Short Treks
"Loyal Until Death"
A Star Trek Online Fanfiction
Hobus System
Devron Sector, Iota Pavonis Province, Beta Quadrant
-03:00 from Hobus Incident
On the Imperial Romulan Warbird Haapax, a Tal'Shiar officer started her day.
Rise out of bed, and start her regime with the prescribed Tal'Shiar calisthenics. A sonic shower. A micrometre hair follicle adjustment of her regulation haircut and eyebrows, and dilapidation everywhere else. Sonic toothbrush cleaning. Skin cleanse and rejuvenation treatment. A breakfast of plo'meek broth and a quadrotriticele wafer with a kava juice on the side. Reading the morning dispatches, orders, and updates on the myriad of political and security concerns of a remote, unstable star system.
Routine was essential to her rehabilitation, so her psychiatric officer told her years ago when she experienced postpartum depression. Establish a routine and stick to it. Focuses the mind away from her troubles so she can focus on her duty. Same morning routine. Same breakfast. Same exercises.
She needed to complete the last part of her morning ritual. One uniform, smartly pressed, laid out on a table in her bedroom. It was the new pattern Tal'Shiar uniform. Gone were the massive, bulky shoulderpads and dreary greys of the old pattern. Now the shoulders were tapered and pointed, its grid patterns changed to a darker shade, pearlescent in tones of violet and rainbow when shifting in the light, like a star-filled night. She pulled the uniform on, checking each crease and seam for the right alignment. When satisfied, she put on the chest belts and crest of her office. That much didn't change. The belts felt like bondage when worn, but gave the uniform menace and authority to anyone who saw it.
She was the Haapax' political officer and had to present a smart, professional image.
When the image wasn't enough, she always had force. She buckled a plasteel holster to her belt. Consisting of a rigid frame open to the bottom and back, the design made sliding her disruptor pistol easy, and drawing the weapon to test the mechanisms as simple as grabbing the pistol grip and pushing downward.
Satisfied, she snapped the disruptor pistol back in its holster.
Her ritual had a slight break in routine. Her outside communication allotment was due and she wanted to spend it contacting her daughter. Factoring for time discrepancies between two different star systems, best she could gain was ten minutes communication time before her shift started.
She was all the more glad for her routine. She wanted to impress the one person in her life that mattered more than her duty.
She patched into the communications network and waited as her call was routed to Romulus.
The screen winked to existence. A husband and wife, two decades older as shown by the signs of middle age, cradled a bouncing girl on their laps. The couple were similar to the Tal'Shiar agent, with similar jet black hair and hawkish faces. It was the girl who was mismatched. She had her mother's strong, alert face, but her features were smoothed out. Her forehead ridges were less pronounced, almost invisible under the skin. Her eyes were green as grass, not the hazel commonly associated with the family. And her hair was a fine russet.
She had more than her father's heritage in her face. She also had exuberance. "Momma!" She cried out while reaching for the screen.
"Nuhir!" The Tal'Shiar officer leaned over and meet the child's cheek.
She planted a kiss on the monitor, received with joy from light years away.
"I miss you momma!" Nuhir declared, sadness seeping into her childlike joy.
"I know. I miss you too." The officer soothed. "I miss you with all my heart. But you know I'll be back! How many cycles until we're together again?"
Nuhir's face scrunched as she thought about the question. She counted on her fingers, first one, then the other. When the answer came to her she smiled again, driving away the sadness. "Ten cycles!"
"Very good!" She blew a kiss for Nuhir, who mimed snatching it and planting it on her cheek. "And where are we going to meet?"
The answer came quicker. "Rator III!"
"That's right! Can you be a good girl until then?"
"Yes!" Nuhir mocked a salute, an adorable facsimile of the one done by the Tal'Shiar.
"Alright then. Now get ready for pre-school. I have to talk to your uncle Da'el and aunty Teris about our trip."
"Already?" Her child mind tried to look away, but kept a brave face. She didn't know much about the communications rationing, or her mother's secrecy, only that fussing didn't lengthen the calls any longer. She settled for a smile. "Love you, momma!"
