V: “Trying To Relax”
by Ensign Tatalia Connor
Security section Alpha-One leader, Beta 2

Tatalia stood in Ops. She had been left in charge by Chief Dawner hours ago. Ops was jumping with activity but Tatalia had to stifle a yawn. She had been on duty for about three days now and needed some sleep.

She looked over to her team. They looked as tired as she felt. ‘We could all use a weeks vacation,’ she thought.

The station was moving at warp with sails. The only problem was that they were being pursued by about 40 coop ships.

An Ensign walked up to Tatalia. “Ensign Connor, Chief Dawner sent my section to relieve yours,” he said.

“Very well Ensign,” Tatalia said. She nodded to her team and the trio left Ops.

*********

Tatalia stumbled into her quarters. She wanted to go to sleep but it was impossible to relax. She knew she needed to do something to relax. She sat down in front of her computer and pulled up her log entries.

“Computer record log entry. Present Stardate. The last few days have been interesting. First there was a riot on the Promenade. That wasn’t pleasant. The riot was slowly coming under control. Luckily Commander Morris came and stopped the riot with her words before weapons came into play.

After the riot, I headed back to my quarters. I started to doze off but almost as soon as I fell asleep, my section was called to Ops. We meet on deck 2 so we could storm Ops together. When we tried to enter Ops the turbolift access was denied. It took me a minute but I figured out that we could use Jefferies Tubes. Before I could work out a plan all the screens came to life with the Coop members in Ops. The senior staff was on it’s knees.

The leader Sir Therio started to talk. He made quite a few threats. Before we could react, he pulled Captain Zhan to him. He didn’t even have to touch him. All I could do was stand and watch as Sir Therio vaporized the Captain. I will never forget that. I had to pull all my emotions into check. I knew that Therio could kill the rest of the senior staff if I didn’t hurry.

We quickly put together a plan and went crawling through the Jefferies Tubes. Commander Hanson called me via my combadge and told me that he could create a diversion in Ops. Boy did he. He was able to cut off both lights and gravity in Ops.

I have to admit when I first stepped out into Ops, the feeling of weightlessness was very strange. We retook Ops and Chief Dawner headed off to engineering. He left em in charge of security on Ops.

Finally after several hours replacement came and I am here in my quarters ready for some sleep. Unfortunately, I have been running on overdrive so to speak for so long I can’t relax. I am going to try one more time. End Log,” Tatalia said.

She walked over to her dresser and pulled out her rollup piano and very old book of sheet music. She walked over the coffee table and rolled out her piano. She set the book on table. Opening it to a very fast loud song she began to play. The music filled the room and even drifted into the corridor outside her quarters.

After she finished the song, she flipped the pages of the book carefully to another song. This one was softer and slow. For the next few hours she played the piano until she fell asleep in her chair.

"Fire ship"
by Lieutenant Troy Blair
Chief Tactical Officer, USS Galaxy

*** Bridge ***

Troy stood at Tactical with Winston close to his side. So far everything was quiet, and he hoped it would remain that way. But by judging the way the coop acted, it wouldn't be quiet for long.

"I bet ye they never sho' up." Winston whispered to Troy

"Don't we wish." Troy returned

" 'ell hopefully we 'ill be outa this before they cun attack."

"I hope so, cause we don't stand a chance against a coop armada." as soon as he finished his comment the console started to beep, ships were approaching. Troy looked at Winston, looked to the front of the bridge, then got the Captain's attention

"Captain!" Exclaimed Troy

"Yes Lieutenant? What is it?" Lee asked the tactical officer.

"Long range scanners are detecting a ship coming from the Void Cooperative."

"Just one ship?" Price asked while Troy made some adjustments.

As Troy's fingers flew over the console, he could hear Deiran commenting to the Captain, "I have them on sensors now Captain. No it's not just one ship. They are flying in close formation like they did before to hide their numbers... but I can tell there are multiple warp signatures."

"Warp? They are using warp engines? Must want us pretty bad then." Captain Price comments.

"Confirmed Captain." Troy acknowledges. "I can see the multiple echoes now. That's a lot of ships Captain..."

"How many 'mate?" Lee inquired.

"More than 20. I'm detecting more ships the nearer they get."

"Lieutenant Ti, how long before the Cooperative ships reach the Station?"

"Less than twenty minutes at their present speed Sir."

"I'm counting 30 now Captain... No, 40... My god, they just keep coming and coming Captain." Troy explains as he stares at his tactical display with amazement. Every second that passed the numbers grew, the Galaxy was in for a tough fight..

"Bloody coop. 'ant ta make sure they have an absolute chance at winnin'" Lieutenant Groom commented. Troy shook his head in agreement.

"Another shock wave Captain." Casey reports just as the Galaxy and Station Beta Two begin to shake violently for several seconds.

"Shields are steady and holding Captain." Troy explains, gripping the arch to keep balance.

At this point, every second seemed like an hour. Between the shockwaves and the armada, the Galaxy was in a very tight spot. By the looks on some of the faces, one could tell that nerves had overtaken some of the bridge crew. Troy remained calm at Tactical, thinking of ways to handle the coop.

Troy was brought out of his thought by the Captain's voice. "How many ships are we reading now Lieutenant?"

"Holding at 96 vessels Captain, but they are still too distant and flying in close formation to be one hundred percent certain. There may be more." Troy said flatly, adjusting his console to try to get a better reading.

"How long before they are within weapons range 'mate?"

"Since dropping out of warp, it will take them a while longer Captain. About 67 minutes at present speed. Assuming these tremors don't slow them down further." Even though the tremors were getting worse, everyone was probably wishing for more of them.

"It's like the bloody Spanish Armada" Winston commented

"Spanish Armada? Wait! That's it, Winston you're a genius!"

"Huh? wha' did I say lad?"

"Captain! I think I know of a way to deal with the coop, if it comes down to a battle." Troy exclaimed

"What do you have' mate?" Price asked, looking back at Troy

"Well sir, how familiar are you with European history?" Troy asked.

"It's a little fuzzy 'mate. Been a while since school ya know." Price replied

"Well sir, there's something from history that I think can help us here. In, I think it was the 1500's, the Spanish decided to invade England with a large armada of ships. The English were greatly outnumbered and had less advanced ships, but they won the battle. What they did was, they took old worn out ships lit them on fire and sent them toward the Spanish. The Spaniards were in so close a formation they could not react in time"

"I think I see where you're going with this Lieutenant."

Troy smiled at the Captain's comments "Exactly sir, If we take an old shuttle put a couple of photon warheads in it, that will be one powerful weapon. We can set up a link with the shuttle here on the bridge, then fly it at warp speed to the heart of the fleet. The explosion is bound to create confusion amongst their ranks, and may even take out a few ships."

"Sounds like a good plan 'mate. I'll let you know what I decide in a minute." The Captain turned back to ask Casey a question.

Reix was glad to finally be doing SOMETHING. He was still furious over Captain Zahn's death, but he would never let it show. The hardships in his life... His father's death... His OWN death... had hardened him to the point where very few things moved him to the point that he would be mad or depressed.

He had always loved a challenge, He figured THAT came from the symbiont's experiences, too... From his first host, who was an engineer, to Jarod, his last host... And THIS was definitely a challenge.

They of course couldn't try to STOP the Big Bang from happening, even if they would somehow succeed, they, the Void.... everything they knew of would never have existed. Rr'lonni's Idea of the Warp shell was brilliant, and should shield them from the gravity shock waves. Varin couldn't help but marvel at the amount of energy that was harnessed in that small area.

Suddenly, an Idea struck.

An energy output that high could be used to send them back home. They would need uninhibited sensor readings of the amplitude and exact power level readings, but it was still possible...

Varin walked into the ShuttleBay with these thoughts in his mind.

"Alright, I may not know you very well, but it seems to me that anyone who can smile at a time like this HAS to have some good news." Varin realized how much alike the sisters Morris were at that statement, and told Rr'lonni of his inspiration.

"Tremors, the Sequel"
by Lt jg Jania Fowler SD 49706.13

The doors to Ops swished open, letting Cdr Morris enter. Kra'lana took a quick assessment of the situation and frowned. Jania knew she wasn't happy with what was happening.

Jania had been working on a way to shield the station from the tremors. Now, she was under that same console, repairing it. The EPS conduit had blown out the panel underneath. She was lucky she jumped out of the way in time. She could have lost her legs in the force that it had blown out at her. She sighed and tightly gripped the edges of the opening as the station rocked again.

Out of the corner of her eye, Jania saw Ramone burst into Ops with the subtlty of a Golden Retriever and head for his terminal. She heard him ask Ensign Miller to stand by in Auxilary Operations, should something go wrong in main Ops. The conduit slowly closed as she waved her tool over it. Despite her Science background, Jania knew some basic Engineering from her sister and, even though she couldn't tell you what she was using, she knew what it was for.

