February 1, 2248

Captain's Ready Room, U.S.S. Valkyrie, 1000 Local Time

Tynen stood behind his desk, gazing through his transparent aluminum window at the stars when Niznik Vox walked through the doors of the captain's ready room.

"Captain, Lt. Vox, reporting as ordered," the Trill navigator said.

Tynen immediately turned and smiled at Vox. "Thank you for coming, old friend," he said. "Would you care to sit?" he asked, directing Vox to the arm chair directly in front of his desk.

Vox slid into the chair with the grace Tynen associated with Jezri, Vox's prior host and the woman who'd been Tynen's May/December 'forbidden lover' during his Academy days. For several brief moments, the captain studied his friend without saying a word. Others would soon be watching Vox's every move, judging him. Would they see, as Tynen always had, the person who'd molded him into a starship captain, or would they see a fresh-faced kid who'd be difficult to take seriously?

Now, gazing directly into Vox's eyes, Tynen said, "Earth Force has asked us to send one of our starships to extract an infantry platoon manning a listening post on a lifeless moon orbiting one of the Beta Durani colonies. Those colonies were recently captured by the Minbari and the listening post was established there to determine if the Minbari intend to use the system as a staging area for their final assault on Alliance Earth. Admiral Tapin wants to send the U.S.S. Echo because she's fast enough to cover the twelve light year trip in seven days and return in time to join in the defense of Alliance Earth when the Minbari are expected to launch their attack."

Vox merely nodded and waited for Tynen to continue.

"However, the Echo's first officer has gone into premature labor. Both she and her husband, the ship's commander, are currently aboard the Elizabeth Dehner. As of now, they've been given medical leave for the foreseeable future. Since the Echo doesn't have either her skipper or executive officer available for this mission, the admiral has given me the authority to choose a temporary commander for her. I've chosen you, Vox."

His old friend gasped. "Really, Jason?"

Tynen smiled broadly at the joined Trill. "Really, Vox. With your prior experience during your time with Jezri, I can't think of anyone better qualified to step into Commander Meier's shoes. Now, you should know that not only are you in command of the Echo during this particular mission; you're also going to be her skipper when we face the Minbari here at Alliance Earth."

"Jason," Vox gushed, "this is…i-it's just so unexpected…"

"Vox," the captain gently added, "there's more."

"More?"

"Yes," he noted. "In the interest of fostering better ties with the Klingons, they're assigning one of their officers to serve as the Echo's XO. General Kang has selected one of his officers to serve in that capacity. Her name is Lieutenant Krilka. She currently serves as the K'tanco's science officer and reports directly to Mara, Kang's XO and wife. Kang, Lady Mara, and Dax all think highly of her. I suspect as Lady Mara's subordinate, she will be more flexible to deal with than most Klingons."

"Jason," Vox asked with some hesitation, "taking temporary command of a starship and working with a crew that had a different commander is difficult enough as is. Why would you want to add the complication of a Klingon XO to the equation?"

Tynen sighed heavily then said, "Vox, unless we get everyone in this expeditionary force, Klingon and Starfleet, to work together as a team, I fear we could lose everything, our ships, Alliance Earth—Vox, we could lose it all! Right now, we have a tenuous alliance between governments that have practically been at each other's throats for half a century. Now, I realize we can't just flip a switch and change all of that history overnight. However, we've already started the ball rolling. Kirk brought the Klingon Chancellor to Earth. The Minbari attack on the Regulus sector fostered an alliance between our two governments. Now, we have a joint expedition here at Alliance Earth to protect Humans on the other side of the galaxy. Don't you see, Vox? The more opportunities we have to develop an understanding between the Klingons and us, the more chances we'll have of finding ways we can peacefully coexist with them."

Vox smiled at him in the way that reminded Tynen of the times when a bemused Jezri had encouraged idealistic cadets to spout off during the classes she'd taught at the Academy. "Jason, you're such a dreamer," the Trill navigator drawled. "But you're a good dreamer."

Tynen nodded graciously to Vox then said, "In addition to your Klingon XO, you're going to have an Earth Force colonel on board. His assignment is to help you contact the listening post personnel and arrange for their extraction. So, as you can see, this mission requires an experienced, fair-minded and level-headed commander."

"So, of course, I was the first person who popped into your mind." It was a bemused statement rather than a question.

"Why, of course," he drawled. "And, to sweeten the pot," he added, "by regulation, the skipper of that class of vessel must be at least a lieutenant commander." Suddenly, Tynen reached into his desk drawer, drew out a black jewelry case, stood up, and moved to Vox's side of the desk. Then the captain smiled as he attached the insignia to Vox's shoulder strap. "Congratulations, Lt. Commander Vox. Now I'm certain you have a lot to do to get your new command underway."

