General Martok and lieutenant commander Worf are supervising repairs to the Negh'Var while Commander Dax and the remaining members of my engineering staff struggle to repair the damage to our reactor core. While I remain hopeful, Dax doesn't believe the reactor can be saved.

Perhaps repairs to the station would be going more smoothly if chief O'Brien and major Kira were here to help. Both of them are aboard the Enterprise, barely clinging to life. All of the wounded have been moved to the Federation starships orbiting the station. They're the lucky ones I suppose, all of the other Ops personnel were killed in the attack. Over two-hundred station personnel, Federation and Bajoran, dead by this latest Dominion attack and I couldn't do a damned thing about it.

Thank God Jake wasn't here to see this. 
 

Captain Benjamin Sisko stared out the window of his office into the cold void of space. He felt the anger boiling inside him as he thought about the dead. Too many dead, and how many more must die before this war is finished.

His attention was drawn to the Starfleet engineering teams currently reattaching and repairing the pylon that had been severed from the station during the attack. They worked quickly and efficiently in their space suits.

Another hour or so, Sisko thought, and they would be completely finished.

Several shuttles and runabouts ferried supplies to the engineers as they worked. He quickly counted the engineers. Over a hundred personnel working outside the station. At least that many were aboard the station assisting Dax and the others in regaining control of the reactor.

Something Sisko could not put his finger on bothered him. Not knowing what bothered him bothered him even more.

Waiting bothered him the most.

Sisko was drawn from his silent brooding by the sounds of footsteps moving in the rubble behind him. He turned to see Dax moving through the broken office doors.

God, she looked exhausted. I should be helping her, he thought.

"Benjamin, I don't think we can save the reactor."

" What you mean, old man."

Dax sighed heavily. " This reactor was never designed to take the amount punishment it's been through. We can barely keep it from going critical now."

Sisko sat down hard in his chair.

" You're telling me there's nothing we can do?" He said in disbelief.

" I'm saying that nothing short of a miracle is going to prevent it from overloading. It's just a matter of time now before we're forced to jettison the reactor to keep from blowing up the station."

Sisko shook his head slowly. The weight of the situation pressed down upon him. They had won the battle, but were going to lose the war.

"If O'Brien were here I'm sure he would come up with something. Besides, the starfleet engineers assigned to assist us aren't helping any."

"What do you mean?"

"They're severing power conduits all over the station." Dax replied.

"Severing them!" Sisko exclaimed, standing.

They're running new conduits." Dax explained. "Starfleet issue."

Sisko moved around his desk and started towards the door straightening his uniform.

"Don't they know that our technology isn't compatible with Cardassian. We need those conduits intact." Sisko growled angrily.

"I came to you as soon as I could." Dax said as she followed him. "I don't think they care about saving the reactor."

Sisko moved behind the Ops turbolift and started down the stairs to the lower levels, his blood boiling.

"I don't care who's it charge of this battle group, this station is still mine." 

"It's almost as if they were waiting on something." Dax said.

"That's it!" Sisko stopped.

"What?"

" Something has been bothering me ever since Starfleet got here. How were so many engineers dispatched so quickly to help with repairs to the station? And how did they know what supplies they would need?"

" They do seem to have a lot of specialized parts. Specialty items not generally carried on Federation starships." Dax said.

Sisko began walking again.

Sisko and Dax entered the next level of the station.

"Do you think Starfleet Intelligence had some kind of warning of the Dominion attack?" Dax asked.

" I don't know." Sisko began, " but I'm damned sure going to find out."

Sisko's pace quickened. 

He turned the corner and almost ran straight into Fleet Admiral Alynna Necheyev. Behind her stood Admiral Jellico and an extremely young admiral Sisko instantly recognized but could not place him.

" Admiral Necheyev," Sisko began. " I didn't know you aboard the station. We're still having problems with our communications."

" I realize that, captain." Necheyev replied quickly. " We don't have a lot of time so we beamed over to speak with you directly."

