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Description
Star Trek: Sojourner: Prelude
“Not All That Wander Are Lost.”

She made her way slowly down the brightly lit corridor towards her mother. There were no windows, only doors, each of which were identical. Next to each door was a small LCARS panel, displaying a name.
Saavik had made her way down this corridor several times this week and each time, it made her feel uncomfortable. She naturally suppressed those feelings, her years of Vulcan training to purge her emotions and feelings still didn’t quite prepare her for what always awaited her as she approached the door to her mother’s room.
Saavik held up her hand and placed it onto the LCARS panel, which in turn scanned her bio signs and her palm print before releasing the locking mechanism.
The doors quietly slid apart, revealing a small room, lit by candlelight. The curtains were closed. Her mother sat in a chair in the corner of the room, mumbling to herself.
Saavik made her way over to the bed that was situated opposite her mother and sat down.
“Mother, I am here.” -she spoke softly, placing a hand on her mother’s knee. T’Pala, -Saavik’s mother did not acknowledge her.
She continued her ramblings, unaware that her estranged daughter was sat beside her.
“Dakara...In the end.” -T’Pala muttered.
It meant nothing. Or did it?
On Saavik’s first visit to her mother, she noted down some of the words and phrases that her mother in incoherently spoke on a PADD and took them away to research any meaning behind the disjointed phrases. Alas, Saavik was unable to make any sense of it all.
‘Dakara.’ -Dakara was however something that Saavik knew it, it was a star system, light years from here, it contained four planets -each as insignificant as the other, on the edge of the Briar Patch, a region of space filled with dangerous space matter, including supernova remnants, false vacuum fluctuations and metaphasic radiation.

Suddenly, her mother was quiet. The sound of the locking mechanism on the door could be heard and it opened, revealing a man in a Starfleet uniform. He wore a blue tunic, like Saavik’s, indicating he was either a doctor or a science officer.
“Ah, Commander Saavik, it’s so good to see that your visiting T’Pana once again.” -he smiled cheerfully, his smile wasted on the Vulcan commander.
“Doctor. Sal, has she made any progress?” -Saavik asked, rising to greet the man with a customary Vulcan salute.
“I’m afraid not, her condition is worsening.” -he was somewhat blunt. “We believe that we may be able to assist her however, the procedure would require a mind meld with a family member.”
“The fal-tor-voh?” -Saavik replied.
“Indeed...”
Saavik once again looked uncomfortable.
“Would you be happy to...” ‘happy,’ he corrected himself, “Would you consent to performing the procedure?”
“I would be incompatible.” -she replied succinctly.
T’Pala looked at Saavik in a rare moment of lucidity, -a moment that had not presented itself since Saavik had returned to Vulcan.
“Romulan filth.” -she barked. “Tainted.”
Doctor Sal took a step back, as did Saavik.
“Be gone.” -T’Pala shouted, waving Saavik and the doctor away, before returning to her previous state.
As T’Pala returned to her ramblings, her lucidity clouding over once more, Saavik and Doctor Sal made their way back into the corridor.
“Please consider the procedure.” -The Doctor spoke as he followed Saavik out of her mother’s room.
Saavik did not respond. She made her way outward, ignoring the doctor as he asked, almost begged for her help. “Commander, please! This may be your mother’s only chance for a normal life!”

*_*_*_*

The starship Challenger glided through space in close formation with the Allied Fleet. Three hundred and twelve Federation, Klingon and Romulan ships made their way towards the Chin’toka System.

The Chin'toka system was a Cardassian system located near the Federation border. This system contained four planets, two of which (Chin'toka II and III) were inhabited and formed a binary pair, located in the Alpha-Quadrant.
By the end of 2374, the system was protected by only five squadrons of Jem'Hadar attack ships. This vulnerability provided an opportunity for Allied forces to launch an invasion of Cardassian space. However, the Cardassians had anticipated their attack and deployed hundreds of orbital weapon platforms in the system. These platforms nearly turned the battle against the Allied forces, until a way was found to neutralize them. Subsequently, the system fell to Allied forces.
However, the invasion did not proceed further than Chin'toka as was hoped; the victorious Allies remained bottled up in the system, fending off constant Dominion attacks. Thankfully, a Dominion counterattack on the system in early 2375 was halted, although the forces of the Romulan Star Empire suffered heavy losses. The Chin'toka system remained under Allied control for most of 2375, until it was retaken by a combined force of Dominion and Breen warships.

Lieutenant Commander Callista Dynehart was on the bridge at her usual station, tactical. She busied herself by checking and rechecking various tactical systems ahead of what was to come. The Challenger along with the other three hundred and eleven Allied ships were here to repel the Dominion advancement in the Alpha-Quadrant.
Dynehart had served under her father, Admiral Maxwell Dynehart for the best part of four years -the entirety of the Dominion Invasion of the Alpha-Quadrant. It had been tough, too tough, she had lost several friends during the long and costly war.
Lifting her gaze from the tactical readout, Callista watched her father as he entered the bridge from his ready room.

