Chapter Nine: Cloaks of Deception
Mission
The Kraylor is en route to the upcoming Alliance meeting on Narendra III, having just finished a transaction with a Yridian trader. While the cargo's contents remain shrouded in mystery the Kraylor's commander, Daimon Tierzak, assured the crew that it is vital to the mission he and the Cardassian Gul Duren started.
Mission Date:
105th day in the 2369th of Molar
With a hand on a container Tierzak looked around the room with a sweeping gaze, taking in all the cargo that the room held. Soon this cargo would prove very helpful in his and Gul Duren's quest. No one knew it either, and that was probably the best part of this plan. After all how could some seemingly busted scraps of technology that he bartered off an old Yridian help him and his Cardassian ally to take down the Overseer? That only he knew, but the others would know soon enough.
All of that was in the future though, and for the moment he needed his mind on the present. As he made sure that the last of the cargo containers was secure the bay's door opened behind him and in walked his first officer. An agitated look was displayed on the Ferengi officer's face and he carried a small P.A.D.D. in his right hand. With a slight smile Tierzak took the P.A.D.D. from his officer and took one last look around the room before he gestured for them to depart.
Outside of the room a young and nervous looking Ferengi stood there with a standard issue phaser rifle. "Ensign, see that no one enters this room except me. I don't want our cargo to be disturbed until the conference."
"Yes of course sir!" the young officer said, suddenly straightening his posture in an attempt to make himself a more menacing foe to any that dared enter.
The two higher up Ferengi turned away from the cargo bay and began to make their way down the corridor as Tierzak flashed another grin, finding the stature of the young ensign to be amusing.
"You can't stop grinning can you sir? Meanwhile I'm the one who keeps getting all the flak for our performance. You know I was asked again how much longer it would take for us to leave orbit?"
"No I didn't," the daimon responded in his typical high nasal voice. "That must be close to a dozen times now. What did you tell them?"
"Same thing I've told them for the past six days sir," Kreplar said with a sigh added on for effect. "That we were still searching the planet for survivors."
"How valiant they must think we are to still be looking for survivors on Luxos III. That planet is dead, the Romulans made sure of that."
"I know that sir, and I think that they are starting to believe that as well. However if they believe we are still searching nearly two weeks after the attack..."
"Don't worry about them Kreplar, they know nothing," Tierzak suddenly interrupted. "They aren't the ones out here, their not the ones fighting....and dying."
"If you say so sir. How is our cargo?" the Ferengi first officer said, trying to quickly change the subject.
"Just fine Kreplar. Bolted down and secured tightly until I need it."
"Then it is what you expected it to be?"
Immediately the Ferengi daimon knew what his first officer was doing; fishing for an answer. An answer that would explain the contents of the mysterious cargo and a purpose for such secrecy. Tierzak wasn't giving out answers though, not on this and not today. It was a secret only to be known by him and his friend Gul Duren until the right moment. "Yes of course it is," he said trying to be as brief with his answer as possible.
His commander had known his intent and had swiftly dodged the issue. "It's just that as a neutral party in our war with the Romulans there was a chance that the Yridian could try and cheat us," Kreplar said, hoping to rid Tierzak of any ill feelings he might be harboring.
Amused by the nervous tactic used by his companion Tierzak began to grin, but stopped at the last moment as to not outwardly show any feelings he might have towards Kreplar. "Your concern is noted, but not warranted. The Yridian came through and provided me with exactly what I requested. Besides Kreplar, neutral or not no one dare cross the Regent."
"The Regent? What does he have to do with this?" Suddenly Kreplar became very confused, as though the name of the Regent turned all of his beliefs upside down.
Tierzak picked up on this and could no longer contain his amusement. With a devious Ferengi style grin across his face he reached into a pocket placed on the inside of his shirt. What his hand pulled out was a small slip of paper which was handed to the other Ferengi.
After taking the slip of paper Kreplar studied it for several moments, making sure not to miss a single thing that might be on it. "This is from the Regent himself!" he shouted the obvious. "So the cargo is for the Regent?"
"Correct." the daimon said briskly, still grinning.
"But when did you have the chance to receive such a note? How could the Regent of been aboard and I not informed?"
"Don't worry Kreplar, you didn't miss him. In fact the Regent has not been aboard since my installation as daimon of this vessel eight months ago."
"But?" was all the confused Ferengi could spit out as his questions piled up.
"All I'll say is that while the slip your holding does indeed carry the Regent's mark, he himself did not put it on that slip."
"Forgery?" Kreplar whispered, hoping that he had not just bore witness to one of the most terrible crimes in the Alliance.
"Kreplar you are my first officer and in the months since I took command of this vessel you have been invaluable. I have let you in on every major decision concerning this vessel and its crew. So believe me when I say that this you can't have any part in. That cargo is of vital importance to the stability of the Alliance, and could perhaps help us in unseen ways to end this war of ours with the Romulans. It's importance will become relevant in the weeks ahead, but until then I must ask you to forget it and say nothing of it's existence to any soul. Can I trust you to do this?"
Slowly digesting and reviewing what he had just been told Kreplar started to nod his head. His questions were still more numerous then he could count but if his friend, his daimon, told him to trust in his judgment then that is what he would do. It was the only thing he could do. Only one question remained on his mind though, one that he just couldn't lay rest. "What is in those cargo containers sir?"
"The future Kreplar, or at least it's salvation." the daimon cryptically replied as they finally reached their destination, the ship's bridge.
As the automated doors opened onto the bridge several officers turned from their stations to greet their commanding officer. Tierzak gave each of them a small nod in acknowledgement as he made his way across the room until he arrived at the plush daimon's chair. He sat down and eased back into it so that he could become fully relaxed, or as relaxed as a daimon could be on a ship in the middle of a war.
With his eyes little more then slits he laid back into the chair and was nearly startled by a young Ferengi officer who cleared his throat as he stood next to the daimon. Tierzak opened his eyes and began to give the young officer an agitated look before he noticed the small P.A.D.D. that was being handed him. He grabbed the P.A.D.D. and waved the officer away, which he swiftly did.
On the P.A.D.D. was displayed the basic operating conditions of the vessel. Propulsion, weapons, sensors, navigation, it all appeared to be in order. This was nothing more then a menial status report, which did nothing to calm his agitation. Didn't they think that he had better things to do then read a lengthy report that did little more then say that everything was normal? With a twinge of disgust he waved Kreplar over and handed him the report. Surely this was more of a task for him and less for Tierzak. Slipping back into his half conscious state he lazily asked his helm officer how long it would take before they reached the Klingon outpost on Narendra III.
"At current speed we will arrive in approximately ten days sir," was the quick reply.
Just as much as he wanted. It was about that amount of time before the Alliance meeting took place so they would arrive just in time. Considering the distance it would be easy for them to make it appear as though they had came directly from their search of the base on Luxos III. Of course a thorough investigation could reveal that they hadn't been there more then a few days, but why would anyone come to believe that a loyal Ferengi ship had outright lied to them? After all they were all one big happy fleet. Besides, the council would learn what they needed to during the proceedings anyway. Tierzak was going to make sure of that.
Though he was exhausted a surge of excitement rushed through him. After the months of planning it looked as though he and his Cardassian collaborator finally had all the evidence they needed to get rid of the Overseer once and for all. And what better of a platform to present this evidence then the upcoming Alliance meeting? There they would be able to show it to the representatives of all the major parties of the Alliance, including the Regent himself. Tierzak couldn't help but grin as he envisioned the look that the stunned Overseer might have once her true allegiances were brought to light. What a day it would be, and with a full ten days before the meeting he had plenty of time to rest and choose exactly what his words would be. The only thing now was one last chat with Duren before they presented their case.
