For the first time since the Challenger left Earth almost a week earlier, the ship’s senior officers were together in one place. Several different conversations were happening at once around the observation lounge, but Commander Kailir wasn’t taking part in any of them; her eyes were focused on the latest SFI reports on the Dominion. These reports were thin on details, too thin for her liking. The Dominion had withdrawn behind their borders and sealed them. 

Kailir looked up from her PADD when the door opened with its customary soft hiss and Captain Forrester strode in. “Good morning.” He began as he moved to the head of the table and took his seat. “I want to start by thanking Lieutenant Commander Jackson and his staff for their hard work in completing the Challenger’s refit on the fly. Job well done, Commander.”

Glancing down the table, she watched as Jackson smiled and gave a nod. Attention quickly returned to the captain. “With that work out of the way, we can focus on the matter at hand. We’ll be arriving at Darox III around lunchtime tomorrow, so I’ve asked Doctor Bentley to provide a mission briefing.”

The icy look Forrester gave Bentley came as no surprise to her, not anymore. Tejara knew they’d been seeing each other while the Challenger had been in dock, but something happened around the time they’d received their new orders. Both men had become distant, the anger and sadness that Bentley felt was etched on his face for all to see while Forrester did a better job at masking it, but it was still there for anyone who knew what to look for.

At the far end of the table, sitting separate from the Starfleet personnel, Bentley tapped a command on the small control panel built into the desktop. The lights in the room dimmed and a 3D holographic star chart showing the Eden Cluster appeared over the centre of the table. “Four years ago, the Dominion began withdrawing from worlds and sectors they’d occupied for centuries. One such world was Darox III.”

He input another command and the holographic display zoomed in until it displayed Darox III. “After the Dominion withdrew, the Daroxi who’d worked within their planetary administration formed an interim government and requested Federation assistance. That decision was not a universally popular one.”

“They felt their new government was replacing one occupying force with another.” Tejara offered. Following the Cardassian withdrawal from Bajor in 2369, there were many in Bajoran society who opposed the provisional government’s decision to request the Federation take command of Terok Nor. It made sense to her that some Daroxi would feel similarly.

Bentley nodded. “Exactly. I was part of the team who helped them establish a system of government and a constitution. Once our work was complete, we left the Daroxi to their own affairs. We’ll be assessing their request for protectorate status.”

“If only it was going to be that easy.” Forrester added and all eyes in the room returned to him. “The Daroxi have also been approached by the Romulan Star Empire.” Tejara looked around at the look of confusion on everyone’s faces. She was certain it was mirrored on her own.

Tejara asked the obvious question. “The Romulan Star Empire is barely holding on as it is. Why are they trying to expand into the Gamma Quadrant?”

“It’s not clear that they are.” The captain said as he tapped a command and the holographic planet morphed into the face of a Romulan with some basic facts beside him. “Tarnek Oreth. In the years leading up to the supernova, he was in command of an old D-7 that had been pulled out of mothballs and upgraded to assist with the evacuation efforts. A year after Romulus was destroyed, he absconded with his ship and a small cadre of loyal officers.”

zh’Charia chimed in with the next question. “And he’s only reappeared now?

“No.” Forrester replied with a shake of his head. “He popped up occasionally in the Triangle. Somehow managed to acquire a B’rel-class bird of prey during that time. Both ships decloaked at the mouth of the Bajoran Wormhole about three months ago. Once on the other side, they promptly cloaked again and haven’t been heard from until they approached the Daroxi, offering them the protection of the Romulan Star Empire. The Romulans have disavowed all knowledge of Oreth’s actions.”

“Are we sure the Romulans are being honest with us?” Tejara asked, not convinced that the Romulan Star Empire wasn’t pulling the strings in the background.

She could see in the captain’s eyes that he wasn’t entirely convinced either. “Starfleet Intelligence has confirmed the Empire’s reports on Oreth’s movements over the past decade. I still have my doubts but for now we’ll work under the assumption that Commander Oreth is operating on his own.”

“Doctor Miller and Commanders Jackson and Zarbrun, I want you to be prepared to offer whatever assistance the Daroxi require. We may be able to build some goodwill by helping with medical, engineering, and logistical matters. Lieutenant zh’Charia, I want any teams that beam down to include security personnel. Commander Bennett, start scanning for cloaked ships.” The captain instructed.  “Any questions?”

Tejara glanced around the gathered faces, but no-one spoke. She watched the captain nod. “Okay, then. Dismissed”

The senior officers stood and made their way out of the room. As Tejara passed through the door, following Commander Bennett out, she heard Doctor Bentley speak. “A moment of your time, Captain.” The XO was glad not to be hanging around for that conversation.  She couldn’t imagine it was going to be pretty

Tom watched Kailir disappear through the door, and it closed behind her within seconds. He turned to face Matt, bracing himself for what was to come. He’d done his best to avoid Matt since the Challenger had left Earth. The irrational jealousy he’d felt during their meeting with the Commodore had mutated into anger and no matter how much he rolled it around in his mind, he couldn’t figure out what he was angry about.

The smart move would have been to talk to Matt, clear the air and maybe they could move on but instead he doubled down and dodged Matt every time he tried to have a conversation. He was about to open his mouth to make another excuse, but Matt beat him to it.

“What the hell have I done to deserve the cold shoulder?” He asked, sadness mixed with anger evident in his tone. “Are you so unhappy that Starfleet assigned me to your ship?”

Tom shook his head but didn’t reply to the question. “We can’t do this right now. Given everything that’s going on right now, we should park this conversation until this mission’s over.” He took a step forward but stopped once more at the next words that came out of Matt’s mouth. 

“You’re such a coward.” The sadness in Matt’s tone was gone now, leaving just the anger.

Slowly, Tom turned back to face him.  “What the hell did you just say?”

“I said you’re a coward.” Matt repeated. “What’s wrong, Tom? Don’t have the balls to break up with me? You just gonna keep pushing me away until I do it?”

Tom couldn’t suppress the hollow laugh that escaped his lips. “Break up? We aren’t in a relationship, Matt. We aren’t dating. We were just f-“

The sound of the bosun’s whistle drowned out Tom’s voice. “Captain to the bridge.” The voice of the XO echoed through the room.

Regret flared in Tom’s chest as he watched the hurt Matt felt played across his features. “I’m sorry.” Tom quickly said, desperate to take back what he’d said. “That was-“ 

“The truth.” Matt cut across him. “That was the truth.” He straightened and gave Tom a cold look that chilled the captain to the core. “At least I know where we stand. If you’ll excuse me, Captain.” Matt brushed past him and was gone.

Closing his eyes, Tom let his head tilt back as he let out a groan. “Shit.” There wasn’t time to dwell on what had just happened. He took a deep breath and pushed his frustration and the hatred he felt for himself in that moment down. Setting on foot in front of the other, Tom started towards the bridge

Within seconds he was approaching the science stations, where the XO was studying someone over Bennett’s shoulder. She glanced over at him, a concerned look on her face. “Everything okay?” She asked quietly.

“Fine.” Tom replied with a nod. “Report.”

He moved behind Bennett’s shoulder and glanced at the sensor display in front of her. “When I started scanning for cloaked ships, I discovered an odd echo on the sensors.” The three senior officers studied the sensor data in silence for a few moments.

“Is this a problem with the sensors or is there something out there?” The captain asked.

The answer came from behind them.  “It’s not the sensors.” Tom, Kailir and Bennett turned to face the chief engineer. “I’ve already investigated that possibility. They’re operating normally.”

“That means there’s something out there.” Kailir supplied. “But if it’s a cloaked ship, how are we able to detect it?

It was a good question and one that Tom didn’t have an answer for. Commander Bennett, however, had a hunch. “Helm, what’s our current speed?”

“Warp Nine.” Mitchell replied promptly.

Tom glanced at his chief science officer. “What’re you thinking?” 

“The maximum speed of a bird of prey is warp eight.” She replied. “In order to keep up with us, they would have to sacrifice power to other systems. That could cause them to show up as this kind of sensor echo.”

