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[Cmdr JFarrington 0]

“What I feared has come upon me. What I dreaded has happened to me.”

~Job 3:25

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Numb didn’t even come close.

 

It had only been a year since the Battle of Wolf 359. Thirty-nine Starfleet vessels had been destroyed and 11,000 lives lost. But it could have been worse. The Borg could have made it to Earth. Earth could have been obliterated. Totally.

 

The same gut-wrenching, paralyzing fear gripped Jami now as had gripped her a year ago. The devastation of the fleet, the grief of losing so many colleagues, so many friends, was all too fresh. No one had gone unaffected.

 

And now... it had all come true. The who or what and the why seemed immaterial, except for wondering if they or it could or would return to finish the job. The Federation Council gone? And the fleet... were they gone, too? Admiral Gutarez seemed to have that impression, and Manticore was the only one in orbit at the moment.

 

In true form, Admiral Atragon had ordered a complete sweep of the planet, looking for any signs of life. He was a master at focusing the crew, giving them purpose, keeping them from despair. The search kept everyone busy, eager to find life - find what might be there - instead of focusing on the death and destruction - what was not there. Be thankful for what you have; don’t obsess over what you don’t have. It was a technique she had employed many times as counselor. Now, more than ever, even the counselor herself needed it as she manned the operations console.

 

Still, sweep after sweep after sweep had turned up nothing, underscoring the destruction, the futility of their search becoming more and more obvious as the hour passed... Had it only been an hour? It seemed an eternity. Then, at half past the second hour, a faint, broken communication came from the surface.

 

"Helm, lay in a course for Latitude -23.700071; Longitude 133.88065 - full impulse!" Atragon’s command broke through their shock, moving the bridge crew to action, until....

 

"Calling all ships in the sector, this is the Secure Command and Control commline. If any Federation ships can hear this message, please respond on the ELF frequency of 20 Hz and transmit your C&C code.”

 

“I need an ELF transmission set up right away.”

 

ELF frequency? Extremely Low Frequency, fifty to eighty Hz, not used since the 21st century? “Aye, Admiral,” Jami responded. “It’ll take a few minutes, but I’m on it.”