The Chancellor's private office

First City, Qo'noS, 2268

Carefully reading the document that Gorkon had handed him, the Chancellor of the Klingon Empire did not know whether to be amused or horrified at his councillor's effrontery.

…the attached list of names has been compiled after consultation with our scientific advisors. They have been deemed to be a significant threat to the policies of the Klingon Empire and are to be arrested and executed. We expect your immediate compliance with these instructions.

Further, we require that all universities and higher education facilities be closed with immediate effect…

He read the orders again before looking up. "You sent this in my name?"

Gorkon gave a grim smile. "I did," he said, aiming a sidelong glance at Meth. "Our esteemed colleague from Imperial Intelligence was good enough to… ahem… add the official coding to the message. And you know, Sturka, my friend, your signature is far too easy to forge."

The chancellor growled. "You are lucky that I trust you. I warn you though, do not push me too far or I will retaliate."

"It needed to be done," Gorkon said, unconcerned by the chancellor's threat. "And it was not the sort of thing I could send through the normal channels.

"What will you do," Sturka asked, "if he simply carries out the carries out the orders as they are stated? It would take a very brave man to commit what he thinks is treason on this sort of level."

"I do not think he will obey them," Meth said. However, I have been decided to hitch a lift to Earth on the next courier ship and deal with this directly, face to face with my officer. I am beginning to think that we may have asked too much of him."

"Absolutely not!" Sturka snapped, "That is completely out of the question. Imperial Intelligence is already without one of its most senior officers; you cannot possibly be spared."

Meth shrugged. "We have no choice. My deputies are capable and can manage without me for a few weeks." He glanced speculatively at his companions before throwing out a challenge. "In fact, Gorkon, maybe you should come with me. I think you would find it interesting."

"Me?" Gorkon was startled. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Why not?" Meth shrugged again. "You have been very vocal about your plans for the Federation. Can you really tell me you wouldn't enjoy the chance to walk on the Terran homeworld and see for it yourself?"

Slowly, Gorkon nodded. "Actually, yes. It may be the craziest thing you've suggested yet, Meth, but yes… I will do it."

"I am surrounded by children, and disobedient ones at that," Sturka grumbled, letting out an exaggerated sigh before giving in and laughing. "Oh, go on then. I just wish I could go with you. What havoc the three of us would cause!"

Gorkon shook his head. "I would not advise it, chancellor. It would not be a good idea for you to leave the empire at this time."

Sturka already knew that. He was all too aware that his grip on power was tenuous at best. He'd dealt with it by keeping his councillors divided into factions and at each other's throats, a strategy that until recently, had worked extremely well. In the matter of Earth, however, they had united in their support of the project. If he did not tread carefully one of them, most likely Duras, would challenge.

"It would be wise," Meth said after a moment's thought, "if you two were not seen to be such close allies for a while. As things are now, you stand too great a risk of turning the High Council against you both."

The chancellor scowled at that. "Gorkon has been my greatest ally. Are you saying I should disavow him?"

"Publicly, yes," Meth insisted. "With respect, Gorkon, your views on the Federation have not gained you any popularity."

"That's true," Gorkon conceded reluctantly.

"The biggest threat comes from Duras," Meth continued. "That one is ambitious and if he senses even the slightest sign of weakness, he will strike."

Gorkon growled angrily. "Duras has no honour."

"When our troops return from Earth, as they inevitably will," And in saying so, Meth was projecting a confidence that he did not in fact feel, "the resulting uproar in the High Council will be the ideal time for you two to have a very public argument."

Sturka nodded, accepting the political necessity for the deception even if he did not like it. There was no honour in such deceit, but then, he thought with some sadness, there was very little honour in anything involving the High Council. "At which time, I will set aside my feud with the House of Duras and break my alliance with Gorkon in favour of one with Duras." He grimaced. "Ugh, I feel soiled at the very thought of it."

"And while I am publicly decrying your fickleness," Gorkon said, "I will be quietly continuing my investigation of Duras."

Meth nodded. "You may be assured of my continued cooperation. In return, I will want assurances of my own."

"And those are?" Sturka said warily.