Dozing in his chair he was suddenly roused by the soft curses of an officer located at one of the aft stations. He only opened his eyes the slightest bit, hoping that the disturbance would soon be over with and that he would be able to get some rest. To his dismay though not only did the disturbance not go away but only grew in intensity. Sitting up in his chair he strained his large Ferengi ears to try and hear what all of the commotion was. After a moment of listening he was able to pick up that it was coming from the sensor station, yet he still couldn't figure out why. Standing up now he looked in the direction that the sensor station was located and analyzed the situation. From what he could see Kreplar and the officer manning the sensor station were having some sort of discussion that they obviously felt wasn't important enough to bring to their daimon's attention. Well, either way it had woken him up and that made it important enough to Tierzak. "What? What is it?" Tierzak asked of the two, a touch fatigued and a touch angry.
The sudden unexpected questioning startled the sensor officer and he quickly turned to face his questioner. "Oh it's.....nothing to be concerned of daimon. Just a minor glitch in the sensor resolution." responded the officer, hoping to once again be on his commander's good side.
"Nothing to be concerned of? You sure are making a lot of racket over nothing to be concerned of. That and the fact that if it was nothing to be concerned of then you wouldn't need to bring it to the attention of Kreplar would you?" The situation had upset Tierzak and his tone showed it. Silence fell for a moment as the attention of all the current bridge crew was turned to their daimon and to the sensor officer.
At sensing so many eyes focused on him the sensor officer became a bit nervous. He began to slowly rub his hands together as he looked at Tierzak, who was standing there for an answer. Thankfully it was Kreplar who came to his rescue.
"Sir, there's just a minor glitch with the sensor resolution which is producing ghost images. It's only a small problem, but protocol dictates that any problem should be reported to a commanding officer. That here is exactly what Menk did."
"Ghost images? What sort of ghost images?"
"Feel free to take a look if you wish, sir. It is my opinion however that it's only a minor glitch."
"I believe I will do just that Kreplar. Besides, a proper daimon should be aware of the goings on aboard his vessel at all times." Tierzak glared at a few officers, which all quickly turned back to their stations, before making his way to the sensor station. With each step in his stride he gave off an air of superiority to make sure that none of his officers' opinion of him diminished in the slightest. Once he arrived at the station he looked at Menk for a moment, sizing him up a bit, before gesturing to him to show what the apparent problem was.
"As you can see, daimon, there is a large sensor ghost here in grid forty-six by nineteen," Menk said as he pointed to it on the display screen.
"And you're sure it's not some natural phenomenon?" While he trusted his officers' judgments he wanted to be sure that any avenue was explored before they dismissed it.
"Yes sir. This sector has been thoroughly charted by the Klingons and there is no record of such an occurrence."
Raising an eyebrow Tierzak looked at his two officers. "We all know that Klingons are not 'thorough' in anything but affairs of war."
"True as that may be sir, I stand by my assessment," Menk confidently replied.
Tierzak was about to let the matter drop and move to asking how they could fix the glitch until something caught his eye. He blinked, then looked at the screen again. "What grid did you say that disturbance was in again Menk?"
"Grid forty-six by nineteen sir. Why?"
"Because I think the disturbance just moved." All three officers closely examined the disturbance, then examined it again to make sure. The disturbance had in fact moved, and moved towards the Kraylor.
Kreplar turned to Tierzak, a look of concern on his face. Both of them obviously were thinking the same question, but Kreplar felt a need to say it nonetheless. "You don't think that it's..." but he couldn't bring himself to say it, for fear that it would come true if he did.
"Nonsense. That disturbance is huge, too big to be an enemy vessel. Besides, you know as well as I do that our sensors wouldn't be able to pick them up if they were cloaked."
"Cloaked?" Menk blurted out as he suddenly realized what the two commanding officers meant. At the word's mentioning everyone turned from their station again to face the daimon.
There was a hint of fear, a hint of uncertainty in Kreplar's voice as he spoke. "Let's be sure either way sir."
"Very well Kreplar. Put this grid on the main view screen."
A field of stars blinked their way onto the screen, but nothing more. Not a wisp of stellar dust, a hunk of alloy, nor any sort of visual disturbance. Everyone seemed to calm themselves a bit as the evidence pointed back to the explanation of a sensor glitch. Tierzak began to don his Ferengi grin again as he looked over the screen.
Suddenly without an iota of warning a brief disturbance appeared, followed by another, and still another. One by one various wavy disturbances took form across the screen and lasted for but a few seconds before they were replaced by death itself. Tierzak's grin turned almost instantly to dread and he had only but a few seconds to order the shields raised before the first blast of death struck them, shaking the ship horribly.
Frantically Tierzak tried to make his way across the bridge and to his chair. The first blast had struck them before they were able to raise their shields and had caused the ship to quake. With the shields raised the shaking had lessened, but not by much. As he made it to his chair Tierzak tried to piece together everything in his mind. The attack had came so suddenly, so abruptly, that he hadn't been given the time to have any sort of rational thought. "Damage report!" he shouted out over the noise, unable to think of anything better to do.
"Aft shields are down to thirty percent. We've taken moderate damage to engines and navigation. Also structural integrity on the aft sections of decks thirteen through sixteen have been severely weakened." The report came from somewhere behind the captain's chair, but with all the explosions and shaking it was too hard to make out from exactly where.
Tierzak took in a breath, almost not believing that so much damage had been inflicted in such a short time. "Get us out of here helm, best speed!"
"Trying sir!" the helm officer shouted. "Our warp engines are pretty bruised sir, I doubt we will be able to create a stable warp field."
"Just do it lieutenant! Tactical, do you have a number on how many vessels are behind us?"
"It's hard to tell sir. I'm picking up more then three dozen separate warp signatures, but I can't be more specific then that."
A shocked and near terrified look came across the daimon's face at the realization of what was just reported. Why would three dozen warbirds be in this sector of space? It seemed to Tierzak to be an area of little value to either side as nothing vital was present. No bases, no resources, no ships, aside from them. So what could be their objective? Whatever it was they surely didn't have the time to find out. If they didn't do something spectacular then they would surely be destroyed.
Faintly came a voice stating that aft shields were down before another blast hit them and shook the ship so violently that it knocked Tierzak flying out of his chair. "Sir, we're leaking warp plasma! At this rate we'll be nothing but dust in minutes!"
"Maximum speed in any direction helm!" the daimon ordered as he tried to pick himself up off the floor. "Tactical, fire all of our aft launchers and phaser banks at the Romulans."
"Targeting sensors are down sir!"
"Then fire manually! There's enough of them that your bound to hit one of them."
For several more minutes the battle raged on. Several of the Romulan warbirds opened fire on the Ferengi marauder in an attempt to quickly dispose of it. Leaking plasma and staggering forward the Kraylor made an almost vain attempt to do some measure of damage to it's attackers. Engines failing, the Kraylor began to slow it's speed until it finally couldn't move at all. At this point a handful of the warbirds began to circle it like vultures as they prepared to finish the Ferengi ship once and for all.
Tierzak looked at the view screen which displayed the Romulan ships around them through a layer of static. As he witnessed them close in on the Kraylor he knew that he was about to face the end, about to die here before having the chance to complete his most vital mission. Suddenly a beam above him came loose and fell down, striking the back of his head. Quickly his body fell to the ground and as he heard his crew shouting around him he closed his eyes and fell unconscious.
Slowly Tierzak began to hear them. It was hard for him to make out exactly what they were saying at first, but slowly it came to him. Through the pain he was able to open his eyes and look up at the face of his first officer. Squinting in disbelief he muttered, "Crud, this isn't the Divine Treasury. I must of done something to warrant being sent to the other place."
