Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of- "Seriously?"
A flash of light and we are once again in the control room of Sonia, the TARDIS of the wholesaler of horror, Dr. Zevil, who was reading off a padd into a recording mic when Q appeared… just like last time.
Dr. Zevil let out a growl of frustration as he threw the padd down onto the ground. "I could ask the same thing!" he snapped. "What do you want?"
"You have three unfinished stories on this site and four on that other site." Q said in a voice that was a mix of exasperation and mock concern. "Have you ever heard that quaint human expression: finish what's on your plate?"
"I am a writer-" a snort of derision from Q, "shaddup! I have a need to create and this story adds a bit of background to Endeavor."
Q was quiet for a record breaking six seconds, before he blew a raspberry.
"Excuse me?" said Dr. Zevil said in an affronted tone.
"Odd, I thought I was quite clear. Let me try again." Q said right before he blew another raspberry. "Please, you just want a chance to cause a bit of drama and chaos while making up for your mistake of starting Xavy's story after those chuckle heads from the Dominion blew up his ship."
"Good lord, you've given him a nickname and you haven't even met him yet." Dr. Zevil said while massaging his temples before straightening up with a haughty and superior expression…somehow, "So what if I am? You're the last person to caution me against that."
"Fine," said Q in mock hurt and inconsequence "Make your little prequel, see if I care." And with that, he snapped his fingers and was gone in his usual flash of light.
"That was too easy," Dr. Zevil said as he looked around the control room, then shrugged and looked to you the readers, "But who cares, he can't stop me so here we-" A flash of light interrupted the mad doctor and when the light was gone, there was a radish where Dr. Zevil once was and Q was back.
"Like the 'good' doctor was going to say, it's time for another tale from the world of Star Trek Online, fresh from the demented mind of !" Q said with his usual flare, "So sit back, relax, and enjoy the tale of:
Star Trek: Gods and Monsters
Captains log, Star date: 86330.13 (17 days before the U.S.S. Hades takes off from DS9)
My crew and I have been sent to Deep Space Nine to be a part in the conference that's taking place there between the Federation, the Romulan Republic, the Klingon Empire, and my people's government, the Cardassian Union, to discuss the Borg threat and how we can come together to defend against it. I hope that these talks are successful and that it might mean a new level of peace for the galaxy and possibly mean a renewal of peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire.
Stepping on to DS9's promenade, Captain Kulor Valrek, a Cardassian with medium scales on his face, blue eyes, and black hair pulled into a small ponytail, looked around the station. 'So odd,' he thought as he looked around, 'this place is so familiar, yet so different.'
"Anything like home, boss?" asked a voice behind Valrek. The captain turned to see a young Klingon woman dressed in Command officer white on her shoulders and a blue stripe, marking her as a science officer, with Commander Pips on her collar. She also had a greenish hue to her skin, her forehead ridges were different than an average Klingon, and she was a foot shorter too.
"Yes and no." he said with a curious tone. "It's Cardassian in origin, but it has a Starfleet feel and bearing. Don't you think Sutim?"
"Yeah I guess I can see that," Said Commander Sutim Vekama, Valrek's first officer, a slight scowl on her face. "but at least this place is accepted by our fellow officers."
"Now, Sutim," Valrek admonished, "We may not be completely accepted, but we are all 'on the same team' I believe the saying goes."
"I believe you are correct, Captain." Said the melodic voice a Valixian woman dressed in an Engineers uniform with a Lieutenants pips walking up behind Valrek. The woman was about twenty-three years-old. She was two feet shorter than Valrek, had long hair tied in a ponytail with bangs, and had pale green eyes. "And I can see what you're saying, sir. Its base coat is Cardassian, but it has been enhanced with an aesthetic that's all Starfleet."
"Thank you, Avalia," Valrek said to Lieutenant Avalia Vexius Zevil, one of his best bridge officers, before turning to his number one, "See, Avalia agrees with me and she didn't need to be crude to do so."