A grin slowly grew on Tom’s lips. “He’s keeping an eye on us.” He turned to zh’Charia. “Lieutenant, take us to yellow alert. I doubt they’d be stupid enough to fire on us, but you never know.” He took a seat in the command chair. “Commander Bennett, keep an eye on them. If they so much as twitch, I want to know.”

“Welcome to Darox, Captain Forrester.” Prime Minister Gret Larell reached out a hand, which Tom accepted and shook firmly. The warm smile on the slightly older man’s face stood in contrast to the more guarded, tighter smile on the face of his colleague. “May I introduce Penn Renos, Deputy Prime Minister.”

Tom reached out first only for Renos to eye his hand warily before accepting. “A pleasure to meet you both.” Tom smiled as they shook hands. “I believe you already know, Doctor Matthias Bently.”

The Prime Minister’s face had already broken into a wide smile as his focus turned towards Bentley. “Matthais. It’s good to see you again.” Foregoing a handshake, both men embraced each other in a hug. The gesture caused the knot that had already tied itself deep in Tom’s stomach to tighten. He was careful to avoid staring at them.

“Please, have a seat.” The Prime Minister motioned to the three visitors’ chairs as he moved behind his desk, his deputy following along. “Our other guest should be joining us shortly.” Larell took his seat with Renos standing over his shoulder.

There were no prizes for guessing who the ‘other guest’ would be. Oreth’s D-7 had been in orbit when the Challenger arrived. Tom took one of the offered chairs and Bentley sat next to him. “Ah yes. Commander Oreth of the Romulan Star Empire.” Tom noted the smirk that appeared on the Prime Minister’s face and the scowl on his deputy’s.

“You’re very well informed, Captain.” Renos said with a stony expression.

Tom fought to keep his own features neutral. “Starfleet’s been aware of Commander Oreth’s presence in the Gamma Quadrant since he travelled through the wormhole.” He told them.

“The Romulan Star Empire have distanced themselves from Commander Oreth.” Matt added. “They’ve disavowed all knowledge of his actions.”

“See?” An amused voice asked from behind them. “I told you they’d do this.

Both men turned to find Tarnek Oreth standing in the open doorway. Tom watched as Oreth walked around and came to a stop in front of the third visitor chair and turned to face the Starfleet Captain, extending a hand. “Commander Tarnek Oreth, Romulan Star Navy.” He announced with an insincere smile and cold, calculating eyes.

“Captain Thomas Forrester.” Tom stood and shook the Captain’s hand with an insincere smile of his own.

As Tom sat back down, Oreth turned towards the Daroxi leaders and bowed slightly. “Forgive my tardiness.” He said smoothly. “I needed to take a communique from the Praetor.” Tom snorted derisively, earning a sharp look from the Romulan as he took his seat. “I told the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister that you would come up with some lie to undermine me.”

“Well then it seems we’ve been misinformed by your own government.” Tom said, doing his best to sound apologetic. “I have to say that I’m surprised your back with Imperial Command.” He absently brushed at the leg of his pant leg a few times. “When you abandoned your people and absconded with a D-7 battlecrusier a decade ago, it seemed unlikely that you’d end up back where you started.”

Oreth’s tight lipped smile gave nothing away. “It’s true that I became disillusioned with the Empire’s leadership following the supernova that destroyed Romulus.” Sadness crept onto his features. “I believed our leaders had betrayed us. That they had abandoned the poorest and most vulnerable in society, leaving them to die horribly.” Oreth was good. If Tom wasn’t so sure that this was a performance, he almost would have believed him.

“But as the years went by, I came to realise that it wasn’t our leaders that had failed us.” Oreth continued, his features hardened and when he met Tom’s gaze, the captain could see the anger burning  within them. The performance was over. “It was yours. Your Federation Council voted to withdraw support from the rescue effort..”

Tom knew this was coming. “The armada we were building was destroyed by a synth attack on our largest shipyard.” He shot back, more for the benefit of the Daroxi in the room. “We didn’t have the resources.”

“You didn’t even try.” Oreth’s reply was accurate. Starfleet could have continued using their other shipyards and still saved a considerable number of Romulans but the Federation Council had made their decision and no amount of protest from line officers was going to make a difference. “You abandoned the Romulan people in their time of greatest need.”

Looking at the floor, unable to meet the gaze of either of the Daroxi leaders, Tom let out a sad sigh. He could feel his cheeks becoming flushed. Even now, fourteen years later, he still felt ashamed.  “It wasn’t our finest hour.” He said softly. “There is no excuse for what we did.” Tom looked up, his gaze meeting Larell’s. “The hardest thing to live with is knowing that the people we failed were the poorest in society.”

“Commander Oreth is right.” Tom cast him a sideways glance as he continued, catching sight of a confused look on the Romulan’s face. “His leaders did focus their evacuation efforts on the upper classes, the wealthy and powerful, and that by abandoning our efforts we were letting the most disadvantaged and those races the Romulans subjugated die needlessly.”

Silence fell in the room for a few seconds before the Prime Minister cleared his throat. “Many people would have tried to wriggle free, to excuse their actions. You did not. That says a lot about you.” The way his eyes darted briefly to Oreth suggested he was not entirely convinced by the Commander. “Penn, I believe you wanted to show Commander Oreth around the Parliamentary Chamber?

Renos opened his mouth as if to object but closed it firmly without making a noise. He walked round from behind the Prime Minister’s desk and stood by the door. “If you’ll follow me, Commander.” Oreth bowed his head in Larell’s direction and glared briefly at Tom before following Renos out of the office.

“Penn is a good man.” Larell said with a sigh. “But he’s misguided and has been taken in by Commander Oreth’s words.”

Tom studied the Prime Minister for a moment. According to their records, he was only two years older than he and Matt but his hair was much greyer, there were more lines on his face and the bags under his eyes spoke of a man who slept little. “You haven’t been taken in by Oreth’s words?” Tom asked.

“No,” Larell replied with a shake of his head. “Because they are just that; words.” A warm smile lit up his features. “The Federation has proven itself to us through its actions. When we sent out a call for help in our hour of greatest need, it was the Federation who answered. That may mean nothing to Penn, but to me and many like me, it means everything.”

A knock on the doorframe behind them interrupted. “Excuse me, Prime Minister. The energy minister will be here in a few minutes.”

“Forgive me, Captain Forrester.” Larell looked apologetic. “We’ll have to pick this up another time.” He stood and walked around his desk and walked the  two humans to the door.

Tom shook his hand once more. “Of course, Prime Minister. Before I go, I’d like to offer our assistance with anything you might need; engineering, medical, logistical. My ship and crew are at your disposal.”

“I thought you might.” Larell beamed. “My Principal Private Secretary will coordinate with your crew.” He bowed his head. “Good day, Captain.”

Tom and Matt left the Prime Minister’s office and were joined once more by Ensign Hansen, the security officer that Lieutenant zh’Charia had assigned to them. They walked back towards the beam in point, a lobby area at the front of the building. “What’s your feeling after that?” Tom asked.

“It’s pretty clear that Gret would prefer to be a Federation protectorate.” Matt pointed out, though it was hardly a surprise. “Renos is another matter. He seems to be buying everything Oreth is selling. Whether he’ll come round depends on how deep the Commander has his claws. I’ll meet with a few of the legislators who were in the interim government and take their temperature, see which option has the most support right now.”

Despite their personal issues, Matt would prove to be a real asset on this assignment. “Okay, I’ll return to the Challenger and get the ball rolling on our assistance.” He paused. “What do you think about a diplomatic reception?” 

“It’s a good idea. I’ll extend an invite for a reception on the Challenger tomorrow evening. That give you enough time?” Matt asked.

Tom nodded in reply, a smirk playing on his lips. “That should give Commander Kailir plenty of time to  make preparations.”

“It’s good to be the captain, huh?” Matt asked playfully.

They’d fallen back into their friendly, teasing banter easily. For a moment the tension that had dogged their interactions since leaving Earth was forgotten, but only for a moment. “Ensign Hansen will remain with you while you’re on the surface.”

“What?” Matt scoffed, the playfulness of a moment ago gone. “All of a sudden you care?”

