With the Romulan officers seated at one side of the table and the Starfleet ones at the other, they opened the channel with Koval's manor again. Luther noticed the change at the double, but he had been previously informed of their meeting. Saavik, though, was unaware of the changes Luther had made by himself.
Koval did not sit on his expensive armchair anymore; he was tied up to a wooden chair, his arms pinned at his back and his legs tightly secured to the chair's own legs, fastened with a gross red cord. Koval was glaring at him, his lower lip parted, a bruise in his left temple. Saavik paled. Apparently, Sloan had finally decided to interrogate Koval, and not precisely following Starfleet regulations.
Koval switched his gaze to the new forming holograms, therefore also meeting their own stares. His eyes betrayed his shock at registering both the Romulans and the Federation officers.
"What the hell is this? Finally the conspirators decide to show themselves together?" he roared.
Saavik realized that maybe Koval had been physically beaten but his will held the same resolve. She decided to keep the same approach Sloan had previously used with her, "We are together, as the temporary allies we are." She thought the wicked Romulans would appreciate the hint. "And we are together to expose the only conspirator, Koval, you. You have betrayed both the Federation and the Romulan Empire."
"Being the Romulan Empire the only one who really matters here, since you are Romulan," Ajeya was adding.
"If this is a Romulan matter, then make the Federation officers leave, Ajeya." In spite of his position, Koval made the sentence a demand instead of a plea.
"It's too late for that, Koval, don't you think? And I really tried, but you just messed all up." Ajeya kept silent and avoided to explain how that had happened. "You are a traitor, Koval, you have been playing both sides and now you have just been discovered. The problem we have here is… you don't seem to have any loyalty to the Federation, but you aren't being loyal to the Empire either."
Now, she had made the accusation, clear and loud. Ajeya realized that if her previous declaration in front of her crew was not enough, now she had obviously crossed the line. She was recording their exchange; she did not doubt Koval had his own recording devices working, even if he was a prisoner in his own home. So now she had to prove her statement, or she would be the one doomed instead of him.
Raghnill gulped, but remained utterly serious by her side, as straight as an arrow, supporting her.
Koval just smiled haughtily at her, the blood in his lip still dripping, "You are delusional, just like this crazy Human who holds me prisoner."
"This crazy Human you cloned for your own purposes!" cold rage dominated Sloan.
Koval was furious at his aggressor too, "Don't think that your pathetic existence interests the Empire," he spat.
"It interests when he is an instrument against the Empire," Ajeya contradicted him and forced Koval to focus his attention on her again.
"You used him to impersonate the real Luther Sloan and infiltrate the Federation," Saavik talked that time.
"So?" Koval just shrugged. "As I explained before as head of the Tal Shiar…"
Ajeya cut him off, "You used him and your position to set a trap for Senator Cretak. You wrongly accused her of treason and with no opposition secured your seat in the Continuing Committee."
"That hardly can be considered treason. That's just politics. Of course, you're a soldier. I don't expect you to understand." A slight scowl and a flash in her eyes was her only reaction to the insult. "And that you have to prove, because if you remember well, she declared herself guilty of the crime."
Saavik was positively surprised as Ajeya mentioned Cretak's case. Spock had told her how he had gotten all the information thanks to her son, a follower of Unification, and how he desperately wanted her mother to be freed. It would be unfair for him if Koval was finally stopped but the former senator died in prison anyway. But that was their duty to young Asfastr, not Ajeya's.
Obviously, Ajeya viewed the events from a different perspective. She did not really care about Asfastr or Cretak; she just realized what a valuable ally the disgraced senator could be if she was restored to honor and she was in her debt. Once taken the risk of opposing Koval, she lost nothing defending her and there was much to gain.
So she went on, "She only declared herself guilty on having spied on you, which she did. Because she knew you were the real traitor and was trying to obtain proof."
Koval said nothing this time.
"You sent her to prison so you could further your power and continue with your plans without interference."
Saavik was the next to speak, "You used the impersonated Sloan and his rogue intelligence agency to gain power within the Federation too, and to research about biological weaponry. Thanks to this organization you acquired several lethal diseases directed to affect individual species, such as the Blight. The Federation was never aware of their development or we would have never allowed it to happen. But the Empire thinks differently. However, Admiral Ajeya confirms me the Romulan High Command, the Praetor and the Senate were never informed either. So if you are loyal to the Empire, why do you hide to them such strategic values? What is the real purpose you have planned for them?"
"I don't know what you are talking about!" Koval defended himself.
"You liar!" Luther thundered, he took a step forward the Romulan, his hand ready to strike, but stopped in his tracks remembering the cameras.
"And you know nothing of the Jem'Hadar prisoners I hold now, of course" Ajeya mockingly went on. "The ones that Colonel Coltan assures me you ordered tested so you could discover the way their drug worked to create your own army. It could be a powerful force at the service of the Empire, but you never planned to share your discoveries with us, did you?"
