Eurydice in the Pit, Chapter Four

"The word, Sir?"
"The word... is no. I am therefore going anyway."

-Cmdr. Hikaru Sulu and Adm. James T. Kirk "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock"

---

David Aldair was having a bad day.

He mused on this point as he and his first officer stood at attention in front of the shuttlebay doors, waiting for the bay to repressurize. So far, he had gotten into an argument with the Vulcan Trade Committee over payment for his cargo (and don't think that that wasn't fun), had to walk across Shi'Kahr city at noon to get back to his shuttle, and then he had been up to his elbows in a warp manifold when he'd been told that Starfleet Intelligence was on their way to talk to him.

Fun day.

He was normally a patient man, but Intelligence agents always put him on edge. Nothing personal, it was just that whenever they were out in the open and away from the Remnant, they ran the risk of revealing the Harsesis as a Starfleet ship to the Khanate. If that happened, his crew would be executed and his ship ripped to pieces. The Khanate didn't like Starfleeters terribly much.

Not that he liked Starfleet Intelligence much better.

The light beside the airlock flashed from red to blue, showing pressurization on the other side of the door. With a hiss of air pressure, the door swung open and a woman stepped through and stopped in front of Aldair. Her dark hair was pulled back into an elaborate braid, and almond eyes looked up at him. Aldair wasn't a tall man, just under six feet, but this woman was six or seven inches shorter than he was, not to mention at least twenty-five years younger than his own fifty-six years.

And dressed in the black on black of Starfleet Intelligence.

Aldair drew himself to his full height and saluted, "Captain David Aldair, commanding officer, USS Harsesis. Welcome aboard, ma'am."

"Commander Mitchell Santos, First Officer." The woman barely glanced at Commander Santos' tall form, keeping her green eyes trained on Aldair. His salute never wavered, but he began to feel uncomfortable.

"Serra Asuka." The woman presented a datapad, and Aldair took it. Confirmation of her identity and rank. "As of this moment, I am in command of the Harsesis. I will speak with you in my ready room, Captain. Now."

Aldair watched as Asuka walked off down the corridor towards his ready room, the datapad still in his hand.

Santos gaped. "Sir, did she just...?"

"Yes."

"And are we...?"

"Yes."

"And now...?"

"Excuse me, Commander. I apparently have a meeting to attend to." Aldair left Santos' shocked form behind, his teeth grinding in irritation. Unbelievably, his bad day had just gotten worse.

---

By the time he had arrived at his ready room, Asuka had already seated herself behind his desk and accessed his computer files, analysing them with a critical eye. The kettle was already heating up on the hotpad, a mug of tea sitting beside it, waiting to be prepared. Aldair frowned. Five minutes ago, this had been his office.

"You wanted to see me, ma'am?"

Aldair seethed at how calm his voice sounded. This woman had just taken his ship from him with no explanation, not to mention the fact that she had treated him like an ensign in front of his first officer, and now she had turned his office into someplace uncomfortable. The fact that she looked like she was barely out of her teens just annoyed him all the more.

Asuka glanced up from the computer and lifted a hand, silencing him. "A moment, Captain." The kettle began to whistle, steam pouring from the spout. Turning around, she lifted an elegant hand and turned it off, pouring the water into the waiting mug. Without a word, she replaced the kettle and lifted the mug, holding it double-handed as she returned her attention to the screen. With a final series of keystrokes, she turned the computer around so that Aldair could see the display. "Do you recognize this woman, Captain?"

The face on the screen was that of a woman in her early-thirties, with slightly slanted brown eyes and dark hair cut to her leather clad shoulders. One corner of her lips was raised in a small grin, as if she knew a joke that she wasn't telling. Aldair thought of one of the first rules of interrogation: Never ask a question you don't know the answer to. "Of course I do. Selene Weller, Icarus' captain."

"Hmm. And what do you know of her latest mission, Captain?"

"Not much. I only know that she's in the Sol system, and that I'm supposed to stay here to rendezvous with her when the mission's done."

"Hmm."