"Our briefing room is just down this hall." Sisko said, pointing down the hallway behind the admirals. He noticed Dax eyeing the young admiral closely. She recognized him as well.

Without a word, Necheyev and the other two admirals turned and started back the way they had came.

Sisko glanced at Admiral Necheyev's rank insignia, noting the five pips she wore. Only during war was a five star admiral appointed by the Federation Council. The looked at Dax and she shrugged. She had not heard of Necheyev's promotion either.

In the back of Sisko's mind, the knew things were going to get worse.

As the group entered the briefing room, Necheyev turned and spoke directly to Dax.

" I'm sorry commander but this briefing is strictly on a need-to-know basis and you don't have a need to know."

Dax opened her mouth to reply but Sisko spoke first.

" Commander Dax was just on her way back to join the engineering team working on the reactor," he said turning to her. "Weren't you commander."

Regret showed in Sisko's eyes and fire glowed in Dax's.

" Yes, of course." the Trill replied acidly.

Sisko knew that Dax wasn't used to being treated like this. However, he knew that there was a protocol to be followed. Dax knew it also.

Without another word, she turned and left the briefing room.
 

Admiral Necheyev and the other two admirals walked to the end of the conference table and sat. Sisko joined sat at his usual position at the other end of the table, facing the admirals. 

"We will begin when the other captains arrive in a few moments, captain." Necheyev said after a few seconds. 

Several seconds passed. 

Sisko watched the two junior admirals closely. Both seemed as impatient as he was about waiting. They looked at each other and then to admiral Necheyev.

Finally, Jellico broke the silence.

"How's your father doing, captain Sisko?"

"Fine, sir." Sisko replied quickly. "Business is slow according to him. Of course, if a single table is open he complains."

Jellico smiled. "It's been a while since I've seen him. I'll have to drop by the next time I get back to Earth."

"The food gets better every time I go there." the young admiral stated, using a distinctive southern accent.

Sisko knew that voice.

His mind raced through his past. Where had he heard that voice before?

The young admiral leaned back in his chair, remembering. 

"Ben used to spend hours talking to Dax about Sisko's aboard the Livingston. Called it 'the best Creole restaurant in all of New Orleans'."

The Livingston?

Sisko remembered the voice at the mention of the U.S.S. Livingston. The voice of his first starship captain.

Alexander Goodwin Pierce.

"Captain Pierce?" Sisko asked quietly.

"Well, it's admiral now but I guess I'll let that pass." Pierce replied, winking at the confused captain.

Memories of the Livingston flooded back to Sisko.

Impossible, Sisko thought to himself. Pierce was in his late forties when he and Dax had served aboard the Livingston. The admiral looked at least ten years younger than that now.

The briefing room door suddenly slid open, admitting captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise, captain Morgan Bateson of the Bozeman, and captain Mackenzie Calhoun of the Excalibur.

The three captains, Sisko noted, visibly stiffened upon seeing admiral Necheyev and avoided making eye contact with her or the other admirals. 

Calhoun.

Sisko was stunned. It had been years since he had seen his former shipmate. Calhoun had served along with he and Dax on the Livingston.

What the hell was going on, Sisko wondered.

"Please sit down captains, we have a lot of material to cover." the senior admiral said.

The three captains sat down in the vacant chairs close to Sisko.

Immediately, admiral Necheyev stood and walked to the main viewer. She inserted a small data crystal into the viewer and instantly the screen displayed the image of a ship, a ship Sisko had only recently knew existed.

The Dominion battleship.

"This briefing is classified." Necheyev announced. "You are ordered not to discuss this information with anyone outside your respective command staffs."

Sisko glanced at Calhoun, who nodded at him and smiled. He was remembering too.

"This ship entered the Badlands ten days ago with the armada that attacked Deep Space Nine today. 

"Starfleet Intelligence believes that it, along with another task force will attack here again in just under seventy-two hours."

Anger flared in Sisko again.

