Actually, Marla was able to take a well earned vacation this month to Washington. When she returned, her work had her running in circles for awhile. I think maybe she's already due for another vacation after all the hours she's put in at the veterinary clinic.

I had the opportunity to go see the spaceship simulator up on campus this last month. Steve Wall and company are doing an incredible job of getting this put together. When I was there, all the framing was done, and most of the interior walls were in place.

Deneen Pond brought some of the backers in for a tour (Hyclone Labs, if I remember correctly). They are just about excited as we are about getting it completed.

The deadline for the simulator being completed keeps getting closer and closer. We all need to be willing to chip in and help Steve in any way we can. Steve, don't hesitate to ask us for anything. We want to help.

This coming couple of months looks to be rather busy. The shuttle Euphrates in Ogden is about to become a full-blown starship and we've been invited to participate in their commissioning ceremonies, including the wedding of their captain, Carl Stark. Carl has been a friend of the Rendezvous for a very long time as a member of the USS Kelly. We wish him the best of luck, both as a captain and as a husband.

November 8th will be our annual commissioning party. The exact time and place have yet to be determined, but we need to know who will be able to attend, as we will be role-playing a murder mystery and need to plan the various parts.

It's still a little hard seeing myself as the first officer on board the Rendezvous. The promotion came as something of a surprise. But now that I'm here, I want you to know that it's truly an honor to be serving with you. The friendships I've made in this club mean a great deal to me. I'm happy that the events of this summer have settled down and we can move forward once again.

I still get to function in my capacity as communications officer. This means I still get to publish the newsletter. I would really like to receive something for SSI from everyone this year. Feel free to submit a story for the Saga, or a departmental report. Wait a minute! I'm the first officer! If I have to make this an order, I will. (Rank hath its privileges. I don't have to beg anymore.)

Have a great month, everyone

Commander Ross Trowbridge

October 11th- Captain Carl Stark of the Ticonderoga is getting married in early October. On the 11th, he and his bride will be having a persona wedding. Captain Dennis Hollinger of the Kelly will be performing the ceremony. Anyone who attends must be in uniform and play the part of a Starfleet officer. RSVP with Marla if you are interested in attending.

October 18th- Monthly meeting of the USS Rendezvous in the Food and Nutrition building at 10:00 am. This is the first meeting after the quarter begins, so be sure to spread the word among the new students about the club.

November 8th- It's time for our annual commissioning party!!! To quote the captain70; ahem "We will have fun and games but must again have an RSVP. We are considering doing a live action murder mystery party for CLUB MEMBERS. It is critical that we know if you are coming or not to this as you will have a character to play and it doesn't work if people just show up. We always have a blast at this party. Those of you that have been at the last ones know that. Hope to see you here. Local event, time, and place to be announced. RSVP required!" whew!!!

As those of you who are hooked on Babylon 5 (as I am) are aware, Babylon 5 will be changing channels for its fifth season. The cable network TNT picked the show up for its fifth and final season. In addition, there will be two made for TV movies shown on TNT. The change won't actually happen until January, so you can continue to watch it KJZZ channel 14 until then.

Here is a month by month breakdown of how the change is going to take place. It came from an official communication from TNT@turner.com.

September/October- Very short teaser promos begin airing on TNT.

November/December- Longer promos appear on TNT; posters, bus sides, subway posters, print ads, articles begin appearing.

January 4th- Premier of In the Beginning70; at 6:00 pm mountain time followed by The Gathering at 8:00 pm. They will both be replayed at 10:00 pm and midnight.

January 5th- The Babylon 5 'strip' begins. Seasons 151;4 (and eventually 5) will be played in sequential order, uncut, and in stereo starting at 4:00 pm (possibly 5:00 pm). The TNT produced 'Making of B5' special will also air during the month. There is no word on whether they can get the rights to show the Walter Koenig hosted E! produced special.

January 19th- 5th season episodes begin appearing, starting on Mondays at 8:00 pm mountain time with replays on the following Saturday at 4:00 or 5:00 pm.

October 1998- (if not earlier) Premiere of Third Space, the second TNT Babylon 5 movie.

I also wanted to quote part of the last paragraph of this message from TNT70;

I just hope Admiral Cazier will let us know what's going on before it happens.

"Captain," announced Lt. Derrick Hughes. "We're now within visual range of Starbase 27."

Captain Brindley sat up in her chair" "Good. Let's see it."

