Episode 2: Aehaellh

Commander's log, 26.08.17 mRC

The Averrek has completed its survey of the L-52327 system. The temporal anomaly has fully closed, and we are preparing to resume our primary mission.

"Well, Lieutenant?" Zhem prompted.

Shonna was in the Commander's ready room, along with Khoal, N'alae, Markhon, and Lo'mek. "Commander, Ensign Markhon and Chief Lo'mek have been working on decrypting the data we recovered from the Tal Shiar warbird, and they have some interesting preliminary results."

She nodded to Markhon, who continued, "The main body of the data is heavily encrypted and will take time to analyze. But the commander's log and the navigation records were only lightly encrypted, and we were able to access them. The commander's log indicates that the Tormhial likely acquired its supply of red matter from a Tal Shiar research facility identified as 'Aehaellh'."

"Aehaellh!" Khoal repeated, and sat straight upright.

"You are certain, Ensign?" Zhem kept his expression carefully neutral.

"That is how it is identified in the commander's log," Markhon said. "Possibly a code name."

"So it is a real place," Zhem mused. "I half-believed it was a myth."

Shonna looked back and forth from Zhem to Khoal. "You've heard of it?"

"Aehaellh Station," Khoal said slowly, "is reputed to be the Tal Shiar's primary covert operations research facility. The stories about it are legendary, and usually horrifying."

"And not always credible," N'alae interjected.

"It's been a rumor since before the destruction of Romulus," Zhem said. "A place where the Tal Shiar's scientists can work without oversight or ethical limitations. Nobody knows where it is, of course."

"We do now," Lo'mek said flatly. The Reman held up a datapad. "I have analyzed the Tormhial's navigation records, and I can identify every place they have been for the past year. They stopped at Aehaellh nine days ago. It is located in the Hromi cluster, hidden in the outer cometary shell of system 118 Hromi."

"Commander," Markhon said, "we also have the station's access codes. Assuming they have not been changed since the Tormhial's visit."

Khoal smiled at the Klingon, a predatory gleam in his eyes. "Oh, well done, Ensign," he said. "Well done indeed."

"However," Zhem said, "the moment we report this, those codes will become useless. We know there are Tal Shiar infiltrators in Fleet Command. They will report what we have found, and at very least the station will change its access codes. They will more likely abandon the station and destroy it rather than allow us to assault it. We need to keep the knowledge of this to ourselves."

"So we don't tell Fleet Command what we're doing?" Khoal sounded dubious. "So what do we tell them?"

N'alae spoke up. "Commander, the second planet of the 118 Hromi system happens to be one of our survey targets for potential colonization sites."

"Is it now," Zhem mused. "Interesting. That gives us a perfectly plausible excuse for going to that system and poking around."

"So what do we do when we get there?" Shonna asked. "A full-assault boarding party, like on the Tormhial?"

Khoal shook his head. "That station is reported to be huge, and they almost certainly have top-rate security," he said. "We'd need a small fleet to take it by force. No, I'm thinking infiltration by a small team. We disguise ourselves as Tal Shiar scientists. We go in, grab what we can, and beam out before they catch us."

"I suppose, then, that everyone in the boarding team will need to be Romulan," Shonna said.

Khoal nodded. "Or able to pass for Romulan, yes. So Vulcans also. Ensign T'res knows more about red matter than anyone else on this ship, and her general scientific expertise would be a valuable asset on this mission."

Zhem nodded. "Select your team, Khoal. Just be very careful who you select. This entire operation should be kept need-to-know."

"Understood," Khoal said.

Shonna shrugged, and turned to face Markhon and Lo'mek. "Well, Ensign, Chief, it looks like we're the backup plan then."

Khoal raised an eyebrow. "Backup plan?"

"The extraction team that beams in and pulls you out of the fire after your cover gets blown," Shonna explained. "For that, we will need a full assault team."

Khoal grinned. "Right. Best way to be sure we don't need it is to have it ready to go. Meet me in Tactical after we're done here and we'll figure it out."

"Report back to me once you have a plan in place," Zhem said. "N'alae, have the helm set a course for 118 Hromi. Warp 5 - don't make it look like we're in a hurry."

"Understood," N'alae confirmed.

"Dismissed," Zhem said, and they filed out of his ready room.

Shonna and Khoal headed down a corridor towards Tactical, while Markhon and Lo'mek stopped in front of a turbolift. "Why does she keep calling me 'Chief'?" Lo'mek asked as the turbolift doors opened and they stepped inside.

"In Starfleet, it is how we address senior enlisted personnel," the Klingon explained. "Your equivalent rank would be Senior Chief Petty Officer. Possibly even Master Chief Petty Officer."

The Reman pondered that for a moment. "So this is a mark of respect?"

