A/N: The name Keras came from the Star Trek Customizable Card Game, and I thank the makers for a name for one of the best Star Trek Villains (Was he? Really? Nah!). I was very gratified to see the episode "Balance of Terror" earn number 1 in the 100 best Star Trek Episodes on Facebook, and while my favorite episode, is in fact, a Season 3 episode and not included in the list (Sorry, Lee Meriwether), "Balance of Terror" is a very close 2nd… Along with "Galileo 7", "The Doomsday Machine", "The Tholian Web", …
My apologies for this chapter being late. My wife (who happens to be my beta-reader) had surgery Wednesday, so was not up to giving the final edits yesterday.
Again, we do not own Trek or Stargate, or Eureka, or... Please review!
Chapter 21
"It is good to see you again, old friend," the Romulan said.
"It has been too long, Keras," Kirk replied.
"Agreed, however, I wish the circumstances were different." Kirk and the distinguished Romulan had met years before. Keras had been the commander of a ship sent to test the strength of the Federation. Their battle had become something of a legend, and when they finally met in person, over a conference table on the world of Khitomer, each could only marvel at the skill of their opponent. After many hours and several bottles of Romulan ale, they became fast friends. As Kirk had become head of Starfleet, Keras had risen to the equivalent in the Romulan Empire. Once the old Praetor who desired war had been removed from office, Keras was able to rise to lead the Romulan military.
Now, Keras was old, and Kirk could feel his eyes sting as he watched his old friend slowly make his way down the corridor.
"Keras," Kirk said for the hundredth time, "please let us help. You know what it could do." He knew what the Romulan would say. But he had to offer, as he had so many times.
"Jim," the commander said, ever patient, "It is not our way, as you well know."
"Of course," Kirk replied. He loved to visit with this incredibly brilliant strategist, but he hated seeing him so frail. The augment virus had been spread throughout the Federation, even to the Vulcans, through the replicator systems. But the Romulans had developed a broad spectrum anti-virus years before and it had prevented them from being affected. Once McCoy had heard of the problem, he developed an augment virus that would affect Romulans. As a people, they rejected the new virus, but some, as they aged, found that they desired the drug, and it was this that Kirk was hoping for. The aged commander reminded him of Sarek, Spock's father. With a bit of Christopher Pike thrown in for good measure.
They came to a door and paused. "Are you ready?" Kirk asked his friend.
The Romulan drew himself up, set his shoulders and announced, "I'm ready."
Kirk opened the doors, and they stepped into an auditorium full of Starfleet and Iconian officers. As one, they stood to welcome the distinguished Romulan as he mounted the stairs to the podium. He waited patientlely until the applause died down. This was one of the only men to ever end up in a stalemate with the famed Kirk, and he was here to teach his own battle strategies. For decades, Kirk had given the final lecture to graduating battle officers, but now, this class would hear from the Romulan commander that even Kirk couldn't beat.
Kirk felt a nudge in his ribs, and turned to see Dahar Master Kor standing beside him in full dress armor. "Look at the audience, Kirk."
Admiral Kirk looked, and was impressed to see battle captains who had graduated fifty years previous waiting expectantly in the crowd. He was even pleasantly surprised to see his great-grandson seated in the front row with President Sulu. There were two seats beside the two. His and Kor's, he knew. "Impressive," he said to the Klingon. "Shall we?"
As they sat down beside Picard, Kirk asked, "Are you listening in on your sector?"
"I can be back even before trouble begins, Grandfather," Picard replied. "And I'm ready to transport the rest of my group as well."
Kirk wondered who else was here, and as he scanned the crowd with his mind, he found Riker, Worf, Sisko, Data... In fact, every battle certified officer in Picard's group was in this crowd, ready to hear Keras. Kirk idly wondered if his great grandson had made it an order, but he didn't ask. In fact, Kirk approved. With the probability of trouble in Bajoran space, what Keras had to say would undoubtedly help them.
The moment Keras started speaking, all noise ceased. They listened spellbound as he talked about his campaigns and strategies during the war between the Federation and Empire. There wasn't even the sound from a rustling paper as he talked of his battle with Kirk. When he spoke of the renegades who tried to attack the Khitomer talks, there wasn't even a cough.
For four hours, he spoke, only breaking to take a drink from the glass of water that had been placed on a table beside the podium. Finally, Keras said, "We will take a fifteen minute break now, and when we come back, I will answer any questions you care to ask."
There was silence for a few seconds, then people began to stand and stretch. Kirk turned to his great grandson to ask his thoughts.
"It was interesting to hear him tell his side of your battle in this way, Grandfather. Of course, I have heard Keras tell the tale before, but it was always a dramatic rendention. Here, he was being analytical, taking his strategy apart and putting it back together. It was truly thrilling!"
A few minutes later, the question and answer period began. Kirk watched, enthralled as his friend fielded question after question about battles he had been in, before and after their famous confrontation. At the end of the session, Keras showed his sense of humor when asked what he should have done differently so he could defeat Kirk.
