The Hellcat left the quantum slipstream and returned to normal space. Ahead of them the large repair facility where the Leviathan was being repaired 'blinked' against the black canvas of space. Behind the facility was Bajor itself and in the far distance, the Bajorian wormhole could occasionally be seen opening and closing. Only Lieutenant Shale, ASHER and Lt. Commander Barker were on the command deck.

"Hellcat to USS Leviathan." Lieutenant Commander Barker announced.

[Commander Rashad here. It's good to hear your voice again Commander.] Came the reply.

"What is the status of the Leviathan ?" Chu asked.

[Repairs are almost complete. A few more days and we'll be ready to leave and resume the search for 'Alice'.] The Commander replied.

"Commander, we have new orders. How long will it take you to prepare to leave the drydock ?" Chu enquired.

[Hang on Commander.] T'Kul replied, pausing whilst she consulted the Leviathan's chief engineer. [Lieutenant Taline says that the Leviathan can be ready to leave in six hours.]

"Understood." Chu replied. "Start preparations to leave in six hours. We're about an hour away, have the senior crew report to the briefing room in five hours. Barker out."

[Understood Commander. Before I go, I'd like to confirm that the Churchill arrived about three hours ago and has started to unload the cargo and equipment. Rashad out.]

"Alice !" Captain Taybar enquired as she entered the command deck.

"It's the nickname the crew gave the mirror vessel, from an old Earth story 'Alice through the looking glass'." Chu explained. "It means everyone knows when we're talking about the mirror Leviathan."

"Fine." Aki replied, sitting at the secondary operations console.
"The Leviathan will be ready to leave in six hours Captain. I've arranged a briefing an hour before we leave. Lieutenant Ka'Leth and the Churchill have arrived and the cargo is being transferred." Chu reported.

"Thank you Commander." Aki replied. "How long till we reach the Leviathan ?"

"About an hour." Chu replied.

An hour later, the Hellcat entered the Leviathan's shuttlebay. All around were new vessels, six Valkyrie fighters were all lined up in a row and several of the shuttlebay crew stood admiring the vessels. Over the other side of the bay were two large, bulky looking vessels.

*Some kind of transports* He thought to himself.

The crew of the Hellcat left and headed towards the tubolift. Chu looked across at one of the transports and noticed that the pod doors were open. Inside the forward pod was a small wheeled vehicle and Chu could see a second identical vehicle behind it. Inside the rear pod was a large vessel, a tank of some sort, which filled the pod totally.

Then he saw a couple of Marines checking over the pods and the vehicles inside. Chu knew that the majority of the Marines had been stationed at Marine Post 492 on Memkeron, where Major Phanan was performing training of the new Marines.

It was sad that of the Marines that had been stationed aboard the Leviathan, only two had survived to return to the Alpha quadrant. Most had been killed fighting the 'Brood' and rest had been killed during the return through the inter-dimensional wormhole when the hull of the Leviathan had breached.

Then two more Valkyrie fighter came into the shuttlebay and landed next to those already transferred. Chu and the rest of the crew left and headed to their quarters.
Four hours later, Chu arrived in the briefing room to find the Captain already there. She was not alone and as Chu entered the room, she stopped talking to the two officers and spoke to Chu.

"Commander, may I introduce Lieutenant Ka'Leth and Ensign Isabel Steer, our commanding officer and executive officer for the Talon squadron." Aki stated. "And this is Lieutenant Commander Chu Barker."

"Lieutenant, Ensign." Chu replied.

"Commander." The large Klingon replied.

Ensign Steer was quite, leaving her senior officer to make all the small talk.

"We were just going over the squadron roster." Ka'Leth announced. "You are welcome to stay."

Chu took his customary seat at the briefing table and waited for the main briefing to start. The one by one the rest of the senior staff arrived until all the senior staff were seated.

Chu stood up first and addressed the crew.

"First, I'd like to introduce the Leviathan's new Captain." He announced. "Captain Aki Taybar. We also have here the commanding officer and XO for the Valkyrie squadron, Lieutenant Ka'Leth and Ensign Steer. Now that all the introductions are done, I'll allow our new Captain to explain the situation."

"Thank you Commander." Aki stated as she took over the briefing. "I hope that I can live up to the standards of the Leviathan's previous Captain and I hope that we can all work together successfully. Breaking in a new Captain can be hard and I realise that there are things that are done aboard this vessel which will be unique. Over the next few months, we're all going to be on a steep learning curve."

"To be honest Captain, I think the crew will be glad to get back on the trail of the mirror vessel." Commander Rashad commented. "We've spent far too long here whilst the repairs to the Leviathan have been going on."

"Thank you Commander. However I have some bad news. I'm sure all of you are aware of the situation with Supply Base 901 and the conflict going on beyond the Briar patch. Well the Leviathan has been ordered to Deep Space four immediately to act as the primary line of defence should the conflict enter Federation territory or the Romulans attempt to take advantage of the situation."

"What about the mirror vessel ?" Commander Rashad enquired.
"Until this conflict is over and Starfleet Command deems the situation safe, the ISS Leviathan and its whereabouts are not a priority." Captain Taybar replied. "We'll be leaving in an hour for Memkeron to pick up Major Phanan and his Marines and then proceed to DS 4. Any remaining repairs to the Leviathan must be achieved either on route or once we reach DS 4."

"How long do you expect us to be as DS 4 ?" Commander Rashad enquired.

"I have no idea Commander. Admiral Devore didn't put a time limit on our assignment, but the conflict could be over in a month or last for years. If the conflict does escalate then the Leviathan is going to be leading the reinforcements." The Captain replied.

"The repairs should be complete and the Leviathan will be ready to fight Captain." Lieutenant Taline reported. "With all the repairs and modifications that have been made to this vessel, she's probably the toughest ship Starfleet has."

"Understood Lieutenant. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like you to give a short summary of the Leviathan's abilities in the near future." Aki requested.

"Of course Captain." Taline replied. "As I've been working with advisor Dukal a great deal, we also have a great deal of specific information on the mirror Leviathan, I'd like to include a briefing on the mirror vessel."

"Granted." Aki replied. "If that is all people, I think we should prepare to leave spacedock."

Slowly the senior crew left the briefing room until only the Captain, Commander Rashad and Lt. Commander Barker were left.

"Rashad, Barker. How are the crew ?" Aki asked. "Are they ready to lead the fight."

"Captain, this crew has been ready to fight ever since their return." Rashad replied.

"I'd agree Captain." Chu confirmed. "We're as ready as we will ever be."

"What about this Ensign Joka incident ?" The Captain asked.

"Everything we know is in my report." Rashad replied. "I've also put the report made by Ensign Hjort in with mine. She was aboard DS 9 when Ensign Joka arrived and she's been co-ordinating with her former colleagues to see if they can shed any light on it. So far we've managed to determine that Ensign Joka did arrive aboard the station. Where his double came from or what happened to the real Ensign is still a mystery. I've tried contacting Starfleet Intelligence about him, but they've just said that the information is classified."

"I'll look forward to reading your report Commander." Captain Taybar remarked. "And Commander, Thank you. You appear to have kept this vessel's spirit alive during a tough couple of months."

"I had a good teacher." Rashad replied, rising from the table and leaving.

"She's a good officer Aki." Chu commented. "She's been forced to do things that she's not been proud of, but she was loyal to Admiral Devore. Whether she'll remain loyal to the ship is unknown."

"I'll see you on the Bridge soon." Aki replied. "And thank you my friend."

Chu rose from behind the briefing table and left, heading for the Bridge.

The next few days were going to be difficult.