Uhura's enthusiasm dimmed at the sight of that solitary figure Saavik made in her room. It remained dimmed as she and Amanda passed the nurse's station. Someone burst from the hallway on their right, a Vulcan male looking wane and drawn. In the next second, Leonard McCoy slammed out of the Phase III ward. He passed by Uhura without ever seeing her.
"Vi'hai! You can't leave!"
The Vulcan, who must be Vi'hai, turned around calmly. "I most certainly can, Dr. McCoy. I am not a prisoner here."
"You've got to give us more time," McCoy begged. "You can't give up hope that we'll find a remedy for the disease."
The bottom of Uhura's stomach dropped out. So, as she expected, this Vulcan was a hybrid like Saavik, but unlike her, he showed the terrible effects of the disease. He swayed ever so slightly on his feet, and his eyes were dull. She worried he no longer fought to stay alive.
The only strong thing about him was his voice when he answered McCoy. "I am not saying anything to contradict your intentions. I am saying I will not wait for them here. You have everything from me that you need. Every test you can give, I have taken. If you need anything more, I can return temporarily. However, I am going home while I have the strength to do so. I will not die here if at all possible, and I need to partake in my own mourning rite for my wife."
He strode away. McCoy started after him when someone else came out of the ward. Someone with reptilian features, black skin and blue striping, with the talons on her feet scratching the stone flooring. Uhura guessed this was Rrelthiz, and watched as she rushed up to McCoy and got in his path. He snarled at her to move out of the way, and she refused silently. She placed an equally taloned hand carefully on his arm. Uhura watched McCoy's shoulders slump.
We're losing. She could see it in every line of McCoy's stooped frame. Worse than that thought was the doubt in the doctor's beaten expression. Losing seemed to be the only thing they were going to do.
She almost went to him, but knew from years of experience he'd rather be alone now. Amanda made a small sound next to her, and fear showed on the older woman's face for one naked second. She clamped down on it with a strength Uhura admired, and then led the way down a different hallway than the one they used to come in. The passageways echoed their hollow footsteps back to them with no conversation to lighten their mood.
It took the sound of Kirk's voice coming out of an office to dispel Uhura's gloom. Even if he was yelling.
"Stop saying there's nothing you can do and tell me what you can!"
Spock sat in front of a communications station -- a quite advanced station, Uhura noted. The light from the screen was the only thing brightening the darkness, and yet, the windowless office with its four work areas in the corners felt warm and cozy, not depressing. Kirk leaned over the Vulcan's right shoulder, venting his spleen on whoever was on the other end of the line. She didn't hear the actual words in the reply, but she heard the angry tone. Kirk's frustration was spreading.
With a small goodbye, Amanda left her.
"Gentlemen," Uhura said quietly.
They both turned, and at Spock's raised eyebrow and Kirk's broad smile, she grinned happily. Even with her former captain's lack of uniform reminding her he was retired, she felt like she came home.
"Uhura! When did you -- hold on, Miller, please, one minute." Kirk cut the volume on the comm line. "Uhura, good to see you. Sorry we couldn't be there when you got in."
"Amanda and Sarek took care of that, Captain." She didn't care what anyone said. She was going to call him captain. She noticed he had slimmed down even in the short time since she last saw him; his face was tanned from Vulcan's sun and she saw the old spark of purpose. "And gave me a general debriefing. The most important thing is, I have a contact for the Romulans."
That got the same surprised response as when she walked in. "Perfect timing. We just ran into another wall. Who's your contact?"
"Someone Mr. Spock knows too." She searched for the right words. "He's… an information broker and a Romulan named Archernar. He won't know anything about the disease himself -- at least, I don't think he will -- but he can find out who does."
Spock's eyebrow rose higher. "Interesting. I had not thought of him."
"Can he do it?" Kirk asked.
Spock thought about it, then nodded. "It is the sort of situation where he insinuates himself."
Kirk's mouth pulled down wryly. "Sounds like we're selling our soul to the devil. But it's still good work getting the contact, Uhura."
"Actually, sir--" She didn't know why she hadn't said this right away, but somehow she still wasn't comfortable mentioning this name in front of Spock… or Kirk for that matter, what with the transfer problem. "Saavik came up with this plan."
She waited, but Spock only nodded and Kirk's mouth tipped up at the corner. "One more for her then. All right, how do we get a hold of him?"
Uhura answered. "That's a problem. We don't know." She didn't mention Saavik thought she could do this easily.
Kirk looked over his shoulder back at the comm station. "Well, if he's a part of the crowd you say he is..." He waved Uhura out of the way of the visual pickups and reopened the line. "Thanks, Miller."