Starfleet knew about the Dominion attack.

"Why wasn't I informed of this before the attack?" he demanded, clinching his fists on the table.

Necheyev stared at Sisko for what seemed like an eternity without replying. Then, slowly her features softened. Sisko could see pain in her eyes.

"Intell presented it's report to me. I delivered it to the Federation Council. The decision was made not to inform you but to send reinforcements to aid you."

"We would have gotten here sooner captain Sisko, but a Cardassian task force was waiting for us at the edge of the Bajoran system." Admiral Jellico added.

"They wanted to make sure that no one interfered with the attack." Necheyev said moving back to her seat. 

"Why wasn't I told!" Sisko said raising his voice. 

Sisko started to stand but felt a hand holding his left arm. He looked and saw captain Picard shaking his head slowly, silently warning his to control himself.

"We didn't want to tip our hand too soon, Ben." admiral Pierce said slowly, choosing his next words with care.

"Intell has been gathering information on the battleship for over a year. The Valiant was only part of a larger network. We needed to wait until the Dominion was finished shaking down it's new toy in order to lure out into the open. The first attack was meant to destroy DS9's defenses. The second is designed to retake or destroy it. If we had told you about the attack ahead of time and prepared you, they may have chosen not bring in their big gun for round two."

"So you decided to use us as bait." Sisko said flatly. He saw the logic in their tactic, but it didn't make it any better.

People had died to protect their secret. His people.

"What about the Cardassian force we encountered before arriving here?" Picard asked the admirals. "Surely the Central Command must know we destroyed them."

"Not very likely." captain Calhoun announced.

"Before we left the Excalibur scattered uridium particles throughout the combat area. The concentrations should still be high enough to confuse the hell out of their sensors."

"And if they scan too closely, there's a chance they could detonate the uridium."captain Bateson added.

Admiral Jellico stared at Calhoun with a look of annoyance on his face. Calhoun ignored the scorning from the senior officer as admiral Pierce stood and walked to the view screen. 

The image of the battleship was replaced by a map of the Badlands.

"We believe that the Dominion has a base somewhere here," Pierce said, indicating an area of the map.

"As you know, the Voyager was lost in this area. Some in Intell believe that the Dominion have had a base in the Badlands for years. However, this is merely speculation. There's no hard data to support this."

"You believe Voyager may have found this base while pursuing the Maquis." Calhoun stated.

Pierce shrugged.

"Some say that," Pierce replied, looking at Jellico. "... but I doubt it. The Dominion didn't have ships in the Alpha quadrant then."

"You sound positive."

"I am. It's more likely that the Cardassians had a base there at one time and that the Dominion is now using to stage their attacks."

"How is it that the Maquis didn't find this base?" Bateson asked. "They practically mapped the Badlands themselves when they hid out there."

"Yes. Since the war with the Dominion, most members of the Maquis have been given amnesty." Calhoun said, almost to himself. "You would think that they would be glad to help against the Cardassians." 

"Yes, you would think." Admiral Necheyev said, standing.

All eyes focused on the senior admiral.

"Gentlemen, we don't have time to speculate on what may or may not be." Necheyev said, placing her hands on the table.

"We have limited facts. Now we have to use those facts to our advantage and prepare for what is to come."

Necheyev stared directly at Sisko. He returned her stare and instantly knew the decision not to inform him had ultimately been hers.. He saw regret in her eyes and something else.

Fear.

Sisko knew what must be done.

"What are your orders, Admiral?" 

"As you've probably been informed, your reactor cannot be repaired."

"Yes, but my science officer hasn't given up hope yet." He replied, lying. Perhaps if they had more time, he thought.

"You won't have time to repair it, Ben." Pierce said quietly.

"With all due respect sir, you do don't know that and I will not give up, now."

"In the next sixty or so hours, Deep Space Nine's reactor core will be replaced with a new one." Necheyev said, glancing down at Pierce.