"The life of my officer and those who at my request, have put their honour on the line to support his so-called treason. Treason, which I remind you, was… will be… in your service and which we have encouraged."

"Going soft, Meth?" Gorkon somewhat unwisely taunted the operations master. "A few deaths will appease the council and set an example to the rest."

The cold glare Meth gave him in response was enough to freeze his blood. "I have put years of training into Krang and I will not sacrifice my successor to your whims. The same is true of the other agents I have put in place. They are good, honourable men who are the future of the empire."

The operations master got to his feet as he spoke and not bothering to wait for any dismissal he moved to the door, making it very clear he was done. Giving an angry growl, Sturka called him back. "Meth! You will not…"

Framed by the open doorway, Meth turned back. It was rare that he allowed any emotion to show but now he permitted himself a cold anger that shone in his eyes, causing the chancellor, his supposed superior, to fall silent, inexplicably nervous. "I have supported you whole-heartedly, Sturka, as is my duty to the empire, but this is where I draw the line. Must I remind you that Imperial Intelligence looks after its own? Do not challenge me in this…"

He left the final words unsaid but they were heard anyway, echoing in Sturka's mind long after the sound of Meth's footsteps had faded to silence. "…or I will bring you down."

Klingon Headquarters, London

Monday 31st January 1994

For a long time, and he was never quite sure how long, Krang sat staring at the padd. His heart was heavy, anger and disbelief warring for supremacy. When Koreth had indicated that he had new orders waiting for him, he had not anticipated this. He remembered Chrissie asking him what was honourable about the subjugation of a technologically disadvantaged race, a question he had been unable to answer. Now he was being ordered to go one step further and commit wholesale murder. None of the names on the list were particularly familiar to him, but he had an idea that they were all prominent scientists of the era, and from the length of the list, their aides, assistants, and students as well. The High Council were determined to make history change and any Terran who might have had even the smallest role in the scientific breakthroughs leading to Zefram Cochrane's discovery of warp drive were to be killed.

His immediate thought was that the orders must be a hoax or a fake of some sort but running a quick check through the I.I. security programme proved otherwise. The coding and the signature were all correct and the message had not been tampered with in any way. There was no doubt whatsoever that these orders came direct from the one person, other than his boss, that he could not ignore – the chancellor himself.

For the first time in many years, Krang did not know what to do. The orders were legitimate and he had no choice but to obey… except he didn't know if he could. What would Koreth do, he wondered suddenly? Would he obey these orders? Almost, he considered speaking to Koreth, but changed his mind immediately. If he had misjudged the other man, then to do so would show weakness and lay himself open to challenge. No, for the moment he would say nothing.

The bare bones of a plan began to form in his mind. For the moment, he need only send back a confirmation of his orders when the courier ship left in the morning. That gave him a month to decide what action to take. In the meantime, he had work to do and for that, he needed his aide. Where in Gre'thor was Kay'vin anyway? Ill-temperedly, he put a call through to his assistant's comm.

"Yes, sir?" Kay'vin's voice sounded slightly harried.

"Why are you not here in London?" Krang demanded.

"I am in New York, sir," Kay'vin responded carefully, wondering why the boss was in such a bad mood. "You did ask me to speak with the officials there about the ongoing tensions."

Krang had forgotten about that. It was important but it would have to wait. "I need you here immediately."

"Now, sir? I am in the middle of a meeting with the local authorities."

"Yes, now!" Krang snapped back. "New York can wait."

"Yes, sir. I am on my way. I will be with you in a moment."

Kay'vin was as good as his word. Less than a minute passed before a light tap on the door announced his arrival. "Reporting as ordered, sir."

"I have new orders," Krang informed his aide, offering him the padd. "I want you to very discreetly find out where these people are and report back to me," Krang instructed him. "You will speak of this to no-one but myself."

As the younger man studied the list, he was unaware of Krang watching him carefully, studying his reactions. To the experienced intelligence officer, Kay'vin's face was like an open book. Surprise, disbelief, doubt, even a little fear and definitely some anger… Krang read all those emotions.

"I… yes, sir." Kay'vin was so shocked, he did not know what else to say.

