To Save the World, Part 1: Act I

Diana had many enemies, both timeless and mortal, but she had never expected to hear from Veronica Cale. Her throat went dry as she found herself scrying for answers in the warp bubble in the viewport, only to come up empty.

"You're suggesting that Admiral Veronica Cale is... the same woman you knew from that far back?" Diana knew that Jim was asking more for Conner and the captain's benefit, but it was a fair question. It was only that he did not understand how she knew.

"Not suggesting." Diana said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I know. It is the Truth, Jim." Before he could protest or ask for more, she glanced over at Conner and motioned to the briefing room table. "Can I see a picture of her? There were no records of anyone matching the name Veronica Cale in all of the data available to me on the Enterprise. I thought perhaps she just vanished, but..."

"But, she's Starfleet Intelligence," Conner grumbled as he quickly set to work on the console. "She can omit records without you ever knowing."

"Like the records on Kandor," Jim muttered to himself. "I just saw the first initial, I assumed it was a first name…"

The moment Admiral Cale's image appeared on the table, Diana leaned forward to scrutinize it. But, there was little doubt. In fact, the moment she caught a glimpse of the ring on Cale's hand... she knew.

"That ring." Diana pointed to it as Jim came around the table to stand beside her. "She told me once it was an heirloom. Not of her family, but to her own personal success. The gem was made out of the ashes of her mother, as a reminder of where she came from. She told me once that she would hold onto that ring until she died." She began to scan through the records available to them, but it was useless. Most of the information was too factual, yet off by just enough so as to suggest she was possibly a descendant. "Veronica had one daughter, Isadore, but she's not listed anywhere in this woman's family tree."

"So, it's probably falsified." Jim said in agreement.

"I have no idea how she could have survived this long..." Diana breathed, then glanced over at Conner, stomach slowly knotting as she considered the very real danger before them. "How did you not know that she was alive?"

Conner's eyebrows shot up. "Are you serious? Diana, I have dinner with two of the Luthors once a month."

"How could you - " Diana began, unsure if what she felt was honest concern or confusion, or perhaps both. What Lex had done to Kal… to Conner and Lois… And Conner was breaking bread with them?

"Don't look at me like that." Conner said, in a tone remarkably like the boy she'd once known. "Supervillains have kids, but not all those kids turn out to be villains. Hell, the Thawnes married into the West-Allens! And... I'll be honest, I know you clearly recognize her, but..." He shrugged. "Unless she did something blatantly illegal, why would I have known that she was a threat to you?"

Diana opened her mouth, prepared to level another stern criticism his way, but paused. Veronica had been so profoundly dangerous precisely because she had learned how to curry political and societal favor better than even Diana could have.

"No, you're right." She conceded. "I'm sorry. That would be like asking you if you remembered the CEO of Pfizer. To the outside world, Cale was just a pharmaceutical giant. Cale-Anderson Pharmaceuticals never took the plummet that it should have, even after I exposed Dr. Anderson's cybernetic violations. And Cale herself..." Diana sighed and stepped away. She leaned against the bulkhead behind her as she recalled, "She was an architect of chaos, never its instrument."

"What made her so dangerous to you?" Jim asked. He had that look of honest concern on his face, mixed with the thoughtfulness that suggested he was creating several plans at once. In that, he was the best of Bruce and Steve.

"She didn't like my message of peace, of hope..." Diana's heart clenched as she recalled the way Cale had slandered her, created the perfect environment for Darkseid to attack Earth. "She found it simplistic and naive. Over time, that fostered into a personal vendetta as I realized that she was not just making pharmaceuticals, she was a war profiteer." Of all the villains she faced, Diana had hoped that the evil Cale wielded had truly been taken from the earth. She was the worst kind of enemy: the type that genuinely believed she did nothing wrong. "I nearly caught her, once. She had been working clandestinely with LuthorCorp to manufacture a Kryptonian plague in the hopes of killing Kal-El. Only it backfired and was lethal to humans. So, she sold it to Qurac terrorists, then sold the placebo vaccine to the Quraci government. She was quite adept at marketing her solutions to the problems she created."