Tom wanted to say yes. He wanted to tell him that he cared a great deal and would worry fot the entire time that Matt was on the surface without him. The words were there, right on the tip of his tongue. His heart sank when he opened his mouth and spoke. “This isn’t the time.” It was becoming a common refrain, one that Tom was getting sick of.

“That’s getting really old.” Matt muttered before walking off with Ensign Hansen in tow.

Watching them go, Tom suppressed the frustration he felt with himself. If he kept pushing his feelings down like that, he thought, it would slowly drive him mad. Raising his right hand, Tom tapped his commbadge. “Forrester to Challenger. One to beam up.”

Within seconds, the familiar pull of the transporter beam took hold as the world around him began to dissolve.

Gare Morell sighed heavily as he pushed the ‘new’ flow regulator into its slot, being rewarded with a satisfying clunk as the module was successfully installed. The regulator was about as new as the 50 year old engineer’s joints were and just as problematic. This was the third time it had been reconditioned and pressed back into service. Gare had warned his overseer that this would lead to inevitable failure, but that warning had fallen on deaf ears. Typing a command into his bulky PADD, Gare set the diagnostic to run. In a few minutes he would have the results.

It was nothing short of a miracle that the facility was still active. It had originally been built by the Dominion during their occupation, or rather it had been built under Dominion direction with the Daroxi providing the labour. Whether the technology was Dominion in origin or developed by one of their other subject races had been the topic of much debate by historians since the Dominion withdrawal. Gare didn’t much care. The less he thought about the Dominion, the better.

Added to that was newer Federation technology, still decades old, that had been installed four years ago to extend the life of the facility until a more permanent replacement could be constructed. Keeping it all working together was no easy task and one that was becoming progressively more difficult and the day was coming that they wouldn’t be able to. Gare didn’t want to be around when that day came.

Politicians had been talked repeatedly about commissioning a new power generation facility but so far they’d only been able to agree on the need for one. There had been little consensus on how best to proceed. Some believed that requesting the Federation’s help was the best way forward, others believed that the new facility should be designed and built natively, without the help or influence of offworld partners.

Gare was firmly in the latter group. He appreciated the help the Federation had provided them following the Dominion’s withdrawal but firmly believed that the Daroxi needed to stand on their own two feet after centuries of Dominion occupation; a belief that was gaining traction among wider Daroxi society. Yet the Prime Minister and his Deputy had invited representatives of the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire to discuss becoming a protectorate of one or the other.

The beeping of the PADD drew Gare from his thoughts. A cursory study of the results suggested the reconditioned flow regulator was operating as it should. Gare started tapping at his PADD again, routing the plasma flow through the reconditioned unit. For the next few minutes he monitored it and once he was satisfied that the installation was successful, he prepared to tackle the next task on his work list. He was looking forward to the end of his shift so he could return home and share breakfast with his family before the children went off to school.

He’d only taken a few steps when the PADD beeped again, this time a louder and more urgent sound.  Glancing down the alert was telling him that the plasma flow was becoming unstable. His first thought was that the regulator had failed already but the device in his hand was telling him otherwise; it was working fine.

The facility’s safety protocols should have shut down the plasma flow automatically but that hadn’t happened.  He input the shutdown command into his PADD but that had no effect. Gare’s heart rate jumped as he frantically tried the command again but once more it failed. A loud alarm blared overhead, one that he’d only ever heard during drills; the evacuation alarm. Dropping the PADD, Gare set off down the corridor but the isolation door had already begun to lower. As he pushed harder, pain shot through his right knee. It brought him to a momentary halt but the sight of the door continuing to lower forced him to push through the pain. He started in a run/limp but he realised quickly that he wasn’t going to make it.

The door closed with a solid thud as he reached it, pressing himself up against it. This wasn’t how it was supposed to end but there was nothing that anyone could do. He could tell just by the sound the conduit was making that it was about to rupture, filling this section with superheated plasma. Closing his eyes, he prepared for the end. His last thoughts would be for his wife and children.

An unfamiliar sensation pulled at his body, a strange hum drowned out the sound of the conduit. He was aware that he was no longer pressed against the isolation door. Cracking an eye, he found himself standing in the control room of the facility. A distant boom could be heard from deep within the facility.

“Isolation doors have contained the damage.” He heard someone report. “Reactor number two has been shut down.”

Another, familiar voice spoke next. “Very well. Start putting together a damage report and begin an investigation. I want to know how this happened.” 

Gare watched as the overseer approached him cautiously. “We asked the Challenger to beam you out.” She explained.

His view of the overseer became blurred as tears filled his eyes. The enormity of what just happened, what almost happened, hit him. He slowly sank to his knees, the pain that once more shot through his right knee only registered faintly in the back of his mind.  He let out a sob as his palms reached the floor and without a care that the eyes of everyone in the control room were on him, Gare wept uncontrollably.

The transporter beam deposited the small engineering team at the back of the power generation facility’s control room. One wall was dominated by a large LCARS display that, judging by the colour scheme and a few small details that Chris picked up on, dated back to the mid-2360s. The information on the display showed the now shutdown reactor 2 along with the damage sustained to the facility.

Their arrival drew a few glances but everyone’s focus quickly returned to their consoles, leaving the engineering teams standing around awkwardly. “Hi,” Chris started, addressing no-one in particular, “I’m Lieutenant Commander Christopher Jackson from the starship Challenger.”

“I know who you are, Lieutenant Commander Jackson.” A woman replied stiffly as she turned to face them. “I’m Lurea Cantell, Overseer of this facility.” She straightened and placed her hands behind her back. “I’ve been ordered to allow you to assist in the investigation of the accident.”

The frown on her face as she spoke gave away her feelings. “You don’t sound pleased by those orders.”

“I’m not.” Cantell replied. “While we appreciate your help saving our trapped engineers, we’re more than capable of investigating this accident on our own.” She added dismissively.

Chris knew where she was coming from. Having some outsiders brought in, hanging over your shoulder in the wake of an accident like this would have wounded his professional pride just as much. “Believe me, I understand and I would be feeling exactly the same if our roles were reversed but we both have our orders.”

Overseer Cantell gave a haughty sniff before motioning to a nearby bank of unmanned consoles. “These consoles have been set aside for your use. You’ll have access to all our data from there.”

“Thank you.” Chris offered a tight smile and a slight nod. While the rest of his team moved off to set up at the vacant consoles, Chris stayed where he was. “How’s your engineer?”

The overseer’s features softened. “He’s been taken to a nearby hospital. He was pretty shaken up but he’ll be fine. Thank you again, for getting him out of there.” A slight smile graced her face and lit up her features.

When Chris joined the rest of his team, they were already getting set up and diving into the data. For the next three hours the three Starfleet engineers worked in silence, studying every piece of data the system had recorded in the hours leading up to the accident.  There was nothing out of the ordinary in the data that Chris had taken. He sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes in frustration.

“Commander, I think I have something.” Lieutenant Nabris announced.

Chris pushed his chair over to the console where the Trill engineer was working and studied her display. “What is it?”  She quickly explained what she’d found and ran the chief engineer through the data. “That can’t be right.” Chris said, believing they must have missed something. “Let’s go through this again.”

After another few minutes going over the data again, the trio concurred. “Overseer Cantell, do you have a minute?”

“You’re saying this wasn’t an accident?”

Overseer Cantell nodded gravely. “So it would seem, Prime Minister.”

“Explain.” Was the simple instruction that followed from Prime Minister Larell. He sat at the head of a long wooden conference table deep within the government’s office complex. The Deputy Prime Minister to his left and Secretary of State for Security Shrea Hutek on his right. Beside Renos was Commander Oreth while Tom was sitting next to the security minister.

Cantell stepped to one side as she typed a command into her PADD. A screen at the end of the table came to life and displayed data from the power generation facility. “When our systems detect an unregulated plasma flow, they are designed to reroute the flow or, failing that, shut the entire reactor down. The unregulated flow was detected but the safety mechanism failed to act. Even inputting the commands manually failed.”

