Book 1: The Sign of the Sparrow
Chapter 1
Romulan Starbase, RSE
Admiral Toreth watched grimly as a wing of Warbirds entered the docking bay one at a time. She counted each of them as they passed the enormous window on the observation deck.
One...
The Romulan fleet had suffered heavy casualties in this battle. Two-hundred-no, three-hundred Dominion warships against fifty Romulan ships, ten of them the mighty D'Deridex Warbirds that were now entering the docking bay.
Two...
There were five Warbirds in her division. It did not look like all of them made it back...
Three...
She watched as the Khazaraentered the docking bay. She breathed a sigh of relief as her old ship passed low and close. But her exp ression changed from relief to anger as she noticed one of the wings trailing evil-looking black smoke, just above the warp nacelle.
Four...
The admiral gripped the railing.
Four...? Only four made it back? Where was the last one?
About half an hour later, Toreth watched as the crews of the surviving ships met in the hangar. The uhlans and centurions looked exhausted and shaken; some of them were carrying injured or dead crew members, one was trying not to cry. The commanders and sub-commanders assembled themselves in a line before the admiral and waited for their debriefing.
This was an embarrassing defeat. Admiral Toreth made that clear as she berated the commanders for their tactical incompetence. When she finished, she angrily dismissed them and left the hangar, which had now gone quiet as the weight of their defeat became clear.
Commander Liha t'Laris was the last to leave the hangar. She knew she had disappointed her aunt. The Khazarahad suffered some severe damage in battle. This would definitely come down hard on her. "Not a single scratch," Admiral Toreth said before she left. Liha had given her word. The smoking wing was now being extinguished and repaired, but Liha did not want to hang around and watch...suppose Toreth came back to have a look at her old ship? Liha shuddered and proceeded down the hall.
"Commander t'Laris."
Liha flinched. Admiral Toreth was standing behind her. Apparently, she had waited for Liha around the corner of a branching hallway so she could catch her on her way to her quarters.
"I would like to speak with you in my office," the admiral said.
Liha was too tired to argue. "Yes, Admiral." She followed the admiral down the branching hallway.
"Where is your sister? I did not see her with the rest of the commanders."
"She never made it back." Liha looked away from her aunt. "Her Warbird was critically damaged. There was no way to communicate with them, and there was no way to know if anyone survived..." her voice trailed off.
The admiral offered the young commander a seat, and sat down at her own desk. She picked up a PADD, typed a message, and put it aside. She picked up a second one, read through its contents with a grim exp ression, and said, "Liha, vadia. I'm afraid I have some bad news..."
Liha had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Yes?"
The admiral handed her niece the PADD. "Your sister will not be the only family member you have lost."
Dominion Prison, location unknown
Commander Aeryrn t'Laris woke to find herself in a cramped cell with three other Romulans. All of them were injured and terrified. She recognized one centurion as one of her tactical officers. The other two must have been uhlans, newly-recruited cadets fresh from the Imperial War College.
She struggled to stand. She felt very sick and dizzy. Her head felt as if though someone had hit it with a heavy block of metal. She stroked her head and felt a huge gash running along the side of her face, from her forehead to her jaw. It still felt fresh. She tore a long strip of cloth from her jacket and wrapped it around her head to staunch the bleeding. She waited a few minutes for the dizziness to ebb away before standing again. She walked over to the entrance of her cell and looked through the blurry detainment field to see many other cells like her own, full to choking with prisoners. She spotted a cell housing a handful of Klingons, another with humans...she and her crewmates were not the only species in this prison.
Aeryrn's head began to hurt again. She sat down on the floor (there was no room to sit on the one bunk) and leaned against the wall. She turned to the tactical officer.
"How long have I been unconscious?" she asked.
"Ever since we were captured," he replied. "One of the bulkheads came down on top of you."
Aeryrn did not remember getting captured. All she could remember was ordering evasive action, an explosion, and getting thrown from her seat. Nothing more.
"Well, well, well. Looks like we're awake now, are we?"
Aeryrn looked up to see a smug-faced Vorta peering through the detainment field.
"Hello, poppit!" He said cheerfully.
"I'm nobody's 'poppit', Cheek-ears," she said.
The Vorta ignored her. "You must be the commander of the Keras," he said. "I always thought Romulan commanders were more...imposing? But you, my dear...you look so young for a commander. A mere child compared to others I've seen. Perhaps the real commander killed himself and put you in his place to save his own face...that's mnhei'sahein your culture, is it not?"
Aeryrn squinted at him. How does he know mnhei'sahe? Have there been other Romulan prisoners? "Yes," she said shiftily. She was not in the mood for explaining her culture to anyone, especially not this smirking, purple-eyed veruul.
The Vorta grinned at her. "I have a feeling this will make an interesting interrogation, don't you agree, Shakal'aka?" He turned to a huge, stone-faced Jem'hadar guard, who said nothing. "Your interrogation will be in one hour. Be ready." He winked at her and left.
Ooh, hwi faelirh ch'susse-thrai! I'll wipe that stupid grin off your face, just see that I don't, she thought. She was too tired to shout at him, but she hoped her expression was warning enough.
There was no knowing when or how she would escape. Patience, she thought. Perhaps I too, can gain something from this interrogation...