"Commander," she heard, "redirective shields are ready to go online at your command." A short pause. "Thrusters are on standby, ready on your command." She crawled out from under the terminal and saw that it was working again. She heard Ramone's voice in her head. {{{{I hope this works!}}}}

{{{{You're not the only one,}}}} she sent back. Her hand absently went to the necklace under her shirt. Of course, when the conduit blew out, none of the work she had been doing was saved. So much for that thought. She watched the number of Coop ships increase from the 40 that were reported only a few minutes before to now 96. Jania felt her eyes widen.

"Cdr," reported Cohen, "there are now 96 Coop ships accounted for. We're still not perfectly sure on that number. There could be more." His tone didn't sound positive. The Commander frowned in concentration.

"How are shields?"

"Holding at prevously reported numbers." Cohen began tapping keys. "The Galaxy has launched a shuttle!" he said. Everyone was shocked.

"Won't they be ripped apart in that gravity pull?" asked Jania. She saw Seles' head nod. "Who's on it?"

"Reix and Mitchell." Jania just blinked. Was he out of his mind? Then again, all attempts made at studying the Big Bang previously had failed. What was he up to?

"OPS to sickbay"

"Sickbay here."

"We have at least 96 Void ships heading this way and we may be spinning the station around, so you had better prepare for casualties."

"Understood" Salvine responded and immediatley went to work.

"Salvine to Yhea. Please report to the Infirmary immediatley."

"Acknowledged."

"Salvine to all Medical Personel on Beta Shift, please report to the Infirmary immediatley. "

"Salvine to all non-Starfleet medical personnel and Gamma shift medical personnel, please report to the Promenade clinic immediatley."

Salvine headed for the door. "Rager, Blla-Dora, your with me. We are going to the Promenade clinic." The two nurses quickly followed the doctor out of the infirmary.

Russ sat down in the command chair, looking grim. "Morgath, go to Red Alert. All hands to battle stations. " He then puts in a call to engineering. "Engineering, this is Russ. I want full power to weapons and shields. And, be prepared for Battle Plan D."

"Aye sir."

"Ash, if you want, you may stay on the bridge. But, I want your other two friends in their quarters. Just in case."

He then turns to Morgath. "Morgath, be prepared for possible boarding by the Void Co-op. And, have everyone armed with a type-II phaser."

Russ then turns back to the viewscreen. "Helm, take us behind the Station's movement. We'll be the front line of defense against the Void Co-op."

The helmsman and others on the bridge turn to look at Russ. Russ looks back at them. "You people signed up on this ship knowing you might not make it home. So don't look at me." Russ then sits back in his chair and waits.

Chiron compensated for the rolling decks by shifting his weight from foot to foot. The Engineering Department was scrambling all over the place patching up the decks that were falling apart. Chiron was doing his part, replacing Anodyne Relays and calibrating Power Transfer Conduits. It felt good to be at work again. He was working along happily at one of the diagnostic panels, when he heard Hutchcraft in his mind.

--Chiron, there are 90 some-odd Co-op ships coming our way, got any Ideas on what to do?--

He thought for a minute, -+Can we run an anti-matter particles particle field just outside the sheilds, then just kind of run into the enemy? Or would that put too much stress on the shield grid?+-

[ The Schizoid Man ]

"Pep Talk"
by CPO Jalal Dawner
Chief of Security Station Beta Two

"My place is back in security. You are welcome Kale, to be there with me. I wanted to go hunting with you again, but I hoped unlike last time for the prey Not to be two legged." Jalal tells ambassador tr'Herrian as they both step on to the lift. Just as the doors close another tremor shakes the entire station. Jalal just manages to stay on his feet by grabbing the lift rail with one hand. The other catches ahold of Kale's shoulder keeping him on his feet too.

"A ride like this could be fun, If we were someplace else. Anyplace Else for that matter." Jalal says with a slight smile.

Arriving at the promenade deck the lift stops and opens it's doors. Both look around at the strangly empty promenade deck as they walk to Main security. "Seems truly odd for Promenade to be This empty." Kale speaks to Jalal.

"I have to agree with you there friend." Jalal says as they enter main security. "Don't you ever sleep Ramos? You'll make me think your a robot as this rate. Will you patch me through to all the security personnel, in my office please?"

"No problem, take just a moment Chief." The ensign replies as he begins tapping a few keys on his desk. "Whenever you're ready just tap your com-badge and they will hear you. And only security will hear you."

Moving into his office Jalal offers Kale one of the chairs. Reaching into his desk Jalal takes out two glasses and a small glass flask. Carefully pouring some into both glasses he han

ds one to Kale. Holding up his glass Jalal says. "To the Emperor." After drinking down the blue liquid Jalal puts the flask away.

Stepping to the portal Jalal stares out of it for a second. "Now I need to talk with my men. You are welcome to stay." Taking a deep breath he slowly lets it out. Reaching up he taps his com-badge.

"This is Jalal. At the moment we are tracking 90 plus Coop ships moving to attack us in a few hours. Since becoming Chief of Security I have tried to instill in you the importance I feel for teamwork. And None of you have disappointed me in that regard. Our teamwork and knowledge of this station are our advantages. We must use both of these to win the day. Some of you will be fighting for family, or honor or for duty. But do not kid yourself, today we fight for survival and nothing less. I know that each and everyone of you will give your best in the upcoming battle. Goodluck and I'll see you on the otherside. Jalal out."

"File Classified"
By:Ensign Expok

Expok had finaly gotten around to running a serach on the man he had caught. The one that had stolen the phaser rifle. Name,Cory Wilson. "Computer run check for the name Cory Wilson any starfleet record. It took the computer a moment to pull up the infromation. When it did it said the record was classified. Expok tried to overide it with his password but it was useless. The man was a mystery. He sent a message to Lieuteanat Sterner about the file. "Computer can you give me background infromation on Cory Wilson that does not contain starfleet," the Ensign said. "Negative file classified," it sounded like the computer was doing this to him on purpose. Expok was getting mad. The anger was rising inside of him. The truth was he was worried about the Void strike force. It was said that some kind of plan had been made and was being worked on but it could just be a rumor.

Expok knew that the Void strike force was getting close. He estimated another fourty minuets before the ship was attacked. Expok was ready and was standing by to run to his post. He still had a few moments before that time and was still trying to get any file on Cory Wilson when Lieuteanat Sterner contacted all of his security officers, "Report to your posts," he barked. Expok grabbed his type-II phaser and ran out the door heading for his post.

Lt.(jg) Gavin sat at his console in his apartment across the street from Starfleet School of Engineering, Operation, and Design where he had recently graduated from and read the message from Command:

To: Lt.(jg) Gavin
From: Admiral Rollins Re: Posting to B2 as operations officer

Your departure will have to be delayed a bit.....there is a situation with Beta Two. Apparently it has disappeared. We have not given up hope yet and your assignment there stands until further notice. Also I talked to the Symbiosis Committe and they are delaying sending the symbiont to you until the return of Beta Two.

Gavin's heart sank...his new post and symbiont wouls have to wait for an undetermined amount of time.

His thoughts were interrupted when his roomate, significant other, and fellow starfleet officer entered the room.

"Why aren't you ready to leave? Our transport leaves in an hour."

"We are not going just yet."

"What do you mean by that?" she demanded, she had put off going to her new assignment for a month and a half so they could adjust to the new Gavin once he was joined and now they weren't going.

"Beta Two has disappeared but Commande believes they are going to find it, at least that is their official stance so until further notice my posting there stands."

Rebecca dropped her bags on the floor infuriated.

Salvine, Rager, and Blla-Dora entered the Promenade Clinic to find personnel, Starfleet and civilian alike, working to prepare for the coming battle.

"All right people on the way here I got some more information and it's not good. Expect heavy casualties."

~We'll all be casualites if the science officers are right~ he thought to himself but that was not something to share with them, he was the senior officer and he was the only one who needed that information....it would just worry the others and that was completely unneccesary.

"All right. Prepare all independent generators. I want them to be able to be turned on with a touch of a button. We could lose main power at any time"

Salvine hit his comm badge.

"Salvine to Infirmary."

"Yhea here."

"Yhea, make sure the independent generators are set up and can be turned on at a moment's notice. We never know when we are going to lose power."

"Understood."

Salvine cut the channel and went to the storage closets to get spare tricorders and hypos........

"Preset the medical transporter to OPS, engineering, the habitiat ring, and the infirmary."

Nurse Rager went immediatley to it. That was one of the first things that Salvine had done in the Infirmary but the Promenade clinic was so new he had not gotten a chance to get in there and customize it to the way he liked things.

"Preperations for battle"
By Ambassador Kale tr'Herrian

Kale listened intently to his friends speech then leaned foward in his Chair. "You will of course have my Embassy security at your disposal."

Jalal instantly detected something in Kales tone of voice "But not you?"