“The failsafes failing to kick in is bad enough, but the manual commands failing is catastrophic.” Tom commented. “Do you have any idea what happened?”

The overseer nodded again, the colour draining from her features. “The safety protocols had been deleted.” She paused for a moment to let that sink in and it was just as well. Everyone sat in stunned silence. “The computer didn’t recognise the manual command inputs, because they’d been deleted too.”

“How?” Oreth asked, raising his right eyebrow.

Overseer Cantell looked to Lieutenant Commander Jackson to answer this question. “We’re not sure. According to the system logs, there’s no record of their deletion. They were there one minute and gone the next. Whoever did this covered their tracks well.”

“The surveillance systems around a computer console in a remote area of the facility were down for half an hour late last night.” Cantell added. “We believe that’s where and when the system was altered.”

Minister Hutek sat forward. “Our security services are currently investigating but given how thorough the saboteurs were with the computer system, it is proving to be a challenge.”

“We’re ready to provide whatever assistance we can.” Tom offered.

Not wishing to be outdone by his Federation counterpart, Oreth added, “As are we.”

Larell smiled tightly. “Thank you, both. You’re help would be gre-”

“Prime Minister, with due respect I believe it would be prudent if we handled this matter ourselves.” Minister Hutek cut in.

The Prime Minister’s eyes briefly met Tom’s before returning to Hutek. “Both Federation and Romulan ships have advanced equipment and their crews have a wealth of experience that could expedite this investigation.”

“With all due respect to Captain Forrester and Commander Oreth,” Minister Hutek began, “I find the timing of this incident suspect.  There hasn’t been anything like this until now, when we have two visiting starships in orbit. Starfleet and Romulan engineers have been providing ‘assistance’ in a number of engineering projects, including at power generation facilities all over the planet.”

She paused for a moment. “This may well have been an act of domestic terrorism or it may be part of some plaot by one of the Alpha Quadrant powers to destroy the capital, throw the planet in to disarray so they can swoop in and fill the leadership vacuum that would create. Until we know which, we should limit the access both crews have to the planet’s surface and keep them out of the investigation.”

“Minister Hutek, I can assure you the Federation does not condone, much less plan and participate in, coup d’etats.” Tom was quick to point out in defence of the organization he’d devoted his life to. “We’re here at your request and if you were to decide that you didn’t want to be a Federation protectorate, we would leave peacefully.”

Oreth quickly jumped in. “Nor would the Romulan Star Empire participate in such an act.”

“Some people have short memories.” Tom mumbled, which drew a sharp glare from Oreth and a curious look from the Prime Minister and his Deputy but otherwise went unchallenged.

“Very well.” The Prime Minister finally said. “For the time being I must ask both of you to limit your crew’s access to Darox III. We will carry out this investigation on our own for the time being but we may ask for assistance,” Minister Hatak opened her mouth to object but the Prime Minister held up a hand and raised his voice slightly, “if our own efforts do not bear fruit.”

It was a disappointing development but Tom could certainly understand. “Of course, Prime Minister. I’ll recall my officers. Are there any objections to Doctor Bentley remaining on the surface to continue his evaluation?”

“Of course not.” Larell replied before either of his ministers could object. “Matthias is a true friend of Darox and will always be welcome here.”

Tom ignored the knot in his stomach at the Prime Minister’s clear fondness, or possibly something more, for Matt.

Prime Minister Larell stood, causing everyone else to rise to their feet. “Thank you all for coming.” With a final nod he left the room with his two ministers and Overseer Cantell in tow.

“Nor would the Romulan Star Empire participate in such an act.” Tom said, parroting Oreth’s words in a mocking impersonation. “I guess I must have imagined that time when your military leadership wiped out your political leadership and installed a Reman as your head of your government.”

Oreth said nothing. He just sneered as he tapped a control on a panel connected to the wrist of his sleeve. Within seconds he was snatched by the familiar green of a Romulan transporter beam.

Tom shared an amused look with his chief engineer before contacting his own ship. “Forrester to Challenger. Two to beam up.”

Tom reached out and pressed the door chime. Because of the late hour, he wasn’t expecting the door to be answered quickly so he was surprised when the door opened revealing a shirtless Matt Bentley. The sight took Tom’s breath away and he itched to reach out and run his fingers through Matt’s tousled blond hair. “I…uh…I’m…”

“If this is a booty call,” Matt began wearily as he leaned against the doorframe , “you can go f-”

The captain quickly cut across him as he finally regained his composure. “Prime Minister Larell is dead.” Tom watched as shock and grief played out across his features. Matt took a step back, a silent invitation to enter.

Tom immediately moved over to the replicator and ordered a cup of chamomile tea. When he turned back, Matt was sitting on his couch with his head in his hands. Tom walked over and reached out, placing a hand on Matt’s shoulder. “Here.” Tom said when Matt looked up, tears shining in his eyes.

“How?” Matt croaked as he accepted the cup.

Taking a seat on the chair opposite, Tom leaned forward. “Transporter malfunction.” Tom replied softly. “He was returning to the capital after an event on the eastern continent.”

“I had dinner with him just before he was leaving for that event.” A mixture of sadness, confusion and disbelief were etched across Matt’s face. “Do we have any idea how it happened?”

The captain met Matt’s questioning eyes and nodded gravely. “The Daroxi authorities are only just beginning their investigations.” He replied, keeping his tone soft. “They think it may be linked to the sabotage attempt on the city’s fusion reactor.”

“Do you think they’re linked?” Matt asked him.

Tom didn’t tear his gaze away from those beautiful blue eyes that were filled with so much sadness; he couldn’t. “I’m not sure. It’s certainly possible. Romulan assassination attempts are usually more precise, more guided. Even when the military wiped out their own leaders, it was done with precision. Destroying the city by overloading one of the fusion reactors is a little heavy handed for the Romulans but we can’t rule out their involvement. They certainly stand to benefit from getting rid of Larell, no matter how it’s achieved. With him out of the way, there’s little chance of Darox becoming a Federation protectorate.”

“Darox wasn’t going to become a protectorate anyway.” Matt announced, setting the still full cup of tea on the coffee table. “I told Gret during dinner that my recommendation is going to be that Darox isn’t ready to be a Federation protectorate.”

That left Tom stunned for a few seconds. “You’re talking about conceding Darox to the Romulans.”

“They’ll be getting a poisoned chalice.” At the confused look on Tom’s face, Matt continued, “It’s become clear to me in the few days that we’ve been here that Daroxi society is a powder keg. Most people don’t want to see the government allying with either the Romulans or the Federation, they want to stand on their own two feet.”

The captain nodded slowly in understanding. “Can’t say I blame them after centuries of Dominion occupation.”

“Darox’s political leaders have, for the most part, stopped listening to the public and the people are furious. There’s a disturbing undercurrent within wider society and it feels like the politicians are either ignoring it or simply don’t want to see it.” Matt pushed himself off the couch and began pacing back and forth. “I’m worried that we could see widespread protests and massive civil unrest if the government agrees to an alliance with either of us. At most we should shoot for full diplomatic and trade relations. I think that would be more acceptable to the Daroxi people.”

Tom sighed. “I doubt that’ll happen now. Acting Prime Minster Renos will probably accept the Romulans offer.” The two fell into a brief, but uncomfortable, silence as Matt moved back to the couch and sat down.

“I’m gonna go pay my respects to Gret’s wife and family in the morning.” Matt announced. “You should take the time and do the same.” The look of confusion on Tom’s face prompted Matt to ask, “What?”

Those piercing blue eyes once again met Tom’s, silently waiting for an answer. “I didn’t realise Larell was married.”

“Yeah.” Matt confirmed. “They’ve been married for about fifteen years. They have a son and three daughters.”

Tom’s mouth went dry and his stomach began to churn as his body flooded with guilt. He’d pushed Matt away after their meeting with Commodore Vega, keeping him at arm’s length since leaving Earth. Why? Because he thought that Matt and Larell had been lovers during the former’s time here four years ago. Now it looked like he’d gotten it wrong. Even if he’d been right, would that have made the way he’d treated Matt any better? “I thought that you two were,” he paused as he struggled to find the right word or phrase, “lovers.”