Aldair could actually feel his blood pressure rising. Psychology 101: Keep the other person waiting, it keeps you in control. "Has there been a problem with her mission, ma'am?"

Asuka took a sip of tea and set the mug down before answering. "Captain Weller's mission was to destroy the Khanate Communications Array on Earth. Given the fact that Khanate military communications went down two and a half days ago, we can safely assume that the mission was a success. I'm here to reassign you."

"Reassign, ma'am?"

"As soon as Icarus returns, you are to escort Captain Weller back to the Federation Remnant for debriefing."

Aldair frowned. "Ma'am. After rendezvousing with Captain Weller, we were supposed to continue a cargo run to Alpha Centauri in order to maintain cover."

"Not anymore. Starfleet Command has decided that both you and Captain Weller have been away from the Remnant for too long. We would like to know what you have learned about the state of affairs in the galaxy."

"But, ma'am, we could easily submit a report and send it back via shuttlecraft."

Asuka leaned forward, her elbows on the desk. "You don't seem to understand, Captain. This is not a suggestion. You will return to Command. Is that clear?"

Aldair snapped to attention. "Yes, ma'am."

"Very good. Dismissed." She turned the computer back around to face her and took another sip of tea. Aldair spun on his heel and left the room.

Obviously, the discussion was over.

---

"Can't you get any more speed out of this thing?"

Tal tightened his grip on the steering yoke, grimacing as Nyssa nagged behind him. After almost three days, her constant nagging was beginning to get on his nerves. "Fun driving with kids." He muttered under his breath. More loudly, he said "You asked that an hour ago, and the answer now is the same as the answer then. No. The engines are running hot as it is. Do you want to blow up before we get there? Because we'd do the Skipper a lot of good that way."

"Do you have to be so sarcastic?" Nyssa slumped down into her seat, arms folded across her chest, sulking. "I just wish I knew what was going on back there."

"As do we all." Kordath turned in his chair to look at her. The Klingon had been in slightly better spirits since the talk Tal had with him a few days ago, looking more towards the rescue mission ahead rather than the failed mission behind. Honestly, Tal was relieved. Having a miserable Klingon on board was like being caught in a hurricane. Dark, gloomy with lots of things flying around at high speeds.

Nyssa, however, had spent most of the past few days in her sickbay, stocking up, cleaning up and generally doing anything she could to avoid thinking about the Skipper. At this point, sickbay was the cleanest room on the ship, all the tools organized and shined to the point you could see your reflection in them. Tal had stepped in there to tell her they were a few hours out from Vulcan and nearly been blinded by the shine. It had taken half an hour for the afterimage to fade away.

As for himself, he had spent most of his time on the bridge, staring out the windows at the streaking lines of warpspace, keeping silent for once. He'd grown up on the streets of Dhakur province back on Bajor, never having known his parents. The Skipper was the closest thing he'd ever had to a mother and to leave her behind like that... It grated on him.

The flip attitude aside, he was scared to death.

An alarm started beeping on his console, and Tal shook himself out of the thought. Time enough for that... well, never. Flicking a switch, he took a look at the readout. "Here we are. Lady and Gentle-Klingon, welcome to Vulcan, where it's a lovely hundred and fifty degrees in the shade."

Nyssa lifted the subspace radio, clicking the transmitter. "This is the cargo vessel Icarus to Vulcan Orbital Control. Request permission to enter orbit."

The radio was silent for a moment before it crackled. "Cargo vessel Icarus, this is Vulcan Orbital Control. Your arrival is unexpected. Please explain."

Nyssa rolled her eyes. Vulcans. Couldn't they just say yes or no? "Our Captain heard that the cargo hauler Harsesis is in system. She thought that she'd pay a visit if possible." Tal looked over his shoulder at the flimsy excuse. Nyssa just shrugged. Think you can do better? She mouthed. Tal shook his head and turned back to his controls.

"Harsesis is in polar orbit. Please slow to one-quarter impulse for approach."

"Acknowledged, Orbital Control. Icarus clear." Placing the transmitter back on the console, she turned to Tal. "You heard him."