"A new one!" Sisko exclaimed. He stood quickly before he could be restrained.

He could not believe what he was hearing. The highest echelon of Starfleet Command had gone insane. 

"First of all, a new Cardassian reactor core isn't something we just have lying around. Second..."

"Captain Sisko. Please, sit down." Necheyev commanded sternly. The emphases she placed on his rank made Sisko think twice about another outburst.

A shouting match against the highest ranking member of Starfleet wouldn't look good on your annual performance report, Sisko thought to himself.

"The new reactor you are getting is Starfleet issue." Jellico said with an off-handed smile. He seemed to be enjoying Sisko's confusion.

"I've been informed by my chief of operations that even under the best conditions, installing a new reactor would take weeks." Sisko replied quickly, sitting down slowly. "These are hardly the best conditions."

"We agree. That's why we brought the additional engineering teams to assist you."

Picard, who had been silent until now finally spoke.

"You sound as if you knew what was going to happen here today."

"We had information that led us to believe that the Dominion was planning to render DS9's reactor inoperable. We prepared accordingly." Jellico said in a tone that seemed that he was more than a little annoyed that he was answering the questions of a subordinate. 

It seemed, Sisko thought, that admiral Jellico thought as highly of Picard as he did Calhoun.

"Captains Bateson and Calhoun." Necheyev said.

Once again, the admiral had the attention of everyone assembled.

"You two will take the Bozeman and the Excalibur into the Badlands. Using the technical data being sent to your ships, you will find the Dominion staging base and destroy it."

"That sounds simple enough." Calhoun said, thankful to have something to do.

"If you enjoy looking for a needle in a haystack." Bateson replied quietly.

"Excuse me, captain Bateson." Necheyev said, raising her voice slightly. "If you find your orders beneath you, perhaps we can find something closer to your needs."

The briefing room grew slightly colder.

"No, sir." Bateson replied, standing and quickly coming to attention. Calhoun joined him.

"Good. I want you and your ships ready to proceed by nineteen-thirty hours." the senior admiral said sternly. "Dismissed."

Captains Bateson and Calhoun turned and walked quickly from the briefing room. After the door had closed behind them, Necheyev turned to Picard.

"Captain Picard, you will report back to the Enterprise and wait for me. I will come aboard in two hours and discuss your mission privately."

"Yes, sir." Picard said, standing.

As Picard turned to leave, he made eye contact with Sisko and mouthed a quick message.

Be careful.

Sisko nodded, not knowing exactly what the other captain meant.

Before he could dwell upon the silent warning, captain Sisko found himself alone in the briefing room with the three Starfleet admirals.

"The Dominion battleship will attack in less than three days. Deep Space Nine and it's crew must be ready." Necheyev announced.

"My people will be ready if your engineers have finished with the station." Sisko replied.

"They'll be ready, Ben." Pierce said quietly. "Even now, more help is on the way."

"Are you positive you can pull this off with only one ship?" Jellico asked, looking at admiral Pierce.

"One-hundred percent." the other admiral replied with confidence.

"If you don't, the Federation Council is going to have our heads."

"We've been over this before, Edward." Pierce said, holding up one hand to emphasize his point and prevent the other admiral from continuing.

"One ship. Any more might make the Dominion cautious."

Jellico did not seem convinced.

"I don't think your new toy is going to cut the mustard."

Pierce leaned forward.

"My new toy is going to save our asses." he growled quietly.

"Gentlemen, please." admiral Necheyev said. "I thought this discussion was behind us."

"So did I." Pierce replied.

Jellico shook his head, still looking at Pierce. "The only thing that was settled was that if you wanted to get yourself killed then I wasn't going to stand in your way."

"Good. You would only get ran over." 

Jellico stood and looked at admiral Necheyev.

"I can't believe you're putting this in his hands."

"She knows I'm the only one that can see this through to the end and come out on top." Pierce replied, standing.

"Like hell."