Jim suddenly stood straight, as if struck by a bolt of lightning. "Holy shit, she is the She-Wolf."

Captain Garrovick arched an eyebrow as he struggled to keep up with the trio. Any mirth or confusion was masked by clear concern by the information he was hearing. Diana could sense it from where she stood across the room, even as she tried to rein her abilities in. "Okay, care to share with the class, Jim?"

Jim motioned for the datapadd in her hand, then began to scroll through it. "Something the distorted voice said on one of those files with Vanessa, just before Hackett died..."

Jim used a quick couple of commands between the datapadd and the briefing room table to play the surveillance footage from the point just before Hackett was killed.

"We were supposed to protect Earth from the Borg, and Anderson's instead done... unspeakable things."

"The best weapons are just that, Admiral. Unspeakable. I like knowing that there are no words for the horror weapons can wreak. It makes it so much easier to market to the victims."

Jim stopped the playback. "There. That doesn't sound like an Admiral, but it sure as hell sounds like what you just described."

Diana's heart sank. That was what had felt so familiar about all of that, but she had been so focused on Anderson, she had missed the context clue. "She's doing the same thing here. She plans to unleash the Medusa poison, blame the Romulans and she will use it to goad Starfleet into giving her more resources to create worse weapons." It all fit her pattern of behavior all too intimately. If only they could have possibly seen it sooner... "Meanwhile, she feeds the Romulans better technology and then urges the Federation to attack. She doesn't care who wins, only that she continues to profit from it."

"And while we're not exactly currency-based, the Ferengi and the Klingon still are..." Conner said with a frown. "I had hoped cutting you loose would make it easier for you to find evidence against Cale, but nothing like this..."

"You know what would have made that easier? If you had told us of your suspicions." Jim said, not caring to pull his punches. She didn't blame him.

But, Diana could also see the way Conner's shoulders had slumped, the deep furrow in his brow. She reached over and rested her hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. He glanced up at her, and for a moment, she saw the boy beneath all of those years once more.

"I know it can seem tempting to rule above, not among." Diana said softly, recalling her own time as the Queen of Themyscira. "But, you are not alone. Not anymore. Stop shutting us out."

Conner inhaled, then swallowed thickly as he considered her words. She didn't need to have divine abilities to know that she had spoken the truth. Sometimes, for the son of a Superman, Conner could be more human than anyone. She needed to remember that just as much as he did.

"Captain," Conner said, turning to the Farragut's commanding officer. "Contact the Enterprise. Increase speed to Maximum warp and send word to Starfleet Command. Evacuate Federation and Starfleet command structures, put everything on lockdown. I'll hail the Fleet Admiral myself."

"We don't know what they're looking for," Garrovick said with a frown. "I can point us in the right direction, but there's no way of knowing what they're sending to earth or how they'll position it."

Diana knew that there was still much for her to learn of the 23rd century, technological advances and principles chief among them, but she had had the benefit of spending a full day with the foremost expert in hiding things.

"You're looking for a hologram." She said, feeling yet another ring of Truth through her veins. She caught Jim's eye, relieved that they both seemed to be of the same mind.

"Jaylah's research. That's what they wanted it for." Jim continued, eyes darting as he recalled all of the research that he'd combed through for days. "Cale must have found - or thinks she's found - a way to weaponize the Medusa curse. Jaylah had figured out how to create a hologram about the size of a box, easy enough to hide and smuggle to the surface."

Conner looked to Garrovick with a scowl. "Get Chekov and send him over to the Enterprise." He shifted his attention to Jim, who seemed dubious. "Captain, I think it's best if we get the best engineers on the job. They need to figure out how to track the bomb before we get there."

It was clear that Conner was trying to restore Jim's trust; Diana could recognize the olive branch.

The gesture was returned with a professional nod. She caught Jim's eye for just a moment before he replied to Conner. "I completely agree, Admiral. Jaylah and Scotty will get right on it."

"Then we'll have the best minds at work," Diana breathed.

