Star Trek: The Nara-Maru Files
A Deadly Betrayal
In the year 2561...
Listening to the story as told by her great-grandmother, the namesake of Teela sat beside her bed as the old woman explained about the past, how an innocent war-game between the Federation and her own vessel. The former Starfleet vessel, which had been rebuilt and converted into a small and fast ship which had become well known across the quadrant as famous civilian ship.
"Grandmother Asami, you could not have known what would happen"
"You are very naive Teela, I should have known… WE should have known that people where taking notice of us. But it was a simple game, a game that turned into horror many years later" Asami said weakly. "Anyway, back to my story… The USS Carpathia pulled along side the Nara, and beamed over two old friends…"
185 Years Earlier…
Stood before the transporter platform, Teela and Asami waited for their guests to materialise before them as two forms finally solidified while crouched over to avoid the low ceiling on the ship itself. A large smile beamed over Asami's face as she ran towards the two men stood before them and hugged both of them as she spoke.
"Miles… John, welcome onboard the Nara-Maru"
"Hello Sam…" The Admiral said slowly as they stepped off the platform. "Is it my imagination Sam, or is this ceiling a little low?"
"She was originally designed that way. They had to use a shorter crew for these ships. Besides Admiral, we're not all six foot four inches tall"
"Actually Admiral, this is… about right for my people" Teela said as she shook the Admiral's hand gently. "My people are relatively short compared with most species. Sam here, is one of the tallest on our planet"
"And you can imagine my shock when I found that out. Admiral, this is Teela… my wife"
"A pleasure ma'am. Finally clothed I see?" He said with a smile as O'Brian gave her a questioning look.
"She still owes me for that Miles. So I take it that you are our observer?"
"That's right, I'll be monitoring your progress from your bridge. I will not interfere with anything you do… I see that you have made a few modifications to this old ship?"
"Yes, care to take a look around? I think you'll be surprised at how much she's been modified over the past few years"
"I thought you'd never ask" He said quickly. "A quad-Nacelle design, impressive. Doesn't that cut up your warp efficiency?"
"With a duel warp-core, no" Teela said with pride.
"Two warp cores? I'd like to take a look at that" Called out the Admiral. "Unfortunately if I am to report to DS9 in time for the games, I have to leave soon. But after the games are over… I'll take you up on your offer of seeing your new homeworld, if that's okay with you two?"
"John, you're more then welcome to stay with us for as long as you want too" Asami said with a large smile.
"I'd also like to hear a few stories of Asami at the Academy, we she always this… nuts?" Teela replied quickly.
"More so! I have a few stories that I think you should know about, like the time I found her wandering around the campus wearing an officer's uniform…"
"Ohh please no, anything but that one" Asami said as she blushed deeply.
"She was wearing Captain's pins, even her own instructors didn't recognise her…"
"It was a bet John, I made the bet with a few friends that no one would notice me, just the rank pips…"
"I noticed, also the uniform was a size too big for you" He said with a laugh.
"A part of the bet John… it's good to see you again old friend. How about another bet? If we win, you get me a case of that Ale you've been keeping hidden…"
"Done! And… how the hell do you know about that?" The Admiral replied with a large smile.
"I'm half Betazoid remember? Teela has been helping me with… strengthening my abilities"
"And more I see. You look good together ladies. Sam, you've done well for self… your mother would have been proud of you. Well, I should leave… see you after the games. Good luck!"
"You're going to need it Admiral, We… have a few ideas that will work" Teela said quickly.
"Remember my orders on this one Ladies, Miles… to make this scenario as real as possible, you must all think and act like a pirate!" He said with satisfaction.
"Arrrggghhh!" Said O'Brian with a laughter in his voice.
"That's the spirit, but not that literal"
"Are you kidding me Admiral? I've been waiting for days to do that!" O'Brian said with laughter.
"Well on that note ladies, Mister O'Brian… I should be leaving. See you in a few days"
Eight days of living onboard the cramped and tiny vessel had reminded O'Brian of the many times he spent onboard the USS Defiant and her replacement vessel, although one thing he could not get used to and something which eventually had begun to become difficult for the old Irish Engineer was the low ceiling throughout the ship itself. After spending over an Earth week walking around hunched over, as not to hit his head on the ceiling, he was almost glad when they finally approached the Bajoran system and the 'Battle Scenario' was about to begin and he could finally stand up straight once again.
In the years that the vessel had been in the ownership of what had become the Hirayama family, the ship itself had been modified many times including the new bridge module which had been installed before the new assignment began. A sleek an elegant design with a twin deep grey console design, reminiscent of the USS Defiant herself, although far from the standards of a Federation ship, the new half-moon style console displayed markings in what he had come to know as the Iolian language itself. Set into three different areas with helm and navigation directly in front of the pilot, sensor readouts at the left of the helm section and offensive and defensive systems to the right. Although the ship itself had been heavily modified to operate with a crew of one if possible, Teela sat at a second console to the left of Asami's, designed with a similar curvature and displayed the controls in the same language, displaying Engineering, communications and auxiliary offensive-defensive systems and large leather-like chairs. Since they knew that an observer would be monitoring their progress during the 'War-Games' a new system had been installed to the left of the viewscreen and hidden from view of anyone who was looking on. Displaying a standard Starfleet console, he had access to all systems of the ship for his observation duties.