Koval was about to reply, but Raghnill was faster and talked for the first time. "The same way you never informed the Continuing Committee about the particular use you were giving to the prisoners of the Empire. You did your first research on genetic enhancement and mental control with our own people!" Raghnill was enraged and let it show. "I don't care if they are prisoners, they are Romulans, damn you! And you sell them to the Orions as slaves! Are they a profitable business, Chairman Koval, sir? Because I don't think you have declared your gains to the Praetor!"
"You would better prove your accusations, Commander!" Koval shouted, and attempted to rise in his fury, but only managed to struggle against his restrains and hurt himself.
"I testify all they say is true," Luther answered, insulting him. "The problem of thinking I was your perfect puppet and I would never rebel. I know of all your dirty businesses and where to obtain the proof."
The look Koval directed to Sloan was one of pure hatred. "Don't dare!" he menaced.
"Why don't we start by the facilities were I was born?" the Human went on ignoring his threat. "Our dear Neutral Zone, Celti system, planet two. The place is only apparently abandoned. Both our elite agents have access to it under your authority, don't they? There are a lot of interesting projects being developed there, none of them with the Empire's authority, of course." Sloan smiled at him with contempt.
Koval seethed, utterly furious; he realized he was sweating under the pressure. He made a note to himself to destroy all the facilities if he had a chance; they alone could condemn him. Again, he stole a furtive look backwards.
Again, Luther noticed, "What are you looking at?'" he snapped.
Ajeya was also speaking at the same time, "So who are you working for? The Klingons? The Breen?"
Raghnill shuddered at the mention of the Klingons; even if the doctors had taken away most of the scars marking her body, her mind still struggled to heal the pain inflicted to her; and her fierce soul could not forget the suffering in the prison camp and still claimed for retribution. No matter what the current political situation said, the Klingons would always remain her bitter enemies; she would love them to be guilty and therefore be given a chance to split their blood again.
Ba'el's alarm raised at the mention of the Breen, though. She never contemplated the possibilty the Klingons could be guilty, but she quickly took on the information they have about the Breen and concluded it was too little, and they have sided with the Dominion against the rest of them during the war.
Saavik did not wait for him to reply and asked her own question instead, "And what about your grandfather Norenci? Who did he work for in Hellguard?"
First, Koval was shocked because of the unexpected question, next he answered feigning incredulity, "That's all you care about, Hellguard."
"It is an important matter to me," Saavik coolly responded.
"And I don't give a damn about that," Ajeya commented, and she kept silent for a moment, waiting to see if Koval contradicted her or not. As he said nothing, she added, "But if you want to know, his grandfather was a nobody. He did nothing noteworthy," Ajeya condescendingly affirmed.
Luther hardly paid attention at their verbal exchange this time, his attention was focused on that point Koval had looked at. He studied the opposite wall and all its ostentatious decoration trying to find something that could draw Koval's interest. And then, he saw it, the small golden clock embedded in a larger silver statue placed upon a table. His mind raced with the possible implications.
He raised his weapon against Koval instead, "The clock. Why are you looking at the clock?" The cold steel in his voice was more dangerous than his former rage.
But Koval was not listening to him either, his eyes were sparkling with fury at the deliberate insult Ajeya made towards his admired grandfather. "My grandfather was greater than you can even start to imagine," he replied.
And unable to refrain himself anymore, he explained to his ignorant audience, "My grandfather was a nobody, you say. But that nobody had once under his command great persons of the Empire: commanders, senators,… they followed him blindly."
Ajeya and Saavik hid their satisfaction and let him go on in silence.
"You want to know what he did in Hellguard? He did everything! It was all his plan. He was the First in the Great Scheme, as they called it. He presented himself and his project without ever giving his true identity and he was followed, because his plan was daring and ambitious, as any Romulan should be. But that pitiful Tahn betrayed him, and his people were arrested and his plans stilled. But he did escape unknowingly to all."
He kept silent then, as if for him everything was said, so Saavik spurred him, "And who did he work for?" "What was his great scheme? Which enemy did your damned grandfather plot for?" Ajeya questioned too.
Koval shook his head in denial, "You soldiers can only think of your banners and your uniforms. The Romulan Star Empire. The United Federation of Planets. You serve them, but my grandfather only served himself." A pause. "He thought of the whole universe and how to dominate it all."
Luther was losing his patience with all the nonsense; just as Koval's grandfather, he only cared about himself. He was tired of following everybody's agenda but his own, and he was not forgetting about the clock.
"Why are you looking at the clock?" he questioned again, brandishing his phaser as if it were a sword. "What's so important about the time?"
Finally, Koval seemed ready to answer him, "The time?" he repeated in a light tone, and suddenly an unwelcomed sound was heard.