"No, the LLaiirs no warbird, but by the elements shes a dam sight better Armed and Equipped than the frieghters and shes smaller , plus of course she can cloak."

"Your taking a risk, the very things you described will make the LLaiir a high priority target."

"True enough, but I can't very well order my men out there while I remain Safe on the station." Kales tone off voice clearly indicated how "safe" he really thought Beta 2 was going to be. "Now I must be off, to over see the preperation to make the LLaiir battle ready."

"Good luck."

"And good luck to you Jalal." Kale turned to leave, then hesitated, "Jalal if, if I don't make it back, could you make sure my wife gets this?" He held out a small data Cell. and placed it on Jalal out streached hand.

"You seem awfull sure were going to get out of this."

"Of course, this is a Federation station, and if theres one thing the Federation is good out its comming up with almost impossible technical soloutions to get out of almost impossible problems that only the Federation could get into in the first place."

[Mercury to Salshyar]

[Salshyar here, go ahead Ensign.]

"Lieutenant, do you have a minute I would like to schedule an appointment."

[Yes, Ensign, please come to my office I have been meaning to talk to you anyway.]

"On my way."

****** Lieutenant Slashyar's Office *****

"Come in."

"Hello, David, please sit down, make yourself comfortable." David eased himself into the chair. He looked around the office and was impressed with what Lieutenant Salshyar did with the room.

"How has it been adjusting to living on the Galaxy?", Salshyar said as she shifted through the papers in front of her. "I see here in your file that this is your first experience on a starship."

"This whole Void thing, has made me a little nervous, but otherwise I think I have adjusted very well," David replied.

"Very understandable, I think this situation has everyone a little nervous," Salshyar commented. She sensed that David was very comfortable talking to her, most people that come to talk to her seem a little nervous. Speaking of being nervous, the ship was beginning to shake violently. She suddenly sensed tension on the bridge. She started wondering what was going on up there. Then she heard what sounded like an explosion. "What was that?", she asked nervously.

"It sounded almost like a breach in the hull," David answered.

[HutchCraft to Mercury]

"Excuse me Counselor", David said, "Go ahead Lieutenant."

[Ensign report immediately to Deck 22, we have heavy damage to the support labs, some of the crew is trapped]

[Yes sir, on my way]

"Sorry Counselor, I would like to continue this later." David quickly got up and left her office. He hurried into the turbolift. "Deck 22!" *How many people are trapped* he thought. *The explosion we heard must have been the breach on Deck 22.* The turbolift opened and David walked out, he noticed that the emergency lights were blinking on the wall panels. He followed the corridor to the left, a group of medical personnel had already begun treating many of the crew, which from the looks of it were covered in plasma burns. The air was beginning to fill with smoke. He stopped an asked one of the wounded crew members how many more are still trapped. He didn't seem to know. David proceeded to go further down the corridor.

"Ensign, I would not advise going any further, the smoke is just too thick," one of the medical officers uttered.

With the blink of the his eye, David switched his visual spectrum to infrared. **At first David resented his implants but he soon realized that they could be very beneficial.** He then proceeded to go further into the corridor. In the distances David saw three members of the crew trapped behind a fallen bulk head. But just before the bulk head he notice what looked like a small gap in the floor. He magnified his sight and adjusted his vision. David's initial thought was correct. He could clearly see the force field now. The explosion had destroyed a section of the corridor and breached the hull. An emergency force field was automatically raised to maintain hull integrity. David quickly ran back through the corridor to where the medical officers were working.

[Mercury to Lieutenant HutchCraft, we have a problem!]

"Out of Space; Out of Time"
Lt Ti Miran

"Status report!" Captain Price demanded.

"They have dropped out of warp Captain. The Cooperative ships are having as much trouble with these shock waves as we are. They are still closing however." Ti answered adjusting her console while she caught herself with one arm around the edge. She didn't need to go flying around the bridge just now. Though she much rathered to be flying now, she would prefer to do it in an actual aircraft. It was always more fun (And safer) that way.

When the science officers called to inform them of their plans to fly out in a shuttle, Miran wished them all the luck in the universe. She wished she could have told them that, they would surely need it out there. She herself wouldn't want to fly out there to see that mass though it surely would be an adventure. Her next thoughts where wondering who was going to fly the shuttle.

This whole situation was for the Cardassians anyway. Bobbie was probably terrified, Miran hadn't gotten a lot of time with Deiran, and she was about half seasick with all the rocking. It seemed that they had been in here forever.

Blair came up with a billiant idea. Miran's only wish that the Yosemite could be the shuttle so that she wouldn't have to deal with that shuttle again. It had only caused problems though she did owe her life and the Galaxy's to it when she flew it against that Borg Cube. One thing she could say for it- it was dependable- Dependable to expect trouble and to get out of it safely.

Well one thing could be said for this mission, Edgar Allen Poe had a great quote to fit the situation- "Out of Space; Out of Time."

Ash shook her head "I'm going down to engineering where I can be of some help."

Ash ran out the door at full speed heading for engineering.

*** Engineering SS Invincible ***

Sarah, Ash and Ephiny were all down in engineering despite Russ's wishes. Ash and Sarah both had her head down over panels.

Ephiny was informing tactical of the Co-op's normal tactics.

"Alright people, Sarah and I have reconfigured the shields and phaser modulation to the co-op's. Who wants to inform Russ? I gather the silence means me?" Ash chuckled and tapped her comm badge.

"Ash to Russ."

"Russ here what's up?"

"I've changed the modulation of the shields and the phasers to combat the...." Ash stopped and braced for the tremor of the ship. Unsuspecting Ephiny was thrown across the room. Ash rushed to her side. Ephiny was slumped over a control panel. Ash picked her up, but dropped her suddenly when she saw her face. The skin over half her face had been ripped off to reveal a machine. Ash grabbed her phaser and shot her 'sister.'

V: "I say!"

H.P Winston groggily got to his feet, the medical officer having plied his trade and slowly flexed his wounded shoulder. Grimacing in pain he slowly looked around him. Over to his right he could see the covered bodies of two of his crewmen. Walking slowly over, he peeled back the blankets to see who he had lost. The first was a older man, one of the team leaders for maintenance in this bay. Winston remembered that the man had had his third child the other week. His wife was here on board the station. The other was a much younger man. He had been very much a loner and not overly talkative and Winston did not know much about him. He hadn't ever remembered even seeing next of kin in his file. Winston covered the two again, grimacing again as his shoulder jolted.

Pulling out his old hand held communicator. "Chief Winston to Lt Seles" called Winston. "Lt Cmnder Seles, chief!" returned Katarina cheerfully.

"I say! Field promotion? Jolly good show, what's the occassion then?" chuffed Winston. The channel went silent for a moment. " The Captains dead, Chief. The co-operative murdered him. Cmndr Morris has taken command."

"I say! " gasped Winston numbly. Winston continued sadly "Smashing young chap, reminded me of me. Dead you say!" he stated. "Well then, the show goes on. Many mouths left to feed. I'm back on deck...what's the plan?"

HP Winston

USS Galaxy
Lt. Deiran Casey
"In The Thick"

It was hard to believe. But, Casey was doing so much at one time his brain was on overload. He was calling out sensor readings to the Captain, assisting Hutch in engineering, and trying to compensate for power fluctuations all over the ship. He had 1,000 people all requiring power at the same time for something and he was trying to keep his mind off the 90 ships coming at them, and the shockwaves that kept hitting the ship. Not to mention Miran to his right. She looked a little concerned and shaken, but in control.

It all seemed too chaotic. Casey wanted to stand up, go somewhere, do something to help. He wanted to go and help Mitch and Ronni. He wanted to help Troy and Hutch. He even wanted to help Rousseau. Casey didn’t like not being involved in the thick. He had to know what was happening and how it affected him and the rest of the crew. Of course, he always used this to help the situation. He couldn’t do that now. The Galaxy needed him right here, in this chair, at this console, taking sensor readings, transferring power to main systems and being a rock, cool as ice. And so that’s what he did.

"Captain, I’m reading 98 ships sir. Their warp signatures are getting stronger as they get closer in range to our sensors. 101, now sir. I don’t think we’ll know the whole number until they’re here at our position." Casey was being as honest as he could. It was quiet, as people began to realize the enormous armada they were about to face.

Casey liked Blair’s idea. He would hear about Troy getting the idea before he himself thought of it. He thought he should say something.

"Captain, I’m in favor of Blair’s idea. One suggestion though Captain." Casey stopped and turned to the Conn.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" the Captain asked, sincerely wanting his Ops Officer’s opinion.

"The timing has to be perfect. Too soon and the ships can react accordingly. Too late and not enough ships will be destroyed. I don’t mean to state the obvious sir, but it should be noted. It will have to be timed to work in space. Those ships are powered by warp engines. The Spanish armada were powered by wind. There

is a difference. I believe it can work though Captain."