Entering the system under their own personal cloak, the Nara-Maru slipped into orbit above Bajor as a small Buoy was detected orbiting the planet, a buoy they all knew was marked for destruction. On long range sensors, three Federation Starships could be clearly seen in an orbital pattern around Deep Space Nine while three Federation Runabouts orbited the planet below them. With a smile on his face as he quickly identified the three Starships, he leaned back in his seat as he spoke.
"Okay, you're on Ladies. You have been fully briefed on the rules of this game. Your systems have been set for the scenario…"
"Thanks Miles, now sit back and have fun. Three ships have been identified as the USS Defiant, USS Sutherland and the Prometheus… crap!" Teela said quickly.
"Not really, the Prometheus is the main problem, but where is the forth ship?"
"No idea Sam, she could be hiding on the other side of the planet. I'm tapping into the orbital satellites… got it. Nothing, there where supposed to be four ships, but that makes things a little easier on us" Teela replied with a smile.
"A ship under cloak maybe? We know that Starfleet has a few cloaks, hell… we gave them a few of our designs"
"What?" O'Brian said with a laugh.
"Circumventing the Treaty of Algeron. I though you knew? We gave some to the Klingon and Romulans also. Not as sophisticated though" Asami said with a proud smile on her face. "Scanning for cloaked ships… nothing. Maybe she hasn't arrived yet? Or waiting outside the system. Either way, that fourth ship is an anomaly. Let's proceed as planned agreed?"
"Of course!" Teela nodded.
"Setting course for the Buoy, locking on… beaming the device and activating the systems"
"What device?" O'Brian replied with interest.
"Nothing major Miles, just a magnetic mine. Beaming it two inches from the buoy it should attach instantly. It's designed with the same materials as our outer hull, making it difficult to locate on sensors, the size of the device should make it next to impossible to locate…"
"Impressive Teela" O'Brian nodded. "What now?"
"Well, setting course out of the system, then we'll decloak before we re-enter the system and then we just walk in through the front door" Asami said with pride and confidence.
Re-entering the system, the Nara-Maru dropped out of warp speeds and proceeded at full-impulse speeds towards the Station itself while the large Nebula Class starship Sutherland approached them slowly.
"This is Captain Lorenzo of the Federation Starship Sutherland to civilian freighter, please identify yourself"
"This is the Nara-Maru on course for Deep Space Nine, we have a… business meeting onboard the station. Is there a problem Captain? Why the heavy Starfleet Presence?" Asami said slowly.
"Checking database. Nara-Maru, Iolian registered under the command and ownership of the Hirayama family"
"Yes Captain, that's us. For the past three months, we have been negotiating with a client for the purchase of a few of our vessels. Unfortunately, due to his time constraints… we have had to make the negations take place here, on the station rather then our homeworld… is there a problem Captain?" Teela said quickly.
"No ma'am. This vessel is currently involved in a battle scenario. Our orders are to challenge any and all vessels entering this system" Replied the rugged Captain on their main screen.
"I see sir. We are transmitting our files to you now Captain Lorenzo. We received confirmation from our client three weeks ago. He is waiting for us… this is a delicate negotiation Captain… and a great contract for us" Asami continued.
"This appears to be in order ladies. You have permission to pass, proceed at one-quarter impulse power, any deviation from that will result in you being escorted away from this system. How long will your negotiations last?"
"Two, three hours perhaps four at the most sir" Asami said with a gentile smile.
"Very well… In four hours, you will leave this system or your vessel will be impounded for the duration of the war-games. Welcome to DS9 ladies, and good luck. Sutherland out!"
"Friendly, type isn't he?" Teela said after she closed the channel.
"Wait, you arranged a sales meeting during a war game?" O'Brian said with a half smile.
"How else do you think we're going to walk into that place Miles? When this war-game came up, we arranged the meeting before we finalised this assignment. Of course you know Miles, you'll have to remain onboard while we conduct this meeting?" Asami said as she stood.
"Of course. If I'm spotted here…"
"… They'll know that we are the target. Now, if you'll excuse me. I need a shower and a change of clothes. I should look all business like for this part. Honey… you know what to do?"
"See you soon"
Winking slightly, Asami left the command deck of what had become their personal 'Flag-ship' of the small business fleet which they had operated. With two more almost identical vessels owned by the family business, the Akagi-Maru had been assigned to the company itself for the use of their Board of Directors when needed, although what had been the troublesome 'Third ship', a ship which seemed to reject the upgrades had been dismantled and used as the basis for the new fleet they had designed, the fifth vessel constructed had been assigned to the company in the hopes of showing off the ship to prospective clients and given the permanent name of 'Nara's Pride'.
