Star Trek: The voyages of the USS Apollo

Chapter Thirty Seven: The Threat to the Federation

When Chakotay said that the Cardassian Empire had built a ship that was powered by a star, the senior officers of the Apollo could not believe it. In the three years since being stranded in the Gamma Quadrant they had encountered many strange and unbelievable creatures, machines and anomalies. They had encountered weapons capable of destroying entire planets, they had encountered space faring creatures that, despite the dangers, thrived in even the most dangerous of nebulas. They had met intelligent alien races that were aquatic, plantoid and avian. They had even obtained the displeasure of meeting the mischievous Q species. But they had never expected a weapon powered by the sun!

Ethan looked on at Chakotay with disbelief on his face as he said "Powered by a star? How is that even possible?" Chakotay then walked to the door and said "Why don't we go down to the brig and interrogate the prisoner?" Chakotay then opened the door and everyone in the Conference Room followed him out to see the prisoner.

Although the rest of the U.S.S Pathfinder had been badly damaged by the Cardassian Empire, the brig was still in fairly good condition. While the force field at the cell was still working, the door to the brig was badly damaged and would take a few days to repair. Three security officers with red tactical uniforms were also in the brig and guarding the man in Cardassian military uniform who had revealed much of the Cardassian Empire's past, but had yet to reveal anything else. Joret Ghemor was convinced that he would soon escape. All his life he had been raised to believe one hundred percent in the ideals of the Cardassian Empire. The belief that the Cardassians were the purest of all species and had every right to rule the Galaxy and the belief that every other alien race were soulless abominations that should either be enslaved...or wiped out. Ghemor thought about how he would make his escape and return to the Empire. His plan was to pretend to be suffering from an asthma attack of some kind and the guards would take him to sickbay. He would pretend to be unable to walk and once handed to the doctor he would take the doctor hostage and make his way to a shuttle. As he thought deeply about this plan he saw ten high ranking Starfleet officers enter the brig. Among them being Vice Admiral Chakotay, the man who had managed to capture him. Ghemor was about to put his plan into motion, but then he recognised the Human Rear Admiral standing next to Vice Admiral Chakotay. He had seen the recording of this man hundreds of times throughout his life and he had been told that he was long dead. Having been killed when his ship was destroyed by the blast caused by "The Great Wormhole" as his people called it. But there was no doubt, there was no mistaking it. This was Ethan Rivers.

Ghemor stood up from his bed and walked over to the force field with a shocked look on his face. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating and said "Captain Ethan Rivers?" Ethan pointed at his two golden rectangular pins on his collar and said "It's Rear Admiral now. I was promoted last year." Ghemor could not believe what he was seeing. He wanted to believe it, but he couldn't. In pure and utter disbelief, Ghemor laughed and said "Oh I see. We're on a holodeck aren't we? This is but a holographic simulation of Ethan Rivers!" Chakotay shook his head and said "No. This is the real thing. I don't know that they taught you in the Imperial School or whatever it is you call it, but Rear Admiral Rivers did not die that day. He and his Crew were pulled into the Wormhole before it closed and deposited in the present time at the same location the True Way arrived at so many years ago." Ghemor laughed even more, knelt against the wall with his right elbow and said "Yes of course and I'm Emperor Madred!" Ghemor then laughed more and Ethan had just about enough. Ethan looked over at his wife T'Vrell and said "Lieutenant, would you be so kind for as to enact a mind meld with the prisoner and find out about this ship that is powered by a star?" T'Vrell obliged and said "Of course Rear Admiral."

The guard next to the cell then pressed the button to deactivate the force field and two other guards quickly restrained Ghemor as his amused smile disappeared from his cocky face. T'Vrell then walked forward and held her fingers across each side of Ghemor's face. T'Vrell then uttered the words "My mind to your mind. Your thoughts to my thoughts." and the mind meld began. As Ghemor screamed in agony at his futile attempts at resisting the meld, T'Vrell saw his many memories throughout his life. Such as when he first enlisted at the Cardassian Imperial Academy and his rigorous training as a soldier that lasted an entire year before being fully commissioned into the Imperial Guard. But what T'Vrell also saw was the C.I.S.S Supernova, a city sized ship that was powered by a star the size of a town as it's Warp Core and how that star had been created artificially from the chemical remnants of a star that went supernova. Over one thousand scientists had been involved in it's creation and how the Supernova was capable of destroying an entire planet in mere minutes. But what was most horrifying was that the Cardassian Empire was planning to use this ship on an attack against the ones they blamed for Cardassia's downfall: the United Federation of Planets.