"Love you too! I'll see you soon. Ten cycles. Now hustle!"
The young girl bounced off her aunt and uncle's laps and ran off. With Nuhir away, all the adults on the stream relaxed. They were more businesslike, but kept the familiarity and friendliness.
"She does miss you, Atole."
"I know Teris. I wish I could see her more, but my assignment doesn't allow much time for family." She looked away from the monitor and blinked fiercely. Once done, she returned her attention. "I don't know what I'd do, or what Nuhir would do, without either of you. I'm grateful you can give her a home and some stability."
Da'el spoke up. "We don't mind, really. We're grateful for the chance to help raise her. She's a sweet child, and very bright. Why, just yesterday she identified her first constellation. Aehir the Hunter, believe it or not."
Atole's eyebrow raised. "Indeed. That's a difficult one to spot."
"Always suspected she was smart since she first figured out how to stop the mobile over her crib. Pre-school's thinking of advanced placement." Da'el grunted laughter. "We were never that brilliant. Must be the human side of her."
Atole flushed, but felt just as droll. "Trust me, humans are no more brilliant than any of us. It's all her."
"However she gets it doesn't matter. We're proud of her." Teris spoke up. "And we can't wait for you to visit again. Your handlers don't give you enough time off."
Atole found herself nodding with Teris. "Agreed, but we all knew the sacrifices I had to make for the state. My duties with the Tal'Shiar are important. If the Empire needs me more as a Tal'Shiar agent than they do as a mother then so be it. It's the sacrifice we make when we take the oath and wear the uniform."
"We're not disputing that." Da'el interjected. "But what could they have you doing that they can't spare you for a more than a fortnight?"
Atole took the question with good humor. "Now brother, you know they do not allow me to disclose any details of my assignment."
The Hobus system was a resource rich solar system close to the homeworld, but closed off to civilian traffic. There were Romulan naval vessels, to which the Haapax was a part, and the occasional mining guild vessel extracting some of the rare resources in-system. The Hobus system owed its secrecy to the dominating presence of the Tal'Shiar. There were research facilities on Hobus II and III headed by the Empire's espionage agency, some involving projects so classified even Atole didn't have the clearance to learn what the projects were about.
But she learned details, such as the mining vessel Narada searching for decalithium, and the import of huge quantities of protomatter to one of the system's research facilities.
The signs pointed towards top secret weapons research.
There was good reason to place such research on Hobus. It was close to the capitol. The star showed the first signs of a supernova in progress, thereby the whole star system was undesirable real estate. Starships avoided the area as much as they could, only being there under direct supervision. Any fallout from weapons research wouldn't matter in a dangerous star system, while its results could easily be sent to the capitol.
Why she was sent here was the reason she kept her peace. She'd already been disgraced before thanks to a relationship with a human whom she couldn't bring over to the Empire's side. The Tal'Shiar normally didn't punish failure so lightly as to send a failed operative, with a bastard child no less, to keep the peace and loyalty of the state on a naval vessel protecting a research and testing area. It was too sensitive an assignment. So it was either a second chance or a trap.
Any breach of secrecy would dealt with harshly, so Atole kept what few secrets she had, played the perfect Tal'Shiar officer, and kept her ears open for what happens next.
She wasn't going to risk her second chance, or trigger the trap, by being indiscreet.
"All I can tell you is what I've been told. It's for the Empire, and it's important." She declared.
"It must be." Da'el nodded in agreement. "It would explain why they keep you away from your family for so long."
"A problem remedied in ten days time." The chronometer flashed a warning. "My talk time is almost over. I'll see you on Rator III! Goodbye!"
"Goodbye!" The couple called out before the feed was cut.
It was time to go to her duty station.
-2:00 Hours Until Hobus Incident
A perfect appearance and perfect adherence to Tal'Shiar doctrine didn't imply she was perfect. She still had a heart, and it came out each morning on the turbolift.
"Subcommander Tekri."
