Missing in Action*Starfleet HQ*

Everything was running smoothly in the Command center for Starfleet. A steady hum one could say was the norm for this day as officers spoke with each other; some were chatting it up near one of the three replicators, while others relayed information about the current whereabouts and on-goings of every fleet in the Federation.

The current buzz was the event surrounding the Paulson Nebula and how it produced a millennia storm. At the same time, the top brass and the head of the sciences were in heated and deep debates as to what had caused this. A console solely dedicated to a single fleet suddenly went red, and a piercing alarm went off as a young man stood up, wearing a solid gray uniform of a Starfleet Cadet, and the four pips on his collar of a Senior.

"Lieutenant Park's," he snapped as Tommy stood up and looked for his sister.

Taylor turned for her commanding officer and looked at her brother. Then, she and her commanding officer noticed the sudden silence and the flashing red around Taylor's console. She was in charge of the monitoring of the Fourth Fleet, and this had never happened before, ever.

Within seconds both Taylor and her CO were at the station.

"Tommy, what is going on?" she asked her brother as she took his seat.

As she slid the eye-piece over her left eye, she could see that two ships had vanished from the Fourth fleet, and there were no indications of a battle. She turned her head to look at her brother.

Tommy shook his head, "I have no idea," he stated calmly, "One second I was checking on StarBase Bravo, as you requested, and then the next the console went red, and the alarm began," he continued in the same calm tone. "The monitor then immediately shifted to the main overview, and those two red federation icons appeared," he finished as he pointed at the two missing Fourth Fleet icons that were now colored in red.

*meanwhile*

Admiral Derki Korlin stood on a very well-groomed fairway of one of the few physical golf courses that remained in San Francisco. His head was down as he was lining up his next shot. Golf was a pastime that he enjoyed doing, even in a holo-suite, but he preferred to feel the breeze washing over his long salt and pepper hair and being able to take in the natural smells from the course.

He was the only person on this part of the course and knew that he didn't have to rush his shots. A soft hum behind him, coming from his floating golf cadey, was the only sound; outside from the few birds and squirrels that were in the nearby trees. As he looked up from the swing and a resonating sound of his 5 iron connecting with the urethane ball he watched as the small wall ball nearly disappeared from view. Lucky from him he had chosen to bring his eye-piece to keep track of where the ball went.

Just as the ball bounced onto the green, the view in the eye-piece changed to display a man.

"Admiral, pardon the intrusion on your day off, but we have a situation back at Headquarters that requires your immediate review," the man stated as he waited for Derki to reply.

A soft sigh slipped from his lips as the iron he was holding slid down and the head was in his grasp. "Acknowledge, Captain," he said as he turned and headed for the cadey. "I will be in in about four minutes. Make sure that all relevant data and personnel are in the briefing room. Karlin out." With that he tapped the side of the eye-piece and the view returned to the course.

With a tap of his finger on a button on the cadey the white ball that sat in a field of bright green grass suddenly leapt into the air and soared back towards Derki. It landed on the ground a few feet in front of him and came to a stop after a couple of bounces. Reaching down Derki retrieved the ball and placed it in a pouch on the front of the cadey.

Derki watched as the cadey took to the air and soared back to the clubhouse, he then turned and headed for his personal shuttle that was hovering overhead and beamed aboard.

*back at Starfleet Command*

Taylor, Tommy, and their commanding officer sat in the briefing room with other officers; most of the other officers wore more pips than Taylor and her CO. This made Taylor a little bit nervous being surrounded by this much of the top brass and it showed in her face. Tommy on the other hand was his usual calm self. It was as if this was a normal event for him.

The atmosphere in the briefing room was heavy and thick. As if something of this nature was not heard of.

Suddenly the wide double doors that sectioned off the briefing room from the rest of Starfleet Command hissed open and a man dressed in solid red dress uniform walked in. The four gold pips of an Admiral shined as he took his seat at the head of the table.

As the Admiral took his seat, all of the conversations that had been taking place suddenly stopped and everyone's attention was focused on him.

Derki looked at everyone and nodded, "Bring me up to speed," he stated as he looked at Taylor and Tommy's commanding officer. Taylor stood up after her commanding officer looked back at her for a moment and she moved from her seat behind her CO to the monitor and tapped on a PADD that she had in her hand.

"Admiral, at 1100 time, two of the Fourth fleet's ships disappeared from our view," Taylor stated as she brought up the data on the main monitor. She then continued, "Not cloaked, and as far as we can tell not destroyed either," she informed Derki as she brought up the Heracles and the sector that the ship was in. "

Derki folded his hands in front of his face as he listened and looked at what Taylor had for him.

"We do not at this time have any data as to what happened, but some of us have noticed that both ships were engaged in the Fourth fleet's 'Stormbreaker' operation near the Paulson Nebula where a storm of millennia had been announced," Taylor brought up the nebula in question. She then tapped a live-feed of the sector and the storm that was in question. It showed the projected path of the storm and the efforts from the Fourth fleet. "As to exactly what both ships were up to we are not sure, at this time," she finished as she lowered the PADD down and waited for the reply from the Admiral.

Derki looked over at Tommy, "Do you have anything to add to this Cadet Parks?"

Tommy shook his head and in his calm tones replied, "Negative, Admiral Korlin," he said as he looked over at his sister, "What my sister has presented is what both her and I have gone over since the situation arised."

Derki looked at Taylor and nodded. He watched as she retook her seat next to her brother. After a few moments of silence he stood up.

"I will need a few minutes to make a decision on what our next course of action is. Until then everyone but Cadet Parks and Lieutenant Parks are dismissed."

Once the room was cleared he looked at them. "Lieutenant Parks, were you at your station when this event took place?"