Garrovick nodded in agreement. "Agreed. But, what about Admiral Cale? If all of this is to be believed - "

"Then we'll take her in the old fashioned way," Conner replied. "The ambassador and I will take care of that. We gather more evidence, back it up offline. But, the civilians come first. That bomb has to be stopped."

As much as she hoped that the knowledge they were increasing speed would make her feel better, as the captain left without another word, she felt no relief.

But, they did have time to work uninterrupted. And the only way to stop more destruction was to have a plan. Times like this, she wished for Etta's British efficiency.

Diana glanced over at Jim, then motioned for him to have a seat on one side of Conner. She took the other.

"Even once we figure out where the bomb is, we need to figure out how to disarm it and how to pin Cale to this..." Jim said, going through his datapadd. Judging from his expression, he was reviewing the communiques Spock had been able to find. "There's nothing that connects her to the She-Wolf, not from these."

"The fact that she's using Roman myth as her codename at least makes her an Earth native," Conner offered, although his confidence sounded shaken. For a brief moment, she recalled the broken man she had seen on Yorktown. She could not - and he could not - afford to have so much taken from him.

"Veronica is very good at covering her tracks, Conner." Diana said, reassuringly. "But, you're not omniscient, nor are you an engineer. Veronica has Leslie Anderson working with her, which means she has someone who can read code like we breathe air."

"That just makes her harder to catch," He replied softly.

"Not for you. I don't know the inner workings of Starfleet like you do. Not even Jim knows. But, you built the organization." She caught the somewhat dubious look Jim shot her, but she ignored it. His ego was, most often, earned and fairly muted. She wasn't about to indulge him right now. "If we can connect her to Vanessa and Hackett's death, then we can prove that she is the same operative from the other communiques."

Conner nodded, leaning back a bit as he tried to think. He was, in many ways, just like his father, but as he closed his eyes and rested his hands on his forehead, she could tell he was thinking through problems like his mother. "Just need to know how the engine works..." He muttered, clearly wrapped up in thought.

Jim glanced up at her, and she smiled softly. She would explain to him later that it was a Lois Lane-ism of the finest quality. She had always taught her son to scrutinize the world like a reporter: to understand the engine of the world meant one could change it. Or repair it.

"You said she was a magnate, rich and powerful, worked with the Luthors." Conner finally said, sitting back up and bending back over the console in front of him to type.

"Yes." Diana replied. "She even knew Bruce, but he was known for keeping enemies closer than friends, so..." She shrugged, trying not to remind herself of how infuriating some of Bruce's habits could be. For a man as profoundly intelligent as he was, his greatest superpower, as Vic so often put it, was being an "asshole." That included forging business relationships with some of the most crooked businessmen and women in the world. Luthor, Cale, even Falcone for a time before he took him down.

"Then, I think I know where we might start to find some answers on how she's still alive." A series of log entries suddenly began to overlay on the briefing table screen as Conner kept typing. "I kept a... journal of sorts when I was in the League. On an old pre-Eugenics War internet server. I uploaded copies to Watchtower, then made sure they... didn't make it into Starfleet's databases when I returned to the world. But, I wasn't the only one. Damian did, too."

Jim looked up, clearly trying to recall the history that - to Conner - seemed second nature. "Batman's son."

"And the architect of the Augment virus, hoping he could create a new generation of superpowered heroes." Diana replied in agreement. "I warned him against it, but he had very little interest in any of us."

"I think I know why. Bruce was known to keep his friends close, but his enemies closer. I don't think Damien shared that understanding." Conner said, pulling down a log entry and opening it. The text was plain, but he had highlighted keywords. "Look at Damian's backers. Cale, Lena Luthor... He didn't want to stop because he had who he wanted. Damian was convinced that the solution to mankind's problems was to create the next Superman, not inherit one." He motioned to himself a bit idly. "And Luthor had a strange sense of entitlement over my birth."

Diana remembered the events well, but knew Jim would be surprised. She had told him much, but there were decades of tales to tell. She'd only had a few days to really be honest.