Tal pulled back on a slide, watching as the stars around the ship faded from warp lines back to pinpricks. Vulcan loomed in front of them, it's dusky red form filling the windows. In orbit, ships of various types and sizes flitted around. "Slowing to one-quarter impulse and adjusting course for polar orbit."

Nyssa's console beeped at her, "Khanate vessel on approach!"

Tal bolted upright. "Where the Hell did it come from?"

"Must have already been in orbit. One minute to intercept."

"Tal. Stay the course."

Tal gaped at Kordath, who was simply staring out the window at the approaching Kindjal. "You're kidding me, right?"

"If we run, they will know something is wrong." Kordath shook his head, "At the moment, they may not know who we are and what we have done. Stay the course. If we do not run, they will not pursue."

"Right. Right." Tal gently guided the ship onto the course the Vulcans had laid out for him, heading for the planet's northern pole. Outside, the Khanate ship was close enough that he could see the gunports on it's black surface. With shaking hands, he kept flying in a straight line, watching the ship grow closer with every second. Squeezing his eyes shut, he waited for the inevitable explosion.

The ship sailed right past them.

Opening one eye, Tal looked around. "We still alive?"

Kordath had not even moved from his console. "Apparently."

"Oh." Tal relaxed and opened his other eye. "Good, then." Heart thumping in his chest faster than Icarus could fly, he slumped back in his chair. "Any ideas why that happened?"

Kordath looked over his shoulder at him. "It would be most likely for a Khanate vessel to be in orbit. Vulcan is large trading centre."

"Oh yeah. Okay."

"Hey, guys." Nyssa stood and pointed out the window. "There she is."

Harsesis loomed in front of them, her dull grey hull reflecting the red light of Vulcan's sun. At some point in the past, she had been an Excelsior class ship, and she still had the basic shape, but the modifications and repairs had been so extensive that she barely resembled it anymore. The once curved lower hull was now angled and cut for cargo pods. The right and left nacelles had been replaced years ago and no longer matched the rest of the design.

And this was the pride of Starfleet.

"Tal, bring us alongside the port saucer airlock." Kordath reached for the radio, thumbing the transmitter. "Harsesis, this is Icarus. Respond."

"Icarus, this is Harsesis. Welcome to Vulcan. How was your cargo run?"

All three of them frowned. Kordath re-opened the channel. "Satisfactory. I wish to speak with Captain Aldair."

A pause. "Aldair."

"Captain. This is Kordath."

"Kordath? Where's Selene?"

Kordath growled low in his throat at the question. "May we board, Captain?"

The pause that followed was even longer than the first. "Permission granted. I'll meet you in the mess hall."

"Understood. Commencing approach." Kordath replaced the transmitter and nodded at Tal. Guiding the ship closer to the much larger Harsesis, Tal muttered under his breath. "Oh, this is gonna be fun."

There was that sarcasm again.

---

In her seventy-three years, Nyssa T'Len had been many things. Rebellious child, medical practitioner, slave, and finally shipboard medic and revolutionary. At the moment, however, she was something else entirely.

She was angry.

Her palms slapped down hard on the table as she leaned forward towards Serra Asuka and screamed into her face. "What by the cold fingers of Erebus do you mean 'We're not going back'!"

To her credit, Asuka didn't even flinch. "Exactly what I stated, Ms. T'Len. Icarus and Harsesis are to return home. There is nothing to be gained by this rescue mission."

Her face flushed jade straight to the tips of her pointed ears. "Nothing to be gained...! Nothing to be..." With an inarticulate scream, she cracked the table in half. That got nothing but an arched eyebrow from the Intelligence officer. Small hands grabbed her left arm while much larger ones grabbed her by the right.

"Nyssa! Calm down!"

The Romulan medic struggled against Tal and Kordath's grips, anger quickly rising to bloodlust as her Romulan heritage made it's presence known.

"Nyssa!"

The green haze covering her vision dissipated as Kordath's voice snapped her back to reality. Still breathing hard, she looked at the Klingon, then at Tal. Raising a shaky finger, she pointed at Asuka. "You heard what she said?"