Casey turned back to Ops. He had an idea as he sat there, staring down at his console. He turned back around to face Conn.

"Captain, I have another suggestion. May I present it to you in your ready room?"

"Commander, you have the Conn. Lt. Blair, come with me." The Captain stood up and led Blair and Casey into his ready room.

"Sir, what if we used trickery and cunning to outwit them and use their weakness against them?"

Blair smiled at Casey. Blair was amazed at how Casey had to have his say.

"I’m listening ‘mate," the captain said.

"What if we told the CoOp we will surrender and join them. They seem extremely adamant about this. We build them up, there’s too many ships, they’ve overpowered us, so on and so forth. We ask to come aboard one of their ships to make preparations about beginning our life as part of the CoOp. They should stop their ships. We fly out to them get close enough and then we set the shuttle to max, on a collision course and then transport out. We should take at least half out, maybe even 60% of them. It’s just an idea. I didn’t want the others to misunderstand. In fact it would be even better if the crew thinks we’re going to join. That way their telepaths will not be turned off. Counselor Salshyar can block our thoughts. Just a suggestion Captain."

"Let me think on it ‘mate." The captain looked like he was weighing the idea, he then started for the door. Casey and Blair followed. As they exited Blair looked at Casey, "That’s good, remember it was my idea first." Blair smiled, Casey smiled. They then went to their stations and continued their jobs, laughing. Just a bit o’ friendly rivalry. Casey was now in the thick. He felt good once again.

"Big bang"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

Captain Price nodded his approval when asked by Lieutenant Casey if the shuttle craft Cydonia was clear to depart. "Do it 'mate. And let's hope they find something useful."

"Aye Captain." Deiran replied, while activating the controls to give the shuttle clearance to depart.

********

*** Shuttle craft USS Cydonia ***

Lieutenant Mitchell was piloting the shuttle. Seated next to him Lieutenant Commander Reix adjusted the sensors, gathering the information about the Void and the giant space mass they had hoped to obtain from this adventure. Behind them, Doctor Andrews leaned in, looking out at the darkness as the USS Galaxy and Station Beta Two shrank in the distance until they were no longer visible on the main view screen.

"I'm receiving the coordinates from Ensign Vo on the Galaxy." `Commander Reix relayed. "The power fluctuations she detected are on this heading." Reix punched in a few commands on his console. "Adjusting sensors accordingly."

Mitchell glanced at the readout. "I'll alter our course to get a closer look. The Cydonia's sensors aren't quite as sensitive as the Galaxy's." the Lieutenant explained.

Another tremor rocked the tiny shuttle craft. Doctor Andrews braced himself using the backs of Mitchell and Reix' chairs. "These... shock waves... are getting... on my nerves!" William rumbled.

"I must say, I agree with you Doctor. Unfortunately I believe it will only get worse from here on out." Mitchell explained.

Suddenly a light began to flash on Mitchell's flight control console.

"What's that?" the Doctor asked pointing.

Pressing a near by button, Mitchell explains, "Trouble. Gravitational forces have increased. The nearer we get to the space mass, the stronger the pull on the shuttle. We are still well within safety limits, but the engines are beginning to feel the pull. The Cydonia is responding sluggishly."

Another tremor begins tossing the shuttle about. This one even more intense than the last.

"Another tremor? This soon?!" Andrews stated in disbelief.

"Yes Doctor. The shock waves are increasing in frequency and magnitude according to my readings." Reix answered before turning to Mitchell and adding, "I have a lock on that power source Lieutenant. Bearing 143 Mark 2."

"Adjusting course to intercept." Mitchell replied as the shuttle veered off in that direction.

The shuttle traveled for several minutes on that heading. Four additional tremors shook the tiny space craft, tossing the fearless occupants around. Each more intense and longer lasting than the last. Doctor Andrew's glanced at `Commander Reix who was silently mumbling to himself. Almost as if he were counting the seconds or something until the next shock wave hit.

William braced himself once again, cursing silently as he stumbled to a knee. Quickly getting back to his feet, he glances out in amazement as he sees a tiny spec stand out against the vast blackness of the void on the view screen. He points. "Look at that!" he gasps.

Both Lieutenant Mitchell and Lieutenant Commander Reix glance up and see what Doctor Andrews is pointing at.

Mitchell speculates, "It looks like a ship or maybe..."

"A probe." Reix states flatly as he recognizes the configuration as the USS Cydonia flies closer.

"Slowing down to take a closer look `Commander." Mitchell explains.

"Isn't that like the probe that sent us here?" Doctor Andrews asks.

Mitchell nods. "Exactly like it Doctor." William says with a slightly positive tone.

William turns and looks at Reix, noticing that the Trill is again mumbling to himself, counting the seconds before the next shock wave hits. A surprised look forms on the Trill Science officer's face when the wave doesn't hit the shuttle.

"What is it Reix"? Doctor Andrews asks.

"I'm not sure..." Reix starts, "but I think we are in trouble..."

A blinding white light floods the cabin of the shuttle Cydonia. Reix, Mitchell and Doctor Andrews all use their hands to protect their eyes from the sudden burst of energy.

*********

*** Bridge USS Galaxy ***

Lee glances around at the weary faces of the bridge crew. Ty, Casey, Vo, Blair, even Counselor Salshyar all looked like this Void had taken it's toll on them.

"Lieutenant Blair, estimated time the Void attack force will intercept our present position?" Price asked just as another shock wave shook the starship.

Holding on to the tactical arch, "Fourteen minutes, twenty five seconds Captain."

Lee nodded. "Lieutenant Casey, damage report?"

Casey swiveled around in his chair to face Captain Price. Dark circles had started to form under his eyes from the stress of their current predicament. Still, Deiran was able to turn a slight smile. "The damage to deck 22 has been patched Captain. The ruptures to power conduits on decks 31, 32 and 37 fully repaired. The Galaxy is at one hundred percent battle readiness sir."

"That's good to hear 'mate." Lee said in a thoughtful tone. Glancing around at the rest of the bridge crew, he couldn't help but feel the hopelessness of this pending battle. They had practically no hopes of winning, and even if they could, this space mass was about to explode destroying everything.

Turning, Captain Price looked at Lieutenant Troy Blair as he stood at tactical. The Chief tactical officer has come so far in his time on the Galaxy. No longer the young, cocky Ensign he was when he first boarded. Now more experienced and seasoned. There was a time when Troy would be grinning from ear to ear to be faced with a hopeless battle like this. Now the veteran senior staff member stood with an expressionless face as the Captain addressed him.

"Lieutenant, Tactical analysis?"

"Sir. We have studied the information Romulan Ambassador Kale tr'Herrian supplied Beta Station Two. It was most helpful at identifying additional weaknesses in the Cooperative's ships. Assuming it is reliable..." Troy paused noticeably, "which is the assumption we've made, I've programmed the optimal frequencies into our phaser and photon torpedos to try and take advantage of the knowledge Captain."

Lee nodded. "That's the best we can do then 'mate. Good work."

Again Captain Price solemnly glanced around. This was a fine crew of men and women. Even given the tactical advantage Ambassador tr'Herrian had provided, the Galaxy and Station Beta Two had dim hopes of surviving an all out assault of nearly a hundred enemy ships.

Lee reached for the button on his chair, activating a ship wide channel.

"All hands, this is your Captain..." Lee paused while he thought a moment on what he wanted to say. He was feeling so much, that it was hard to figure out how he wanted to express himself. People walking in the corridors of the ship stopped and listened to the hail.

"We are about to engage in a battle with hostile forces. Forces bent on capturing, or destroying this vessel and Station Beta Two. These are the same forces that earlier murdered Captain Joseph Zahn in cold blood for not agreeing to join in their Cooperative government system. Our chances for survival are not very good 'mates. In fact, one might say it is a totally hopeless cause. Even if we are victorious in weathering this assault from the Cooperative fleet, our own scientists predict that a massive explosion is going to destroy this Void in a matter of hours."

Lee paused, leaning a bit closer to the comm unit, gathering his thoughts again. "I just want you all to know what a wonderful crew you are and have been in your tenure here on the Galaxy. And let the record show that what we do here today, we do for the memory of Captain Joseph Zahn, and for everything that Starfleet represents. I know you will all perform your duties to the best of you abilities. You always have, and you always will. G'day 'mates."

Lee closed the channel and looked around at the bridge crew. Everyone was silent for a moment. Then a blinding white light radiated out from the center of the Void, blinding everyone momentarily.

"What the blazes was that?!" Captain Price yelled.

"Don't know yet Captain.." Casey replied.

"Captain!" Ensign Vo exclaimed, "Sensors detect that the space mass has exploded! Debris and the energy wave are heading for us as we speak."

Lee glanced from Casey, back to Ensign Vo at the Science station. "How long before the blast wave reaches us Ensign?"

