The following fanfiction is a short-story which takes place before, during and after the events of the TNG episode 'Chain of Command' of 2369. This fanfiction proceeds my story "Shadows of War, Part I - Awoken" and prepares "Shadows of War, Part II" which is in planning.

However, it is not necessary to know "Shadows of War" to read this story. It is completely independent, solely its last chapter refer to the story, although explaining its events completely, and also leads to guessing what Part II will be about.

This story makes use of the invented character Tallara Shran, an Andorian introduced in my story "Shadows of War, Part I". It is not necessary to know much about her, as important information about her is provided within the story.

I would like you to review this short-story and perhaps ask you to read my story "Shadows of War" as well, which is mostly DS9 based with main focus on Elim Garak and Tallara Shran, and is about the end of the Dominion War, genetic engineering, treason and love. I have not uploaded "Shadows of War" to , and I do not consider to do so. When you are interested, and I hope so, please write me a private message and I will send you the story as .pdf via e-mail. I do not upload it as important formatting would be lost, and also because editting it to make it suitable to be read online would consume amounts of time. So please do not hesitate to contact me. (If you don't want to give me your e-mail address, I am sure we can find another way to give you my story.)

We write the year 2369...

I do not own anything. The following story, as well as "Shadows of War", is based on the canon Star Trek universe, as well as the novel 'A Stitch in Time' by Andrew Robinson and some information provided by non-canon memory-beta. org . It features mainly TNG and DS9.

Chapter 1

It was the last day of a year, and for her the last day of her second three-years-cycle, which meant a larger break before the new year at the Institute started. Only few students went home, only those with the most powerful parents could afford it. Tallara Shran, the only alien at the Institute, was exhausted from the run around the Institute's main ground. She reached 'the pit' second, right after One Ketay, who always seemed to be best in anything she did. It didn't surprise anyone, though, or she wouldn't have become 'One' in the second three-year-cycle, in which only the best of the first cycle had entered.

Calyx didn't seem happy with them, but he never seemed too happy anyway. When the last student had arrived, he shouted angrily and they all ordered after designation in a queue. Tallara was Seven Ketay, so only three other students stood to her right.

"Today is again the last day of a year, the end of the second cycle for you and for some of you also their last day in the career of serving the Union," he said and his glass eye eyeballed Tallara, who was not only the lightest, and less impressive, but also the only blue-skin among the Cardassians.

"However, I fear that I will see some of you pitiful creatures next year again and I hope you'll be in a better shape then. Go have a shower now, at oh five hundred the appraisal begins for Ketay," he finally sent them away. As soon as they were out of his point of view, the female students started to chatter about the upcoming evaluations. Only few of them would be accepted to the last three-year-cycle at the Bamarren Institute of State Intelligence and Tallara hoped both to pass and to fail. On one hand, having been sent to the Institute was a great honor and she didn't want to let down the two persons she had to thank for this, Pythas Lok and Enabran Tain; but on the other hand, every day was a torture. It was hot the whole year long, everybody, especially those of the first level, starred at her. She was the only Andorian within the next few hundred miles and she was not only regarded alien, but also as a traitor. Especially since the Federation had started negotiations with the government about the Bajoran occupation.

She crossed a group of male students, she recognized some of them as First-Cycle-students and was pretty sure to tell who would pass into the next level. She picked a towel and fresh clothes from the room she shared with two other female students of her group, more privacy would be granted to her if she reached up into the last Cycle. She entered the public showers along with the other Cardassians of her group and again she was regarded deprecatory by most of them.

At first, they hadn't wanted her around them when they were naked, after all, she had no sex that you could identify as definitely male or female. She was a shen, one of four sexes of the Andorian physiology. To make comparisons easier to other species, shen and zhen were called 'she' and chan and thaan were called 'he'. To reproduce, four bondmates, one of each gender, were brought together at young age, however, she had been younger than that when she had lost her mother and father, rather zhavey and thavan. Her shreya had passed away when she was a little kid and her charan had fallen as a soldier of the Andorian Imperial Guard.

After the shower, Tallara hurried to the Meeting Hall where all the other students of the second level were assembled. First level students had already gotten their results, third year students knew if they had graduated or not as well. She sat down next to Ten Ketay, one of the few Cardassians who didn't despise her for her physical appearance. Finally, the Ketay group members were called into the office of the Institute's head one after another. When Six Ketay left, obviously having not passed and being expelled from the Institute, there was a long pause and people started to wonder why Seven, Tallara, was not called in. Finally, she was asked in and trembling she stood up and walked past the dozens of eyes that starred up to her. She was one of the last students to be called in, but most of the others remained in the hall to talk to each other before they departed into the break or forever.

Tallara knew that something was wrong when she saw not only the Institute's headmaster but also Enabran Tain and a human standing in the office. The window was dimmed and the yellow ceiling lamp was lightening the room slightly. They all turned when she entered the office and shut the door behind her.

