Subject: FRONTIER: Back In Space

SD 80409


>There was silence on the bridge, broken eventually by Ramsay, "Status."

>Angus looked across the displays on his console, "Everything as it was, 
>except that the logs show that we've been off the ship for twenty 
>minutes. All crew have reported in at their stations." he paused, then
>added solemnly, "Two casualties reported."


Ramsay nodded grimly.  "I thought I'd never be so glad to see this old
sardine tin.  Mr. Murray, hail the other Frontier.  I want to see if we're 
going to get any help with this diversion or not."

[Frontier here,] said m-Caroline as the viewer switched to the incoming 
comms.

"Captain," began Ramsay diplomatically, "doubtless you know of our
intention to create a diversion to allow the Scharnhorst to escape.  Are
you with us?"

m-Caroline took a deep breath then replied, [Give me a minute.]  She turned 
round and signalled to m-Angus to cut audio.  After about thirty seconds of 
unreadable discussion, the audio was restored and she added, [We'll help, 
yes.  But we have to return soon, and if we take too much damage we might 
have to break off.]

"Very well.  Mr. Murray, please announce our presence to the sector in 
general."

"Aye, sir," said Angus as he filled all available subspace channels with as 
much attention-attracting transmissions as he could muster.  It appeared to 
work, after about ten seconds Angus reported, "A large concentration of 
enemy forces has just been ordered to intercept and destroy us, sir.  At
any decent speed they should be here in no time."

"Good.  Weapons status?"

"All phaser banks fully operational, torpedo launchers ready, tractor
weapon standing by.  Oh, and I'm reading first enemy contact on long-range,
Kzinti medium fighter."

"Captain, long-range sensors are picking up a Federation fighter craft.  It
appears to be engaging the Kzinti fighter ahead of us," reported Houston 
abruptly.

"Mr. Murray, hail the fighter."

Angus carefully monitored the tactical situation whilst transmitting a hail
to the fighter.  He saw a reading that seemed odd, "Audio only, Captain."

"Put it on."

A female voice filled the speakers.  [This is Iron Lady.  Request 
permission to engage enemy.]

Ramsay shrugged, not fully understanding why she bothered to ask, and 
replied, "I'm not about to argue.  Go right ahead, Iron Lady."

[Acknowledged,] was the simple and brief reply which ended communications. 
Moments later the Frontier was rocked by several phaser blasts from an 
advancing wave of enemy fighters, the bridge lights momentarily dimming.

"Helm, bring us hard around to pursue those fighters.  Mr. Murray, fire a 
wide spread of photon torpedoes, when you have the range."

There was an audible creaking of the hull plates as the Frontier swung 
round in a tight arc, several long slender tubes emerging from the 
launchers, flaring into bright deadly beacons which streaked towards their 
targets.  As they impacted there were several distant flashes.

"Three destroyed, five disabled, two intact.  They are breaking off, 
Captain," reported Murray.  Then, "A new wave of fighters closing, range 
six hundred thousand kilometres."

"Lock phasers and fire at will," ordered Ramsay.


m-FRONTIER Bridge

m-Angus and m-Patrick stood at the massive tactical console, working their 
duet destruction act, anything approaching closer than a few hundred 
thousand kilometres turning to space dust.

"Got another," said m-Angus, "and another," he added, firing off the 
torpedoes like there was no tomorrow.

Patrick was having his share of successes, but some of the stuff he was 
firing wasn't even suited to destroying small enemy fighters.  Suddenly he 
noticed something unusual on the sensors.

"I've got a big one on long-range, moving slowly."

"How big?" asked m-Caroline.

"Just a little bit bigger than us," replied m-Angus after checking the 
reading.  "Well, okay, try a lot bigger than us."

"Enemy vessel is five point two four seven kilometres in length, 
displacement three million, six hundred and forty seven thousand, seven 
hundred and forty-seven metric tonnes," said m-Houston, looking to the 
viewscreen.  "Maximum magnification," she added, and the fuzzy image 
of the ship jumped into view.


Fed fighter cockpit

Lynne Smythe was having a tough time of it, she was running on what was 
left of auxiliary power, and her computer system was written off.  Turning 
and rolling was not her problem, but she couldn't build up enough speed, 
and being slow got you killed.

There was a fighter on her tail now, firing wildly past her, then the Kzin 
behind her got a good aim and fired spot on.  The fighter lurched, but the 
shields held and she pulled into a tight loop.  Sighting the Frontier, she 
straightened off and tried again to shake the fighter, twisting and rolling
this way and that, to little effect.


FRONTIER Bridge

Angus spotted Iron Lady's pursuer,and when she made a tight turn he took 
his first chance on the Kzinti fighter, incinerating it with the phasers.

On his console, the message [THX. IOU 1] appeared briefly.  He smiled and 
transmitted back [GLD I CLD HLP.]  Just then he also spotted the mammoth 
ship that was closing on them.

"Captain, reading a large ship headed toward us."

"How large?"