Atole shared her turbolift commute with the same man. He was professional by Navy standards, though lax by the exacting metrics of the Tal'Shiar. He didn't have the prescribed bowlcut, rather his black hair was cut millimetres short to the side and through what remained of his widow's peak, like the emperors of old. The rest of him was replicated from a military poster; square jaw, pursed lips, stern eyes and high cheekbones. He was tall but not too tall, muscled but not too muscled. He wore his navy grey uniform as immaculate as her Tal'Shiar twilights.
She found his company welcome, even though the rivalry between Tal'Shiar and Romulan Navy officers kept most crew at a distance. They shared a lot in common, if in different degrees. Similar hobbies. Similar work ethic. Similar professionalism. And the same passions that obliterated it when they had free time together.
Atole wished he could come with her to Rator III, but their duty schedules didn't permit it.
Perhaps the next ship rotation? One could hope. It's been years since her last relationship, and it was with her daughter's father. As disruptive as the relationship was, it was long gone. The human had his life, and she and Nuhir had hers. They were both recovering in their own way, his with another alien, and her with her new partner.
"Subcommander tr'Khellian." Atole shifted herself closer. "Did you not say last night we were past greeting by rank?"
"I might have, Atole." His tone was confident and suggestive. "But one must keep appearances. We do not want the ship gossiping, do we?"
Atole smirked. The flirtatious exchange was a game they both played and enjoyed. "It would not do us well if our indiscretion spread salacious rumors, Taev. It is a good thing regulations on fraternization are relaxed when posted to such isolated facilities. Who knows how many I'd have to arrest for not keeping their hands off each other?"
"You'd have to send the whole ship to the gulags, save the Captain." Taev relaxed against the turbolift wall. "And maybe arrest the all the other crews in our picket as well."
"That I leave to the other political officers." Atole planted a hand on her hip and crooned. "In the meantime you're my problem. What shall I do about you and your incorrigible sexual harassment?"
"Care for a little sparring after our shift?"
"It's a date. Winner buys the kali-fal."
"H'naev. I'll have to pay for another bottle." Taev chuckled as he panned down her body, his eyes settling down to her hips. "You still wear that contraption?" He asked as his focus settled on the disruptor holster. "Not exactly standard issue."
"I'm already submitting the patent for this 'non-standard issue' holster, and if the Tal'Shiar adopt it I might pay for a vacation to Virinaat. Something to think about."
"If it means you in a swimsuit and me along to enjoy the view then I'll be thinking about it plenty."
The turbolift shuttered, decelerating. "Well it's time to think of our duty. Let's see what the new day brings."
"Another day watching a star slowly kill itself. How amusing." He remarked, sardonically.
Tekri laughed. "At least we'll have plenty of warning time, and we're faster than any shockwave."
The turbolift doors slid open. Tekri and tr'Khellian entered the Haapax' bridge. Under dark lit conditions, a handful of bridge crew worked at their stations. In the captain's chair was Commander Vestok. Considerably older than her rank implied, the Commander lounged in her chair and watched the viewscreen."
Commander Vestok was lax in protocol, but a dedicated officer. That much Atole's observations over the past several months told her. It was why Atole looked the other way at her Captain's minor breaches of protocol and several outspoken criticisms of the way the Empire operated. Were she not so good at commanding her officer's loyalty she would have long since cashiered out of the service. Even the navy didn't reward officers that put their crew above the state.
And she could tell Commander Vestok was worried about something. She watched a solar flare erupt in real time, and didn't speak until it dissipated into space.
"Subcommander tr'Khellian. Subcommander Tekri." The Commander's eyes settled suspiciously on Atole. "In together on time, as usual. If I did not know any better, I would think you were subverting my chief engineer."
Tekri wasn't ruffled by the Commander's insinuation. Part of being Tal'Shiar was being in control, and acting above reproach. They were not just an arm of the state. They were the state, and conducted themselves accordingly. She meet the Commander with a stern look. "I assure you, if there was reason to do so you would be the last to know. After all, we all serve the same masters."