Suddenly Kreplar burst out laughing, though his laugh was obviously weakened. "No sir, you're still alive. For some reason we are all still alive."
"What?" the wounded daimon blurted out in shocked amazement. "But the Romulans..." he started to say before a wave of pain forced him to stop.
"Sir, the Romulans are gone. They took off right before we were destroyed." As Kreplar spoke an arm came into Tierzak's view and held a scanning device above his head.
"The Romulans what?" Tierzak confusedly asked as he made a vain attempt to push the scanning device away.
"Daimon, please hold still. I haven't finished determining your condition," came a new voice that was just out of the daimon's view.
"Doctor, just give me your report and leave."
"Have it your way sir," the doctor said as he resumed his scanning.
"We haven't figured out why sir, but mere seconds before they had us destroyed they suddenly ceased fire and took off."
"You have a mild concussion sir. A shot of droxlymide will help relieve the pain."
"Very well doctor." Tierzak said, trying to get rid of the doctor as quickly as possible. As he was administered the drug, via an injection behind his right lobe, he mulled over the information. Why would the Romulans spare them right before they were destroyed? In fact, why would they spare the Ferengi ship at all? They were at war after all. Nothing was making sense, and it was doing nothing to help his throbbing headache.
As the doctor headed off to treat another injured crew member Tierzak slowly stood up, with a bit of help from Kreplar. For a moment the daimon thought of scowling at his first officer for the assistance, but didn't since he knew that Kreplar only had good intentions. Unlike some of their allies the Ferengi were not barbarians and overall had a fundamental respect for their kind. Of course there were a few who didn't, but that was a fault shared by all races. "Do you have an estimate on the damage Kreplar?" This was a question that no daimon would want to ask, but in such times of war it had become a saddening necessity.
"Well daimon, shields and weapons have been destroyed. I doubt that either can be of any use without a two or three week repair at drydock. Engines took a beating, but they are already being worked on and low warp should be available within an hour. Sensors will take a bit less time to bring back on-line, and we also took a considerable beating to our hull and integrity is currently only at thirty-two percent."
"Life support?" the daimon asked, wanting to make sure that the most vital of systems was stable.
"Hardly any damage was affected to life support. Repair crews had that as their top priority and there shouldn't be any problems with it."
"Good," Tierzak said as he mentally assessed the damage. "As long as we can still arrive at Narendra III on time then there will be no need to officially report this attack."
"But sir..." Kreplar said a bit taken back by his commander's comment. "Why would we not report this attack to the council?"
With a sudden fierceness in his eyes Tierzak looked at Kreplar and simply said "And are you going to explain to the council how we were attacked by a Romulan fleet while we were supposedly in orbit around Luxos III, searching for survivors?"
That had been something not considered by Kreplar. In the midst of the attack and the confusion left after he had completely forgotten the deceit dealt by them in order to pick up the mysterious cargo. Obviously they could not outright declare this attack without an onslaught of near impossible to answer questions. "Couldn't we just claim to have been attacked en route to the meeting?" Kreplar hoped that he had just solved their dilemma, but Tierzak's look said otherwise.
"A fleet of that size will be picked up eventually by Alliance sensors, or by another ship. The Romulans may have cloaking technology but that doesn't mean they are completely invisible to the Alliance. And with that many ships the chance of detection only increases."
"What about an attack by a smaller group? Maybe only two or three vessels strong?"
"That story would be more plausible, however anyone who digs deep enough will still be able to punch holes in the story. The route from Luxos III to Narendra III leads deep within Alliance territory. Plus it goes through an asteroid field and two theta nebulas, not exactly high on the Romulan's list of battlefields."
At this point Kreplar was becoming frustrated. There had to be some way they could explain this attack before the council without being put through a board of inquiry. And even if they were able to cover up the fact that an attack occurred there was still damaged systems and lost crew members to be explained. This fact was bound to make any cover up impossible. "Sir, some of this just isn't easy to dismiss. If no attack occurred then what of the damage? And the casualties?" Kreplar said with a concerned look.
"I have connections in the Ferengi Trade Alliance that will be able to help us. They'll inform the families of our lost crew and see to our repairs covertly at a Ferengi dock. No one else in the Alliance will know of this."
"And you're telling me that all this can be done without our allies knowledge? It's hard for me to believe that we can cover this up so well." While he doubted Tierzak, Kreplar still respected him. And if they were to proceed with this course of action then he wanted to be sure there was no way that their cover up could be discovered. If such a thing ever came to light it could not only spell their doom, but the doom of the entire Ferengi race.
"Who would question, Kreplar?" Tierzak asked with a touch of defiance. "The Klingons? No they are too blood thirsty to care of such a thing. Perhaps the Breen then? Doubtful, as they too are so wrapped up in this war to devote the resources needed to uncover this. The Cardassians are our closest ally and they have a hand in this secret mission as well. Our other allies are too weak to even try."
"Very well daimon," Kreplar said adding a silent sigh to it. "Is there anything else that you need?"
"Yes Kreplar. While the crew works on repairing the ship you and I are going to try and figure out why the Romulans stopped in their attack." Tierzak looked over his first officer for a moment, noticing that he could see no visible wounds, before he slowly and painfully walked over to a data computer console located next to Menk's sensor one.
After reaching the station he leaned against it. Obviously he had suffered more of an injury than either he or the doctor had first thought. Either way though it was quickly pushed to the back of his mind. This was not the time for him to sit there and lick his wounds. There had to be some reason, some unknown explanation for the Romulan's odd tactic. Why would they let a crippled enemy live? It was a question that Tierzak needed to answer. To him it was like some annoying itch that one couldn't help but scratch.
A few moments passed before Kreplar joined his commander at the computer station. To him the reasons as to why the Romulans spared them were insignificant. The fact was they were still alive. What did it matter why? But if Tierzak wanted to pursue this course of action then Kreplar wasn't about to stand in his way. Besides, he was in need of a distraction to keep himself busy until they could get underway again.
Thinking of various reasons wasn't going to help him find the truth. This fact Tierzak realized almost instantly. But where was he to begin? Perhaps if he were able to figure out their flight path then an objective might be revealed. "Do we know which way the Romulan fleet headed after attacking us?"
"Well we were kind of assuming that we were about to die, sir. Tracking where they were headed wasn't exactly a priority at the time."
"I know that Kreplar," Tierzak shot back, feeling patronized. "But nonetheless our sensors might of been tracking them anyway."
"Well we can check the sensor logs, see if they reveal anything." With all the damage Kreplar doubted they would find anything. Add to that the fact that their sensors weren't already set to actively track the Romulan fleet and searching the logs was nearly an exercise of futility. If it pleased the daimon though to try, then Kreplar would by all means help then.
As the sensor logs began to appear on the screen Tierzak visually scanned them. The first ones to appear were a few weeks old, and the commanding Ferengi quickly told the computer to skip to the most recent entry. To the surprise of both Kreplar and Tierzak a small index appeared of sensor logs taken during the battle with the Romulans.
"I didn't figure there would actually be logs of the battle, especially ones in this detail," Kreplar said in a bit of shock.
"Don't let your jaw drop Kreplar," Tierzak replied with a grin. "Just consider it a touch from another fine officer of ours. Looks like Menk continued to scan the 'disturbance' even after we found out what it was. Where is Menk anyway? I should thank him for this."
"Well sir." With Tierzak's question Kreplar's mood changed instantly and dramatically. In a silent moment he tried to carefully choose his words, but there really was only one way to go about it. "Menk was injured when the console beside his exploded. He's in sick bay right now, but he isn't expected to last long."
"I see," was all that Tierzak could say in response. Like his first officer, Tierzak showed a bit of concern. However, it lasted only but a moment before he turned back to the logs.