"It's about five kilometres long and three-and-a-half million metric 
tonnes, sir.  Probably the source of all these fighters.  She's got five 
wings escorting her too."

"How're we doing with the one's we already have?" asked Ramsay.

Houston made a rapid sweep of the area, "Estimate ninety-three percent of 
current enemy forces disabled or destroyed."

"Alright, move to intercept that carrier.  Let's give them a hiding they'll
never forget.  Mr. Murray, what's the status of the you-know-what?"

"Pardon?  Oh, *right*, that.  I replaced everything that burned out before 
we left the ship. But because the emitter's replicated from a phaser, I had
tweak the power setting right down, and I can't guarantee it'll work.  I 
never had a chance to test it."

"Well, now would be a good time.  Don't use it until you've softened up
their shields with phasers and photon torpedoes."

"Understood sir," said Angus as he trained the phasers on the big ship, and
brought the photon launchers to bear.

"Fire when in range," commanded Ramsay.

A barrage of phaser fire hit the big ship's shields, causing them to glow 
and crackle, but they held.  The torpedoes struck next in a series of 
intense flashes, and still the shields held.  A group of fighters rallied 
together and started an attack run on the Frontier.


Fed fighter cockpit

Lynne spotted the inbound fighters and managed to get in right behind them 
without being noticed.  She picked off all four in rapid succession before 
they knew what was happening, then transmitted a message to the Frontier, 
[THTS US EVN] before she noticed what was up ahead and gaped at the size of
it.


m-FRONTIER Bridge

There was a series of shudders as the ship was swamped by phaser fire.  
"She's got dozens of phaser turrets!" reported m-Angus as the ship took 
more hits.

"Target them specifically, use everything you can spare.  And keep those 
damn shields up!" yelled m-Caroline over the deafening combination of alert
siren and weapons impact.


FRONTIER Bridge

"Status on enemy shields!" yelled Ramsay over the deafening combination of 
alert siren and weapons impact.  Several bridge panels exploded behind him,
he tried to concentrate on what Houston was saying.

"Still unbreached, sir, operating at eighty-four percent and holding."

He sighed and added, "Now, Mr. Murray.  Target their reactors - that 
should shut them up for a while.  If we've still got enough power 
afterwards, throw in whatever you can behind it.  Bridge to Sickbay, we 
have injured crewmen up here."

[Turbolift is packed Captain, we'll try and get to you as soon as we can,]
answered Sykes.

Angus reached across the console and gingerly activated the QPD, the 
memories of the last time it had been used etched into his memory.  The 
bridge lights dimmed briefly, then came back as he adjusted the power flow.
"Charging now, three seconds to firing."

Three seconds later a bright burst of incandescent plasma fire erupted from
the emitter, casting an eerie glow as it swirled on the carrier's shields.

"Their port shield has buckled, sir.  Emitter temperature at seventy
percent of tolerance.  Five seconds to full charge."

"Nice repair work, Mr. Murray, I hope it holds out," said Ramsay as they
were struck again and again by turret fire.  A medical team emerged from
the turbolift.

The bright beam lanced out again, punching through the armour like a hot 
knife through butter.  Multiple explosions rocked the big ship.

"The emitter's burned out," Angus cursed. Then he checked the readings 
on the other ship. "Sir, they have lost main power.  Turret fire has 
ceased."

"Notify the other Frontier to get the hell out of here, and patch me 
through to that fighter," Ramsay said.

"Still only audio, sir.  On speakers, now."

Ramsay aimed his voice at the audio pickup and said, "Iron Lady, we're 
pulling out now, do you have warp capability?"

[Negative Frontier, computer systems badly damaged.]

"Could you make it to our shuttle bay?" he asked.

[I can, but if you want a shuttle bay left better lock a tractor beam on. 
Stabilizers are shot.]

"Acknowledged, Iron Lady.  Mr. Murray, stand by tractor beam," said Ramsay.


Fed fighter cockpit

Lynne piloted the fighter round to the rear of the ship, adjusted her speed
to match and signalled them to proceed.  She relaxed a little as the 
tractor beam brought her carefully down onto the deck.

"Frontier, I'm secure in landing bay," she reported.


FRONTIER Bridge

"Helm, best warp speed," said Ramsay a little nervously.

[I'm having trouble engaging warp engines,] said Keanu from Engineering.  
[They've taken a pounding.]

"Mr. Maren, I expect the Kzinti are sending reinforcements, if you don't
get those engines on-line we're going to take a *real* pounding."

[Okay, okay, I'll try them now.]

The stars elongated into bright streaks of light as the engines reluctantly
engaged.

The helmsman reported, "We're at Warp 3.2, I can't get any more."

Ramsay grimly said, "I sure hope it's enough."

After about thirty seconds Angus said, "No new enemy forces on long-range."

Ramsay breathed a sigh of relief, "Set a course for Starbase Epsilon."

"Sir, receiving incoming encoded transmission.  The Scharnhorst was 
attacked by a wing of fighters, but they managed to scrape by, into 
Federation space.  They send their congratulations," reported Angus.

