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"The Needs of the Many" by Lady Rainbow
Rating: PG13 I know that Kelby's not on everyone's favorites list, but I try to explain his prickly attitude in this AU. He really isn't a bad guy. Really. The situation on Vulcan is heading south pretty quickly...what will Hoshi and the E Crew do? Please R&R. I’d love to hear some feedback. Thanks. Kudos to Pesterfield for the edit! :) Five Hoshi Sato gazed at Lieutenant Richard Kelby from behind her desk in her Ready Room. To his credit, Kelby stood at attention, even as he wore a bewildered look on his face. Commander Phlox stood nearby, with his Pyrithian bat Sebastian on his shoulder. Conflicting emotions passed over Phlox’s face; Sebastian squawked in response, and the Denobulan reached up to calm him. “At ease, Richard,” Hoshi said quietly, and Kelby relaxed into a modified parade rest. She regarded him with a calm that belied her own feelings. “Commander Phlox and I have investigated Ensign Pryor’s claims and it seems that the information implicates you.” Kelby shook his head in denial. “I swear, Captain, I’d never put this crew in danger. Never. I might not be the most social of people, but I wouldn’t do this.” “But if you discovered a problem, you’d solve it.” He met her gaze and answered in an earnest tone. “Yes, ma’am, in a heartbeat. Solving problems is what I like to do. Yes, I’d come up with a way to prevent us from blowing up like a neutron bomb, but I wouldn’t keep it a secret from Commander Phlox. He’s the department head and he deserves to know what’s going on.” Hoshi inclined her head; this was the most she’d ever heard the normally taciturn engineer say in her presence. “Even if it meant compromising your own safety, if the saboteur found out.” “If my actions help catch the saboteur, all the better.” Kelby’s tone was quiet but intense. “Don’t get me wrong, Captain, there are times when I relate better to the warp engines than to the other engineers. I don’t deny that, but when there’s a threat to the crew, I don’t take that lightly.” Phlox nodded. The Denobulan reached over and put a hand upon Kelby’s shoulder. “I have no reservations about your honesty, Richard. You are an excellent engineer, but technology is only half of the story. The entire team—myself, Rostov, Hess—are on your side. You must believe and trust us.” “As am I. Richard,” Hoshi put as much sincerity in her voice as she could. Kelby was a valuable member of her crew; his honesty was like a breath of fresh air. “I don’t like to pry in your personal affairs, but who would dislike you enough to try to set you up for a fall?” Kelby sighed. “Do you want the short list, Captain, or the long version?” Her smile was untouched by humor. “Are you sure it isn't just paranoia?” He shook his head again and replied, “Well, the only ones I can seriously think of are Lieutenant Gray in Astrometrics and Crewman Kitchner in the Galley—“ “What about Ensign Pryor?” Phlox asked suddenly. “Jarvis? He’s okay. We aren’t drinking buddies, and he hangs out with a lot of the computer guys in his old department...I can’t understand half of what they talk about. I’ve chatted with him about the malfunctions; he’s just as concerned about them as I am.” Hoshi nodded. “Richard, I have an idea, but I’m going to need your complete confidence and your complete cooperation. Phlox, you too.” “Of course, Captain,” Phlox said, as he traded nods with Kelby. She tapped her comlink and said, “Lieutenant Trace, please report to my Ready Room.” A minute later, Lieutenant Bryan Trace, Trip’s second in command, entered the room. Two hours later, Hoshi dismissed the three men to their duties. Both Phlox and Kelby returned to Engineering for yet another meeting with the Raquillian and Vulcan engineers, while Trace went to the Armory. If their plan worked, they’d catch the saboteur before he or she caused fatalities among the crew, or so Hoshi hoped. She brought up the minutes of the Vulcan Council meeting and sighed in frustration. Hoshi had offered her services as a translator and a representative between the Vulcans and Starfleet, but Minister Shomek declined her offer. He much rather preferred to deal with Jon Archer, whose record in diplomacy was an established fact. Both Soval and V’Lar had advised her to stay on Enterprise and concentrate on