With their attention back on the work before them the two Ferengi officers carefully examined the last few logs recorded. As they did the daimon's hope came true as one of the last entries revealed the direction in which the Romulan ships were headed. But what struck Tierzak as being odd was exactly that; their heading. It seemed to him like they left in a rush to travel to some of the most desolate regions in Alliance space. "Unless..." he whispered as something struck him.
"Sir? Did you find something of importance?" Kreplar asked hoping for answers to at least some of the questions that flooded his mind.
"Perhaps," was all that Tierzak would say before walking as quickly as he could to his office. Quickly Kreplar followed him in an effort to put together some of the pieces before him.
Inside the plush office Tierzak called up a star chart for the local region on a large viewscreen set in one wall. As Kreplar made his way into the room Tierzak had the computer put the heading of the Romulan fleet on the map. His mouth dropped a bit in shock before Kreplar finally spoke.
"Sir, could you please explain to me what is going on? Obviously you've found something out and I would like to know what it is."
With a slight wave of his hand Tierzak gestured for his first officer to join him in front of the viewscreen. Respectfully Kreplar obliged his commander and stood beside him as they looked at the star chart. After a moment the daimon walked to stand just in front of the chart, and to point out his discoverie's relevance as clearly as he could.
"Okay Kreplar, from this we can reasonably determine where the Romulan fleet came from and where they were headed, assuming that they didn't do any number of major course changes." Kreplar slowly nodded his head as he took the information in, showing his commander that he understood everything thus far. "Now using the Romulan's course that they were on after leaving the computer has narrowed down their approximate destination to three sectors." After tapping a button on the viewscreen's control the image zoomed in and focused on the three sectors.
"Nurh'qlar, Q'osk, and Juhtlac" Kreplar said as he read over the systems names. "Three pretty unremarkable sectors. Why would any of these be of interest to the Romulans sir?" As far as he knew there was nothing but barren worlds in two of the systems, and a binary star made travel nearly impossible in the third.
"Well Kreplar don't feel as though you've missed something," Tierzak said reassuringly. There was something in his mood, his gesture though gave his first officer the impression that something big was about to be revealed. "What I'm about to tell you only a select few have been told. I can trust you to not reveal this to anyone, correct?" There was a noticeable emphasis on the word anyone as Tierzak, as serious as he could, stared at Kreplar.
"Of course sir," Kreplar reassured his commander. "Have I ever given you a reason to doubt my loyalty?"
Tierzak sighed briefly for a moment before replying, "No, of course not Kreplar. You have been one of the most loyal officers I have ever served with. But this level of secrecy demanded the question to be asked nonetheless." This fact intrigued the Ferengi commander and he sat up straight as to make sure to get every detail of what he was about to be told. "There's a secret Klingon shipyard in the Q'osk sector, orbiting the fifth planet."
Kreplar stood still as he took in the information. At first he was shocked at such news, but then something else took over. Anger at first to an extent, for not being let in on this secret, and then a sense of panic. If there was a Klingon shipyard then that had to be the Romulan fleet's target. "What were they developing sir? I'm curious as to why a Klingon shipyard would be put in such a desolate region and then why so few were told of it's existence."
Bringing his hands together the Ferengi daimon took a step forward. In his mind he was going over what he should, and what he could tell his first officer. "The Klingons were developing a new class of ship there. Jach'eng, I believe was what they were calling it. Well this Jach'eng class was to be outfitted with an antimatter detonator powerful enough to destroy a moon or small planet. Plus it would be able to take out any Romulan vessel or base in orbit."
A new wave of shock washed over Kreplar as he imagined the awesome power such a ship would contain. "Well I can understand why the Romulans would wish to stop such a vessel from coming on-line. A devastation to them like that without any risk to ourselves would surely be an advantage."
"There is a small risk. Due to the need of stealth in order to get this weapon in position it would require a small crew. Twenty or thirty officers strong is what was estimated."
"But sir, with an explosion of that magnitude there is no chance of survival for the crew."
"I know that Kreplar. Everyone knows that." Tierzak began to rub his hands before looking at his first officer sternly. "Don't you think that twenty lives are worth sacrificing for the deaths of thousands of enemy soldiers? And that's just soldiers, add the fact of all the ships and bases that could be taken out."
"But still sir..." Kreplar began to say before being interrupted.
"But nothing Kreplar. We're at war here. And I don't know if you noticed but we aren't exactly winning either. If we have to sacrifice twenty loyal troops to save twenty billion loyal citizens don't you think we should? Besides, warriors or not the Klingons are growing tired of this conflict. We've lost too many in this bloodbath and they are eager to destroy the Romulans, at any cost."
Though they were but words, they still had an impact on Kreplar. He still did not agree with the tactic, but he did understand it. After all he had seen and all he had been through Kreplar was as 'eager' as the next soldier to end this conflict. One thing still was on his mind though. "If this base was a secret, so much so that only a handful of top Alliance soldiers knew of it, then how would the Romulans know about it?"
"That I have a theory to, but only a theory. All I know is that the first Jach'eng was to have been sent out three days from now to strike the Romulan shipyards at Heyati II. Its glorious first mission and unveiling was to be a major point at the upcoming Alliance meeting. But if this truly was the Romulan's final destination then..." Tierzak's words trailed off as his mind created what was sure to happen.
"Sir, if they think that they are as well hidden as you've said then they don't stand a chance." It was already what the Ferengi daimon had come to, but was afraid to say for fearing that the words would make it truth.
The two Ferengi exchanged a momentary glance before Tierzak rushed back out onto the bridge. "What's the status of our engines?" he asked of the first officer he saw.
"Partial warp power has been restored daimon," responded one of the nearby officers. "We can make a maximum of warp four, but no more."
"The Q'osk system is nearly a full days travel at that speed." As Tierzak sat down in his chair, which was noticeably scarred from debris falling on it, he cursed something to himself. "Alright helm engage at warp four to Q'osk V. In the meantime someone get on increasing our speed, it's to be your top priority. We must reach that planet as quickly as possible."
The present crew gave each other puzzled looks about their daimon's sudden orders and behavior change. Whether they understood or not his reasoning they did understand that he was their leader. Within moments each officer shrugged off their confusion and went about their orders.
From there on the trip was a slow one. Tierzak sat in his chair with only his thoughts and the obvious look of anxious on his face. Kreplar stood faithfully next to his commander and addressed the various crew members as they reported ship and crew status. The rest of the crew went about their various routine of meals and rest, and the crew rotations took place as normal. However, unlike the rest of the officers the two commanders stood vigilant at their post, awaiting their arrival.
Over the course of the trip more speed was eventually gained, but not much. The engineering crews were able to boost the Kraylor's top speed to warp seven and that was as high as was possible without a complete engine overhaul. Even with the gain in speed it still took the Ferengi ship the better part of a day to reach their destination. Once they had closed in on the Q'osk system Tierzak began to send encoded messages to the Klingon shipyard, but no response was received. The daimon's worries continued to increase until they finally arrived at their destination.
"Put the planet on screen," Tierzak ordered.
A few moments later an image of Q'osk V replaced the blackness on the view screen. At first neither of the two Ferengi commanders understood. There was no evidence of an attack, or even a base at all.
"Could the Romulans have completely vaporized it?" the Ferengi first officer whispered to his commander.
"I don't know Kreplar," was all he could say in response. Suddenly he sat up in his chair as something caught his eye. As they orbited the planet something came into view, followed by a thousand more somethings. "Magnify grid seventy-three." The small somethings became clearer as the viewscreen focused and enlarged them. All Tierzak could do was collapse in his chair at the realization of what they were.
"Daimon, what is it? What was here?" asked the young officer manning helm.
"Our chance at victory ensign," replied the daimon with a heavy hearted tone. "And now that chance has been taken away."
