"They're following us," Glinn Ledrec reported.
"Well, I can't say I'm surprised," said Gul Narat. "How long until they catch us?" This was directed at Lakahn; he entered the calculation on his console.
"Ten minutes, forty-seven seconds, sir." When the Cardassian said nothing, Lakahn grew worried. He stepped around his console and stood beside the Gul's chair. "Gul Narat, we have to tell someone what's going on. If the Borg are back-"
"Commander, thank you for your advice, but I don't have to do anything. Aside from which, I'd say a bit more investigation is necessary before we make any rash decisions."
"Investigation?" Lakahn repeated, incredulous. "What do you want to investigate? In-" he checked his console "-ten minutes thirteen seconds we're going to be assimilated!"
"I don't think so, Commander. The Borg aren't a concern. No, it's Gul Jecett," the short Cardassian said, rising to his feet and stroking his chin. "I don't believe... Ah," he said slowly, shaking his head, "something's off here, Commander. Something doesn't fit..." He turned and began pacing. As he approached the wall, he stopped and turned. "Glinn Ledrec," he said. "Route auxiliary power to forward phaser banks and fire a continuous beam directly ahead for eight minutes thirty-one seconds. That should be more than enough time."
"Fire?" The giant appeared confused. "With the forward banks, at this speed...?"
Gul Narat gave him a dangerous glare. "Fire," he repeated. "I'll give you further instructions later." Cowed, Glinn Ledrec bowed from the waist and typed something into his console. "I'll need to remodulate forward shields. It'll take a few seconds, Gul." The short Cardassian nodded and turned to Lakahn. "Come with me," he said.
Lakahn followed the shorter man into a side room. To him, it looked like a cross between the Orion's observatory and Captain Hughes' ready room. Like the observatory, it was spacious and featured a long table running down its centre. It was divided roughly in half lengthwise, with one long strip being slightly raised and having numerous screens and consoles at its midpoint. Also at the midpoint was a large chair, like the one in the bridge, and in this Gul Narat settled himself.
To the other side of the table were two smaller chairs, maybe intended for the Glinns but more likely for visitors to the ship. Lakahn had already noticed that he and Glinn Ledrec seemed to spend most of their time on their feet.
Since he hadn't been asked, he didn't sit in either of the smaller chairs, but stood behind one, leaning his arm on the headrest. Maybe sensing that there was something he wanted to say, the small Cardassian said nothing. Instead, he just watched Lakahn with a mildly expectant expression. Taking a breath, Commander Lakahn steeled himself for the inevitable argument. "Gul Narat," he began, "are you familiar with Starfleet Order 104, Section D?"
"104-D?" the Cardassian repeated, puzzled. "No. Is it relevant?"
"Order 104, Section D, states that no Starfleet captain can command a ship if he isn't psychologically stable. I assume there's a Cardassian equivalent."
Gul Narat laughed. "Commander! Are you insinuating that I'm unfit for command? I assure you, I'm perfectly stable."
"Are you really?" Lakahn demanded. "Then explain why you destroyed Keltok Nor! Explain why you refuse to send a message to anyone about the Borg! And explain why you want to fire the phasers at nothing!"
The Cardassian pinched the bridge of his nose. "Commander, to answer your earlier question, no, there is no parallel regulation under our laws. If you find a problem with my conduct, you're more than welcome to submit a report to Central Command. The file will be reviewed and your complaint noted, and if all goes well we'll hear the verdict within a few months. In the meantime, if it will keep you quiet, I'll explain. I trust you're familiar with the concept of the 'sonic boom'?"
"Of course," Lakahn said, caught off guard. "It's what happens when a ship goes supersonic in a planet's atmosphere. As you approach the sonic barrier, you form a superdense pocket of air in front of you. At supersonic speeds, that pocket forms a cone, and the pressure changes become sound waves that sound like explosions to those on the ground. Hence, 'sonic boom'."
