James T Kirk: The Next Generation
Chain Link
DEEP SPACE NINE
Worf stood alone aboard the Federation shuttle craft that was being loaned to him by the Captain of the USS Titan; William T Riker.
Riker had just arrived at DS9, via the shuttle, and offered it to Worf so he could take Alexander's body back to Earth.
Suddenly Worf could sense that he was no longer alone; and he knew who it was who had just come aboard and stood behind him; Deanna Troi. Worf turned to face her.
Immediately Troi came over and hugged Worf tightly.
"I'm so sorry," Deanna said as she looked down at the coffin that contained Alexander's body. "Alexander was so special…"
She stepped back…and Worf could see the tears coming down from her eyes.
"He always spoke of you with honor," Worf said to the woman he had shared an intimate relationship with years ago, when they served aboard the Enterprise-D.
She walked past him and over to the coffin.
"You are taking him back to Earth?" She asked.
"Yes," Worf replied with a solemn tone to his voice. "My stepfather, Sergey, passed away nearly five years ago, and my mother requested that I bring Alexander home and put him to rest next to him at the family plot. I agreed."
Deanna nodded her head.
"I think," Deanna said, "that is very nice of you Worf. And somehow I think K'Ehleyr would have liked that as well."
Worf nodded in agreement. K'Ehleyr herself had been cremated, as per her wishes, and her ashes were fired into the heart of the Earth's sun.
Deanna looked at Worf.
"Who would have done such a thing like this? And why," she asked.
Worf stared blankly at the coffin then back at Deanna.
"I do not know; today." Worf said through gritted teeth. "However, coming days will not hide the coward responsible."
Deanna knew what that meant; Worf would seek vengeance. She knew it was pointless to change his mind, so she nodded her head in understanding.
Several sections of Deep Space Nine had been closed off, due to the damage caused by the explosion which had rocked the space station. It was also used as an excuse to conduct thorough interviews with everyone who was aboard at the time of the explosion. Unfortunately no evidence had yet been found connecting anyone to attack, and the final group of passengers was finally being investigated. Once their interviews were finished, the docking rings would have to open for business once again.
Jaden Weer's forged paper worked had gotten him past two layers of questioning. But before anyone was truly cleared, they had to meet with Constable D'aneve, the Betazoid male who was the chief of security aboard Deep Space Nine. Jaden was escorted into D'aneve's office for final questioning. D'aneve offered Jaden a cup of tea, which Jaden took.
"I'm sorry for the long wait," D'aneve said to Jaden. "I'm sure you understand the need to question everyone. You're group is the last group, so to compensate you for your lost time, we will offer to compensate you should wish to travel anywhere else, after your visit to Bajor is completed."
"It's quite alright," Jaden said with a smile. "During the Dominion War, a civilian ship I was on was boarded by the Jem-Hadar. Believe you me; everyone aboard that ship was happy when they just let us go. The delay is finally over, and that's good enough for me."
"Your travel papers show that you arrived here from Risa," D'aneve said, wanting to get down to business. "For what purpose are you visiting Bajor?"
"Well, as I told your screeners, I was on my way to a gem exhibit in Jalanda City." Jaden took a small hand sized box from this pocket, and opened it. Inside of the box were four gems, neatly arranged.
"Those are nice," D'aneve said, "can I see them?"
"Sure," Jaden said as he handed D'aneve the gem set.
D'aneve held them close, and looked at them.
Meanwhile, inside his mind, Jaden Weer was using every ounce of will power to shut off aspects of his memories from D'aneve, but he had to do it in such a matter to avoid suspicion. He also knew that D'aneve's questions were meant to confuse his mind, and allow easy access to lower areas of memory.
"Well," D'aneve finally said, "I had my people check, and it appears you may have missed the first week of the exhibit, but you still have three days left. I hope that will suffice."
"I'm sure it will," Jaden said. "The gem show is really unimportant considering what happened here. And I really hope you capture the responsible party."
"Thank you," D'aneve said, "you are free to go."