Mission
The Kraylor is en route to the upcoming Alliance meeting on Narendra III, having just finished a transaction with a Yridian trader. While the cargo's contents remain shrouded in mystery the Kraylor's commander, Daimon Tierzak, assured the crew that it is vital to the mission he and the Cardassian Gul Duren started.
Mission Date:
105th day in the 2369th of Molar
With a hand on a container Tierzak looked around the room with a sweeping gaze, taking in all the cargo that the room held. Soon this cargo would prove very helpful in his and Gul Duren's quest. No one knew it either, and that was probably the best part of this plan. After all how could some seemingly busted scraps of technology that he bartered off an old Yridian help him and his Cardassian ally to take down the Overseer? That only he knew, but the others would know soon enough.
All of that was in the future though, and for the moment he needed his mind on the present. As he made sure that the last of the cargo containers was secure the bay's door opened behind him and in walked his first officer. An agitated look was displayed on the Ferengi officer's face and he carried a small P.A.D.D. in his right hand. With a slight smile Tierzak took the P.A.D.D. from his officer and took one last look around the room before he gestured for them to depart.
Outside of the room a young and nervous looking Ferengi stood there with a standard issue phaser rifle. "Ensign, see that no one enters this room except me. I don't want our cargo to be disturbed until the conference."
"Yes of course sir!" the young officer said, suddenly straightening his posture in an attempt to make himself a more menacing foe to any that dared enter.
The two higher up Ferengi turned away from the cargo bay and began to make their way down the corridor as Tierzak flashed another grin, finding the stature of the young ensign to be amusing.
"You can't stop grinning can you sir? Meanwhile I'm the one who keeps getting all the flak for our performance. You know I was asked again how much longer it would take for us to leave orbit?"
"No I didn't," the daimon responded in his typical high nasal voice. "That must be close to a dozen times now. What did you tell them?"
"Same thing I've told them for the past six days sir," Kreplar said with a sigh added on for effect. "That we were still searching the planet for survivors."
"How valiant they must think we are to still be looking for survivors on Luxos III. That planet is dead, the Romulans made sure of that."
"I know that sir, and I think that they are starting to believe that as well. However if they believe we are still searching nearly two weeks after the attack..."
"Don't worry about them Kreplar, they know nothing," Tierzak suddenly interrupted. "They aren't the ones out here, their not the ones fighting....and dying."
"If you say so sir. How is our cargo?" the Ferengi first officer said, trying to quickly change the subject.
"Just fine Kreplar. Bolted down and secured tightly until I need it."
"Then it is what you expected it to be?"
Immediately the Ferengi daimon knew what his first officer was doing; fishing for an answer. An answer that would explain the contents of the mysterious cargo and a purpose for such secrecy. Tierzak wasn't giving out answers though, not on this and not today. It was a secret only to be known by him and his friend Gul Duren until the right moment. "Yes of course it is," he said trying to be as brief with his answer as possible.
His commander had known his intent and had swiftly dodged the issue. "It's just that as a neutral party in our war with the Romulans there was a chance that the Yridian could try and cheat us," Kreplar said, hoping to rid Tierzak of any ill feelings he might be harboring.
Amused by the nervous tactic used by his companion Tierzak began to grin, but stopped at the last moment as to not outwardly show any feelings he might have towards Kreplar. "Your concern is noted, but not warranted. The Yridian came through and provided me with exactly what I requested. Besides Kreplar, neutral or not no one dare cross the Regent."
"The Regent? What does he have to do with this?" Suddenly Kreplar became very confused, as though the name of the Regent turned all of his beliefs upside down.
Tierzak picked up on this and could no longer contain his amusement. With a devious Ferengi style grin across his face he reached into a pocket placed on the inside of his shirt. What his hand pulled out was a small slip of paper which was handed to the other Ferengi.
After taking the slip of paper Kreplar studied it for several moments, making sure not to miss a single thing that might be on it. "This is from the Regent himself!" he shouted the obvious. "So the cargo is for the Regent?"
"Correct." the daimon said briskly, still grinning.
"But when did you have the chance to receive such a note? How could the Regent of been aboard and I not informed?"
"Don't worry Kreplar, you didn't miss him. In fact the Regent has not been aboard since my installation as daimon of this vessel eight months ago."
"But?" was all the confused Ferengi could spit out as his questions piled up.
"All I'll say is that while the slip your holding does indeed carry the Regent's mark, he himself did not put it on that slip."
"Forgery?" Kreplar whispered, hoping that he had not just bore witness to one of the most terrible crimes in the Alliance.
"Kreplar you are my first officer and in the months since I took command of this vessel you have been invaluable. I have let you in on every major decision concerning this vessel and its crew. So believe me when I say that this you can't have any part in. That cargo is of vital importance to the stability of the Alliance, and could perhaps help us in unseen ways to end this war of ours with the Romulans. It's importance will become relevant in the weeks ahead, but until then I must ask you to forget it and say nothing of it's existence to any soul. Can I trust you to do this?"
Slowly digesting and reviewing what he had just been told Kreplar started to nod his head. His questions were still more numerous then he could count but if his friend, his daimon, told him to trust in his judgment then that is what he would do. It was the only thing he could do. Only one question remained on his mind though, one that he just couldn't lay rest. "What is in those cargo containers sir?"
"The future Kreplar, or at least it's salvation." the daimon cryptically replied as they finally reached their destination, the ship's bridge.
As the automated doors opened onto the bridge several officers turned from their stations to greet their commanding officer. Tierzak gave each of them a small nod in acknowledgement as he made his way across the room until he arrived at the plush daimon's chair. He sat down and eased back into it so that he could become fully relaxed, or as relaxed as a daimon could be on a ship in the middle of a war.
With his eyes little more then slits he laid back into the chair and was nearly startled by a young Ferengi officer who cleared his throat as he stood next to the daimon. Tierzak opened his eyes and began to give the young officer an agitated look before he noticed the small P.A.D.D. that was being handed him. He grabbed the P.A.D.D. and waved the officer away, which he swiftly did.
On the P.A.D.D. was displayed the basic operating conditions of the vessel. Propulsion, weapons, sensors, navigation, it all appeared to be in order. This was nothing more then a menial status report, which did nothing to calm his agitation. Didn't they think that he had better things to do then read a lengthy report that did little more then say that everything was normal? With a twinge of disgust he waved Kreplar over and handed him the report. Surely this was more of a task for him and less for Tierzak. Slipping back into his half conscious state he lazily asked his helm officer how long it would take before they reached the Klingon outpost on Narendra III.
"At current speed we will arrive in approximately ten days sir," was the quick reply.
Just as much as he wanted. It was about that amount of time before the Alliance meeting took place so they would arrive just in time. Considering the distance it would be easy for them to make it appear as though they had came directly from their search of the base on Luxos III. Of course a thorough investigation could reveal that they hadn't been there more then a few days, but why would anyone come to believe that a loyal Ferengi ship had outright lied to them? After all they were all one big happy fleet. Besides, the council would learn what they needed to during the proceedings anyway. Tierzak was going to make sure of that.
Though he was exhausted a surge of excitement rushed through him. After the months of planning it looked as though he and his Cardassian collaborator finally had all the evidence they needed to get rid of the Overseer once and for all. And what better of a platform to present this evidence then the upcoming Alliance meeting? There they would be able to show it to the representatives of all the major parties of the Alliance, including the Regent himself. Tierzak couldn't help but grin as he envisioned the look that the stunned Overseer might have once her true allegiances were brought to light. What a day it would be, and with a full ten days before the meeting he had plenty of time to rest and choose exactly what his words would be. The only thing now was one last chat with Duren before they presented their case.