“What?” Matt was clearly taken aback. “What the hell gave you that idea?”

The churn in Tom’s stomach became more intense. “In our meeting with Vega, you said that you and Larell had developed a relationship when you were here before.” The question of why is mind went straight for the assumption their relationship had been romantic popped into his mind and was quickly answered. ‘Because you’re a jealous asshole.’

“Oh my god.” Matt rolled his eyes. “A working relationship, Tom. We developed a working relationship.” Tom could see it on Matt’s face as the pieces of the puzzle finally slid into place. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. Is this why you’ve been such an asshole to me since we left Earth? Because you thought Gret was my ex?”

Tom opened his mouth to respond but his mind was frozen. “I…I thought…”

“Well you thought wrong.” Matt told him firmly. “And of course you didn’t bother coming to talk to me about this, like an adult. You just shut me out and push me away.” He made a sound of disgust. “Even if he was my ex, which he wasn’t, do you really think I’d toss you to one side when I came face to face with an ex? But hey, you said it yourself; we were just having casual sex, right?”

Of course he’d messed this up. How could it have been otherwise? It’s not like his other relationships had gone well. Tom had always been so laser focused on the captain’s chair that he’d never learned how to make a relationship work. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean-”

“I need to get some sleep before I speak to Gret’s family tomorrow.” Matt announced as he stood up suddenly. “So I’m gonna go to bed and you can go to hell.”

The anger Matt felt wasn’t a surprise. Tom stood and moved towards the door. Stopping at the threshold, he turned to find those blue eyes, now ice cold, watching him. “I really am sorry, Matt.” His eyes met with that icy glare once more. Getting no reply, Tom turned and carried on through the door.

Matthias Bentley was exhausted. Sleep had eluded him following Tom’s visit in the middle of the night. In the hours that followed, his mind raced as it bounced between digesting the news of Gret’s death along with the reason Tom had been such an asshole since the Challenger left Earth. Now he felt like crap and was certain that he looked it. His need for coffee, combined with a need to get out of his quarters, saw him searching out one of the ship’s smaller lounges where he nursed a large mug of black coffee.

His visit with Gret’s widow hadn’t gone exactly as he’d expected. They’d done the usual condolences and the teary reminices. But Mrs Larell had also taken him aside and confided in him that her husband had become paranoid, believing that there was a conspiracy to kill him. That paranoia only intensified after the arrival of Commander Oreth. Matt tried to reconcile the Gret that he’d been dealing with recently with the version of the man his wife talked about but couldn’t figure it out. Before leaving, she’d given Matt two data storage modules that Gret had asked her to give to the Federation diplomat if anything should happen. He’d stored them in his quarters for safe keeping but hadn’t looked through the data they contained yet.

A figure stopping beside the table drew Matt’s thoughts back to the present and caused his gaze to travel upwards. He’d expected to find Tom standing there, but instead he found Alex Mitchell holding a mug of his own. “Mind if I join you?” It seemed that Mitchell’s question was rhetorical because without waiting for a reply he slid into the chair opposite. “How’re you holding up?”

“I really wish I hadn’t taken this job.” Matthias admitted sourly before taking a long sip of his coffee. “I didn’t know what I’d find on Darox when I arrived here but it wasn’t this. A political class so out of touch with their constituents that they’re about two minutes from exploding into civil unrest.” His hand gestures were becoming more animated and his voice getting louder. “I mean we’re talking about the possibility of the people overthrowing the democratically elected leaders because those leaders have stopped listening. How in the hell did they let this happen? What did we spend months doing here four years ago?”

He watched as Alexander leaned forward and rested his arms on the table. “You did what you could.” Alex told him. “You gave them the tools and the counsel they needed to succeed. That’s all you could do. After that it was up to them what they did with it.”

“Yeah.” Matt rubbed his eyes and his shoulders slumped. “And Tom hasn’t made things any easier. Pushing me away since our meeting with Commodore Vega because he thought Gret and I were lovers and instead of talking to me, he shut me out.”

Alex closed his eyes and dropped head. After taking a deep breath and letting it out loudly through his nose, Alex met Matt’s gaze. “You know he’s not good with relationships. He’s only had one serious relationship. His entire adult relationship has been in pursuit of the centre chair. You guys are good together.” Alex leaned in closer and adopted a softer tone. “Give him a chance to make it up to you, Matt.”

“I do like him.” Matt replied, a wistful smile playing on his lips but that disappeared as quickly as it came. “But I’ve seen an ugly side to him since leaving Earth. A side that said things specifically to hurt me.” He shook his head. “I don’t need that kind of person in my life.”

Letting out a sigh, Alex sat back in his chair. “Look, he’s not perfect.” Alex admitted. “Who amongst us is? But he cares for you. He may have difficulty showing it, but it’s true. And I know you care about him.” He sighed. “You guys are good together, you owe it to yourselves and each other to see how far this thing goes.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Matt told him, his frustration bubbling to the surface. “Tom’s made it clear that he isn’t interested in a long distance relationship and I’m on the first transport back to the Alpha Quadrant once we’re done here.” Alex opened his mouth to speak again but Matt held up a hand to stop him. “I get you shilling for him, but it’s over. The best thing we can do now is go our separate ways and move on.”

Matt stood and picked up his coffee mug. “I’ll see you later.” 

The Prime Minister’s funeral was held the next day. Acting Prime Minister Renos led the mourners with the several members of the cabinet speaking about Gret Larell. Tom and Matt were invited along with Commander Oreth and his First Officer. Larell was cremated with the ashes handed over to his wife in a small decorative urn.

The sky was a bluish-green, a few grey clouds moved slowly across it. Tom’s dress uniform wasn’t providing much protection from the cold Daroxi morning and he was looking forward to beaming back to the Challenger and changing back into his duty uniform. “It was a lovely service.” Tom mused but the comment drew little more than a hum of agreement from Matt.

As they walked away from the crematorium, two Daroxi security agents approached them and one of them asked, “Are you Doctor Matthias Bentley?”

“Who’s asking?” Tom asked, instantly on alert. The former security officer knew the tone the two agents were using, he’d adopted it plenty of times himself in the course of an investigation.

The lead security agent ignored Tom and kept his eyes focused on Matt. “Doctor Bently, we have a decree for your arrest.” He reached out and grasped Matt’s upper arm.

“What’s the charge?” Tom asked, deep down already knowing the answer.

The lead agent finally addressed Tom, meeting the captain’s gaze. “The murder of Prime Minister Gret Larell.”

The Daroxi security agents whisked Matt away without saying much else. Tom’s immediate reaction had been to instruct the Challenger to lock onto the communicator Matt had been issued with and beam him up. The problem with that was two fold; first, they’d placed a transport inhibitor on him to prevent the Challenger from doing just that and two, there was no agreement in place to grant Matt diplomatic immunity so he was subject to local laws like everyone else.

“Sir, you can’t go in there.” The young woman rose from her chair hurriedly in an attempt to get in front of the Starfleet captain but there was no slowing him down.

Tom brushed past her and burst through the doors of the Prime Minister’s office to find acting Prime Minister Renos studying a PADD with Commander Oreth standing over his shoulder. “I should’ve known I’d find you two together.” 

The comment drew a smirk from Oreth. Tom’s fists clenched instinctively as he briefly considered launching himself over the desk and wiping that smirk from the smug Romulan’s face but he dismissed the idea as quickly as it occurred to him. While it may have felt good, it would have done Matt no favours and that’s what he had to focus on; that’s why he had to keep his cool.

Renos, though, looked like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He set the PADD on the desk so that it’s screen was facing down. He refused to meet Tom’s gaze, his eyes darting around the room save for a few moments where their eyes briefly met. Over his shoulder, he could hear Renos’ assistant apologising but the acting Prime Minister just waved her off.

“Captain, I understand your anger but I can assure you it’s not me you should be angry with.” The acting Prime Minister told him calmly but the beads of sweat on his forehead betrayed his nerves. “The person you should be angry with is Doctor Bentley. He’s the one who assassinated Prime Minister Larell.”