D'aneve watched Jaden leave, and once Jaden was gone, D'aneve signaled for the next person to come in for questioning.
But, before the next person in line came in, D'aneve pressed a button on his desk, and then he pressed it again. If he was successful, he had just transmitted a signal to Chancellor Martok, who although he wasn't on DS9, was very close, aboard his flagship… and cloaked.
D'aneve knew that informing Martok in such a manner could, if it became common knowledge, end his career as DS9's chief of security; but it was a risk he was willing to take.
If the Klingons got their hands on Jaden, and if he proved to be the responsible party that planted the bomb, the Klingons would kill him without trial in order avenge the death of Worf's son.
D'aneve had never even met Worf, yet, but Martok had approached D'aneve earlier in the day and made the request; to which D'aneve secretly agreed.
Kira sat at her desk and looked at a schematic of the bomb that had been deduced to have set off the explosion. Internal security cameras had detected the insect sized device on three occasions. Later study of the data from the security sensors, it was determined that the insect was carrying some sort of anti-matter implosion device. Suddenly the door to her office opened and in stepped Captain William T Riker. His resemblance to Thomas Riker was uncanny, simply because they were pretty much the same.
"William," Kira said, as she got up and hugged Riker. "I'm so sorry about what happened to Thomas, and now Worf's son."
She stepped back.
"How are you?" Riker asked. "And don't lie to me," Riker said. "Don't forget, I knew Bakooth too, and according to his letters to me, you and Thomas were more than just friends." Riker smiled, "And I'm glad. I just hope you're healing too."
"William," Kira began to say, "I'm pregnant with Thomas's child and I have decided not to terminate the pregnancy. This child is the last part of Thomas, and I want him or her to grow up and be told of how wonderful he was."
Riker smiled.
"I think that's the greatest news I've heard in quite some time," Riker said with a broad smile. Then he looked around at some of the damage. "I left Commander Vale in command of the Titan while they head to Starbase 247 for R and R. Deanna is visiting with Worf as we speak, so I've got a lot of time on my hand, Kira, so tell me; how's your investigation going?"
Kira went on to explain the events surrounding the explosion. She even spent some time explaining how Thomas had died during the rescue of Benjamin Sisko's daughter.
Jaden and several other passengers made their way through DS9's docking platform and boarded a Bajoran transport vessel. They all took their seats, and twenty minutes later, the transport ship launched, and made its way to Bajor.
Jaden sat comfortably in his seat, and gazed out the viewing port. The next part of his plan was to find Kirk's wife Myran. According to a secret message he had received from his employer, there was a distinct possibility that Myran was in the Vulcan Embassy on Bajor. That would be his first destination.
As the Bajoran transport made its way through space, no one aboard could know that right above it was the massive flagship that belonged to Chancellor Martok…cloaked.
On board the bridge of the Negh'var-class ship, Martok sat in the command chair. From the information he had gotten from D'aneve, and additional information obtained through Klingon intelligence, Jaden Weer was the chief suspect in the explosion on DS9 which had killed over a hundred, including someone who was part of Martok's house; Commander Worf's son. But that info, for now, had not been shared with Admiral Janeway…Klingon revenge would come first.
Martok's chief of staff, Darok, stood beside Martok.
"You may be taking this too far," Darok said. "You are the leader of the Klingon Empire, and this sort of endeavor could cause friction between the Empire and the Federation."
"This coward, this human named Jaden, must face retribution," Martok spoke abruptly.
"I understand, but you know the Federation. They have laws against this kind of vengeance." Darok countered. "I just hope your efforts are not discovered."
Martok simply harrumphed, and Darok took that as a warning to not go any further with the conversation.
On Starbase 247
Admiral Janeway, who had arrived for a Starfleet function, sat inside her temporary office and looked at the shocking news that had just flashed across her classified Starfleet communiques. The USS Washington, under the command of Commodore Edwin Jellico, had been destroyed in an ion storm.
But as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, Janeway had the chilling sensation that the loss of the Washington, and Jellico more specifically, had been no accident at all; Jellico had been eliminated. The question for Janeway was why?
-continued…