the ship’s mechanical problems. They think I’m biased for the Andorians, since Matt and I are connected with Shran’s clan. She understood the politics, but that didn’t meant she liked them. She’d always known that the so-called “fact” of Vulcan Stoicism was a myth, and that Vulcans were only better at self-control than many other races. Unfortunately, that Stoicism seemed nowhere in evidence as the Council argued about how to handle the “Andorian Incident”, as Jon Archer had dubbed it. “Andorian love poetry? Grocery lists? Children’s letters of apology to the elders? An architectural plan for a ‘summer home’ in the Ice Wastes?” Hoshi stifled a giggle at the matter-of-fact wording of the report. Every computer system in the Andorian Consulate had been purged before the Andorians left. Tharalek’s top aides had stored their files on flimsies and datacards, but they were all empty of important information, all decoys meant to delay the Vulcan investigators Minister Shomek, of the Vulcan High Command, insisted on retrieving that information anyway. Hoshi’s look became rueful. Any erased data could still be reconstructed, given time and effort, for all information still left a digital “shadow” footprint on a system, at least until the system itself was erased and reprogrammed. It was a trick that Matt Hayes had taught her early in their relationship, something he’d learned in Special Ops. Hoshi suppressed a snort of her own. Shomek was convinced the Vulcans were the most sophisticated in the quadrant and God help anyone who contradicted him. Her communicator chirped softly. “Sato here.” “Captain, you have a message from Columbia,” replied Ensign Murdo. “Shall I pipe it down to you?” “Go ahead, Ensign, I’ll take it on my terminal.” A second later, the screen lit up with the image of Captain Matt Hayes. She sat up straighter at the expression on his face. “Matt? What is it?” “We’ve got a big problem, Hoshi, and it involves the Vulcans,” he told her flatly. “Do you remember General Linha?” “Shran’s mother? Of course, I remember. She reminds me of your mother.” She suppressed a smile; Linha could have given Amanda Hayes a run for her money. Of course, given that Linha was the Clan Mother, her status was almost legendary among its members. “She received a ransom note from the ones who took Jhamel and Talla. From Vulcans.” Hoshi stared at him. “Vulcans? But...which Vulcans? And why? It doesn’t make sense. Vulcans don’t leave ransom notes.” “They told us they’re holding Jhamel and her daughter on Weytahn. I guess it’s supposed to be Paan Mokar now. If we don’t get them out, they’ll be killed. The Andorian High Council’s isolating their airspace and instigating a complete lockdown of all their installations. Linha’s ordered First and Second Squadrons to Weytahn...Forrest’s ordered me to follow. This will blow Andorian/Vulcan relations right out of the water.” Hoshi listened to this in horror. Weytahn was a planetoid midway between Andoria and Vulcan. The two had fought over the strategic stronghold, with the Vulcans eventually being victorious. They’d seized control of Weytahn and renamed it Paan Mokar. “Matt, the Vulcan Council’s in session right now, and neither V’Lar nor Soval have told us anything.“ “Could be that they don't know yet...Linha gave me permission to talk to you, but I’m sure Soval and V’Lar will know about it before long. And speaking of ambassadors—Tharalek didn’t make it to Andoria. He’s dead, Hoshi. Someone blew him out of the airlock of his consular ship; no one’s talking about it, much less claiming responsibility.” “Oh my God.” She shook her head in utter shock and dismay. “I can’t believe Vulcans are behind all this—“ “Neither can I, but if they aren’t, someone’s trying to make it look like they are.” Hoshi thought about the V’tosh Ka’tur and the I’Rhiamanau, and about what Trip and T’Pol had learned on Zora Prime. Were the Romulans behind the kidnapping? Did T’Pol’s adopted sister T’Phena know anything about this? The implications made her head spin. She needed to talk to T’Pol, and fast. “Hoshi? You still there?” “I’m still here. Just had a couple of ideas.” She gazed into Matt’s eyes and felt another wave of panic, but she controlled it with an iron will. Columbia would be in the middle of a battle between the Vulcans and the Andorians. She wanted to order Enterprise