|
"Future Present, Future Past" by Lady Rainbow Rating: PG-13 Thanks, Pesterfield:) Six “Captain, you have an incoming call on a Priority Two channel.” Hoshi turned to Jon at the comm station. “Admiral Forrest?” “Ah, no, from the Andorian Imperial Guard.” Jon’s eyebrows were knit in confusion. She blinked. “Why would the Andorian Imperial Guard call me?” “I don’t know, but Captain Shran is ‘requesting’ to speak with you,” Jon answered, putting stress on the word, requesting. In Andorian, it had the same meaning as ordering. Little wonder; the Andorian words for both verbs differed by only one letter. “All right, Jon, I’ll take it in the Ready Room, and I think you’d better tag along.” “No offense, Captain, but I think I should too,” Jon said with a wry expression. He gestured for his relief person to take his place at the comm station and followed Hoshi into her Ready Room. Two seconds later, the image of a blue-skinned, white-haired Andorian appeared on the screen of Hoshi’s terminal. “Captain Shran,” Hoshi said politely in Andorian. “I am Captain Sato.” Shran gazed at her for a moment, then his two antennae rose in amusement. “You are smaller than I thought you would be, Ki’rhlana. I would have thought Ti’rhlar Hayes would have chosen a more...robust woman for a mate.” Hoshi’s eyebrows shot up at the strange greeting. Jon pressed his lips together in an effort not to laugh aloud. Shran had referred to her as Ki’rhlana, which literally translated as mate of my brother, not sister-in-law. Obviously, Matt had done more than ratify a treaty with the Andorians when he had been on their planet. Hoshi suddenly remembered Malcolm Reed’s off-hand remark about his family in Leceister: “We’re polite to strangers. It’s family, with whom we can get away with savage remarks.” By that standard, Shran was already treating her like one of his own. So she dropped all pretense of politeness. She retorted in Shran’s dialect, “Do not underestimate me, Shran. If you know your brother, you would expect him not to select a delicate ice-cliff vine for his mate.” The antennae spiked in surprise, then lowered again as Shran laughed aloud. “Well said, Sister. So, my brother has picked wisely, then.” The humor disappeared from the Andorian’s face as quickly as it had appeared. “It is of my brother we must discuss. Is it true that an unknown enemy has taken him?” A sudden lump formed in Hoshi’s throat, but her voice was calm as she replied in the same informal dialect, “Yes. Columbia and Enterprise are in pursuit of his kidnapper. We will get him back, Shran; that I promise you.” “You are familiar with the concept of life debts, Sister?” At her nod, Shran went on, “I owe your mate a life debt that I can never fully repay. Allow me to offer my assistance in his rescue.” She saw Jon’s jaw drop open in surprise; Hoshi struggled to maintain her own composure. The Andorians had never offered assistance in this manner before, and the concept stunned her. Hoshi thought, There has to be another motive, other than the one he’s mentioned. “Shran, your offer is generous—“ “I am in command of the Kumari, with four other ships in my squadron. We are currently on patrol near the border of known space, and we can rendezvous with you in twelve hours, or we can meet Columbia in sixteen. Either way, we can provide security and firepower...if need be.” Shran, seeing her hesitation, added, “Please, I beg you, Sister. Family means everything to my people. Ti’rhlar Hayes is my brother. I must help him.” Hoshi and Jon exchanged looks again. Shran was correct in saying that family was important in Andorian society. If Shran considered Matt Hayes as his "brother", then he was obligated to help. Of course, if Shran’s squadron joined Enterprise—or Columbia,as it was Matt’s command—it could lead to complications. Jon cleared his throat and asked, “Captain, is the Imperial Guard aware of your proposal?” “Yes, Diplomat Archer. In fact, they were the ones who informed me of the situation in the first place.” Shran’s antennae flicked in annoyance. “My superiors have sent a message to your Starfleet Command. The Vulcans choose to sequester themselves in meetings, but do nothing. We Andorians will not wait for the enemy to take the fight to us. We will meet them head-on.” Hoshi nodded slowly. The Andorian spy network rivaled Starfleet’s, so it didn’t surprise her that Shran already knew about Matt’s disappearance. Max Forrest was going to go ballistic once he’d received the Andorian’s message, and Shran would meet up with either Warp 5 starship long before then. She had to admire Shran’s cunning plan. “Send your ETA and your approach vectors to my science officer, Shran. We’ll see you in twelve hours.” Shran nodded and bowed his head, then his image disappeared. Hoshi blew out a slow breath and sat back in her seat. “This makes things a lot more complicated, Jon.” He sighed and rubbed his temples. “Shran places honor above everything else, Hoshi. If he owes Matt a life debt, he’ll make sure to repay it, several times over. On the one hand, it’ll be helpful to have the extra firepower, on the other—“ “The Vulcans will have a conniption fit, as Trip would say,” Hoshi said, ignoring the pang of worry for her Armory Officer. “Get me a secure line to Shi’Kahr, Jon. I think Minister V’Lar’s got some explaining to do.” T’Pol held herself rigid as she gazed at the formidable face of Security Minister T’Pau. T’Pau returned the stare without any hint of reproach. T’Pol was the one to break the silence. “The V’Etoru was a medical support vessel, not a warship,” she said without emotion. “There was no chance of it surviving a direct attack from our enemy. Why did it engage?” T’Pau inclined her head in acknowledgment. “It was under orders to assist the colony, nothing more. You are correct, in the sense that the V’Etoru’s actions were illogical, to say the least. Unless its captain had detected a threat that Enterprise did not and moved to counter it.” T’Pol didn’t quite snort in disdain, but she replied, “Enterprise’s sensors are highly sensitive; if there was a threat to any of the ships, we would have detected it.” “Pride is an emotion, T’Pol.” “I was only