Upon seeing the Cardassian Empire's endgame, T'Vrell let go of Ghemor with a look of shock an absolute horror on her face. Vulcans were known for controlling their emotions in favour of logic, but there were cases where emotions surfaced. Most notably during the Pon Farr, when a Vulcan man or woman took a mate. But there were cases where emotions emerged in-between the Pon Farr and this was one such case. Ethan had always known his wife to be a very logical and refined person who did not often show fear, but always showed devotion to her family. But now T'Vrell showed genuine absolute fear at what she had seen. Worried for T'Vrell, Ethan asked her "Are you alright?" As T'Vrell regained control of her emotions, she answered while breathing heavily "Yes. I am now." Chakotay, hoping to get answers regarding the Supernova, then asked "What did you find out about the Supernova?" T'Vrell then answered in her usual calm and controlled voice "It would appear that the Cardassian Empire developed the Supernova over a course of one hundred years. The Supernova is powered by a star that is roughly the size of a town with a population of twenty five thousand residents. The name "Supernova" is also a reference to how they managed to create the star." Curious for as to how the Cardassians managed to create an actual star, Captain Kim asked "How did they create a star?" T'Vrell then answered "They used chemicals and gases left over from a star that underwent a supernova roughly one thousand years ago. Using those chemicals they recreated the process in which a star is born and thus a proto-star was created and powers the Supernova to this day. But the most disturbing detail is that the Empire plan to use the Supernova for an invasion into Federation space very soon."

While they had all expected to hear that the Cardassian Empire had created many horrifying weapons of war, they had never expected to hear that the Empire had made a weapon that was powered by an actual star! Terrified and worried for the fate of the Federation, Jodem Tal asked "What's their first target?" T'Vrell answered "First they will attack the colonies around the Bajoran Wormhole's Gamma Quadrant end and then they will attack Deep Space Nine." Toral Laren, who had grown up hearing stories of the Cardassian defeat in the Bajoran Rebel Campaign and worried for the fate of her homeworld, then asked in a worried voice "Do they plan to retake Bajor?" Everyone expected T'Vrell to answer yes, but to their surprise she answered "No. They plan to destroy it." The faces of everyone else in the room all turned white. They had not expected to hear that the Cardassians were going to destroy Bajor, a planet of over nine billion people. Horrified at the very idea, Ethan asked "How could they destroy an entire planet?" T'Vrell was about to answer, but then they all heard slight laughter coming from the cell behind her. They all looked to see Joret Ghemor laughing maniacally as he said "You really want to know how we're going to rid the Galaxy that rightfully belongs to us of that pitiful little planet next to our wormhole?" Offended that Ghemor had reffered to her home world as a "pitiful little planet" Laren angrily asked "Well I don't know, how?" Ghemor laughed even more as he said "The star we use to power the Supernova can eject it's power in the form of a blast that can scorch the entire planet! So by the time you reach the Alpha Quadrant, Bajor will be little more than a burning barren rock!"

Ghemor then laughed even more and T'Vrell said "He's telling the truth. The Supernova ejects energy from the star like a bullet from a gun and that energy is enough to destroy an entire planet in an instant." Realising exactly what was at stake, Ethan said "Then we need to find a way to destroy that ship before it heads for the Alpha Quadrant." Chakotay agreed and said "Very well Rear Admiral. We can start by figuring out just how that damn doomsday machine words and we can do that by headed to the place where the Cardassian Empire designed it." While having a very bad feeling on what Chakotay was talking about, Alisha asked "Just where is that?" Chakotay had a look of determination on his face as he answered "Exactly where the Cardassian Empire has lead their campaign of tyranny and destruction: New Cardassia Prime." Looks of worry and shock covered the faces of the Starfleet officers around Chakotay as they understood that they had to infiltrate the capital planet of the Cardassian Empire in order to find a way to stop the C.I.S.S Supernova before it could be sent to lead the invasion into the Alpha Quadrant. But Ethan had a look of determination to stop the descendants of the same people who had stranded him and his Crew in the Gamma Quadrant for three years as he said "Then in that case let's save the Galaxy." So began a difficult chapter in the voyages of the U.S.S Apollo and the rest of the Fleet. The chapter in which they would have to battle the descendants of the same people who had robbed them of so much precious and loving time with their families. They were the scourge upon the Galaxy, they were the threat to freedom and the danger to the very existence of democracy. They were the descendants of the True Way and the ones determinted to conquer the Galaxy for themselves, they were the Cardassian Empire.