"Piecing It Together"

[Col. C.E. Harper 0]

Earth cast a long shadow across the observation lounge of the Excalibur-C. Admiral Ah-Windu Corizon kept his eyes away from the ceiling-to-floor windows and their view of the once pristine blue-green marble that smoldered in ruin. Though not his homeworld, Earth was his adopted planet and to see the once idyllic planet wasted caused even his cold heart to ache. He couldn't imagine how the woman on the other end of the line was even able to speak, let alone have a coherent conversation. It was that strength, though, that let him continue on knowing the Humans would survive, that Earth would endure.

 

"And then we rode their wake here," Harper finished, sighing and reaching up one hand to rub the stiff muscles of her neck. "If we'd gotten the propulsion -- but then we didn't know they were coming here." She shook her head, wincing slightly. "How's the fleet look?"

 

The silver haired Dameon nodded slightly as Harper finished recounting their journey. His thin lips formed a delicate frown at the question. “The home fleet is, for lack of a better description, FUBAR.

 

“Most of the first responders are burning heaps of ruin... place looks worse than the second round of Chintoka.” In truth though, the last time Corizon had seen a scene as bleak as this was the first Borg engagement at Wolf 359. The frightening memories of buckling bulkheads and the immense feeling of helplessness and failure as he and his shipmates watched the cube sail away from the graveyard and towards a defenseless Earth came to his mind. He shuddered slightly.

 

"And the sector fleets? Is the 4th still in?" She watched him, knowing she looked as bad as he did; haunted and tired. "Not that I think they'll be back -- hit and run seems to be their style. But this would be a very bad time for the scavengers to start circling."

 

Nodding, Corizon glanced briefly to the status monitor to his left. “The fourth is gathering at Alpha Centuari as we speak. The rest of the fleets are mobilizing as quickly as possible. We're still trying to get through to Admiral Halin and the rest of the Tenth...”

 

"Half the local relays go through Command or Starbase One," Harper pointed out. "Communications are going to be spotty for days. Have Jupiter Station send the messages; their array won't need relaying, not as far as Centauri." She flicked an errant strand of hair out of her face. Two more fell in its place, and she gave up. "As soon as we can loose Beta from our tether, we'll join the rescue efforts."

 

A small smile appeared on his face as Harper told him what he already knew, but given the situation, he let it slide. “Good,” he said with a nod. “We're brining in three more medical ships in a few hours... I just spoke with Nechayev on Vulcan, she's placed me in command of Sector 001 for the immediate future. We're still trying to round up what's left of the Council and Admiralty...but it's a mess down there.”

 

She nodded. "We've seen the news feeds. The media, eh? Can't get a line to the president's bunker, but you can watch the evening news." She sobered slightly. "Speaking of the president... have you heard anything?"

 

Corizon knew his expression was grim and he didn't try and hide what he'd been hearing through special channels. “I heard that they're still digging through the rubble, but the bunker took a pretty good hit... how they hell the knew where to look for it...” He stopped and shook his head. “It doesn't sound good Charlie.”

 

She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "And the Council? Tell me they weren't in session, at least."

 

He closed his eyes and tilted his head back for a moment, taking in a deep breath before speaking. “Unfortunately,” he said soberly, “the Council's been in session all month with meetings on the readiness of Starfleet to respond to the threat of enemy invasion.”

 

Her head dropped into her hands, and she was silent for a long moment. Finally, in a voice muffled by her fingers, she said, "Did we have any good luck at all?"

 

“We got you back,” he said with a slight smile. “Your knowledge of their weapon systems will be invaluable as we go forward. I am already having every ship modify their weapons.

 

“If that doesn't perk you up, then how about our facilties on Luna and Mars are pretty much untouched? We're going to setup shop on Mars as soon we get a list of who lived and who didn't.”

 

"Planitia will be busy," she said, forcing herself to lift her head. "Antares too, I shouldn't wonder. I suppose they'll want to move the Council somewhere 'safer' after emergency elections are held?"

 

“The secure off-site, yes” he said. “I am not cleared to give that information over any channel, but it's pretty safe. They're bringing the facility on-line now.”

 

Harper snorted ironically. "Which one?" she asked, then waved it off. "No, of course, you can't say. Rhetorical. But honestly, Ah-Windu, don't you think they're more likely to hit a new target than one they've already blasted?"

 

“Depends on if they've heard of the Hydra or not.”

 

"We have cultural files. Not that anyone has time to look at them at the moment."

 

“I fear, however, that these marauders are the least of our problems right now.”

 

Her heart sank. "Oh, no. What did we miss?"

 

“The Romulans are about to have elections, this will likely only strengthen that warmongering N'Dak's positions... the Klingons still don't have a chancellor... we're still trying to figure out how the Vacitu, VDC, and this attack are all related... and then...” he paused and sighed heavily. “How long have the Breen been waiting for this, or the Tholians, or the Gorn... take your pick.”

 

"So the quadrant's been packed into the handbasket again." Leaning back in her chair, she sighed. "I suppose it was naive to hope we'd get a few decades of peace."

 

“I've been around a long time Charlie, and it's never naïve to hope, just naïve to expect it.”