pointing out a fact, T’Pau.” Against her will, T'Pol thought, Whose pride is the larger, T'Pau? "We are still analyzing the sensor readings from the Blannek. If they show that the V'Etoru is at fault, and the Blannek conspired with them, then the proper measures will be taken." The Security Minister didn’t quite sigh, but she continued, “We have the information you requested from the Ship and Space Ministry. Unfortunately, it is not enough to make a confirmation, but I think you will find this interesting.” T’Pau pushed a button on her desk and T’Pol’s secondary screen filled with information. She stifled a gasp. Not enough to make a confirmation...Whatever her political machinations were, T'Pau was a Vulcan of her word. Her data stretched back hundreds of years. T'Pol narrowed her eyes at the image of a long, graceful starship, and her mind made the renovations: if we shorten the main hull and made it square, and lower the nacelles, somewhat, then change the color scheme...Yet the differences between this image and the current one were remarkable. T'Pol tapped a button on her PADD. This time, she compared T'Pau's image with the one from the underground mosaic on Beta Polaris. Again, there was a passing similarity, but not enough for a conclusive match. Still it was enough to be fascinating...not to mention disturbing. T’Pau looked directly at her and switched to the formal dialect of Vulcan. “I charge thee to honor thy word, T’Pol. Say nothing of this to the Earthers...not yet, not until we have the plans in place to deal with it. First and foremost, the safety and welfare of Doctor Reed is important. Bring him home.” Home, as in Vulcan, not Enterprise. T'Pol closed her eyes and searched for Malcolm's katra. Her connection was weak, but she felt his pain. Was he being tortured? She tried to find the unique mental "signature" of Trip Tucker, but she found no sign of it. Which meant Lieutenant Commander Tucker--Trip--might be held on the second enemy ship, whichever one it was. T’Pol bowed her head. “I honor thy request, T’Pau. I will bring him home.” Lieutenant Bryan Trace had filled in for Trip Tucker on more than one occasion, but this was the first time he’d dealt with an incensed Tellarite. He and Commander Mayweather listened in shock as Security Councilor Gral demanded to take part in the search for Lieutenant Commander Tucker. Gral pointedly claimed that Tucker had saved his family not once, not twice, but three times, and Gral would not stand aside as Tucker was a prisoner of an unknown, war-like race. “When was this?” Mayweather asked, dumbfounded. "He never told us he'd been to Tellar--" Gral growled in warning. “He did not tell you? How long have you known him?” “Uh—two months. Lieutenant Commander Tucker hadn’t mentioned it--“ “Suffice it to say that he sacrificed his very soul to assist Tellar in its time of need and we will not abandon him now. My squadron will join you in the quest and deal punishment to the ones who have taken him. Gral, out.” “Wait—“ But Gral cut the connection, leaving an empty screen. Mayweather rubbed his temples as if he had a massive headache. “Crap. I wonder what Trip did that has Gral so eager to jump to his defense.” “Whatever it was, it was major,” Trace agreed. He was starting to share Mayweather's headache. Just the security protocols connected with the Tellarites' imminent arrival was complicated enough. “I don’t know what the captain will think of a Tellarite squadron tagging along with us—“ The whistle of the comm interrupted him. Mayweather tabbed the receiver. “Mayweather.” “Travis, we’ve got company coming—“ “I know, Captain. The Tellarites just invited themselves to the party. I didn’t even get to tell Security Councilor Gral that we weren’t sure we even had a party.” There was a shocked silence at the other end of the line. “The Tellarites said they were coming?” It was Trace’s turn to be confused. He and the science officer exchanged questioning glances. Mayweather replied, “Yes, that’s what Gral said. He cut me off before I could tell him otherwise. Why? Is there a problem?” Captain Sato’s voice was dry. “Captain Shran’s sending you his ETA and rendezvous coordinates, Travis. They heard that Captain Hayes was taken and Shran wants him back.” “Captain Shran? Of the Andorian Imperial Guard?” Trace’s voice was incredulous. Tellarites and Andorians? In the same group with Enterprise? Security protocols just got more complicated. “He’s after Hayes? And Gral wants to get Tucker back; he said something about the Lieutenant Commander saving his family on Tellar.” Another silence, then Captain Sato cursed under her breath, low enough that neither man caught what she had said. “God, talk about complicated. Gral’s right; Trip was on Tellar about six years ago. Figures what Trip did would come to haunt him now.” She switched subjects. “And it gets better, gentlemen. Minister V’Lar wants to send some Vulcan destroyers as well.” “Doctor Reed,” Mayweather guessed. “Nice to know the three of ‘em have friends in high places.” Trace turned pale, his dark brown eyes wide in worry. Of course, this would happen when his boss had been captured by an unknown race. “Um...Vulcans plus Andorians plus Tellarites plus unknown hostile enemy equals--“ “A migraine the size of the known Universe,” Captain Sato finished. Trace blushed, but she didn’t seem to worry about his thinking aloud. In fact, the captain sounded as if she agreed with him. “Travis, I want an immediate meeting of the senior staff. Bryan, that includes you too. We need to figure out how we’re going to handle a coalition of four different races and find our missing officers and pursue their kidnappers at the same time without killing each other.” “Oh, joy,” Trace muttered. The look on Mayweather’s face echoed the sentiment. |
Like it? Hate it? Just want to point out a typo? Join the discussion now.
Disclaimer: Star Trek in all its various forms and its characters are the property of CBS/Paramount. No copyright infringement is intended by the authors of this site, which is solely for the purpose of entertainment and is not for profit. This site is owned by CX and was opened to the public in February 2008.