Tom’s heart pounded in his chest and he could hear blood rushing past his ears. “Doctor Bentley is not responsible for the death of the Prime Minister!” He told them forcefully, pointing an angry finger at the acting Prime Minister. Closing his eyes, Tom took a deep breath. Losing his cool wasn’t going to get Matt out of this. “What’s the evidence against him?” He asked in a more even tone.

“The evidence against Doctor Bentley will be presented during the trial.” He patted his forehead and upper lip with what looked like a handkerchief. “The investigation is still ongoing and I’m not at liberty to release details at this time.”

Tom pointed at the still silent Romulan over Renos’ shoulder. “But you’re at liberty to share it with him?”

“Com…Commander Oreth is advising me on this matter.” Renos replied, tripping over his words. His nervousness stood in contrast to Oreth’s cool, calm demeanour. His cold green eyes were laser focused on the Starfleet captain. He had no problems meeting Tom’s gaze.

If Tom hadn’t suspected Oreth’s involvement in the death of Prime Minister Larell before, he certainly did now. “I’ll bet he is.” Tom muttered as he cast the Romulan a disdainful look. “I want to speak with Doctor Bentley.”

“He is being interrogated as we speak.” Renos folded his hands together. “As soon as that is done, I will allow you to speak with him.” He unfolded his hands again as his eyes briefly met Tom’s.

A chill ran through Tom at the thought of Matt being subject to Romulan interrogation techniques. “By Daroxi security or by Oreth’s people?”

“Daroxi Security.” Renos was quick to reply, wiping his brow once more.

Relief washed over the captain and he quickly moved onto his next question. “Does he have legal counsel present?”

“Yes.” Renos seemed more relaxed with this line of questioning; clearly lying didn’t come naturally to him. “He’s been assigned an advocate who is present during the interrogation.”

Tom barely had time to register that news before a new voice joined the conversation. “We may have questions for you too, Captain.”

“Ah, finally.” Tom cast his arms wide dramatically. “The ventriloquist speaks.” He smiled inwardly as Renos’ brow knitted in confusion, not getting the reference. “I will be more than happy to answer any questions Daroxi security has for me. Just have them contact the Challenger and I’ll arrange to beam them aboard.” He turned to the acting Prime Minister. “You will have my full cooperation.”

The smirk slowly grew on Oreth’s face once more. “And if we wish to search Doctor Bentley’s quarters?”

“You keep saying ‘we’ but what you mean is Daroxi security, because this isn’t your investigation.” Tom shot back.

Renos spoke next, supporting his Romulan ally. “Will you give us permission to search Doctor Bentley’s quarts aboard the Challenger?”

“Sure.” Tom replied with a nonchalant shrug. “Once you’ve obtained the necessary warrant, you can have access to his quarters.”

The Romulan’s cool demeanour finally slipped. “It would take days to obtain the necessary permissions from your government.” The annoyance in his tone and written across his features quickly disappeared, replaced by cold indifference again. “I believe you told us that we would have your full cooperation?”

“That doesn’t mean I’m going to give you the chance to plant ‘evidence’ on my ship because anything your people find aboard the Challenger would be just that; a plant.” Tom shot back, folding his arms. “You can search Doctor Bentley’s quarters when you’ve obtained the necessary warrant.” His eyes narrowed. “What’s the big deal about having to wait a few days?” Of course he knew from experience that waiting a few days could be decisive, but he wasn’t about to make this process easy for them.. “Surely it’s better to take your time and make sure you have the right person rather than rushing things and sending an innocent man to prison?”

Renos pushed himself to his feet. “You’ll be contacted when you can visit the prisoner. The Challenger must remain in orbit until our investigation is complete.”

“The Challenger,” Tom placed his palms on the surface of Renos’ desk and leaned forward, “won’t be leaving without Matthias Bentley.”

After returning to the Challenger there was little Tom could do but worry. The Daroxi had forbidden Starfleet personnel from beaming down and continued to refuse to provide them with details of the evidence against Matt. Finally, more than seven hours after the captain’s meeting with the acting Prime Minister, he was given permission to visit Matt.

He beamed down to the prison complex with Doctor Miller in tow. The presence of two Starfleet Officers seemed to set the officials on edge but Tom couldn’t care less. He wanted Miller to check Matt over, to make sure that he hadn’t been harmed and he wasn’t about to let the Daroxi tell him no.

The official came to stop outside a door. When the two Starfleet Officers entered, Matt wasn’t there. Instead, they found Security Minister Hutek waiting there. “Minister Hutek, what ar-”

She held up a hand to silence him as she reached into a pocket with the other. Withdrawing a small cylindrical device with a few controls and lights on it, Hutek pressed a few of the controls and the lights began flashing in sequence. Eventually it beeped and the Minister lowered her hand. “That’s better. We can speak freely now.”

“What’s going on?” To say that Tom was confused was an understatement. “I was supposed to be visiting Doctor Bentley.

Hutek glanced over his shoulder and nodded at the official who’d escorted them, a silent instruction for him to wait outside. “You’ll see him shortly, but I wanted to speak with you first.” She waved the device. “And I didn’t want anyone listening in.”

“Like who?” Tom’s patience was rapidly wearing thin. He just wanted to see Matt.

The Minister leaned against the desk in the room. “Acting Prime Minister Renos.” She replied. “He’s behind Gret Larell’s death, him and his Romulan master.” The disgust in her voice was palpable.

“Can you prove that?” Tom asked, hopeful that they might be able to get Matt out of this nightmare.

Hutek let out a long, frustrated sigh. “No. It’s just a suspicion.” She told him. “I need your help to prove it.”

“Why me?” Tom asked. “You weren’t too keen on having Starfleet involved when the reactor was sabotaged.”

The Minister’s commanding brown eyes were unapologetic. “We don’t have much time, Captain. The investigation is over. Doctor Bentley’s trial is set to begin at 10am tomorrow. By 5pm, the trial will be over, the verdict delivered and the sentence announced.”

“What?” That wasn’t possible. The Daroxi system of jurisprudence wasn’t far removed from the Federation’s. “How can they have completed the investigation already? And how will the trail be over so quickly?”

The flash of anger he could see in her eyes was intense. “Renos has fixed the trial. The judge is one of his oldest friends.” She told them hotly. “Doctor Bentley will be found guilty and sentenced to death. The sentence is due to be carried out at sundown tomorrow.”

“The hell he is!” Tom took several steps towards the Minister but she held her ground. “I’ll rip this planet apart to get him back if I have to.”

A knowing smile lit up her face. “I’m sure you would, Captain.” She replied softly. “But that won’t be necessary.” Reaching back into her pocket, Hutek retrieved an isolinear chip which she held out. “This contains a copy of the evidence against your friend. His DNA was found on the integration matrix of the transporter in the Prime Minister’s outer office. It had been tampered with and is the cause of his death.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Tom accepted the chip and studied it. “Matt spent his career as a diplomatic officer. He doesn’t know the first thing about transporters and wouldn’t be able to sabotage one if his life depended on it.”

The cylindrical device beeped again. “We only have thirty seconds left. If you can prove that the evidence against Doctor Bentley is fake, bring it to me. Renos cannot be allowed to sign a treaty with the Romulans. It would be catastrophic.”

“I agree. I’ll let you know what we find.” He told her as the Minister returned the cylindrical device to her pocket and Tom slipped the chip up his sleeve as the two officers left the Minister behind and followed the official deeper into the complex.

Matthias drummed his fingers on top of the desk nervously. He’d been pulled from his cell and brought to a holding room without being told why. The interrogator had already told him that he’d been found guilty of Gret’s death and would be executed. Matt wondered if this was it. From here he’d be taken to his death. There was no doubt in his mind that Tom was working to get him out of this but he would have to work within Daroxi law, but since Darox didn’t have a death sentence, it seemed that Daroxi law was a lot more flexible than he remembered.

