151
The following morning, Macen and T'Kir enjoyed an early breakfast with Ro. While sitting at a Bajoran eatery on the Promenade, they spied Captains Kira and Riker meeting at the replimat for breakfast as well.
"Tom looks happy." Ro observed.
"He's needed to bare his soul to someone for a long time now." Macen remarked, "It looks as though he finally found someone to do that with."
"So has Kira." Ro revealed, "The question is: how much baring did they do?"
"Nothing beyond the verbal kind." T'Kir pouted.
"Would you at least pretend you aren't in everyone's head?" Ro lamented, "If you don't, I'll arrest you for invasion of privacy. Lots of counts of it."
T'Kir stuck her tongue out at Ro and Ro laughed, "It's always the same with you two."
"Meaning what?" T'Kir demanded.
"Meaning I get alternating news of gloom and doom mixed with irreverence from him and I get rebellious feistiness from you." Ro described, "Both of you barely tolerated my orders during the Maquis Rebellion, you defied Starfleet's wishes so much they threw you out, and now you've once again been reined in by the barest of margins. Tell me, has Admiral Drake authorised your little excursion to Omicron."
Macen and T'Kir exchanged guilty looks and Ro chuckled, "That's what I thought."
"Well," T'Kir defended their position, "it's not as if she wouldn't want us to go."
"On a suicide mission pitting one outclassed surveyor against and entire planet of bad guys?" Ro asked dryly, "Oh, I'm sure she'd endorse that plan without reservation."
"I informed Amanda of our intentions." Macen revealed, "She has just chosen not to respond."
Ro's comm badge chirped and she tapped it, "Ro here."
"The Captain's ordered you to find Captain Macen and bring him to her office."
All eyes turned to the replimat in time to see Kira and Riker put their dishes in the recycler node and stride off to the turbolift.
"Acknowledged." Ro replied, "Inform the Captain that we'll be there momentarily."
"I think Drake has replied." T'Kir opined.
"I think you're right." Macen concurred.
T'Kir, Ro and Macen joined Riker and Kira in her office.
"You're dismissed Lieutenant." Kira informed Ro, "This is an 'Eyes Only' transmission."
"My people stay." Macen informed her.
"That goes against regulations." Kira countered.
"I'll just end up telling them what's in the transmission anyway." Macen divulged, "Tom's my acting 1st Officer and T'Kir's my wife, with whom I share a telepathic bond. The odds of my keeping these people in the dark are nil."
"Yeah!" T'Kir enthused, "D'you really think I won't pry the info out of him. I don't even need telepathy. I know where to tickle, Lady."
Macen closed his eyes and shook his head, all while wearing a grin. He opened his eyes and spoke to Kira, "It's my message. It's within my discretion to disseminate the information how I see fit."
"Actually, it's our message." Kira replied, "Admiral Drake wants me present to serve as a witness."
"I have witnesses." Macen jerked his thumb in Riker and T'Kir's direction.
Kira offered Macen a knowing smile, "The Admiral wants impartial witnesses."
"Bugger." Macen muttered.
Kira swivelled her chair to face the comm viewer. Macen rounded the desk and came to stand behind her. Kira gave her voice code authorisation and the screen came to life. It briefly showed the United Federation of Planets symbol but then switched to an image of a worried looking Amanda Drake.
"Ah, Kira. Good." Drake seemed distracted. It was amazing how much she resembled her younger sister. Macen gained a new appreciation for how hard Shannon Forger had worked to distance herself from Drake's persona and reputation.
"Is Macen that torso behind you?" Drake asked.
"Yes, it is, Admiral." Kira replied.
"Brin?" Drake enquired, "I need to talk to you about your mission plans."
"I'm here, Amanda." Macen told her, "My plans are finalised and will be acted upon in less than three hours time."
"As much as I want the information regarding Omicron and its people, I can't endorse you dragging your crew off on some damned suicide mission." Drake argued.
