the stations condition. The lights where functioning without a flickering, the pads and stations operated without any trouble, the outpost was in better condition than the "Sun Tzu", Jackson thought. "Commander, I could usa a little help around here, if you don't mind", security officer Anderson said through the speaker of his communicator. Some minutes later the away team met at the cago bay, which was surprisingly the only door on the whole station that was locked. "This is the only inconsitency on this whole station, beside the fact its whole crew vanished without leaving any marks. It's the best hint we have Commander.", Lieutenant Anderson summed up their momentary situation. "You're right. So let's get our hands on this mystery.", the First Officer answered. It was a though fight, but after moments of struggle they manged to open the sole anomaly on this haunted station. Their position provided a good sight of the cargo bay, or what used to be the cargo bay. The former logistical centre of the outpost was strangly modified with medical instruments, they had never seen before. After the first seconds of shock they moved further into the room, which turned out to be a mistake.

Captain Hamilton maintained the yellow alert after the away team left the ship, he wanted to keep his crew to stay focused and to be vigilant. He stood in his ready room painting a part of the Azur nebular, which he visited on his last shore leave. In stressful times like this the art helped him to calm down and even a bit to relax and forget the dangerous situation he was in. His  rest was sadly  for a short time. Soon he heared the alarmed voice of Ensign K'Brell, "Captain! Three ships of unkown origin are on a direct course to our position.", "I'll be right there.", Hamilton replied and abandoned his artwork as fast as he could. On the bridge the klingon science officer waited eagerly. "What do we know so far, Ensign?", Hamilton asked. "It seems the three ships are on warp seven and heading for our position. But for more information they need to come a bit closer.", K'Brell answered worried. "Well, than keep scanning Ensign.", Hamilton said while sitting in his chair.

They moved downstairs and took a closer look at the "laboratory". Judging by Starfleet standards it seemed archaic."My god, what is this place?", the Doctor asked visibly disgusted. "I have no idea, but it's safe to say that these materials are not Starfleet.", Ensign Lavon said, "I'm also surprised that it seems abandoned", he added, after this baneful conclusion they noticed the buzzing noise of a cloaking device. Lieutenant Anderson tried to grab her Phaser but was hit directly by the flaked fist of a Jem'Hadar.  She had always been interested in martial arts and tried to used this knowledge in the fight, she landed some hits that seemed to have no visible reaction on her opponent. Linda Anderson ignored what happened around her and tried to defend herself until she heard the slightly terrified voice of Lieutenant Commander Jackson, "Stop the fighting Lieutenant, there is no logic in that", she needed a moment to realise that one Jem'Hadar targeted his distruptor on Jackson, so she stopped to resist. "Call your ship, Vulcan", the Jem'Hadar leader ordered Jackson. "Hey, I'm also half Human you reptile ba-", he  was interrupted by a melee hit with the gun. "All right, I'll call them. Jackson to Sun Tzu", he said. "James are you all right, we have visitors up here. Three Jem'Hadar ships will be in range in some minutes, we need to evacuate you immediately!", Hamilton replied nervously. "Evacuation is not needed, we already made contact with the new inhabitants of this station.", Commander Jackson said while the blood dripped of his lip.