Commander Rzepka's security clearance allowed her to get through the shuttle bay checkpoint without anyone batting an eye. She bypased the security protocols easily, reprogramming them to erase her launch command after it was executed. She felt a surge of adrenaline course through her body as she entered the runabout, closing the door behind her. She quietly initiated the launch sequence, opening the doors with her own security code. She felt guilty and rebellious by leaving unannounced, even though her Commanding Officer knew what she was doing.
As soon as Ganges saw space in front of her, Kym typed in the coordinates for Cestus III. She knew she would be there in six hours, and she hoped no one would notice that she was gone in that amount of time.
Black space swallowed Ganges up and before she knew it, she was staring at stars whizzing by at warp speed. She programmed the runabout to auto-piolit and within a few minutes, they were light years away from the station.
She sat back in her chair and began to run though her head the plan for finding the person responsible for the murders. While she hoped the Typhon Pact wasn't involved, she couldn't help but wonder what she would do if she met a great deal of resistance. She fount it very unlikely the Pact would engage the Federation by assassinating their operatives. They didn't want a war, they just didn't want to share their technology.
Suddenly, she was out of thoughts. What if she didn't find the Tholian? What if she was wasting her time?
She spent the next six hours reading, napping, and catching up on station security reports. When the runabout's computer alerted her that they were entering orbit at Cestus III, she knew it was showtime. She dressed in underarmor, loaded her concealed weapons, and beamed to the surface right outside the door of the embassy.
"Well, perhaps you should go check, Elias." Admiral Addison said to Commander Vaughn. She called looking for assistance, but she didn't say why.
"Amanda," Vaughn said into the screen. "We have not detected any runabouts leaving the station in the past two days. But for you, I will send a scout down there to check." He punched a few buttons on his console from his office in opps, until engine room answered.
"Nog here, sir." he heard over the comm system.
"Mr. Nog, can you physically confirm that all runabouts are accounted for, please?"
"Yes, sir. Is there a problem sir?" Nog said from the other end. Vaughn could hear his foot steps as he walked next door to the runabout pad.
"Not that I know of. I just need a confirmation." Vaughn said. A few moments passed before Nog's voice came back over the comm, sounding slightly panicked.
"Sir. Ganges is missing."
"Is it signed out?" Vaughn said back, his voice growing with concern.
"No, sir. It's not signed out. I have no log of - "
"Thank you, Lieutenant. I'll get back with you." Vaughn said as he logged off and stared back at Addison who was grinning in pride.
"Now you want to listen to what I have to say?" she said, not giving Vaughn the satisfaction of asking how she knew that Ganges was missing.
"You have my attention now." Vaughn said.
"I have a better idea. Take the Defiant with a skeleton senior crew and meet me at these coordinates." She patched through several numbers of the starship that she was aboard. "Meet me in four hours. I'll explain everything then." The screen went black, leaving Vaughn to ponder what just happened.
"Computer, locate Commander Kymberli Rzepka." He hesitantly commanded the computer, getting a sickened feeling is his gut. He already knew she wasn't there.
"Commander Rzepka is not aboard the station."
"Damn it," he muttered. Vaughn jumped up from his desk, heading toward the door. Out in Opps, he commanded the comm officer to get all level five senior personnel to the Defiant immediately. He practically ran down to the docking ring and within twenty minutes, the Defiant was undocking, heading for Addison's coordinates at maximum warp.
"….so, I told her to go. I knew she was going to do it whether I said yes or no. In my opinion, she has a vested interest in finding this monster. She'll get him." Admiral Addison said to Commander Vaughn in his office aboard the Defiant over tea. They still had seven more hours before they reached Cestus III.
"I still can't believe you let her go alone. She's still a rookie. She could be killed. Hell, she was already almost killed!" Vaughn felt his temper approaching unprofessional limits as he talked with the Admiral, who was as non-chalant and calm as he'd ever seen her. She already knew what Kym would be up against when she reached Cestus III.
"That's why we're following her." Addison said with a smile. She knew of Kym's capabilities. She was not even slightly worried that something bad would happen. "I don't intend for this to be a recovery mission, Commander. If I intended that, I would be aboard my own ship."
"Then why exactly are we following her?" Vaughn said, slightly confused.
"In case she meets resistance. If she captures our murderer, we don't know if he won't tip off a warship that is closeby. She might need our firepower to cover her. We're just there for backup." Addison said. "The conference isn't for at least another eight hours, so we have plenty of time. She knows we're coming. Well, she knows I'm coming. I thought the Defiant would be bonus to that arrangement."