"I'm sorry, how does a billionaire feel entitled to your birth?" Jim asked.

"He was obsessed with Kryptonian DNA. He kidnapped my mother at one point, made modifications to her genetic structure so he could ensure that I would be conceived." Conner paused, his expression wistful, but pained in a way that suggested he hadn't discussed it in some time. Diana reached over to rest her hand on his. "There's a good chance Damian thought his father had made allies with these two because they were not Lex. Lena always seemed squeaky clean, interested in undoing the sins of her father, and judging from the context clues, I don't think Damian even knew about Cale's profiteering."

Diana pursed her lips, recalling Bruce's troubled offspring. "I am not sure it would have stopped him, to be honest..."

"I know." Conner simply agreed, falling silent. She knew that the man had died centuries ago, but she understood the grief Conner felt better than most. She simply did not have the words to make it disappear.

"So, maybe she's an Augment, if she worked with him on the Virus." Jim offered.

Diana shook her head. "Veronica did not sample her wares. But, it's possible she worked with Damian on a different solution." She could sense the Truth in what she was saying, but didn't have enough to understand what they were still missing. They would need to continue digging.

"I don't know how to explain it, but I know that this is somehow related to the Augment virus. This goes back as far as Veronica's grudge against me can go." She glanced over at Jim, who had rose an eyebrow and was watching her intently. "I believe this is the culmination of far more planning than just the last year."

Jim looked at her for a long moment. She caught the subtle way his gaze softened. She had always recognized when he'd shifted from captain to friend, but she'd never realized what had done it.

It was his eyes.

Jim cleared his throat and exhaled in a soft hiss as he squinted, considering her words before offhandedly replying, "Well, if you believe that's the case, that's good enough for me." He flicked his gaze over to Conner before shrugging. "She's been right about all of this so far. She knew it wasn't you even when I thought I had an ironclad case."

Conner nodded a bit. He didn't seem upset, he seemed impressed. "Well, Cale must have realized I was looking into her. I'm sure she knew exactly what she was doing when she sent her message with my transponder signal."

Careful to keep the conversation focused on their mutual enemy, Diana leaned forward to look at the journal entries Conner still had up. "What else does Damian say about her in his journals? If Cale-Anderson Pharma helped back his work, it must have been quite clandestine…" As Diana scrolled through and blew up one of the entries, her heart sank as she recognized the context behind that particular entry. "Ah..." Diana sat back a bit in the chair, eyes warming with a sudden reminder of old grief. "Damian states that Cale approached him just after the Gotham bridges were rebuilt." She glanced up at Jim, thoughtful and pained. "The year Lois died. I wasn't exactly focused on Cale."

Conner exhaled deeply beside her. There didn't seem to be much to say. While Jim had never officially met Lois, she had spoken at length about her. It wasn't surprising that Jim had wanted to know how Kal and Lois functioned in their marriage. Her plight and Jim's were the same: mortality. But, her loss…

Her loss had left one of the greatest chambers empty in Diana's heart. Another sister lost.

"Maybe an outside perspective would help," Jim said, sitting up a bit. As he pulled the entries away from her side of the table so he could review them, the quick look her way suggested that it was as much a genuine offer as it was an opportunity to let the two people who knew Lois recover from the poignant reminder.

Diana simply nodded, smiling in gratitude before she swallowed down a lump in her throat. She reached over to squeeze Conner's hand, but didn't linger. Diana had mourned Lois as a friend and sister. Conner had mourned Lois as a mother and as the reason his father left.

"You have to be kidding me." Jim suddenly said, clearly displeased with the results of his research. When Diana and Conner both looked to him quizzically, he finally offered an explanation as he blew up the journal entry larger. "Veronica Cale introduced Damian Wayne to Khan Noonian Singh."