"Who's there?" the man on the line demanded. Uhura saw a narrow eyed, strong-jawed human with a thick, unruly snatch of salt and pepper hair.
Kirk said, "Someone came in, but I got rid of them. Don't worry. I know we need to keep this quiet."
Miller's glower spoke volumes on how quietly he wanted this kept. "Nobody better'd see me as a snitch for Starfleet. My tradin' goes bust if they do."
"Understood. Like I already said, this thing is personal. Starfleet is out of it. Now, Spock came up with a name, somebody who may have what we need. His name's Archernar, a Romulan."
"Never heard of him."
Uhura bet that was true. Miller and Archernar were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Miller must be an independent trader; he shipped goods, sometimes contraband, and knew nothing else but the low-end contacts he needed for his work. Archernar was in the power circles of the Empire, mingling with the Praetor, the Senators, and the noble houses. Despite his smuggler's ship, he was far above dealing with the rank and file at Miller's end.
How to signal that to Kirk?
As she found out, she didn't need to. Kirk knew the way things lay, even with the scant information she passed on to him so far.
"He deals in different things than you. Think of him as--" The smile was for her. "-- an information broker."
"Oh," Miller said sourly. "One of them. How high up?"
"Very," Spock answered.
The trader frowned, thinking. "Okay. I got no one in that circle, but I do got somebody who brushes with it. Maybe he gets a name and they get somebody else's. It means me cashing a favor with my guy, and he doing that with his until we get a body that knows this Rommie. You gotta make it worth our while."
Uhura knew Kirk could handle that part while she needed to start taking care of hers. She saw a computer station out of sight from the comm pickups, and sat down at it. She never exaggerated to Saavik or Amanda about how hard this was going to be, not when it included skirting around Federation Intelligence, Starfleet Command, and every pair of pointed ears but one in the Romulan Empire.
One good way to keep the wrong eyes out -- the first thing she must consider was the encryption system. Usually, that was no problem. She had something unbreakable -- currently, she smiled to herself -- and in fact, it was her present assignment. But it belonged to Starfleet; if she used it, she gave it to Archernar and that meant his Empire got it in their hands.
What could she use that didn't matter if she gave it away? Not to mention, didn't announce she was a member of the Federation to the Romulans who might see it go by.
She had to use an encryption code with Archernar being who he was. He must have people watching his moves, and if a message came in unencrypted, it'd look even more guilty. Even if his watchers let it go by, he'd probably think it was a trap.
So she went outside of what was available from Starfleet, searching the vast network put at her hands through her station -- bless the Vulcans -- and grabbed something standard. In fact, if the data tagged to it was correct, and she bet it was, this was first plucked from people like Miller.
She opened it up, and immediately tsk tsk'ed whoever created it. She knew not to compare it to Starfleet's necessary complicated levels, but really… an infant could break this. However, if she put a couple hours into the algorithm, it'd be usable and still something she didn't have to worry about passing to Archernar.
She just started that when someone came into her peripheral vision: a Starfleet lieutenant and a Vulcan woman. The woman with her dignity and bearing made the human man in his uniform look barely more than a boy. It was unintentional.
The Vulcan spoke first. "Commander?"
Uhura ducked a quick look over at Kirk and Spock, afraid the paranoid Miller might overhear other people in the room. But the comm station was dark, its light replaced by a small lamp, while they worked in whispers.
She stood up, splitting her fingers in the traditional salute. "Live long and prosper. I come to serve."
The Vulcan returned the greeting. "Your service honors us. Peace and long life. I am T'xYa. Ambassador Sarek has requested you be given access to necessary project files."
Thank you, Sarek!
Uhura said nothing more, merely moved out of the way so T'xYa could work at the station. When she worked with different cultures, Uhura tried to give them the working atmosphere they preferred. To Vulcans, saying anything more would have been inefficient as it was unnecessary. T'xYa seemed to appreciate the courtesy, from what Uhura could see in that usual stoic manner.
She glanced at the lieutenant who was staring at Kirk. "Can I help you?" she asked.
He broke off his stare, and turned deep green eyes on her. "Actually, sir--" Uhura stared back pointedly. "I mean ma'am. I'm here to see if I can help you. Starfleet sent out your orders – how you're on loan to Vulcan. We just wanted to make sure you had everything you need."
He suggested a new uniform, pointing out how his, like all others worn here, was of a much lighter weight. She immediately took him up on this offer, and watched his eyes stray back to Kirk as he said he'd take care of it. She waited for the inevitable.
"Is that really–?" he asked.
"James T. Kirk," she supplied. "Yes, that's him."
He surprised her by turning his wide eyes not on Kirk or Spock, but on her. "Are you Nyota Uhura?"