Taylor shook her head. "No Admiral. I was in discussion with my CO at the time."

Derki shook his head, "Cadet, are you certified to operate the monitoring station that Lieutenant Parks is in charge of?"

Tommy nodded his head. "Yes, Admiral."

This acknowledgement threw off Derki as he looked at Tommy. He turned his attention to the monitor in front of him and after a quick look over Tommy's cadet profile and saw that the cadet was indeed certified to handle the station. He returned his attention to them. "I see." Is all that he said as he looked between the two of them. "Then if you two would not mind doing me a favor and locating a Captain Reynald Edwards for me I would be most appreciative of this," he said as he ordered them to keep it quiet for the time being.

Both Taylor and Tommy looked at each other for a moment and nodded their heads. Then then left the briefing room and headed for the exit that led out of the command building.

*outside of the 602*

Taylor and Tommy looked at the famous bar, from across the street,  that many Starfleet pilots and officers alike attended when they were stationed on Earth or in the SOL sector. Walking across the street, Tommy opened the bar door for his sister as they entered the establishment. The two of them looked around the bar looking for a familiar face when suddenly a deep voice was heard as a man stood up and looked at the two.

"What does the dear Admiral want now, lackeys?" a man said as he stood up from a table near the rear of the bar.

Taylor goes to speak when a hand touches her shoulder she looks back to see a man dressed in the red uniform of a bridge officer. His dark green eyes lock on hers for a moment before he looks back to the man that had rudely addressed her and her brother.

"It doesn't matter what Admiral Korlin wants," he stated in a tone that immediately demanded respect. "It's the fact that the request came from a superior."

"Captain Edwards?" Taylor asked as the hand that was on her shoulder slipped away.

Reynald looked back at Taylor with just his eyes for a moment before nodding. His body stood firm as he silently challenged the man that had spoken before. As soon as the man sat back down, he turned and looked at both Taylor and Tommy. He stood a good foot and a half over the two of them as he looked at them.

"What can I do for the Admiral?" He asked them.

Tommy spoke up as Taylor was fixated on the Captain's near-flawless features.

"Admiral Korlin, requested that we come and get you. No questions asked at this time, Captain," Tommy stated as he looked at Reynald.

Reynald continued to look at them and cocked his head to the side for a moment before centering it again. "I have a feeling that this is very serious and that there is more to this request. Especially if he has sent the two of you. One from Starfleet Command HQ, who has a very promising career in Starfleet intelligence, and a second who happens to be a cadet from our very own Starfleet Academy," he stated as he stood there looking between them.This information started Taylor as she had only dreamed of being in the Intelligence part of the fleet.

"I guess we should get going," Reynald stated as he followed them outside of the bar and to an awaiting shuttle.

*Starfleet Conference Room*

Reynald sat back in the soft leather of the chair that he was sitting in and listened to what Taylor had to say. After she had finished he looked at Derki.

"So I guess I am to take USS TalonClaw to the last location of one of those two ships and find out what has happened," he stated as he looked at the Admiral.

Derki sat there in silence, knowing all too well that his former XO was correct. This silence said volumes to Reynald who was nodding.

"I will gather my crew and depart immediately," Reynald stated as he stood up.

"One more thing, Captain," Derki said as he watched Reynald stand up, "You will be taking these two with you." He pointed at Taylor and Tommy.

Reynald looked at the two of them for a moment. "Well you heard the Admiral get your kits and gear together and report to the USS TalonClaw, on the double."

Taylor and Tommy nodded and left the room. Reynald looked at Derki for a moment. "Two rookies on my ship had better not cause me any issues Derki," he stated as he turned to leave himself.

"I know you will look after my niece and nephew, Captain."

Reynald turned his head and looked at Derki for a moment as the door to the conference room closed. 

Vausees opened her eyes and found herself lying on one of the medical beds. A soft groan escaped her lips as she lifted a hand to her forehead and found that her head was wrapped in a bandage.

“Easy baby,” came a soft voice from a familiar person.

Turning her head, Vausees looked at Debrah, who also had a bandage on her face.

“What happened?” Vausees asked her beloved.

“We are not entirely sure, at this point, but we are currently weapons locked on two ships,” Debrah stated as she looked at Vausees.

Hearing this, Vausees slowly sat up and placed her feet on the floor. Her vision wavered as a slight case of vertigo set in. She placed a hand on her forehead as Debrah tried to ease her back into the bed.

“No, babe,” Vausees objected as she placed a hand on Debrah’s, “I need to be on the bridge.”

“Captain,” Zazzrac said as he walked into the room, “I have temporarily removed you from command,” he stated as he took out a medical tricorder and began to scan Vausees head. “As you took quite a nasty fall, as did most of the crew, I am afraid. As such, you are not fit at this time to command the ship. I will, however, allow you to be escorted to your quarters, but under no circumstances are you to set foot back on the bridge until I have cleared you.” he ordered.

A sigh left Vausees’s lips as she accepted her current fate. After all, the only person on this ship who had the power to override her decisions based on a medical reason was Zazzrac. With a nod, she looked at Zazzrac, “Understood.”

Debrah helped her fiance up and out of sickbay. She looked at her as they walked through the corridor to the nearest lift.

“I was so worried about you when I came to and found you on top of me and not responding,” she said as they waited for the lift to stop at their location.

Vausees looked up at Debrah. “I think today we should have just stayed in bed,” her voice was full of sarcasm as she tried to lighten her fiance’s mood and soothe her fears.

*Bridge*

Cody looked out the main viewscreen at the two ships that stood motionless before him. He was almost sure it was because they had appeared out of nowhere. Now he needed to understand what was going on.