The white haired admiral owned his bridge, he had been with the Challenger since her keel was laid back on Utopia Planitia, almost nine years ago. He knew her inside and out, -some would say that Admiral Dynehart knew his ship better than the Challenger’s chief engineer.
Maxwell studied several read outs on the auxiliary terminals before taking his seat at the centre of the bridge.
“Mr. Jonah, report.” -he asked, looking over at his first officer, Lieutenant Commander Jake Jonah.
Unlike most Galaxy-Class starships, the Challenger wasn’t fitted with two secondary chairs at the centre of her bridge -the admiral had asked for them to be removed. Instead, the ship’s first officer stood flanking him whilst manning one of two standalone terminals.
Jonah looked up from his console and gave a succinct report, “We have entered the Chin’toka System, sir. We’re in formation, all systems standing by.”
The admiral nodded in acknowledgment.
“Commander Dynehart; what’s our weapons status?”
“All phaser banks are charged, quantum and photon torpedoes stand ready at your command sir.” -Callista replied, double checking as she spoke that the weapons systems were not about to fail them.
“Admiral!” -Jonah called, “they’re locking weapons!”
The admiral did not immediately respond, his gaze was transfixed on the massive fleet of enemy vessels ahead. A fleet comprising of Dominion, Cardassian and Breen ships.
He shook his head. The Breen.
Only several weeks ago the Breen launched a surprise attack on Earth, the attack was a major blow to Federation morale and an equally major boost to the power of the Dominion. This bold military strike marked the Breen's entry into the Dominion War. Maxwell, was still grieving for his friends and colleagues he lost during the attack on Starfleet Command.
He suddenly looked very frail. But their was still some fight in him. He promised his daughter, Callista, his tactical officer that he would retire after the war.
“Raise shields; Attack Pattern Delta.”

The Challenger broke away from the other Galaxy-Class starships. Swinging low, underneath a Romulan Warbird, the Challenger opened fire on a Breen warship. A volley of quantum torpedoes were expelled from the forward launcher and slammed into one of the leading Breen warships hull.
Callista smiled slightly as she watched the debris and fire was expelled from the Breen ship, her perfectly programmed torpedo barrage hitting its target head on.
The Breen ship broke into two allowing the Challenger to press on.

Jake continued to bark orders at the bridge crew, all of whom responded appropriately and without a second thought.
But within seconds, the sound of the crew’s voices were replaced by that of cries of pain. Whatever the Breen had fired at them, crippled the Challenger.
The ship’s systems shut down one by one. Shields, helm control, weapons, everything, it was all failing. As several of the junior officers picked themselves up off the deck from the initial impact of the Breen energy dampening weapon, bolts of light shimmered across the bridge. One by one, computer displays throughout the bridge shut down. The lights failed, replaced by that of only a handful of emergency lights. The bridge was plunged into darkness... that was until the Breen targeted the Challenger again, only this time with conventional weapons.
Explosions rippled throughout the ship, the bridge included. Support beams fell from the ceiling, one of which struck the admiral, another missing Callista by only a few centimetres.
Callista fell to the floor, hitting her head on the edge of the tactical console.
It was only a few minutes since the Breen had fired their disrupters and in that time several of Admiral Dynehart’s bridge crew were dead or injured.
Lieutenant Commander Jonah rushed to the admiral’s aid, he tried to life the support beam but it was too heavy. He couldn’t help the admiral.
With tears in his eyes, Maxwell looked up at Jake, his long suffering first officer and tried to speak.
“It’s okay, don’t speak, we’ll be alright, help will come.” -Jake remarked, choking back the tears and the smoke that was now filling the bridge.
Callista picked herself up and attempted to survey the bridge, but the smoke was getting too thick. Only she, Jake and her father were still alive.
Clutching her stomach, she rushed to be by the side of her father and Jake. She was in agony.
“Cally, can you help me lift this?” -Jake struggled to get the beam off her father.
“I...” -she stopped, letting out a horrible sound, the pain in her stomach growing unbearable, she shook her head.
Maxwell reached for her, “Cally...” -he started, as she knelt down beside him, taking his hand, “...you go now...” -he spoke, his breathing shallow, “...get my grandchild away from here...” -he paused again, he wanted to take one last look at his daughter.
“I’m not leaving you!”
He smiled, “Oh you were always such a handful, Cally.”
She smiled back at him, her bottom lip quivering as she tried not to break down in front of him.
“Your mother always said...”
He stopped. He simply stopped. The admiral’s gaze became fixed, his pupils were dilated. He was no longer breathing. He had gone.
“No!” -Callista exclaimed, leaning in, holding him. Forcing the pain in her stomach out of her mind as she held on to her father’s body.
Everything had suddenly became peaceful, the bridge had descended into silence for a brief fleeting moment.
The silence didn’t last long. Another volley of Breen weapons fire struck the Challenger, rocking the ship hard.
“Cally, we have to go!” -Jake called, attempting to separate Callista from her father.
“I can’t just leave him here!” -she cried, holding onto her father.
“Jonah to all hands, abandon ship, repeat, all hands abandon ship!” -Jake had called it, they had to go. There was nothing more they could do here, the Challenger was done for.
[ABANDON SHIP, ABANDON SHIP, ALL HANDS REPORT TO THE ESCAPE PODS] -the computer’s shrill voice called. The automated message repeated over and over whilst a klaxon sounded throughout the ship.
“Cally, we have to go!” -Jake forcibly pulled Callista from her father and dragged her towards the aft section of the bridge.
Both Jake and Callista took one last look of the Challenger’s bridge before looking at each other, “Come on.” -Jake spoke.
This time there was no resistance. Her eyes filled with tears, she nodded in acknowledgment and followed him towards the escape pod.
“Goodbye, Admiral...”