"Well… yes."
"I'm sorry, Commander. They didn't tell me your name, just said to follow T'xYa. Here I almost lost this chance to tell you how much I admire your work."
Well, well!
She bestowed her best smile and a richly voiced thank you that was guaranteed to keep him talking. It worked. He started pouring out stories about his mission here on Vulcan -- the coveted Kelt'an project. Uhura herself wanted to work on it, but the offer came when Kirk faced his last days as captain. She had refused to leave Enterprise as long as he was there.
Her admirer asked questions about her own project back on Earth, the Lisencrypt system. Classified, but she could answer general questions, and her new friend, Mason Bjain, was an officer. He knew the rules. Talking with him showed his experience and more than a good amount of potential. It made for an interesting diversion as she watched T'xYa open files, making sure Uhura's new access got her into the things she needed. When the Vulcan woman's eyes suddenly fluttered closed and stayed that way, Uhura's breath caught in her chest. She saw that same expression from Spock before, such as when Peter Preston's wounded body, carried in a shaken Scotty's arms, came on the bridge during the battle with Khan.
T'xYa opened her eyes and went on as if her pause never happened, but Uhura knew, as if she had any doubts, that what she was going to read in those files could strike even a Vulcan deeply.
That made it even more unexpected when she turned back to Bjain and saw his expression go from hero worship to male appreciation.
Why you sweet thing. It softened the blow she just saw T'xYa take. And it was harmless. This should be entertaining.
But he didn't get a chance to say anything more, because work interceded. Spock came from the desk and stopped next to T'xYa. "Is all in order?"
She said it was. "Will you give Commander Uhura the necessary briefing?"
Spock said he would, and Uhura thought something passed between the Vulcans. The something in that file...
Bjain recognized she had to work. "I'll see that your new uniform gets delivered, Commander, and if you have any free time, I can introduce you to the Kelt'an team."
She managed a smile, and answered that she'd contact him before she left. Spock gestured for Uhura to re-take her station. "Commander, you will remember the planet that created the oxygen depletion weapon used on StarFleet Command?"
"The same mission where we met Archernar. Yes, sir."
He nodded. "This briefing information regards this world and the Vulcan starships captured there."
She began to see what made T'xYa close her eyes... perhaps in grieving. "I think I understand, Mr. Spock. Whatever happened then is behind this disease."
"A possible reason why someone has decided the disease necessary, yes."
Necessary to kill so many people? The thought was sickening, but she was a veteran officer of too many disasters. So she only nodded to Spock.
Kirk's voice came from behind her. "Uhura." She glanced over her shoulder. "You already know, we're here for Vulcan. Keep that in mind when you go through that information. You're going to see why Starfleet has to be kept in the dark."
Her eyes went from him to Spock and back again. "If you think it's necessary, sir, I already believe it."
He gave her that smile that had strengthened her in countless bad times, but a shadow hung over it. Retirement or what they now faced? "Let us know if you have any questions."
"Aye, sir." She was glad he didn't question her use of his rank -- he knew better -- and she turned around as Spock went back to work with Kirk.
For a second, she treasured the sound of their voices behind her, the way they once sounded on Enterprise. She almost pictured turning around and finding Sulu and Chekov at the helm, the captain calling Scotty down in Engineering as McCoy came out of the lift.
She set the computer to give her the briefing files in audio, deciding she was ready for whatever was in them while she got on with that algorithm. She was a professional after all.
And the information was just what she was expecting. Four ships lost near the Neutral Zone, their crews taken alive during a time when Romulans were the faceless enemy, long before Enterprise saw them on a viewscreen. She managed such a strong focus, she was in the middle of a tricky calculation when Spock's old report on Hellguard sounded in her ears.
"Dear lord..."
Over five hundred people tortured until it made their Vulcan disciplines disappear, made them almost insane. And then, when the very thought made Uhura close her eyes in the same graceful gesture of grief as T'xYa, she heard the unbelievable fact about so many Vulcans... raped.
Resulting in Saavik and those like her.
Uhura knew Saavik's past was violent, brutal, but never in the report she overhead Saavik give Nogura were these harsh details described.
She didn't think she made a sound, but Kirk called her name in soft question. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the two men watching her. She straightened her shoulders. "Nothing, Captain."
She gathered her professional senses about her, developed from so many years of viewing the universe's tragedies. Ironically, she learned some of these abilities from studying Spock, learning how Vulcans kept their discipline in the worst possible circumstances.
Acknowledge the emotion, learn what it teaches you, and then you will be able to go beyond its control.
