"The Bajor is at yellow alert and I\u2019ve given a vacsuit to Dal Kanril. All sections are ready, so there\u2019s nothing to do but wait. \u201CKoranak to Bajor,\u201D Morag\u2019s voice comes over the comms. \u201CKanril here.\u201D \u201CKoren\u2019s scouts just reported in. The Terrans are on high alert. They likely know we\u2019re coming. More of their damnable Defiant-class ships, one supposes.\u201D \u201CAny sign of reinforcements?\u201D General K\u2019Bor breaks into the conversation. \u201CNo. I suggest that this base is so far behind Cardassian lines there is no fast way to reinforce it. But the defenses present are formidable. Of seven birds-of-prey deployed, only Koren and Ba\u2019wov returned.\u201D \u201CWe\u2019ve been calling in every ship in the sector,\u201D Morag adds. \u201CWe\u2019ll drop out at the heliopause to form up and proceed directly to the target. Cardassia-class world in the habitable zone, no native intelligent life known\u2014\u201D \u201CYes, I was at the briefing, remember?\u201D \u201COf course. The point is, we don\u2019t want to cause any permanent damage to the planet; we may have a use for it later.\u201D \u201CUnderstood.\u201D \u201CI\u2019m assigning seven Galor-class destroyers and fourteen birds-of-prey to escort the Bajor and issuing an update to the attack plan. Your primary target is the ships in the orbital drydocks.\u201D \u201CCatch them with their pants down?\u201D Tess remarks. \u201COne hopes. The docks are expendable\u2014while it would be nice to repurpose them, this is not currently a strategically significant area. Central Command says to avoid causing too much damage if possible\u2014\u201D \u201C\u2014but they\u2019ll understand if it isn\u2019t,\u201D I finish. Morag nods, sends the update to Tess, and closes the channel. Ten minutes to target and there\u2019s nothing I hate worse than the waiting. I head into the wardroom\u2014the view of space and the silence helps me get perspective. Gaarra joins me a minute later. \u201CYou keep pacing, you\u2019re going to wear a hole in the floor, Captain.\u201D I stop and stretch my arms over my head and he chooses that moment to step in and grab me around the midsection. I\u2019m strong for a woman, but even if I\u2019d wanted to fight him, that extra third of a g from growing up on New Bajor tips the balance in his favor. He pulls me tight to his chest, crushing my breasts against his body as he wraps his arms around mine. \u201CIt\u2019s worse this time, isn\u2019t it?\u201D he says into my ear. \u201CLast time we fought the Terrans we were working with Starfleet, people we knew were on our side.\u201D \u201CCome on, El. The Alliance has as much to gain as we do. Enemy of my enemy\u2014\u201D \u201C\u2014is my enemy\u2019s enemy. No more, no less.\u201D He pulls back from me with an eyebrow raised. \u201CWho told you that one?\u201D \u201CRead it in a book once.\u201D He shakes his head and pulls me into a chair with him, pressing his cheek against mine. \u201CYou\u2019re too suspicious, El. Seriously, what would they have to gain by turning on us?\u201D \u201CWell, think about what they could learn from the Bajor. Even if we wiped the computers, there\u2019s still the X-227 warp core, the Mark XIV quantum torpedoes, and so on.\u201D I look out the window at the streaming stars and sigh. \u201CI don\u2019t know. But I\u2019ll tell you this. Dal Kanril may look and act like me but in her head she\u2019s a Cardassian, and that means she\u2019s a patriot. She and Morag and the rest are going to do what they think is best for Cardassia.\u201D \u201CYeah, well, we\u2019ll blow up that bridge when we come to it. Come to that, you\u2019d blow the ship yourself before you\u2019d let them take her.\u201D He lets out a breath and kisses my cheek. \u201CI don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen. I just know that I trust you as my captain, and that I love you.