Stardate 52054.2

     Everyone in Sickbay looked up as the alert sounded.  Enoz's voice came 
over the ship's speakers, "Intruder alert, all decks!"
     The EMH, Doctor Wallin, and Ensign Thomas immediately readied themselves.
If this situation was anything like the one a few hours ago, they'd be treating
several injured crewmen.  Jack Hindman watched as they prepared biobeds and 
gathered medical equipment.  He then looked over at the other side of Sickbay.
Three officers were still unconscious from the Wiansani attack, one of them was
the Captain.
     Hindman was interrupted by the EMH, "Ensign, take this phaser.  You may 
need it to defend yourself if the intruders decide to attack Sickbay."
     Ensign Hindman nodded and took the phaser.  He didn't understand, though.
The Wiansani told him they were busy with something else, so who had boarded 
the Equinox?  He couldn't help but look back over at the Captain.
     Captain Mason had slipped into a coma after the Wiansani attack.  Since 
then, his senses disconnected from the outside world, his mind had drifted.  It
had drifted to the Tholian attack when he was a child, to the Battle of Wolf 
359, and to the death of his son, to all the images in his past that still
haunted him.  Though, inevitably, this mind fixated on the one that had been
haunting him the most.  It was one of the first battles of the Dominion War,
and the reason Mason left the front lines.

       
                          ***************************

Stardate 51102.3, One year earlier...

     "Return fire, full spread of phasers!  Arm torpedo tubes one and three and
target their weapons array!", Captain Mason yelled from his chair on the bridge
of the U.S.S. Webb.  
     Lieutenant JG Tina Reiser worked quickly at her station, "Phasers and
torpedoes firing, sir."  
     Ensign Ejja watched from the Ops station as the phaser blast swept across
the Jem'Hadar ship on screen, and then as the volley of torpedoes hit it.  New
readings showed up on her console, "Their weapons systems have been disabled, 
Captain."
     Before the Captain could reply, Lieutenant Gary Yost at Conn yelled,
"Another Jem'Hadar ship is coming into weapons range!"
     Commander Paral Gaush said, "Evasive maneuvers, pattern Epsilon."
     "Lieutenant Reiser, fire when we're within two thousand kilometers,"
the Captain said.
     Commander Gaush turned toward the Captain, "Sir, it looks like they have
a damaged reactor.  We should concentrate our weapons fire there."
     Mason had learned to trust his first officer's judgment, "Agreed. 
Lieutenant, target their main reactor."
     "Aye, sir," Reiser replied.
     Yost suddenly said, "Captain, the first ship has set a collision course."
     Mason held up his hand, "Stay on course, Mr. Yost.  Ensign, distance."
     The Ferakin looked at the console with her cat-like eyes, "Almost within
two thousand kilo.."
     Ejja was interrupted by the sound of the ship being hit by weapons fire
from the second Jem'Hadar ship.  Mason kept his eyes on the viewscreen, "Fire
a spread of torpedoes on my mark.... Fire!"
     Lieutenant Reiser fired the torpedoes.  As soon as she did Mason said,
"Bring us about and fire at the other ship, all weapons, now!"
     As the second Jem'Hadar ship was exploding, the Webb swung around and 
launched a volley of torpedoes and phaser fire at the first one, lighting up
the viewscreen with another explosion.
     "Both ships have been destroyed," Reiser happily reported.
     Captain Mason stood up, smiling, "Good work everybody.  Computer, end 
battle drill."  All the consoles switched from battle drill mode to standard
operating mode and the image of broken Jem'Hadar ships on the viewscreen faded
into an image of normal space, "Have all departments report in on their 
performance during the drill.  Commander Gaush, you have the bridge.  I'm 
going to pay a visit to Engineering."
     "Surprise inspection, Captain?", Gaush said, grinning.
     Mason looked back at the Trill and chuckled, "Have to keep Ms. Becker on 
her toes somehow."
     Commander Gaush took the Captain's seat as Mason left the bridge.