A basic Vulcan exercise, perhaps not worded in their best manner, but she didn't use it to be Vulcan. Just a human needing control in the middle of a crisis. And the irony was using it now so she, like T'xYa, might show that brief gesture of mourning and then move on with her duty. The best thing she'd learned from Kirk: don't wallow in grief or fear. Take action.
Had T'xYa known someone in those lost crews -- friends, family? -- or did she grieve in general for the terrible loss?
The report continued to talk into her ear as she focused again on the algorithm. Using an existing one was saving her a lot of time, even with the modifications. If she increased the variable-length key and tackled the problem someone reported of detecting – although not breaking – a block of variants in only twenty-five rounds…
Her old ship's name brought her attention back to the audio report. Enterprise rescuing a Vulcan woman named T'Pren – Enterprise going to Hellguard to stop a Romulan weapon. If this wasn't personal to her before, it was now. She and her ship had been part, albeit a small part, of this whole thing without even knowing it.
The synopsis on the disease sounded in her ear as finished her cipher work. With the encryption system now unique, she would have to enclose a decoding key for Archernar's use. Which meant -- she shook her head – she had to bury it from prying eyes and make it pop up for Archernar.
She smiled. She loved a challenge.
The report finished on the bleak statistics for the ill and dead Vulcan/Romulan hybrids. For a moment, Uhura just stared at her screen thinking of the mind that created this disease, forcing Saavik and the others to live their parents' lives. Their Vulcan parent's life and death.
Uhura's fingers moved across the computer controls, her eyes watching the code she put together, one part her encryption system, another part a sniffer program to find possible communications routes where she could hide her signal. Her mind did this as a matter of routine, wanting to stray to the information she just heard, but the most important thing was for her to accomplish what she was brought here to do.
She set the sniffer to check what systems she could take advantage of from here to the Neutral Zone. She told it to search other things – paths to the Klingons, the Frontier, and various ships including the Excelsior – to keep someone who came across the wandering little program from guessing its real goal.
She sent it on its way and watched its results stream pass the screen, once in a while noting something she could use, an unmanned network, an automatic beacon. But she turned away from it and let the sniffer work.
What else to do?
She prepared her message, text only, writing in Federation Standard now, but making it ready to run through the translator, including a switch to the Romulan alphabet.
"You may remember me. It was some years ago--" She didn't know the Romulan calendar off the top of her head so she couldn't give him that, and inserting the Stardate announced Starfleet was contacting him: too dangerous if someone broke into the line. "--when you and I, plus quite a number of my friends, embarked on a common enterprise." The word was emphasized in her mind, but not in the message.
"Whether you remember me or not, I need you to contact me back. I need your expertise in finding--" She almost smiled. "–information."
The computer translated the message and she checked the whole thing again. The sniffer came back, and she picked apart the vast data to find what she wanted.
Kirk spoke from the computer station at her rear left. "Spock, this list..."
"The first section is a detailed synopsis for members of the main medical staff working on the disease. It lists any prejudice they exhibited against the infected hybrids before the disease. The obvious example is Srre who has been honest about his bias against his half-brother before their reconciliation. The remaining section of the report encompasses the members of the medical staff who had contact with the hybrids prior to the disease. Therefore, they are suspect in either creating the disease and/or dispensing it."
"But some of the people listed here aren't at the Academy."
"Quite correct, Captain. They are either in private practice or attached to a hospital located elsewhere on the planet."
"Because the hybrids don't all live in the ShiKahr area. And they don't come to the Science Academy for simple problems."
When nothing else was said, Uhura glanced over and saw Kirk sit down on a corner of the desk, Spock already in the chair. With the lights on all the desks now on, the room was brighter but still cozy with its small pools of soft illumination. Rather like the Enterprise.
Kirk said to Spock, "I see your question mark next to Aakheltok's name."
Uhura fished around in her memory and connected with Amanda's debriefing. Aakheltok was the Andorian chief medical officer aboard Saavik's ship.
"I do not have a question mark next to anyone's name," Spock said. "However, I understand this is your way of expressing my hesitation in placing the doctor's name on that list."
"And you're protesting for the sake of protesting. But I've wondered about this same point. It's one thing to get at the Vulcan-Romulans living here. But Saavik... Saavik was onboard a Starfleet vessel. Even when a ship's at a safe port, you can't just walk on board and inject someone with a disease. So how did they get her? Aakheltok does seem to be the... logical choice. He's the CMO. But he's a great actor if he's a part of all this, because his performance while he was here fooled me."
"And what about Arik, Jdehn, and Mehkai who have never been to Vulcan at all?" Kirk continued. "Who got a hold of them?"