*_*_*_*

Saavik was older now. She had grieved for her mother -something she believed was ‘totally illogical.’ After all, death was a natural part of life.
It had been several years since her mother’s passing and Saavik now found herself at somewhat of an impasse and without an assignment. Her mother’s death had knocked her off course. She found herself drifting from one assignment to another, looking, longing for something more fulfilling to do with her life.
She found herself on Rigel IV, sat in a bar one of several unremarkable buildings that were situated next to a Starfleet Starbase.
Sat at a table with a PADD and a bowl containing what was left of a rather distasteful serving of replicated Plomeek soup, next to a large window overlooking the Rigellian landscape, Saavik read to herself, ignoring the comings and goings of the various patrons to the bar.
As she read the text on the PADD, she noticed out of the corner or her eye, three Starfleet officers sit down at the table opposite her.
The officers, all in their mid to late twenties talked about their duty assignments and how they couldn’t wait to leave the Starbase.
Saavik found herself distracted.
The word, ‘Dakara’ kept coming up in conversation between the three officers as they consumed their meals.
It ‘bothered’ her -not that was the right description for a Vulcan, as it triggered a memory, the memory of her mother, sat in her room in the hospital on Vulcan.
“Dakara...In the end.” -her mother’s words came back to haunt her.
She had not thought about ‘Dakara’ for such a long time now, yet it was all the three officers could talk about.
Putting down her pad, she stood up, straightened her uniform and approached the three officers at the table opposite her...

“So, I said to him, the sensors are out of alignment, they’re shot.”
“How did he take it?”
“He wasn’t amused, I’m sure I saw his Vulcan ears twitch a couple of times.”
“Wouldn’t have happened on Dakara...”

Saavik ignored the racist comment from one of the officers and addressed the three officers who appeared to have completely ignored her.
“Gentlemen...” -she started with an authoritative tone, causing them to stop talking immediately. “...I couldn’t help overhear your conversation concerning the Dakara-System.”
“And?” -One of the three arrogantly replied, grinning smugly.
“What was your purpose there?” -she asked.
They all squirmed somewhat. The older of the three, the one that responded to her initial query shifted in his seat.
“That’s classified.”
“That’s classified...”
“That’s classified, m’am.” -he replied, his tone softer, as if he just been scolded for not acknowledging Saavik’s senior rank.
“Then why do you discuss your classified mission so openly?” -she probed
“Apologies, m’am. It won’t happen again.”
“Be sure that it doesn’t.” -she replied, turning on her heel and walking back to her table to collect her PADD before making her way out of the bar.

Saavik’s interaction with the three junior officers asked more questions than it had answered, perplexing her. Could it have been just a coincidence? Was there something more to her late mother’s ramblings?
Whatever it was, Saavik was more determined than ever to find out. She made her way back to her temporary quarters at the Starbase to find out all that she could about, ‘Dakara...’

*_*_*_*

Callista sat in a rocking chair, on the veranda of her home watching the sun set in the distance. A glass of red wine sat next to her on a table. She looked as though she was waiting for something...or someone.
It had been two years since the destruction of the Challenger, two years of waiting. The Dominion War had changed the Federation and its people. The Starfleet was rebuilding. New ships were being launched everyday, heading out to explore once again -only this time, for now, those ships were filled with officers and enlisted personnel only, families were left at home.
Callista took a sip of her wine, her gaze fixed on the horizon. As she looked outward, she noticed a shuttlepod approaching.
It was a small shuttle, an old Type-15 -she hadn’t seen one of those in years. It was literally a box with two nacelles attached to the side with room for two people inside, designed for short range transport.
The shuttlepod sat down a few meters away from her house.
Callista’s home was far off the beaten track, with lots of land surrounding it -she wasn’t accustomed to visitors here, she liked it quiet.
Two Starfleet officers emerged from the pod -one carrying something.
Callista placed her glass down on the table next to her rocking chair and stood up to great them. They were wearing a conventional Starfleet uniform however, where most would wear a red, gold or teal collar, they wore black.
‘Intel.’ -she thought to herself.
The two men approached Callista, the taller of the two introduced himself as Commander Dayan Jones, Starfleet Intelligence.
“Captain Callista Dynehart?” -he asked.
Callista nodded in acknowledgement.
“We have some news regarding Lieutenant Commander Jake Jonah.”
Callista’s eyes widened.
“...Would you like to go inside?” -he asked, concerned about how she would react to their news.
“Look around, Mr. Jones, there’s only me you, your colleague and the sand.”
Jones smiled.
“So, you have news about Jake?” -she started, “I’m guessing it’s not good, otherwise you wouldn’t be here right now.”
“You may want to sit down.”
She did. Picking up her glass, she asked, “Go on.”
“Lieutenant Commander Jonah’s body was recovered from the Chin’toka System three weeks ago. We’re here to tell you that he did not survive the destruction of the Challenger.” -the shorter of the two officers reported, bluntly.
The shorter intel officer then passed her a Federation flag, it was folded precisely, wrapped in a ribbon of the same colour that matched the flag to hold the tight folds in place. On top of the flag was a small oak box.
In all her time in Starfleet, Callista had never had to present the Federation flag to the loved one of a deceased officer. Among the many things she was thinking of right now, one of which was how completely unsympathetic the intel officer who presented her with the flag was behaving.
“Thank you.” -she graciously remarked.
As the officers left her be, Callista was left alone with her thoughts once again. She always knew, deep down, that Jake had perished during the evacuation of the Challenger. She had already grieved for him, her father and her fellow crew mates that died several years ago in the Second Battle of Chin’toka, but this had made it more real.
For a long time, Callista had hoped that Jake had somehow survived, that he’d made it on to another escape pod, that one day he would come home to her with an amazing tale of his survival to tell. But as she sat, with the flag resting on her lap, she knew now that she would never see him again. Not only had she lost the man she loved that day and her father, but she also lost the unborn baby she was carrying inside her.
It was time to grieve all over again...