\u201D I twist in the chair and face him. \u201CThank you.\u201D \u201CCaptain, where were you?\u201D Tess asks innocently as I take my seat in The Chair. \u201CIn the wardroom, talking with Gaarra.\u201D I pick up my PADD. \u201CJust talking.\u201D \u201CYes, Tess, just talking.\u201D \u201CCouldn\u2019t do your talking on the bridge?\u201D \u201CPersonnel matters.\u201D \u201CSure it wasn\u2019t personal matters?\u201D I drop the PADD and twist to face her, exasperated. \u201CYou want to say something, Tess? Say it.\u201D \u201CNo, ma\u2019am. It\u2019s not my business unless it negatively affects the ship.\u201D \u201CYou\u2019re right, it isn\u2019t.\u201D I hear a noise from Biri\u2019s direction but decline to dignify it with a response. \u201CTime to target?\u201D \u201CFour minutes.\u201D \u201CSound battle stations.\u201D Klaxons howl outside, a four-tone pulse, repeated four times, and the ship status indicators flick from yellow to red. \u201CWiggin?\u201D \u201CThe escorts have pulled in. Reading Terran ships coming to meet us.\u201D \u201CYep, look at that, they\u2019re rolling out the red carpet,\u201D Biri comments. \u201CAnd I\u2019ve absolutely nothing to wear.\u201D \u201CVacsuit doesn\u2019t count as formal wear?\u201D Gaarra says from the ops console. \u201CYou know the uniform code. We wear dress whites for\u2014\u201D I can\u2019t help it, I start laughing. Dal Kanril joins in, giggling like a schoolgirl and struggling to stop it, and soon the whole bridge is cracking up. Park reports, \u201CForty-five seconds to target.\u201D Thirty seconds later, Wiggin breaks in. \u201CWhat the\u2014Captain, I\u2019m tracking what looks like a freighter or fleet tender. It just swept across our trajectory and now it\u2019s moving much faster. Holy\u2014Sir, get us out of warp, now!\u201D \u201CEsplin, warn the fleet!\u201D I bark. \u201CProbable enemy minefield dead ahead! Park!\u201D \u201CCrash-translating!\u201D he confirms. The Bajor faintly groans around us as the warp field abruptly collapses and deposits us in realspace. Four Galors and twelve birds-of-prey arrive a fraction of a second later, scattered across hundreds of kilometers, with much of the fleet in the same region. But too many ships end up inside the minefield. \u201Ctera\u2019nganpu\u2019 quvbe\u2019!\u201D K\u2019Bor howls as his carrier tumbles end-over end. The sensors register a dozen separate mine detonations and a wing shears off, followed by a single actinic flash as his warp core is punctured and blows. \u201CStatus!\u201D \u201CThat\u2019s a lot of blips,\u201D Wiggin says. He\u2019s right. We\u2019ve lost much of the fleet\u2019s lead elements, roughly a quarter of our original count, and the enemy now has the edge in tonnage and hulls. A new swarm of blips comes up on the plot. \u201CFighters, coming in!\u201D \u201CThere\u2019s too many of them!\u201D a Cardassian voice cries. \u201CWiggin, where the hell is the Koranak?\u201D \u201CGetting a signal,\u201D Esplin answers. Gul Morag appears on the viewscreen, his bridge filled with smoke. \u201CWe\u2019re hit, but not bad, Captain.\u201D I grit my teeth. \u201CHow bad, my Gul?\u201D the other me asks from the back of the bridge. \u201COne impulse engine down, number three starboard disruptor down, starboard torpedo tube a wreck. We\u2019re blasting our way out of the minefield but we\u2019ll be a few minutes. Also, Gul Marritza is dead. You have command of your section, Captain Kanril.\u201D \u201CUnderstood. Bajor to all units! Form up as best you can and overlap your shields! Cardies, go to rapid fire on all batteries! Klingons, switch your cannons to scatter shot!\u201D I let go of the key. \u201CTess?\u201D \u201CForward batteries online.\u201D \u201CConn, head for our primary objective and don\u2019t stop for anything.