Vox smiled brightly at Tynen. "Yes, sir!" he chirped. "First, I'd like to contact Commander Meier to let him know I'm keeping his seat warm for him and to arrange for any personal effects they need to have transported to the Dehner."

"That's a good idea, Vox. You know, if he and his wife are sharing quarters like V'Lar and me, you may also need to have someone on that ship arrange quarters for Krilka, too."

"You're right," Vox agreed.

"Well then, why don't you go ahead and use my terminal to contact Meier and tell him the good news. I'm sure he can help you get settled and let the people on the Echo know about the transition. Oh, and Vox, at 1155, Krilka will arrive on board the Valkyrie. At that time, I'll brief you both and send you on your way. You'll need to proceed to Beta Durani at Warp 8 by 1600 hours."

"Aye, aye, sir!"

Tynen smiled at his friend's enthusiasm and said, "If you need any help, let me know."

"Yes, sir."

Captain Tynen then nodded to the newly promoted officer and strode out of his office through the ready room doors.

#

Tynen strode onto the Bridge and smiled at his wife. "Anything to report, V'Lar?"

"There is nothing to report, sir. All systems are normal."

"Very good, captain," he said. Then he added, "If you don't mind, I would like to speak to you in the conference room."

"Of course, sir," she said. Then she glanced at a command division officer who manned the navigation console. "Lt. Maddox."

"Yes, sir?"

"You have the Bridge."

"Aye, sir," the young man responded and moved toward the captain's chair while she followed Tynen into the conference room.

Moments later, they seated themselves at the head of the table closest to the sliding entry doors.

"V'Lar," Tynen said, "Vox is being transferred temporarily to the Echo for the next few months. He's going to serve as the vessel's skipper for now. In the meantime, I want you to assign Maddox as his replacement at Navigation while Vox is gone."

"Yes, sir," V'Lar said.

"The Echo will be leaving the system at 1600 hours under Vox's command. Also, Vox will have a Klingon officer serving as his executive officer for the foreseeable future."

Her right eyebrow shot up at that bit of news. "Intriguing," she noted dryly.

"Yes, isn't it, though?" he mused. "The Klingon officer is due to meet with Vox and me at 1200 hours in my ready room. I'll have Vox escort her from the transporter room to my office."

"Very well, sir."

He smiled and extended the two fingers of his right hand toward her.

V'Lar glanced at his fingers for a moment before she briefly linked the matching fingers of her right hand with his. Tynen felt a small tingle race up the muscles of his arm as his wife shuddered slightly. When their fingers parted, he still reveled in the sensation of her. "It's too bad we've got to go mind the store. Would you like to have dinner in our room tonight?"

"Your suggestion is acceptable, adun. I shall ask the Chef to prepare a meal for our consumption and deliver the food and a bottle of wine to our abode."

He shot a quirky grin her way as they started for the door. "Great! It's a date!"

In response, she sighed heavily and shot her 'why-in-Surak's-name-do-I-put-up-with-this-illogical-human' look at him as they exited the conference room together.

#

C'hara – Minbari space, 1105 Local Time

A jump point swirled into existence two hundred thousand kilometers away from C'hara III. The Brigain had created the doorway between hyperspace and real space and allowed its convoy to use it to gain entry into the system.

Once the last of its tiny fleet had exited jump space, the Minbari capital ship powered into C'hara space and closed the doorway behind it. As the convoy approached the verdant planet that hung like a beautiful pendant in the depths of outer space, the members of the Brigain's Bridge crew stared at the scene that played out before them. Several tugs were busy towing massive chunks of debris that appeared to be the remains of war cruisers and defense stations. Meanwhile, there were Minbari warships in stationary orbits above the planet as far as the eye could see.

Then his gentle science officer, Srikenn, gasped and cried out, "In Valen's name!"

At first, Shak Na Dukain believed she'd been startled by the signs of destruction both on and above the world that were visible on the ship's holographic imager.

Then he saw what had been the true cause of her alarm.

There it was, as plain as day. He saw the massive Vorlon cargo vessel hanging in space above the planet's polar region as it came into view. Shuttles continually passed back and forth between it and the Minbari vessels around C'hara III as the Brigain drew closer to it.

As they continued toward the Vorlon vessel, Shak Nali Melenn approached his command chair and murmured lowly, "Sir, we've been ordered to take up station near the Vorlon craft. Apparently, the First Ones have decided to upgrade our systems to deal with the Earther Federationists and their beastly allies."

"Make it so, Melenn," he murmured. As she strode away to do his bidding, he mused that the situation must be desperate if the Vorlons had come to the aid of his people after a thousand years of silence—quite desperate, indeed.

#

Transporter Room #2 – U.S.S. Valkyrie, 1155 Local Time

"Commander Vox, the Klingons are transporting their officer to us now."