"Of course, she didn't," Sutim said with an eyeroll, "Avalia's way more diplomatic then I am and she's an artist, which means way more eloquent than me too."
"You think I'm eloquent, Commander?" asked Avalia with a bashful smile, but before she can get an answer, a voice to their left interrupts their conversation.
"Captain Valrek?" Valrek, Sutim, and Avalia turned to the voice and saw that it was a tall liberated Borg woman with black pixie cut hair and dressed in an Engineers uniform with Lieutenant Commander Pips on her collar.
"That would be me, what can I do for you, Lieutenant Commander?" Valrek said, voice showing his curiosity.
"You and your subordinates, come with me, please." She said and, without waiting for him, started walking. The two other officers shared a confused look, but quickly caught up to and followed the small and, quite frankly, bossy woman. The walk to wherever they were going was silent, which was unnerving to the naturally chatty Cardassian Captain, so he did what he always did: started talking.
"So, you're an Engineer?" he asked, hoping to start a conversation.
"Yes." She said bluntly.
"Ah! So was I!" He said warmly with hopes that his tone would melt the former Drone's icy exterior. "You know I started off my career with the hopes to become the Chief Engineer of a star ship, but Admiral Quinn thought I was better suited for Command. Even though I've heard that he does that quite a lot, I was still very flattered." He smiled at the woman, but he still got nothing. "So how long have you been a part of Starfleet?"
"Before or after I was brutally captured and assimilated into the Collective?" she asked in a monotone that would have 'impressed' a Vulcan.
'Oh, very nice, Kulor.' He chastised himself. 'You've brought up a touchy subject. Bad enough most everyone you meet has a biased against you, now you've ruined your chance to bond with another Engineer.' He internally grimaced. 'What would Councilor Garak say if he heard about this?'
Being one of the first and few Cardassians to join Starfleet, Valrek had actually met the former 'simple tailor' and graciously accepted his offer to take him under his wing. "Remember, Kulor, the people of the Federation will not like you on sight. Oh, don't worry, it's not your fault. We Cardassians didn't put our best foot forward as an old friend might say (no, I don't know what it means either, Dr. Bashir's human, and they are a strange people), but now is our chance to correct that mistake. I'm sure you and the others will do splendidly!"
Garak was right, he was not treated well when he first got to the Academy, but he persevered through the snide comments, the pranks, and the graffiti on his dorm room door telling him to go home (although he had to say, the one about his questionable parentage was surprisingly creative and eloquent), but he was determined to do the Union proud and make up for his people's past mistakes. But more than that he wanted to see the galaxy, help those in need, and make wonderous discoveries.
Before Valrek could apologize for bringing up a sore topic or Aval could lay into the woman for being a 'cold bitch' they were stopped by a gruff voice shouting "She-Borg P'takh!"
The four Starfleet officers turned to see a statuesque Klingon woman dressed in the uniform of the KDF: a black corset-like armor top with red accents, red and black pointed shoulder armor, tight black leather pants with an attached black battle skirt with red accents, black fingerless gauntlets, and black boots with red spikes up the calf and on the toe box.
She was a frightening yet oddly beautiful sight, especially with her muscular arms on display and her braided mane of black hair. And she was very clearly mad about something or someone.
"What can I do for you, Brigadier General J'Vasa?" said the former Drone, not even batting an eye at the insult. Valrek, Avalia, and Sutim were impressed that the woman could stay so calm in the face of such a woman, although Sutim's exact thoughts were 'Wow the Borg must equip their drones with a pretty big set of balls when they assimilate them.'
This seemed to make the Klingon angrier. "You know what I want!" She growled, "Tell me where he is! I know my old foe and future husband is on this station, the fact that you and the Betazoid woman are here is proof of that." She leaned closer into the Lieutenant Commander personal space. "You will take me to him, or I will rip those metal plates from your barely human skull."