"You can't be serious." Diana hissed, reading the passage for herself. Sure enough, the references to Khan were plain and obvious. Damian had been introduced to a man claiming to be a pharmaceutical entrepreneur in a time when that meant everything. "She put them on the path to creating the Augments, to causing the war. Even after I warned Damian that Khan was amoral, willing to sell drugs that had no business being on the market…"

Conner was clearly reading other entries in the same time frame at his seat. "It explains why it took Damian so long to come around. He thought Khan was a kindred spirit." He scowled as he read the text in front of him. Diana hated that he was forced to revisit the sins, the betrayals of the past. "Damian's entries state that he thought the man would have been a suitable Head of the Demon. My guess is that it took him far too long to realize that there is no such thing as a reasonable Ra's Al Ghul."

Diana shook her head and pushed off of the table. She stood, hands on her hips as she paced angrily. "That boy knew exactly what the League of Assassins had done to his father and his mother, yet he still was tempted by their darkness…"

Jim spoke up after a moment. "Sometimes all it takes for the darkness to win is for people to believe the light isn't going to get them anywhere."

Diana stopped mid-step as the words rang true. She couldn't help but smile. Glad to know that you watch us even from Elysium, Lois… She thought, certain that the words had been inspired by one reporter whose hunger for the truth matched Diana's.

And that was the key to understanding Veronica Cale.

"That's what Veronica wants to do." Diana said, pivoting slowly. "This is about more than this current conflict. She wants to see people - civilizations - spin their wheels. So she can line her pockets with each turn." She made her way back to the table. "Now, even if we're not sure how she's still alive, there has to be a way to connect her back to Hackett's death, to Vanessa, and to the bomb."

"I think I might have an idea on that one. " Jim spoke up, although he wasn't looking at any of the evidence before them. He seemed to be staring at the floor, or perhaps a blank spot on the table. Whatever he was giving his attention to required his mind's eye, not his physical ones. "She mentioned collecting the Starro from a facility at the Millennium Gate. Was that always government-run?"

Diana's eyebrows rose as she considered the implications of that. "It was a joint effort by the League, A.R.G.U.S. and S.T.A.R. Labs, but I've no idea what happened after the war."

Thankfully, Conner could fill in that particular gap. "Watchtower was destroyed, for the most part, so we lost access to the facility." He removed all of Damian's journals from the display on the table, then brought up a number of database entries. They were all A.R.G.U.S. or MACO. "Almost everything A.R.G.U.S. was absorbed by the Northern Faction after the Eugenics War. If it wasn't, or if it was S.T.A.R. Labs, well…" He shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I think they were bought up by private companies." He fell silent as he scanned the information in front of him, looking for something specific. When he found it, Diana recognized the expression. What Conner found was both satisfying to know, but… ultimately not good news. "Millennium Gate's storehouses were acquired by CAP Manufacturing in 2055. Prior to the Eugenics War, they operated as Cale-Anderson Pharmaceuticals."

Jim frowned a bit, leaning back in his chair so he could rest one leg on the other. "Private property is owned now, but it's more based on an allocation system. How would a corporation like that still have access to a facility like that?"

Not for the first time, Diana found herself frustrated by her lack of knowledge about the full history of earth. She had missed enough time that the very economy had changed significantly. When she had left, Earth needed currency and barter. When she returned, the Federation had surpassed that into a truly restorative economy that required no currency to ensure basic had to rely on Conner to help fill in the rocky transition.

"My guess is that, assuming Veronica did the same as me and simply lived several lives in slightly different roles," Conner said with a frown, although he still sounded like Lois Lane's son with his voracious need to get to the truth. "She held onto it until MACO was formed, then probably rolled it under a defense contract of some kind. As currency-based commerce disappeared, she just hid it from prying eyes."

"Is there any way we can find out for sure?" Jim asked, reaching up to scratch at his newly regenerated earlobe. Even though they were racing against time, hoping they could somehow beat Cale at her own game, he seemed calm and in control. She was fairly certain part of him was enjoying it.

Conner leaned back in his seat, deep in thought with his gaze focused on the table. After a long moment of consideration, he nodded and stood. "I can get that information. I have a few strings I can pull back at Starfleet Command, a few admirals who are also loyal to me."

