Start Trek: Deep Space Nine, all related characters, items and locations are the property of Paramount. The Starjammers the Shi'ar and the X_MEN characters who appear here are the property of Marvel Comics are used here only for entertainment purposes only. In Star Trek continuity this takes place after "The Assignment."
Captain's Log: Stardate 2383. For a change, nothing much of note has occurred in the last 48 hours. The Obsidian Order has been quiet. Depending on your point of view, 'too quiet' can be either a bad sign, or a good one. I'm inclined to take the long view. The only incident of note: Chief O'Brien's wife, whom, after a visit to the fire caves on Bajor, was possessed by an entity and subsequently coerced the Chief into sabotaging the station. Fortunately, the entity was persuaded to leave Kieko's body, and she was restored to normal. After, the Chief and his engineering crew continue to effect repairs to the station. End log.
Ben Sisko recording.
Against a backdrop of endless pin-pricks of light, two space ships obviously mismatched were engaged in a fire-fight. The smaller of the two attempted to evade its fate. Its battle-scarred hull and engines taxed to the limit. The larger craft increased its speed, determined to end the chase here and now.
Inside the smaller ship, the crew assessed their current situation.
"Weapon systems, Raza?" Corsair asked.
"Main batteries active and fully charged, Corsair" The Shi'ar cyborg turned mercenary replied. "Optical ranges enabled." he added.
"Can we outrun them?" Hepizbah, fuel reserves?" Corsair added.
"No need to look to the engines, fuel reserves are gone! We're running on exhaust fumes, Corsair!" The native of the Shi'ar planet Tryl'sart hissed in her customary feline like lisp.
"Ch'hod, Status?" Corsair sighed, running a hand through his still thick brown hair.
"Peachy keen, jelly-bean. " Ch'hod joked.
"I meant the ship." Corsair sighed.
"So did I, Sir. Ch'hod replied. "Do the words 'junk heap' mean anything to you? If ya ask me, which ya didn't, if we don't do something quick, we're gonna end up space debris. This baby has taken one too many hits as it is!" he shouted.
"I do not like this!" Hepizbah yelled.
"Silence your hissing, cat." Raza snarled. "By Sharra and Kythri! What is that? he yelled, which was rare for the cyborg, who also fancied himself something of an interstellar swashbuckler.
If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was a stargate. Are there any naturally occurring ones, Raza?" Corsair asked.
"Corsair, my love, now is not the time to be curious about spatial phenomena!" Hepizbah said.
"I'm not. I just want to know if we can go through it." he replied.
"Not that I'm aware of. Ordinarily stargates must be precisely calibrated using Shi'ar quantum mechanics; then slingshot around a sun. Although the Starjammer is equipped with such a device since the days when the Majestrix Lilandra was one of our crew...." Raza trailed off.
"Raza, cut to the chase! Can we or can't we!" Corsair yelled.
"Yes, I believe we can." Raza answered.
"If we pull this off, I'll buy the next round of beers.' Corsair muttered.
"Yeah right. Where will you be getting this beer? Planning on make a quick trip to Earth, see your son, Scott, and bum some beers off him? You have any idea how it will take to get there?" Ch'hod said sarcastically.
"Look, Ch'hod, Scott isn't our concern right now. My son is more than capable of taking care of himself. He's been doing it since he was a kid." Corsair said.
"Corsair, do not blame self for feeling guilty over abandoning your son. Mad Shi'ar Emperor D'ken capture you and wife, kill her before your eyes. Have no choice in the matter." Hepizbah said soothingly.
"Thanks, Hepizbah. Let's go through that hole." Corsair ordered.
"Beats waiting here waiting to get blown out of space." Ch'hod said.
"It would appear to be our only means of escape." Raza said.
"I agree. Forward into Valley of Death. Rather face the unknown than wait here to be killed by the stupid bird-boys." Hepizbah said.
"Okay, I guess we go through. Raza, warp factor eight,. take us in."
"Aye, aye Captain." Raza said.
"And don't call me captain, It makes me nervous when you start getting formal with me." Corsair said.
"Ah, not that I'm doubting ya, fearless leader, but is that thing stable? I mean, we'll break on through to the other side, in one piece?" Ch'hod said nervously.
"Who knows?" Let's just hope the Shi'ar can't follow us through." Corsair answered.
The Starjammers' spaceship leaped forward into the strange naturally occurring distortion in the fabric of the space-time contium. If the crew of interstellar freebooters hadn't been so preoccupied with their current dilemma; they would have been astonished by the beauty of the 'wormhole, for that's what it was: lightly tinged by concentric rings of crystalline blue and white. The wormhole expanded to accommodate a craft the size of the Starjammer, wrapped it up like a blanket, then closed behind it in a brilliant burst of silver light.