"I still don't like her to be out there alone." Vaughn sighed.
"You can't protect her from everything. You mentor her, guide her, and keep an eye on her when you can. But you can't keep her from reaching out to her own capabilities. I think she could be an excellent Special Ops agent one day. She just needs to reach out and grab it." Addison sat back in her chair, sipping her tea. "You regretting this assignment already? It's only been two months."
"No. No, I'm not regretting anything. Rzepka is a fine operative. I can tell she is learning a great deal already. She is young. She has a long way to go." Vaughn said. Addison laughed.
"Elias, to you, everyone is young."
Commander Rzepka silently squinted and peered through the scope of her phase rifle. The Tholian's short, wide body was in her sight, but she didn't see a weapon in his claw-like hand. His yellow bio-suit registered as high temperature in her thermal-imaging scope viewfinder. His body was skillfully hidden behind a dark red velvet curtain on the second floor balcony of the embassy, hers was deftly hidden behind the pillar across the stadium. Seeing his red, insect-like arms through his bio suit, she hoped that the bio suit wasn't armored. She felt a wave of nervousness come over her but it was too late to turn back now. She had the murderer in her view. She couldn't call for back up. She just needed him to do something stupid.
His head peeked out from the side of the curtain, his sights on the speaker of the assembly – a highly regarded intelligence specialist - who was situated on the first floor on the opposite end of the building. His speech had just started and the assembly room was full of Federation citizens. Kym had no problem getting into the embassy with her weapons – posing as an armed operative was easy. She had no idea how the Tholian was able to get into the embassy. So much was still unknown about the Tholians. They never really came out into any public place and rarely made contact with species that were not their own. The environment on their home world and their star ships was very hot. Kym knew that they were collective telepaths, but she didn't know much past that.
"Come on..." she whispered nervously as she gripped her rifle and held it close to her face, still peering through the scope. "What are you waiting for...?"
As if he could hear her, he suddenly ducked out of her view. Looking up quickly from her scope, she saw his bug-like body scurry through the balcony and out of her sight.
"Son of a bitch." she muttered as she moved quickly through the second floor. She scurried toward the back of the media platform, directly above the speaker. She moved weightlessly through the darkness, not making a sound, searching every nook and corner for the Tholian. Nothing. Where did he go?
She didn't sense anyone in her area, so she kept moving. She had no idea what the Tholian was planning to do to the speaker, she just knew that if she didn't stop him, the speaker wouldn't live to see the reception after the assembly.
Then she sensed him. He was close. Closer than she originally thought. She ducked behind a large transformer, leaned her back against the black structure, and held her rifle tight against her body, wishing she had shot him when she had the chance.
He was getting closer.
She briefly wondered if Addison and the team were in orbit yet. She had the frequency of Addison's personal comm link programmed into her own comm badge, and would reach her with just a call. She wondered what she would do after she captured him. Call Addison? Call security, then Addison?
She decided she could figure that out when she got there. For now, she knew she had to face him. Holding her breath, she spun up and out from behind the transformer and saw the Tholian with his back to her.
"Drop your weapon." she said firmly, pointing her weapon directly at the back of his torso, praying he had a universal translator. Immediately, his disruptor hit the floor and his hands were in the air. "Now turn around slowly."
Kym's breath caught in her throat. The Tholian was bright red through his yellow bio-suit. His outer carapace showed a murky fluid flowing throughout his body. His head, encased in a clear bio helmet, was faceted and mantis-like with large triangular white eyes. He was just as she had seen in her vivid dreams, without the bio suit. His hands remaining in the air, he spoke telepathically to Kym.
"You came. Just like I thought you would." He said. His voice sounded electronic, almost automated.
"Yes." Kym spoke telepathically back to him, feeling her heart rate pick up. "How did you know I was coming?"
" I thought you had been killed. You are stronger than I thought." He said, still not moving. She didn't sense any emotion from him at all, which frightened her even more.
"Why are you doing this?" Kym asked, wondering why she was having a conversation with a killer. Her curiosity get the best of her - she wanted an explanation.
"I'm not. I'm trying to stop this." the Tholian said. "It's going too far. I have to stop this."
Kym lowered her weapon slightly. She glared at the Tholian, who still had his hands in the air.
"What do you mean?" she said.
"Him." The Tholian pointed over Kym's shoulder and to the balcony behind her. She turned to see a Romulan face peeking out from behind a pillar, slowly drawing a weapon and pointing it to the speaker of the assembly.
Shit, she thought. I need back up.