"Open a channel to our counterpart."

[Frontier here, we were just getting ready to leave,] said m-Caroline as 
the viewer snapped on.

"I wanted to thank you for back there, we wouldn't have lasted two minutes
without you.  How are you going to explain this, anyway?"

[Doctor all the logs, come up with a perfectly plausible story, and contact
some friends in high places.  Meanwhile we'll build up a resistance 
movement.  Just one more thing, we're transmitting something you may find 
very useful.]

"What would that be?" asked Ramsay.

[You'll find out.  Frontier out,] replied m-Caroline.

Ramsay managed to squeeze in, "Good luck," before she ended the 
transmission.  "Houston?" he inquired.

Joanna reported, "They downloaded a complete list of Federation ships 
captured in Kzinti space, with the location of the ship and the crew.  
Suggest we relay the information to Starfleet Command, Captain?"

"As securely as you can make it."  He got up and added, "Now, I think I'd 
better welcome our visitor on board."


FRONTIER Shuttle Bay

When Ramsay walked in, he noted that the fighter's cockpit was still firmly
closed with the pilot inside.

"The internal mechanism's busted," came Lynne's muffled voice.  "There 
should be a release panel on the outside."

"Right," he replied as he stepped closer to the fighter.  There was a small
panel just below the cockpit area, he flipped it open and keyed in what he 
hoped was the release sequence.  He moved his head out of the way as the 
cockpit opened hesitantly.

Lynne climbed out and took off her helmet, immediately grateful of the
fresh air.  She extended a hand toward the captain and said, "Ensign Lynne 
Smythe, sir.  Permission to come aboard?"

He shook her small hand warmly and replied, "Captain William Ramsay.  
Permission granted."

She smiled and said, "It's a miracle I picked you up at all on the 
sensors."  Lynne walked with him toward the doors, continued, "I thought 
the Dakota would be the last ship Starfleet would be willing to send into 
Kzinti space."

"We're on a covert mission to arrange for the recovery of the missing 
ships.  Now we seem to be done here," Ramsay explained as he watched Lynne
idly examining a black box she had apparently taken from the fighter.  
"Flight recorder?" he asked.

She nodded, "Could I possibly run it through your computer?"

"Whatever for?" he inquired politely.

"Kills record, sir," she answered, pulling a data card from her jumpsuit.

"Ah. I see," Ramsay said.  He had difficulty controlling his expression.
"You pilots take that kind of thing very seriously, then."

"Absolutely, sir," Lynne replied without noticing the look on his face.

His wrist-com bleeped, [Sykes to Ramsay.]

He tapped the communicator, "What is it, Doctor?"

[It's your wife.  She's gone into labour.]

Ramsay replied, "I'll be right there."  Turning to Lynne, he added, "You'll
have to tag along until I can find someone to show you to quarters."

Lynne nodded, moments later she was crashing along the corridor behind him 
trying to keep up.  When they came to the turbolift, he frantically pushed 
the lift call button.  They wouldn't have had to wait at all if they'd used
a service tube, but in the hurry they'd passed two.

Ramsay tried to conceal his impatience as two crew members stepped off the 
lift, he waited for Lynne to get in then said, "Deck Two."

When the doors opened just seconds later, Ramsay could see that Deck Two 
was busy.  People were being stretchered in at an alarming rate, and he had
to push his way through to get to Sickbay.  He sent Lynne off with a 
security officer to find accomodation, then made his way to Caroline's bed.

Caroline looked up as he neared, Will took her hand and held it tightly.  
"I'm here, Caroline," he said encouragingly as she let out a loud yell.

She managed to smile through the pain, her breathing far from the calm and 
controlled rhythm she'd tried to learn.  She shut her eyes and pushed for 
all she was worth.

"That's it," said Ruth, "Keep it up, you can do it."

Another series of ragged breaths.  Another push.  More screaming.

"And again, Caroline.  Another push."

Caroline would remember this day as being one of the most exhausting and 
painful of her life, but worth it beyond all of the suffering.  She pushed 
again when she had the breath, and was rewarded with a new wave of pain as 
first the baby's head began to emerge.

Above the pain now, she pushed again and again, the screams of childbirth 
rebounding several times throughout Sickbay.

And then Ruth held up the screaming baby for her to see, and she felt so 
relieved.  After the doctor had lightly bathed the child and wrapped it in
a blanket, she handed it over to Caroline, who carefully sat up and cradled 
the baby in her arms.  Her husband knelt down beside the bed and looked on 
in an expression of wonder.

Christopher David Ramsay was born.


                          Respectfully submitted:

      S            [Captain] William Ramsay, CO FRONTIER             S
    D   A          [Cmdr] Caroline Ramsay, rodXO FRONTIER          A   D
  R       M        [Lt.Cmdr] Joanna Houston, aXO FRONTIER        M       R
A       M                                                          M       A
  W   E       "He said, `You're too late.  We're everywhere'."       E   W
    D                       Odo, Star Trek: DS9                        D