*_*_*_*

Klaxons sounded throughout out the Challenger, smoke filled the corridors and officers and crew frantically tried to make it to their assigned escape pods. Rapid decompressions began to occur throughout the ship as blast after blast struck the crippled Galaxy-Class starship.
Jake and Callista tried their best to make their way to the nearest available escape pod however that was proving difficult. The pods on deck one were rendered completely useless by the Breen energy dampening weapons.
Challenger crew members physically had to push the pods out of the bays as the automatic ejection sequences had failed.
Crowds of officers swarmed around the escape pod hatches, hoping, praying to get off the ship before the warp core was struck. People were scared, frightened.
Jake dragged Callista around one of the corridors, not an easy task as there was a thick smoke hanging in the air, fallen support beams and debris littered their path towards the small cargo bay on deck two -home to an escape pod.
Callista clutched her stomach in pain, she knew that her unborn baby’s life, along with her own was under threat -she needed immediate medical assistance.
It took them a good ten minutes to reach the cargo bay. Many of the containers in the cargo bay had shifted, making it difficult to reach the escape pod. Several other officers had also made their way to the cargo bay in an attempt to flee the ship however, the hatch had buckled, they frantically worked to release the hatch in order to get to the escape pod behind.
“The locking controls are unresponsive!” -Jamie Zor, a junior engineering officer cried.
“Pass me a tricorder.” -Jake called, as he lay Callista on the deck -she was in far too much pain to assist.
Zor unholstered a tricorder from his belt and passed it to the first officer.
“There should be a welding cutter in one of those containers” -one of the other officers remarked, rushing to the back of the cargo bay in attempt to break through the hatch.
Jake scanned the hatch and the escape pod behind as the Challenger shook heavily.
“The pod is still online...” -frantically tapping the tricorder’s display, “...but the release controls are down, we’re going to have to push it out!” -he reported, the reality of their situation sinking in: someone would have to remain behind.
As Jake delivered the grim news, the other officer returned with the welding cutter and asked Zor and the others to stand back.
Jake shielded Callista from the sparks, “Are you okay?”
Callista was starting to loose consciousness, Jake scanned her with the tricorder, her pulse was thready, her breathing strained from the smoke inhalation.
He scanned the baby. It wasn’t good -and what was worse, was that no one in the cargo bay was medically trained.
“How’s the baby?” -Callista asked
Jake didn’t know what to say, the worlds failed to come to him, but he needed to tell her something, he needed her to keep fighting, to not give up.
“She’s going to be okay.” -he replied, his gut wrenching inside.
Suddenly their was a loud clunking sound as Zor and the other officer managed to prize open the hatch.
“Got it! Come on, we haven’t got long!” -Jamie called out.
Jake scooped up Callista and carried her inside, “Get the exterior hatch open, we’ll leave as soon as we’re all on board.”
“On it, Commander.”
As Zor and one of the other officers began opening the exterior hatch -using two pumps that were connected to the interior of the escape pod, Jake climbed inside and sat Callista down.
“So are we going to draw lots or?” -Jamie asked, wondering who would stay behind.
Jake pulled an EVA suit out of one of the escape pods compartments, answering Jamie’s question for him.
“No!” -Callista cried as realised what Jake was about to do, “Not you!”
“I’m the senior most officer, it’s my duty.”
“You’re not the captain, you don’t get to go down with the ship.” -she remarked, still struggling to breathe.
“I kind of am now, Cally.”
“But...” -she started, he put his finger over her mouth, “Sh sh shush, there’s still time, I can make it to another escape pod.” -he tried to reassure her, not that it worked.
“Jake...please...”
With that, he kissed her passionately and held her, “You’ve got to get that baby home” -Jake said, before securing the helmet to the EVA suit and climbing out of the escape pod.
“Jake!”

Moments later, the escape pod was free from the Challenger. It floated silently in the vacuum of space for a moment, which allowed for Callista and the officers to witness first hand, the damage, the sheer devastation that the combined Breen, Dominion and Cardassian forces had inflicted on the Allied vessels.
None of them could believe what they saw, starship after starship hung in space, burning. Scores of shuttles, escape pods and other auxiliary craft limped away from the battle zone, filled with injured and scared officers and crew.
To the Dominion, the sight would have probably be considered oddly beautiful, but for the Starfleet and Romulan troops and officers, it was more like their idea of hell.
Callista watched out of the tiny viewport as best she could, until a blinding white light consumed them. The Challenger’s warp core was finally struck. Her father’s pride and joy was no more. And with that, Callista closed her eyes, not because she could no longer watch any more of this, but because she was in too much pain...

Star Trek: Sojourner
“Not All That Wander Are Lost."
By Jonathan Crosby-Bromley

Description
Star Trek: Sojourner: Prelude
“Not All That Wander Are Lost.”