Dozing in his chair he was suddenly roused by the soft curses of an officer located at one of the aft stations. He only opened his eyes the slightest bit, hoping that the disturbance would soon be over with and that he would be able to get some rest. To his dismay though not only did the disturbance not go away but only grew in intensity. Sitting up in his chair he strained his large Ferengi ears to try and hear what all of the commotion was. After a moment of listening he was able to pick up that it was coming from the sensor station, yet he still couldn't figure out why. Standing up now he looked in the direction that the sensor station was located and analyzed the situation. From what he could see Kreplar and the officer manning the sensor station were having some sort of discussion that they obviously felt wasn't important enough to bring to their daimon's attention. Well, either way it had woken him up and that made it important enough to Tierzak. "What? What is it?" Tierzak asked of the two, a touch fatigued and a touch angry.
The sudden unexpected questioning startled the sensor officer and he quickly turned to face his questioner. "Oh it's.....nothing to be concerned of daimon. Just a minor glitch in the sensor resolution." responded the officer, hoping to once again be on his commander's good side.
"Nothing to be concerned of? You sure are making a lot of racket over nothing to be concerned of. That and the fact that if it was nothing to be concerned of then you wouldn't need to bring it to the attention of Kreplar would you?" The situation had upset Tierzak and his tone showed it. Silence fell for a moment as the attention of all the current bridge crew was turned to their daimon and to the sensor officer.
At sensing so many eyes focused on him the sensor officer became a bit nervous. He began to slowly rub his hands together as he looked at Tierzak, who was standing there for an answer. Thankfully it was Kreplar who came to his rescue.
"Sir, there's just a minor glitch with the sensor resolution which is producing ghost images. It's only a small problem, but protocol dictates that any problem should be reported to a commanding officer. That here is exactly what Menk did."
"Ghost images? What sort of ghost images?"
"Feel free to take a look if you wish, sir. It is my opinion however that it's only a minor glitch."
"I believe I will do just that Kreplar. Besides, a proper daimon should be aware of the goings on aboard his vessel at all times." Tierzak glared at a few officers, which all quickly turned back to their stations, before making his way to the sensor station. With each step in his stride he gave off an air of superiority to make sure that none of his officers' opinion of him diminished in the slightest. Once he arrived at the station he looked at Menk for a moment, sizing him up a bit, before gesturing to him to show what the apparent problem was.
"As you can see, daimon, there is a large sensor ghost here in grid forty-six by nineteen," Menk said as he pointed to it on the display screen.
"And you're sure it's not some natural phenomenon?" While he trusted his officers' judgments he wanted to be sure that any avenue was explored before they dismissed it.
"Yes sir. This sector has been thoroughly charted by the Klingons and there is no record of such an occurrence."
Raising an eyebrow Tierzak looked at his two officers. "We all know that Klingons are not 'thorough' in anything but affairs of war."
"True as that may be sir, I stand by my assessment," Menk confidently replied.
Tierzak was about to let the matter drop and move to asking how they could fix the glitch until something caught his eye. He blinked, then looked at the screen again. "What grid did you say that disturbance was in again Menk?"
"Grid forty-six by nineteen sir. Why?"
"Because I think the disturbance just moved." All three officers closely examined the disturbance, then examined it again to make sure. The disturbance had in fact moved, and moved towards the Kraylor.
Kreplar turned to Tierzak, a look of concern on his face. Both of them obviously were thinking the same question, but Kreplar felt a need to say it nonetheless. "You don't think that it's..." but he couldn't bring himself to say it, for fear that it would come true if he did.
"Nonsense. That disturbance is huge, too big to be an enemy vessel. Besides, you know as well as I do that our sensors wouldn't be able to pick them up if they were cloaked."
"Cloaked?" Menk blurted out as he suddenly realized what the two commanding officers meant. At the word's mentioning everyone turned from their station again to face the daimon.
There was a hint of fear, a hint of uncertainty in Kreplar's voice as he spoke. "Let's be sure either way sir."
"Very well Kreplar. Put this grid on the main view screen."
A field of stars blinked their way onto the screen, but nothing more. Not a wisp of stellar dust, a hunk of alloy, nor any sort of visual disturbance. Everyone seemed to calm themselves a bit as the evidence pointed back to the explanation of a sensor glitch. Tierzak began to don his Ferengi grin again as he looked over the screen.
Suddenly without an iota of warning a brief disturbance appeared, followed by another, and still another. One by one various wavy disturbances took form across the screen and lasted for but a few seconds before they were replaced by death itself. Tierzak's grin turned almost instantly to dread and he had only but a few seconds to order the shields raised before the first blast of death struck them, shaking the ship horribly.
Frantically Tierzak tried to make his way across the bridge and to his chair. The first blast had struck them before they were able to raise their shields and had caused the ship to quake. With the shields raised the shaking had lessened, but not by much. As he made it to his chair Tierzak tried to piece together everything in his mind. The attack had came so suddenly, so abruptly, that he hadn't been given the time to have any sort of rational thought. "Damage report!" he shouted out over the noise, unable to think of anything better to do.
"Aft shields are down to thirty percent. We've taken moderate damage to engines and navigation. Also structural integrity on the aft sections of decks thirteen through sixteen have been severely weakened." The report came from somewhere behind the captain's chair, but with all the explosions and shaking it was too hard to make out from exactly where.
Tierzak took in a breath, almost not believing that so much damage had been inflicted in such a short time. "Get us out of here helm, best speed!"
"Trying sir!" the helm officer shouted. "Our warp engines are pretty bruised sir, I doubt we will be able to create a stable warp field."
"Just do it lieutenant! Tactical, do you have a number on how many vessels are behind us?"
"It's hard to tell sir. I'm picking up more then three dozen separate warp signatures, but I can't be more specific then that."
A shocked and near terrified look came across the daimon's face at the realization of what was just reported. Why would three dozen warbirds be in this sector of space? It seemed to Tierzak to be an area of little value to either side as nothing vital was present. No bases, no resources, no ships, aside from them. So what could be their objective? Whatever it was they surely didn't have the time to find out. If they didn't do something spectacular then they would surely be destroyed.
Faintly came a voice stating that aft shields were down before another blast hit them and shook the ship so violently that it knocked Tierzak flying out of his chair. "Sir, we're leaking warp plasma! At this rate we'll be nothing but dust in minutes!"
"Maximum speed in any direction helm!" the daimon ordered as he tried to pick himself up off the floor. "Tactical, fire all of our aft launchers and phaser banks at the Romulans."
"Targeting sensors are down sir!"
"Then fire manually! There's enough of them that your bound to hit one of them."
For several more minutes the battle raged on. Several of the Romulan warbirds opened fire on the Ferengi marauder in an attempt to quickly dispose of it. Leaking plasma and staggering forward the Kraylor made an almost vain attempt to do some measure of damage to it's attackers. Engines failing, the Kraylor began to slow it's speed until it finally couldn't move at all. At this point a handful of the warbirds began to circle it like vultures as they prepared to finish the Ferengi ship once and for all.
Tierzak looked at the view screen which displayed the Romulan ships around them through a layer of static. As he witnessed them close in on the Kraylor he knew that he was about to face the end, about to die here before having the chance to complete his most vital mission. Suddenly a beam above him came loose and fell down, striking the back of his head. Quickly his body fell to the ground and as he heard his crew shouting around him he closed his eyes and fell unconscious.
Slowly Tierzak began to hear them. It was hard for him to make out exactly what they were saying at first, but slowly it came to him. Through the pain he was able to open his eyes and look up at the face of his first officer. Squinting in disbelief he muttered, "Crud, this isn't the Divine Treasury. I must of done something to warrant being sent to the other place."
Suddenly Kreplar burst out laughing, though his laugh was obviously weakened. "No sir, you're still alive. For some reason we are all still alive."
