
just let him know I’m here. Tell him I’m with the resistance. Let him decide.”
The guard with the tricorder held out his findings to the lieutenant. The Andorian took note of them and
seemed to waver. Then abruptly he tapped his combadge. “Th’Vraas to ops,” he said.
“Georgianos here,”a gruff voice bellowed.“Go ahead, Lieutenant.”
“Sir, I have the pilot of that shuttle we snagged. He claims to be with the Betazed resistance. He says he
needs to speak with you urgently.”
The deck shuddered again and Sark could hear a cacophony of activity over the lieutenant’s combadge.
After a moment it lessened, and the gruff voice returned.“Haul his ass up here, and make it fast.
Georgianos out.”
“Your lucky day,” the lieutenant said to Sark. “Follow me.” The Andorian turned and began marching
out of the bay, Sark falling in behind. As they moved into a corridor bustling with rushing Starfleet
personnel, waves of frenzied emotions assaulted Sark’s Betazoid sensibilities and he attempted to shield
his mind, but the feelings were too raw, too primal to block. Alongwith the strong determination and
heightened excitement, he could almost smell the fear. With the size of the Dominion force bearing down
on them, everyone on the station realized that within a matter of hours, they could all be dead.
An explosion cut through the corridor behind him, tearing into a knot of junior officers. One young man
landed a few feet away from Sark, eyes glazed, his left arm missing. Smoke, choking dust, and the
coppery stench of blood saturated the air. Sark reeled from the agonies of the wounded and dying that
jammed his mind. A dusky blue hand suddenly gripped his arm. “You all right?” Lieutenant th’Vraas
asked.
Steeling himself against the pain of those around him, Sark nodded once and let himself be led into a
turbolift. The ride to the base’s operations center was thankfully brief. As he entered, Sark suspected
that the station’s nerve center was being successfully targeted by the attacking ships. Damaged wires and
conduits dangled overhead, flames licked the weapons console, and smoke dimmed the room, but the
officers of Starbase 19 remained calm and focused, carrying out their duties as if the all-out attack were
no more than a drill.
In the center of the room, a short, stocky man with blond hair, intense gray eyes, and the framed pips of
an admiral on his collar snapped orders with precision.
“All phasers, fire,” he directed the tactical officer, and on a large viewscreen, a Jem’Hadar battleship
blossomed brilliantly as twin beams converged on its port engine nacelle. The admiral grunted in
satisfaction before turning. “Commander Stein, get a team on thosesensor arrays,” he called out as his
eyes settled on Sark. “I’m Admiral Georgianos. You have thirty seconds to tell me who the hell you are
and what brought you here.”
Quickly, Sark told him. And before his thirty seconds were up, Georgianos seemed to understand that
the Betazoids’ struggle to end the Dominion occupation of their planet had become desperate.
Before the admiral could respond, there was an announcement of incoming fire from tactical. An
explosion ripped through ops and knocked Sark to the floor, causing his vision to fail momentarily. He
struggled to his feet and saw Admiral Georgianos slumped against a railing, blood trickling from a gash on
his forehead. Another officer sprawled dead across the weapons console. Georgianos pulled himself to
his feet and wiped his face with his sleeve.