More Than a Lifetime #8: The Edge of Heaven

Chapter 1: The Frying Pan

Lt. Commander Danielle Janeway gazed through the tall windows in the Enterprise E's observation lounge. Deep Space Nine provided the view. The Enterprise had been docked there for the last two days on a scheduled maintenance stop. Dani hadn't set foot on the station, yet, though she was eager to catch up with some old friends over there. At the moment, she sat in the Enterprise's observation lounge, trying to figure out why on Earth she was there. Captain Picard had summoned her, but he was no where in sight as of yet. Commander William Riker's entrance made little difference. He was almost always present at Enterprise staff meetings regardless of the topic. He sat down in his usual chair, near the head of the table where Picard's chair was parked.

Dani swiveled to face Will. "I didn't think we had a meeting today. Do you know what this is about?"

Will shook his head. "No clue. I thought you might know."

"You would know better than I would, First Officer. Why would I know?"

The doors to the room swished open, and Captain Chakotay and Commander Tuvok entered.

Her father had been the last person in the galaxy Dani had expected to walk into the room. "What are you doing here?"

Chakotay grinned at his daughter's shocked expression. "It's good to see you, too."

Dani watched Chakotay take his seat beside her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just wasn't expecting you."

She didn't expect the next two people who walked in, either. Dr. Julian Bashir and Captain Benjamin Sisko entered next.

Will watched Sisko and Bashir take seats across from himself, Dani and Chakotay. He was just as confused as everyone else in the room. "So, do any of you know why we're here?"

"I was hoping one of you might have the answer to that," Julian said.

"I have the answer to that."

All heads turned to the door. Admiral Kathryn Janeway strode into the conference room with a young assistant at her heels.

Dani and Chakotay exchanged puzzled looks. This meeting had apparently turned into an impromptu family reunion.

Kathryn took Captain Picard's usual seat. Her assistant stood next to her, ready to answer to any request or order that she might give. Kathryn turned to the officers around the table. "Good afternoon. Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice."

"What's going on?" Chakotay asked.

"A situation has developed on Tandar Prime," Kathryn began. "The Suliban Cabal has presented a threat to the Federation."

Sisko's brows furrowed. "The Suliban Cabal? They haven't been active in two centuries."

"I know," Kathryn said. "But we have intelligence reports that indicate recent activity, activity that suggests they are planning an imminent attack in the very near future."

"What kind of attack?" Will asked.

"Biological," Kathryn replied. "They've created a disease of some sort to be deployed somewhere within the Alpha Quadrant. We don't know the details about the characteristics of the disease, only that it's fatal to all the major Alpha Quadrant races. It's fortunate that our people at Starfleet Intelligence were able to pick up on this when they did. Had we not known, the outcome could have been catastrophic."

"Why would they want to do something like this?" Dani asked. "The Suliban have been a generally peaceful species for so long. They didn't even get involved during the Dominion War."

"Actually, they were involved in the Dominion War," Kathryn said. "We just didn't know it. The Cabal worked for the Dominion during the war. Their chameleon abilities made them perfect candidates for espionage activities. They gathered information, mostly, but in some cases they were responsible for sabotage."