Ensign Vo moved over to science station two and peered into the sensor visor to take a closer look. "Hard to tell exactly Captain, 30 minutes maybe... the debris wave seems to be accelerating as it gets closer to our location sir."

"Humm..." Lee mumbles, "Then the Void Cooperative attack force will reach us first." Then a thought struck him. "What happened to the Cydonia? Can you hail them?"

"Trying to now Captain." Lieutenant Blair explained. "There seems to be some kind of interference caused from the explosion of the space mass. Some kind of constant back ground noise that is interfering with our transmissions through sub-space Captain. I can't raise the Cydonia sir."

Lee nodded, "That was a lot of energy to expell when that space mass exploded. Heaven knows how that would effect real and sub space dynamics."

"Exactly sir... however sensors seem to be affected as well. I can no longer detect the Cydonia sir.. they are out of range." Troy explained.

"And the Cooperative attack force?" Price asked in a hopeful but reserved tone.

"Yes sir. They are still closing Captain."

Captain Price looked back at the view screen. No longer just a dark, sightless void, now there were very faint, distant streaks of light radiating away from the space mass that just exploded some 300,000 light years away. The bad news was, as the lights grew brighter, it only meant that their own impending doom drew closer as the debris from the space mass rushed to collide with the Galaxy and Station Beta Two, destroying all that lay in it's path. They were witnessing the creation of the universe first hand. Given other circumstances, Captain Price would look on in awe and wonder. But now, his eyes just narrowed as he ordered. "All hands to battle stations."

The red alert signal began to warble in the background.

"Could you rig several of our torpedoes with the ability to 'ride' these waves. If we can push some of these ships back against some of the incoming gravitational waves, maybe we can get these waves to work for us." Commander Morris was looking at him expectantly, and he sighed inwardly. Torpedo modification wasn't exactly something they'd made sure he learned, either at the Academy, during his service, or at Auckland. Oh well.

"I shall see what I can do, sir." Cohen's head bobbed briefly, and he quickly began to call up schematics on his board. Truth be told, this was more a job for Ops or Engineering, but he wasn't about to argue with his new CO, not after how the old one died, and not when he'd likely be refered to Seles for discipline... Transfering everything to a padd, he snatched it off the console and glanced over at the poor ensign riding out the waves at the fire control panel.

"Michaels! Take Tactical." Moving as best he could, Matthew worked his way into the turbolift.

*********

"Join Starfleet, see the Universe, they said. OW!" A spark arced against Cohen's hand, leaving a slight burn, one more on his barely healed hands. The station was trembling almost constantly now, moving beneath him, as he had the torpedo open on the rails. At the moment, the computer compartment was opened, and he was manually modifying the third torpedo of the day, trying to be as precise as he could with the rough tools he'd scrounged in the weapons bay. It was crude, it was dirty, and it was dangerous... but with a satisfying slam, he tossed the panel shut. It was done.

"Cohen to Ops. I am en route now."

"Auld Friends"
by CPO Jalal Dawner
Chief of Security Station Beta Two

Kale turned to leave then hesitated "Jalal if, if I don't make it back, could you make sure my wife gets this" he held out a small data Cell. and placed it on Jalal out streached hand.

"I'll personally take it to her. If they ever need Anything, I will be there for them. You seem awful sure we're going to get out of this."

"Of course, this is a Federation station, and if there's one thing the Federation is good at it's coming up with almost impossible technical solutions to get out of almost impossible problems that only the Federation could get into in the first place."

With a soft chuckle and a shake of his head Jalal says. "They Do do that don't they. Seriously, you had Better come back. You're going to be my best man when I marry Blla. Hard to do when you are dead. So go get your ship ready, my friend."

Watching his friend leave Jalal thinks to himself. May the light guide your attacks. I've Never had much use for a god or a afterlife for that matter. Protect my friend and us, Old one. Or to Hell with you and your religous mumble jumble.

"Ramos, let's get this fight setup. We May lose, but Not without taking a few of them with us." Jalal calls as he steps to a wall, taking down his crystal long sword. Hooking it to his belt he walks into the front office.

"Suprise Tactics"
by Commander Kra'lana Morris
CO, Beta Station Two

Commander Morris looked up from her terminal as another gravitational wave hit them. As they rode out the wave, something clicked in Kra'lana memory. She went up the stairs and over to Lt. Cohen's station.

"Lieutenant. On my home world of Delphi, before we became a unified people, we used a type of scatter field torpedo in warfare against each other. Because we live under water, you always have tidal forces and water currents to deal with. These torpedoes has a compensator on the nose to counteract these external forces so these area effect torpedoes could reach their mark.

Could you rig several of our torpedoes with the ability to 'ride' these waves. If we can push some of these ships back against some of the incoming gravitational waves, maybe we can get these waves to work for us."

Lt. Devlynn Salshyar (Dev)
Chief Counselor, USS Galaxy - NCC-70637

Devlynn sat on the bridge, watching the happenings therein. The Co-Op ships closing, the imminent big bang. She could sense the tension in the crew. But there was little that could be done about it now. She would have to wait until this was all over. Hopefully they would come out alive.

Lt. Casey and the Captain were having a discussion in the Captain's ready room, and Dev would have never noticed but that her name was mentioned in the conversation. Casey thought that Dev would be albe to block out the crew's minds from the Co-Operative. Dev didn't think that that would be a problem. She had yet to sense another Telepath within the Co-Operative.

They exited the ready room and Blair looked at Casey, "That's good, remember it was my idea first." Blair smiled, Casey smiled. They then went to their stations and continued their jobs, laughing. The Captain followed them out and Dev walked over to him.

"Captain," She said. "I don't know that it will be necessary for me to block the thoughts of the crew from the Co-Op." The Captain frowned. He didn't understand. "I don't think that they have many telepaths, Sir. I haven't been able to sense one."

She continued. "On another note Captain. I will tell you that the Co-Op is very confident." She paused for a moment, "some of them are hard for me to read, but I can do it. They are over confident. They do not think that they can lose, Captain." She looked at him intently, "this may help in their undoing..."

The Captain sat down to give his speech to the crew. Afterward, Dev smiled and nodded to him, a simple indicator that it did have some effect on the crew. 'They follow you well, Captain. They trust you with their lives.' the powerful telepath projected to her CO. And as all non-telepaths do when they first communicate with a strong telepath, Captain Price did a quick double-take. Counselor Salshyar smiled.

Just then a blinding light encompassed the bridge. Devlynn sheilded her eyes from the light. The mass at the centre of the universe had exploded.

The universe was born.

"Cleared for launch"
By Ambassador Kale tr'Herrian

The smooth form of the Llaiir, lay silent in the shuttle bay, like some sleeping predetor, the Last of the Carbon scoring and internal sytems disruption after the regretable well almost regretable cloaking incident had been repair by Romulan technicians. The Romulan guards on duty stiffend to attention. "You may return to the embassy." The guards gave a swift nod of acknowledgment and left.

As he entered the Llaiir the whole station shuddered under a gravametric shockwave, if some thing was not done soon they wouldn't need the the Co-oprative to destroy the station. He slid with practiced ease into the command chair, it seem an age since he had flown his vessel. A swift sytems check assured him all was well,drive weapons,shields and cloak he had had his techs down load this copy of the Void Data.

"This in Rihanssu Consulate Vessle Llaiir requesting launch clearence." "Clearence granted Llaiir." came the swift reply.

Kale deftly moved the Llaiir forward out in to the void, were an array of vessels moved to formd a protective Cordon arround the Station.

All at once a serise of alarms went off nearly deafening him Warning IFF designated Federation capital vessel detected Warning 101 IFF designated hostile vessels approaching Warning IFF designated Federation space facility detected Warning Garavmetric disturbence imminent Warning High energy distortian/shockwave detected

Kale cursed as he deactivated them, it had seem like a good idea With his vessel adapted for single person use, to have a serise of verbal alarms preprogramed, his techs had obviously turned the system on during repairs and not put blocks on the federation related one. He turned each one off in turn, but when in he came to the last one he checked the sensors and just stared in a mixture of awe, fear and religiouse epithiany "The fountain of the elements..." he managed to murmered in hushed tones.

"An unexpected guest"
by Lieutenant Joerg Sterner
Chief of Security, USS Galaxy

The Galaxy was about to be engaged by a large number of Void Cooperative ships, when Joerg was receiving a call from one of his security officers.

[Ensign Starling to Lieutenant Sterner.]

"Sterner here."

[Sir, someone was just found hiding in one of the Jeffrey's Tubes. I have her right here in one of the holding cells. Doctor Rousseau is also on her way to check our guest's physical condition.]

"Understood, I'll come over to the brig as soon as possible. Sterner out." he replied.

'What a great time for such an incident.' he thought and quickly finished his paper work.

Some moments later, he left his office and went to the holding area of security. Lieutenant Paran, Ensign Los and Doctor Rousseau already waited for him.