Out of the expanding vortex of the wormhole, the Starjammer's crippled space-craft emerged.
"Huzzah! We made it!" Ch'hod cried.
"Big lug will never change." Raza muttered. "I'm picking up signs of what looks like either a planet or a space station. We might be able to set down there." Raza added.
"Have we lost them?" Corsair asked.
"Checking scanners. It appears we have, Corsair." Raza replied.
"Good. Set a course for that station." Corsair ordered.
Aboard the Shi'ar Imperial StarCruiser "Hawksblood" The Shi'ar consider their stargates inviolate, with these intergalactic portals they built their far-reaching empire,. by waging war and commerce with equal cunning across inhabited space.
"That pilot must be insane!" one operation officer exclaimed.
"What! Where have they gone!" Captain Timor yelled.
"Some sort of stargate, Sir." Another operative reported.
"Follow them!" he ordered.
"Yes, Sir." the operative replied.
DSN, OPS
"The proximity alarms!" Major Kira exclaimed, as she referred to the intermittent flashing column of liquid crystal displays on her duty console.
"How soon can the Chief and his crew get this place up and running again?"
"Ben, you know how difficult it is making sure that all the Federation Technology works in synch with the Cardassian gizmos they left behind," Dax said.
"Don't remind me. And every time the Chief leaves, there's always seems to be an outbreak of malfunctions." Sisko replied.
"Captain Sisko. I'm picking an anomalous energy reading. Source: the Bajoran wormhole. It looks like a ship just came through," the joined Trill announced.
"On screen. Is it a Dominion ship?" Sisko asked.
"I'm scanning it now, Sir. Commander Worf announced from his security station. "It appears to have been in some sort of battle, and has sustained heavy damage." the Klingon said.
"Does the ship match any registered classes on file?" Sisko asked.
"No, Sir." Worf answered.
"Open a hailing frequency." Sisko ordered.
"Yes, Sir." Channel open." Worf said.
"This is Capatain Benjamin Sisko of Federation space station deep space nine. Please identify," he said.
The image of the Starjammer's captain appeared on the screen, a well-built older man, whose wavy brown hair was tied back with a red bandana dressed in a tight-fitting uniform.
"Captian Sisko. This is Corsair. Don't have much time to talk. As it is we're being held together with spit and chicken wire. Might I request landing clearance?" he said.
"You look like you've been through a lot, Captain." Sisko observed.
"Yeah, well. We've never been through one of those things before, like that hole in space."
"Permission granted, you have clearance for docking bay 52." Sisko replied.
"Thank you, Sisko, right neighborly of you. Starjammer out." the man signed off.
"Corsair?" Kira and Dax swiveled around in their chairs and glanced askance at each other.
"Doesn't the mean something like a pirate?" Worf asked.
"When they arrive, have the crew brought directly to my ready room."
"Good idea. Ben. Maybe we can find out a little more about them." And we can have Miles see to the ship's repair." Dax said.
"Good thinking." I'll be in my ready room. Major you have the conn." Sisko said leaving the operations station.
The entire senior staff were assembled around the central meeting table minus one. Sisko had informed them that he had sent Worf to retrieve the Starjammer's crew. A few seconds later the automatic door chime sounded indicating another presence behind it. Sisko ordered those without to enter. There was a few seconds of confused crowding as a large green Saurian apparently had trouble fitting his bulk through the aperture and was forced to enter sideways causing the rest of the people following him to jam up behind him.
"Welcome, Captain and to Deep Space Nine. Please sit down and we'll start with formal introductions." Gesturing around the table he rattled off names: Major Kira Neris, Commander Jadiza Dax, Commander Worf, Chief Miles O'Brien. Constable Odo, and Doctor Julian Bashir." You already know my name." Sisko said.
"Since we're being so formal. That's Raza, Hepizbah, and Ch'hod."
"Has anyone ever heard of these people? Odo asked.
"No, and we've ran a search through the Federation database, there's no records on file for any one of you." Kira said.
"You've done that already. I impressed. You work fast." Hepizbah said.
"Corsair can't be your real name?" Dax asked.
"No Ma'am. It isn't.' Corsair replied and gave his brown locks a a quick comb with his hand. There was a few seconds as the people around the table waited for the man to say what his real name was. Leaning his elbows on the table, he leaned forward with a dramatic gleam in his eye, and winked at the pretty brown-haired one called Dax. "Okay, why do they call you Dax?" he said.
