The Hour of the Wolf
Chapter Forty-Three

Authors Note:-

Oh boy, I've wanted to get this one out for a while but the usual excuses of writers block, not enough time and life in general got in the way. I will try my best to get more chapters out soon but I don't know if I can promise anything.

I am sorry, but for the meanwhile on with the show!

Chapter Forty-Three

The trade meeting opened, as they always seemed to in these dark times, with a report on the status of the ongoing war. Stalemate.

While there were always rumours of moves being made behind the scenes and forces massing on both sides for weeks now nothing significant had happened. It was as if both sides were waiting for the other to make the first move and the tension was beginning to get to everyone. Especially the so called trade guilds. Those species that were allowed to conduct trade both within and outside of the borders of the great Dominion

After the Karemma minister, the de-facto head of the trade committee, had finished telling the rest of them how nothing had significantly changed he began outlining new trade routes around occupied or unstable sectors of what remained of Dominion Space.

'Enough Ornithar, if there was a Jem'Hadar here you would have bored them into a coma by now!' The Minister from the Dosi interrupted, taking a long drink from his tall glass. 'We have more important things to talk about!'

'Nor'ec!' Another committee member said quickly, glancing at their guest. At the far end of the table sat a figure in a hood and cowl. Their features hidden.

Nor'ec finished his glass and began to refill it. 'Oh yes our mysterious guest. Invited by the worthy first minister himself.' he said mockingly. 'I suspect it's just some Karemma spy that's overly paranoid. If the Jem'Hadar, or the Vorta, had any idea of what we were planning we would already be dead.'

The others around the table looked more nervous.

In anger the Dosi threw his glass on the ground. 'We've waited long enough and your fear is their greatest weapon. We strike now! We already have enough solders in the right places to sweep aside the Vorta! We can finally be free of Dominion, once and for all?'

'And what of the Founders?' asked the cloaked figure in a low, careful, voice

'What of them?' Nor'ec asked. 'If any still survive they will be powerless. The Vorta will be gone and the Jem'Hadar can't scratch an itch without orders. The only one of them with half a brain was that Roe. With him dead the whole species could be out thought by a four day old!'

Ornithar tried to stop the boastful Dosi but he he had lost all patience. 'I say attack now!' he continued regardless. 'We have enough people on this station and enough weapons we strike hard and fast at the Vorta here at least. Wiping out their command structure. We can use the communications on this station and have word sent to our homes before they even know what is happening!'

There was a low sound, it could have been a chuckle but it was more like a growl, coming from the hooded figure. 'With what? Weapons you have collected. Stolen from depots or constructed in secret. Half trained revolutionaries, fanatics and fools? They are not enough.'

'How can you be so sure?' Another trader pressed, obviously suspicious. 'Just who are you?'

Sitting up to their full hight the figure removed their hood, revealing the face of a Jem'Hadar. Panic struck the conspirators as they jumped away from the table. They hadn't even suspected he could be Jem'Hadar, simply because they had never seen one sit before. Most didn't think it was even possible. Before they could flee he spoke again; 'This room is surrounded. A transporter jammer, the one you set up, prevents your escape as well as reinforcements.' They explained in a cold, dead voice. 'Sit back down.'

'What if we kill you?' the Dosi threatened halfheartedly.

'Then you are fools. If you were able to kill me my men would swarm this room and leave no one alive. And in doing so we would kill the Dominion, as surely as this rebellion will fail if you do not listen.' The Jem'Hadar commander warned them.

'We should hear him out.' Ornithar suggested.

'You! You were the one that invited it here!' One of the attendees accused him.

It was pointless to deny it. 'Yes, it was I. The First already knew who I was, who we were. They've known for a long time what we were planning. They just chose not to do anything about it. He came to me, told me what he's going tell you and I decided to let him. I suggest you hear him out.'

The Jem'Hadar looked at each of the delegates as they slowly headed back to the table. 'You talk of fighting an enemy, but you talk of the wrong foe. The Founders are not your enemy. We Jem'Hadar are not your enemy. Your enemy are the Cylons. They will kill all of you, Slaughter your people, strip-mine your worlds and will not even leave a memory of you, or the Dominion in their wake. I have seen the worlds they have conquered. There is nothing left. Only by standing together can we defeat such evil, but we do not. We argue, plot rebellion and plan to assassinate our own. Why? Because there is another enemy. The Vorta. Our devotion to the Founders is without measure, but never to the Vorta. They know this, so they enslave my kind to the White then order us to enslave your people. We have no choice in the matter. We are as much trapped as you are.'

'What do you propose?' Ornithar asked, already knowing the answer himself, but for the benefit of the others.

'Since the destruction of their home the Founders have come to rely even more on the Vorta. In their blasphemy they have begun to see themselves as powerful as the Founders, knowing that we cannot disagree. It was they who killed the First of Firsts, because they could not stand the idea that one of us was more suited to lead than they could ever be. The Vorta have, in their blindness, ordered us to attack a Cylon world. They wish us to slaughter ourselves. It will fail.' He said with savage intensity.