“Operations, what did we just stumble upon?” He asked Jonton, who was manning the Operations Console.

Jonton didn’t waste any time as he began to press on holographic icon after holographic icon. Information flooded his console. Some of which did not make any sense to him.

“Commander, from what I can gather, it seems that these two ships were in combat just before we appeared to them. Now the unknown Romulan ship has its weapons trained on us. As far as I can tell from the scans, we should be able to withstand their armament for a while,” he said as he passed on the information that he was getting. “As for the second ship,” he paused and ran a second scan. “It appears to be a D7 Battlecruiser.”

“I can see that much, Lieutenant,” Cody said as he looked at the Unknown Romulan ship. “What I want to know is who is the bigger threat to us?”

Jonton shook his head before he replied, “Neither. However, the D7 is critically damaged and is venting plasma and oxygen,” he stated as he looked over the readings from the D7. “As far as….”

Suddenly the viewscreen changed, and a female Klingon appeared.

“This is Captain Vonika. I am the commander of this ship.”

Cody stood up and looked at her. “Can we render you any aid?” Realizing that was a stupid question, he waved it off.

Then as suddenly as the image came, so did it leave. Cody turned to look at Jonton.

“Sorry, Commander, we are experiencing a comms interruption, and I think it is coming from that ship.” He indicated the unidentified Romulan ship as the source of the disruption.

Cody nodded, realizing that the ship was their primary concern at this time. Reaching down, he tapped the icon for engineering.

“Chief, I need you to develop an idea that will knock out, if not destroy, a signal disruptor. Without us firing any of our weapons.”

*Engineering*

When he heard the order, Charles shook his head but nonetheless accepted the challenge. He turned and looked at the Engineering crew.

“You heard him. Let’s put ideas together and get this done,” he ordered; as he moved over to Skirak.

Skirak looked at Charles for a moment, and clicking was heard. Charles knew what that sound meant and couldn’t agree more with his friend. “I know. The impossible was just ordered.”

Skirak grabbed a PADD as Charles took a seat next to him. He looked at Charles for a moment.

“I am not entirely sure what we can build, let alone come up with.” the Xindi-insectoid stated as he brought up data from what the Heracles had gathered.

*Vax and Fergouson Quarters*

Vausees was on her back, asleep, tossing and turning as she tried to sleep. She kept replaying the event that had transpired in her mind a few hours ago. And every time she sees herself tossed over the operations console.

Debrah sits in a chair near the bed. Her knee bent so that her head could rest on it. Worry was plastered on her face. She had already soothed her fiance a moment ago when she had screamed from the nightmare that only she could face.

A sigh left her lips as she looked at Vausees and saw her start to thrash once more. She knows that her fiance is about to be thrown in her dream. Standing up, she slips into the covers and wraps her arms around her. Gentle and soothing ‘shh’s’ slowly escape Debrah’s lips as she presses her body against Vausees.

“I’m right here,” she softly says as light kisses are placed on the side of Vausees’s cheek.

Vausees opened her light blue eyes and looked into her love’s bright emerald green eyes, “It happened again, didn’t it?”

Debrah nodded as she pushed away a stray lock of brown hair from in front of Vausees face. A sigh left her lips as she pushed herself up into a seated position. Debrah slipped behind her and wrapped her up in her arms.

“I need to speak with someone,” Vausees stated as she leaned down and pressed her face against Debrah’s embrace.

“I am here,” Debrah stated as she held onto Vausees.“I know you are, babe, and I appreciate that so much, but I need to know why I can not let this one go.”

“I can see if Ensign Zirtar is available.”

Vausees nodded, “Please keep this between Zazzrac and us.”

“Of course.”

*Engineering*

Charles sighed as he looked at the schematics that the Engineering team had come up with. He needed some air and stepped out of Engineering and almost ran over Cody, who happened to be walking in.

“Oh, excuse me, Commander,” Charles stated as he stepped aside.

Cody could see the frustration on his Chief Engineer’s face and knew something was up.

“Take a walk with me, Chief,” Cody said as he motioned for Charles to follow.

As they walked, Cody would look over at Charles, “Something on your mind, Chief?”

A sigh left Charles’ lips as they stopped. He leaned up against the bulkhead of the corridor and placed his hands on his knees as he bent over for a moment to stretch out his lower back. He looked up at Cody, “Have you ever been given a task that was so demanding and challenging at the same time that it felt like the world was on your shoulders and that no matter what you did, you knew that some things could not be fixed?”

Cody looked down at the Chief. “Actually, yes, every day,” he stated.

This confused Charles for a moment as he looked up at Cody.

“I have a father,” Cody stated as he thought about how he had arrested the man that had brought him into this world, “I had a father that did some things to me when I was younger. He thought he was doing it for the betterment of me, but I have recently come to find out that he was into some very illegal things, and unfortunately, I was one of those illegal things.”

Charles looked at him, still confused. “If you don’t mind me asking?”

Cody shook his head, “Not here, but one of these days, you and the rest of the team will find out.”

“Does our Captain know?” Cody nodded, “She called me out on it but did not make a scene about it.”

Charles nodded as he knew what Cody meant by that. “Yeah, she has a way to look at things and tell if something needs to be done and how it needs to be done,” he stated as he looked down once more. “My team and I are having a hell of a time trying to figure out how to disrupt the signal without it being noticed,” he confessed as he returned his eyes to look at Cody.

“Sounds like you could use an extra pair of eyes and hands,” Cody stated as he held out a hand to help Charles back to his feet.

After taking Cody’s hand, he shook his head. “That would be welcomed. After all, it’s not like we can get any worse.”

