“When we requested aid, we did not expect Starfleet to send a warship. Especially one that destroyed our mining vessel! Care to explain, Captain?” Said the Reman on the view screen, who had just introduced himself as Tekarex, the current commander of the mining facility.

Vakai stood there with his hands clasped against the small of his back as he stared right into the eyes of the Reman commander. “The vessel attacked us unprovoked, Tekarex. We had sustained some damage. We tried to hail the vessel but they refused to answer.”

Ryker stepped up to Vakai’s side. “They found a way to penetrate our shields and were targeting our warp core. We had no choice but to defend ourselves.”

“Then you went ahead and destroyed it, killing fifteen of our people?!” Tekarex raised his voice.

Ward was next to step up to Vakai’s side. “I assure you, sir. We had every intention to disable the vessel. Our weapons officer even reduced phaser power to only two percent. But after we disabled it, there was an overload that cascaded and destroyed the ship.”

Tekarex slammed the palm of his hand onto his desk. “I want logs! I want sensor data! I want proof that you murdered our people so I can file a complaint to my government to bring up to your superiors! I want you all removed-”

“Enough!” A female voice erupted that forced Tekarex to go silent. Suddenly a woman, a Romulan, stepped into view of the view screen. “Forgive Tekarex, Captain. We are all under immense pressure. The failures to our equipment and machinery are causing serious set backs. We desperately need your help.”

“Nuta, are you in command now?” Tekarex asked with frustration in his voice.

“You know we need their help more than anything, Tekarex. And I am certain that they would not have destroyed our mining vessel on purpose.” Nuta explained.

Vakai cleared his throat. “I apologize but, who are you?”

“Forgive me, Captain. I am Nuta, Tekarex’s second in command. The more…diplomatic and calm one.” Nuta explained.

“I still want to see those logs!” Tekarex exclaimed.

“If you don’t mind, Captain?” Ward asked before she stepped forward. “Then how about we invite you and your command staff for dinner on board the Sovereign? I’m sure we can come up with a cuisine to your liking and then I will personally show you the logs, sir.”

There was a moment of silence, Nuta and Tekarex looked at each other before they returned their gaze onto Vakai and his officers. “We accept your invitation. We will arrive in one hour.”

“As for your repair teams, Captain?” Nuta asked in a concerned tone.

Vakai nodded his head. “I will get my chief engineer on it right away.”

“Perhaps…after we beam aboard? There is something that my husband and I wish to discuss with you, privately.” Said Nuta.

“Of course.” Said Vakai.

“Then if you do not mind, my husband and I will beam aboard right away. We have no need for formalities.” She then looked to Tekarex. “And you. I recommend that you meditate before you go. Maybe that will make you a much more reasonable man.” She said with a smirk before she stepped away and disappeared from view, leaving Tekarex with his mouth open.

Vakai turned on his heels to look at the comm officer, only to give her a nod as a gesture to end transmission.

“You’re clear, Captain.” Said the comms officer.

Vakai then looked to Ward, Ryker leaned into one leg a bit just to look at her as well. Ward looked at the two of them, “What?” She asked.

“Inviting them over for dinner?” Vakai asked.

“And offering to show them the sensor logs?” Ryker asked.

“Simply finding a diplomatic solution, sirs. One that will certainly help us complete our mission without all this bickering.” Ward told them. “I hope.”

“You hope?” Ryker asked with a chuckle and a shake of his head as he headed for the turbolift. “I’m going to brief Gomez on the situation.”

Vakai turned to look at Ryker. “Just have her team on stand by.” He then looked to Ward. “You, Commander. You get to set up the dinner reservations.” He smirked before he headed for his ready room. “And once Nuta and her husband arrive, have them shown to my ready room.”

“Aye, sir.” Said Ward before she let off a small sigh. “Look who’s coming to dinner.” She said with one final look at the mining station, then she took the captain’s chair, grabbed a padd and began to work on the dinner reservations.

—

“Captain. Your guests have arrived.” Said Ward over the intercom.“Thank you, Commander. Come in.” He gave the command for that the computer recognized and opened the door for him to allow entry for Nuta and her husband. Vakai looked at them and could feel like he had seen them before. He just could not quite figure it out. It was not their faces that he recognized, as he had never seen them before but something about their eyes. He shrugged it off and began to head for the replicator. “Would you two care for a drink?”

“No thank you, Captain. Is your repair team ready?” Nuta asked.

Vakai ordered himself a cup of tea before he returned to his desk and sat down. “They are standing by and ready to transport.”

Nuta nodded her head. “Then I would recommend that you send a security detachment with them as well.”

Vakai frowned. “For what reason?”

“I believe that the malfunctions we have been experiencing are not just simple malfunctions. I believe that we have a saboteur on the station. And I believe that they are Tal’Shiar.” Nuta explained.

Vakai stared at them for a moment. Those eyes…. “Do you have any evidence to support your beliefs?”

