Chapter Thirteen
"Was anyone killed?"
"One of ours, Bryce, one of the mercenaries, and from sub space chatter it looks like one Starfleet died."
"How?"
"Part of the ship collapsed on him."
"What happened to Bryce and the mercenary?"
"I don't know, their life sign monitors just told us they were dead."
"You left them behind?"
"I'm sorry, Sir, we couldn't find them."
"Shit."
North dragged his hands through his short blonde hair and growled in frustration. The man who had brought him the news shifted his weight uneasily. Going through the list of salvaged parts he grabbed the tablet and threw it against the wall with a cry of rage.
"Worthless!" North snarled. "I don't know where Bryce got the harebrained idea to hit a Federation ship, but he could have at least done better than a Miranda class. If he wasn't dead I'd kill him myself!"
"He thought he was helping the cause. We are tired of waiting for Sy to get a hold of the Enterprise."
"We're all tired of that." North sighed. "That fool is never going to get the Enterprise."
"The Enterprise isn't even showing herself. The hostage trap backfired."
"I still don't believe that job was pulled off by local Starfleet boys. Whoever crashed in on that little party was way too skilled to be backwater plant Starfleet material."
"Talis waited in the shadow of the moon, no ships, let alone a Federation ship ever came near the planet."
"I read Talis's report, I just get the feeling that it wasn't the whole truth."
"We can sell what was salva..."
"Get out of my office before you really piss me off!" North snapped. "We're already far more on the Federation's radar than is safe, selling those parts will just have them swarming down on us. No, just keep whatever we need and scrap the rest. And spread the word through the ranks that if anyone is caught pulling off another unofficial mission against the Federation that I will personally yank their bowels out!"
"Yes, Sir."
Agitated by the news about the Intrepid North got to his feet and began to pace his large office. He glanced out at the purple sky and the swirls of toxic gas that were lashing at the thick glass that separated him from the uninhabitable planet beyond. They had been gathering followers for so long that it was now becoming too difficult to control them.
"We are going to lose everything. They bring me scraps when what I need is a real ship."
North sat back down at his desk and pulled up the charting information that had been smuggled out for him. He still didn't understand why the Enterprise hadn't been sent to deal with the hostage situation on Ioa 7, she had been the only Federation ship within a thirty light year spans. North was interrupted by a knock at his door.
"What?"
"Someone's in a bad mood." Fisher chuckled as he entered North's office.
"Did you hear about the Intrepid?"
"I did." Fisher nodded. "But then I also learned that Bryce wasn't the total incompetent that I thought he was."
"And what makes you give him that glowing review?"
"He had one of his men hack into the security system of the Intrepid and it sent us video footage of the rescue of the Intrepid."
"The Enterprise?"
"Better." Fisher smiled.
"Better? The Enterprise is the jewel of the fleet."
"Something tells me the Enterprise is a worthless hunk of metal next to what we've found."
Fisher came over with his tablet and handed it over to North. North furrowed his brow as he looked at the sleek ship on the looping video. She looked fast just sitting there. He suddenly noticed that at the end of the loop the ship flickered in and out of view for a moment. He looked up at Fisher and saw that he was grinning from ear to ear.
"What's that look for? This ship is pretty, but that doesn't mean she's powerful."
"You see the flicker?"
"Yeah."
"That was what triggered the external cameras on the Intrepid in the first place."
"I don't understand."
"That ship has a cloaking device, and yet it's a Federation vessel."
"How do you know that?"
"Because of who's on her crew."
Fisher sat on the edge of his friend's desk and reached over to tap on the tablet. A new video came up of the interior of the ransacked ship. There was two figures dressed in black prowling the halls. Their backs were to this particular camera, but as soon as North saw the white hair he feared he knew exactly who he was looking at. His suspicions were confirmed when the Vulcan turned to show his profile, at which point Fisher froze the screen.
"Salen Pike," North sighed "the missing Vulcan."
"Amazing, right? How long did Sy wait for him to get into and graduate from Starfleet only to have him drop off the face of the Milky Way Galaxy? Assigned to ship that he never stepped foot on."
"What the hell is he doing on the Intrepid?"
"Rescuing his wife, Joanna McCoy."
"Who's the other guy, the human with him?"
"We don't know yet. I've watched all of the video we got and from the looks of things, he's the one in charge. Probably Captain of that Black Beauty starship."
"So Starfleet does have a black ops." North mused as he stared at Salen and Razor, frozen on the screen. "The Officers in the hostage scheme, they said they were rescued by men in black...I thought they were being figurative."
"It explains why Talis never saw another ship, they must never have turned off the cloaking device while at Ioa 7."
"Does Sy know anything about this?"
"No. I made sure when I learned about the video that I got the only copy. I don't think anyone's even dared to tell him that Bryce hit the Intrepid."
"Good. Let's keep it that way as long as possible."
"North, Sy has been looking for Salen for years."
"He hasn't been looking for him, he's been waiting for him. He either wants or needs something from him...either way it can't be good for us."
"What should we do next?"
"I want that ship..." North said as he looked at Razor. "Send the word out, I want this guy brought to me. He has to take shore leave somewhere. I want every eye on the look out for him, spread his photo to every last member we can trust."
"What should I tell Sy?"
"For now: nothing."
North stared at the tablet where he had brought up the video of the Black Diamond. He traced the outline of the ship lovingly. It was the perfect ship, he was already calculating in his mind how fast she was by judging the distance between Ioa 7 and the Intrepid. Fisher crossed his arms over his chest.
"What about the Vulcan?" Fisher asked.
"I don't know what Sy wants with Salen...but we can't risk it."
"So..."
"Tell the men that the Vulcan is to be killed on sight."