Cody cocked his head to the side and held a confused look on his face. It was soon enough that he understood exactly what Charles had meant, because as soon as the two entered the Engineering bay complete and utter chaos consumed them both.

“Charles, what the hell is going on here?” Cody demanded as he stopped dead in his tracks as two crewmen flew past him.

“Well Sir,” he said as he picked up a PADD. “You gave us an impossible challenge and every person in Engineering who has an idea is working on it from every angle,” Charles stated as he handed over the PADD.

Cody looked over the PADD. It contained every idea that had been tested or thrown to the side. He looked over every idea and pulled out a couple that he thought might have potential if they were combined.

“Hey Chief,” he yelled out over the chaos, “why not combine these and see what you get,” Cody suggested as he handed the PADD over to Charles as he walked up.

Charles looked over what Cody had proposed and a smile crossed his lips. “You might be onto something here, Commander,” he said as he turned and yelled out of Skirak. He handed over the proposed idea to his assistant who looked it over and then up at Cody.

Skirak shrieked out to get everyone’s attention, and as if a switch was flipped all of the chaos ceased at once.

“We might have what we are looking for,” Skirak stated as he held up the PADD with the proposed idea.

Without saying anything Cody slipped away and headed for the nearest lift. He knew that the idea would work. He had seen this signal before when he was in the labs with his fathers personal scientist; before they suddenly disappeared.

*Bridge*

As soon as Cody had exited out of the bridge all hell seemed to break loose outside of the ship. Alarms and alerts sounded as the Romulan ship re-targeted the Klingon ship.

“Trever, I do not care how you do it but put us between that ship and the Klingon ship,” he ordered.

“Is that wise, Sir?” Trever asked, “After all this isn’t our fight.”

“That’s an order Lieutenant Commander,” Cody said as he slipped back into the command seat.

Trever did as he was commanded and moved the Heracles so that the ship was blocking a clear shot from the Romulan ship.

Suddenly the viewscreen changed to a shadowed figure and a distorted voice came over the intercom.

“Move your ship or be destroyed.”

The viewscreen returned to the image of the Romulan ship and Trever looked back at Cody; who appeared to not have been fazed by the sudden threat. Cody’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the ship. Reaching down he tapped on the captain’s icon.

“Bridge to Commander Fergouson, I need you on the bridge immediately.”

*Vax and Fergouson Quarters*

Debrah had just returned to her quarters when she heard the intercom. Moving quickly she dressed in her uniform and made her way quickly to Ensign Zirtar’s quarters. Zirtar looked up and saw that Debrah had changed. It was Vausees that noticed the other change as well. The look of duty and determination was in her eyes. She nodded knowing that her fiance had been called to the bridge.

*Bridge*

Debrah took over her tactical console from her replacement as Cody looked back at her. She nodded to him and that was all the exchange that was needed.

“Tactical, send a single warning shot over their nose a few micron’s from their skin,” he ordered.

Debrah didn’t waste any time and did just that. With a few flicks of her wrists she had issued the order for the Heracles to send a single phaser shot over the Romulan ship’s nose. As it passed over the ship it missed the hull by less than a micron.

“Hail them,” Cody said as he leaned forward.

“Hail sent,” Debrah responded, “And received,” she finished as she looked up from her console.

“Your move,” he said softly as he waited for the screen to change.

When the screen didn’t change, he spoke out to Debrah, “What do you think, Commander?”

Debrah thought for a moment before her hands shot out and over her console. “Brace!” She yelled out as the Heracles was hit by cloaked torpedoes.

“Shields are at 84%,” Jonton informed Cody.

“Not very strong but still,” Cody stated

“I take it that was their response to our hail,” Debrah said as she re-targeted the Romulan ship; this time what she had determined to be their weapons and engines.

Cody tapped an icon on the armrest console, “Chief are you ready?”

“Ready as we’ll ever be,” came a response from Charles.

Cody nodded to the response and without closing the intercom his finger moved and tapped on another icon.

Outside of the Heracles a small device, no bigger than a dinner plate, was ejected from one of the forward torpedo launchers. A few moments later it began to broadcast a silent signal.

“Commander, hail the Klingon ship,” Cody ordered as he sat in the command chair.

Debrah didn’t waste any time as she immediately contacted the D7 Battlecruiser. The viewscreen changed from the Romulan ship to a smoke and battle torn bridge. A female Klingon sat in the command chair.

“How are you able to contact us, human?” is all that was said.

“No time to explain, but I would like to render any aid that we can,” Cody said as he looked into the Klingon’s one eye.

“No, but you can do us one favor,” she replied as a second Klingon dressed in Chancellor robes came into view. “Take this woman to Qo’nos and my ship and my crew will consider it a debt paid. As we will make sure that this petaQ will not see another day.”

Cody knew that one word all too well and needed no further explanation. “We will be waiting for her on our side,” he said as the screen returned to the image of the Romulan ship. “Transporter room one prepare to receive our diplomatic guest.”

“Acknowledge,” a young crewman stated as he began to reintegrate their Klingon guest. “I have her, Bridge.”

Cody looked at Trever, “Get us out of here at maximum warp for Qo,nos”

Trever did not waste a moment as the Heracles’ nacelles came to life and propelled the ship into warp. As the ship entered warp the Romulan ship tried to do the same, having discarded the Klingon ship. As its warp engines came online, a massive explosion ripped apart the Klingon ship. On the Romulans viewscreen, the female Klingon spoke, “It is a good day to die.”, and the screen changed back moments before the two ships exploded from the Klingon’s warp core breaching. 

Cody stood just outside of the transporter as the Female Chancellor was escorted out. He looked the woman in her eyes, “Welcome to the Heracles Chancellor. I am Commander Bettencourt.”