Diana furrowed her brow in confusion, honestly surprised as he made his way to the door. "Where are you going?"

"To hail the Fleet Admiral for the head's up and to make a few calls." Conner paused, turning to face Diana with an expression that she'd seen on his father's face all too many times. He had realized that there was more to be done apart than together. "I don't know how Cale's alive, but I'm sure you can figure it out. Let me worry about getting the rest of the evidence together… be ready for... " His eyes flicked over to the briefing table. The images of Vanessa had been long gone, but the haunted expression on his face said volumes. "For anything." He finished.

Conner pivoted, continuing out the door. With his absence, Diana found herself - for the first time since they had left the warbird - alone with Jim.

And she had nothing but a whirlwind of thoughts to sort through. Most prominent… was still the revelation that Veronica Cale was alive. And that Diana had delivered one of her Amazons sisters into her hands.

Of all the crimes, it was the most personal to Diana, but not the most horrendous. Diana could not even bring herself to mourn her sister. Until she saw Vanessa with her own eyes, until the greater threat was extinguished…

Vanessa would have to be no different than the countless Amazons that died in the many great causes that her sisters had sacrificed themselves for.

And her sacrifice would be in vain if Diana could not end this mania before it could truly begin.

"Hey." In the deafening silence, Jim had still - somehow - managed to catch her off-guard. He had crossed the distance between them until he could reach up and brush a strand of hair from her eyes. While she had been synthetically scrubbed by the transporters, she felt… unclean. Jim's touch made that sensation slightly less prominent. "We're gonna get her."

It was such a simple declaration. In fact, he said it with the same level of gravitas that he ordered coffee from the mess hall, yet she could tell… he unequivocally believed what he was saying.

"You're gonna get her." He added softly, his fingers drifting to her cheek.

The words did not go unheeded. Diana slowly raised her gaze to meet his, inhaling deeply. As she did so, she could feel her burden slowly begin to ease. In the few months since she had first experienced the sensation of Jim's genuine belief, she had started to learn how to suppress the sensation, not to rely on it. She didn't want worship. She wasn't a goddess - not like the others.

But, it seemed that with their new state of intimacy, she would find it harder to ignore.

As she found herself lost for a moment in his intense gaze, he drew her a bit closer and ran his hand along her arm in a way that helped to untwist the knots in her stomach.

Her mind cleared.

He had said so very little. But, he believed in her so much it was woven through her body, her very sinew and between the cells.

Perhaps that was what the Fates meant when they wove the great tapestry of life.

"If I cannot determine how she lived this long, then cutting off one head will only spring three more." Diana finally broke the silence between them. Her voice was crystal clear, but she was careful not to remove the gratitude from her tone. Even as the two of them had another mystery to solve, she did not want him for a moment to think his support was unneeded or unappreciated. "It could be any of number of things."

"Then, you tell me where to start. Your gut hasn't led us wrong yet." Jim Kirk yet again proved that he had learned the age old lesson of command: collaboration. If he had a particular theory or narrative he wanted to push, he had completely abandoned it. He made his way over to the table, leaning over it as if they were looking at old maps at Chief's campsite, not state of the art computers that could recall any information instantaneously.

Without hesitation, Jim deferred to her. He trusted her to know her wheelhouse, as it were.

That thought alone helped drain the last of her melancholy, long enough to let her focus on the task at hand.

"Veronica was highly motivated," Diana began as she, too, joined him at the table. "Given that she knew to purchase the Millennium Gate facility, it stands to reason that she already knew she was going to live longer than the typical human." She bit her lip for a moment as she considered the psychological profile that Diana had once had by memory on the woman. "She wouldn't have used the Augment Virus, or anything else that Cale-Anderson designed. She knew the risks of her own handiwork, and she would never relinquish that kind of control."

"So, if she didn't use medicine to do it, how else could she?" He asked, voicing the same question that she was mulling over.

Diana simply shook her head, then motioned to the table. "Can you show me more recent images of her? The Starfleet profile image doesn't tell me anything about her."