The familiar sight of Starbase 27 quickly filled the main viewscreen. The starbase served as Starfleet's headquarters for all units in the Deseret sector. Since this sector bordered on both the Klingon and Romulan Empires, it saw a lot of traffic. Because of this, the base had earned the nickname of 'The Beehive.'

It looked to be living up to it's name at the moment. At least seven ships were currently docked at the starbase. A closer inspection showed two of them were Klingon, one of which was the VaQwI.

"Looks like a full house," joked Commander Trowbridge, the new First Officer. "I hope they have room for us." He pulled at his collar absently. He still hadn't quite gotten used to wearing the red of command. There were times he seemed to miss his communications station. Although he was now the First Officer of the Rendezvous, he still functioned as the Communications Chief. He had modified the command console next to his chair to perform all the functions of the communications console. However, the communications station remained manned by one of his subordinates. He only took over if a situation warranted it.

A message from the starbase informed them to dock along the upper docking ring between the USS Farhion and the USS Nikib'ral. Directly below them was the brand new USS Ticonderoga.

Once they were docked, Marla stood up and headed towards the turbolift doors. "Mr. Trowbridge, you're with me. Matt, you have the con." The Andorian first officer jumped up and followed her into the turbolift.

As the doors closed, Marla turned to her XO. "This is looking bigger and bigger all the time. Did you see all the ships out there?"

"They were kind of hard to miss. And not all the ships are here yet. As we were docking, at least three other ships were requesting approach instructions. One of them was the Kelly."

Marla smiled at that. The Rendezvous and the Kelly had worked together before and the two crews had become close.

They left the corridors of the Rendezvous and walked into the larger hallways of Starbase 27. In addition to Starfleet, the base served as a major port of call for commercial shipping in the area. Passenger and cargo vessels passed through on a regular basis. Because of this, many retail outlets and other establishments were located in both docking rings.

As they exited the ship, they were assaulted by the sights and sound of an open market. Merchants in brightly colored clothing competed for the attention of customers. The smell of cooking meat filled the area. Starfleet ships, though immaculately clean, were somewhat plain in their design. To walk from the familiar surroundings of their ship into this maelstrom without even transporting was more than a little disturbing.

They headed toward a turbolift that would take them to the Starfleet Command offices. As they did so, Marla tapped her communicator. "Brindley to Rendezvous, come in please."

There was a short pause. "Chism here. What can I do for you, Captain?"

"Matt, there's quite a bit going on here. Work out a shore leave rotation schedule for the crew. But don't let anyone stay more than twenty minutes. I don't think we'll be here very long."

"Thanks, Captain. I'll get right on it."

"Brindley out"

A short time later the two officers were led into a large conference room. Marla looked around and recognized several fellow captains. Against one of the walls was a small group Klingons. She recognized Captain QurtIS and one of his officers. The other two were unfamiliar to her.

She headed over to a group comprised of Captain Hollinger of the Kelly, Captain Stark of the Ticonderoga, and Captain Robinson of the Fahrion.

The Klingons in the room looked a little amused as Marla strode right up to Capt. Hollinger and gave him a hug. QurtIS in particular looked almost jovial. He had experienced one of Marla's hugs and knew that right now Captain Hollinger would be having difficulty breathing. She hadn't liked his suggestion that they make her part of Starfleet's endurance training at the Academy.

A few minutes later, Admiral Cazier entered the room followed by two more Starfleet Captains. He strode over to a large conference table where placards marked the seating arrangements for the Captains and indicated that everyone should be seated. The few other officers quickly took seats along the wall of the room.

The admiral pressed a button on the table and a star map of the area between the starbase and the Kardassian homeworld appeared on the large viewscreen built into the wall.

"Relations between the Federation and the Dominion are quickly deteriorating," he began. "The Klingon Empire finds itself in the same situation. Because of this, Starfleet authorized Captain Sisko of Deep Space 9 to mine the entrance to the wormhole that connects our two quadrants. The Dominion obviously isn't too happy about this and is beginning to mass a large number of their ships along with the Cardassian fleet. We feel this force will soon attack Sisko's station."

"Captain Miller of the Polaris raised her hand. "Then are we being assembled to assist Deep Space 9?"

"Negative. Deep Space 9 will be left to its own defense."

"But, Sir?" interjected Lt. Clayton of the Shenandoah. "That's sentencing them to death. Surely Starfleet won't let that happen."