J’telas looked Cody over as she wagered his worth. She could tell that he wasn’t completely human, but what had caused her to perceive this was not entirely apparent to her. “Well met Commander, I would like to speak with your Captain as soon as possible,” she stated without hesitation.

Cody stood there for a moment and then nodded. “I will let her know that you are on board.”

“Good, now if you wouldn’t mind taking me to my quarters. I have much to think about.”

Cody looked at the two security officers that had come along with him and nodded to them. They took up position behind her and led her away. As the guest was led away he needed to think about how to explain this to Vausees. A sigh left his lips as he realized that he just needed to be his usual self, and explain the situation with her.

As he was walking to the nearest lift he was gently stopped by Zyvia.

“Did I just see a Chancellor being escorted?” she asked him.

He looked at her and then nodded, “Long story that I will be happy to explain at dinner,” he stated as he leaned down and gently kissed her.

“You better mister,” she teased as she turned about and headed after the escort.

MedicalVausees looked at Zazzrac as he looked over at the information on the main medical monitor.

“Your wounds have healed nicely,” he stated as he continued to look the information over.

Debrah smiled as she sat next to her, “Does that mean she is fit to return to duty?”

Zazzrac looked at Debrah. “I don’t see why not, but I must stress that you keep as calm as possible.”

Vausees looked at Debrah for a moment and then to Zazzrac. “That is asking me to not breathe. Being a Captain has a required amount of stress,” she stated as she looked to the door as Cody walked in.

“Report Commander,” she ordered

Cody stood in silence and sighed again. “We have taken on a single Klingon from a D7 Battlecruiser that had been in combat with an unknown Romulan ship. She has requested an audience with you, Captain.”

Vausees looked back at Zazzrac and grinned. “See stress and I haven’t even left sickbay,” she teased as she stood up and stretched out her back. She felt a few pops as she stretched. Shaking out her arms she turned to Cody. “Take me to her.”

Debrah stood up and followed them, she kept her eyes on Vausees, to make sure that she was ok to return to duty. She made a mental note to question her about how she felt.

J’telas’ QuartersCody stopped in front of one of the guest quarters and turned to face Vausees. She looked him in the eyes and nodded, “Stay out here, Commander’s,” she stated as she looked at Debrah.

Debrah opened her mouth to disagree with her fiance but knew it best to let her do what she had to. She knew that Vausees needed to see if she was still able to negotiate let alone command a crew, and this was her test let alone a personal conviction of her resolve to continue on.

As the door closed behind Vausees blocking off her only line of physical defense she looked at the female Klingon. She took a solid step forward toward the woman and came to stop near her. “Welcome to my ship, Chancellor,” Vausees said as she placed a hand over her breast in a Klingon greetings.

J’telas looked at Vausees for a moment and returned the gesture.

Cody and Debrah are standing outside of the guest quarters when Jonton comes running up.

“Commander’s, I have recently discovered that there are no Klingon vessels near us and some of the planets that we know of to have had Klingon colonies are…” he pauses for a moment to hold out the PADD before he continues, “they’re no there,” he states as he indicates to the PADD.

Cody looks down at the PADD and then up at Debrah. Without thinking he opens the door and walks in with Debrah and Jonton in tow.

“Captain, I must insist on speaking with you,” he says as he looks at the Klingon that stood before Vausees.

“Commander, I gave you explicit orders not to come in here,” her tone held weight to it as she looked into Cody’s eyes.

“And I would have followed them, had I not been made aware of the fact that there are no Klingon’s in this sector other than her,” he states as he points to J’telas.

Vausees turned her head to look at J’telas.

“It’s true Captain,” J’telas acknowledges as she looks at  back at Vausees. “My people are almost completely extinct because of the Romulan’s. I was on a mission to try and find the last outpost. What I found was a barren rock of a planet,” she confessed as she stood there, her demeanor slightly sunken.

“What do you mean?” Vausees asked as she looked at J’telas, “That all of the life on the planet was gone?”

J’telas looked at Vausees with anger in her Klingon eyes, “Not just gone but removed from existence as if it was never there.”

Vausees looked at J’telas, “Come with me.”

Conference Room

Vausees lead J’telas and the rest of the group from the guest quarters to the nearest lift from there, after a short ride, she led the group to the conference room using a non-bridge entrance. As everyone enters she takes a seat at the head of the table and offers a seat to J’telas.

“Which planet did you visit?” she askes J’telas.

“Qu’Vat.”

“Vausees nodded as she had heard of this planet from her timeline but she still hadn’t told J’telas this, but she knew that that information was about to become relevant shortly.

“Computer, display current location,” Vausees said and the center of the conference table light up and a holographic display of the sector was shown.

Debrah placed a hand on Vausees’. She looked into her fiance’s light blue eyes, and Vausees looked back. A smile crossed her lips.

“She needs to know,” Vausees said.

“Computer, bring up Qu’Vat.”J’telas nearly jumped out of her skin when the bluish-green planet of Qu’Vat came into view. “What kind of deception is this?” she asked as she reached for a hidden dagger that was missing.

Vausees held up a hand in a calming gesture. “Easy Chancellor. I assure you that this is no deception,” she paused for a moment, “entirely.” She motioned for J’telas to take a seat once more. “Let me explain.

The conference room was in complete silence as J’telas sat in silence. She had just found out that she was sitting in a ship that was from the Terrens but furthermore that it was from another time. She looked up at Vausees.

“So you’re telling me that in your time my people were still a powerful species and that we have a treaty and alliance with what you call a United Federation of Planets.”

Vausees nodded as she brought up a holographic image of the Alpha and Beta quadrants. She pointed to Qo’nos in the area that was designated as the “Klingon Empire”.

