CALL OF DUTY; DEMANDS OF HONOR

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CHAPTER ONE

(Federation)

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"Status!" Captain Hunter snapped as the Aerfen was again rocked by phaser fire.

"Communications jammed. Targeting sensors and phasers off-line," Ilya, her first officer shouted over the alarm claxons.

Hunter brushed her hair out of her face, her hand resting momentarily on the red feather braided there. A protective gesture she had adopted in the Academy when an upperclassman had tried to bring her up on charges for wearing the totem.

"Evasive. Manual targeting on the photon torpedoes. Get us back to Federation space," she ordered. "Break through that jamming!" The sleek Starfleet fighter rocked as she was hit by another phaser barrage from the Klingon ships.

"Captain, sensors show two more Klingon ships coming in!" Ilya announced.

"Damn," Hunter muttered.

Admiral Kirk had asked her to keep an eye out for unusual activity in the Klingon sectors along the Neutral Zone. With all the recent pullbacks by the Klingon fleet from those areas, she had been surprised when Aerfen had found five Klingon ships in this sector.

The Klingons must have been waiting for someone to look them over, she thought. They engaged us pretty damn quick.

Hunter turned to glance at her first officer. "Ilya, how far to Federation space, and are there any Starfleet ships nearby?" she asked.

"Ten minutes. None that I can pick up."

"Got one!" The weapons officer said.

Hunter turned to see one of the battle cruisers explode on the screen.

"Captain, those other two ships are firing on our pursuers," the weapons officer said. "They just got one, also."

"I'll take whatever help I can get right now. Maintain course."

"Captain, the Klingons are breaking off pursuit. Jamming is clearing, and I'm receiving a hail from one of them," Ilya said.

"On screen."

"Sorry, it's audio only."

Hunter nodded. "Understood."

"I am Captain Garuth. On behalf of the Empire, I apologize for the damage to your vessel. The commanders responsible will be dealt with appropriately." The transmission clicked off abruptly.

"Channel has been closed," Ilya said. "Hunter, I'm picking up something strange on sensors. It looks like there's now a total of seven Klingon ships."

"What? Where did the new ones come from? We destroyed one and so did the Klingons. There should only be five!"

"A sensor ghost," the weapons officer said.

"What was that?" Hunter asked.

"A sensor ghost. One of my year mates at the Academy, Kelli Ramsey, developed a device she called a sensor ghost. It could fool sensors into thinking a ship was something other than what it was. I doubt it would be difficult to use it to create the illusion of an explosion, or even to hide a ship from sensors."

"Lay in a course for Earth, maximum warp. I want to deliver this report in person."

#

Kirk turned the viewer off and removed the report he had been reading. He put the computer tape on the desk next to the viewer, then reached up to rub at his temples. The reports and analyses were giving him a headache.

He glanced up at the Klingon sash, bat'leth, and daggers hanging on the wall behind his desk. Kelli Ramsey, no, he corrected himself, K'Lyssia had given them to him three months earlier, after his first and hopefully last visit to the Empire.

Despite the negative comments from other members of the Admiralty, such as Admiral Cartwright, he had left the weapons and sash there. He understood the honor Ramsey had paid him when she named him as a brother and gave him a place in her house. After he had gotten past his initial prejudices, Kirk realized Ramsey was a woman worthy of respect and trust: a true Starfleet officer. He had also found it true of several of the Klingons he had dealt with. The sash and weapons were reminders to keep an open mind.

He glanced down at his desk. Scattered across it, along with the reports, were tapes outlining various defense strategies and plans for the sectors bordering the Klingon Neutral Zone. These were all being reviewed and changed as the person who had developed them was now living in the Empire, creating a potentially dangerous situation.

The intelligence reports he had been reading lately showed just how unstable this situation was becoming. As he picked up another of the reports and began studying the information, his instincts started telling him it was all about to come to a head.