When the door opened, he was stunned to see Tom and Josh Miller step into the room. “Hey Matty. How’re you holding up?” Tom seemed unsure of himself, nervous even.  Matt launched himself out of his chair, knocking it over in the process, and into the warm embrace of his friend. “It’s okay, it’s gonna be okay.” Tom whispered reassuringly into his ear.

Tears pricked at his eyes and quickly spilled over as his body trembled in the arms of his friend and lover. If he managed to survive, he might look back on this moment with embarrassment. Not for letting Tom see him like this but because Josh Miller was watching it happen. But in that moment he didn’t care, he was scared for his life and being in Tom’s arms made him feel safe, if only temporarily.

As the tears subsided, Tom helped him back to the chair which had been righted by Josh. “Doctor Miller’s gonna check you over, okay?” Tom asked softly, still holding his hand. Matt nodded and within seconds the familiar sound of a medical tricorder could be heard buzzing around him. “How have they been treating you?”

“Fine.” Matt replied as he wiped the remnants of his tears with the sleeves of his prison jumpsuit. “They haven’t mistreated me.” He grew quiet as Miller continued his scans. When he spoke again, it was barely above a whisper. “They’re going to execute me.”

Tom’s grip on his hand tightened. “No they’re not.” He reassured him firmly. “I won’t let them.”

“They kept asking me about some data module.” Matt sniffed and wiped his eyes again. “They think Gret gave me some sort of data module before he died and they want it. Oreth even offered to commute my death sentence if I gave it to them.”

Judging by the look on his face, the mention of the Romulan commander came as a surprise to Tom. “Oreth? He came here? To speak to you?”

“Yeah.” Matt nodded sadly. “He offered to commute my sentence and allow me to be placed in Federation custody if I told him where this data module is.”

Doctor Miller deactivated the tricorder and replaced it in his medkit. “A little dehydrated but other than that he’s fine.”

“Thanks, Doc.” Tom’s eyes darted back to meet Matt’s. “Do you know anything about the data module?”

They were being watched. Renos and Oreth probably had the surveillance feed patched directly into the acting Prime Minister’s office. That meant Matt would have to communicate the location of the data module to Tom in an indirect way. “Do you remember the first night you stayed at my place?”

“Uh…yeah.” Tom was caught off guard by the sudden change in subject. “We’d gone to London for ice cream from that place you suggested. Afterwards we went for a walk and ended up outside Buckingham Palace. Then things started getting hot and heavy and I thought it would be a bad look for the Challenger’s new captain to be caught in flagrante in the middle of Green Park so we headed for the nearest transporter station and beamed back to San Francisco.”

Matt smiled genuinely at the memory. “I’d forgotten what a mess my place was.”

“It’s okay.” Tom reassured him with those beautiful hazel eyes. “I didn’t even notice until the next morning.”

The memory elicited a groan from Matt. “I can’t believe you tidied my bedroom before you left.”

“I had to.” Tom explained defensively. “There were more clothes on the floor and draped over the chairs than there were in the drawers. And there were nik-naks in the drawers that just didn’t belong there.”

Matt shrugged. “I had nowhere else to put them.” He locked eyes with Tom, willing him to pick up on the hint he was trying to give him. Tom’s eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out the intense look he was getting but Matt saw the moment that realisation struck when Tom’s eyes widened.

“I can’t believe you still live like a cadet.” Tom mused with a shake of his head, clearly an attempt to act naturally.

A smile pulled at Matt’s lips. “I have a system. It may look like a mess to you, but I knew where everything was.”

The pair were pulled out of their conversation when a loud knock came on the metal door. It opened seconds later and the official that had escorted them entered. “Your time is up.”

Matt’s grip unconsciously tightened, the idea of Tom leaving him alone in this place, leaving him at the mercy of Renos and Oreth, potentially leaving him to his death. Matt stood, helped Tom to his feet and took both his hands. “Listen, if I don’t get out of this-”

“I’m going to get you out of here.” Tom’s voice was thick with emotion and he was fighting back tears, it almost set Matt off again. “I’m not going to let them hurt you. You understand?”

Matt nodded, his own tears threatening to spill over. “Be strong for me, okay? I’ll see you soon.” Tom said before leaning in and kissing him gently.

Upon returning to the Challenger Tom headed straight for Bentley’s quarters and searched the chest of drawers. Sure enough he found the data module given to him following Prime Minister Larell’s death. Upon connecting it to a non networked computer terminal, they discovered it contained a database that was heavily encrypted using some particularly sophisticated Romulan encryption methods. It also contained a message recorded by Gret Larell.

“Matthias, if this data module has been passed to you then I am dead, probably murdered. In the past few months, I’ve come to believe that there is a conspiracy to remove me from office by whatever means necessary. Since the appearance of the Romulan Commander, I’ve become more certain of it. This data module contains a copy of Penn Renos’ personal database. I believe it will contain proof that he has been conspiring with Oreth. It’s protected by a kind of encryption that neither I nor our greatest computer scientists have seen before. I hope that your Starfleet friends will have more luck in cracking it.” The image of Gret Larell disappeared.

Tom turned to Lieutenant Commander Zarbrun. “Can you crack it?”

“Not easily.” She replied, her fingers already dancing across the holographic LCARS interface. Occasionally she would reach up and tap something on the display or swipe something to remove it. “I’ll need to pull in a few people who have more experience with cryptography than I do.”

Over Zarbrun’s shoulder, the captain watched as she worked. “Bring in whoever you need. This is a top priority.” He folded his arms. “Any idea how long this may take?”

“Hours at least.” Zarbun’s eyes didn’t leave the display. “Maybe days.”

They didn’t have days. Matt was scheduled to be executed at 1800 hours the next day. If Zarbrun wasn’t able to access the data on the module and prove that Renos was behind the murder of Prime Minister Larell then he would have to send a team in to recover Bentley. “You have until fifteen hundred hours tomorrow.”

“Understood, sir.” Zarbrun tapped her commbadge as the captain walked away and began calling in several crypto specialists.

***

Zarbrun’s team worked through the night and by morning there was reason to be optimistic that they would be able to access the data module before the start of Doctor Bentley’s trial, if it could be called that. Meanwhile, Lieutenant zh’Charia had been tasked with planning an extraction mission to recover Bentley and spent the hours since running drills on the holodeck with her selected team.

In his ready room, Captain Forrester paced back and forth. Despite commanding one of the largest, most powerful starships in Starfleet, Tom felt powerless. Even 4 years after switching from security to the command track, he struggled with the waiting.

He stopped in his tracks when the comm chirped and the voice of the XO filled the room. “Captain to the bridge.”

Tom strode onto the bridge to find the XO studying a computer display at the science station. He quickly crossed the bridge. “What d’you have?”

“News has leaked out that acting Prime Minister Renos is planning to sign a treaty with the Romulans at eighteen hundred hours tonight.” Bennett reported as she watched the bank of news broadcasts coming in from the planet. “Protests have begun popping up all over the planet.”

They watched the footage silently. A few of the protests remained peaceful but more and more were becoming violent. Tom could feel Lieutenant zh’Charia approach and study the displays. “The situation is deteriorating rapidly.”

“Is your extraction team ready?” Tom didn’t take his eyes off the new feeds. 

The Andorian nodded. “We’re ready.” Because of the transport inhibitor being used around the prison where Matt was being held, their plan involved taking a shuttle, piloted by Mitchell, landing on the roof of the prison and extracting him that way.

“Then get it done.” Forrester ordered. zh’Charia turned on her heel and started towards the turbolift, with Mitchell relinquishing the helm to da Costa and jogging to catch up with zh’Charia.

***

“We’ve cleared the shuttlebay.” AJ announced as he brought the shuttle around on a course that would take it around the aft of the port nacelle and towards the planet. “We’ll be entering the atmosphere in a few minutes.”

In the aft section, Lieutenant zh’Charia went through the instructions with her team again. AJ only kept half an ear on what she was saying while monitoring the shuttle’s controls. His job was simple; land the shuttle on the roof and wait for the team to return. A pair of security officers would guard the shuttle while the others recovered Matt Bentley.

