"A"

[Joe Manning 0]

A scene like this Commodore Murphy had not witnessed since the waning days of the Dominion War. As that war drew to a close, ferocious dogfights between small fleets of ships became more common. By the war's end, the allied coalition of the Federation, Klingons, and Romulans managed to assemble a fighting force capable of outmatching the Dominion, but the fighting left all of the fleets diminished. The slow years of rebuilding and recovering had not fully restored Starfleet to its former strength.

 

Now that diminished fleet was forced into battle again, this time against a superior foe and without the aid of the Klingons or the Romulans. Everyone in the galaxy was under attack; protecting their own worlds was every government's only priority. Worse, they were being attacked on too many fronts to count. Their forces were spread across the Alpha and Beta Quadrants ... fighting like cornered animals.

 

We're doomed, the Commodore thought as he watched the exchange of weapons fire on the viewscreen.

 

Attack the spires. That's what the Andorian reports had advised. The strategy was being employed to modest success by Starfleet, but there were too few against too many.

 

The viewscreen of the USS Lincoln focused on a close-up of one of the alien ships. 'Alien' was certainly the right word to describe it. Its configuration was as unfathomable as that of the Borg ships. From a central sphere roughly the size of a medium Stafleet cruiser, a dozen spires radiated outward in every direction, the whole mass the color of dark mud, composed of materials the scientists could not identify. Each spire was capped by a pale crystalline formation capable of emitting a powerful energy pulse or beam, with varying effects. At least sixteen different energy forms had been recorded, including the disruptor blasts that were primarily being directed at the surfaces of target worlds. Beams occasionally erupted from one of the spires to attack a nearby Fleet ship, employing everything from standard phased energy to electromagnetic interference. Each spire seemed capable of firing any type of weapon. Each was also responsible for maintaining a networked force field around the central sphere, protecting it from weapons fire. Attack the spires to weaken the field and render the sphere vulnerable.

 

Two waves of assault had taught the Fleet how to combat the ships, had shown that each -could- be destroyed. But their ability to maneuver and still maintain firing accuracy made it difficult to eliminate enough of the spires. The ships were at least as advanced technologically as Borg vessels. And there were too many. Too many working in concert.

 

The view pulled back, again showing the entire skirmish above Zera colony. Fourteen of the ships remained, engaging in combat with twenty two Fleet ships of various sizes. Nine of the Fleet ships were ill-equipped for space combat -- survey scouts and science vessels. Lincoln was one of only two cruisers left. The Roosevelt had been destroyed in the first three minutes of the attack. The alien vessels swooped together and combined their firepower to punch a hole right through its shields. The maneuver had been staggeringly effective ... but, for some reason, not repeated. The alien vessels merely continued their seemingly aimless fluctuation between bombarding the colony and attacking the Fleet ships.

 

"Commodore, we are being contacted by the colony Governor from one of the shelters," comm officer Warren reported. "He has something he wishes you to see."

 

Murphy looked at the comm officer. "Is he aware that I am busy coordinating the defense of his colony?"

 

"He says it is important, sir," Warren answered. "Something that may help against the alien fleet."

 

* * * * *

 

Lieutenant Commander Theron dematerialized in the underground waterworks of Zera colony. A large chamber filled with water purification units was housing the horrified colonists of Zera III. A rotund Tellarite wearing a suit stepped away from the main group of colonists to greet him. "Commodore Murphy?"

 

"Could not come," Theron answered, stepping forward and glancing over the colonists. A small group of them were lying off to one side, being tended to by the colonial doctors. "He's rather busy coordinating the defense of your colony. Do your people need any additional medical assistance, Mr. Ishog?"

 

"Oh, no, no, my people can manage, but -- " Ishog was cut off by the impact of another disruptor blast on the surface. Frightened noises emerged from the group of colonists as the ground shook and the lights within the waterworks flickered. "A pipe ruptured nearby after the last one. My maintenance people are stressed to their limit. Come, there is something you must see, Commander ... ?"

 

"Jace Theron." The Tellarite led him to a small bank of terminals situated against one of the water purifiers. Theron was surprised to see tactical diagrams on one of the terminals.