“Nuta.” Her husband stretched her name in frustration to which got her to look at him. There was a moment of silence as the two stared into each others eyes, as if communicating telepathically or simply a way that they’ve learned to over the years of their marriage.

Nuta then sighed heavily as she closed her eyes for a brief before she opened them and looked right into Vakai’s. “I apologize but we cannot continue this deception any longer. I am not Nuta. My name is Votreel and my husband’s name is Detom.”

Vakai immediately stood up from his chair when he heard those names. He stared hard into their eyes before his own widened. “Mother? Father?”

There was a sudden relief and joy on Detom’s face when he heard Vakai say those words. “Yes, son. It is us.”

Vakai frowned grew and he shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t understand. What are you two doing here and did you both get cosmetic surgery?”

“All will be explained in due time, my son. But our people on board that station are in grave danger if we do not find and stop the saboteur.” Said Detom.

“He is right, Vakai.” Said Votreel.

Vakai continued to stare at them before he pressed a couple buttons. “Vakai to Ryker. Get Lieutenant Maya prepped immediately and have her sent with the repair team.”

“Sir?” Ryker asked.

“Tell Lieutenant Maya that she will be looking for a Romulan Tal’Shiar agent who is most likely sabotaging the station. Have Gomez and her team investigate the damage equipment and machinery to confirm if they have been sabotaged or not. And Commander. Tell Maya to be careful. Any Romulan on board that station could be a Tal’Shiar agent. I do not want them to know that we’re onto them. Not yet.” Vakai explained.

“Understood. Ryker out.”

Vakai looked at his parents once more. “We have time. Please, sit.” Vakai gestured to the couch where Vakai made his way around his desk and took the chair that faced the couch at an angle.

As both Votreel and Detom sat down, Detom began to explain. “After your rough encounter with Soldar, we knew that we had to get out of the Free State as soon as possible. So we took an assignment that had taken us into the Romulan Star Empire’s territory, before the collapse. Once we arrived, we altered course and visited an old friend.”

Votreel licked her lips. “He is the reason why we do not look like we used to. He altered our appearances, gave us new identifications, surgically removed our tracking implants careful enough to not trigger it to send a warning back to Tal’Shiar Command of its removal.”

Detom shook his head. “Was not a delicate procedure, to be honest. He couldn’t risk sedation as that might also trigger the implants warning to Command. They had so many redundancies built into it, I am not even sure how our friend got them out without something going wrong. But as the saying goes, it does not matter how many redundancies or safety measures or firewalls you put into something. Someone will figure out how to get around it.”

“Then we came here under our new lives. We could not contact you in fear that as soon as the Tal’Shiar Command realized that two of their operatives had gone dark, they may be monitoring transmissions. Match our voices, our retinas. There was only so much our friend could do to hide our identity with what tools he had but it was not top quality.” Votreel explained.

“Nevertheless, we were careful. We had planned on taking that mining ship out on a cargo run to the nearest Starfleet base and try to make contact with you from there.” Said Detrom.

Votreel then shook her head. “Then the Star Empire’s collapse happened. Everything became chaotic. But it was our opportunity to free everyone from the throat crushing grip of the Star Empire.”

“And when we learned that Starfleet had sent the Sovereign, we couldn’t believe it. But here you are.” Said Detom with a smile.

Vakai leaned forward in his seat. “You both knew I became the Sovereign’s commanding officer?”

Votreel smiled big. “Oh yes! Before we arrived at this mining station, we were able to look into the Tal’Shiar’s Intelligence Database once more. Apparently, despite Soldar being terminated from his job, the Tal’Shiar still keeps close tabs on you as you are still a threat to them.”

Vakai smirked. “I could care less what the Tal’Shiar thinks of me. I just want to live my life and enjoy every second of it. And I am. Being in command of this ship, having this fine crew. I couldn’t ask for any more than that. But now that you two are here, I never could be more wrong. Is the Tal’Shiar agent that is sabotaging the station, are they there because of you or?”

They both shook their heads. “We don’t think they know who we are. But the Free State and the Tal’Shiar desperately want the territory that was once the Star Empires. And having a provisional government rise in this sector that requested Federation aid, is a big threat to them. They will do whatever it takes to make it so that the provisional government fails. If they lose this station, they lose one of their key resources. We cannot let that happen.” Detom explained.

Vakai then stood up. “Then we best beam aboard the station and find that saboteur.”

They both stood up, with a confused look on their faces. “We’re not going to stay for dinner?” Votreel asked.

Vakai laughed, “If you’re that hungry, mother, then we can wait until after dinner. But I figured with the three of us, we can find that saboteur, Tal’Shiar Agent or not.”

Detom nodded. “He’s right. We have the skills to find one.”

Votreel shook her head. “No, dinner can wait. If we lose the station, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.”

Vakai smiled and led the way out of his ready room and headed for the turbolift with Votreel and Detom in tow.

“Captain.” Ward spoke up when she noticed Vakai and his guests were leaving. “We just got a message from the runabout. You’re going to want to hear this.”