     As Captain Mason made his way to Engineering, he noticed a lot of crew 
members seemed tense.  It was understandable, since war had just broken out 
between the Federation and the Dominion, but Mason had always tried to keep the
atmosphere on the ship somewhat relaxed.  A little tension kept people working,
but too much of it hurt morale.
     Lieutenant Commander Lilly Becker looked up from her console as the 
Captain walked into Engineering.  Engineering officers were examining every 
circuit board and conduit in the room, as well as running tests on the warp 
core and the rest of the ship's systems.  Mason walked over to Commander 
Becker, "How's the diagnostic proceeding, Lilly?"
     She smiled warmly, "Very nicely, sir.  All systems seem to be working at 
peak efficiency.  If the Jem'Hadar attack us, we're ready."
     "I agree," was the Captain's reply.
     Mason's commbadge chirped, "Reiser to Mason."
     He tapped the commbadge, "Mason here."
     "You have an incoming communication."
     "I'll take it in Commander Becker's office."
     He glanced at Commander Becker, and she nodded back, then he walked over
to the small Engineering office.  When he sat down in front of the console, the
image of his wife appeared on the screen.  He smiled, "T'Mil."
     She didn't return his smile, but he knew she was glad to see him 
nonetheless.  After many years of marriage he had become acutely aware of the 
subtle hints of emotion her Vulcan discipline kept hidden from everyone else.
"How are you, my husband?", she asked.
     "Good.  How are you and the children?"
     "We are well.  Torel, Chaz, and Anye are all doing well in school. 
Torel's instructor believes he will be well prepared to apply to Starfleet
Academy next year."
     "I just hope this war is over by then."
     "The war is the reason for my contacting you.  The children, Anye and Chaz
in particular, have expressed concern for you.  They wish to be reassured that
their father is okay."
     Captain Mason said, "Be sure to tell them that I'm fine, and that I'm
coming to Vulcan to see them just as soon as I can."
     T'Mil said, "I'm sure they will be happy to hear that."
     Suddenly, the ship was jolted and the red alert klaxons started sounding.
Captain Mason jumped in his seat and then said, "T'Mil, I have to go.  I'll 
contact you later," and abruptly cut off the communication.