"This takes precedence over everything else," Krang ordered. "You are to work on this exclusively. I will have Koreth finish off in New York. Unless you have any questions, you are dismissed."

Saluting, Kay'vin moved to the door and then hesitated. He turned back to face his boss again and now Krang saw that his emotions had settled down to grim certainty. Whatever Kay'vin was thinking, he into had just come to a decision. "My lord…"

Patiently, Krang waited for him to speak.

Kay'vin was painfully aware that this was make or break. What he was about to say would either fulfil his mission or get him killed. Or maybe both… "I would speak openly with you, warrior to warrior, one follower of Kahless to another."

Krang frowned at the request. For Kay'vin to invoke Kahless in such a way, meant that whatever he wanted to say was deadly serious and very likely to be extremely controversial. Not completely surprising after the instructions he'd just been given. "Not here," he said, locking down his computer and getting to his feet. He checked his office regularly to ensure there were no recording devices, but it was always possible, if unlikely given his level of skill, that he had missed one and he had a strong suspicion that whatever Kay'vin was going to say would be better unrecorded.

Retrieving his cloak from the hook on the door, Krang swung it over his shoulders. Together, the two Klingons went outside and after a short walk and a couple of turns, they found themselves on the banks of the Thames.

They walked along the river for a short distance before Krang came to a halt. This was as good a place as any, he decided. Out here there was no-one to overhear them talking except maybe the occasional passing Terran who would not understand their language. Nor was there any possibility of their conversation being recorded. He stood for a moment, leaning on the wall watching a small, black waterbird as it paddled frantically to get out of the way of a pair of majestic, pure white birds that he thought were called swans and further out on the water, a heavily laden barge making its way slowly upriver.

"So," Krang said eventually. "As one follower of Kahless to another, what is it you would say to me?"

Kay'vin took a deep breath before speaking. "My lord, I have concerns about these orders. In fact, I will go further. I have concerns about the honour… the righteousness… of this entire mission. We have travelled back in time to attack an enemy with the intention of changing history to destroy an honourable foe in a period when they are weak and unable to defend themselves. We should not be doing this. It's wrong."

Krang frowned. "You are speaking treason."

Kay'vin nodded. "Yes, I am."

The security captain let out a heavy sigh. "Your concerns mirror my own. I have had my doubts for a long time now. Yet I have my orders."

"Dishonourable orders," Kay'vin persisted. "Did you know that around fifty years ago, the Terrans had a great war, one that engulfed almost their entire world?"

Krang nodded. "Yes, I know of it. They had two world wars and many smaller ones. What is your point?"

"At the end of the war," Kay'vin said, "the winning side arrested many enemy soldiers and put them on trial for the atrocities they had committed. The soldiers justified their crimes by saying that they had only obeyed their orders. They were judged guilty on the grounds that they had a duty to disobey an order that is evil or immoral… in our terms, dishonourable."

"You're saying that if I believe my orders to be dishonourable, then I have a duty to disobey them?"

"Yes, sir. I am," Kay'vin said. "I have heard of this Stephen Hawking. He is confined to a chair and unable to move or speak without computerised assistance. We Klingons may scorn such a life, but the man is brilliant, one of the greatest scientific minds of his time. He has committed no crime and yet we are ordered to find and execute him. It's not even an execution, that implies legality; this is nothing more than outright murder."

"Such a killing is dishonourable," Krang agreed. "Tell me Kay'vin, what do you propose I do about it?"

"I wish I had the answers," Kay'vin sighed. "But I know one thing, sir… we shouldn't be here. We've already done two years' worth of damage to this planet and its people and what have we achieved? This can't go on!"

"I agree," Krang said heavily. "Kay'vin, you have given me a lot to think about.

Notes: the conversation about Duras and the political scheming is a nod to the Vanguard series of Star Trek Novels, which deal with the events discussed here. The way Sturka dumped Gorkon for an alliance with Duras and then went back to Gorkon never made sense to me. Obviously I don't own Sturka, Meth or Gorkon.

A big thank you to Solasnagreine and RobertBruceScott for your reviews and continued support.