Uhura heard computer controls being touched, she guessed by Spock as he spoke next. "Saavik does appear to be the harder target. I apologize, Captain, did you say something?"
"Only noting how much easier it is for you to–"
Uhura thought she saw Kirk glance her way.
"–say certain names."
She waited, but Spock only said after a pause, "Yes. To continue, Captain, Starfleet security does, as you noted, make it more difficult for the disease's perpetrators to reach her. I have cross checked the lieutenant's records with her visits to Vulcan. None occur before she became ill with the disease. The nearest visit happened three months before Saavik exhibited Phase I symptoms. I have also contacted Captain Hunter, requesting she research the possibility Lieutenant Saavik was – for lack of a better word – assaulted aboard the Aefran."
"I can imagine her reaction," Kirk said, "at the thought of her security being breached and her officer attacked. I know how I'd feel."
"She was not pleased. I must note I have found no motivation for Dr. Aakheltok being involved. While he may, as a Starfleet officer, hold the Romulans as enemies, he shows no personal prejudice or conflict with the Empire. And it is a statement of fact that he has no knowledge about Hellguard. It is a critical point, Captain. He could have been given the disease to infect Saavik, after someone else with the right knowledge created it.
"And Mehkai and the other two?"
"Arik has had the most consistent medical personnel. Jdehn and Mehkai are more varied, often seeing a particular doctor or nurse only once as they moved from location to location. Mehkai, being an athlete, has more regular medical visits, even though the doctors change."
"Thorough as always, Mr. Spock."
"Of course, Captain. Why would I be otherwise?"
Uhura wanted to chuckle with Kirk.
More computer sounds, and then her captain said, "If it's the Romulans, then someone here has to be in contact with them. Can we discover how?"
Normally, that was Uhura's job to answer, but she just got here. But of course, Spock had already seen to it.
"Vulcan Command has allocated resources to investigate communications with the Romulans. Researching for such detail amongst a vast amount of data makes the search time consuming."
"Spock... could someone here be Romulan?"
Silence. Uhura caught Spock out of the corner of her eye as he steepled his fingers and touch them to his lips. "It is being investigated."
Kirk said, "Hmm," and then switched topics. "If it's not the Romulans –"
Uhura selected an automated beacon as a piggyback carrier to her program path.
"– we're looking for one of the hate groups. Even if they're not taking credit for all this. Yet."
"I have contacted the Federation's Biased Task Force. They compiled a list of all group members against Romulans, and I have started a cross check between the suspects on our list for contact on theirs."
"You know Bones contends that you and the rest of the Symmetry rescue team haven't been attacked. A Vulcan may not kill another Vulcan."
Uhura kept working, but she felt the muscles in her neck and shoulders tense at that suggestion.
"Captain, do you make an additional point with this rhetorical statement?"
"Does Vulcan have its own hate groups?"
"No."
"None?" Kirk protested. "Nobody banded together against the Romulans or the hybrids like Saavik?"
"Not in the manner you suggest, Captain. People may protest, but not banded in groups or seeking violence."
"But they do protest, in some manner?"
"Yes. I have included such people in my search."
"What about the people on the Symmetry team with you?"
"Sir?"
"Spock, what if it's members of the Symmetry team doing this? You said they were reluctant to do what you suggested. They know better than anyone else what happened on Hellguard. They have a medical expert amongst them, someone who knows the hybrids intimately." Kirk paused for just a beat. "I noticed you don't have Healer Salok's name on your list."
Uhura's fingers stilled. The Symmetry team? Through Spock's leadership, they rescued and gave a future to thirty-three abandoned children who otherwise would never have gotten a year older. And Ambassador Sarek cleared the way for her to come here, getting her everything she needed.
"No," Spock said, almost as an afterthought. "I did not. Captain, the Symmetry team always intended bringing those survivors into the Federation. I did not force that decision."
"But you did force them to let the children claim themselves as Vulcans. To give them the opportunity to take the genetic scan and find their families. Maybe over the years, being forced to do that... built up resentment. Spock, I'm only saying it's something we have to investigate."
"I did not mean otherwise, Captain. If anything, I see my negligence in not thinking of this possibility in the beginning. Due to that negligence, I have now put the investigation in jeopardy."
"How so?"
"Healer Salok was allowed access to the accumulated records. That provided him the opportunity to hide any evidence of his guilt."
"If he's guilty. But that's a problem we face with anyone on the medical team. They've been in the records since before we arrived on Vulcan. Can you find out who has accessed those records and when?"
"Certainly. However, as we have both stated, all medical personnel have a legitimate reason for accessing those records. It will not bring us any closer to establishing guilt."
Kirk sighed. "Maybe not, but it can't hurt."