Sisko watched the exchange with both amusement and confusion. He could not believe two Starfleet admirals were acting in this manner.

More importantly, what were they arguing over with such tenacity.

Sisko looked at Admiral Necheyev, who had leaned back in her seat, folded her arms and silently watched the exchange. She seemed almost amused.

However, her amusement did not last long.

"The only thing you can't handle is that I am the one..."

"That is quite enough, admirals." Necheyev hissed.

Instantly, the two admirals stopped arguing and slowly sat down.

The room grew silent.

Admirals Jellico and Pierce stared at each other and Necheyev sat back and looked at them both.

"Admiral Pierce will be remaining behind to assist you in dealing with the Dominion threat. Admiral Jellico and I will be leaving shortly for a meeting with the Federation Council."." Necheyev said to Sisko, breaking the uneasy silence.

Admiral Necheyev stared for several seconds at Sisko. Again, he saw fear in her eyes. It was something that he didn't like staring back at him from the senior admiral.

"Is there something else, Admiral?" Sisko asked.

Necheyev's eyes widened. She seemed surprised that he had figured out that she was holding something back. Finally, she spoke again.

"Two days ago, a Jem'Hadar suicide squad beamed directly into Starfleet Command HQ on Earth."

Sisko's blood turned cold.

"Striking without warning, they attacked a command assembly and murdered sixty-three members before they were stopped." the admiral stated coldly, as if trying to detach herself from the horror she was relaying.

"How could they..." Sisko's voice trailed off. He could not believe what he had just heard. "That's more than a quarter of the admiralty."

"Apparently they had someone, a changeling on the inside that deactivated the early warning systems." Jellico said.

"All of the Jem'Hadar troops were killed but the changeling escaped."

It was Sisko's turn to be silent. His mind raced through the scenario he had just been told. He had a similar nightmare in the recent past of Jem'Hadar soldiers running unstopped through the station. He had awoke with the vision of his son being murdered by the vicious shock troops of the Dominion.

"Once again, Earth has been placed under martial law and the Federation president is running scared."

Sisko looked at Jellico.

"What do you mean?" Sisko asked, remembering his last encounter with the president. 

"He's desperate not to let this sort of thing happen again," Jellico began. "He's instituted planet-wide blood screenings, telepathic scans, the works."

"All under the pretense of a training exercise." Necheyev finished for the junior admiral. "The result of which is barely controlled chaos."

"If word of this became public..." Sisko thought aloud. 

"Now you're seeing the big picture." Jellico said, sounding as if he were speaking to a student rather than a Starfleet captain.

"The panic would be impossible to contain." 

"Even now, several members of the Federation Council are quietly proposing opening a dialogue with the Dominion to discuss terms." Jellico said.

"Surrender!" Sisko exclaimed.

"There are only a quiet few in the Council that share that sentiment now. However, with the loss of Betazed and the possibility of Vulcan falling next, I'm afraid their chorus is going to get louder" Necheyev said as she stood and walked over and stared out into space.

"We need this victory, Ben." she said, seeking comfort in the void.

Sisko stood.

"And you'll have it."

Necheyev turned and walked over to Sisko. She took his hand and shook it slowly.

"I'm sure you and your people will be up to the task at hand."

Admirals Jellico and Pierce stood.

Uneasily, Jellico extended his hand to Pierce. 

"Good luck, Admiral."

"And to you," Pierce replied as he shook the other man's hand. 

Without another word, Jellico turned and left the briefing room.

After Jellico had left, Necheyev joined Pierce at the opposite end of the conference table. She seemed to hesitate before speaking.

"Alex, I hope you're right about all this, for all our sakes. One more major defeat and we may have no other choice."

Pierce placed his hands on Necheyev's shoulders.

It won't come to that." Pierce replied. "I promise."

Admiral Necheyev smiled for the first time as she stepped away from Pierce, nodded to Sisko and left the briefing room.

"Good luck gentlemen." She said as the doors slid closed.

Captain Sisko was alone with his former commanding officer.