"The mission is hardly suicide." Macen countered, "We have the ion shield. That neutralises the Omicrons' most powerful weapon. After that, they'll have to rely on disruptor blasts. We already know the Omicron ships can project particle beams from previous encounters with them. The Obsidian possesses twice the shielding of the Eclipse. We also know how powerful those particle weapons are. We won't be blindsided again."
"Yes, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers has reviewed the schematics you sent us. The entire fleet has been sent the plans and has begun installing the ion shield generators. The adapter allowing the generator to overlap the existing shields was, and I quote, 'brilliant'."
"Parva will be happy to hear that." Macen said.
"I'm still worried that you'll be outgunned." Drake stated.
"So am I." Macen admitted, "But we need as much information on the Omicron as we can gather. Alynna wouldn't hesitate to send us even with the odds being what they are."
"Yes," Drake reluctantly revealed, "she said as much when your mission proposal came in."
"It's not a proposal." Macen argued, "It's what's going to happen."
"We need to spend an afternoon discussing your attitude." Drake sighed, "What if I don't authorise the mission. You won't get paid."
"Then I'll do it on my own." Macen informed her.
"That's what I thought you'd say." Drake sounded resigned, "Very well, I'm authorising the mission. The 7th Fleet will be standing by to reinforce you."
"It'll take them three days to reach our location." Macen replied, "I don't think upping their alert status will do much for us."
Drake was frustrated, "There must be someway we can help you."
Macen shrugged, "Not that I know of."
"We could send the Defiant along with you." Drake suggested hopefully.
Kira nodded, "We have three screening elements from the 9th Fleet on call."
"The 9th Fleet is going to be busy as soon as we relay whatever information we gather regarding Omicron's defensive posture." Macen said in reply, "We're going in for a covert reconnaissance, not a full fledged assault. The Defiant would just provide a provocation while we might escape unnoticed on our own."
"You never escape unnoticed." Drake complained.
"We do, all the time." Macen protested.
"Not when you're working for me."
"Still not true." Macen pointed out, "My team and I have successfully infiltrated three Orion Syndicate cartels, two terrorist cells, and covertly investigated five corrupt Starfleet contractors that were selling production and design secrets to the Romulans, the Ferengi and other high bidders. All of these operations were completed without our revealing our identities or sparking an incident. That doesn't include our private contracts."
"All right. I stand corrected." Drake conceded, "I guess all that's left is to wish you luck."
Macen leaned down to be captured by the imager, "If you don't hear from us in six days, send all available forces to Omicron."
"Take care of my sister." Drake swallowed hard.
Macen nodded, "As best as I can."
"Come back alive." Drake ordered.
"Always do." Macen winked. Drake stared for a moment and then terminated the subspace connection.
"She's so easy to embarrass." Macen confided conspiratorially.
Kira shook her head. "Elias is discreet. You should allow him to follow you in the Defiant."
"The Defiant is needed here in case of an Omicron attack." Macen countered, "We'll be fine. Honest."
Kira still looked dubious but dropped the matter, "I believe you have a departure slot in three hours, Captain."
"I surely do, Captain." Macen bowed, "Until later."
"Take care, Tom." Kira called out as the Outbound Ventures trio were departing her office. Riker waved back and smiled.
He's still a charmer. Kira thought ruefully. Seeing that the Obsidian's officers had exited Ops on the turbolift, she summoned her XO to her office. Commander Vaughn reported instantly.
"Trouble, Captain?" the 107-year-old Special Operations veteran asked.
"How did you guess?" Kira rubbed her temples.
Vaughn rubbed his bearded chin and smiled, "Macen's a top flight intelligence operative but trouble is his personal shadow."
"How long have you known him?" Kira enquired.
"Almost 80 years." Vaughn explained, "There's a lot of war stories between us."
"I can imagine."
"No." Vaughn asserted, "You really can't."
Kira was surprised by Vaughn's sudden attitude but let it go, "I have a fresh assignment for the Defiant. You, as usual, will be commanding her."
Vaughn broke into a boyish grin, "I thought as much."