"I will also establish a security system to notify me – without the user's knowledge – of when those reports are accessed in the future."
"Good idea. We'd better get started with this list, see who we can eliminate. That's going to take a lot of questioning, and it won't get done by us sitting here."
"I have been able to eliminate–"
The comm station signaled, the one they had used to contact Miller. Kirk exchanged glances with Spock first, then darted over to Uhura. She knew they all thought the same thing: had Miller come through in the few hours since they last heard from him? She felt they hesitated to answer because they didn't want to find out they were wrong.
Kirk swung over to the station. It was the trader. Despite being relieved, Uhura couldn't believe he had gotten Archernar's information so fast. Or was Miller calling with bad news?
Kirk was saying the same thing, but Miller cut him off. "Got lucky. Fourth guy I talked to knew your Rommie. Gets the more hard-to-find things from him. Started asking me questions on what you're wanting. To maybe get you a better deal."
But Kirk deftly worked around that, and reminded Miller that part of what he was being paid for was his silence. The trader shrugged.
"Don't have anybody to tell. You wanna talk to a Rommie, what's it to me? Nothin'."
Kirk looked over his shoulder the second the comm line went dark. "Uhura."
She was about to answer when something blipped on her screen. She always put out watchdogs when she was working on something as sensitive as this. She had still called herself paranoid for doing it, but went ahead anyway. Now one of those watchdogs told her someone was trying to trace her activities. "I have a problem, Captain."
Kirk hurried over, leaning over her shoulder and reading her display as she explained the alert in the security measures she put in place. Spock stayed where he was, listening to what was said, and not interfering. It was illogical to lean over her other shoulder when she was the expert in her job and reported to the senior officer, albeit retired.
Kirk asked her, "Any idea who's trying to trace you?"
She did, but she didn't get a chance to answer. The comm station where Spock sat chimed again, bringing up Kirk's head and Uhura's. Spock raised an eyebrow. Miller again? Why?
But it wasn't the trader onscreen when Spock answered. A human male, in Starfleet uniform, sat in front of his comm pickup, aged anywhere from mid-sixties to seventies, the gray hard to see in his blonde hair. He was jowly with his skin red and tight from sunburn.
"This is Commodore Theodore Bass, commander of the Starfleet forces here on Vulcan."
Kirk was already back at the comm station when Bass finished his introduction, taking too much of an ego boost, in Uhura's opinion, in stressing his position. She spoke, careful not to add any significance to her own words.
"I'm receiving confirmation for your question, Captain Kirk."
Both he and Spock looked back at that, and as the Vulcan stared thoughtfully into space and Kirk returned to Bass, she saw they understood. The commodore had practically confirmed he had his people snooping after her.
"Kirk, what's going on down there?"
Bass must be in the Starfleet offices aboard the orbital station. Judging by his sunburn, he might be avoiding Vulcan itself for awhile. Uhura wondered what exactly made him curious enough to check on her. Had her admirer, Mason Bjain, said something? But the commodore answered that too.
"You keep saying it's got nothing to do with Starfleet, but every time I turn around I'm getting someone's new orders to meet you here on Vulcan. Now you got your communications expert with you, but when I check, I find out that her clearance isn't set up by the officer we send down. Vulcans are giving it to her. Sarek and Amanda of Vulcan are the ones briefing her, and when we check to see what's going on, we run into something as bad as a cloaking device around her station. What're you hiding?"
"Commodore," Kirk began. Uhura watched him keep himself contained. "Our mission here is specific to Vulcan through their High Council. Out of everyone assigned to the team, only four of us are with Starfleet. We're not here because we're fleet officers, but because of our past history with the mission details. I know Ambassador Sarek has spoken with Starfleet Command and the Federation Council to clear our being here. I'm sure if you spoke with him--"
"Don't drop names with me, Kirk. I don't care who you know on Vulcan."
But Uhura saw that was a lie.
"I can't do anything about you, Kirk, since you're retired. But the other three fell under my command when they got assigned here, and you hide what's going on when it's my business? Don't bother answering that now. I want those officers here in my office with a full report in the next thirty minutes." He signed off.
Kirk exploded. "Who does he think he is?"
Spock read from his computer, "Bass, Theodore Alfred. Current rank, commodore. Current assignment, commander of Starfleet forces, Vulcan."
"The question was rhetorical, but thank you, Mr. Spock. From the day they assigned a Starfleet unit here, I've never met any commanders who Starfleet wasn't burying on Vulcan because they were in trouble or marking time at a desk job until their retirement."
"According to his record, Commodore Bass will retire in two months, three days."