"Very good, Commander," Gul Narat said in amused tones. "Now, as it turns out, the transwarp threshold is very similar to the sonic barrier. As you go beyond warp ten, you create a similar distortion in subspace. Come to think of it, I think it was a Federation scientist that first discovered the effect. You call it a Ludwig-Hermann singularity. It's why it's so very dangerous to be near a ship crossing the transwarp barrier.
"Now, the Gavran has a maximum speed of warp 11.2 exactly, which is the speed we're now travelling at. It also happens to be the speed where you begin to build a Ludwig-Hermann singularity." Gul Narat paused, tilted his head, smiled. "It was actually Glinn Vekal and I, nearly a decade ago, who first theorised about the 'transwarp blast', that one could build the singularity to catastrophic proportions by firing into it. I assure you, our calculations are sound. As you know, phaser fire travels at exactly transwarp threshold speeds, so it neither escapes the singularity nor rebounds back on the firing ship until you actually break the barrier, at which point you've effectively create a 'subspace boom'. It's obviously not very practical when dealing with a small, streamlined ship like the Federation's, or Cardassia's for that matter. Those ships would just slip through the singularity with minimum damage. A cube, on the other hand... Well." The Cardassian gave a truly evil grin. "A transwarp blast can obliterate planets. And as formidable as the Borg shields are, I highly doubt they can stand up to that much sheer force."
Lakahn stared. "Are you telling me this ship has transwarp abilites?" Even the Romulans hadn't developed that kind of technology yet!
"Oh, much better than that, Commander." Delighted, Gul Narat smirked. "What did you think Cardassia was doing while the rest of you were heroically battling the Borg? But that's not what I wanted to discuss with you. Frankly, what I wanted to talk about is you.
"You've committed three and a half acts of insubordination in your time here, and frankly I'm not impressed with your abilities as an officer, either. If you were a Cardassian, I'd have you reassigned to scrubbing floors in the embassy on Breen. As it is..." He shook his head scornfully. "The only reason you're still on this ship is because I can't do anything about it. Not without risking war, and that I will not do. But at the same time I won't put my ship at risk because of your incompetence. I'm taking over your duties until I find a better substitute. You're welcome to ride shotgun if you like, but if you question me again on that bridge, or interfere in any way," said Gul Narat in a soft, steady voice Lakahn hadn't heard from him before, "you will regret it." And with those words, the Cardassian swept out of the room, leaving Lakahn alone.
The door closed behind him. Lakahn sighed and slapped the table in frustration.
He couldn't understand it. What was Gul Narat up to? He'd said himself he didn't want to risk compromising the peace treaty, and yet he'd been nothing but hostile. And what incompetence? Lakahn had barely been given anything to do; how could he possibly have failed so completely in one or two little tasks as to drive the Cardassian to such irritation?
Outside, Gul Narat pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Were his orders so difficult to follow? What was wrong with the Commander? He couldn't seriously have any intentions of upsetting the established order on the ship: any problems he caused would be resolved within a few days of his departure. As a member of Starfleet he could hardly hope to commandeer a Cardassian vessel; even if such a coup succeeded, the crew would simply not follow his orders. No. If there was an ulterior motive, and Gul Narat was usually good at discerning such things, he couldn't see it. And yet the Commander couldn't be such a fool, either. Something was out of order here.
With a mild headache building, Gul Narat walked over to Glinn Vekal's station and, entering a command, brought it back to its original display settings. The confusing Federation text reverted to Cardassian. Nothing seemed wrong with the growing singularity in front of the Gavran, and the Borg cube was closing according to plan. All according to plan, and yet Gul Narat felt uncomfortable.
"I'll be below," he informed Glinn Ledrec. Sending the giant a look that told him inform him if anything catastrophic happened, and to keep the Commander on the bridge, Gul Narat left the bridge.
As he was about to leave the room, Lakahn noticed something he must have missed before. One of the drawers on Gul Narat's side of the long table was half-open. His curiosity got the better of him and he stepped around the table to inspect it more closely.
Opening the drawer, he found it empty but for a Federation PADD with an open file on its display. It was written in Cardassian.