The Obsidian's departure from DS9 went by without incident. The location of Omicron had been determined thanks to Danan's cartographical expertise. She had spared a few minutes time from her researches to investigate the whereabouts of the Omicron homeworld.
With the coordinates determined it was discovered that Omicron lay beyond the Cardassian farside border, close to the energy barrier surrounding the galactic core. James Kirk had had the unfortunate privilege of penetrating that barrier and Starfleet had subsequently learned the price of violating that particular barricade. Macen was glad that the Omicron homeworld was on this side of the barrier. He had no intentions of encountering the capricious energy being that dwelt on the other side of that particular "cage".
It would take the ship three days at warp six to reach their destination. Macen once again reviewed what information they had on Omicron and its inhabitants. The Herzet, Iconians and the rest of the rebels' alliance had razed the planet. It had been a class-M paradise. Now it was a barren rock. Lichens, moss and algae provided what atmosphere there was.
Since all of the cities and dwellings on the surface of Omicron had been utterly destroyed, that left underground or underwater locations for the survivors' descendents to arise from. From all indications, the Obsidian's enhanced sensor platforms were more advanced than what had been utilised by the victorious rebels. Danan felt confident that she would be able to pinpoint the location of an Omicron city. That was good enough for Macen.
Danan's research into the primordial fragment had slowed. She was isolating the shard's reactions to individual energy wavelengths. After this, the next step was to attempt imbue cloned rDNA strands with the "rock's" discharges. So far she'd managed to fuse DNA with 43 different variations of ejected mass. Varying the DNA sources also altered the results.
Computer modelling of the fully grown results of the infusion process had been startling. The radical departures from the original expressions of the genome had shocked the entire Sciences department as well as the Vulcan archaeologists while they'd been involved with the inquiry. The experiments left little doubt as to the source of the Omicrons' mastery of biotechnology.
Macen and Daggit spent time planning potential incursions. Macen sat down with Riker and developed contingency plans for the ship and the extraction of the investigative team. The team's roster would include the entire unit sans Riker and Grace. Grace was less than happy about this turn of events but she knew her place lay with her primary skill set.
The alpha shift ended their shift a mere two hours after the ship's departure from the station. The conflicting differences in on-board timekeeping had created this discrepancy. It meant that the gamma shift personnel had had less shore leave time than the alphas. Such were the vagaries of starship schedules.
Having changed for a work out in the ship's on-board gym, T'Kir cornered Grace before starting to exercise and lifted the details of Grace's evening with Bashir from her.
"So," T'Kir asked eagerly, "what happened?"
"When?" Grace asked innocently.
T'Kir's widened expectantly, "When you were with Dr. Bashir, silly."
"Oh," Grace still acted meekly innocent, "Julian."
"Julian, eh?" T'Kir broke into a lopsided grin, "So tell me about it…all of it."
"Well, I went into the Infirmary…"
"I saw that part." T'Kir impatiently reminded her, "What happened after you entered?"
" I asked the nurse if I could speak with Julian." Grace continued, "He was just coming off his shift but he took a moment to see me."
"And sparks flew." T'Kir supplied.
"Not exactly." Grace bit her lower lip, "At first he was a little irritated that I'd pursued him at work but then he eased up a bit and was flattered."
"Flattered is good." T'Kir commented, "A stroked ego usually greases the wheels towards a conversation."
Grace brightened, "That's what happened!"
"Told ya." T'Kir cockily replied.
"Julian accepted my invitation to dinner and we went to Quark's." Grace explained, "It seems Quark is in competition with a new Bolian restaurant and gaming parlour. According to Julian, his menus and prices have become really competitive lately."
"Yeah," T'Kir nodded, "Brin and I ate at the Bolian place. The food and the service were excellent. Quark would have to revamp a lot of his business practices in order to compete."
"I know you and the Captain have had dealings with Quark in the past, and they may colour your view of him, but he was very sweet and cordial towards Julian and myself."