"And he's not going to do real work. He comes here where everything is so quiet and orderly, he just has to strut around in his uniform with all his braids on and get a grand sounding title to his record. The only reason he didn't demand that report now is he's using the thirty minutes to find out if he's insulted Sarek and the High Council by demanding anything." Kirk took a deep breath while Uhura hid a smile. "All right. Spock, you and I will go. I'm not interrupting what Bones and Uhura are doing to placate someone's inflated sense of brass. We can start investigating those names on the list right after we give this so called report. You said you eliminated some people?"
"Based on lack of motive, opportunity, or knowledge. Dr. McCoy, for example. He has the necessary knowledge, both medical and the conditions on Hellguard. However, I found no motive for his taking part in creating or applying the disease, or an opportunity for him to do so."
"He'll be relieved to hear that. Who else?"
"We have pinpointed knowledge of Hellguard as a key factor. However, in regards to some, such as the general physicians with hybrid patients, I am not aware if they have this knowledge or not. While Criterion and the other ships being captured is generally known, not all details are. Of course, anyone might surmise, with the existence of Saavik and the others, what happened to the Vulcan captives."
Kirk snapped his fingers. "But they would never have enough facts to put into the disease! And if we're talking about each family physician infecting their own patient, someone has to be coordinating that effort. Each physician didn't come up with the same disease on by themselves. It's another way to eliminate people. Cross check if there's one or two people these physicians have in common, the people would be behind their effort."
They stood right next to Uhura's station so she didn't have to raise her voice.
"Gentlemen, I'm ready."
She fed Archernar's contact codes into her program, and sent the carefully prepared message. Her display changed to a geographic grid with a bright point leaving Vulcan with its path shown in yellow light. "I created this display using the path points I selected, along with the estimated times between each point. The actual carrier signal doesn't transmit its progress to me, of course. That would be counterproductive after all the precautions I've taken. In fact, it erases its trail and any sign that it existed at each point when it leaves."
The signal hit its fourth relay point when Kirk said, "Uhura, this is... amazing."
She knew what he was thinking. Overkill, paranoid. She remembered Bass having his people attempt breaking into her station.
"Yes, Captain," she said.
Nobody said anything more until the carrier signal crossed the Neutral Zone. From there, she knew, it was a straight line to Archernar, but she couldn't track the signal in the Romulan Empire. The silence stretched for a beat more.
"There it goes," Kirk said at last. "Now we wait."
It took hours before Archernar first got back to them. Uhura had volunteered to work on the data gathering, especially tracking communications between those on Kirk and Spock's list of suspects and any Romulans. The tedious work, so far, found nothing. Hearing from Archernar made her feel she accomplished something.
In his first contact -- made in full recorded audio and video, no less - a woman's body stood partially in the frame. An assistant or partner? Uhura wondered. Or something more personal? She ran his recording through the Universal Translator and started his message.
"I am always pleased to hear from such a beautiful woman as yourself." Archernar refrained from using names despite using her encryption system with his own modifications. The woman's hand dropped into the frame, resting possessively on his chest. "If I have information that is at all of any use to you, I'm happy to provide it. How may I help you, my lovely friend?"
The woman's hand pressed tighter on his chest, although the woman herself never stepped any more into view. Despite the serious situation they were in, Uhura laughed at these jealous antics, and guessed Archernar was enjoying himself just as much.
She sobered as she thought of some way to move their dialogue to the next level. This message from her must somehow mention Saavik, the disease, and finding the Hellguard records. Not to mention all data on the disease if it was created by the Empire, all worded so nobody else would know what she was talking about.
Uhura contacted him back, her recording made in audio only, just in case. She still wasn't ready to display her human features in a message opened within the Romulan Empire. She dropped her voice into a seductive purr. "I'm just as glad to hear from you, Archernar." Let The Hand hear that one! Who said work couldn't be fun?
But this was work, serious work. "We have a mutual friend, a woman you once described as having beautiful, almost feline lines." That was close as she could think of getting to the meaning of Saavik's name: Little Cat. Uhura knew she violated something special by bandying that about, but her 'paranoia' extended to not including the name of a Starfleet officer, even if it was a Romulan name.
She could have done this without mentioning Saavik at all; she could have put this before Archernar as a simple deal of gathering covert information for a fee as the way to grab his interest. But she still believedthat bringing up Saavik, despite her protests to the contrary, gained Archernar's interest more than anything else.
And if she was wrong, Uhura still offered that fee to get his attention. And a fantastic challenge.
"Our friend is ill with a fatal disease that might have started on the colony world you and I visited the last time we saw each other. I need any records that exist for her colony. We theorize that someone may have used that information to create this disease. Either the colony leaders or someone they gave the information to. If you can find if has someone done that, accessed colony records to make this disease, we obviously need that information as well."