“As you can see, your people have a vast empire in my time,” Vausees points out.

A sigh left J’telas mouth as she looked down. “It all looks grand but I know that the only place left for my people is on Qo’nos. It is where we have to go if we want to get somewhere a little safer,” she said as she looked up at the holographic display of the “Klingon Empire”.

Vausees could see the pain that was on the Chancellors face. Reaching over she tapped an icon.

“Trever, set course for Qo’nos, warp seven.”

“Acknowledged, Captain.”

Outside of the windows of the conference room the stars began to flow past even faster as Trever increased their speed.

Edwards sat in the center seat watching the stars flow past his ship as he pushed the warp engines and the core as hard as he could. He knew that he had very little time to get to the last known location of the USS Heracles. Tommy stood behind the operations officer; shadowing the woman that stood there. Taylor sat next to Edwards in the guest seat.

“You’re worried aren’t you,” Taylor asked as she looked at the Captain.

He turned his head to her and smiled. “Not at all,” he stated in a tone that tried to hide the fact that he was terrified to know the fate of the Heracles and for that matter his own ship.

Taylor shook her head, “You know for a man who is normally calm, cool, and completely collected; you suck at lying.”

Reynald leaned forward and lowered his voice, “Is it that obvious?”

Taylor looked around quickly and replied, “Maybe not to your crew but for someone like me I can tell when someone is lying.”

A soft and quiet sigh left Reynald’s lips as he sat back in his seat. He looked at Taylor and could see a little bit of Derki in her. Though he was curious if she knew that the Admiral was her uncle.

A few hours later

Tommy walked beside a slightly older woman and the two were talking about the ship and its capabilities.

“Commander if the input was increased by .006 microns, I believe that the efficiency would be nearly double what it currently is,” Tommy said as he looked up from a PADD that he had in his hands.

“How so mister Parks,” Ali asked as they stepped off of a lift into the Engineering bay.

Tommy handed her his PADD, “Like this.” he stated.

Ali took the PADD and looked at his figures. She nodded as they both stopped in front of a terminal. “Not bad, Cadet, however, if you figure in the ratio mixture you will see that your calculations will have exceeded the core protocols by 3%,” she shows him on the terminal.

Tommy stood there for a moment as he looked at the computer calculations with his figures added in. He could see the error in his calculations and shook his head. “I see why you are the operations officer,” he said in a humble tone. “Don’t worry, mister Parks. You have plenty of time to make mistakes. Just be sure to own up to them,” she said as she cleared the terminal, “Your figures by the way are sound, but just 3% off,” she teased as she turned and hunted down the Engineering Chief.

Officers Lounge – a few hours later

Tommy sat across from his sister as the two ate lunch; both silent as they ate. It was a training exercise that their survival teacher had taught them; listen and observe their surroundings and then discuss what they had heard and seen. For Taylor it had been an easy assignment as she absorbed everything around her, as for Tommy he found the challenge acceptable and for the most part was able to keep up with his sister; though from time to time he found that he missed a few things here and there that his sister had picked up on.

Today was no different. Tommy was in deep thought instead of listening to what the weapons officers were talking about with one of the security officers, and when Taylor asked him what they had discussed, Tommy was unable to answer. Taylor let out a frustrated sigh and scowled at her little brother.

“Tommy, how are you going to pass your Intel gathering class if you do not pay attention to your surroundings?” she asked him.

Tommy looked at her with a confused look on his face. It was then that Taylor realized her error.

“You finished that two semesters ago, didn’t you,” she stated as she brought up a hand to her forehead.

Tommy reached over and placed a hand on her forearm. “A wise mentor told me to not worry that I have plenty of time to make mistakes.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ali grin as she heard the comment. He also saw her shake her head; he couldn’t help the grin that crossed his lips.

“Easy for you to say, Cadet,” Taylor teased as she looked at her brother and his shit-eating grin, “I have already completed the Academy and am expected to…,” she was cut off by a throat clearing and she looked to see who had made the noise.

Ali and Reynald looked at the two and both of them stood up and walked over to their table.

“Mind if we sit?” Reynald said as he and Ali took the two empty seats.

“We couldn’t help but hear your conversation,” Ali said as she kicked Tommy under the table.

He stifled the yelp but the pain was evident on his face. Reynald looked at Ali as he knew why she had delivered the strike. “Your brother is correct,” he said as he looked over at Taylor. “Even though you are a Lieutenant in Starfleet, you are still young and still have some leeway to make mistakes.”

Taylor looked at him for a moment. “What about you, Captain?” she asked.

“Me…well I’m the Captain, my decisions are my orders, however, I keep an open mind. Should one of my subordinates, officer or enlisted, come to me with a suggestion to an order, I take it under advisement and later examine what that person or group has brought to me. If it is sound I implement it and privately acknowledge that person or group,” he stated, “However do I make mistakes? Of course, I’m human and as such am full of flaws. That is why I have a crew to help me as I help them.”

Taylor could see the wisdom in his indirect counseling and she shook her head. Tommy once again had his shit-eating grin on his face, since he had basically told her that. Ali looked at Tommy and stood up.

“Times up mister Parks.”

The grin disappeared and he stood up and turned to leave but not before he looked back at his sister. “Keep a chin up sis, no need to stress over all the details. Leave some for the rest of us,” he teased as he walked off.

Captain’s Ready Room

Reynald and Taylor sat in silence going over incoming messages from some of the hyperspace network satellites that they had passed by on their way to the Heracles. A sigh left Taylor’s mouth as she set her current PADD down; she reached up and rubbed her eyes.

“I am not looking forward to this part of the job,” she confessed as she stretched.

“Oh?” Reynald said as he watched her stretch. “Why is that?” he asked her.

