Chapter One
"Captain Kline,
it's good to see you again." Rear-Admiral Patrickson smiled warmly as he
shook the hand of the captain. "How are you?"
"Pretty
good..." Kline nodded. "And how about you, sir?
I thought your duties in Starfleet Intelligence prevented you from traveling
away from Earth."
"I was
exaggerating." Patrickson admitted. "If I stay as low as possible, I
can go anywhere."
"So..."
Kline started as he sat down on the comfortable sofa in Patrickson's
office aboard starbase 9A. "What new mission are you going to give us this
time?"
Patrickson sat down
in his own seat behind his desk: "What makes you think that this is all
about a new mission?"
Kline shrugged:
"A strange feeling..."
Patrickson sighed:
"And a pretty good one, too...Indeed, you have a new assignment."
"Which
is?"
Patrickson opened
his laptop and activated the monitor; he turned the computer so that Kline
could see what was displayed on the screen.
It was a large pile
of debris on a planet with a greenish sky; it was presumably a building that
had been destroyed by a bomb or an orbiting ship. Kline couldn't recognize the
planet.
"What happened
there?" Kline pointed at the screen.
Patrickson
deactivated the computer: "That building was destroyed yesterday; it was
on Qo'Nos, in the F'qan
district. A bomb was placed on the bottom level and detonated at
"Who planted
the bomb?" Kline asked.
"We don't know
yet." Patrickson said. "But there have been several attacks in the
past few weeks all throughout the Empire. The Klingon Imperial Intelligence is
attempting to find who is behind these attacks but they've been less than
successful."
"So they've
asked for our help?" Kline asked.
"Right,"
Patrickson said, smiling. "I must say, the Klingon Imperial Intelligence
is not the perfect example of a well-functioning intelligence service. It is
considered throughout the Federation as a rather...'mediocre'
association."
"I see..."
Kline nodded.
"You and your
team will be sent to Qo'Nos where you will rendezvous
with two agents from Imperial Intelligence. They will be your guides during the
investigation." Patrickson explained.
"Why doesn't
Starfleet want to send an ordinary starship for this job? There have been cases
of terrorism like this in the past and, in those cases, if I recall correctly,
ordinary starships were sent." Kline asked.
"Yes,
well..." Patrickson straightened himself in his chair. "The Empire
has been going through some rather tough times recently; the entrance of a new
w terrorist organization on the scene is most likely to cause more tension in
an already tense situation. The Empire wants to keep this as silent as possible
for as long as possible. They can't afford generalized panic across the whole
Empire, and I understand them perfectly."
Kline nodded:
"I see, so that's why we're being sent over there."
"Precisely,"
Patrickson said. "You are Starfleet Intelligence's best operation unit;
we've decided that no one would be better suited for the job."
"Right..."
Kline said. "Will we be using the Valiant on this mission?"
"No."
Patrickson said, throwing a data padd to Kline who caught it. "We've
decided that it was safer if you headed into the Empire with a more powerful
vessel than a Defiant-class ship."
"The Valiant
is pretty powerful..." Kline protested.
"I agree, but
the Klingons might not think the same way. They'll be more impressed if you get
there with a large starship rather than with a little one, even one with as
much firepower as the Valiant."
"Of
course..." Kline sighed. "And so what ship will we be using?" He
looked at the data padd.
"The USS-Card,"
Patrickson said. "A newly commissioned Akira-class vessel,"
"Hmmm..."
Kline studied the information on the USS-Card that was displayed on the
padd. "And how about the crew? We certainly can't
run a ship of that size with only the people we had on board the Valiant."
"You're
right." Patrickson nodded. "We've added the needed amount of
crewmembers to your usual crew complement."
Kline blinked:
"That would be over two hundred people!"
Patrickson grinned.
"Where do you
get all these Intel operatives?" Kline asked.
"You of all
people should know, captain." Patrickson said. "You worked at the
desk in the SI H.Q for years."
"I may have
filed paperwork a lot, but I didn't read it all." Kline said.
"Well..."
Patrickson said. "You don't really need to know where they come from, as
long as they work. And of course, the usual orders are still there. Try to stay
as far away from the crew as possible. The less they know; the better..."
Kline nodded:
"Understood."
They both stood up
and shook hands.
"Good luck,
Captain."
Along with the rest
of the senior members of Team One, Captain Kline was beamed aboard the USS-Card.
As soon as he appeared in the transporter room, he felt the largeness of the
ship; compared to the Valiant, this ship was a giant.
Chief Robinson was
standing at the transporter control, she smiled at the senior officers:
"Welcome aboard."
"Good to see
you again, chief." Kline said as he came down from the pad followed by the
other officers.
They exited the
transporter room and began walking towards the nearest turbolift. The large
corridors were comfortable to walk in, you didn't always have to stick yourself
to the wall to allow someone to pass by like one needed to do in some corridors
of the Valiant.
A few minutes later,
the officers were stepping out of the turbolift onto the bridge. The bridge was
empty since the ship was still docked at the starbase. The officers quickly
took their respective places and, soon enough, Kline felt aboard his
ship.
"Okay." He
sat down in his command chair. "Mantion, inform starbase we'll be
leaving."
"Aye," He
heard her voice say. He wasn't used not to seeing the tactical officer, on
board the Valiant, her station was at the front of the bridge.
"Starbase command has been informed; they wish us a good journey."
"Send them our
thanks." Kline hated when starbase commanders were too pleasant.
"Burnel, set aft thrusters at full power and bring us one hundred
kilometers away from the station then set a course for Qo'Nos,
warp six."
"Yes,
captain." Burnel said, her fingers dancing across her console.
"I trust you've
all read your mission briefings?" Kline asked his crew.
They all nodded.
"Good." He
nodded. "I need to warn you, Patrickson told me that the operatives of the
Klingon Imperial Intelligence are not very...professional. So watch out what
you say and do around them."
They all exchanged
glances before returning their attention to their stations.
"We're ready to
engage warp engines, Captain." Burnel reported a few seconds later.
"Engage..."
* * *
The large doors
opened in an infernal cacophony that Rax had grown to
hate, he really needed to find someone to change the door of his office.
Two of his agents
entered, Kaytan, the woman, and Gorik,
the man, the door closed behind them and they waited there, expectantly.
"The Federation
is sending a Starfleet Intelligence vessel to assist us." Rax told them. "You have been assigned to them."
"Assigned?"
Kaytan frowned. "What is that supposed to
mean?"
"It means you
will be the liaison officers between Imperial Intelligence and Starfleet
Intelligence." Rax said. "You will inform
me of anything new that you and the Starfleeters will
discover, and in return, I shall give you further information that you will
pass on to the Starfleeters."
"Yes, yes,
yes..." Gorik waved his hand. "We know what
liaison means."
"You can never
be too sure." Rax bared his crooked teeth in a
grotesque smile. "Now go, and please do not disgrace the Imperial
Intelligence more than it already is."
"We'll
try." Kaytan said. Then the two operatives
turned on their heels and exited the office.
Rax
sighed, he wondered why he had chosen those two idiots for such an important
mission...Then he realized...it was because they were his two best
agents.
He shook his head;
Klingon Intelligence wasn't what it used to be...