AJ watched as the temperature on the shuttle’s nose began to rise as she hit the atmosphere. A soft pink/orange glow could be seen through the viewports. It only lasted for a minute or two and the heat from atmospheric entry quickly dissipated. “We’re two minutes out.” AJ told them, the message also being relayed to the Challenger on an open commlink. He could hear the clicks of the team checking their equipment once more; tricorders, phaser rifles, type-II phasers.

“Understood, Commander.” The security chief replied. 

It still staggered him that Tom had waited as long as he had to order this mission. Had AJ been in his position, he would’ve given the order to prepare an extraction mission as soon as Matt had been arrested and busted him out soon after. Hell, he probably wouldn’t have allowed them to arrest Matt in the first place.

His heart thundered in his chest as the roof of the prison came into view. This was it. They’d be on the roof in less than thirty seconds. He consulted his sensors before casting his eyes over the LZ, making sure it was safe to put down. Once he was satisfied that it was, he brought the shuttle down gently and opened the aft hatch. zh’Charia’s team was already on their feet and before the hatch connected with the roof, they were moving out.

***

“Planetwide communications are being jammed.” Bennett announced as her fingers furiously worked the science console. 

The news feeds had cut out and communicating with the extraction team was now impossible. “See if you can cut through the jamming.” He knew the chances of that were nigh on impossible but they had to try all the same

“Zarbrun to Forrester. Captain, we’ve cracked the data module’s encryption.” The voice of the chief ops officer came through the comm, giving Tom a rare piece of good news.

His hand moved instinctively to his commbadge. “I’m on my way.”

A few minutes later he entered the computer lab. “What’ve you got?”

“A lot.” Zarbrun replied as she pulled up a number of different windows on her display. “The data module contains a copy of acting Prime Minister Renos’ personal database. There are communication logs between Renos and Commander Oreth and his personal logs.”

Tom folded his arms and studied the data in front of him. “It looks like Renos recorded one personal log a day without fail but in recent days he’s missed a few or recorded multiple logs in the one day.”

“The transcripts for the past few days make for very interesting reading.” Zarbun tapped at the console and a window opened with the transcript for a log made shortly after Gret Larell’s death. It described the guilt at being part of the effort to murder him. How he’d relented and told Oreth that he didn’t want to go through with it but that Oreth had threatened to murder his wife if Renos didn’t follow through with the plan

It was hard to believe that Renos was stupid enough to keep a record of any of this, even with the heavy duty Romulan encryption. “I guess he’s never heard of confessing your sins to a personal log and then deleting the damn thing once you’re done.”

“It’s a good thing too.” Zarbrun pointed out. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have proof that Doctor Bentley is innocent.”

Tom couldn’t contain the snot that escaped. “Lot of good it does us if we have no way of providing this information to the relevant authorities. Besides, it’s all moot anyway. The extraction team is on the surface as we speak.”

***

“The shuttle is on the move.” Commander Bennett’s announcement as Tom emerged from the turbolift should have been reason to celebrate but without communications, they had no way of knowing if it was airborne because the mission was a success or not.

He settled into the command chair and immediately began tapping mindlessly on the armrest while his right leg began bouncing nervously. It was an old nervous habit that he’d been able to train himself out of in the months following his promotion to Executive Officer but every once in a while it caught him off guard and in his worry about Matt, his guard was definitely down. He didn’t even notice he was doing it until Commander Kailir reached out and placed a gentle hand on his thigh. His eyes met hers and she gave him a pointed look. Appropriately chastened, he brought his leg under control

“…to Challenger. We’ve secured the package and are enroute. ETA is five minutes.”

The sound of AJ’s voice confirming they had Matt onboard and were on the way home caused a wave of relief to wash over him. He didn’t have much chance to enjoy the moment because the ops officer on duty spoke up. “Sir, the acting Prime Minister is hailing us and the Romulans.”

“Let’s see what he has to say for himself.” Tom muttered. “Onscreen.”

The face of Commander Oreth appeared on the right of the screen while he was expecting to find Penn Renos on the left but instead it was the face of Minister Hutek.

“Where is acting Prime Minister Renos?” Oreth’s tone made the question sound more like a demand.

Hutek cocked an eyebrow at the Romulan’s tone. “In the face of violent protests, Penn Renos has fled the capital. The line of succession clearly states that the job falls to me now. I have already made a statement to the public that, despite Penn’s intentions, we will not be entering into a treaty with the Romulans.”

“We had a deal.” Oreth snarled.

The new acting Prime Minister was clearly not prepared to entertain Oreth’s crap. “You had a deal with Renos, who has run from the people he claims to represent like the coward he is. I will not be signing any treaty with the Romulan Star Empire. Nor, Captain Forrester, will we be entering into any agreements with the Federation.”

“Of course, Prime Minister.” Tom bowed his head slightly. “I hope that someday we’ll be able to establish full diplomatic relations but it’s clear that Darox isn’t ready for that yet.”

Oreth sneered. “And what of the murderer? I noticed you sent a shuttle down to the prison not too long ago. Is he to escape justice, Prime Minister?”

“Doctor Bentley didn’t murder Prime Minister Larell.” Tom shot back calmly. “Before his death he arranged to have a data storage module passed to us. It contained a copy of Penn Renos’ personal database used some pretty sophisticated Romulan encryption techniq-”

Oreth cut across him. “Federation lies.”

“We’re transmitting a copy of the database to you both now so you can confirm the authenticity of the data for yourselves.” He motioned to the tactical officer to transfer the data. “The database contained communication logs between Renos and Oreth and the personal logs of Renos. They prove that he conspired with Commander Oreth to assassinate the late Prime Minister.”

Oreth’s face turned an interesting shade of grey/green. “FEDERATION LIES! HOW DARE-”

“We will examine the information you’re providing us but since we have no way to force you to return Doctor Bentley to us, there isn’t much we can do. I must ask both of you to leave this system immediately.”

The Romulan’s face was quickly returning to its usual grey pallor. “And if I refuse?”

“Then the Challenger will escort you.” Tom quickly jumped in before the Prime Minister had a chance to react.

He could see the anger flash in Oreth’s eyes. “Was that a threat?”

“Not at all.” Tom smiled sweetly. “Just an offer to help you find your way out of the system.”

Oreth glanced off screen and nodded to someone. Behind him, Lieutenant zh’Charia announced, “Captain, the D7 is powering it’s weapons.”

“Really?” Tom was certain the amused look on his face would do nothing to extinguish Oreth’s anger. “Your ancient D7 and that creaky old Klingon bird of prey you have hiding somewhere out there are no match for the Challenger and you know it. That said, I would love you to give me an excuse to demonstrate. Please.”

The two men glared at one another through the viewscreen, apparently oblivious to anything else around them. Oreth finally broke the silence. “Until we meet again, Captain.” He looked off screen again and nodded at someone else. The commlink with the D7 went dead, leaving just Hutek and Tom.

“Thank you, Captain. I’m sorry it’s come to this.” Hutek gave a sad smile.

It wasn’t how he envisioned this mission going but the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. “As am I, Prime Minister. I wish you luck.”

***

“I’m sorry.”

Matt sealed his case and looked up, meeting Tom’s gaze. “I know you are, Tom. I guess we just weren’t meant to be.”

The Challenger was minutes from establishing orbit over New Bajor. It had been two days since they’d left the Darox system and the two men had spent many hours talking and come to the conclusion that while they cared for each other, they didn’t think that would work out. Truth be told, Matt had been willing to forgive Tom for his recent behaviour and start over but a long distance relationship was not something that Tom was willing to consider.

Matt lifted the case and they walked in companionable silence. Upon reaching the transporter room, Tom dismissed the transporter operator. “I guess this is it, then.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Matt replied. There was a moment of awkwardness before Matt stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Tom. In response, Tom buried his face in the crook of Matt’s neck and inhaled deeply, drinking in the other man’s scent one last time. “Don’t get yourself killed out here.” Matt whispered.

Tom chuckled softly into Matt’s neck. “I’ll do my best for you.”

“That’s all I can ask.” Matt was the first to pull away. “I should probably beam over to Opaka Outpost.”

The captain moved around the transporter console. “Safe journey home.”