"That we do, Subcommander Tekri. That we do." She swivelled her chair to face the two officers. "We received a communication from Hobus II. They'll be conducting a weapons test in two hours... against my better judgement."
"Why do you say that, Captain?" tr'Khellian inquired.
Vestok took another look at the viewscreen. "I don't like the way the star is acting today, and neither does the science department. They're claiming the weapons test will detonate a small-yield protomatter warhead over the star's corona."
Tr'Khellian spoke up. "Sounds risky. Why?"
"Star stabilization experiments." Commander Vestok voice held an edge of skepticism. "I don't understand it, but the science department says it's theoretically possible, but don't know how. We don't have access to the facility's research to complete the picture. Subcommander Tekri, I have a favor to ask."
"What is it, Commander?"
"I want you to make an inquiry. Ask them exactly how they'll conduct this experiment. See if there's any risk to the ship."
"Why would there be any risk to the ship?"
"Because we've been ordered to hold station and observe the results."
Unusual orders, Tekri thought, but she was no physicist. She was a political compliance officer. Science was well out of her specialty.
But she knew enough that protomatter was dangerous material, and lobbing some at an unstable star was risky.
Commander Vestok handed tr'Khellian a PADD. "Adjustments required for the sensor array. See that it's done."
"Sir!" tr'Khellian and Tekri saluted.
Tekri and tr'Khellian pivoted on their heels and were making a quick exit when Vestok called, "Subcommander Tekri, a moment."
Atole stopped and turned back around. She caught the sympathetic wince of Taev before he closed the turbolift door.
She marched to Commander Vestok. "Commander? How may I be of assistance?"
Commander Vestok rose out of her seat. Her grey eyed look, directed to Atole, was pensive. "Subcommander, I know you Tal'Shiar exist outside the naval chain of command. That is necessary for you to execute your duties. I also know any co-operation between our chains of command are strictly at the other's permission."
Atole shifted uncomfortably. Putting such emphasis on the Tal'Shiar and Navy's separate but together command structure meant a potential conflict of interest. Vestok was a rebellious commander, but not a foolish one. She wouldn't stick her neck out this far unless she was truly bothered. And it bothered Atole.
Vestok continued, "However, I must know if this experiment poses any risk to the Haapax. I know we have our duty to the state, but my duty also extends to the over one thousand officers and enlisted personnel of this very vessel, and I've taken the naval vow to protect and lead them without undue waste or sacrifice."
Vestok clasped Tekri's arm in an iron grip. "We are no good to the state if our ship succumbs to a disaster."
The words struck as hard as Vestok's talons. Atole saw the desperation and fear in Vestok's eyes, like a caged bird seeing the butcher's block.
Vestok's hand let go of Tekri's arm. She spoke more softly, gently. "You are a member of this crew, irregardless of the chain of command you follow. You have become a part of us over the past several months. You have become a comrade with many of my crew, and you've dealt with more fairly than any Tal'Shiar officer. I know you care about the crew and this ship, so please keep that in mind as you make your inquiries."
Tekri stammered, "Yes Commander."
"Carry on."
Atole Tekri marched rapidly to the turbolift and ordered sharply to go to her office on deck 12. When the door closed and the turbolift shot her through the ship, she exhaled and ventilated violently.
She could have Vestok arrested on suspicion based on questioning orders alone, so asking for Tekri's help was like a desperate cry for help.
It brought to question what Vestok knew, or what Atole did not.
Were they really in danger? Atole suspected risk, but never thought the Tal'Shiar would willingly put them in such a risky position.
Now she wasn't so sure.
-01:00 Hours Until Hobus Incident
She waited at her desk impatiently while her inquiry went through the proper channels.
It was a simple enough request. She requested information on today's experiment, a risk assessment to the Haapax, and lastly, any clarification to their orders to keep the Haapax on station.
The wait was agonizing, but she eventually got an answer, from Colonel Ha'keev himself.
"Experiment details are classified above top secret. Your request for information has been denied."