She made her way slowly down the brightly lit corridor towards her mother. There were no windows, only doors, each of which were identical. Next to each door was a small LCARS panel, displaying a name.
Saavik had made her way down this corridor several times this week and each time, it made her feel uncomfortable. She naturally suppressed those feelings, her years of Vulcan training to purge her emotions and feelings still didn’t quite prepare her for what always awaited her as she approached the door to her mother’s room.
Saavik held up her hand and placed it onto the LCARS panel, which in turn scanned her bio signs and her palm print before releasing the locking mechanism.
The doors quietly slid apart, revealing a small room, lit by candlelight. The curtains were closed. Her mother sat in a chair in the corner of the room, mumbling to herself.
Saavik made her way over to the bed that was situated opposite her mother and sat down.
“Mother, I am here.” -she spoke softly, placing a hand on her mother’s knee. T’Pala, -Saavik’s mother did not acknowledge her.
She continued her ramblings, unaware that her estranged daughter was sat beside her.
“Dakara...In the end.” -T’Pala muttered.
It meant nothing. Or did it?
On Saavik’s first visit to her mother, she noted down some of the words and phrases that her mother in incoherently spoke on a PADD and took them away to research any meaning behind the disjointed phrases. Alas, Saavik was unable to make any sense of it all.
‘Dakara.’ -Dakara was however something that Saavik knew it, it was a star system, light years from here, it contained four planets -each as insignificant as the other, on the edge of the Briar Patch, a region of space filled with dangerous space matter, including supernova remnants, false vacuum fluctuations and metaphasic radiation.

Suddenly, her mother was quiet. The sound of the locking mechanism on the door could be heard and it opened, revealing a man in a Starfleet uniform. He wore a blue tunic, like Saavik’s, indicating he was either a doctor or a science officer.
“Ah, Commander Saavik, it’s so good to see that your visiting T’Pana once again.” -he smiled cheerfully, his smile wasted on the Vulcan commander.
“Doctor. Sal, has she made any progress?” -Saavik asked, rising to greet the man with a customary Vulcan salute.
“I’m afraid not, her condition is worsening.” -he was somewhat blunt. “We believe that we may be able to assist her however, the procedure would require a mind meld with a family member.”
“The fal-tor-voh?” -Saavik replied.
“Indeed...”
Saavik once again looked uncomfortable.
“Would you be happy to...” ‘happy,’ he corrected himself, “Would you consent to performing the procedure?”
“I would be incompatible.” -she replied succinctly.
T’Pala looked at Saavik in a rare moment of lucidity, -a moment that had not presented itself since Saavik had returned to Vulcan.
“Romulan filth.” -she barked. “Tainted.”
Doctor Sal took a step back, as did Saavik.
“Be gone.” -T’Pala shouted, waving Saavik and the doctor away, before returning to her previous state.
As T’Pala returned to her ramblings, her lucidity clouding over once more, Saavik and Doctor Sal made their way back into the corridor.
“Please consider the procedure.” -The Doctor spoke as he followed Saavik out of her mother’s room.
Saavik did not respond. She made her way outward, ignoring the doctor as he asked, almost begged for her help. “Commander, please! This may be your mother’s only chance for a normal life!”

*_*_*_*

The starship Challenger glided through space in close formation with the Allied Fleet. Three hundred and twelve Federation, Klingon and Romulan ships made their way towards the Chin’toka System.

The Chin'toka system was a Cardassian system located near the Federation border. This system contained four planets, two of which (Chin'toka II and III) were inhabited and formed a binary pair, located in the Alpha-Quadrant.
By the end of 2374, the system was protected by only five squadrons of Jem'Hadar attack ships. This vulnerability provided an opportunity for Allied forces to launch an invasion of Cardassian space. However, the Cardassians had anticipated their attack and deployed hundreds of orbital weapon platforms in the system. These platforms nearly turned the battle against the Allied forces, until a way was found to neutralize them. Subsequently, the system fell to Allied forces.
However, the invasion did not proceed further than Chin'toka as was hoped; the victorious Allies remained bottled up in the system, fending off constant Dominion attacks. Thankfully, a Dominion counterattack on the system in early 2375 was halted, although the forces of the Romulan Star Empire suffered heavy losses. The Chin'toka system remained under Allied control for most of 2375, until it was retaken by a combined force of Dominion and Breen warships.

Lieutenant Commander Callista Dynehart was on the bridge at her usual station, tactical. She busied herself by checking and rechecking various tactical systems ahead of what was to come. The Challenger along with the other three hundred and eleven Allied ships were here to repel the Dominion advancement in the Alpha-Quadrant.
Dynehart had served under her father, Admiral Maxwell Dynehart for the best part of four years -the entirety of the Dominion Invasion of the Alpha-Quadrant. It had been tough, too tough, she had lost several friends during the long and costly war.
Lifting her gaze from the tactical readout, Callista watched her father as he entered the bridge from his ready room.

