The wind brushed past his face. Nick slowly sat up from where he had been laying. The tall prairie grass moved like gentle waves. Movement caught his eye, causing him to look up and see swaying branches of the tree he had been laying under.
“It’s so peaceful...”
“... but you know it isn’t.”
Nick looked down and saw the man he had been lying next to. Grasping the man’s hand, he relished in its touch and feel. The man smiled, but it was bittersweet.
“They’re coming.”
“I know. But I--”
Nick stopped and looked around. There was nothing but endless prairie, save for the tree next to them. Nick tried to focus on the sound, but it was evasive; like it was only half there.
“Do you hear something?”
“They’re coming.”
The sound was growing louder. Nick looked around as he tried to focus on it, but it kept moving. Always present, but never there. His movements became more frantic as he tried to identify it. He had to identify it. He had to know what it was. He had to understand the... the...
“Voices...?”
Suddenly, a cold hand wrapped in metal grasped his. Nick gasped and reflexively turned toward the man. His now-mottled skin and black metal prosthetics burned into him.
“Nick, they’re coming!”
Nick’s eyes shot open as he jerked himself awake in his bed. His breathing was heavy and fast, and he could feel himself covered in a cold sweat. He raised his hand to his face, but when it touched the metal of his own remaining prosthetic, he let out a yelp and reflexively pulled his hand back. When he realized what had startled him, he closed his eyes and took a very deep, controlled breath.
Get it together. You’re acting like a scared child over nothing more than a dream.
“Nothing more than a dream,” he repeated aloud, as if that would somehow make it more true.
As Nick forced himself to calm down, the comm system suddenly began beeping, giving him yet another start. Taking another breath to finally regain his composure, he spoke to the system.
“Yes, Ford here.”
“Captain, we are being hailed by Starbase 82. Admiral T’Rehes wishes to speak with you. It’s on a secure channel.”
“Acknowedged,” Nick replied as he moved from his bed. “Put it through to my terminal.”
“Aye, sir.”
Nick turned the monitor to face him as he sat down at the desk. As he did so, the terminal recognized him and activated, causing T’Rehes’ face to appear.
“Good morning, T’Rehes.”
“I apologize for waking you, Nicholas, but an urgent matter has come to our attention via Starfleet Intelligence.”
Nick’s stomach sank in that way only the promise of bad news can cause. “What’s happened?”
“k’Elee of the House of Nagh reD has been killed.”
Nick let out a disappointed sigh. “I trust it was with honor, at least. Perhaps we can contact his next of kin instead.”
“Nicholas, there is more. A great deal more. k’Elee was killed by his nephew in ritual combat in the High Council’s meeting chamber.”
“... what?”
Nick leaned in closer to the monitor. He knew enough of Klingon culture to know that this meant things were significantly more complicated.
“k’Elee was charged with treachery to the Empire. Specifically, he was accused of being an operative for the Undine. His nephew, Nedec, was the one who brought the evidence to the attention of Chancellor J’mpok. When k’Elee denied the charges, Nedec challenged him to mortal combat for the House of Nagh reD. Nedec won.”
“Do we know anything about Nedec?”
“Very little. However, since taking control of the House of Nagh reD, he has voiced strong anti-Federation sentiment and promised to place the House’s full power behind J’mpok’s war effort.”
Nick ran his hand through his buzzed hair as the news sank in. This couldn’t have happened at a worse possible time.
Actually, this literally is the worst possible time...
“T’Rehes... doesn’t this seem like a bit too unlikely for a coincidence?”
“By definition, a coincidence is a happenstance occurrence, no matter how unlikely. However, if you are asking if this was timed to frustrate our own efforts to open a dialogue with the House of Nagh reD, I can only say that more data is required. Mr. McCloy has agreed to keep me apprised of any information that comes through Starfleet Intelligence.”
Nick paused for a moment in thought. “T’Rehes... what about k’Elee’s son? Where does he fit into all this?”
“loS was last seen fleeing Qo’nos following the death of his father with a small group of ships, believed to belong to those closest to his family. His current whereabouts are unknown, though apparently Nedec is pursuing him in order to kill him.”