"Very much so," Markhon told him. "Chiefs are highly esteemed for their expertise and experience. I am certain that is how Lieutenant Amass intends it. I know that she holds you in high regard."

Lo'mek nodded, and Markhon thought he detected the ghost of a smile on the taciturn Reman's lips.

Zhem and N'alae walked into the officers' mess for their midday meal. It was crowded, full of Republic and Starfleet officers. A few of the junior officers momentarily snapped to attention when they saw him, before remembering that they were not required to do so in the mess.

Zhem scanned the room, and frowned, noting that the brown and gray Republic uniforms and the black-red-blue-gold Starfleet uniforms were still mostly gathered in discrete groups. "Not as much social integration as I had hoped," Zhem said.

"It has only been a few days," N'alae reminded him. "And there are some friendships forming already. She nodded towards where Eviess and Shonna were eating together; Eviess was laughing at something Shonna had said.

"Well, that's something," Zhem acknowledged. "Still, I'm surprised the Vulcan officers at least aren't mixing with us better." He stared at a table where four Vulcans sat, eating their meal together in silence.

"They seem to be mostly holding themselves aloof even from the other Starfleet officers," N'alae said. "Which, I understand, is actually not uncommon for Vulcans in Starfleet. Although Ensign T'res, at least, appears to be making an effort." She glanced towards where the Vulcan ensign was seated in the midst of a clump of Romulan junior officers who were having a lively conversation.

"Well, it's a start, I suppose," Zhem mused. "Shall we get our food and join Eviess and Shonna?"

A few moments later they carried their trays to the table where the two women sat. Eviess was still giggling as Shonna said, "And the moral of this story is to never give lemonade to a Bolian."

Zhem raised an eyebrow. "Should I ask?"

"Have a seat, Commander," Eviess said, still laughing. "Please, both of you, join us. Shonna was just telling me a highly improbable story about one of her shipmates from when she was an ensign on the USS Mendocino."

"All true," Shonna protested. "She's still banned from Drozana Station."

"For dancing naked on a tabletop?" Eviess grinned at Shonna.

"No, for what she did to the plumbing. Our chief engineer wound up rebuilding their entire waste processing system, but they were still mad about it."

"This 'lemonade' must be powerful stuff," Zhem commented.

"Nope." Shonna held up a glass half-full of a yellow liquid. "It's fruit juice and sugar. I just didn't know what citric acid did to Bolian biochemistry."

"Ah," N'alae said. "Yes, I can see how that would have an intoxicating effect."

"I wound up arresting her just to get her out of there," Shonna said. "Lucky for her our captain decided not to take formal disciplinary action against her. Still, worst first date ever."

"Which implies a second?" Eviess teased.

"Not in this case. I did some research on Bolian physiology after that, and, well, if I'd kissed her I would have wound up in sickbay." Shonna shrugged.

"So, a lesson to be cautious in interspecies socialization, then?" Zhem mused.

"Just that you need to be careful about certain aspects," Shonna told him. "I mean, she and I are still friends."

Zhem nodded. "I suppose Starfleet trains you in how to interact with other species."

"To a certain extent, yes. There's actually a course at Starfleet Academy about it. But most people in Starfleet are xenophiles to begin with. A certain openness to new experiences and different life-forms is part of the psychological profile that the recruiting command screens for. So most of us get along with other species pretty well."

"Even the Vulcans?" N'alae asked.

"Them?" Shonna glanced over at the table of silent Vulcans. "The fact that they're eating here instead of in their quarters makes them highly social by Vulcan standards. Give them time - Vulcans tend to form interpersonal relationships slowly." She shrugged and added, "Don't take Ensign T'res as typical. She's an extreme extrovert for a Vulcan - which makes her only a little reserved by human standards."

Zhem nodded. "My concern, though, is that Republic officers have not had the same training as Starfleet officers. And we are from a culture that has never, at any time, held xenophilia to be a virtue. Quite the opposite."

"But some of us," Eviess interjected, "have managed to make friends with our new shipmates all the same."

"And that's all we ask," Shonna added. "If a few of you give us a chance, it's a beginning."

"Fair enough," Zhem said. "I suppose we have made a good start. Speaking of which, it appears that you and Khoal have resolved at least some of the initial friction between you."

"Some of it," Shonna admitted. "I think he's starting to respect my abilities. And I can certainly respect his - he's an excellent tactician. Maybe in time we'll be friends." She shook her head. "We're not there yet."

"As long as you have a good working relationship, that will be satisfactory. Khoal is also somebody who forms friendships slowly and cautiously."

"But once he does decide he's your friend, then your enemies had better watch their backs," Eviess said, grinning wickedly.

"Good to know," Shonna said.