"Well, it's because it's my name." she said.
"Okay, I asked for that. I'll tell you what my real name is, but only on one condition." Corsair said.
"What condition?" Odo said suspiciously.
"I get to ask one vital question first." he said.
"Fire away, boyo." O' Brien said.
"Okay, here goes. I just have to know one thing: Are you, or this Federation of yours in tight with anyone or anything connected with an alien race called the Shi'ar?" Corsair asked eyeing the uniformed people around the table and seemed generally to receive blank stares.
"To answer your question. No. Never heard of them." Commander Worf said.
"Well, you answered my question, so I'll answer yours. This is one of those long stories. Are you sure you want to hear it?"
"We're all ears, boyo" We love long stories, the longer the better," O'brien answered.
"My real name is Major Christopher Summers. I'm originally from Earth. This all started when my wife and my boys decided to take a pleasure flight in an old-fashioned biplane. Anyway, one of the engines cut out. My wife and I were forced to make a decision; four of us, only one parachute, we sent the two boys out with the chute. We really thought we were going to die. Turns out that D'ken the Mad, then current emperor of the Shi'ar snatched us with a transporter at the last minute. Tortured us and forced me to watch as he murdered my wife. I got sent to a penal colony. Met these fine folks, escaped, founded the Starjammers. Dedicated to making sure we and others in the empire don't get the short end of the shaft." That pretty much sums it up. Any questions?"
"Did your two boys survive?" Sisko asked thinking of Jake and his brush with death on Angolan Prime.
"Yeah, they both did." I've been back to Earth on a couple of occasions, but not as often as I'd like. I missed my oldest's wedding." Corsair sighed.
"You don't seem to think to highly of these aliens you call the Sh'iar." Worf said.
"After all that can you blame him?" Raza said.
"I suppose you all have similar reasons for being with him and for helping him." Odo said.
"Yes, we do." Raza said.
"Twentieth century?" Sisko exclaimed.
Just then a signal came through Sisko's comm-badge. He acknowledged it. and the voice of the conn-officer annouced: "Captain, a subspace signal just came through, the source is unidentified but the person on the other end demands to speak with you. It's a hologram, sir." the ensign replied.
"Play it through, Morgan." Sisko ordered.
"Yes, sir." the crackling of the station's communications system could be heard as the link was severed.
A woman appeared in the hologram. A woman who has made cruelty a game, and treachery an art.
Following the Shi'ar victory over the Kree, the Majetrix named Deathbird viceroy over the Kree territories, believing her treacherous sister might be less of a threat in the public view, and hoping that her covetous sibling would find the realties of the office more bittersweet than imagined. The woman in the hologram was about 5"8, her black feather crest that served as her was swept up and covered by violet almost crimson tiara, and she wore a matching, sweeping cape.
"Greetings, I am Deathbird, viceroy of the Kree territory, sister of her imperial Majetrix Lilandra. I have been informed by Captain T'morr of the "Hawksblood" that you have aided and abetted fugitives from imperial justice, known as the Starjammers. You will take measures to prevent them from fleeing and detain them until my guards arrive. I do not know who or what this "Starfleet" of the the Federation might be, but rest assured that you will soon be part of the empire soon enough." the hologram started to lose solidity and fizzled out.
"Nice talk, D. No wonder you don't have any friends." Hepizbah muttered.
Another message came through Sisko's comm-badge,
"Captain, you had better get out here, We've more company, and they don't look happy." Ensign Morgan said.
Everyone in the ready room received this information with varying degrees of surprise, shock, resignation or a combination of all of them.
"Can I say it? They're.... here!" Ch'hod grinned.
"I muzzle think, would do him good!" Hepizbah hissed.
A quintet of the aliens called the Shi'ar stood on what appeared to be some sort of transporter block and one of them, the captain, to judge by his uniform lapels immediately launched into a demanding tirade.
"I am Commander Timor of the Shi'ar Imperium. You may now turn over your prisoners, the Starjammers, as the viceroy requested. You have the Imperial's gratitude." the man concluded.
"During the height of the Klingon Empire, were we ever this demanding and obnoxious?" Worf muttered.
"Before I deliver anyone up, I'd like to know the nature of their crimes and what they're being charged with." Sisko said.
"The Starjammers are accused of espionage and treason against the Imperium. They are pirates, thieves, they have stolen technology from us. And worse than that, they are helping a group of nuetrally aligned planets with the illegal resettlement of Kree refugees." That is all you need to know, human." Timor answered.