“From what little Starfleet Intelligence has on him, he was believed to share his father’s beliefs. He was also liberated from the Collective. It may be worth our effort to find him before his cousin does.”
T’Rehes raised an eyebrow. “Nicholas, as much as this may complicate our plan to open dialogue with the House of Nagh reD, we cannot interfere. This is an internal Klingon affair and by Starfleet regulation must be dealt with via official diplomatic channels. Furthermore, given that Nedec’s attitude supports Chancellor J’mpok’s war effort, it is highly unlikely J’mpok will move against him.”
“I know, T’Rehes. I wasn't suggesting we help restore loS. However, if he has fled Qo’nos, it is entirely possible he may seek political asylum from the Federation. At the very least, if we find him before Nedec does, he may be able to help us identify other Houses that we could speak with.”
T’Rehes studied Nick before responding. “Nicholas, this is beginning to become a delicate situation. I would advise caution.”
“I know, T’Rehes, I know. We need to do something though. It’s not just because of the Borg, either.”
Nick let out a sigh as he sat back in his chair. “You’ve seen the same news reports I have. Massive protests in Paris and San Francisco, a decline in Starfleet recruitment... hell, even reports of increased religious zealotry. They’re all signs of one thing: the people are scared. The galaxy is a more frightening place than it’s ever been since the founding of the Federation. If helping this loS will get us just a bit closer to ending the war with the Klingons and getting some help against the Borg, I think it’s a risk worth taking, if only so that people sleep a bit easier at night.”
T’Rehes’s eyebrow cocked a bit higher, but she nodded. “Despite the emotional sentimentality, your argument does possess logic that I am inclined to agree with.
Nick managed a grin. “Glad to hear it. What is the status of our task force?”
“Captains T’Laris, Zepari, and Jaz and have all reported in from Starbase K-7 and are awaiting orders.”
“I think we should have them join the force patrolling the Klingon border. Have them keep an eye out for any information that might indicate where loS might be. If they find something concrete, they have my permission to enter Klingon space to investigate.”
“I will relay the order.”
“Thank you... and please, tell them to be careful. My gut tells me that there is something... off... about all of this. The very Klingon we want to talk to being accused of working with the Undine? It’s very suspicious.”
“... Nicholas, any suggestion this is related to our effort to contact k’Elee carries with it the implication--”
“-- that the fleet has been compromised. I’m aware of that possibility, but there is so little evidence of anything right now that I’m not even going to consider it. As I said, it’s just a gut feeling, nothing more. Right now, all we can do is wait for Intelligence to gather more information while our task force attempts to contact loS.”
“A logical course of action. On a separate matter, Nicholas, how are you sleeping, now that you’ve left Starbase 82?”
Nick shook his head. “Even worse, actually. I’m starting to think that this is all just being caused by stress. I’m having the same dreams and they just keep getting more frantic.”
“Perhaps you should speak with your ship doctor about this, Nicholas. The fleet would be at a disadvantage if its top admiral was sleep deprived in a crisis.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but he knew T’Rehes was right. “... fine, I’ll speak to her today.”
“I am glad you agree. T’Rehes out.”
On Starbase 82, T’Rehes watched the image of Nick blink out before placing a new call. Ethan McCloy’s face quickly replaced Nick’s.
“Captain,” she said simply.
“I received a report from my contact on the Stonewall. Another transmission was recorded. The frequency seems to be random. The time is random too, but still within the predicted window.”
“Was your contact able to determine the transmission’s intended direction?”
“Within a range, and it includes the coordinates of that relay the Pandora discovered.”
T’Rehes nodded. “Keep me appraised of any further developments. As we predicted, Admiral Ford wants the task force to contact loS. I will be relaying the order to them presently.”
“So we are proceeding then. We’re approaching a ‘point of no return’ here.”
“I agree, but this may be our best chance to determine who has compromised Admiral Ford and their true intentions. I will be sharing our plan with T’Laris, Zep, and Jaz as well. They should be made aware of the increased risk to which we are exposing their crews.”
Ethan nodded. “I’ll keep you apprised of any more developments. McCloy out.”
Ethan’s face vanished from her terminal, allowing T’Rehes some time to think before contacting the task force. She anticipated some interesting... discussion... with Zepari.