"Nothing," the old Romulan said with a chuckle. "If I had done anything differently and won that battle, we would not be here having this conversation." He paused and sobered. "And to be honest, I would not give up what happened in my Empire. We are allied with the Federation, and that has helped my people. We know what will happen to our star, and with the aid of the Federation, we are ready. If I had beaten Kirk, my people would not be what we are today. And I would not have had such a good friend." With that, the old Commander drained the last bit of water in the glass, and set it down upside down to show that it was empty. Then, he left the podium.
As one, the auditorium erupted into thunderous applause, with everyone on their feet. There were cheers for the Commander, and as Kirk made his way from the front row to the podium, he hoped he wouldn't be a letdown to the class.
He stepped up to the lectern and waited for the cheers to die down. It took a considerable amount of time, during which Kirk motioned for Keras to come up again and, after Kirk gave him the Romulan salute, the two shook hands. This only made the cheering louder. Kirk was beaming at his old friend who smiled back, then slowly made his way down the stairs again.
When the cheering subsided, Kirk adjusted the microphone and said, smiling at his friend, "We should have done this years ago, Keras."
"It wouldn't have had the same effect years ago, Jim," the Romulan said from his seat.
"Probably not," Kirk said. He looked out over the class, at the sea of faces. "I don't really know what to say after that," he said truthfully.
"Try, 'Dismissed'," Kor shouted, taunting him.
Kirk laughed easily, and agreed. "Right. You're dismissed."
The crowd cheered again, as Kirk stepped from the lectern and once more shook his friend's hand. Kor stepped forward and did likewise. That brought the house down.
Later, at Deep Space Nine…
Over the past week, many ships had arrived at the station. Bejor had never seemed as important as it now was. Two huge Jaffa ha'taks were holding position on either side of the wormhole. As well, O'Neill and Enteprise were situated above and below, the directions being relative. To someone coming through the wormhole, it would seem as though they came up from a hole in the ground to see the forward weapons of the four ships aiming straight at them, while above, the space station floated gracefully. Lying in wait with its forward phasers aiming straight into the wormhole was Prometheus, ready to separate if needed.
Kirk, Keras, and Kor were seated in the Klingon restaurant on the promenade. They had just ordered dinner, and Kor was curious about the Romulan's knowledge of Klingon cuisine.
"A taste for Klingon foods is not something my people are encouraged to foster," Keras explained.
"No, I wouldn't think that it was," Kor agreed. "My people are considered somewhat," he paused as he tried to think of the best way to put it. "Uncouth by yours," he finally finished.
Kirk eyed Kor carefully. He understood what the Klingon was doing, and he was pretty sure Keras did as well. He wondered if Kor knew how good this particular Romulan was at trading insults. Oh well, the Dahar Master was about to find out.
"Personally," Keras said, keeping all emotion off of his face, "I subscribe to our cousin's philosophy of infinite diversity in infinite combination."
"The Vulcans," Kor said dismissively. "They are a race of peacemongers."
"And yet," Keras said easily, "one of them scored so high in your battle strategy class that he was given the position of Battle Captain regardless of the fact that he only has the rank of Commander."
"There are exceptions to every rule," Kor conceded. "Commander Tuvok is an exceptionally gifted officer. We Klingons reward such expertise when we encounter it. For example, on Forcas III, the admiral's great-grandson placed second only to his own battle captain in the bat'leth tournament this year. My understanding is that with human swords, he is virtually unbeatable. We recognize his skill, and applaud it. Many of my warriors would prefer to have Jean Luc Picard at their back in battle to any number of their own people."
"Commendable," the Romulan acknowledged. Kirk thought he could detect a trace of sarcasm, however.
Before the sparring could continue, Kirk's combadge sounded. When he acknowledged, the subject of Kor's discourse spoke. "Would you be so kind as to join us in ops, Sir?"
"Gentlemen," he said indicating the door.
The three stood and hurried out of the restaurant to the lift.
They emerged in ops, and immediately saw two Dominion vessels on the screen. Picard was standing off to one side, and Sisko was standing in the center of the room.
"Incoming signal, Commander," Dax said.
"On screen," Sisko said nonchalantly.
The image on the screen shifted to a secondary viewer, and the primary changed to an image of Weyoun of the Dominion. He surveyed the people present in the control center, and spied Picard off to one side. "So I have the honor of meeting you again, Picard of the Federation?"
Picard didn't answer, and Sisko cleared his throat. "I am Commander Benjamin Sisko of the Federation station, Deep Space Nine. Welcome to what we refer to as the alpha quadrant."
Weyoun smiled thinly. "Commander Sisko, I am Weyoun of the Dominion. May I speak with Admiral Picard, please?"
"No," Sisko answered, "I'm the commander of this station, and I speak for it."
The Vorta's eyes narrowed, but he refrained from saying anything he would later regret. "I see," was his only response. "Is it permitted that we come aboard your station?"
"Certainly. You may speak to my dockmaster for the proper protocols." With that, Sisko turned and walked out of the viewer, as did the rest of the high ranking people in ops. The only person left visible on Weyoun's screen was a man in a gold and black uniform off to one side of the room, showing a side profile to the viewer. He started directing Weyoun to the correct docking pylon, but didn't look up at the vid pickup even once. The only way the Vorta could tell that he was the man speaking was that his lips were moving in time to his speech. Otherwise it was completely impersonal.