"What can you tell me about this species, Doctor?" Joerg asked her, while looking at the being very closely.

"This is a female from a species unknown to me. However she appears to be some kind of humanoid." Doctor Rousseau continued to explain, while Joerg was still looking at the being.

Doctor Rousseau continued to explain her medical examinations to the security officers, but she soon noticed their lack of interest for that kind of information.

"One thing, that remains to say is that she, since she appears to be humanoid, can eat and drink standard nutrition, like water and bread, without any side effects. To be completely sure, I'll have to run some diagnoses in my lab. I suggest you show her some basic types of food and let her decide what she wants to eat." the doctor suggested.

"Thank you for your time, Doctor." Joerg said and the doctor left the holding area.

"Let's do what our dear doctor just suggested. Bring our guest something to eat and drink and we'll see how she reacts." Joerg said to his security officers, pointing at the girl of the unknown species.

"And after that, try to talk to her and find out as much as possible. Where she came from, what her name is, what she is doing aboard this vessel, and such things." he added, facing Lieutenant Paran.

"Yes, sir. We'll do our best." his Assistant Chief replied, suggesting that Los and himself will do that job.

Joerg left for his office, with just one thought on his mind 'Yet another report to write.'

While writing a message to Commander Coe, about the unknown visitor, the Galaxy was still be hit by some kind of waves. The scientists were finally able to locate to source of these waves. The Void, they were currently in, was the whole universe before it's creation. The crews of all the ships and stations inside the Void were about to witness the birth of their known universe first hand.

'Great, but I hope there's some way out of this before we all are destroyed by our own past.' Joerg thought as he heard the terrifying news about the possible destruction.

"Riding the Wave"
by Cmdr. Kra'lana Morris
CO, Beta Station Two

Lt. Cohen had done a great job, with Lt. Cmdr. Hanson's help, of refitting the Photon Torpedos. As the Void ships approached, the USS Galaxy sent out a message to the ships expressing the desire to join the coop against the encroaching disaster.

Not all of the ships seemed to believe what was being said because they broke off and started to attack the Station. Fortunately, with the information obtained from the data chip provided by the Romulan Ambassador, the initial attacks did little actual damage.

Cmdr. Morris turned and told Lt. Cohen, "Fire! Attack pattern Delta Three."

Photon torpedoes flashed out in a wide arch, splashing across the Void and across Void ships. As the concussion from the torpedoes pushed the various ships back, a gravitational wave came from behind them. There were terrific explosions as more that 20 ships were destroyed, and that many more damaged.

The USS Galaxy was firing in a spray pattern too, accomplishing the same thing. Hope flared in the hearts of the Federation officers for the first time in the last week. Kra'lana was even proud of the Romulan ship as it peppered the various ship. It was a triumph.

As the fight was continuing, the waves of gravitational force increased dramatically. Suddenly, Lt. Clay yelled out, "There is a VERY large mass of material coming our way."

Off to the left, there was a flash of light. Lt. Cmdr. Seles pointed at the screen and said, "Look, the Probe!!" When she said that, the area was suddenly bathed in a bright white light.

"Bump, Bang, Boom"
Lt. (Jg.) Ronni Morris
Asst. Chief of Science

"Come here Morris. Go there Morris. Reconfigure that Morris. Five minutes ago Morris . . . . ." Ronni grumbled to herself.

She was currently in Jefferies tube F -14. She was installing a patch that she had created that would help counteract the gravitational waves and divert the energy to the shields.

Did she get a 'Thanks for the great idea Morris.' or even a 'Good job Morris'? No. She gets a 'Go to it' from the Commander.

She moved quickly to the left as yet another tool fell from Ensign Washington's tool belt. The young Engineering Ensign was a little nervous, but she knew how to rearrange a conduit panel. Ronni tried not to say anything until the S'varnak Sealant hit her in the shoulder.

Ronni could tell when the combat began and who was at the helm. Miran was flying the ship like she did those old Earth flyers in the holosuite.

When Washington said, "Done!", Ronni had finished too. As they were getting ready to climb down, the EPS conduit below them exploded outward.

Ronni yelled, "Climb!!!"

The Ensign started to panic and slipped. Ronni caught her by the nap of the uniform as her tools fell into the flames. The fire suppressant system kicked in as Ronni pulled the unconscious Ensign upward. She had to do a series of release and grabs of the next rung of the ladder to climb up to the next level.

When they got there, the door wouldn't open because the fire suppressant system had kicked in just below. With a slight curse, Ronni slowly climbed up to the next floor.

Finally, two floors up, she was able to get the emergency latch to open. Forcing the door open, she pushed the semi-conscious Ensign up when suddenly the ship was engulfed in the same white light they had seen at the beginning of their voyage to the Void.

Lt.jg James Mitchell
Chief Science Officer USS Galaxy

***USS Cydonia***

The bright, white flare of brilliance washed over them before anyone had a chance to react to the explosion of the space mass. The ship rocked and bounced over the shockwaves, flinging everyone within about. Gravity failed as the shuttle roiled, hurtling through space at a fantastic rate. The warp shell field glittered as radiation and debris impacted, sending glittering molecules abound. Lights flashed and dimmed as instrumentation failed. It was only through sheer luck that someone had rebounded into the main console that all the viewports shielding came down, effectively blocking out all the light and dropping the spiralling shuttle into darkness.

"What the hell just happened?" Mitchell yelled out into the opaque shuttle. His eyesight still flitted with spots, but they gradually gave way to the ensuing darkness. It began to get cold.

A form floated its way to the console, only seen by the dim light of a flashlight that had been brought into play from the twirling shuttle. It pulled itself into a seat and strapped in. James heard the telltale tapping of keypads on the faintly glimmering console and he felt the shuttle's engines hum as the person engaged maneouvering thrusters to regain a suitable balance. Someone bumped into James as he bounced off a bulkhead. A hand reached out and grabbed him for support just as the gravity came back on with auxiliary power. They both fell to the floor with a bang.

"Yow!" The two cried at once as they hit the floor head and shoulder first.

James craned his head as his feet were up against the wall and found Dr. Andrews laying unconscious beside him. He checked his pulse, found it within normal limits and twisted off the wall to look for Reix at the console. He had raised the shuttle's emergency shielding, but dimmed the windows so as they could see what was going on.

Debris was coming at them right and left, bouncing off the flaring shell surrounding them. The gravitational pull had all but disappeared, but was now sending them further outward through its shockwaves. The nose of the shuttle could be felt lifting and falling as if it were a sailboat over stormy seas. It was hard to get a grasp on something without almost falling down.

"I have attempted to analyze what has happened, but the readings are either off the scale or the shockwaves have damaged the sensors." Reix kept trying to navigate through the stormy waves of light crashing in volumes against them. "Communications with the Galaxy and Beta 2 are cut off." He was short and to the point. No sense in distracting himself. He need all the concentration possible to pilot the damaged shuttle. "Navigational points are unavailable."

"What is that?" James pointed to a large object off the prow of the shuttle. "Is that the Probe we detected earlier?" He pulled himself into the co-pilots seat as he heard Andrews groan and shake himself awake.

"It would appear so. I have calibrated our course to follow it as we were following a parallel course to it when the 'event' occurred. The only logical assumption would be that it is heading in the general direction of the Galaxy and Beta 2. If not...well maybe we can at least leave a beacon behind to any who find it. It would be a great discovery in the future as to how the universe was created." The shuttle began to overtake the probe, with help from the shockwaves pushing it along. Reix was doing a fine job riding the current.

"It looks like the probe that was last seen before we were thrown into the void." Andrews had creeped up behind them and grasped the backs of both chairs for support.

"I'll take us in closer." Reix eased the bouncing shuttle to withina few hundred fluctuating feet from the probe. The shockwaves had not reduced in intensity as yet, so any closer would impact the shuttle with the probe and maybe destroy any chance as to finding out what it was.

"It certainly does look like it, but we never really got a good chance to check it out before we were thrown into this Void. If it is...it could be our way home. I think oneof us should beam over. There might be something on there to help us out."

"Are you nuts?!" Andrews wrinkled his face into an awestruck impression. "With these shockwaves? You'll never get positioning! One big wave and you'll dematerialize half in, half out of the probe! No way. I can't sanction that."

"As can I, Lt. Mitchell. If I can read these sensor readings at all, there is no place to beam to anyways. Our first priority is to get back to the ship and station and inform them of this event. We can't spend time, which we probably don't have, to analyze a probe that we aren't even sure if it is the same one, as is also the off-chance that something may happen to you in transit. We simply cannot spare the time." He checked the scans again. The static-charged telemetry cleared momentarily as the shockwaves passed. "Also, it would appear to be very alien in nature. There is no way to determine what would happen. there could be security protocols in effect to prevent transit."

The three of them stared out the window at the buffeting crests of waves of light, wondering what to do next.