“Well for one thing. We have been reading through PADD after PADD of comm’s chatter for the last several hours, and my eyes are killing me,” she stated as she looked at Reynald and realized the man wasn’t the slightest bit tired, or at least wasn’t showing it.

“It comes with the territory and someday you will get a chance to see how we ‘Captain’s’ do it,” he said as he stifled a chuckle at her comment. “However, you are correct, it wouldn’t kill me to take a break from time to time,” he stated as he set down the PADD on the desk. He then stood up and walked over to the room’s replicator, “Tea or something else?” He asked her as he stood next to the machine.

“Earl Grey with a hint of spice and honey, hot, please,” she said looking over at Reynald.

He repeated the order and a glass mug materialized. As he picked it up in his left hand the rim of the mug steamed up. “One Earl Grey with a hint of spice and honey,” Reynald stated as he set the mug in a clear spot on the desk in front of her.

With a smile, Taylor reached over and took the drink from the desk. A sigh left her lips as the hot liquid slid down her throat. “That’s just what I needed,” she said as she set the mug down.

As she was about to reach for another PADD a hand came down on her’s, “No more for tonight, Lieutenant,” Reynald said, “It’s nearly 2400 hours and we both need some sleep. So off to bed.”

Taylor couldn’t disagree, “Can I at least finish my drink before I leave?”

Reynald chuckled, “Of course.” 

Star flew past the windows of the conference room as Vausees sat there looking out. She was in deep thought. Her mind was focused on her next move. She didn’t know what to think; was she running them into a trap on the last Klingon homeworld? Was she willing to trust someone that they just met? She was unsure, but she knew that she needed to do something.

A soft chime at the door jogged her from within her own mind. She looked at the closed door for a moment.

“Enter,” she said as she continued to sit there.

Debrah entered the conference room and walked over and sat down next to her fiance.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Debrah asked.

Vausees looked at her and smiled, “Just pondering if we are running into a trap.”

Debrah shook her head, “Yeah, that thought crossed my own mind as soon as we set course for Qo’nos,” she said.

A soft chime was heard, ‘Bridge to Captain Vax.’

“Go for Vax,” Vausees said out loud.

‘Captain, J’telas would like to have a word with you. As we will be entering Klingon territory shortly.’

“Copy, Bridge,” she said as she stood up and looked down at Debrah. “Shall we?”

Debrah stood up as she nodded.

“Bridge inform J’telas that I am on my way.”

-Klingon Territory-J’telas looked at Vausees. She had explained that with Qo’nos being that last homeworld for her people that a lot of traditions had been absolved and newer ones took their places. Some that could be deemed xenophobic in nature.

Vausees sat there as she thought about what she had learned from J’telas. She began to wonder if going to Qo’nos was a good idea after all. “Captain, Klingon ship detected and on an intercept course,” Debrah said as she moved from the Ops console back to the tactical console.

“Thank you, Commander,” Vausees said as she looked at J’telas. “Guess you are up.”

J’telas nodded and stood up from the guest seat. She walked over next to Jonton. He looked up at the Klingon woman and nodded as he stepped aside. J’telas entered a command on the ops console; identifying herself to the incoming Klingon ship.

Outside a Bird-of-Prey dropped out of warp in front of the Heracles. The main viewscreen changed from the Klingon ship to a battle-hardened and scarred Klingon man.

“Ah, Chancellor, it is good to see that you’re alive,” the man said as J’telas stepped out from behind the ops stations and into the center of the bridge.

“Alive and well, thanks to these humans,” J’telas replied.

The man looked at Vausees, “Then you have our honor for saving our leader…,” he paused for a moment.

“Captain,” Vausees stated as she nodded to the man.

“Captain,” the man echoed as he looked back at J’telas.

“There is much to discuss. Inform the council of my arrival and that a meeting is to be set up in the war room,” J’telas stated to the man.

He bowed his head and the viewscreen changed back to the Bird-of-prey.

-Qo’nos-As the Heracles approached the outer defenses of Qo’nos several Klingon ships converged and provided an escort to a very large space station that was in orbit around the planet.

“This is our last line of defense for my people and we will not be defeated without a hell of a fight,” J’telas stated as she motioned with her head at the station and the 9 fleets that orbited around it.

Debrah looked down at the tactical console and then whistled. “That’s a massive fleet.”

J’telas grinned. “This is only what you are seeing and why we are being escorted in. Don’t want you to ram into a cloaked ship.”

“Hold up,” Debrah said as she looked over at J’telas, “You’re telling me that there are more than the 900 ships that our scans have detected?”

“Closer to 25 thousand,” J’telas said in a nonchalant tone as she sat next to Vausees; who turned her head and looked at her guest. She looked back at Vausees, “If I may.” she pointed to the command console on the armrest.

“By all means,” Vausees said as she turned it to face J’telas.

With a quick flick of her wrist, she entered a command and the viewscreen shifted to a red hue as the screen was polarized, and thousands of ships were revealed. A grin crossed the Klingon’s face as she saw the stunned and shocked looks on the entire bridge crew’s faces. She then cleared the command from the console.

“You have to remember, Captain, my people are fighting for their existence,” she stated as she leaned back into the seat once more.

-War room-J’telas led the small group of officers from the Heracles toward the center of the station. They passed a lot of storefronts and eateries as they moved amongst the survivors of the Klingon species. The entire time J’telas was explaining that everyone for the most part had left the planet below and was living on the station. This intrigued Vausees to know that billions of Klingons from all castes were living together on the station; mostly in harmony.

As they turned a corner a door opened and an elevator, with two warriors inside, was waiting for them to enter. J’telas motioned for them to enter, Vausees and her group did as they were requested; J’telas entered last so that she was the first to exit when the elevator arrived.