Odo was waiting at the airlock when the massive door rolled aside. "Come with me," he said.
Weyoun stood, unable to move for a moment. "Founder!" he finally exclaimed when he found his voice.
Odo cocked his head to one side and asked, "What do you mean?"
The Vorta was confused. "You are a Founder! Forgive me, my Lord. I had no idea you were here."
Kira had arrived, and was standing behind the changeling. Weyoun had lowered himself to one knee and had his head bowed in reverence to Odo.
"I'm afraid you have me confused with someone else," the changeling finally said to his worshipper.
"No, my Lord. I am ready to do your bidding."
It took some time for Odo to adjust to his divine status to the Vorta, but he soon realized that it could be useful. He bade Weyoun to accompany him to the infirmary, where Dr. Bashir checked him out for contaminants from the gamma quadrant. When it was discovered that none were present, Odo led him to the quartermaster's office where Sisko was waiting.
"Welcome to Deep Space Nine, Weyoun," the commander said.
"Thank you, Commander Sisko," came the response. Then, almost a whisper, "I had no idea you had a founder aboard."
Sisko looked to Kira for an explanation. She pointed to Odo.
"You mean Odo?" Sisko asked the little man.
"Yes. The founders are our gods." He looked from one solid to another. "Do you not worship the founders?"
"I am not a god," Odo said definitively.
"Yes, you are," the Vorta said patiently. He then went on to explain how the changelings had transformed the Vorta from tree-dwellers to what they were now. Sisko listened carefully.
At the end of his explanation, Weyoun asked if they would be allowed to travel throughout Federation space.
"You will be allowed to travel only if you do so with an escort at all times. The two ha'taks here, the pyramid shaped vessels, will escort you. If you try to shake the escort for any reason, you will forfeit your welcome in Federation space."
"So if we choose not to accept the escort?"
"You will go back through the wormhole," Sisko said definitively.
"Just like that?" Weyoun seemed to be trying to goad Sisko.
"I assure you, we can enforce our decisions. I suggest that you don't test us."
"Why are you so uncompromising in this?"
Picard had been standing near the door, listening to the conversation. Now, he chose to enter the room so the Vorta could see him. "Because you chose to fire on my convoy when we were simply trying to retrieve our own property."
Weyoun smiled at Picard. "So, you have decided to grace me with your presence, Picard?" He laughed at what the admiral had said. "How could that ship be your property when it had been there for well over two hundred thousand years?"
"If you must know, Weyoun, that vessel had been commanded by my great-grandfather."
"You Federation people must be extremely long-lived," the Vorta snorted.
"Some of us are," Picard affirmed.
Something in the human's tone gave Weyoun pause. The Starfleet man seemed to be completely serious. He shook his head slightly, as if he had been momentarily confused. "That, however, is beside the point. The ship was ours by salvage rights."
"Salvage implies that Avalon had been damaged. It was only out of fuel, therefore, there was no 'salvage' involved, Weyoun. The ship was entirely intact."
"That is a ridiculous argument, Picard. The ship was a derelict."
The Starfleet Q looked at Weyoun sadly. The simple fact was that there was no way he could have allowed such an individual to come into possession of a ship like Avalon. What the Vorta might have done with it was anyone's guess.
Weyoun saw that he was not going to convince Picard of his point of view, so he asked, "Are we finished here?"
"Yes, Weyoun, I believe we are. Just make sure you don't try to slip away from your escort."
"Of course. Since we are finished, I will take my leave of you." The Vorta stepped out of the office, and started back to his ship. Two of Odo's security force followed at a discreet distance.
A few moments later, Picard received a signal from Sisko. Weyoun's ships had jumped to warp, followed by Bra'tac and Teal'c.
A week later…
The two Dominion vessels, surprisingly, had not travelled very far into Federation space. They had stuck very near the Cardassian border. One of the Emperor's ships met them at the edge of Federation space and, in an uncommon show of goodwill, didn't attack. Weyoun and the commander conferred, in fact, and seemed to come to some type of agreement. A few hours later, the Vorta contacted Bra'tac. "I will now take my leave of you, Master Bra'tac."
"Explain," Bra'tac said, although he had a good idea what was meant.
"The Dominion and the Cardassian Empire have signed a treaty," Weyoun was happy to oblige.
"Weyoun, this is foolish," Bra'tac told him.
"What would be foolishness would be for the Dominion to make friends with the Federation. You have a Founder in your midst and do not worship him. This is blasphemy."
Bra'tac had discussed this eventuality with Kirk earlier in the day, so argued no farther. "Very well, Weyoun. I leave you to the Cardassians." With that, Bra'tac and Teal'c cloaked their ships.
The two Dominion vessels jumped to warp alongside the Cardassian vessel and were gone.
The Jaffa commanders watched their scanners for several minutes, then decloaked. Teal'c contacted his old mentor. "I see no reason to remain here, Master Bra'tac."
The old Jaffa inclined his head. "I agree, Teal'c. Whether they ally or not, we should return to Deep Space Nine. More Dominion ships could come through at any time."