"Excuse me, hi," interjected Valrek, not liking where this conversation was going, "We are supposed to be working together to fight the Borg, and while technically you are upholding to the spirit of that, the Lieutenant Commander is a Starfleet officer and therefore someone you are supposed to be working with."
"I assume that fighting with those you are meant to be fighting beside is a big dishonorable no-no for you guys," Sutim cut in distastefully and the Brigadier's gaze moved to her and her eyes narrowed as a scowl formed on her face.
"What would a traitorous half breed like you know of honor?" she said as she stood up to her impressive height of six feet four inches, her voice dripping with venomous hatred. Sutim's eyes widened a fraction, causing the Brigadier to snort with derision. "Yes, I know who you are, the mongrel whose very existence is a dishonor to all things Klingon."
Sutim looked like she was about to attack the woman, so Valrek put his hand on her shoulder to forestall her doing so. "Your opinion of my First Officer aside, my argument still stands." Valreks tone turned earnest, but with an edge of steel to it. "The Collective is the bigger threat right now, not each other."
The imposing woman glared at them for a moment until her communicator beeped and a hissing voice spoke up, "Lieutenant Thraak to Brigadier General J'Vasssa."
"What?" she bit out as she activated her commlink and brought it to her mouth.
"Forgive the intrusssion, General, but Ambassssador Sss'taassss is requesssting your presssence at the Klingon embassssy office immediately." Said Thraak apologetically.
The General muttered several Klingon curses under her breath, "Inform the Ambassador I will be with him shortly. J'Vasa out." She disconnected her commlink angrily and looked Valrek in the eyes. "You speak well, Cardassian, I will remember your words and if you fight as well as you speak, then I will look forward to seeing you on the field of battle, as allies or enemies." She then turned to the Lieutenant Commander, "Tell my beloved I will see him soon." And with that she marched away.
"You were supposed to keep her from following us," the Lieutenant said when they started walking again.
Valrek was about to ask what she meant, but a disembodied voice spoke up. "A crowd of people got in my way, so I had to find another route."
There was a shimmer and then, out of nowhere, a small woman with honey colored hair and dressed in an SI uniform with Intel glasses on appear in lock step with the other them. "Besides, I got rid of her in the end." The woman said a little indignantly, "Or did you miss the phony summons I sent her?"
"I did not, very impressive," she said, voice holding none of the praise the words meant.
"You know you're coming off as a major bitch, right?" asked the smaller woman candidly. "You haven't even introduced yourself to the nice captain who managed to avoid a diplomatic incident."
She turned her head to look at the two, by now, very confused officers following them. "Nice to meet you, I'm Lieutenant Commander Asouzi Zibes, and this is Lieutenant Commander Six of Nine."
"Nice to meet you." Six said flatly as they turned off the promenade and into one of the hallways.
"You'll have to excuse her prissiness," said Asouzi with a grin, "She's not happy with the way our Captain is handling the situation with the Brigadier General, who as you saw has the hots for him."
"Given her very forceful nature I can understand why your Captain would go to such lengths to avoid her," said Valrek understandably, "I couldn't tell if she was in love with him or wanted to kill him."
"Both." Said the two Lieutenant Commanders as they stopped by a door. Asouzi pressed the call button.
"Yes?" asked a deep cultured voice on the intercom.
"Lieutenant Commanders Zibes and Six of Nine with the two officers you requested to see, sir." Said Asouzi.
"Very good, enter," said the voice, and the four officers walked in and saw that it was a conference room with a long table in the center of the room. Inside, sitting at the head of the conference table, was a young Valixian man. The man was probably late twenties, yellow eyes, black combed back hair and stylized mustache and beard, and he was dressed in the red, black, and gold of a Starfleet admiral.