Lt. James Mitchell
Chief Science Officer USS Galaxy

V: "Showdown"

***Operations***

Katarina watched as the first wave of torpedoes took out a sizable portion of the Void fleet. The Galaxy, the Llaiir, and the Invincible were pounding the enemy ships as well. The Void ships pulled back a little and regrouped. Seles turned to Lt. Cohen. "Bring the redirective shields on-line."

Three Void ships swooped in firing phasers. They were aiming for the station's shield generators. Katarina watched with satisfaction as the Threat's phaser fire bounced off the station's shields and right back at the Void ships and through their shields. It worked! Well, it did help that they had their enemy's shield and weapons frequencies. The redirective shields would work as long as the Void ships didn't remodulate their phaser frequencies and she didn't count on that...

The station was rocked by enemy fire and Katarina hung on to her console to keep her balance. "Damage report!"

"Shields are holding at 85%. We have power fluctuations on the lower decks and we have light casualty reports coming in," reported Lt. Pescadeiro from OPS.

"Keep the damage control teams on standby and direct the casualties to the Promenade Clinic."

Katarina yelled over to Lt. Fowler at Science. "When is the shockwave going to hit us?"

Lt. Fowler pressed some buttons on her panel and replied, "Fifteen minutes, Commander."

Katarina couldn't understand why the Void ships weren't retreating. Didn't they realize they would get crushed as well? Why did they want the station so badly?

"Commander, I am picking up a ship on short range sensors...I believe it is the same configuration as the probe we encountered before we entered the Void."

Good. Maybe they can transport us back home...

Lt. Cmdr. Seles, XO Station Beta Two

Varin continued to ride the waves as the others discussed what to do with the probe. 'I would suggest that, whatever we decide to do, we had better do it soon. We need to at least get a little farther away from the center of the explosion, or we're going to be in serious trouble.'

Everyone agreed, and Reix continued. 'I would suggest that we configure the tractor beam to just push the probe ahead of us. We can't get a good lock on it to tow it, for all the radiation interference, but I WOULD like to keep an eye on it, AND get back to Beta 2 and the Galaxy at the same time.'

No one objected to that. Reix asked Mitchell to work with the tractor beam while he kept piloting, surfing, and praying.

Kale dragged his eyes away from the sensor logs of the explosion, and turned towards the incoming fleet. with a swift hand moved to interpose a frighter between him and the void fleet and cloaked. There was a tense waiting as the fleets closed. The Galaxy transmitted to the to fleet, apperently it was surrendering! "Nice try Captain." It seemed to work at least some of the fleet hestiated, but not enough, and the battle was joined. Kale was please to see his data being put to good use as the federation beam penetrated the void ships shields, time to move, He brought the Llaiir close to to the lead ship he targeted there bridge with full disrupters and decloaked, green fire spat and he was rewarded with a satifying explosion , he swiftly twisted his ship about to avoid the hail of couter fire. The battle continues the llaiir weaving in and out, withering hails of torpedos spat from the Galaxy, and Kale noted that enemy fire was bouncing off Beta2 and hitting back at the Enemy!. "So thats rediective shields!" Then a new ship appeared it was the probe.

"Last chance to surrender or die!"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

All hell had broken loose on board the Galaxy and Station Beta Two. The attack force of the Void Cooperative Fortress, just over one hundred ships, began to attack immediately, sending several attack wings against the Starship and the Space station. The Federation's initial response was encouraging... many of the Cooperatives smaller 'snub' fighters were easily destroyed. The Cooperative's larger ships, what the Federation would call 'Starships', loomed back in the distance. Watching the attack progress.

*********

*** Command tower, Void Cooperative Flag ship ***

"They are destroying all of our small fighter's priestess!" Rueger hissed.

Vyrissla nodded in an unconcerned manner. "They are but pawns you infidel. A test of our advisories abilities." The feather headed woman turned and looked directly at the goateed man, her eyes peening slightly. "Besides, it cuts down on the number of mouths to feed."

"Enough bickering." Priestess Sierra silenced the two. "Sir Kallok, it is time to make our intentions clear."

"Yes my lady. I have a battle ship standing ready to carry our planned strike." The diplomatic liaison and military advisor explained.

"Tell them to begin at once." Priestess Sierra ordered.

"By your leave my lady." Kallok said with an arm across his chest and a bow.

********

*** Bridge, USS Galaxy ***

"Status report?" Captain Price asked. The shock waves that rocked the Galaxy and Station Beta Two earlier had ceased along with the explosion of the space mass at the center of the universe. The Galaxy still rocked, however, as Lieutenant Ty Miran took the Starship through evasive maneuvers.

"Minimal damage to the shields Captain. It appears they are only sending in their smaller ships sir." Blair explained.

Lee nodded. "Aye. The larger vessels are standing back, watching and looking for weakness no doubt." The Captain glanced over to the Science station an Ensign Vo. "Any sign of the Cydonia Ensign?"

Vo shook her head. "No Captain. I can't detect them on the ship's sensors, and long range communications seem to be inoperable. The explosion of the space mass has left some kind of harmonic ringing that is interfering with Sub-space communications sir."

"Keep trying Ensign." The Captain said solemnly. Looking back at the view screen, he could see one of the larger Cooperative ships breaking formation with the others and approaching the Galaxy.

"One of the Cooperative Starships is getting ready to engage us Captain. They are on an intercept course." Lieutenant Blair explained.

"Ready all weapons. Intensify forward shields 'mate."

"Aye sir. They are firing their weapons sir!"

"Return fire Lieutenant. Fire at will." Lee ordered.

**********

*** Main Engineering, Deck 36, USS Galaxy ***

The Engineers of the Premier Galaxy Class Starship were working feverishly to supply the ship with the power needed to combat the attacking forces. Lieutenant Hutchcraft and his team were doing an excellent job.

"Watch those regulators crewman." Hutchcraft reminded. "We are running at one hundred and five percent on the matter anti-matter reactor. It could change in an eye blink."

"Aye sir. I'm on it!" the crewman said enthusiastically. Andrew wondered if it was because of a love for his job, or the adrenaline from this battle that made him answer so. He wouldn't have long to ponder the thought.

An eruption explodes in main engineering as an energy particle beam rips through the hull of the USS Galaxy. The explosive decompression of deck 36 startles everyone on in engineering. Many are initially thrown back from the beams explosive penetration. In less than a second, the penetration changes to an violent decompression as the atmosphere in the main engineering compartment begins to start blowing officers out of the five meter long hull breach. Andrew's eyes widen as he sees several of his men blown out of the hole, which offered an errie view of the brightening lights emanating from the explosion of the space mass at the center of the universe. Lieutenant Hutchcraft felt himself loosing his own footing as the atmosphere in the compartment swept him off his feet and hurdled him flying towards the open hole to space. The Chief Engineer remembered thinking this was it, as everything began to move in slow motion in the heat of the moment. Consigned that this was the end, Andrew was amazingly relaxed as his body began flipping head over toe when he approached the breach. It may have been his relaxed body that saved his life, or possibly shear luck as the emergency force field snapped into place in a glitter of baby blue light. Hutchcraft slammed into the force field and fell to the floor in a crash. A bit dazed, the Chief of Engineering shook his head as he cleared the dizziness of reduced atmosphere and his own tumbling. Turning, he realized he was standing besides the gaping hole in the Starship. He could see the tumbling bodies of at least three of his staff as they rushed away from the Galaxy in the vastness of space. Hutchcraft let out a sigh as he thought of the men he barely knew.

"Chief! The regulator appears to be stuck!"

Hutchcraft turned. It was the voice of the young crewman, a technician barely out of school. Some how he had managed to avoid being blown out of the hull breach like he had. Returning his thoughts to his present duties, Andrew stood and hurried to the crewman's station.

"We've got to reduce the flow immediately or the reactor will overload!"

**********

*** Bridge, USS Galaxy ***

"Hull breach in Main Engineering Captain!" Blair shouted as the galaxy lurched to the port side.

"Intensify phaser fire on that ship Lieutenant. Casey, activate emergency force fields to contain the breach." Price ordered.

"Another ship decloaking Captain. It looks like Ambassador tr'Herrian's ship sir. They are engaging the enemy Starship." Lieutenant Blair explained.

"Force fields in place Captain." Casey relayed.

"Bring us about Ty. Hard to starboard. Ready photon torpedoes."

"Coming about Captain." Miran responded.

"I have weapons lock Captain." Troy said excitedly.

"Do it 'mate. Blow them out of the sky."

"Firing."

A volley of photon torpedoes sped from the front of the Galaxy's launchers and impacted with the Cooperative Starship. Explosions rocked the enemy ship, long after the initial impacts as she moved away, eventually exploding as her reactors over loaded.

"We got them sir!" Blair exclaimed in an upbeat tone.

A tone rang out on the tactical station. Troy double checked it.

"Incoming transmission from the Void Cooperative Captain."