Kordath nodded, "I did."

"And you're not ripping her arms off, why?"

Kordath released her arm and turned back to Asuka, shooting a glance at Captain Aldair, who stood at attention behind the slight woman. Even in her anger, Nyssa could see that Aldair was almost visibly shaking with anger. So why was he agreeing with this... woman? "Might I ask why we are not being allowed to retrieve the Captain?"

"You may ask."

Nyssa broke free from Tal's grip and approached the Intelligence officer. "Might I remind you, Ms. Asuka, that the only Starfleet officer on board Icarus would be the Captain herself. The rest of us are just crew on a cargo ship. We don't have to do what Starfleet Intelligence tells us."

Asuka stood, bringing herself face to face with Nyssa. The short human looked up into Nyssa's eyes, her own green eyes hard. "That may be true, but may I remind you, Ms. T'Len, Icarus is Starfleet property. You may go wherever you wish. Your ship, however, will remain here. Good day." And with that, Asuka left the mess hall.

Nyssa spun on Aldair, hair flying out behind her. "Captain!"

Aldair lifted his hands in the air, his palms splayed towards her. "I know. I know. I want to go back for her, too. Selene's like my daughter, you think I want to leave her there?" He seemed to deflate before their eyes, hanging his head. "But I have my orders. And I am Starfleet."

Aldair turned and walked away, closing the mess hall hatch behind him and leaving the three members of Icarus' crew alone.

Tal pulled a chair out from a table and sat down, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "So. What now?"

Nyssa slumped in a chair of her own, kicking at the broken table. "Well, we're obviously not going to get any help from Starfleet. Surprise, surprise."

Kordath remained silent, staring at the hatch that led into the rest of the ship. Suddenly, he spun around and threw a chair against the wall, watching it shatter and dent the bulkhead. Both Nyssa and Tal jumped, staring as the debris fell to the floor. "may'meyDajvo' Haw'be' tlhIngan!" Wild eyes met the others. "I did not come all this way to merely leave her behind! I gave my oath that we will return, and I intend to do so, with or without the Harsesis!

"She has bled for us, can we do any less for her?"

Nyssa shook her head. "I'm not going to leave her back there." They both turned and looked at Tal, who shrugged.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm about to take up theft again?"

---

Aldair stood at the door, listening to the discussion. He had returned when he heard the table strike the wall, and stopped at the sound of their voices. Casting a glance over his shoulder at the hallway Asuka had vanished down, he walked away in the other direction.

After all, it wasn't as though he had heard anything worth reporting.

With a smile, he began to walk towards the bridge. It seemed as though his day had just gotten a little better.

---

Asuka stepped into the darkened quarters she had adopted aboard the Harsesis and closed the hatch behind her. Secure in the darkness, she mentally counted to ten before she relaxed, feeling the shivers come over her and her breath shorten. The pain began deep in her stomach, tearing outwards as though it were a creature trying to get free. Gasping, she dropped to her knees and pulled herself along the floor towards the case she had brought along on the shuttle. With shuddering hands, she opened the lid and dropped the contents onto the floor.

A half dozen cylindrical pills spilled out onto the deck, rolling away from her. Desperately grabbing at one, she lifted it to her lips and swallowed, the pain vanishing almost instantly. Lying on her back, she allowed the slight feeling of euphoria to wash over her as she felt the change begin deep in her cells, altering her genetic structure.

Alone in the dark room, she began to laugh.

"All for you. All for you. All for you."

Author's Notes:

Sheesh, I feel like I'm on a roll here, hopefully making up time for that MAJOR hiatus between "To Stand on the Edge of Forever" and "Eurydice in the Pit".Grayangle, as far as Jason's future is concerned, you'll have to watch and see. The only promise I can make is that it's not going to be pretty, even if it is interesting.

References used for this chapter: Thank heaven for small favours like Marc Okrand's Klingon Dictionary and "The Klingon Way: A Warrior's Guide". may'meyDajvo' Haw'be' tlhIngan! Translates to "A Klingon does not run away from his battles". Thank you, Mr. Okrand.