Atole was disappointed, but hardly surprised. Most Tal'Shiar operations were above top secret. Most were told to trust their higher up's orders, as risk assessments were always calculated by the one above. So, she wondered, what did the risk assessment have to say.
"Fluctuating radiation readings from Hobus star already anticipated by our predictive models. Aside from shield frequency adjustments, risk assessment is minimal. Tell Commander Vestok to stop worrying, stop aiming the ship's sensors at the test site, and stop inundating me with requests."
What she read next gave her pause.
"Commander Vestok has been a vocal critic of our experiment and has petitioned to her chain of command and ours about its nature. She has not been authorized to know any more than we already told her. You will speak no further details to the crew. They are to inquire no further."
And the next part stabbed a dagger of panic into her heart.
"You and the crew of the Haapax are to remain on board. If any member of the crew fails to follow the ship's orders regarding holding station and acting as a sensor platform during the experiment, you are authorized to execute them on the spot. Any attempt at abandoning the ship will result in immediate fire from Hobus II's defenses."
"What kind of insanity is this?" She whispered. She heard of such orders, and had practiced them in drill, but none of her colleagues could ever recall having to do them in practice. It was too fantastical to imagine.
"Commander Vestok is well aware of our orders, and knows the Haapax is not authorized to leave the system until we clear her to do so. If she attempts to break her orders, you are to execute her at once and take command of the vessel. Do your duty. Know what's at stake is the future of the Romulan Star Empire. Loyalty until death."
Loyalty until death.
It was Tal'Shiar code to tell their agents not to expect survival.
She leaped out of her chair, breathing in and out deeply to tamp down the bubbling panic consuming her. The Haapax was not just in danger. It was the first in the firing line!
The part that still rationalized couldn't believe the Tal'Shiar would waste lives. There were times sacrifice was necessary, and the Tal'Shiar weren't shy about it. Yet it was always logical, a few died to save hundreds. Hundreds died to say thousands. Or millions. The stakes were always measured and the cheapest possible outcome was found.
Loyalty until death could mean the Haapax was to stay in station until the star exploded.
Or it was for Tekri to carry out her orders.
Even if the star didn't explode or the protomatter didn't cause some accident destroying the Haapax, it still left her against an entire ship. Her orders didn't allow escape, so she couldn't leave the ship to its devices. She couldn't guarantee compliance, even if she was part of the crew for months. Commander Vestok was popular with her crew. Moving against the Captain could buy time for Haapax to carry out her orders, at least as long as the experiment takes. She could kill the Captain, and even if she managed to kill the bridge crew, most willing to come to her aid, Atole's best case scenario saw herself buying three hours until the rest of the crew eventually killed her.
She didn't want to execute her orders. Professional distance be damned! She loved the ship and the crew. Her tendency to have emotional attachments to her charges was her persistent weakness. Same as it was with Vestok, with tr'Khellian, with the crew of the Haapax.
It was also the same with the human, and on reflection, it led to disgrace and a rehabilitation of her mind and her career that hadn't recovered until recently.
The Tal'Shiar, despite her history, trusted her enough to carry out such weighty orders.
She drew her disruptor, checked the power cell charge, and snapped it back in its holster.
She would do what she must.
-0:15 Until Hobus Incident
Steeling herself to do her duty wasn't easy. It took two slugs from the bottle of romulan ale stashed in her desk to numb her nerves and settle her stomach.
She took the turbolift back to the bridge, and walked into an argument in progress.
"You heard what they said. Stop asking and follow orders!" Taev shouted over the mass. His face was green with anger.
The chief science officer shouted back, "And if they load it with any more protomatter it'll go up and take the whole system with it!"
The shouting match was interrupted by Atole's shrill whistle. Everyone froze in place when they saw the Tal'Shiar agent. Even Uhlan Setak, the normally reserved science officer who found the mental fortitude to argue the loudest.
Now all the officers looked like they were guilty of something.
Except Commander Vestok. Who had eyes focused on the Tal'Shiar agent.