"Not here, boyo. We believe a person's innocent until they can be proven guilty." O'brien said. "So don't expect us to be party to some sort of intergalactic kangaroo court." he added.
"Look, I know what I'm saying here... We've never heard of the Federation; you've never heard of us or the Shi'ar. But you're asking for a place to hang out until heat blows over." Corsair explained.
"What did you steal? Odo asked.
"A Shi'ar piece of technology which the mad regent Deathbird was planning to be used against a small faction of rebellious Kree on the planet Hala." And for the record: I didn't steal it. I liberated it." Corsair said.
"What does the device do?" Doctor Bashir asked.
"Uh, Raza, do you want to field this one. I'm positively parched. Don't you people drink anything around here?" Corsair said.
"It's basically some sort of brain-washing device. It sends out subliminal signals convincing its targets that they all wish to be contented, loyal servants of the Imperium. It's reprehensible and we liberated the device. With the proper modifications, anyone who knew how to operate it could ostensibly change the minds of entire planets if attuned to their precise encelphographic patterns," Raza said.
"Does he always talk like that?" O'Brien said, he sounds like Julian when he gets into lecture mode." he said.
"I don't. Sound like that do I?" Doctor Bashir asked.
"Enough! Willl you or will you not turn over these criminals to us!" Timor demanded.
"I'm beginning to understand why you have such a low opinion about these people." Major Kira said.
"Don't I get one phone call? Corsair asked.
"Yeah, reach out and touch someone. Wonder what time it is on the East Coast?" Ch'hod grumbled.
"East Coast?" Dax asked.
"Yeah, New York, babe. You ever been there?' Love Greenwich village," Ch'hod said.
Turning his portable monitor on the table towards Corsair, Sisko turned to Corsair, "Make your call." he said.
"Ah. Can you dial a local number in New York from here?"
"Dial a number. Thank you Lilandra for the Shi'ar tech at the X-Mansion! Corsair muttered under his breath.***
This evening the woman named Ororo Munroe, also called Storm had duty watch in the X-MEN's communication center when the subspace signal came through. Picking up the reciver end of the phone she answered the call.
"Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. May I help you?" she said.
Meanwhile a few million light-years from the eastern coast of the United States her image appeared on the small opaque surface of the monitor. A tall African-American woman with blue eyes and a long mane of snowy-white hair.
"Uh, HI, Storm, Guess who?" Corsair said.
"Corsair! she exclaimed. "It has been simply ages. It is a shame, my friend, that you missed Scott and Jean's wedding. But as much as they would have loved to share that special day with you, I know you were with them in your hearts, as were we all. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?" she asked.
"Yeah, I really, really wanted to make the wedding, but you know how things have been lately, a few thousand light-years notwithstanding."
"I understand, my friend, You need say no more." What is the trouble?" Ororo asked.
"I uh, ran into some difficulties with the Shi'ar went through a wormhole and wound up in a part of the universe where they've never heard of us or the Shi'ar and now I'm caught a bull between the horns." Corsair said.
"In other words, they caught up with you?" Ororo said.
"Yeah, is Scott there?" Corsair asked.
"I'll contact him. Hold on a minute." Ororo said, her image vanished and then reappeared a few minutes later with a tall well-built brown haired man that looked so much like the Major that he had to be his son. He was wearing what looked like a full-length blue uniform with a ruby-quartz visor over his eyes.
"Hi, Dad." the man in blue said. "What did you do this time?"
"Hi, yourself, Scott." Instead of saving the farm I think I may have gotten in over my head, and burned the whole bloody thing down." But that really isn't why I used my 'one phone call'. I really just wanted to see you again. How's Jean. I always knew redheads were trouble, but you two seem to be managing better than I ever expected." I'm really sorry I missed the wedding."
"Typical. Dad. How come I never see you unless you're in trouble or there's a crisis looming or you want something?" Scott said.
"Ah, Hank mentioned that you've mastered deadpan humor right?"
"Yeah, wonder where I get it from?" Scott laughed.
"Unless, you want the calvarly to come riding to your rescue, Dad,. It's going to be a little difficult to for us to get wherever you are. "Even with the modifications to the Blackbird it will take..." And with what's going here on Earth now, I don't think we can really afford to take off just like that... Where are you?" Scott said.
"You're not going to believe this. We'e in the Alpha Quadrant. Aboard a Federation outpost called Deep Space Nine and now we're between a rock and a hard place. You see we have something that the Shi'ar want. We don't want to give it back because if we do, it's going to bring a lot of harm to a lot of people." Corsair explained.
"The Alpha Quadrant?" Scott said.
