The bridge of the USS Stonewall was a buzz of activity as the crew was finishing the final preparations for departure. Nick’s first officer was in the middle of running through a summary of various departments’ statuses when his helm officer’s voice rang through the bridge.
“Captain, Stardock Traffic Control has given us clearance to depart.”
“Excellent.” Nick turned back to his first officer. “Any problems from the other departments?”
“No, sir, we are ready to go.”
Nick nodded and looked back at the helm officer. “Helm, take us out on thrusters. Once we’re clear, one-quarter impulse.”
The USS Stonewall slowly moved out from its position within Earth Stardock and through the interior. The large Soveriegn-class vessel sailed out of one of the Stardock’s arms and into the heavily-trafficked space around Earth. The blue planet glittered under the light of Sol as the Stonewall accelerated and moved out farther into the system.
“Captain, we are cleared for warp,” the Helm officer announced.
“Set a course for Vulcan, warp 5.”
Nick’s first officer reached with surprise and leaned over toward him. “Sir, I thought our orders were to proceed to the Klingon Front?”
“They are, and we will be. However, we’ll be briefly stopping at Vulcan in order to speak with a Vulcan captain currently stationed there for a conference. I’ve already cleared this small detour with Admiral Quinn.”
The first officer simply nodded and went back to reviewing the inital status reports coming in from across the ship. Nick sat back in his chair as the Stonewall went to warp and watched the stars stretch then shoot by.
Meanwhile, Admiral Terev was watching the traffic around Stardock from one of the bases’ huge windows. Her gaze shifted toward Earth, which hung above her like a glistening emerald-decked sapphire. Next to her was a tall Human woman in Starfleet command red. Terev spoke to her without looking at her.
“And you’re sure that is his destination?”
“Yes, Admiral. He filed the flight path this morning and it was approved by Admiral Quinn. In light of the fact he was reported to be speaking wiht T’Rehes yesterday, it’s likely he is going there to speak with one of T’Rehes’ few allies.”
“T’Laris,” Terev said with an indignified grunt.
“Admiral, why is he going to Vulcan to speak with her? Wouldn’t subspace communication be more discrete.”
“Yes, Commander Gallagher, it is. However, he knows that I have the authority to access any recorded communication he makes. If he speaks to her in person, I don’t have that luxury.”
Terev shook her head and continued. “Thank you, Commander. Keep an eye on him, T’Rehes, and anyone else those two come into contact with. I can already tell they are going to be nothing but trouble and I want to fix this problem before it gets worse.”
Gallagher raised an eyebrow. “Fix?”
“Yes, fix. By any means necessary.”
“Understood, Admiral.” Gallagher nodded and left for another area of the Stardock, leaving Terev to continue watching the Earth above her.
Some distance away, a brown-haired man was leaning on a balcony reading a padd, overlooking the busy promenade of the Stardock below. His eyes momentarily flashed toward Terev, then back to the padd. After a few moments, Terev left her position at the window and walked away. The man stole a quick glance in her direction again, waited a minute or so, then began walking in the other direction toward an empty turbolift.
“Deck 52,” he said in a authoritative voice. Once the turbolift began moving, he issued a second request. “Computer, please locate Admiral T’Rehes.”
“Admiral T’Rehes is currently located in the lounge area of Deck 16.”
“Take me to Deck 16, then.”
The turbolift came to a stop and reversed direction. The doors opened to reveal a very expansive and busy lounge area. The man grinned at the bustle. While he walked nonchalantly through the crowd, his eyes moved about quickly. Once they locked onto a very conspicuous Vulcan sitting at a table with a mug of tea in front of her, the man immediately turned toward the bar. Standing in the line, he quickly cleared the data on the padd and entered some new information. After ordering a drink, the man moved back through the busy dining area. He passed by the admiral’s table, set the padd on the table in one soft fluid motion without ceasing his gait, and moved back into the crowd.
T’Rehes raised an eyebrow at the padd then snapped her head up to see who had dropped it. She saw the back of him just before he disappeared into the crowd moving around at the edge of the dining area. T’Rehes watched the area for a moment, then looked back down at the padd in front of her. It displayed a very short message which read:
Your plans may be over before they begin. If you want my help, meet me at these coordinates.
T’Rehes’ eyebrow raised further as she looked at the coordinates and noticed they were approximately 300 kilometers due west of the city of San Francisco. She picked up the padd, her mug, and moved out of the lounge toward the transporter room. This bore further consideration in the privacy of her ship’s quarters.