"I assume you were arguing about the experiment?" Atole paced around the bridge, giving the half dozen officers inside each a share of her disapproving attention. "Doubting the research facility's reasoning. Doubting the infallibility of the Tal'Shiar?" She settled on Uhlan Setak. The science officer was on the cusp of fear and defiance. "I understand there is doubt bordering on sedition. I am here to put an end to these fears and end the speculation. Because all you have is speculation, nothing more. Any attempt to turn that speculation into panic will not end well for any of you!"
Commander Vestok wasn't intimidated. "Then you have news."
"Yes I do, Captain." She took her eyes off Uhlan Setak, and onto Commander Vestok. "We will not be provided any more details on the experiment, nor will we pry into the affairs of the research time or the Tal'Shiar. We are to stay in station and provide sensor data. Colonel Ha'keev will not clear us to leave the system, but he assures us the experiment presents a... negligible risk to the ship."
It was as if the room exploded, with each officer attempting to cram their objections in before Atole cut them off. "FURTHER MORE I am instructed to ensure discipline is maintained and orders are carried out. You do not need to speculate what happens if you don't." For emphasis, she taps the hard shell of her disruptor pistol. She scanned the room, now full of hostile, conflicted faces, and back to Commander Vestok, the only tranquil face in the room. "That is all I was given, Commander. Your orders?"
Uhlan Setak found his courage again. "Commander! If we listen to the Tal'Shiar ve'ruul we will die!"
Atole's hand hovered over the pistol, but she held back. A look from Commander Vestok was all it took to stay her hand.
Uhlan Setak, flushed with sweat, pleaded, "Our sensors detected a tenfold increase in the amount of protomatter loaded into the test vehicle. Considering the star's activity, they could inadvertently detonate the star! Not to mention protomatter detonations disrupting subspace. We could be looking at warp-capable kinetic shockwave aimed at our most vital worlds. Even Romulus and Remus could be affected! Please, we must stop this test immediately!"
Commander Vestok raised her hand. "Thank you, Uhlan Setak. That will be all."
"But sir..."
"Is there a guarantee this will happen?"
Setak sputtered, "I cannot be certain, but the possibility is too big to..."
"That will be all." Vestok's stern statement ended Setak objection. He sat down, fuming.
Vestok waited for silence. Her focus was on Atole Tekri. Not on the Tal'Shiar officer's pistol, but her eyes.
"It seems I have a difficult choice." Commander Vestok crossed her fingers together and leaned forward. "On one side, I have our orders. Instructed to follow like they were from the Navy itself but not from our chain of command. And they are telling us everything is fine and not to worry, despite evidence to the contrary, with claims they know something we do not, and we should trust their judgement. On the other, I have my experts, though not a specialist in the field, is nonetheless knowledgeable enough to know the experiment could be disastrous, but does not have a complete picture nor any guarantee their dire predictions will come true. One decision could possibly see the ship destroyed. The other no doubt will see us live, but we either face punishment for disobeying orders if we're right, or embarrassment for being wrong, followed by the same punishment."
Vestok rose out of the captain's chair. She was nose to nose with Tekri. "Subcommander, if I were to disobey orders you could try to stop me. However, I believe you to be a rare specimen among the Tal'Shiar. I believe you are an officer of moral and ethical fortitude. This extends to questioning even the orders of the Tal'Shiar. Therefore if I ask for your honest assessment, I believe you will give it to me. Tell me, Subcommander, and be candid because the lives of my crew are at stake. Is there any discernible reason why we should be here besides orders?"
Atole saw the faces of the crew, a mix of resolve, to who's side she could not tell, or indecision. She thought of the crew, her comrades. Thought of the families they left behind. Thought of her own family. Her daughter. A daughter who could be orphaned minutes from now.
Atole already made her decision, seeing years of rehabilitating her image with the Tal'Shiar crumble to ruin.
She also saw her only chance of seeing her daughter again.