"What?" the wounded daimon blurted out in shocked amazement. "But the Romulans..." he started to say before a wave of pain forced him to stop.
"Sir, the Romulans are gone. They took off right before we were destroyed." As Kreplar spoke an arm came into Tierzak's view and held a scanning device above his head.
"The Romulans what?" Tierzak confusedly asked as he made a vain attempt to push the scanning device away.
"Daimon, please hold still. I haven't finished determining your condition," came a new voice that was just out of the daimon's view.
"Doctor, just give me your report and leave."
"Have it your way sir," the doctor said as he resumed his scanning.
"We haven't figured out why sir, but mere seconds before they had us destroyed they suddenly ceased fire and took off."
"You have a mild concussion sir. A shot of droxlymide will help relieve the pain."
"Very well doctor." Tierzak said, trying to get rid of the doctor as quickly as possible. As he was administered the drug, via an injection behind his right lobe, he mulled over the information. Why would the Romulans spare them right before they were destroyed? In fact, why would they spare the Ferengi ship at all? They were at war after all. Nothing was making sense, and it was doing nothing to help his throbbing headache.
As the doctor headed off to treat another injured crew member Tierzak slowly stood up, with a bit of help from Kreplar. For a moment the daimon thought of scowling at his first officer for the assistance, but didn't since he knew that Kreplar only had good intentions. Unlike some of their allies the Ferengi were not barbarians and overall had a fundamental respect for their kind. Of course there were a few who didn't, but that was a fault shared by all races. "Do you have an estimate on the damage Kreplar?" This was a question that no daimon would want to ask, but in such times of war it had become a saddening necessity.
"Well daimon, shields and weapons have been destroyed. I doubt that either can be of any use without a two or three week repair at drydock. Engines took a beating, but they are already being worked on and low warp should be available within an hour. Sensors will take a bit less time to bring back on-line, and we also took a considerable beating to our hull and integrity is currently only at thirty-two percent."
"Life support?" the daimon asked, wanting to make sure that the most vital of systems was stable.
"Hardly any damage was affected to life support. Repair crews had that as their top priority and there shouldn't be any problems with it."
"Good," Tierzak said as he mentally assessed the damage. "As long as we can still arrive at Narendra III on time then there will be no need to officially report this attack."
"But sir..." Kreplar said a bit taken back by his commander's comment. "Why would we not report this attack to the council?"
With a sudden fierceness in his eyes Tierzak looked at Kreplar and simply said "And are you going to explain to the council how we were attacked by a Romulan fleet while we were supposedly in orbit around Luxos III, searching for survivors?"
That had been something not considered by Kreplar. In the midst of the attack and the confusion left after he had completely forgotten the deceit dealt by them in order to pick up the mysterious cargo. Obviously they could not outright declare this attack without an onslaught of near impossible to answer questions. "Couldn't we just claim to have been attacked en route to the meeting?" Kreplar hoped that he had just solved their dilemma, but Tierzak's look said otherwise.
"A fleet of that size will be picked up eventually by Alliance sensors, or by another ship. The Romulans may have cloaking technology but that doesn't mean they are completely invisible to the Alliance. And with that many ships the chance of detection only increases."
"What about an attack by a smaller group? Maybe only two or three vessels strong?"
"That story would be more plausible, however anyone who digs deep enough will still be able to punch holes in the story. The route from Luxos III to Narendra III leads deep within Alliance territory. Plus it goes through an asteroid field and two theta nebulas, not exactly high on the Romulan's list of battlefields."
At this point Kreplar was becoming frustrated. There had to be some way they could explain this attack before the council without being put through a board of inquiry. And even if they were able to cover up the fact that an attack occurred there was still damaged systems and lost crew members to be explained. This fact was bound to make any cover up impossible. "Sir, some of this just isn't easy to dismiss. If no attack occurred then what of the damage? And the casualties?" Kreplar said with a concerned look.
"I have connections in the Ferengi Trade Alliance that will be able to help us. They'll inform the families of our lost crew and see to our repairs covertly at a Ferengi dock. No one else in the Alliance will know of this."
"And you're telling me that all this can be done without our allies knowledge? It's hard for me to believe that we can cover this up so well." While he doubted Tierzak, Kreplar still respected him. And if they were to proceed with this course of action then he wanted to be sure there was no way that their cover up could be discovered. If such a thing ever came to light it could not only spell their doom, but the doom of the entire Ferengi race.
"Who would question, Kreplar?" Tierzak asked with a touch of defiance. "The Klingons? No they are too blood thirsty to care of such a thing. Perhaps the Breen then? Doubtful, as they too are so wrapped up in this war to devote the resources needed to uncover this. The Cardassians are our closest ally and they have a hand in this secret mission as well. Our other allies are too weak to even try."
"Very well daimon," Kreplar said adding a silent sigh to it. "Is there anything else that you need?"
"Yes Kreplar. While the crew works on repairing the ship you and I are going to try and figure out why the Romulans stopped in their attack." Tierzak looked over his first officer for a moment, noticing that he could see no visible wounds, before he slowly and painfully walked over to a data computer console located next to Menk's sensor one.
After reaching the station he leaned against it. Obviously he had suffered more of an injury than either he or the doctor had first thought. Either way though it was quickly pushed to the back of his mind. This was not the time for him to sit there and lick his wounds. There had to be some reason, some unknown explanation for the Romulan's odd tactic. Why would they let a crippled enemy live? It was a question that Tierzak needed to answer. To him it was like some annoying itch that one couldn't help but scratch.
A few moments passed before Kreplar joined his commander at the computer station. To him the reasons as to why the Romulans spared them were insignificant. The fact was they were still alive. What did it matter why? But if Tierzak wanted to pursue this course of action then Kreplar wasn't about to stand in his way. Besides, he was in need of a distraction to keep himself busy until they could get underway again.
Thinking of various reasons wasn't going to help him find the truth. This fact Tierzak realized almost instantly. But where was he to begin? Perhaps if he were able to figure out their flight path then an objective might be revealed. "Do we know which way the Romulan fleet headed after attacking us?"
"Well we were kind of assuming that we were about to die, sir. Tracking where they were headed wasn't exactly a priority at the time."
"I know that Kreplar," Tierzak shot back, feeling patronized. "But nonetheless our sensors might of been tracking them anyway."
"Well we can check the sensor logs, see if they reveal anything." With all the damage Kreplar doubted they would find anything. Add to that the fact that their sensors weren't already set to actively track the Romulan fleet and searching the logs was nearly an exercise of futility. If it pleased the daimon though to try, then Kreplar would by all means help then.
As the sensor logs began to appear on the screen Tierzak visually scanned them. The first ones to appear were a few weeks old, and the commanding Ferengi quickly told the computer to skip to the most recent entry. To the surprise of both Kreplar and Tierzak a small index appeared of sensor logs taken during the battle with the Romulans.
"I didn't figure there would actually be logs of the battle, especially ones in this detail," Kreplar said in a bit of shock.
"Don't let your jaw drop Kreplar," Tierzak replied with a grin. "Just consider it a touch from another fine officer of ours. Looks like Menk continued to scan the 'disturbance' even after we found out what it was. Where is Menk anyway? I should thank him for this."
"Well sir." With Tierzak's question Kreplar's mood changed instantly and dramatically. In a silent moment he tried to carefully choose his words, but there really was only one way to go about it. "Menk was injured when the console beside his exploded. He's in sick bay right now, but he isn't expected to last long."
"I see," was all that Tierzak could say in response. Like his first officer, Tierzak showed a bit of concern. However, it lasted only but a moment before he turned back to the logs.