Archernar's next reply wasted no time on polite conversation and was only one line. "How ill is she?"
That woman previously around him was gone.
Uhura answered, "If it goes uncured, she will die in little over a year. That is why we need that information. We believe the cause and the cure lie on your end." She had almost said 'your people', but didn't want to sound outside of the Romulans. "Our mutual friend has--" she searched for the right word, "compatriots also ill, some already gone."
She was in bed, sound asleep, when the next message came in the middle of the night. She had forwarded her station controls to Sarek's and Amanda's home, setting an alarm to sound in her guest room if anything came from Archernar. She felt bleary, and only some of it cleared by the adrenaline sent pumping by the alarm. She was out her door and down the hallway towards the comm station in the main room. Despite the quiet she used at the time of the night, she heard other doors opening behind her, and by the time she was seated and answering the beeping signal, Kirk, Spock, Sarek, and Amanda ringed her back.
Archernar's reply was now a live, real time connection. Uhura was stunned. Is he insane? If either of us gets caught… And then her sleepy brain thought, What time is it out there anyway?
The remaining sleepiness was burned away rapidly at the danger of being detected. An alarm went off somewhere, and my name is going to be the talk of the Intelligence Division. Just what she always wanted, Intelligence to know who she was.
After that thought was this one. Why did he go to all the trouble? This was getting irritating. Surely he knew these sorts of things were best done as briefly as possible. By now, she expected his price demands in one last message and no other contact until he sent the information, if he found it.
He made no preambles. "Is she there?"
Uhura blinked and leaned closer. "No. She is in the hospital, recuperating from the disease's second stage."
Something changed in Archernar's aristocratic features expression, Uhura couldn't say what, but she felt a sudden chill and wrapped her robe tighter around her.
"Tell her that if the information is to be found, I will find it."
"How good are your chances of doing that?"
"I have already started. I know a source--" He stopped, his lips thinning. Because he wanted to watch what he said over the open connection or because he wasn't going to reveal his inner network? "But I don't know if any files were kept intact. I will get her something."
Uhura was getting irritated that despite the fact she was sitting right here, Archernar could only think in terms of Saavik.
Oh well. She brushed off the irritation. It was just lack of sleep. "I hate to drag the conversation to a vulgar level, but we haven't discussed price." She remembered only half of the items found on his ship years ago when Scotty and his team inventoried the contents, but as an example of the prices he could demand, they'd all be hocking the family heirlooms to pay his bill.
But he surprised her by making a dismissive gesture. "Tell my Little Ca-- tell Saavik she will only have to reimburse me for whatever… payments--" She understood he meant bribes. "I need to make. Plus, my source has spent a great deal of money to build... shall we say, a niche for herself."
Meaning someone built a bolt hole inside the myriad levels of the Empire. And was still hiding in it, the Empire was still interested in finding her. Archernar not only had to burrow through to her, she needed to somewhat surface. If he could make her decide it was worth it.
So he knew someone who knew about the half-Romulan hybrids, who might be bribed to tell it, but they would pay the cost for building her a new hiding spot, something good enough to render her invisible.
Archernar smiled suddenly, and Uhura wondered if he was about to offer them a Trojan Horse next. "My own fee is nothing. Tell her I remember my life debts."
She smiled, teasing. "I didn't know you were so charitable."
He sat back in his seat, thinking about it before a spark lit in his eyes. "You're right. I'm usually not."
"Meaning Saavik will owe you a favor."
"A very large one. I've often found it's just as rewarding to have a network of favors owed me as anything else. " His smile was devilish. "I look forward to collecting this one." His eyes darted off screen and narrowed. "I will be in contact with you shortly. But it becomes too dangerous to keep this connection open." He spared the last second to once more speak in his most compelling tones. The inviting rogue personality returned. "It's been my pleasure to see you again, Commander, as well as to enjoy that lovely voice."
She smiled back. "You don't fool anyone, you charmer. It's been good to see you too."
And he didn't fool her. He put that veneer over his Romulan talons, but she saw them nevertheless. And decided she didn't mind after all that he focused on Saavik.
He cut the connection.
And Uhura, having completed what she came her to do, no longer had duty pushing down any other thoughts. Plaguing thoughts buried since she first heard the Hellguard reports. Wonderings such as those Vulcan women, carrying hybrid children, and if they still believed in their culture's respect for all life. Or did they at least feel hate for the rape conceived child they carried? Did the Romulan women feel triumph at a baby's first movements or see it just as a component of a plan? Or worse, something reviled, a tumor they wanted to be rid of?
She didn't get back to sleep.