"I do not know." Atole confession ripped through the bridge crew like a crackle of electricity. "The Hobus facilities have all the sensor platforms they need, and we have relays to the homeworld for any data transmission. We are literally redundant. We could still execute our primary objective of system protection while travelling a safe distance from the star. I see no logical reason why we should remain here."
"My sentiments exactly." Commander Vestok declared. "If we were to take station in Hobus' Van Allen belt, would you prevent us from doing so?"
Atole felt her future sinking away. "I would not, Commander Vestok."
Some of the bridge crew looked relieved, others scared. Atole looked to Subcommander tr'Khellian, who remained stone faced. She felt a surge of disappointment, wishing Taev would show some inkling of moral support. There was none. The same strong, imperious facial default worn by officers afraid to show their true colors. "Damn you Taev! I need you more than ever!"
Commander Vestok was more than prepared to show her support with a rare and open smile. "Very good, Subcommander. Everyone, as loyal as we are to the state, we are still naval officers. We do not waste lives needlessly, or do we blindly follow orders to the detriment of the Empire. Our situation poses a grave threat to this ship, the star system, and possibly areas outside of it. Therefore I'd rather be cautious and wrong than to be right and dead. My orders are as follows. We will set course for the Van Allen belt, full impulse, then set course for Romulus at warp five, under cloak. We will tell our side of the story. If news gets out the Tal'Shiar attempted to detonate a dangerous weapon near an unstable star we may find safety in our own chain of command, as well as the public scrutiny the Tal'Shiar will suffer as a result. Subcommander Tekri, you are taking a big risk. We can make it look like you were captured or cohersed."
"No." Atole stated firmly. "This was my decision. I accept it and all the consequences. Otherwise my daughter might find out and think me a coward. What kind of example would I be then?"
Vestok's eyebrow raised. "A Tal'Shiar officer with a conscience? Very well, Subcommander Tekri. Set course. Prepare to depart in..."
"Sir!" The helm officer yelled. "Helm is not responding. I'm locked out!"
"What?!" Vestok shot an accusatory look at Tekri, who returned it with one of confusion. "Ops, see about rerouting helm control."
The operations officer tapped his console, and it chirped a rejecting note. "Non responsive."
"Tactical!"
The same forlorn lockout chirp meet the tactical officer when his finger stabbed on the console. "I'm locked out too."
Uhlan Setak shouted, "Science is locked out as well!"
Vestok screamed, "Subcommander tr'Khellian!"
She was met with silence.
"Subcommander tr'Khellian! Find out who sabotaged my ship and fix it now!"
Atole's eyes grew wide when Taev drew his disruptor pistol.
By the time Atole's hand closed on her weapon's grip tr'Khellian had the pistol aimed at Commander Vestok's chest. The Captain was also drawing her pistol, but was much too slow. Tr'Khellian's pistol screeched. An emerald beam punched through Vestok's torso at center mass.
Her hand was on the grip when tr'Khellian's second shot screamed past her head. She felt the heat and heard the disruption. The shot missed her, but it wasn't meant to take her head off. Tr'Khellian aimed for Uhlan Setak, the science officer fumbling for his pistol, and cauterized a smoking hole through his head.
Tekri pushed down on the grip. The pistol's safety released, the power cell engaged, and the first charge primed as it was freed from its unique holster in one single, swift motion.
Atole was faster on the draw, and much more efficient. She shot as tr'Khellian found his next target, her!
Her first shot fired wild from the hip and caught the meat of tr'Khellian's thigh. He staggered and bellowed, but it didn't stop him from pulling the trigger. Tekri's shoulder erupted in fire and pain. She was blinded by the overload of agony and panic. Tr'Khellian shot the wrong shoulder. Tekri was still armed. Pressing the trigger furiously she blazed shots at the chief engineer. He took a disruptor bolt to the stomach, another burned through his chest and hit his left lung. Tekri felt plumes of fire sear her collarbone and the center of her ribcage and out her back. As if her skeleton turned to jelly, all her weight fell out from under her and she collapsed to the floor. Tr'Khellian slammed backwards into his own console then fell face first, his body wracked with spasms.