     On the bridge, Commander Gaush said, "Lieutenant Yost, try to back us off
to a safer distance.  Lieutenant Reiser, give him some cover fire, an even 
spread of torpedoes at both ships."
     Captain Mason came out of the turbolift onto the bridge, "What have we 
got?"
     Gaush said, "Two ships, one Jem'Hadar, one Cardassian."
     The Captain looked at the two ships on the viewscreen.  Gaush's move had
gained them some distance, but both ships were still closing, "Are there any 
other Federation ship's nearby?"
     "The U.S.S. Opal is the only ship in range, and they're still a good
distance away," Ejja said.
     "Then it's up to us," Mason said, "Attack pattern Delta.  I want to
concentrate fire on the Cardassian ship first.  Phasers only."
     Reiser and Yost both said, "Aye, sir."  The Webb flew toward the 
Cardassians, both ships firing phasers at the other.  The Rigel class Starship
weathered the weapons fire from the Cardassians, but was soon being attacked 
from both sides.  Mason held onto his chair as the ship was jolted.
     "They're on both sides of us, sir!", Lieutenant Yost yelled.
     "Evasive pattern Theta-5!"
     The Webb flew straight at the Cardassian ship, swerving around it when it
was close enough.  Mason was relieved when they managed to get on the other 
side of the Cardassians.
     "Make sure we keep the Cardassian ship between us and the Jem'Hadar!  Fire
all weapons at the Cardassian ship!"
     Yost worked feverishly at the conn, matching the movements of the
Cardassian and Jem'Hadar ships, trying to keep the Webb where it needed to be.
All the while, Reiser was firing a full spread of weapons at the Cardassians.
The Cardassian ship suddenly stopped returning fire when a torpedo spread 
breached the shields and destroyed the weapons generators, starting a chain 
reaction that blew up the entire ship.
     Mason smiled to himself.  They just had one ship to deal with now.  The 
Jem'Hadar ship was coming up fast.  Reiser didn't even wait for orders and 
started firing.
     The Jem'Hadar sprayed the Webb with weapons fire and then flew past them.
Commander Gaush said, "Pursuit course, Mr. Yost.  Stay with them."
     "Aye sir," Yost said, "It looks like they're flying toward the Gan 
Nebula."
     Mason turned around and looked toward the Ops station, "Ejja, what do we 
know about the Gan Nebula?"
     "It's composed primarily of a the gasses from a nearby collapsing star. 
The gas is highly radioactive and would cause significant interference to our
systems.  If we go in there, we'll have limited weapons and sensors, and our
shields won't work at all," she said.
     "Neither will theirs," Reiser added.
     "Captain," Gaush said, "maybe we shouldn't follow them in, it could be 
a trap.  The Jem'Hadar don't usually run from a battle.  If they're going in
there, they obviously want us to follow them."
     Mason looked at the fleeing ship on the viewscreen, thinking for a moment,
then said, "If we weren't at war, I'd let that ship go.  But if we don't 
destroy that ship today, that's one more ship we'll have to deal with tomorrow.
Besides, I have every confidence in this ship and this crew."
     The Jem'Hadar ship disappeared into the Gan Nebula, the Webb in pursuit.
The bridge crew watched as the nebula got closer and closer, until the ship 
became enveloped in its gasses.
     "The sensor interference is making it difficult to navigate, sir," Yost
said.
     The Captain said, "Reduce speed, Mr. Yost.  Ensign Ejja, I want continuous
sensor sweeps.  We have to locate that Jem'Hadar ship before they find us."
     The bridge fell silent as the ship crawled through the thick gasses of 
the nebula.  Yost was visibly tense.  The limited sensor range was making 
navigating through the cloud difficult.  Ejja kept her eyes on her console as
well, watching for ion trails, energy signatures, traces of metal, anything 
that might show her where the Jem'Hadar ship was.  Reiser was just watching the
viewscreen.  The radiation in the cloud was causing the particles in front of
them to glow.  Gaush noticed them, too.  But when Mason looked into that
cloud, all he saw was a hidden, hostile ship, ready to destroy them at the 
first chance.  He knew that without shields, there wouldn't be much of a 
margin for error.
     Suddenly, the Webb was hit by a weapons blast.  The whole ship was shaken
from the impact.  Reiser jumped away from her console just as it exploded in a
shower of sparks.  The Captain yelled, "Alter course, heading 231 mark 43!"
     Yost altered their course as fast as he could.  Reiser ran to the 
Engineering station and quickly configured it for tactical.  The Captain yelled
over to her, "Fire in the direction that blast came from!"
     She frowned, "Torpedoes away, but it doesn't look like we hit them."
     Ejja's station lit up with damage reports, "Casualty reports from all
decks!  Hull breach on decks 18 through 20!  Emergency forcefields failing!"
     Gaush tapped his commbadge, "All hands, evacuate decks 18 through 20 
immediately!"
     Ejja's oddly shaped eyes lit up, "I'm picking up another ship on sensors!"
     "That must be them," Mason said, standing up, "Get a weapons lock.  We 
need to.."
     "Captain," Gaush interrupted, "We're receiving a transmission."
     Mason spun around, "A transmission?  From who?"
     Gaush shook his head, "The nebula has scrambled the message.  It'll take 
a couple of minutes for the computer to reconstruct it."
     Reiser said, "Captain, I'm picking up a strong energy reading.  It may be
the Jem'Hadar ship charging weapons!"
     "We won't survive another hit," Ejja said.
     Mason stared at the viewscreen.  "Orders Captain?", Reiser asked.
     The Captain looked over at her, having made his decision, "Fire."
     A spray of torpedoes streaked through the nebula.  Reiser said, "I'm
picking up another energy reading."
     "It's an explosion.  The ship's been destroyed," Ejja said.
     Lieutenant Yost pumped his fist in the air, "We got 'em!"
     Mason smiled triumphantly, "Mr. Yost, take us out of.."
     "Sir!", Ejja said, "I'm picking up traces of duranium in the debris."
     Mason eyes widened, "Duranium?  The Dominion don't use duranium in the 
construction of their ships."
     "I.. I think I can explain," Gaush said.  He breathed heavily before 
continuing, "The computer just reconstructed the message.  It says, 'Jem'Hadar
ship destroyed.  Please stand down.'  It's from the U.S.S. Opal."
     The bridge was once again silent.  Captain Mason turned slowly toward the
viewscreen, at the glimmering particles of the nebula.  He closed his eyes and 
hung his head down.  He had just destroyed a Federation ship.  He didn't look 
up.  He didn't want to see the looks on the faces of his fellow officers.  
Finally he said, "You have the bridge, Commander.  Get us out of this nebula,"
and walked quickly to his ready room.