Star Trek Online/Codex/The Path to 2409/2386 - Supplemental Log

I meet David Steiner in Quark's Bar, Grill, Gaming House, Holosuite Arcade, Gift Shop and Ferengi Embassy. It's the hub of social life on Deep Space Nine, and there's an infectious air of fun, revelry and commerce punctuated by shouts of joy and cries of dismay from the dabo tables. ￼￼ Steiner keeps his eyes down and his voice low, ignoring the frivolity surrounding him. He nurses a Saurian brandy during our interview, but from the empty glasses on the table when I arrived, I could tell it wasn't his first drink of the evening.

Q: So, you were at the Battle of Gila IV.

A: I saw it all. Awful business. After the treaty with the Dominion was signed, I'd hoped never to see anything like that again.

Q: You fought in the Dominion War?

A: On the U.S.S. Rutledge. I was the night watch conn officer. I ... I lost a lot of friends in the war. People who die in a war, they're more than just names on a casualty list. They're people. They had families, and dreams and lives. . After the treaty was signed ... first there was the relief. The war was over. But after a while, I knew that I never wanted to see that much pain and death again.

Q: Is that why you left Starfleet?

A: Yeah. A lot of people like me did, in the years after the war. It's not that I don't believe in Starfleet's mission – I still do. But I was done, you know? I'd given all I could. But I'm a pilot. I didn't want to be grounded. So I used my savings to buy a little trader. I've been flying the major trade routes ever since. I do the Bajor to Earth run sometimes, but I go wherever the latinum is. Anything to keep my ship flying.

I thought I could do what I loved and avoid all of the conflict, all of the death. I thought if I left Starfleet I would be ... I thought I would be safe.

Q: Why did you go to Gila IV?

A: Since the attack on the Klingon warship Quv a few years ago, the Gorn have been buying weapons, generators, heavy metals, spare parts – anything they can get their hands on.

I don't deal in weapons, but the Ferengi are right – war is good for business. I managed to get my hands on a full load of verterium cortenide, and I knew the Gorn would pay a premium for it. Gila IV was the closest Gorn colony to my usual route.

Q: Tell me about your arrival at Gila IV.

A: (Steiner sighs and stares at his glass. He is silent for a long moment.) I arrived at Gila IV about four hours before the attack. I had to dock at their spaceport to make the deal, so I planned to stay for a day or so and make some repairs – I had a power coupling that needed to be pulled.

I arranged for dock space and talked to the quartermaster about a replacement power coupling. I needed to talk to the head of the trade commission to make the deal for the verterium cortenide, but he left me cooling my heels for more than two hours.

When I finally got into Gorash's office, he seemed ... strange.

I don't know, maybe he knew something was coming. He kept asking me about the Klingons – what I thought of them, had I seen any ships on my way to Gila IV, had I heard anything about what they were planning. He asked me about the Federation too, and if I thought Starfleet would throw in with the Klingons if it came to war. I told him that I didn't get involved in things like that any more – I sold my cargo, got my pay and moved on to the next place. And I remember exactly what he said to me then ... "Everyone's involved, my friend. Everyone. You can ignore the storm, but the lightning will still find you."

Q: And what about the attack?

A: The Klingons hit the weapons platforms surrounding the planet first. The Gorn have always been big on protecting what is theirs, so they have heavy defenses for even the most out-of-the way settlements. (Steiner chuckles.) Give a Gorn a patch of dirt to call his own, and three days later it will be surrounded by force fields and mortars.

The Klingons had most of the platforms down before the Gorn even had a chance to react. They called for reinforcements and started evacuating the spaceport.

It ... it was just like the Dominion War. The sirens, the lights, and the shake of the station under your feet every time a torpedo hit ... all I wanted to do was run. Hide. But ... I don't know, maybe the Starfleet training kicked in. I stuffed my fear under that gigantic knot in my stomach and volunteered to help with the evacuation.

Q: Did you fight for the Gorn?

A: I don't consider what I did fighting. I was helping. Besides, the weapons on my ship would never get through the shields of a bird-of-prey. I ferried three loads of civilians to the surface. We packed people in to every available space – they were in the cargo hold, sitting next to the warp drive. Heck, on the last run I had two Gorn hatchlings under my navigation console!

We ... we started taking fire that last trip. The Gorn line had broken by then. They hadn't run – you'll never get a Gorn to run. Not when he's defending his home. But their defenses were falling apart. They'd just lost too many ships at that point. The Klingons had taken some losses too, but ... they're Klingons.

Three of the K’vorts broke off from the fight and started firing on the shuttles going to the surface. I don't know why. We weren't fighting back; we weren't trying to block their advance ...

I used every evasive maneuver I learned in the Academy. I was doing pretty well, too, until that port power coupling blew. I hadn't had a chance to replace it. We lost power to the shields, but I re-routed power and kept the navigation thrusters online. That gave me enough maneuverability to land instead of crash. But I couldn't get to the settlement – we were too far away. I put her down hard in a stretch of desert about fifteen kilometers out.

(Steiner pauses.) Two of the other shuttles ... they weren't as lucky. There were at least a hundred civilians on board.

Q: What happened then?

A: Took me a few hours to get everyone out of the ship and find someone who could help me treat injuries. We used up all the medical supplies I had on board, and after that ... we did what we could.

The Gorn handled the heat better than I did, but we couldn't stay out in the desert. I couldn't raise anybody on the emergency channels, so we rigged up stretchers for the worst of the injured, gathered what little water and supplies we had left and started walking.

It took us until after nightfall to get to the settlement. But we started seeing the smoke about an hour before sunset. By the time we got close we could hear the weapons fire. And the screams.

Q: Did you keep going?

A: Where else where we going to go? We had hatchlings with us, and wounded. We needed help.

Q: What happened when you got to the settlement?

A: We were stopped by a Klingon patrol on the outskirts of the city. I managed to convince the Gorn with me not to fight.

The Klingons aren't barbarians, Commander. They fight with honor. They conquer, but they treat the conquered fairly.

Once we'd surrendered and they determined we didn't have any weapons, they transported our wounded to one of their sickbays and took the rest of us to a holding area. We spent four days there, until the leaders of Gila IV surrendered.

Q: It took four days?

A: I told you that the Gorn defend what is theirs. They never give up without a fight, but they're not stupid. Once the Klingons overran the city, the leaders that were left surrendered the colony.

Q: And you were allowed to leave?

A: I'm a Federation citizen. It comes with certain ... advantages. The Klingons even gave me what I needed to repair my ship.

Q: Have you been back to Gila IV since the attack?

A: The Klingons have cut the colony off from outside contact. No subspace, no trading ... it's off the charts as far as the rest of us are concerned. I'll tell you this, though. The Gorn won't forget Gila IV. This war may have started with one ship, but it's going to get a lot bigger.