The pain was brief through the lower half of her. Her upper body was agony incarnate like a hot sun, turned to sunset as she felt herself grow cold.
She could imagine tr'Khellian going through a similar experience.
Which to her was too good for her lover, all things considered.
"Bastard." Tekri shivered. She tried to move but couldn't. The pain was too great, and her lower body wouldn't respond.
Tr'Khellian cough-wracked words ejected flecks of green blood. "You're weak. Too much heart. Didn't think you'd do it."
"Didn't think you would either, Taev. You're good."
"Have to be, for one to watch one of our own."
"You're Tal'Shiar?" Atole rasped.
Taev laughed through his spasms. "You even slept with me, and you never knew. You ve'ruul." A hacking fit cut him off. "You were a failure. A disgrace. So's most of this crew. That's why you're here, you're all here. Keep the navy's attention on you so they wouldn't know it was me. Keep the troublemakers isolated. Then see them gone as we build the future. They fell for it, and you didn't have a clue."
Atole groaned and retorted, "Who's dumber? The woman who fell for it, or the man who stayed to die for his master's orders?"
Tr'Khellian laughed. "Loyalty until death. But if it's any consolation... you stopped my escape."
"Really?" She sniffed. Her vision was fading. She could hardly see the tactical officer and ops chief check her pulse and patch her wounds. Her words were slurring. Consciousness was harder to keep. "Is it worth it? All this?"
His laughter mixed with muscle spasms and shivering. "We'll suffer for a time, but at the end of it we'll be more in control than ever. Ha'keev will see to it... it will be... worth..."
Tekri heard nothing more from the lover who betrayed her, and the crew.
She couldn't hear much else. She felt the mood of panic from the surviving bridge officers, catching small, ragged pieces of their attempts to override the computer lockouts.
"Take... shuttles..." she called out in her delerium.
The last sensation she felt as her body grew colder and her breathing pulsed weaker, was a tremendous rumbling and a bright, white light.
Was it the Great Bird taking her to paradise?
Or the Hobus star coming to smash the Haapax?
Her last thought was her daughter Nuhir before the light and sound swallowed her whole.
0:00 Hours, and After
A protomatter weapon detonated into the heart of the Hobus star.
The experiment went as intended.
For a brief period of time, one of the Hobus research facilities activated an Iconian gate using the boundless energy released from the star's final gasp. Few would escape through the activated portal. Their re-emergence years later a subject of much debate.
As for everyone else they were swept by the destructive power of the Hobus supernova.
Uhlan Setak's prediction came true. The protomatter disrupted subspace, propelling the shockwave to warp speeds.
It was impossible for the Romulan Star Empire to react rapidly enough.
The first dead were the crew of the I.R.W. Haapax, who stayed until the very end, relaying sensor data later used to stop its cataclysmic path. Their sacrifice would be celebrated by the Imperial Romulan Empire, and questioned by the Romulan Republic years later. Same was held true for several other naval vessels in the area, deployed too close to the supernova, leaving only one vessel to have information on the star system and what happened.
Its captain wasn't willing to co-operate in any investigation. He and his crew shaved their heads, donned the facial tattoos of mourning, and robbed a secret weapons facility during the height of the empire's collapse. His ship, the Narada, would eventually be declared missing, but not after the Narada's rampage cut a path of destruction through Romulan and Federation space. The rampage did not stop until a Federation ambassador sacrificed himself to stop the destruction, though it resulted in the disappearance of the ambassador's ship, and the pursuing Narada.
But that was after the destruction of Romulus, Remus, and many other coreworlds of the Romulan Star Empire, one of many events during the chaotic times of the collapse.
In those event was swept a young girl who lost her mother at zero hour, then her guardians in the tumultuous events thereafter.
She, raised far away from home, later repatriated to a new Romulan Republic. Like many in the universe, she wouldn't learn the truth about the Hobus incident until much later. By then, what was left to matter was the example of her mother, who showed how one proved loyal without compromising principles, even in the face of certain death.
It was an example which served her well during the horrors to follow.