"Sit down, Seven Ketay," the Institute's head said and pointed over to the uncomfortable sofa in the corner of the office.

She nodded with hesitation and confusion but didn't dare to say anything. When she had taken seat, the other three people joined her at the small table.

"I haven't seen you for quite a while, Tallara. You have grown," Tain said and tried to smile.

A small pause followed, until the Institute's director introduced the human male present in the room. "I want you to meet Luther Sloan, he is working for Starfleet diplomacy and he is visiting Cardassia along with other Federation staff due to the conference in Lakarian City these days. They are negotiating about the withdrawal of our military from Bajor."

Sloan and Tallara shook hands and she muttered something like 'pleasure to meet you'.

"I assume you are wondering why I am here and not with my colleagues at the conference," he started to explain. "Fact is that I heard about the chain of incidents that made you end up here at the heart of Cardassia's educational facilities. I read that the transportation ship with your parents and you crashed on Cardassia IV several years ago and that you couldn't be brought back to Andoria due to increasing hostility between the governments of Cardassia and Andor. But now, the Cardassian Union and the Federation are trying to cope with each other again."

"Do you want me to return to Federation's space?" she asked shocked. She had indeed hated living on Cardassia for quite a long time, the temperatures were too high, the climate was too humid and the light was too dimmed. But she didn't have any family in the Federation sector either and she had come to live with being the outcast of the society. And the Institute's students weren't known for their amicability because everyone wanted to be the best.

"No, I know that another change of your environment wouldn't be so good," he said with a smile. "But perhaps you would like to meet others of your species, or at least," he hesitated and smiled at the Cardassians, "someone with another skin color."

"What Commander Sloan is trying say is, that he and I would like you to accompany us to Lakarian city. You would see how much it has changed within the last six years, before you finally return for your last three-year-cycle at Bamarran," Tain added.

"I return? I mean, I have passed?" Tallara said surprised. Of course, only the best, in both educational and physical classes, would pass, and she had improved a lot, but it was also a bit of poker in the game. Influence of the parents or other associates mattered, as well as how you came along with the docents. She knew that Tain had bribed a lot of people to get her into the Institute and she had always wanted to make him proud.

"Yes, you will return to the third level and remain a Ketay," the director said. "However, I'm afraid that Commander Sloan's schedule is very tight and I want you to pack your things and be ready for departure in twenty minutes."

"We'll meet outside the main arch," Tain said with a nod that showed both his approval and that he didn't want to be seen by most of the students. He must have beamed into the office for not being seen, Tallara thought when she stood up and left with a grateful 'thank you'.

First, she was happy and rushed past the other students, who mostly ignored her anyway. But then second thoughts began to shoot through her mind and her pulse started to race. What did Tain do here? He was the head of the Obsidian Order and although she had been raised by one of his closest employees, Pythas Lok, the last time she had met him personally was three years ago, and that had only been a quick visit to have a look if she had survived the first cycle. And what about this human, Sloan. He had tried to be nice and smile, but something bothered her. It was good to finally see another skin color than the tasteless grey of the Cardassians, and he looked exactly like she had imagined a human. And although she had hardly believed the Cardassian school books of anatomy and social sciences of the Federation, he had been more secretive than she would have expected from a Federation officer.

And when she had packed her stuff and hugged Ten Ketay good-bye, it dawned her: Luther Sloan was definitely not a Federation diplomat and probably not even legally on Cardassia. Growing up knowing Tain and getting to know other members of the Order, and also the education of this Institute, made one more suspicious about everything than you wanted. And whoever this Sloan was, she knew that the summer break would definitely be no 'break' for her.

She hurried downstairs again and into the hot, dry evening air. She recognized two figures standing beside the arch and carrying her heavy bag and rucksack, she walked toward them. She still was exhausted from the long end-run, and she doubted that she'd get to see a bed any time soon.

"We'll beam into a shuttle which will bring us to Lakarian City," Tain explained and flipped open a Cardassian communicator to beam them up. The shuttle ride took ten hours and neither Luther Sloan nor Enabran Tain were talking. Tallara used that time to close her eyes and have a little nap. She woke up again when they flew around the mountain side a few kilometers east of the city.

"Looks like I remember it," Tallara commented when she regarded the grey buildings on the sandy soil. It was a wonder how plants still grew on the sidewalks and in the parks. "So, is there actually a Federation conference?" she changed topic.

"Yes, there is. But no one there has ever heard of me," Sloan admitted. "You told me she was good, but not that she was that good," he added to Tain.

"If she wasn't, I wouldn't have proposed her for our job," he responded.

After a little hesitation, she asked, "are you going to tell me about it?"

"Not here," the Cardassian said. "When we have reached the Order's headquarters, we can talk freely."

Please review and tell me if you would like me to continue uploading and if you might be interested in Shadows of War.

Yours, sevenofmine :)