"Captain Kulor Valrek, Commander Sutim Vekama, and Lieutenant Avalia Vexius Zevil welcome, I am Admiral Xavius Vexius Zevil." He said as he stood with a welcoming smile, motioning to the chairs near him. "Do forgive the run-around, but certain issues have caused me to keep my whereabouts hidden."
"Yes, we met the 'issues' as we made our way here," said Valrek as he walked over to the conference table. "A very…forward woman, sir."
"You have no idea, Captain," Zevil said morosely, taking his own seat and cutting his eyes to the two women standing. "Thank you, Lieutenant Commanders, you're dismissed, and you may return to your other duties." Both women saluted him and left the room.
"Wait a second," said Sutim as the door closed and she turned to Avalia. "You said your name was Zevil? Does that mean your-?"
"Yes, Commander," Said Avalia as she locked eyes with the Admiral, a smile on her lips, "He's my big brother." She then walked up to the Admiral, her superior officer, and flicked his nose.
"Ow!" The elder Zevil said, as he covered his nose. "What was that for, Val?"
"For not calling mother enough," she said with a playful scowl, "and saddeling me with extra nagging and attention." She then flung her arms around his waist in a hug. "It's good to see you Xavy."
"It's good to see you too." He said as he pulled away from the hug to hold her by the forearms. He paused for a second, looking at her sternly. Knowing from talking with Avalia that her people were psychic, Valrek figured that the Admiral was telling her something private with his mind. "But I really only need to talk with your COs, I just thought I would say hi and tell you where you could find me."
"Yes sir, Admiral, sir!" She gave an over the top salute, which earned her a playful glare. She ignored her brother and turned to her amused Captain. "With your permission sir, I'll return to the Medusa."
"Of course, Lieutenant, you're dismissed." Said Valrek with a friendly smile.
As she was leaving, she spared a glance at the Commander.
"Commander Vekama," she said in farewell. Zevil cocked an eyebrow and smirked at the back of his sister, making her stop, turn, and give a quick glare to her brother before leaving.
The Admiral chuckled before turning back to the two officers. "Now, I've called the both of you here because there are a few delicate matters I wanted to pass by you, and a few things I would like you and your crew to do in preparation for the upcoming talks."
"What sort of delicate matters?" asked Sutim, still a little suspicious as to why they were singled out. If it was just to do a few tasks, this Admiral would have his own people do them, so it had to be the delicate matters that was the real reason they were called in for. At the raised eyebrow he sent her, she quickly tacked on a "sir." She had to remember, even though he was younger, he was still an Admiral.
"Prior to the summit, my crew and I were forced into a conflict with a group of Founders, calling themselves the New Link, and their Jem'Hadar soldiers." Zevil leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers, "To make a long story as short as I can, we revealed that one of the Founders, a male Founder named Laas, was deceiving the others in a bid to create a new Dominion here in the Alpha Quadrant and renew the conflict of the Dominion War.
"We stopped him and in gratitude, the Dominion has sent a Jem'Hadar solider to learn Starfleet techniques, and that is where our problem lies." Zevil looked pained at this, like he didn't like what he was about to say, "My crew complement is currently full, and I know your previous head of tactical just retired."
"Unbelievable." Sutim muttered under her breath with a scowl.
"Is there a problem Commander?" Zevil asked in a cool voice and Valrek gave her a warning look. He knew his first officer all too well and had a pretty good idea where her thoughts were going.
"Why yes sir, there is a problem." Sutim said with disdain, completely ignoring her captain. "Do you know what our fellow officers call our ship? The U.S.S. Outcast, where all the freaks and the unwanted of the Federation go.
"I've lived with being an unwanted outcast my whole life, so has most of our crew, but now you want us to fly with a Jem'Hadar?" She asked indignantly, jumping to her feet to loom over the young Admiral. "A Jem'Hadar! A species that's treated with the same kind of welcome that we give the Borg! I know you're young and all, but you can't possibly be stupid enough to-"
"That's enough, Commander!" Said Valrek with force. "You've said your piece, now sit down and be quiet!" When she kept standing and glaring at the young man, he snapped, "Now, Commander!"