 

"Our sensor network is feeding data down here," Ishog pointed out. "You are aware, I'm sure, that Zera colony was originally established to act as a listening post along the Romulan Neutral Zone? These subterranean passages were designed, in large part, to act as bunkers in the event of an attack."

 

"Yes, I am aware, Governor," Theron replied impatiently. "What is it you want me to see?"

 

Ishog began tapping at the tactical display. "We still have a functioning tachyon grid in orbit of the planet, with a few nodes at outlying stationary positions. The grid was designed, of course, to detect the presence of cloaked Romulan ships ... but it is capable of defeating a wide variety of cloaking technologies."

 

Theron raised an eyebrow at the Tellarite. "The invaders aren't using cloaking technology, Governor. Their combat capabilities preclude any need for stealth."

 

"That is where you are wrong," Ishog said. He pointed at one of the other terminals, where a view of the battle above was displayed. Ishog zoomed to an area near one of the alien ships and paused the display.

 

"... what is that?" Theron leaned over the display to look closer. Two of the alien ships' spires were visible ... but there was something smaller between them. Only a vague outline could be seen, as much of a visual as the tachyon fields could provide. Ishog resumed the sensor recording, at a slower speed. It become apparent that the small object was some distance behind the alien destroyer, but as the larger ship darted about firing shots, the smaller sphere circled around it, allowing Theron to get a better perspective on its size. It was roughly the size of a Starfleet runabout.

 

"The tachyon grid has managed to locate eight of them, all wandering among the battleships. Once we got a fix on one of them," Ishog explained. "We hit its location with a active sensor scan."

 

"And what did you determine," Theron asked, looking up at the Tellarite.

 

"While the primary ships," Ishog pointed at the large alien vessel. "Are essentially weapons platforms ... the smaller object is a sensor platform. This is only our best guess, mind you, since there is too much we do not know about their technology, but the panels we've scanned on these smaller objects can be likened to most sensor array technology."

 

"So ... for some reason they keep their sensors separate from the main bodies of their ships." Theron speculated. "Taking out these platforms could blind them!"

 

"No, Commander." Ishog shook his head. "I am afraid not. We are not detecting any signals between the sensor spheres and the primary ships. Further, the same sensor panels -are- fitted to the primary ships; they all have independent scanning capability. These smaller objects have a separate purpose. I would guess that their interiors contain recordings of everything they scan."

 

Theron felt a sinking in his chest as he watched the small object darting about on the sensor display. "Data gatherers."

 

"Beholders," the Tellarite said, drawing a confused stare from Theron. "When my people fought against the Irindi three centuries ago, we organized special units of ... dummy ships -- ships that were mostly stripped down, but designed to -appear- formidable. These units, called the Beholders, were sent against the Irindi in the war's early stages."

 

"You lead the Irindi to believe that these ships were a significant threat," Theron looked down at the display. "So that you could observe their defensive capabilities and strategies before sending in the -real- ships. A classic probing attack."

 

"My people are not proud of this period of our history, Commander," Ishog said. "While the dummy ships were not designed to be true threats ... they still required crews. Criminals and thralls were forced to take the ships into battle. We sacrificed many of our own people to gather our intelligence. And although we employed only a dozen or so dummy ships, we still regret making those sacrifices. A dozen ships, Commander ... sent to attack only three or four stations."

 

"Commander Theron, do you read?" a woman's voice came over Theron's commbadge.

 

"Theron here," the Commander answered, still looking at the recording of the small sphere.

 

"... it's over Commander! The Commodore wishes for you to return. The alien fleet is gone."

 

"They're moving on to a new target?" Theron asked.

 

"No, Commander," the voice sounded relieved. "They're ... gone. Wormholes just opened and all the alien ships escaped through them. We're hearing it's the same all over the galaxy. The invasion is ending."

 

Excited voices could be heard from the group behind Theron as the colonists overheard the comm message. Theron, however, continued staring at the recording of the sensor sphere. 'Over?' 'Escaped?' 'Invasion?' Theron looked up at Governor Ishog and saw his thoughts reflected on the Tellarites face. These fleets hadn't been driven off. They'd completed their mission objective.

 

They'd gathered intelligence on the Federation's defenses.