"On screen 'mate."

The image of the feather headed Vyrissla appeared. Sierra and Rueger could be seen standing back behind her, along with others from the Cooperative that Captain Price didn't recognize.

"Captain Price. I have been allowed to give you and your colleges one final chance to surrender and become part of the Void Cooperative. Surely you can see you are no match for our task force. You will be destroyed if you fight us." Vyrissla smiled slightly as she finished her sentence.

Lee shook his head, smiling slightly. "You are consistent Madam Vyrissla. However the USS Galaxy and Station Beta Two will not join your Cooperative. True you may be able to destroy us, however in a few minutes that will not matter. Once the shock wave from the space mass hits us, we will all be destroyed from the debris."

"You fool!" Vyrissla barked. "The space mass has periodic eruptions all the time. The wave will pass, as always."

Glancing over to Ensign Vo, Lee watched as she shook her head sideways. Confident that the Scientists from Station Beta Two and the Galaxy had correctly assessed the situation, Captain Price responded. "Not this time Vyrissla. You and your people are mistaken."

Vyrissla's eyes narrowed. "It is of no matter. Once we concour you, as we have done with all that oppose us, your ships, your station, your very lives will be ours to do with as we will! You could of been welcome members of our community Captain. Now, you will be welcome slaves." The feather headed woman motioned to her side and the transmission was cut off.

"It looks like they are preparing to come at us with the bulk of their Starships Captain." Lieutenant Casey explained.

"How is Station Beta Two faring in all of this?" Captain Price asked.

"The smaller ships tried to attach to her hull like before, but Commander Morris' strategy of keeping the station turning and tilting seemed to be an effective counter measure. The Station's weapons were able to destroy the invading small fighters in the confussion."

"Well that's good news. I doubt they will be trying that with those large Starships." Lee concluded.

"It might not be that bad Captain..." Casey hypothesized. "Though they have a large number of Starships, they might not all be one hundred percent functional. That space Fortress we toured would have to of been constructed by stripping parts from ships like these to survive."

"Let's hope so Lieutenant. Otherwise we don't stand a chance." Price looked back over to Ensign Vo. "Ensign, any sign of the Cydonia?"

"I am picking up something Captain... It looks like... like... Captain, It's another probe!" Mia said in amazement.

Lee stood up and looked at the view screen as he noted the rising tone in Ensign Vo's voice. That could only mean one thing. The Probe she was referring to was the same type that sent them all here originally.

"And the Cydonia 'mate? Any sign of her?"

"It's hard to isolate, wait! Yes sir, I have her now."

"Raise them." Price commanded.

["USS Galaxy, this is Lieutenant Mitchell. Have you detected the alien probe?"]

"Yes Lieutenant, we just picked it up a moment before you appeared. Glad you are still with us 'mate."

Mitchell smiled. ["We can say the same for you Captain. Lieutenant Commander Reix estimates the debris wave from the creation of the universe will be here in a matter of minutes."]

"Understood Lieutenant. Unfortunately, the Cooperative forces are readying their final assault. We won't be able to drop shields to let you dock I'm afraid."

["We understand Captain. We will continue scanning the probe and see if there is any way we can access it's systems. Right now it seems like our best hope of getting home. But given the amount of time we have..."] Mitchell's tone didn't sound very hopeful. Given the shining debris wave that was going to pummel them into space dust in a matter of minutes, it was perfectly understandable.

"Do your best 'mate. That's all anyone can ask. Captain Price out."

"They are splitting up their forces Captain. Half of the Starships are going after Station Beta Two, and the remainder are coming our way." Blair informed.

Sitting back down, Captain Price wrapped his hands over the arm rests of his chair. "Well, this is it 'mates. It will all be over, one way or another, in the next few minutes. Let's do it!"

Chiron ran around, helping Hutchcraft coax a few more terawatts out of the main engine core. He felt the excitement and determination of the rest of the Engineering staff, and shared it, too.

--Chiron, bring the nutation rate up to point-zero-one-five, and then increase the flow capacity of the coolant generators to 110%.--

-+OK, sir.+-

He performed the necessary calibrations, and just as he was about to finish, the deck heaved beneath him. Just as Chiron began to right himself again, the deck lurched, more violently than before. Chiron fell to the floor, and as he got back up, he heard Hutchcraft again.

--CHIRON!!! GET OUT OF THERE!!! We're gonna have explosive decompression in a few seconds! MOVE!--

The Tamarian looked up, and saw the glowing of the metal as it was subjected to the intense beam of colonated energy. He jumped to get out of the area, but he didn't seem to move anywhere. The air was rushing from the cabin like there was no tomorrow. Nature abhors a vacuum, but it seemed to Chiron that nature had a particular bone to pick with this particular vacuum. He held on for his life to the Central Operations Table, but the air pressure became too great, and his grip failed him.

He flew through the air... and right into the confinement beam which had snapped into place just at the right time. He hit it with a grunt, and slid to the floor. Just to his right sat Hutchcraft, who had also been "caught" by the force field. Chiron looked at him, and said -+It's not just Engineering

, it's an adventure, right?+-

Hutchcraft returned the look, and began to laugh.

[ The Schizoid Man ]

"Home Again?"
by Lt jg Jania Fowler SD 49706.20

"Fire!" said Cdr Morris. "Attack pattern Delta Three."

Photon torpedoes flashed out in a wide arch, splashing across the Void and across Void ships. As the concussion from the torpedoes pushed the various ships back, a gravitational wave came from behind them. There were terrific explosions as more than 20 ships were destroyed, and that many more damaged.

The USS Galaxy was firing in a spray pattern too, accomplishing the same thing. Hope flared in the hearts of the Federation officers for the first time in the last week. Jania could feel through out the room.

"Bring the redirective shields on-line," said Lt Cdr Seles to Lt Cohen. Jania was slowly learning names.

Three Void ships swooped in, firing phasers. They were aiming for the station's shield generators. The phaser fire bounced off the station's shields and right back at the Void ships, going through their shields. Jania let out a cheer.

The station rocked violently, causing several people to cling to their consoles for balance and support. Those that missed hit the floor. Jania picked herself up and went back to her console.

"Damage report!" called Seles.

"Shields are holding at 85%. We have power fluctuations on the lower decks and we have light casualty reports coming in," reported Ramone from OPS. Jania noticed he had managed to hold on.

"Keep the damage control teams on standby and direct the casualties to the Promenade Clinic," Seles said, thinking quickly. Jania turned back to her console and watched the intensity of the waves increase, as well as their frequency. Then, the mass exploded. A shock wave filled with matter pushed out in a circular pattern.

"The mass has exploded!" called out Jania. Clay nodded.

"There is a VERY large mass of material coming our way," he called out. 'Shock wave,' registered in everyone's mind.

"When is the shockwave going to hit us?" Katarina asked the Betazoid Science officer. Jania quickly pressed some buttons on her panel

"Fifteen minutes, 'Commander," she replied promptly.

"'Commander, I am picking up a ship on short range sensors...I believe it is the same configuration as the probe we encountered before we entered the Void." Jania didn't recognize the voice.

Off to the left, there was a flash of light. Katarina pointed at the screen.

"Look, the Probe!!" When she said that, the area was suddenly bathed in a bright white light.

Jania hoped they were going home as she rubbed at the blue rose necklace underneath her uniform.

"Chaos"
By Dr. Jacqueline Rousseau

Sickbay had little to no time to prepare for the flood of casualties that came pouring forth. Rousseau decided that, should she ever get out of this, she was taking a very LONG shore leave.

As was the rest of the ship, no doubt.

One after another case crossed her eyes, all devastating in some way or another to her hopes. Then, the hopeless ones started dying, as they had an annoying tendency to do, leaving Jacqueline with the often-said phrase of "if only there was more time..."

The laws of Triage stated she pass those with little to no chance of survival over for those with a higher chance. A doctor's greatest agony is having to watch as some tiny child suffers such a fate.

She didn't think about it then, doing such a thing would have been paralyzing to her and deadly to others. She simply continued forth through the crisis.

There were too many of them, so many tht there were makeshift beds strewn all over the floor for lack of any other available space. This would have been fine, had the tremors not started at about the same time.

For the first one, doctors and patients alike were thrown across rooms, creating even more injuries than before.

Jacqueline herself had struch her head against a pole, adding to the already huge list of minor injuries.

More and more patients flooded through, until Jacqueline was SURE she had the whole of the USS galaxy crammed into her sickbay.

She was relieved for a break of any kind.

"Price to Rousseau, status."

"Not good, Captain. There are more people in here right now than I care to count, and none of us are prepared to move to a cargo bay with these tremors hitting every few seconds."

"Understood. I can only tell you to hold tight. There are a bunch of Void ships flying in tight formation, headed this way. Prepare as best you can for anything."

"Aye sir. I'll do my best."

"That's all I ask. Price out."