Niznik nodded to the female transporter operator as he waited for his new executive officer's arrival. "Thanks, Naomi."

As Vox waited patiently, Transporter Chief Green shot a confused look at her console. "Sir," she murmured, "it appears that the Klingon is armed with an energy weapon. Should I deactivate it?"

Vox frowned at that bit of news and considered it for a brief moment. Then she shook her head. "No, that's all right, Naomi. Go ahead and complete the transport."

The woman shrugged and said, "Aye, sir." Then she pushed up three levers and a form began to materialize inside waves of gold on one of the pads. Moments later, a tall, young and attractive woman garbed in steel-gray armor and long black boots stood in the transporter alcove. Her skin was dusky yet not as dark as most Klingons. On her belt, she carried a disruptor pistol, a device that appeared to be their version of a communicator and another that looked like a PADD. On the pad beside here appeared a piece of luggage that reminded Vox of a duffle bag.

Stepping forward, he smiled and said, "Welcome aboard the Valkyrie. I am Lieutenant Commander Niznik Vox, the commanding officer of the Echo."

"I am Krilka, daughter of K'Mar, Lieutenant assigned to the Klingon Battlecruiser K'tanco," she stated proudly.

Vox frowned and snapped. "That is incorrect."

She shot a puzzled look at him. "I don't understand…sir," she growled.

"You are Lieutenan Krilka, First Officer of the Federation starship, the Echo. Or do you intend to disobey General Kang's orders?"

"I have no intention to disobey my orders, sir."

"Lieutenant, where do your loyalties lie?"

She blinked twice before she responded. "I…do not understand your question, sir."

"The Echo is equipped with the Federation's most powerful weapons and its finest crew members. We shall be assigned to a mission deep behind enemy lines and must be ready to go into battle in a moment. I know I can count on every crewman to serve, and if necessary, die, in that battle. So, I ask you again, Lieutenant, where do your loyalties lie?"

"I have been assigned to serve the U.S.S. Echo and to obey your orders. And I shall do exactly that. If you wish, do you desire for me to take a blood oath to that effect?"

Vox smirked at her and mused that Jason's and Dax's tips on handling Klingons had been spot on. Invoking their honor and tying it to their commander was the best way to handle the younger officers. Then he smiled at the woman and said, "You just did. Now, come along, Krilka and leave your luggage with the Chief. She'll look after it for you. In the meantime, Fleet Captain Tynen wishes to brief us in his office before we embark on our adventure."

They walked down the hall together toward the turbolift doors when she commented, "Commander, when I arrived on your transporter pad I noticed that your operator failed to deactivate my disruptor pistol."

"Yes, that's true," Vox confirmed. "I wanted our relationship to start off on the right foot, lieutenant. Call it an act of good faith. Besides, if I were to act in a cowardly manner in the near future, it would be difficult for you to ensure my 'forced retirement,' as it were, with a deactivated weapon, wouldn't it?"

She laughed heartily at that. "Perhaps so, Commander Vox, perhaps so!"

After they'd entered the turbolift and Vox had directed the computer to take them to the Bridge, he turned to her and said, "So, Krilka, daughter of K'Mar, I ask you to join me on this mission as my First Officer."

In response, she nodded regally at him. "I accept, commander."

Minutes later, they exited the turbolift onto the Bridge then crossed over to the entrance into the captain's ready room. Vox pressed a button on the door frame and Tynen announced, "Come," through the door. As the door slid open, both officers entered Tynen's office and found the captain seated behind his desk. He smiled and said, "Hello, Vox and you," he indicated with a glance at the young Klingon officer, "must be Lt. Krilka."

"Yes, sir," she said simply.

"Please take a seat" he said, indicating the chairs across from him.

Once they were all seated, Tynen cleared his throat and began. "I'm sure you both know the Echo doesn't have either her skipper or executive officer available for the foreseeable future."

"Yes, captain," both officers said.

"Well, I just found out that Commander Meier and Lt. Meier both had a healthy baby boy earlier this morning. They intend to take Family Medical Leave for a full year. So this puts us in a bind because I'm going to need to keep you on that ship for longer than we'd anticipated. So, it's important that you two find a way to work together. Based on my experience, it's going to take some flexibility on both of your parts and extremely open communications between you."

"We understand, captain," Vox said.