With their attention back on the work before them the two Ferengi officers carefully examined the last few logs recorded. As they did the daimon's hope came true as one of the last entries revealed the direction in which the Romulan ships were headed. But what struck Tierzak as being odd was exactly that; their heading. It seemed to him like they left in a rush to travel to some of the most desolate regions in Alliance space. "Unless..." he whispered as something struck him.
"Sir? Did you find something of importance?" Kreplar asked hoping for answers to at least some of the questions that flooded his mind.
"Perhaps," was all that Tierzak would say before walking as quickly as he could to his office. Quickly Kreplar followed him in an effort to put together some of the pieces before him.
Inside the plush office Tierzak called up a star chart for the local region on a large viewscreen set in one wall. As Kreplar made his way into the room Tierzak had the computer put the heading of the Romulan fleet on the map. His mouth dropped a bit in shock before Kreplar finally spoke.
"Sir, could you please explain to me what is going on? Obviously you've found something out and I would like to know what it is."
With a slight wave of his hand Tierzak gestured for his first officer to join him in front of the viewscreen. Respectfully Kreplar obliged his commander and stood beside him as they looked at the star chart. After a moment the daimon walked to stand just in front of the chart, and to point out his discoverie's relevance as clearly as he could.
"Okay Kreplar, from this we can reasonably determine where the Romulan fleet came from and where they were headed, assuming that they didn't do any number of major course changes." Kreplar slowly nodded his head as he took the information in, showing his commander that he understood everything thus far. "Now using the Romulan's course that they were on after leaving the computer has narrowed down their approximate destination to three sectors." After tapping a button on the viewscreen's control the image zoomed in and focused on the three sectors.
"Nurh'qlar, Q'osk, and Juhtlac" Kreplar said as he read over the systems names. "Three pretty unremarkable sectors. Why would any of these be of interest to the Romulans sir?" As far as he knew there was nothing but barren worlds in two of the systems, and a binary star made travel nearly impossible in the third.
"Well Kreplar don't feel as though you've missed something," Tierzak said reassuringly. There was something in his mood, his gesture though gave his first officer the impression that something big was about to be revealed. "What I'm about to tell you only a select few have been told. I can trust you to not reveal this to anyone, correct?" There was a noticeable emphasis on the word anyone as Tierzak, as serious as he could, stared at Kreplar.
"Of course sir," Kreplar reassured his commander. "Have I ever given you a reason to doubt my loyalty?"
Tierzak sighed briefly for a moment before replying, "No, of course not Kreplar. You have been one of the most loyal officers I have ever served with. But this level of secrecy demanded the question to be asked nonetheless." This fact intrigued the Ferengi commander and he sat up straight as to make sure to get every detail of what he was about to be told. "There's a secret Klingon shipyard in the Q'osk sector, orbiting the fifth planet."
Kreplar stood still as he took in the information. At first he was shocked at such news, but then something else took over. Anger at first to an extent, for not being let in on this secret, and then a sense of panic. If there was a Klingon shipyard then that had to be the Romulan fleet's target. "What were they developing sir? I'm curious as to why a Klingon shipyard would be put in such a desolate region and then why so few were told of it's existence."
Bringing his hands together the Ferengi daimon took a step forward. In his mind he was going over what he should, and what he could tell his first officer. "The Klingons were developing a new class of ship there. Jach'eng, I believe was what they were calling it. Well this Jach'eng class was to be outfitted with an antimatter detonator powerful enough to destroy a moon or small planet. Plus it would be able to take out any Romulan vessel or base in orbit."
A new wave of shock washed over Kreplar as he imagined the awesome power such a ship would contain. "Well I can understand why the Romulans would wish to stop such a vessel from coming on-line. A devastation to them like that without any risk to ourselves would surely be an advantage."
"There is a small risk. Due to the need of stealth in order to get this weapon in position it would require a small crew. Twenty or thirty officers strong is what was estimated."
"But sir, with an explosion of that magnitude there is no chance of survival for the crew."
"I know that Kreplar. Everyone knows that." Tierzak began to rub his hands before looking at his first officer sternly. "Don't you think that twenty lives are worth sacrificing for the deaths of thousands of enemy soldiers? And that's just soldiers, add the fact of all the ships and bases that could be taken out."
"But still sir..." Kreplar began to say before being interrupted.
"But nothing Kreplar. We're at war here. And I don't know if you noticed but we aren't exactly winning either. If we have to sacrifice twenty loyal troops to save twenty billion loyal citizens don't you think we should? Besides, warriors or not the Klingons are growing tired of this conflict. We've lost too many in this bloodbath and they are eager to destroy the Romulans, at any cost."
Though they were but words, they still had an impact on Kreplar. He still did not agree with the tactic, but he did understand it. After all he had seen and all he had been through Kreplar was as 'eager' as the next soldier to end this conflict. One thing still was on his mind though. "If this base was a secret, so much so that only a handful of top Alliance soldiers knew of it, then how would the Romulans know about it?"
"That I have a theory to, but only a theory. All I know is that the first Jach'eng was to have been sent out three days from now to strike the Romulan shipyards at Heyati II. Its glorious first mission and unveiling was to be a major point at the upcoming Alliance meeting. But if this truly was the Romulan's final destination then..." Tierzak's words trailed off as his mind created what was sure to happen.
"Sir, if they think that they are as well hidden as you've said then they don't stand a chance." It was already what the Ferengi daimon had come to, but was afraid to say for fearing that the words would make it truth.
The two Ferengi exchanged a momentary glance before Tierzak rushed back out onto the bridge. "What's the status of our engines?" he asked of the first officer he saw.
"Partial warp power has been restored daimon," responded one of the nearby officers. "We can make a maximum of warp four, but no more."
"The Q'osk system is nearly a full days travel at that speed." As Tierzak sat down in his chair, which was noticeably scarred from debris falling on it, he cursed something to himself. "Alright helm engage at warp four to Q'osk V. In the meantime someone get on increasing our speed, it's to be your top priority. We must reach that planet as quickly as possible."
The present crew gave each other puzzled looks about their daimon's sudden orders and behavior change. Whether they understood or not his reasoning they did understand that he was their leader. Within moments each officer shrugged off their confusion and went about their orders.
From there on the trip was a slow one. Tierzak sat in his chair with only his thoughts and the obvious look of anxious on his face. Kreplar stood faithfully next to his commander and addressed the various crew members as they reported ship and crew status. The rest of the crew went about their various routine of meals and rest, and the crew rotations took place as normal. However, unlike the rest of the officers the two commanders stood vigilant at their post, awaiting their arrival.
Over the course of the trip more speed was eventually gained, but not much. The engineering crews were able to boost the Kraylor's top speed to warp seven and that was as high as was possible without a complete engine overhaul. Even with the gain in speed it still took the Ferengi ship the better part of a day to reach their destination. Once they had closed in on the Q'osk system Tierzak began to send encoded messages to the Klingon shipyard, but no response was received. The daimon's worries continued to increase until they finally arrived at their destination.
"Put the planet on screen," Tierzak ordered.
A few moments later an image of Q'osk V replaced the blackness on the view screen. At first neither of the two Ferengi commanders understood. There was no evidence of an attack, or even a base at all.
"Could the Romulans have completely vaporized it?" the Ferengi first officer whispered to his commander.
"I don't know Kreplar," was all he could say in response. Suddenly he sat up in his chair as something caught his eye. As they orbited the planet something came into view, followed by a thousand more somethings. "Magnify grid seventy-three." The small somethings became clearer as the viewscreen focused and enlarged them. All Tierzak could do was collapse in his chair at the realization of what they were.
"Daimon, what is it? What was here?" asked the young officer manning helm.
"Our chance at victory ensign," replied the daimon with a heavy hearted tone. "And now that chance has been taken away."