As the Committee thought this over the First visibly calmed himself, much to every ones shock. 'This attack the Vorta have ordered will lead to retribution. With the bulk of our forces destroyed in this pointless effort there will be very little to stop the Cylons from killing you all. There must be another way. A better way and there is. When we Jem'Hadar have proven that we will sweep away the Vorta in one swift move. But we are warriors, not administrators. You are administrators, not warriors. The solution is obvious.'

'You, you want us to replace the Vorta?' Nor'ec gasped. 'That's insanity…'

'With the support of the Jem'Hadar…'

Another representative shook their head. 'I believe you, warrior, but not all your kind follow you. Without the complete support of all you invite the same civil war you're trying to stop.'

'Not if we convince the Founder themselves.'

Sela looked at the most recent reports from the Klingon civil war. It was chaos, she wasn't sure how those barbarians kept track of everything. The shifting alliances, betrayals and different factions were as fluid and shifting as the Romulan senate. Family alliances stretching centuries were being broken, while once rivals were joining forces for little or no reason Sela could grasp. She never wanted to go into politics but to advance in Romulan society you had to. Despite their barbarism, or perhaps because of it, Klingon governance was a tangled mess she could spend a lifetime trying to manage.

That lifetime might be very short. The First Proconsul was getting nervous, starting to distance himself from the reports she was filing. They were meeting less frequently and his instructions were becoming increasingly vague. It might have just been paranoia, but the way things were spiralling out of control distance meant that he was washing his hands of the project. A project that, should it go this badly, meant execution.

She needed a victory, something that would put things back on track. The Duras sisters were wining the war at the moment, but that could easily change. All too easily. Her attention went back to the reports of these new trade ships, and the strange one man fighters that had been showing up across the quadrant.

So far they had been reluctant to help Gowron. Giving basic humanitarian aid to civilians caught in the crossfire, but nothing more. Only defending themselves when provoked, but what a defence.

She needed to provoke them, push them to reveal more than what they had already without disclosing more than she should. Sela immediately dismissed using the Duras Sisters. She didn't trust them. Not that trust came easy to a Romulan, but they were more dishonest than most. That meant using her own forces. The Tal'Shiar were out of the question. Whatever they found out would be classified, hidden and when they did eventually share there was no possibly any of it would be the truth.

This was where a delicate touch was needed. Wait for the opportunity and strike. Luckily the Proconsul's lack of faith gave her just the room she needed.

They were still meeting on the Galactica and Adama felt older than ever. Ever since he'd announced his plans to step down the Council had been alternatively eager and nervous. Constantly pushing back the date, wanting to make a grand spectacle of it. The crowning achievement, saying it would truly be the end of their journey. Eventually he pinned them down to when the Capitol building was commissioned. Until then he still had the weight of the Fleet on his shoulders.

Fortunately today was not a meeting of the Council of the Thirteen. Today was an update on joint fleet operations. The so called Marine corps. Adama had to admit he was impressed. For a people that had shunned war for tens of yahen they still had good instincts and despite it all they still strived for peace. That said, through Adama and his own people's painful example, they had learned that peace at any price is often too high a cost.

He looked around the table. 'So, what is the status of our latest joint project? The Defiant isn't it?'

Benjamin stood up with a grin and tapped away on his PADD. Adama glanced down and saw a diagram appear on his own, along with other information and some images. 'Work has already begun. Because of the size of the ship we were able to keep construction in system. A small dock on the new repair yard over New Kobol.'

'I'm still not happy about this, any of this.' Alynna shook her head. 'Why does it have to be a warship?'

'It's an escort vessel. Not a dedicated warship.' Benjamin corrected. 'A good portion of advanced Colonial technology is weapons based, or military at least. If we are going to integrate we need to include weapons systems from both Federation and Colonial forces.'

'But not this many weapons!' She jabbed at her own PADD. 'Turbo lasers, photon torpedoes and multiple redundant phaser arrays? This so called escort ship of yours outclasses anything remotely it's equal in size.'

'Intimidation.' Adama pointed out. 'That's all we're doing here Alynna. No one here wants to use these weapons, but we will if we have to.'

Alynna shook her head. 'And that's the point. Even if we have these ships we will have to prove we are willing to use them. When that happens we go from being defensive to offensive and that I object to! I cannot object strongly enough.'

'Admiral, you agreed to this…'

'As a theoretical, but his is all together too fast for my liking.' She admitted. 'I want some assurances. This is a prototype only. When completed we will test the results, analyse them and see what we have learnt for future projects but the Defiant is one of a kind.'

Adama looked at the rest of the members of the committee. A few were nodding in agreement while Benjamin and Tigh obviously disagreed. 'Compromise.' he proposed quickly. 'The Defiant is over gunned, especially for a ship this size.'

'Adama, that was the whole point! We need to stretch our power output, to learn just how much we can push things.' Tigh protested

'I said compromise old friend.' Adama smiled. 'It's too late to change the Defiant now, but future designs will look at just how practical over loading the ship would be. Be honest Tigh, it's an impressive vessel but it does not need dual turbo-lasers.' he pointed out.

Tigh had the good grace to look guilty. 'We may have gotten carried away on some aspects.'