Sutim, still glaring, slowly sat down in her seat. Valrek then turned to Zevil, an apologetic look on his face, "Admiral-" he started but Zevil held up his hand to stop him.
"It's quite alright Captain," Zevil said voice defrosting only slightly, "I understand where your first officer is coming from, even if I don't agree with how she presented her opinion." That last part was said with an unamused glare towards the hybrid, who didn't even bother looking contrite.
"Your ship's reputation did play a role in my decision to place the Jem'Hadar with you, but not for the negative connotations associated with it." At their confused looks he clarified: "You might be the crew with the most…unique backgrounds, but that also makes you the most diplomatic ship in Starfleet: you know what to do and what not to do in certain situations."
Zevil picked up a padd and began reading from it, "Your crew consists of a Ferengi with a revoked business license as your Chief of Operations, a Vulcan prodigy that was kicked out of the Vulcan Science Academy because of her medical experiments as your Chief Medical officer, and," He paused at the next dossier, eyes going wide, immediately telling Valrek who it was, "a Reman that was kicked out of the Republic because his methods were extreme, even by Obisek's standards, as your Security Chief."
"And the Klingon/Romulan hybrid that's hated by the Empire, Klingon and Star, and looked upon with distrust by the Republic as his First Officer," said Sutim in a bored tone which turned into a yelp as Valrek stepped on her foot.
"Who is combative and has a problem with authority." Said Zevil dryly, before turning to look directly at Valrek, "Last but not least, a Cardassian Captain that is the protégé of a former Obsidian Order operative turned politician, Councilor Elim Garak."
"I hate to sound rude, given that Sutim has been so for the both of us," Said Valrek, a tiniest bit of bite to his words, "but I'm interested to hear the point of this presentation and how you got our personnel files, which should be sealed."
"I have more than a few friends in the Intelligence community," Zevil said with a bemused smile, "The point I am trying to make is this: your crew comes from all walks of life. Their experiences, while negative, give you access to information and diplomatic avenues that most diplomats could only dream of getting. Which is the ideal environment for Jem'Hadar to learn in."
"Not to speak ill of my own crew," Said Valrek a little uneasily, "but wouldn't it be better for a Jem'Hadar to learn from a more typical crew rather than an…atypical one?"
"History has shown that doing that never works." Zevil said with a shake of his head. "This station's history is full of such attempts prior to the Dominion War that only ever ended with failure." Zevil held up his hands in placating manner, "I'm not saying it's a perfect idea, or even a really good idea, but I think this will work and will improve relations with the Dominion, however the choice is ultimately yours, Captain."
Valrek thought this over. Zevil had a point, Garak had told him some of the stories about the times that Captain Sisko and the station crew had fought and worked with Jem'Hadar, and tried to reform them but failed, so this plan of the Admiral's might work.
Which led him to think of what he knew of Zevil: He had heard a few things about the young Admiral, for instance he knew that he had a knack for going up against impossible odds, devising ingenious ways to defy them, and he was, more often than not, successful.
Then he thought what Garak would do, when he remembered something he once told him: "Opportunity is everywhere and nowhere, Kulor, you just need to know where to look and grab it before someone else does."
"I'll take him on. I like a challenge and we could learn from him while he learns from us." Said Valrek finally, ignoring the groan from his first officer. He agreed with the Admiral's earlier statement, he didn't know if this was a perfect idea, or even a really good idea, but he would give this officer the chance he never really felt he got when he joined Starfleet. 'Besides,' he thought, 'A Jem'Hadar serving on my ship, what's the worst that could happen?'
AN: He has no idea how bad he just jinxed himself. So, what do you think of my newest creation? Valrek was an impulse creation when STO released Cardassians as a choice for captains and the idea just grew from there. As always, tell me what you think in a review, nut till next time, I bid you adieu!