\u201D \u201CConn, aye,\u201D Park confirms in a worried tone, pulling his pendant of Saint Joseph of Cupertino out of his shirt and kissing it. \u201CLocking onto target alpha.\u201D \u201CEscort elements, get with the program!\u201D I bark as the fleet struggles to form up. The other ships\u2019 fire starts to blunt the fighter attack and they begin to break off, never coming close to my baby, and as we barrel towards the drydocks the ships assigned to escort us struggle to form up. \u201CFour Defiant-class, one Excalibur-class, trying to block us.\u201D \u201CTess?\u201D \u201CI have them. Locked and firing!\u201D Phaser fire lances out from the dorsal and ventral phaser strips and smashes into the lead Defiant, setting its shields flickering. A spread of torpedoes belch from the forward tube. One goes wide, but the next three hammer into the target and a momentary star lights up the sky. Tess and a Cardassian destroyer lay into the others. A Defiant blows and the Excalibur runs for cover as two birds-of-prey streak past. \u201CChong\u2019pogh and Jib\u2019lalDan, get back on my wing!\u201D I order. \u201CHah! Cowardly Federation petaQ!\u201D \u201CTess, lock a torpedo on him, please.\u201D She snorts and drops a reticle on him on the plot. \u201CYou would fire on your own side?\u201D the Klingon overly-dramatically roars at me. \u201CJust getting your attention. Your orders are to provide cover for me, not go gallivanting off on a personal glory trip. Got that, yIntagh?\u201D \u201CQanrIl ghay\u2019cha\u2019 baQa\u2019!\u201D \u201Cpenga\u2019chuq\u2019egh, verengan puqloD tlhIv quvbe\u2019!\u201D I scream back, spittle flying from my mouth. Out of the corner of my eye I see Biri\u2019s head whip around at that one. There\u2019s silence for a moment, then the bird-of-prey breaks off and heads back towards us. \u201CNicely handled, Captain,\u201D Dal Kanril says admiringly. I snort. \u201CKlingons. What can you do?\u201D \u201CCuss at them, apparently,\u201D Biri comments. \u201CWhew!\u201D \u201CDal Kanril?\u201D \u201CMa\u2019am?\u201D \u201CI need you handling the escorts. I can\u2019t fight the ship and direct them at the same time, especially if the Klingons are\u2014\u201D \u201C\u2014being Klingons,\u201D she finishes with a snort. \u201CGive me a console. I\u2019ll get those sons of voles in line.\u201D I point at an unoccupied chair. More Terran ships move in on us but the Cardies and Klinks assigned to me gradually form up. Tess lays into anotherExcalibur with the phasers, striking it amidships. The enemy captain frantically separates his saucer before a blinding flash from the warp core knocks him tumbling, dead in space. Another Defiant swings past with a bird-of-prey in hot pursuit, then we\u2019re fully engaged in the melee. \u201CConn, plow us right up the middle.\u201D \u201CHere goes nothing.\u201D Tess fires and fires and fires. An enemy Typhoon comes at us but we concentrate our fire and it falls out, lights flickering. Off to the right two birds-of-prey are hit by torpedoes and detonate. A flight of fighters swarms in and enemy phaser fire hisses into our shields to little effect. A Nova-class blasting out ECM is next, tries to cover theTyphoon and starts spitting blue-white bolts at us that skitter across our forward shields, but Tess and two Galors hit it several times at point-blank range and it snaps in half amidships and goes dark; the aft section explodes against our nav deflector. \u201CWe\u2019ve broken through!\u201D Wiggin calls out. \u201CTarget alpha, dead ahead! Range, fifty thou and closing!\u201D \u201COnscreen! Magnify!\u201D I order. The main viewscreen flicks to a view of a large space station, kilometers across. A central sphere, with six spindly arms. Scaffolding surrounds several ships, but on one arm, some are lighting up. \u201CEscorts, cover our rear!\u201D Dal Kanril orders. \u201CWait,\u201D I counter. \u201CKlingons want to go crazy? Let them. Have two of the birds make a close range pass, try and reveal their point-defense emplacements.