Jim perked up for a moment before he hurriedly began to key the console. "I actually think I can do one better. The Enterprise might have had a worm chewing at important details, but I bet the Farragut doesn't. Not if your nephew is aboard."

Diana paused and honestly did a double take as she caught that Jim meant Conner. Her eyebrows shot up, eyes wide in surprise.

When she didn't answer him, Jim glanced up at her, realizing what he'd done. "I mean… the Admiral."

She tilted her head a bit as she realized he was trying to hide his embarrassment. Quirking an eyebrow and crossing her arms, she cocked her hip a little. "How long have you been calling him that in your mind?"

Jim hesitated for a long moment before shrugging. "Probably longer than I would ever want to admit."

Diana bit back a grin.

"Anyway, as I was saying…" Jim continued, clearing his throat as he touched a button on the console. "There's footage of the hearing. I zoomed in on her."

Diana leaned closer, watching the display flare to life once more with new footage. She could hear Jaylah speaking off-camera, only to see Cale reply with that same velvety, manipulative tone that made Diana's skin crawl.

"Mute the audio," Diana muttered. "That is definitely her."

With a quick nod, he obliged and silenced the audio. Now that Diana only had the video to watch, she could focus on the other aspects of her.

She still wore the ring made from her mother's ashes, still wore her hair the same in a long, straight blonde bob.

It still boggled the mind. Veronica was not the military type, she was a businesswoman. She only would have moved to the military upon realizing that would be the more advantageous position. Yet, how could she have known that she had so much time?

Veronica's hand moved to her neck onscreen, toying with something at her collar.

"Pause the video." Diana quickly ordered, thankful that Jim seemed to be anticipating she might make such a request. "Can you zoom in on what's in her hand?"

"Sure."

The magnification increased exponentially, then sharpened the image.

"She is wearing a relic." Diana breathed, motioning for Jim to come closer so she could point it out. Within moments, he was beside her. She motioned to the necklace that Veronica was in the process of worrying between her thumb and index finger.

"I remember seeing those, a string of pearls she wore everywhere…" Jim muttered. "I thought it was odd. Not many Starfleet officers wear much jewelry unless it's religious."

Diana furrowed her brow. "It has religious significance, but not to Veronica. She cares little for the gods. Do you see the Koine etched into them?" Diana reached out, grabbing for the stylus that allowed her to write on the display. She quickly copied the characters, then pointed to each as she spoke. "Kalyptousa to dianooumenon.' The wearer of this necklace 'conceals the knowledge'. I found this relic with Arthur in the 2020s. It is the necklace of Calypso, the daughter of Atlas and Pleione. She was blessed with youth and life as a nymph as long as she remained on the island of Ogygia."

"Calypso, as in… the character in the Odyssey?" She could tell he was having a hard time wrapping that around his rational mind, but was willing to accept it.

"Yes." Diana tapped the stylus on table idly as she recalled the past. "She was real, just as Circe is. When Arthur found the pearls, it was in the belly of Charybdis. And they were broken, so I had them sent them for display. I thought them powerless, deserving to be in a museum."

"Which museum?"

Pieces fell into place as she realized her folly. "The Louvre." Diana stood straight, trying to remember the exact order of events. "Before I fought Medusa. The only time we ever lost artifacts while I worked with them was after we defeated Darkseid and Circe made her first appearance. She could have stolen them, reforged them." She shook her head. "But, Circe's been banished from earth for centuries, and I don't recall Cale and her ever meeting."

"We might have to ask Cale herself." Jim finally offered with a shrug.

That thought brought her no comfort, but it did seem to be the only choice. "At least I know that if I remove the pearls, I stop her from cheating death." She said, swearing as if taking an oath. "And she will face others. Justice will be done."

No sooner than the words left her mouth, the lights suddenly flashed to red in the briefing room and the klaxons sounded on the Farragut.

After a moment, they heard Captain Garrovick's voice over the intercom.

"All hands to battle stations! Romulan warbird decloaked in orbit around the lunar station! Captain Kirk and Ambassador Prince, report to the bridge!"