to break orbit over Vulcan and assist, but she knew that would damage relations here beyond repair. She had her duty here and Matt had his. They were Starfleet captains, responsible for the safety and welfare of their crews. “See what’s going on with V’Lar’s government, Hoshi, and we’ll do our best to defuse the situation here. I’m hoping it won’t come down to bloodshed, but I’m not that optimistic, not while the Andorians are out for revenge.” Matt shifted uncomfortably in his chair; he didn’t say it, but Hoshi knew that he and Shran had more in common than he cared to admit. Hoshi thought about how Matt would react if it had been her and their child and shivered. Nothing would stand in his way of his getting them back. “Hoshi, I—“ An alarm overlapped what he wanted to say as Columbia went to yellow alert. Hoshi’s sharp hearing heard J.T. Daniels’s voice over the speakers, calling the yellow alert and paging Matt to the conference room. “Looks like we’re about to rendezvous with the Andorians.” “Be careful, Matt. I want you back in one piece.” Her words were more forceful than she’d intended. “I won’t do anything stupid, Hoshi. If I do, you won’t be the only woman who’ll flame my ass. Talla would have a crack at me after you were done.” Matt managed a laugh. “Besides...there’s something I want to talk over with you when I get back.” “Oh?” The mischief in his voice dispelled some of the worry. “What is it?” “Uh-uh. It’ll give you something to look forward to when we straighten out this mess,” he said lightly with a smile. He kissed his fingers and pressed them to the screen. “I’ll see you later, Hoshi.” “I’m holding you to that. I love you.” “Love you too. Columbia, out.” His face vanished from the screen. Hoshi wanted to reach out and pull him back, but she forced her fingers to detach. Matt would be all right; besides, now he’d gotten her curious about just what he wanted to discuss. For some reason, that mollified her fears a little. She tapped her own communicator. “Sato to Murdo.” “Murdo here, ma’am..” “Find Ensign T’Pol, Lieutenant Commander Tucker, and Lieutenant Archer and have them report to me as soon as possible.” “Yes, ma’am—Ma’am, you have an urgent call from Ambassador Soval on a Priority Two channel. “Put him through,” she ordered. When it rains, it pours, she thought grimly as Soval’s face lit up her screen. His expression was chiseled out of granite, his mouth pressed into an angry line. Hoshi noticed that he was dressed in formal robes; he must have just returned from his family meeting at T’Les’s estates. “Ambassador, I—“ “Yes, Jonathan and I have just been told about the Andorian fleet going to Paan Mokar.” The Vulcan kept a tight control over his tone. “The Council and the High Command are in an uproar. Jonathan and V’Lar are trying to calm them down. They are demanding explanations from both Andoria and Starfleet. We need you now, Captain.” “Oh, hell,” Hoshi muttered under her breath, adding more mental curses for good measure. “Lieutenant Commander Tucker is at the Vulcan Medical Academy with Doctor Reed. He is not severely injured, but he ran into...trouble...at the family meeting.” She exploded out of her chair. “What?” she demanded. “What happened this time? Did he get into a fistfight with Koss? With Shomek?” Soval raised an eyebrow at her words, and she feared that was exactly what Trip had done. “No, Trip did not get into a ‘fistfight’. In fact, they did not physically meet, per se, though he was part of T’Pol’s honor guard. This is of a more—delicate nature.” “More ‘delicate’?” “I will explain on your arrival here, Captain. It is not something to be discussed even on a secured channel.” “I’m on my way.” “Thank you, Captain. Soval, out.” Hoshi took a few moments to compose herself. The situations on both Vulcan and Andoria had just become critical. She needed to be strong. She opened her eyes and paged Ensign Murdo again. “Paul, do me a favor and drag Commander Mayweather out of the Astrometric Lab. I know he’s working on those ancient ship projections for T’Les, but—“ Murdo chuckled. “I’ll page him, ma’am.” “Thanks. Sato, out.” By the time she stepped out onto her Bridge, her features were once again calm and composed. She managed to keep up the facade as she made her way to the transporter room. |
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