Benjamin nodded. 'If we do commission the class we might have to scale somethings back'

'Satisfied Alynna?'

The young Admiral looked back at her PADD. 'Almost. We still have to see if it works at all, but if it does and we decide to commit to building more Defiant class ships I want to be more involved. I want to be included in every aspect of the design process. Have more input than the occasional meeting.'

J.P. sat back a looked out the window. 'I have to admit I don't like this.'

'Admiral?'

He shook his head. 'I accept the project as a stepping stone, but I still don't see the need for a vessel like this in the fleet. Battlestars. Akira class. Vipers. Defiant fills a gap I don't think exists and as long as we waste resources on this project we're not building more Akira. So far we have only have three, The Akira, Thunderchild and Stormbringer but not enough crew and certainly not enough Vipers for them. This new class you're talking about? We haven't the manpower for them and I for one don't want to split what limited crews we have between a now proven design and a complete prototype. For gods sake, we've only just got the Akira working! What if there's more unexpected issues with this new type of ship?'

This was a problem, As one of the senior members of committee the Admiral could dismiss the whole project. It needed all of them to agree to it. Adama could see the use of a lighter escort vessel. During the Exodus he would have given almost anything for a small number of support vessels. Just to help defend the fleet. While the Akira was impressive a Defiant sized ship would have been a gift from the Lords. 'So what do you suggest?'

'A recruitment drive.' J.P suggested. 'I've had my people look into this. Since the Cardassian border wars we've had a number of officers that excelled in military engagements and are being wasted in administration roles today. There's already been problems. Captain Ben Maxwell was a good man, a great Captain with the unquestionable loyalty of his men.'

'Ben Maxwell snapped.' Alynna pointed out. 'He became convinced there was a conspiracy on behalf of the Cardassians to rearm a number of outposts along the border.'

'They were.' J.P. pointed out. 'Which is part of the problem. We can play peace all we want but with the Klingons flying apart right now and the Romulans sniffing around our borders? The Cardassians are the least of our worries and they're just the ones we actively know are out to get us. It's only a matter of time before something out there snaps and that's when this group will have to act. The people we are going to need when that happens are out there, right now. Spinning their wheels, seeing what we see and going stir crazy thinking we're not ready.'

'A recruitment drive.' Adama repeated, trying out the words.

J.P. nodded. 'I've already got a shortlist of officers I think we need. We give the go head here I can have the transfer orders within the day.'

'I want to see that list before I agree to anything.' Alynna insisted. 'I won't have unstable people like Ben Maxwell at in command of a Battlestar!'

'If I suggest we also look at cadets.' Benjamin pointed out.

'Cadets?'

'Or at the least those that have just graduated the Academy. They would be the best suited as Viper pilots if nothing else.'

Tigh agreed. 'We will need the pilots, we could even send some Warriors to evaluate candidates early.'

'Again, I'd want to see it done right. If you do send Warriors I want my own staff to be there.' Alynna wavered. 'And psychological reviews. We need trained therapists, make sure everyone is stable.'

'So, assuming we are able to get enough crew and that the prototype works would you approve the Defiant class?' Adama asked.

J.P. took a moment. 'If the prototype convinces me?' he asked himself. 'I'll have to see then.'

'Then we have our priorities. You and Alynna can get to work on increasing our numbers, Tigh and Benjamin will continue to work on the Defiant and I'll assign some warriors I can trust to begin pilot training.'

The members around the table nodded their agreement, Alynna included. 'Before we get to work on that I have one more item we need to look at. Since the recent attack and rescue of our ship from Klingon space we've received a request. Colonel Martok, High Chancellor Gowron's officer in charge of developing their fighter program has had some difficulties. He wants to come and discuss them with us.'

'This is since they found out about the Pegasus?' Tigh guessed.

'I suspect that might be the case.' Adama agreed.

'Perhaps it was a mistake to show our hand.' J.P. suggested.

Adama disagreed. 'After the unprovoked attack we needed to show just what we were capable off. The reports of the Pegasus will get around, next time someone tries to ambush one of our ships and hurts my people they'll think twice.' Attacking a humanitarian mission? Adama was never going to stand for that, even if it could be seen as over reacting to send a fully equipped Battlestar if he was going to make a point he wanted that point recognised.

'We can't lead him to New Kobol. I don't trust him, the High Chancellor I mean.' Tigh announced. 'Despite all they say their honour is empty. Worf is perhaps the only exception.'

'I disagree. I suspect there are many warriors amongst them, like Worf, that do possess honour. Unfortunately it appears that it's their leaders that are willing to forsake their beliefs. I agree Gowron may not be perfect, but he is by all accounts better than the alternative and we should help.'

'Have him meet with a support ship in a neutral location.' Alynna suggested. 'We could send either the Pegasus or Galactica to meet with them.'

'Are we sure we want the Klingons to have fighter technology?' J.P. asked honestly.

'They've already seen what it can do for them, it's only a matter of time before they have something on their own. Working together would be less dangerous, for everyone.' Adama asserted. 'Alynna's idea is our best option. I'll see to that myself as well.'

End Chapter Forty-Three