"Did he know which ship you sailed with?" T'Kir frowned
"Well, no." Grace replied uncertainly.
"That explains it then." T'Kir looked vindicated.
"That's not fair!" Grace protested.
"Listen, Hannah, I just happen to know this troll a lot better than you do."
"He's sweet."
"He'd also sell your mother to the highest bidder if given half a chance." T'Kir pointed out.
"My mother would turn him into a little cube," Grace replied, "and then step on him."
"See?" T'Kir pointed at Grace, "Feisty and exotic. A potent combination if there ever was one on the black market."
"Kelvans are not exotic." Grace folded her arms across her chest.
"They are when you aren't one." T'Kir said wryly.
Grace stuck out her lower lip and it quivered. T'Kir rolled her eyes in exasperation, "Don't pout. Tell me the rest of your story."
Grace's depression instantly disappeared and she livened back up, "Julian and I talked for hours. He's so well rounded. He can hold an intelligent conversation on virtually any topic. Any topic but flight, that is. I waxed on and on about the sheer joy of piloting a ship through the stars and he was captivated."
"As well he should be." T'Kir said adamantly.
"He was." Grace said confidently, "The rest of the evening we discussed literature, art, and holodeck programs."
"I didn't know you were a holodeck enthusiast." T'Kir revealed.
"When have we had a ship large enough to have one?"
"Good point." T'Kir conceded, "Go on."
"It was a wonderful evening." Grace informed her, "Afterwards, he invited me to his quarters for a intimate drink."
"So how is he in bed?" T'Kir asked, eyes sparking with anticipation.
"I don't know." Grace admitted.
"How can you not know?" T'Kir demanded, "There were sparks, chemistry, raw sexual magnetism. How could you not sleep with him?"
"Keep your voice down!" Grace hissed, "For your information, I don't sleep with men on the first date."
"How about women?"
"No." Grace replied, "I don't sleep with women and I don't throw myself at a guy on the first date. I'm not you."
"That was cold." T'Kir said without any emotion.
"I don't mean to come off as rude or anything but face it, you were promiscuous before you started seeing the Captain."
"Didn't bother him." T'Kir replied, "Why should it bother me?"
"It shouldn't but you have to realise I'm not you." Grace implored, "I take things slowly. So don't criticise when I don't charge in to a full blown orgy."
"Might change your world." T'Kir suggested.
"My world has enough problems right now."
"Why?" T'Kir wondered, "Sounds like things went awfully smoothly. You didn't mention Section 31 did you?"
"No." Grace replied glumly.
"You didn't start bragging that you're a Kelvan?"
"No."
"You didn't proclaim yourself to be the best pilot in the Alpha Quadrant did you?"
"Yes." Grace wailed, "I'd had too much synthehol and I didn't catch what I was saying until it was too late. I sobered right up after that."
"How bad can it be?" T'Kir asked hopefully.
"Julian took me up on my claim and issued a standing simulator challenge between Prynn Tenmei and myself."
"Who the hell is Prynn Tenmei?" T'Kir wondered.
"The chief helmswoman aboard the Defiant and Command Vaughn's daughter." Grace was nearing tears now.
"It's just a stupid challenge, Hannah." T'Kir consoled her friend, "I'm sure they'll forget about it in a week.
"What if they don't?"
"Then you'll blow her out of space and prove you were right." T'Kir confidently asserted.
"Yeah, you're right." Grace said with more of her usual confidence.
"Yup." T'Kir nodded, "I usually am."
"Now who's cocky?" Grace teased.
"Like you, I am merely stating fact, not opinion." T'Kir opined.
"May all our facts be true." Grace raised her fist in a defiant gesture.
"Amen!" T'Kir shouted. Several of the assembled, exercising crewmen stared.
"Get back to your workouts ya voyeurs." T'Kir decreed. Many shrugs and a few muttered, disparaging curses later, T'Kir faced Grace again, "You ready to sweat your angst away."
"Oh yeah."
"Then let's be about it." T'Kir laughed.