Boreth

"Do you know why I've brought you here?" Astori asked the teenager with wandering eyes who was shifting from one foot to another in front of her.

"No," he choked out. "Please…don't kill me."

Astori rolled her eyes. She was going to have to talk to Katbujo about lightening up on the threats against dissenters.

"I'm not going to kill you," she replied impatiently. "Not yet." Never hurt to let them squirm a little. But she had no intention of killing the boy. She needed him too much.

"I swear, whatever you want, I'll do it. Just leave my family alone," the boy begged and Astori felt something stir within her. She squished it down. She didn't have time for extraneous emotions right now.

"I've been told you're one of the best hackers on this planet," she said, ignoring the boy's fidgeting and the smell of fear wafting off of him.

"I guess," he shrugged.

"You guess? Should I find someone else then?"

"No! No! I can do it, whatever you need!"

Astori couldn't help it if a part of her enjoyed how jumpy she made people. Sure, she'd always been treated well when Hus was in charge of House Morc. But her mother's ascension to the Head of House, and her subsequent efforts to stamp out anyone who didn't support her claim, had ensured that when Astori interacted with others, they gave her a deference unlike any she'd known before. Sure, it was driven by fear and she was pretty sure that wasn't a great way to rule over others. But she couldn't help enjoying the way people snapped to attention, eager to do her bidding these days. It was one perk of having a burgeoning despot for a mother.

"I want you to use your lauded skills to help me with a project," she told the boy. As she looked at him, she remembered what Drel'ak had been like at that age. All elbows and knees. She shook her head. Now was not the time for getting sentimental. Well, more sentimental. Drel'ak was gone.

"Anything! Just tell me what you want."

"I need you to hack into a Starfleet ship and send a message," Astori answered, watching closely for the boy's reaction. He blanched a bit.

"You can do that, right? I was told you've done it before."

The boy shrugged. "Once or twice. Smaller ships, shuttles. Did you have a specific ship in mind?"

Astori smiled – the same razorblade grin her mother had been sporting with increasing frequency since assuming power.

"I do. I want you to send a message to the U.S.S. Enterprise."

She thought the teen was going to pass out for a moment.

"I…don't know. I've never tried to hack a starship."

"Well, there's a first for everything, isn't there?"

"What if I can't?"

Astori's razorblade smirk grew sharper.

"You know what happens to failures, right? You don't have to ask."

That he didn't piss himself right then was enough for her to realize she'd made the right choice.

"I…won't fail you," he said, taking a huge gulp. "I promise."

"Didn't think you would."

They discussed logistics for a few moments and she gave him the message she wanted sent before turning to leave the abandoned warehouse they were meeting in.

"Remember," she said over her shoulder as she walked out, "failure isn't an option."

Uhura was at the comms station, running routine diagnostics, not expecting to find much this far out in deep space, when a light on the panel began to flash and her headpiece picked up a transmission.

"Captain…" she started but then trailed off as she listened to the message.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" Jim asked, turning around in his chair on the bridge to face Uhura.

She looked over at Jim.

"Sorry, sir. I thought I was receiving a transmission there for a moment but I was wrong. It's just space static."

"Bound to be a bit of that, this far out," Jim replied with a smile before turning around to face the view screen once more.

Uhura kept her head down and worked the rest of her shift without drawing any additional attention to the comms station. When her relief showed up, she made a couple of notes on her PADD and handed the station over without a word.

Today was the day.

McCoy wasn't going to put it off any longer. Maybe Shakeba wanted nothing to do with him but if so, she was going to have to tell him face to face. It had been over eight weeks since he'd woken her up in sickbay and he was done hiding from her. It had taken everything he'd had to stay out of the way when they'd brought her in after the episode with Ensign Wilson and he was done pretending Shakeba was a stranger. She consumed his thoughts, driving him to distraction and a surliness that was surprising even for him. Christine had snapped at him earlier and pulled him into his own office for a good, old-fashioned ass reaming. She'd told him, under no uncertain terms, to get his shit together. So here he was, taking the first step. If Keebs kicked him out or didn't even let him in, at least McCoy would know and could start the process of moving on.

As he walked down the corridor, getting closer to her quarters, the turbolift opened and a familiar face walked out, too preoccupied with her PADD to notice him. Nonetheless, McCoy quickly darted behind a pylon. The last person he wanted to see right now was Uhura! What in tarnation was she doing down here? He peeked around the corner of the pillar and realized she was heading to the same place he's been heading. Shakeba. She rang the chimes and entered the room and McCoy heard the doors shut as he remained hidden.

"Goddammit!"

What were the chances? He'd worked up the courage to come down here and Uhura swooped in instead? They hadn't spoken since she'd barged into his quarters a little over a month ago and he had no intention of making friendly with her right now. Nor was he going to attempt contacting Shakeba with Nyota there to watch. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction of either a happy reunion between lovers or his utter evisceration at the hand of the ship's newest guest. Frankly, he wasn't sure which one Uhura would enjoy more. It was none of her damn business anyway.

McCoy walked back to the turbolift dejectedly. He'd have to try again some other time.

"You received this today?" Shakeba looked at Uhura's PADD and chewed her bottom lip.

"Just a few hours ago, about mid-way through my shift."

"Did you tell the captain?"

Uhura shook her head. "I almost did until I started listening to the message and then I realized it might be better if I didn't say anything."

Shakeba looked up from the transcription Uhura had made.

"Thank you," she said warmly.

"Let's just be glad I was the one who received it."

Shakeba looked back down at the brief message.

"Do you think it's really from your sister?" Uhura asked her, not wanting to infringe on the other woman's privacy but also dying of curiosity.

"It sounds like something she would send," Shakeba answered. "You said it was sent via an automated transponder?"

"Yeah," Uhura replied, taking a seat next to Shakeba on the bed in her quarters, since there really wasn't anywhere else for the two to sit. "I tracked the signal to its origin but whomever sent this did a good job making it untraceable. I mean, this transponder could be anywhere."

"But…if I wanted to send a message back?"

"We can try. Do you still have your PADD?"

"I don't want you to get in trouble," Shakeba said, worrying her lip again as she handed the Starfleet-issued PADD back to Nyota and pulled her own PADD out of the drawer she'd left it in. She hadn't touched it since coming aboard the ship.

"Don't worry about me. If you'll help me with some of the commands, I can set up your PADD so that we can send a message out without anyone knowing. But I want to make sure it's really your sister if we're gonna do this."

Shakeba thought for a moment then opened a new window on her PADD and scribbled a message in Klingon.

"This is a riddle Hus used to tease us with as kids," she explained to Uhura. "We can send it back and if we get this –" she scrawled another message in Klingon on the PADD, "back, then we'll know it's her."

Uhura looked down at the two lines and smiled as she translated them in her head.

"Okay," she agreed. "I hope this works." Nyota grabbed the PADD from Shakeba's outstretched hand and began tinkering with the settings.

"Me too," Shakeba replied. And she did. Whatever resentments she had towards Katbujo and Hus for the lies they had told were separate from the feelings she harbored towards her last living sibling. She wanted to talk to Astori again and find out what had happened when the raiders had returned to Boreth.