"Good. Now, let's cover your mission. Earth Force had planted an infantry platoon in a listening post on a lifeless moon orbiting one of the Beta Durani colonies. The members of the platoon hid on the moon just before the Minbari invaded the entire system. Their mission was to signal if the enemy planned to use the system as a staging area for the final assault on Alliance Earth. The Echo shall carry an Earth Force colonel along for the ride to help extract his people from the listening post. Based on what we know about the Minbaris' capabilities, they won't be able to detect our ship's arrival in the system at warp speed. However, you will need to sneak into the system in a way that won't draw attention to yourselves. I recommend dropping out of warp less than a hundred thousand kilometers from the moon while keeping it between you and the colony world it orbits. Then you should enter a geostationary orbit above the listening post which is located on the dark side of the moon and beam down your recovery party. The colonel will know its location, so do not use your active sensors. The Minbari may be able to detect them. Once you've recovered the platoon, get out of that system like someone's lit your tails on fire and warp back here. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Krilka responded crisply.

Tynen nodded then said, "As for you, lieutenant, the crew and the ship's computer recognize you as the vessel's XO and her chief science officer. You have complete and total access to anything having to do with ship's business on the computer. However, certain computer files are restricted from you simply because they govern situations that require the independent action of the ship's commanding officer. Now, if something were to happen to incapacitate Commander Vox, the computer is programmed to bring you up to speed on those files and you would be expected to carry out your orders as set forth in those files to the best of your ability and restrict the exposure of the information contained therein to any of the members of your crew."

"Yes, sir…I understand, sir," she said.

Vox schooled himself to keep any reaction of his face during the last minute or so of their conversation. The symbiot still recalled the Omega Directive from its time when it had been joined with Jezri during her time as a Starfleet captain.

In 2269, a team of Federation scientists, led by Professor Ketteract, had worked on a top secret experiment entitled "Project Omega" at a classified research center in the Lantaru sector. The project's goal had been to create an inexhaustible energy source which would have ended the need for all other sources of power. The research showed a single molecule of omega contained the same power as a starship's warp core. This led Ketteract to believe a small chain of omega molecules could sustain a civilization indefinitely. Ketteract, along with various cosmologists, had theorized that the omega molecule once had existed in nature for an infinitesimal period of time at the precise moment of the big bang. Ketteract had even postulated omega had been the primal source of energy for the explosion that began our universe.

The scientists had been able to synthesize a single omega molecule, but only for a fraction of a second before it destabilized, destroying the research center and killing all the scientists. An unexpected secondary effect of the explosion was the rupture of subspace within a radius of 3.2 light years, totally curtailing the use of warp drives within this area of subspace. Starfleet Command then realized the unimaginable implications: a chain reaction involving a handful of omega molecules could devastate and/or destroy subspace throughout an entire quadrant. This would effectively end interstellar travel for spacefaring civilizations in that quadrant. If such an event ever occurred in Federation space, all communication, trade, and contact between Federation worlds would be lost.

To protect against something like this ever happening again, Starfleet Command suppressed all knowledge of the experiment and fabricated the story of a natural phenomenon occurring in the Lantaru sector which made warp travel impossible within the 3.2 light year radius of subspace devastated by the omega explosion. Starfleet then enacted the Omega Directive, naming it after the last letter in the Greek alphabet, chosen to signify the molecule as the ultimate threat not only to the Federation but to every spacefaring civilization in the entire galaxy. If a starship ever detected an omega molecule, the ship's computer would disengage the engines immediately and lock out all computer access, displaying the Greek letter omega on every bridge console. Only the ship's captain would be able to disable the lockout. In the privacy of his or her ready room or other secured area; with the doors locked, he or she would give the computer the proper high level security authorization code to access the sensor data. The computer would brief the captain regarding the detection of omega molecules then give instructions to implement the Omega Directive immediately, disregarding all other priorities, including the Prime Directive. The captain, absolutely forbidden from discussing anything about what was happening with any member of his/her crew, would contact Starfleet Command and inform Command of the situation. Starfleet Command would then dispatch a specialized team authorized to use whatever means necessary to destroy the molecules.

Now, as Tynen began to wrap up the briefing, Vox idly hoped that there would never come a time the Omega Directive would have to be executed.

"When you beam aboard the Echo," Tynen said, "Colonel Utron will be on board waiting for you. Now, we want to put our best foot forward, both the Federation's and the Klingon's, in our dealings with Earth Force, so you need to work together closely and become an effective team. Lieutenant, you should not hold back on offering suggestions to Vox; however, I don't want you to challenge him for command of the ship unless he becomes incapacitated or seriously violates Starfleet regulations."

"I understand, Fleet Captain Tynen," she said.

"Good then. Do either of you have any further questions?" When they both shook their heads, he said, "Well, that's all I have for you. Good luck and good hunting, Vox! And Krilka, glory to you and the Empire! Qapla!"

"Qapla!" she cried in response.

"Thank you, sir," Vox said. We won't let you down."

"I have no worries about that, Vox. Now carry on, commander and lieutenant!" he snapped as the two young officers stood up, turned smartly and marched out Tynen's door.

#

TBC

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