"Yeah, that's what I said. Look, I understand if you and the rest of the team can't just leave Earth, I didn't expect you to come bail me out of this. But maybe just maybe I can convince Captain Sisko to grant us politcal asylum here. That just leaves the Shi'ar. but I think that can be arranged. Hey, Scott. Better late than never, but I'm proud of you, son."
"Thanks, Dad. Means a lot to me." Watch yourself and take care. By the way, Jean sends her love." Scott said.
"Same here. Give my love to Jean and my regards to the others. Promise?"
"Promise." Scott said.
"Take care, Scott."
The subspace transmission was severed and the images vanished.
"Well, were is the device! Once we have it hand along with the Starjammers we will return to Hala." Timor said.
"They're bad cops!" Corsair said.
"Look, you can't trust Deathbird. She makes stabbing people in the back into a hobby!"
"Would it be wise to consider granting political asylum for the crew of the Starjammer? Odo asked.
"Well, for one thing, I'll be confiscating that subliminal device." Sisko said.
"Where is it? Timor asked.
"It's still aboard the ship in the cargo hold, Sir." Raza replied.
"E'rei, go to their ship and retrieve the device." Timor ordered.
"That won't be necessary. Timor, while my people were repairng their ship, we removed the device." It's in our cargo hold now.
"I'll go get it." Worf said.
"He go get it. He not very bright. He not know what it look like." Hepizbah hissed.
A few minutes later Worf and Hepizbah returned carrying the device, which appeard to be nothing more than a multi-faceted crystal inside a black box.
"That's the brain-washing device!" Doctor Bashir said.
"Yup. What you expected something like a bomb?" Ch'hod said.
"Believe me, where the Shi'ar are concerned the more innocuus something seems the deadlier it is." Raza said pulling his sword from his bionic hand and removing a piece of cloth as if to polish it, seemingly oblivious of the stares he was recieving from those around him.
"You already know what this little baby can do, You can't seriously be considering just handing it over to these bird-boys, can you, Captain Sisko!" Ch'hod said.
"I'm not convinced of the Shi'ar claims and from what I've heard about the damage this device can do, I'm certain that I'm keeping it out of either concerned party's hands. It will be safer in Federation hands, at least until we've had time to study it. If it's as dangerous as you claim it is, Corsair, I'll have it destroyed."
"I am familar with you Earthers, for a mongrel race you are surprisingly tenacious." Timor growled. "Therefore, I will not risk my men in physical combat when I can instruct my ship to raze this entire station if you do not surrender the Starjammers." Timor said.
"No need for threats, Timor. Or has it escaped your attention, that you're in my neck of the woods, as it were. You're under Federation jursidiction, and this is my station. And here we don't recognize Shi'ar authority. The Starjammers stay here, and if that isn't enough for you. I''ve decided to grant them sanctuary." Sisko explained.
"You've aided an enemy of the Imperuim." Timor argued.
"Life's tough, Captain Timor, looks like you and your men are going home empty handed. Wonder how your viceroy will take that news when you do get back home." Major Kira said.
"You humans, have no reason to be so smug. You've aided and abetted wanted fugitives, and when the time comes, you will be held personally accountable, Sisko!" Timor raged.
"You're confused. The Alpha Quadrant, Bajor and Deep Space Nine aren't part of your high and mighty Imperium." Dax said.
"Not yet, human, Not yet." Timor said as he and his crew once more activated their transporter and returned to their ship.
"Good riddance," Worf said.
"Yeah, besides I'm Irish. I have a natural dislike of overbearin' imperial thugs." O'Brien said.
"Trying to make sense of some one else's politics is a difficult task. Especially under pressure. Unfortunately, I think these Shi'ar are going to hold a grudge for what we've done today. But I can live with that." Odo said.
"And, Captain Sisko, for what it's worth, thank you." Corsair said.
"And as for the device, you can have it. Study it, destroy it. This might be a bad thing for someone with a reputation like ours, to admit. but I'm glad to be rid of it." Corsair said.
"Talk over. Want to sleep." Hepizbah said, yawning, her pointed white feline teeth gleaming.
"Good idea. Worf, have quarters arranged for our guests." Sisko said.
"Aye, Aye. Sir." Worf replied gesturing with his hand that the Starjammers were to follow him to one of the nearby turbolifts, and a trail they did.
"Heck of a day this has been." Ch'hod said, scratching his brow ridges and yawning.
Karen Galarneault has a requested that this . . . uh, X-Men fanfic be posted. It really isn't X-Men or any one topic, but it has a cameo apperance, and she wanted it posted to here it is! Let her know what you think.
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