The trip took them to the uppermost pylon of the station, and as the doors slid to the side J’telas exits and once again took the lead escorting her guests to a closed room, that was guarded by a small force of Klingon warriors; Vausees took count of how many there were.

A loud thud echoed in the room as the doors were closed. J’telas was greeted and Vausees was thanked for her actions in saving the Chancellor.

Suddenly a deep harsh voice echoed in the room and an older battle-hardened Klingon stood up.

“Let us get on with this meeting.”

J’telas narrowed her eyes, “Fool I will start this meeting when I am well and ready for it to begin. Don’t test my patience again F’nax. Less you want to taste my steel again.”

F’nax took his seat but grunted as he did. J’telas nodded to Vausees and then motioned for her guests to have a seat along the wall.

“Now I will begin,” J’telas said as she took her seat at the head of the table. “First order of business is that of my guests. I have come to learn that they are indeed not from this time.”

Vausees looked at her with wide eyes and then remembered that the Klingons from her time didn’t beat around the bush, so to speak, but got straight to business. Still, this comment caused several of the council members to laugh.

F’nax stood up and looked at Vausees for a moment before turning his attention to J’telas, “You expect us to believe such a ridiculous claim,” he said as he pointed at Vausees and her group.

“Yes, F’nax, I do,” she said in a challenging tone, “Unless you have some proof that I do not know what I am talking about.”

For several hours J’telas and the council argued and debated over what should be done with Vausees and her group. Then when that was settled they argued and debated on whether or not to help the group.

Vausees and her group had been led out a couple of hours ago. They all sat together talking about what could possibly be going on inside of the room. Vausees shook her head, “No idea, but I hope things are going J’telas’ way,” she said as the doors opened and a very irritated J’telas exited with her hands thrown up in the air.

As she walked up to the group she muttered, “Those damned old fools think that they can dismiss my claims,” she half growled, half yelled as she stopped next to the group.

“That bad,” Vausees states as she looked at J’telas.

“Walk with me,” she said as she turned away and started to walk to a window that overlooked the entire outside view of the station.

As both women stood near the window looking out J’telas explained how the council had decided against her in helping the Heracles get back to its own time. She also explained that she feels that had this been a more peaceful time that her people would have done anything to explore the possibilities.

As they continued to stand there an idea formed in J’telas’ mind, “I’m going to help you,” she said in a quiet voice.

Vausees looked at her with a shocked look on her face, “This wouldn’t sit well with your people, J’telas,” she said as she cautiously looked about the area.

“I have sat on the High chair for twenty years and have listened to those old men squabble about how things used to be. I have argued with those old men and yet they consider nothing I have said to be of note.” Her voice trembled as she spoke but she knew what her next actions would bring her. “Vausees my house is at your disposal.” J’telas reached up and removed her house’s insignia from her chest and placed it on the side of the window seal.

This shocked Vausees even more than her statement of help. No Klingon had ever placed themselves about their house as she had just done. Vausees placed a hand on top of J’telas before she spoke.

“I want you to think about this because there is no turning back if you do this and your house will forfeit its claims in Klingon space,” she stated as she looked into the dark, nearly black eyes of J’telas’.

A wicked and damn near evil grin creased J’telas mouth. “Someone needs to stir these old men into action and if the strongest and wealthiest house leaving causes it then so be it.”

Suddenly a younger Klingon walked over to J’telas and leaned in so that only she could hear what was being said. She then informed the Klingon to gather her house and prepare to leave. The Klingon looked at her for a moment and then nodded with a salute.

J’telas turned to Vausees, “Did you know that another ship from your time was here?” she asked as she looked Vausees dead in the eyes.

The look on Vausees’ face was enough to confirm that she didn’t. “We need to get to that ship and as fast as possible,” J’telas stated, “Before another of my people, get to it first, otherwise this will be enough to convince the old men that your people are coming to wipe them out.”

Vausees knew just enough to understand that would be total war, and with just two federation ships against the entire Klingon fleet, even with J’telas’ help, it would be total defeat and death.

-Zebulon Pike-J’telas rallied her house and set off after the Federation ship that had been detected by a patrol from her house. She made sure that all but a handful of her ships were cloaked as they left the Klingon homeworld, and that any beacon that they had was smashed, except for the ones on the visible ships.

Vausees informed her crew of what was going on and followed after J’telas, but in an indirect route. As soon as they left Klingon space, they redirected their course several times, just in case they were being followed before heading to the rendezvous place.

As they were en route, Jonton detected an incoming message from their time and informed the Captain. Vausees was overjoyed but at the same time unsure of what was going on. She made sure that they would help any ships from their time that were trapped in this time to get home.

Shortly after the message was closed Jonton informed her that the ship was surrounded by J’telas Armada. Vausees realized at that time that they were still too far out to be FIF identified so she risked an open call. It was then that J’telas contacted her to inform her that the ship was about to open a rift back to their time.

Not wanting to tear the two times to pieces she sent a message to the ship. Upon realizing that the message was ignored she had Trever push the Heracles to maximum warp.

Moments later the Heracles dropped out of warp right in front of the ship. Vausees ordered them once more to stop and when they failed to do so, she ordered the immediate seizure of the ship and the crew to be placed under arrest.

It was then that the computer red-flagged the ship as it had detected a serious threat to their timeline and as such Vausees ordered for all of the crew to be tested. Starting with their own doctor, however, the ship’s commanding officer was not going to have anything to do with that since the doctor was also his sister. After long arguments and several debates, they both came to a conclusion that it would be best if the entire crew was tested at one time.

In the meantime their timeline once more contacted them