\u201D \u201CCaptain,\u201D Gaarra asks, \u201Cjust so I\u2019m sure, we\u2019re not trying to duplicate Brokosh\u2019s thing, right?\u201D \u201CNo, I looked it up earlier. We dumped too much velocity coming out of warp for it to be effective. Tess?\u201D \u201CWhat the\u2014I don\u2019t believe this, they\u2019re not even shielded! Wait, I got a Typhoon-class powering up, trying to detach!\u201D \u201CDo not let him get mobile. Full spread of quantum torpedoes.\u201D \u201CFiring!\u201D Two birds-of-prey sweep past, charging the dockyard and spraying sickly green packets of particles as a stream of glowing blue projectiles shriek from our forward tube. The enemy gunners open up, and spits and streams of orange particles reach out for the Klingons from the drydock. \u201CTess! Cardies!\u201D \u201CLocked and firing!\u201D Lances of energy in orange and yellow snap across the void and fireballs erupt from the spindly, star-shaped dockyard, silencing the defensive fire. Then the torpedoes scream in and a staccato series of detonations rips deep into the structure. \u201CConn! Right, two-four-zero, ten degree down!\u201D Park acknowledges and the ship veers to starboard and pitches forward, sweeping underneath the dockyard. \u201CWiggin, give me a target!\u201D \u201CThat Typhoon! Fusion plant is coming online! Recommend aiming for the antimatter storage!\u201D \u201CTransmitting coordinates to the fleet!\u201D Esplin adds. \u201CLocked! Firing!\u201D Tess hammers her key again, sending an overcharge to the dorsal phaser, and five streams of particles from across the flotilla lance out and burn into a patch of hull probably less than a meter across. The viewscreen washes out seconds later as the antimatter mixes with the surrounding matter, and in one actinic pulse of radiation half the dockyard tears apart, with a chain of detonations running up the arm. As the bridge erupts in cheers, Biri signals me. \u201CEl, I\u2019ve got a lock on the Orb! There\u2019s a Terran surface base.\u201D \u201CConn, get us there! Esplin, open a channel to the fleet.\u201D \u201CMa\u2019am!\u201D \u201CKanril to Morag, care to join the party?\u201D \u201CWe\u2019ve broken through and we\u2019re on our way.\u201D As we make orbit Wiggin reports on what we\u2019re up against. \u201CI\u2019m reading some serious troop formations and anti-aircraft. And\u2014Damn. Transporter scramblers just came online.\u201D \u201CJamming\u2019s too good for me to get a lock with the phasers,\u201D Tess adds. \u201COkay, options.\u201D \u201CI\u2019ve got a way in, Captain,\u201D Dal Kanril says, \u201Cbut you may not like it. Get your away team ready for a hot LZ and get them to the transporter room. We\u2019re heading to one of the Galors.\u201D \u201CTess, you have the bridge.\u201D \u201CI have the bridge.\u201D \u201CKanril, with me.\u201D She sweeps in behind me and we step into the turbolift. \u201CArmory.\u201D As the car travels I hit my combadge. \u201CDul\u2019krah, Gardner, get your units ready to rumble.\u201D As we shuck our vacsuits and grab up our battle armor, I notice her tucking a necklace under her shirt. Probably the enjoinment pendant Warragul mentioned. I gesture at it. \u201CWho is he?\u201D \u201CWho? Oh, this.\u201D She pulls it back out. Teardrop-shaped green stone, same color as our eyes and about a centimeter wide, set into a black metal mounting on a gold chain. \u201CHis name\u2019s Derlin Velor.\u201D \u201CCardassian?\u201D She nods and her eyes go a little misty. \u201CFile clerk at the Seventh Order\u2019s headquarters, rank of dalin.\u201D \u201CWhat\u2019s he like?\u201D \u201CHe\u2019s a very sweet man, loves to tell jokes. Reminds me a bit of my father, actually.\u201D \u201CAnd he doesn\u2019t have a problem with you staying on active duty?