The admiral motioned for everyone to calm down. "Now what I'm about to say doesn't leave this room. Understood? Deep Space 9 is to serve as a diversion. It will only be held until the minefield is in place. Sisko and his crew will then evacuate aboard the Defiant."

"A diversion for what?" asked captain DiBella of the Thunderbird.

"Even as we speak, a large force of Federation and Klingon ships is gathering together. As soon as the Dominion commits its forces against Deep Space 9, these ships will cross into Cardassian space and destroy the Dominion shipyards which have been built there, virtually unopposed."

"Are we to join with this fleet then?" inquired Marla.

"No, captain. This force has been given another task. There are several large supply depots on Echlar IV. Most of the Jem Hadar's ground forces are based there. If those depots can be destroyed, the Dominion's ability to invade a planet will be virtually eliminated."

He pressed another button on the table and a view of Echlar IV appeared. "We don't know how many ships will remain behind to defend the planet, but ten to twelve is a reasonable guess. What we do know is that there will be planetary defenses to deal with. We expect small attack craft along with orbital platforms.

"With the exception of the Rendezvous, the Federation ships will stay together as the main striking force. The few ships which haven't received the new shield upgrade yet will remain in the center of the taskforce where they can be better protected. The Rendezvous, VaQwI, and Warrior's Paradise will act as scouts for the fleet. Captain Brindley, you will take point while the two Birds of Prey act as flankers. Should you come across any enemy vessels, you are to destroy them without giving them the chance to report our presence. Does anyone have any questions at this point?"

The assembled group remained silent, a little stunned by what they had just heard.

"Very well, then." stated the admiral. "Captain Hollinger, I'll be riding with you. The Kelly will serve as the flagship for this taskforce. Individual orders for each of you are being delivered to your ships even as we speak. Captain Brindley, you and the Klingons are to leave in exactly one hour. The rest of the task force will leave one hour after than that. Good hunting, people. Dismissed."

"So much for shore leave," muttered Ross as he and Marla left the room.

Marla was beginning to feel a little more at home in the command chair of the Rendezvous. Commander Wall's suggestion of lowering the seat a couple of inches had made it much more comfortable.

"Docking clamps disengaged," announced Lt. Hughes. "Helm is answering to thrusters."

"Very good, Lieutenant. Bring us about. Matt, give me the starbase on screen. I want to see what's going to be following us."

Very quickly, a view of Starbase 27 appeared on the main viewscreen. Two Klingon Birds of Prey were just leaving to fall in next to the Rendezvous. Eleven Federation starships were either docked with the starbase or in tight orbit around it. The largest by far was the Kelly, but the other ships were no less formidable. There was quite a bit of activity around the Alioth as she finished refitting her shields just in time to join the taskforce. Marla knew that of the eleven ships still at the base, only two had not had time to get the upgraded shields. Kazier would see to it that they were protected while still having a chance to use their offensive weaponry.

Marla tapped her comm badge. "Mr. Wall, how is Engineering?"

"Warp drive is on line, captain," responded the chief engineer. "All systems are nominal."

"Very well. Mr. Hughes, set a course for Echlar IV, warp 8. Mr. Chism, engage the cloaking device."

The ship disappeared against the starfield, followed quickly by the two Klingons. No one would see the jump to warp.

Crossing into Cardassian space had been rather uneventful. A single Cardassian ship had been spotted, and the Warrior's Paradise had quickly dispatched it without incident. Now they were just outside of the Echlar star system.

Shirley Adams looked up from her tactical station. "Passive scans have located five Cardassian ships and fourteen Dominion vessels. One of them is a Dominion battlecruiser even larger than a Romulan Warbird. There are also four orbital weapons platforms around the planet."

"So much for the admiral's estimate of a dozen ships," Marla whispered to her first officer. "Our taskforce is going to be outnumbered."

Ross brought up the tactical display on his viewscreen. "It may not be that bad. Look how they're positioned. They can intercept a force coming from any direction, but it means that they're awfully spread out. We could easily take out half their fleet before they can join their firepower against us."

"I hope you're right," responded the captain.

She turned back to her helmsman. "Mr. Hughes, take us in. Position us where we can engage two of those orbiting platforms. Get us there fast, though. We've only got about forty-five minutes before the taskforce comes into scanning range."

The Rendezvous quickly moved into a position between two of the platforms. These two platforms were directly above the main supply depots on the planet surface. Marla found herself wondering where the Klingons had gone to.

They waited for what seemed like an eternity. In actuality, it was more like twenty minutes.

"Captain!" exclaimed Shirley. The Dominion vessels are beginning to move. They're beginning to come together."