The two men stared at each other, remembering the past they shared.

Finally, Pierce grinned. "What happened to your hair?"

"What happened to yours?" Sisko replied quickly. "I saw you last when you got your second star and it was white and thinning.

"As a matter-of-fact, you look ten years younger than you did aboard the Livingston. I didn't know who you were until you spoke."

Pierce ran a hand through his dark brown hair.

"A lot has changed at Starfleet, Ben," the admiral said quietly. "More than what you've heard."

"What do you mean?"

"Starfleet Intell believes that despite our best efforts, several Dominion changelings have infiltrated HQ. That's why Admiral Necheyev turned Starfleet Intelligence over to Jellico."

"Intell? I thought that Admiral Greer was the chief of intelligence." Sisko replied.

"Jim Greer was one of the admirals killed by the Jem'Hadar suicide squad."

Sisko shook his head, remembering what he had been thinking earlier : how many more must die?

"What did Admiral Necheyev mean when she spoke about not having any other choice?"

Pierce walked over to Sisko and motioned for him to sit.

"The Federation Council is closer to admitting defeat than Alynna wants to admit." Pierce said quietly as his eyes shifted quickly around the room.

"Right now, they're all in a panic over the attack at Starfleet HQ and the threat to Vulcan."

"What are they doing about it?" Sisko asked.

"Too much, I'm afraid." Pierce replied.

"What do you mean?"

"The council is demanding daily updates on the war from Admiral Necheyev. Some members are urging the president to take a more active part in devising strategy while others are trying to get more ships to guard their home worlds."

Sisko shook his head.

"The last thing starfleet needs right now is the civilian government dictating fleet operations."

"Exactly Ben, but try telling that to a room full of frightened bureaucrats who are hearing the same thing from their people."

"I see your point. It's a lose - lose situation."

"Not if we can win this battle and give the president the victory he needs to calm the council and the people of the Federation." Pierce replied.

"We will, sir." Sisko replied with confidence.

Suddenly, something caught his eye outside the station.

The new starship.

"I know." Pierce said, looking at the ship.

Pierce stood and walked to the window.

"Take a look, Ben."

Sisko joined the admiral and stared. 

"I thought Orfil kept me posted on new starship construction." Sisko said.

"Captain Quinteros was proud of his newest creations."

"Creations?"

"The Liberator and the Andromeda." Pierce smiled as he looked at the massive starship as it slowly orbited the station.

"Jellico wanted the Liberator but I pulled a few strings and got her myself. Ed got the new Cairo as a consolation prize." Pierce said with a gleam in his eyes.

"How did they solve the problem of the three nacelle design problems? They had been kicking around that idea for years."

"You'll have to discuss that the head of the fleet yards at Mars. He'll be here in a few hours to assist us in getting your new reactor online."

"I thought doctor Brahms would have been the one to figure it out." Sisko said, surprised.

"Well, she was in charge of the Advanced Technologies division at the time but, she had a hand in most stages of the Andromeda Class development as well." Pierce replied.

"Do you know her?"

"We met while I was the chief of the fleet yards. The Defiant might still be on the drawing boards without her help." 

"Well, you'll get a chance to see her too. She's here with the Liberator." Pierce said.

"She's a remarkable woman." Sisko replied.

Pierce turned and began walking towards the exit.

"I'm glad someone thinks so." the admiral said with more than a little sarcasm in his voice.

Sisko followed him, mildly amused as he remembered the doctor's temperament.

"You don't think so, sir?"

"Let's just say that sometimes civilians and the military don't always mix well and leave it at that." Pierce replied glancing at Sisko.

"She's been assigned as my temporary chief engineer."

Sisko smiled.

Pierce shook his head.

"You've gotten a sadistic streak in your old age, Ben."

"Not at all, sir." Sisko replied, still smiling.

Sisko followed the admiral out of the briefing room and down the hall. 

It was going to be a very interesting three days, Sisko thought.