\u201D She raises an eyebrow. \u201CDoes Reshek?\u201D \u201CGaarra isn\u2019t Cardassian, and how the hell\u2014\u201D \u201CI didn\u2019t know, but thanks for confirming it. I figured there was something going on between you two from the moment you walked into the Koranak\u2019s conference room. You\u2019re terrible at hiding your emotions, Captain.\u201D \u201CSo I keep hearing. But if you suspected, and you\u2019re in a relationship anyway, how come you were eyeing him up?\u201D She scoffs. \u201CI\u2019m betrothed. I\u2019m not blind.\u201D I grunt noncommittally. Suppose that should have been the obvious answer. \u201CAnyway, in answer to your question, I may mostly live like a Cardassian but I still maintain a few of the old customs and there\u2019s no actual law that says I have to quit when I get married. Besides, killing people\u2019s about the only real skill I have. A shore post\u2019d drive me crazy and he knows it.\u201D I finish buckling my gauntlets and listen to the hum of the servos, then grab a pair of phaser rifles and toss one to her. \u201CYou sure you want to come with us?\u201D \u201CAre you?\u201D Off my look, she explains, \u201CIn the Guard, the captain stays with the ship, but the XO drops with the troops.\u201D With the heel of her hand she smacks the safety on her rifle off, then on, and gives me an eager, vicious grin. \u201CLet\u2019s kick some Terran ass, Captain.\u201D We beam across to a Galor-class destroyer, CDS Tavracet, and Kanril leads us through the corridors to what looks like a cargo bay. Several man-sized canisters are set into the floor, upright. \u201CWhat\u2019s the deal?\u201D Gardner asks. \u201CNever been in a drop pod before?\u201D Kanril asks. Senior Chief Athezra stares at her. \u201CAre you phekk\u2019ta kidding me?\u201D A Cardassian platoon walks in to the room and a chubby-cheeked, boyish-looking dal at the lead speaks up. \u201CWe\u2019re smaller targets for their ack-ack than if we tried to land the ship or go in with assault shuttles. More targets means more of us get through.\u201D \u201CAnd it\u2019s safe?\u201D \u201CWhat\u2019s the matter, you scared?\u201D Kanril asks, snickering. \u201CLiving isn\u2019t safe. If I wanted safe, I\u2019d\u2019ve taken a shore post at HQ.\u201D \u201CFine,\u201D I say. \u201CLet\u2019s get this over with.\u201D As Kanril gives us a quick run-down of the drop-pod systems. I pull my blast helmet on and buckle it and the HUD flickers to life. It\u2019s a command suit, so life-sign indicators for my assault unit and the MACOs ignite. \u201CFOR CARDASSIA!\u201D the Cardies all howl at once, and break for the drop pods. Kanril directs me to one in particular. \u201CThis one\u2019s a command pod.\u201D I step inside and lean back against the cushioning and the door slides shut. Straps and crash webbing wrap themselves around me. A screen lights up and a countdown begins in Cardassian glyphs. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. I hear a metallic noise above me, a jolt in my bones, and the pod falls into the void."@en . "Chapter 6: Light 'em Up"@en . "The Bajor is at yellow alert and I\u2019ve given a vacsuit to Dal Kanril. All sections are ready, so there\u2019s nothing to do but wait. \u201CKoranak to Bajor,\u201D Morag\u2019s voice comes over the comms. \u201CKanril here.\u201D \u201CKoren\u2019s scouts just reported in. The Terrans are on high alert. They likely know we\u2019re coming. More of their damnable Defiant-class ships, one supposes.\u201D \u201CAny sign of reinforcements?\u201D \u201CYes, I was at the briefing, remember?\u201D \u201COf course. The point is, we don\u2019t want to cause any permanent damage to the planet; we may have a use for it later.\u201D \u201CUnderstood.\u201D \u201CCatch them with their pants down?\u201D Tess remarks."@en . "February 2410"@en . . . "2015-01-12"^^ . . . "Story:The Wrong Reflection/Light 'em Up"@en . . . .