Marla looked at the tactical display. "They must have detected the taskforce. At least they're heading in that direction. Let's give them time to leave the planet before we do anything."

Suddenly, a large number of ships appeared at the edge of the display.

"Here comes the cavalry," shouted Matt. "That should get their attention."

Indeed it had. Two ships, one Dominion and one Cardassian, happened to be directly in front of the taskforce. They barely had time to turn and fire before being destroyed by the combined fire from eleven starships. The remaining Dominion ships in the system turned to intercept the incoming fleet.

Marla continued to watch the tactical display. "I think they're far enough away. Let's do our job. Mr. Chism, prepare to disengage the cloaking device. Shirley, are the platforms targeted?"

Shirley nodded.

Marla allowed a slight smile to cross her face. "Disengage the cloaking device! Fire megaphasers!"

The bright beam of the megaphaser lanced out from the now visible Rendezvous and struck the first platform. The beam sliced it neatly in two before it disappeared in a large fireball. The Rendezvous then targeted the second platform. Flashes of weapon fire erupted from the platform towards the ship before a hit from the starship sent it tumbling towards the planet's atmosphere.

The two Klingon ships decloaked directly behind the Dominion battlecruiser. Though dwarfed by its immense size, the two ships fired volley after volley into the larger ship. They darted around the ship, trying to break through its shields. The battlecruiser was beginning to show a little damage when it scored a direct hit on the Warrior's Paradise. The starboard wing was sheared off completely and the ship began to tumble uncontrollably. QurtIS, seeing his predicament, wisely broke off his attack and engaged a trio of Cardassian ships, quickly destroying all three ships.

The taskforce continued to close on the planet. Four more ships had tried to stop them, but had succumbed to combined fire from the Starships. The remaining Dominion ships had all formed up with the battlecruiser, except for two which were heading to intercept the Rendezvous.

The Dominion ships and the taskforce began firing at each other as they closed. The modified shields held against the Dominion weapons. Only one hit was scored on a ship without the new shielding, the Sunrise, and it quickly dropped back to let other ships take its place.

Two Dominion ships continued to close on the Rendezvous. She took evasive action as they opened fire.

The Rendezvous had fought Dominion ships before and had knew how to defeat their superior firepower. A volley of photon torpedoes sped away from the Federation ship into the oncoming ships. One Jem Hadar ship blew up immediately. The second showed signs of damage, but continued to advance. Marla ordered a burst of phaser fire. That was all it took. A series of internal explosions blew the ship apart.

Marla scanned her tactical display. She couldn't believe it. Not a single Federation ship had been lost yet. She could track the injured Warrior's Paradise as it continued to tumble. She looked for the VaQwI, but couldn't find it at first. It was only when she scanned the planet that she located it. QurtIS was already strafing the first depot.

"Commander Adams, target the primary depot and fire photon torpedoes."

The bright flash of the torpedoes streaked down towards the planet's surface.

The battle between the taskforce and Dominion ships was quickly coming to an end. Individual ships maneuvered to find the best firing positions, but it was clearly the Federation ships which had the upper hand. While the other starships concentrated on its escorts, the Kelly, Ticonderoga, and Fahrion fired on the battlecruiser. With it's shields reduced to zero, the great ship's weapons were knocked out one by one. In a final act of aggression, it turned towards the Kelly and increased its speed, attempting to ram. The Kelly was just able to evade the collision and raked the bottom of the battlecruiser with phaser fire as it passed less than thirty meters away. Pieces of the ship larger than a Klingon Bird of Prey were blown away from the ship. Two of these collided with the Kelly's shields, causing moderate damage.

The other ships continued hitting the battlecruiser with photon torpedoes. In a brilliant flash of light, it was gone.

On the bridge of the Kelly, Admiral Cazier looked at the tactical display. The Dominion ships had been defeated. To his great relief, not a single Federation or Klingon ship had been lost. Several ships had been damaged, but only the Warrior's Paradise wouldn't be able to leave the system on its own. Already, the Integres had chased it down and had it in a tractor beam. The Alioth had its warp drive knocked off line, but would have their engines restored to full power within twenty minutes.

He opened a channel to the taskforce. "Cazier to fleet. Congratulations on a job well done. Let's finish the job with those depots then get out of here. Dominion reinforcements should be here within the hour and I don't plan to stick around for them."

The federation ships quickly closed on the now defenseless planet.

Captain's Log 9709.16