The white haired admiral owned his bridge, he had been with the Challenger since her keel was laid back on Utopia Planitia, almost nine years ago. He knew her inside and out, -some would say that Admiral Dynehart knew his ship better than the Challenger’s chief engineer.
Maxwell studied several read outs on the auxiliary terminals before taking his seat at the centre of the bridge.
“Mr. Jonah, report.” -he asked, looking over at his first officer, Lieutenant Commander Jake Jonah.
Unlike most Galaxy-Class starships, the Challenger wasn’t fitted with two secondary chairs at the centre of her bridge -the admiral had asked for them to be removed. Instead, the ship’s first officer stood flanking him whilst manning one of two standalone terminals.
Jonah looked up from his console and gave a succinct report, “We have entered the Chin’toka System, sir. We’re in formation, all systems standing by.”
The admiral nodded in acknowledgment.
“Commander Dynehart; what’s our weapons status?”
“All phaser banks are charged, quantum and photon torpedoes stand ready at your command sir.” -Callista replied, double checking as she spoke that the weapons systems were not about to fail them.
“Admiral!” -Jonah called, “they’re locking weapons!”
The admiral did not immediately respond, his gaze was transfixed on the massive fleet of enemy vessels ahead. A fleet comprising of Dominion, Cardassian and Breen ships.
He shook his head. The Breen.
Only several weeks ago the Breen launched a surprise attack on Earth, the attack was a major blow to Federation morale and an equally major boost to the power of the Dominion. This bold military strike marked the Breen's entry into the Dominion War. Maxwell, was still grieving for his friends and colleagues he lost during the attack on Starfleet Command.
He suddenly looked very frail. But their was still some fight in him. He promised his daughter, Callista, his tactical officer that he would retire after the war.
“Raise shields; Attack Pattern Delta.”

The Challenger broke away from the other Galaxy-Class starships. Swinging low, underneath a Romulan Warbird, the Challenger opened fire on a Breen warship. A volley of quantum torpedoes were expelled from the forward launcher and slammed into one of the leading Breen warships hull.
Callista smiled slightly as she watched the debris and fire was expelled from the Breen ship, her perfectly programmed torpedo barrage hitting its target head on.
The Breen ship broke into two allowing the Challenger to press on.

Jake continued to bark orders at the bridge crew, all of whom responded appropriately and without a second thought.
But within seconds, the sound of the crew’s voices were replaced by that of cries of pain. Whatever the Breen had fired at them, crippled the Challenger.
The ship’s systems shut down one by one. Shields, helm control, weapons, everything, it was all failing. As several of the junior officers picked themselves up off the deck from the initial impact of the Breen energy dampening weapon, bolts of light shimmered across the bridge. One by one, computer displays throughout the bridge shut down. The lights failed, replaced by that of only a handful of emergency lights. The bridge was plunged into darkness... that was until the Breen targeted the Challenger again, only this time with conventional weapons.
Explosions rippled throughout the ship, the bridge included. Support beams fell from the ceiling, one of which struck the admiral, another missing Callista by only a few centimetres.
Callista fell to the floor, hitting her head on the edge of the tactical console.
It was only a few minutes since the Breen had fired their disrupters and in that time several of Admiral Dynehart’s bridge crew were dead or injured.
Lieutenant Commander Jonah rushed to the admiral’s aid, he tried to life the support beam but it was too heavy. He couldn’t help the admiral.
With tears in his eyes, Maxwell looked up at Jake, his long suffering first officer and tried to speak.
“It’s okay, don’t speak, we’ll be alright, help will come.” -Jake remarked, choking back the tears and the smoke that was now filling the bridge.
Callista picked herself up and attempted to survey the bridge, but the smoke was getting too thick. Only she, Jake and her father were still alive.
Clutching her stomach, she rushed to be by the side of her father and Jake. She was in agony.
“Cally, can you help me lift this?” -Jake struggled to get the beam off her father.
“I...” -she stopped, letting out a horrible sound, the pain in her stomach growing unbearable, she shook her head.
Maxwell reached for her, “Cally...” -he started, as she knelt down beside him, taking his hand, “...you go now...” -he spoke, his breathing shallow, “...get my grandchild away from here...” -he paused again, he wanted to take one last look at his daughter.
“I’m not leaving you!”
He smiled, “Oh you were always such a handful, Cally.”
She smiled back at him, her bottom lip quivering as she tried not to break down in front of him.
“Your mother always said...”
He stopped. He simply stopped. The admiral’s gaze became fixed, his pupils were dilated. He was no longer breathing. He had gone.
“No!” -Callista exclaimed, leaning in, holding him. Forcing the pain in her stomach out of her mind as she held on to her father’s body.
Everything had suddenly became peaceful, the bridge had descended into silence for a brief fleeting moment.
The silence didn’t last long. Another volley of Breen weapons fire struck the Challenger, rocking the ship hard.
“Cally, we have to go!” -Jake called, attempting to separate Callista from her father.
“I can’t just leave him here!” -she cried, holding onto her father.
“Jonah to all hands, abandon ship, repeat, all hands abandon ship!” -Jake had called it, they had to go. There was nothing more they could do here, the Challenger was done for.
[ABANDON SHIP, ABANDON SHIP, ALL HANDS REPORT TO THE ESCAPE PODS] -the computer’s shrill voice called. The automated message repeated over and over whilst a klaxon sounded throughout the ship.
“Cally, we have to go!” -Jake forcibly pulled Callista from her father and dragged her towards the aft section of the bridge.
Both Jake and Callista took one last look of the Challenger’s bridge before looking at each other, “Come on.” -Jake spoke.
This time there was no resistance. Her eyes filled with tears, she nodded in acknowledgment and followed him towards the escape pod.
“Goodbye, Admiral...”

*_*_*_*

Saavik was older now. She had grieved for her mother -something she believed was ‘totally illogical.’ After all, death was a natural part of life.
It had been several years since her mother’s passing and Saavik now found herself at somewhat of an impasse and without an assignment. Her mother’s death had knocked her off course. She found herself drifting from one assignment to another, looking, longing for something more fulfilling to do with her life.
She found herself on Rigel IV, sat in a bar one of several unremarkable buildings that were situated next to a Starfleet Starbase.
Sat at a table with a PADD and a bowl containing what was left of a rather distasteful serving of replicated Plomeek soup, next to a large window overlooking the Rigellian landscape, Saavik read to herself, ignoring the comings and goings of the various patrons to the bar.
As she read the text on the PADD, she noticed out of the corner or her eye, three Starfleet officers sit down at the table opposite her.
The officers, all in their mid to late twenties talked about their duty assignments and how they couldn’t wait to leave the Starbase.
Saavik found herself distracted.
The word, ‘Dakara’ kept coming up in conversation between the three officers as they consumed their meals.
It ‘bothered’ her -not that was the right description for a Vulcan, as it triggered a memory, the memory of her mother, sat in her room in the hospital on Vulcan.
“Dakara...In the end.” -her mother’s words came back to haunt her.
She had not thought about ‘Dakara’ for such a long time now, yet it was all the three officers could talk about.
Putting down her pad, she stood up, straightened her uniform and approached the three officers at the table opposite her...

“So, I said to him, the sensors are out of alignment, they’re shot.”
“How did he take it?”
“He wasn’t amused, I’m sure I saw his Vulcan ears twitch a couple of times.”
“Wouldn’t have happened on Dakara...”

Saavik ignored the racist comment from one of the officers and addressed the three officers who appeared to have completely ignored her.
“Gentlemen...” -she started with an authoritative tone, causing them to stop talking immediately. “...I couldn’t help overhear your conversation concerning the Dakara-System.”
“And?” -One of the three arrogantly replied, grinning smugly.
“What was your purpose there?” -she asked.
They all squirmed somewhat. The older of the three, the one that responded to her initial query shifted in his seat.
“That’s classified.”
“That’s classified...”
“That’s classified, m’am.” -he replied, his tone softer, as if he just been scolded for not acknowledging Saavik’s senior rank.
“Then why do you discuss your classified mission so openly?” -she probed
“Apologies, m’am. It won’t happen again.”
“Be sure that it doesn’t.” -she replied, turning on her heel and walking back to her table to collect her PADD before making her way out of the bar.

Saavik’s interaction with the three junior officers asked more questions than it had answered, perplexing her. Could it have been just a coincidence? Was there something more to her late mother’s ramblings?
Whatever it was, Saavik was more determined than ever to find out. She made her way back to her temporary quarters at the Starbase to find out all that she could about, ‘Dakara...’

*_*_*_*

Callista sat in a rocking chair, on the veranda of her home watching the sun set in the distance. A glass of red wine sat next to her on a table. She looked as though she was waiting for something...or someone.
It had been two years since the destruction of the Challenger, two years of waiting. The Dominion War had changed the Federation and its people. The Starfleet was rebuilding. New ships were being launched everyday, heading out to explore once again -only this time, for now, those ships were filled with officers and enlisted personnel only, families were left at home.
Callista took a sip of her wine, her gaze fixed on the horizon. As she looked outward, she noticed a shuttlepod approaching.
It was a small shuttle, an old Type-15 -she hadn’t seen one of those in years. It was literally a box with two nacelles attached to the side with room for two people inside, designed for short range transport.
The shuttlepod sat down a few meters away from her house.
Callista’s home was far off the beaten track, with lots of land surrounding it -she wasn’t accustomed to visitors here, she liked it quiet.
Two Starfleet officers emerged from the pod -one carrying something.
Callista placed her glass down on the table next to her rocking chair and stood up to great them. They were wearing a conventional Starfleet uniform however, where most would wear a red, gold or teal collar, they wore black.
‘Intel.’ -she thought to herself.
The two men approached Callista, the taller of the two introduced himself as Commander Dayan Jones, Starfleet Intelligence.
“Captain Callista Dynehart?” -he asked.
Callista nodded in acknowledgement.
“We have some news regarding Lieutenant Commander Jake Jonah.”
Callista’s eyes widened.
“...Would you like to go inside?” -he asked, concerned about how she would react to their news.
“Look around, Mr. Jones, there’s only me you, your colleague and the sand.”
Jones smiled.
“So, you have news about Jake?” -she started, “I’m guessing it’s not good, otherwise you wouldn’t be here right now.”
“You may want to sit down.”
She did. Picking up her glass, she asked, “Go on.”
“Lieutenant Commander Jonah’s body was recovered from the Chin’toka System three weeks ago. We’re here to tell you that he did not survive the destruction of the Challenger.” -the shorter of the two officers reported, bluntly.
The shorter intel officer then passed her a Federation flag, it was folded precisely, wrapped in a ribbon of the same colour that matched the flag to hold the tight folds in place. On top of the flag was a small oak box.
In all her time in Starfleet, Callista had never had to present the Federation flag to the loved one of a deceased officer. Among the many things she was thinking of right now, one of which was how completely unsympathetic the intel officer who presented her with the flag was behaving.
“Thank you.” -she graciously remarked.
As the officers left her be, Callista was left alone with her thoughts once again. She always knew, deep down, that Jake had perished during the evacuation of the Challenger. She had already grieved for him, her father and her fellow crew mates that died several years ago in the Second Battle of Chin’toka, but this had made it more real.
For a long time, Callista had hoped that Jake had somehow survived, that he’d made it on to another escape pod, that one day he would come home to her with an amazing tale of his survival to tell. But as she sat, with the flag resting on her lap, she knew now that she would never see him again. Not only had she lost the man she loved that day and her father, but she also lost the unborn baby she was carrying inside her.
It was time to grieve all over again...

*_*_*_*

Klaxons sounded throughout out the Challenger, smoke filled the corridors and officers and crew frantically tried to make it to their assigned escape pods. Rapid decompressions began to occur throughout the ship as blast after blast struck the crippled Galaxy-Class starship.
Jake and Callista tried their best to make their way to the nearest available escape pod however that was proving difficult. The pods on deck one were rendered completely useless by the Breen energy dampening weapons.
Challenger crew members physically had to push the pods out of the bays as the automatic ejection sequences had failed.
Crowds of officers swarmed around the escape pod hatches, hoping, praying to get off the ship before the warp core was struck. People were scared, frightened.
Jake dragged Callista around one of the corridors, not an easy task as there was a thick smoke hanging in the air, fallen support beams and debris littered their path towards the small cargo bay on deck two -home to an escape pod.
Callista clutched her stomach in pain, she knew that her unborn baby’s life, along with her own was under threat -she needed immediate medical assistance.
It took them a good ten minutes to reach the cargo bay. Many of the containers in the cargo bay had shifted, making it difficult to reach the escape pod. Several other officers had also made their way to the cargo bay in an attempt to flee the ship however, the hatch had buckled, they frantically worked to release the hatch in order to get to the escape pod behind.
“The locking controls are unresponsive!” -Jamie Zor, a junior engineering officer cried.
“Pass me a tricorder.” -Jake called, as he lay Callista on the deck -she was in far too much pain to assist.
Zor unholstered a tricorder from his belt and passed it to the first officer.
“There should be a welding cutter in one of those containers” -one of the other officers remarked, rushing to the back of the cargo bay in attempt to break through the hatch.
Jake scanned the hatch and the escape pod behind as the Challenger shook heavily.
“The pod is still online...” -frantically tapping the tricorder’s display, “...but the release controls are down, we’re going to have to push it out!” -he reported, the reality of their situation sinking in: someone would have to remain behind.
As Jake delivered the grim news, the other officer returned with the welding cutter and asked Zor and the others to stand back.
Jake shielded Callista from the sparks, “Are you okay?”
Callista was starting to loose consciousness, Jake scanned her with the tricorder, her pulse was thready, her breathing strained from the smoke inhalation.
He scanned the baby. It wasn’t good -and what was worse, was that no one in the cargo bay was medically trained.
“How’s the baby?” -Callista asked
Jake didn’t know what to say, the worlds failed to come to him, but he needed to tell her something, he needed her to keep fighting, to not give up.
“She’s going to be okay.” -he replied, his gut wrenching inside.
Suddenly their was a loud clunking sound as Zor and the other officer managed to prize open the hatch.
“Got it! Come on, we haven’t got long!” -Jamie called out.
Jake scooped up Callista and carried her inside, “Get the exterior hatch open, we’ll leave as soon as we’re all on board.”
“On it, Commander.”
As Zor and one of the other officers began opening the exterior hatch -using two pumps that were connected to the interior of the escape pod, Jake climbed inside and sat Callista down.
“So are we going to draw lots or?” -Jamie asked, wondering who would stay behind.
Jake pulled an EVA suit out of one of the escape pods compartments, answering Jamie’s question for him.
“No!” -Callista cried as realised what Jake was about to do, “Not you!”
“I’m the senior most officer, it’s my duty.”
“You’re not the captain, you don’t get to go down with the ship.” -she remarked, still struggling to breathe.
“I kind of am now, Cally.”
“But...” -she started, he put his finger over her mouth, “Sh sh shush, there’s still time, I can make it to another escape pod.” -he tried to reassure her, not that it worked.
“Jake...please...”
With that, he kissed her passionately and held her, “You’ve got to get that baby home” -Jake said, before securing the helmet to the EVA suit and climbing out of the escape pod.
“Jake!”

Moments later, the escape pod was free from the Challenger. It floated silently in the vacuum of space for a moment, which allowed for Callista and the officers to witness first hand, the damage, the sheer devastation that the combined Breen, Dominion and Cardassian forces had inflicted on the Allied vessels.
None of them could believe what they saw, starship after starship hung in space, burning. Scores of shuttles, escape pods and other auxiliary craft limped away from the battle zone, filled with injured and scared officers and crew.
To the Dominion, the sight would have probably be considered oddly beautiful, but for the Starfleet and Romulan troops and officers, it was more like their idea of hell.
Callista watched out of the tiny viewport as best she could, until a blinding white light consumed them. The Challenger’s warp core was finally struck. Her father’s pride and joy was no more. And with that, Callista closed her eyes, not because she could no longer watch any more of this, but because she was in too much pain...

Star Trek: Sojourner
“Not All That Wander Are Lost."
By Jonathan Crosby-Bromley