After approaching the station and transmitting yet another copy of the docking permits, boarding passes and other documents to the Operations Centre, permission to enter the station had been given as Asami finally re-entered the Command Deck as Teela stood slowly with a large smile on her face.
"My god! You look amazing"
"Sometimes, looking all business like can be fun. Are the glasses and briefcase too much?"
"Actually Asami… it works" Miles said as he stood slowly.
"Thanks Miles. Well, I should be leaving… Teela, see you in two hours"
"Two hours it is. Good Luck…"
Nodding slightly, Asami turned and left as the two on the ship kept their eyes on her as she disappeared from view. Wearing a white blouse with a mid-grey business jacket and matching thigh length skirt complete with matching grey high-heels which clicked on the deck plating with each step, Teela stood shocked as she kept her eye on the entrance to the rest of the ship as her wife disappeared. Although the clothes she was wearing caught her eye, it was the way her usually free-flowing long black hair had been elegantly tied behind her head, framing her features perfectly along with the thin-framed spectacles she sometimes wore.
"I can tell you one thing Teela, you sure are lucky" Miles said as he sat down slowly in his chair. "So, can you now tell me what this is really all about?"
"I guess that it's now time. Once onboard DS9, she'll make her way to Quark's Bar where we have previously booked a holo-suite. Our… client will join her. Once there, Asami will place a small data-crystal into the control panel which will connect directly to me, here where I will place a virus into the computer. Relax Miles, nothing major… just enough to simulate an explosion on the station, shutting down their modified weapons, sensors, shields. Basically for the duration of this scenario, the station would've been destroyed and hopefully, take out some of those ships out there along with it. Simulated, of course"
"Impressive, I was wandering how you would take down the station. So your basic idea is someone smuggling a bomb onboard? What kind of bomb would it have been? The sensors on the station as very advanced, I designed them myself" Miles said slowly.
"Something which has been… banned, on my world for centuries. The virus would simulate an organic explosive device powerful enough to blow the station into large chunks. Once we're far enough away from the station, we'll detonate the buoy and activate the virus before we run like hell towards the safe zone and hope whatever fourth ship out there, doesn't find us first"
"Impressive. That fourth ship has you worried, doesn't it?" Miles said with a large smile.
"It does, you know who they are… don't you? Tell me?"
"I don't, not even Admiral House knew before he came on board. We're aware of your abilities and decided on hiding that information from you. Besides, the fourth ship hadn't been assigned to this mission before we left, it could be anyone" Miles said with a large smile on his face.
"I don't like surprises Miles. I'm activating the communicator chip Sam has hidden on her, the glasses will transmit an image of what she can see on the main screen. Two-way communications is possible, but we should limit what we say"
"Of course"
Appearing on the main viewscreen before Teela and the console in front of O'Brian, the interior of the station could be clearly seen as Asami walked through the corridors of the familiar station and finally entered the promenade, the commercial centre of the former Cardassian station itself. With a slight smile on his face, O'Brian leaned closer as he saw several of his former crewmembers going about their business completely oblivious to his observations or the 'Enemy' amongst them. Upon entering the more then familiar Quark's Bar, Asami scanned the room as O'Brian searched the bar for anyone he knew before the image stopped at the bar as O'Brian laughed while Teela spoke.
"Morn, Does that guy ever move from that seat?"
"Not in seven years. I rarely saw him move" He replied with a fond smile.
"You're doing great Sam" Teela said slowly.
Arriving at the bar, Asami placed her briefcase before her as the Ferengi owner walked towards her with a strange smile on his face as he spoke.
"Well, I knew that you'd come back… miss me?"
"Like I'd miss Andorian Shingles. I take it that my holo-suite is free Quark?"
"It is. So, where is your beautiful wife? Separated I hope?" Replied Quark with a large smile on his face.
"None of your business Quark. However, since I am conducting OUR business in your… holo-suite… half of your payment has been made, the other half… upon completion" Asami said with a stoic face.
"Your… guest, has already arrived and is waiting"
"Good. I just hope that your antiquated holo-technology is up to the task as advertised. Our, guest… as you say could not make it to my homeworld, our personal holo-suite is far more sophisticated then yours…" Asami said with a laughter as she walked towards the steps leading to the holo-suites.
"They have their own private holo-suite? Makes you wander what happens in there Morn?" He said with a sheepish grin on his face.
Upon entering the large cavernous room, she greeted her human guest with a traditional handshake before she placed the data crystal into the port at her side as a hologram of the proposed vessel appeared before the man. Stood in what would be the bridge, he walked around with a smile as she spoke carefully.
"As you can see, the bridge has been designed to your own specifications. The layout of the consoles is of your own personal design. Stepping away from standard Starfleet designed controls, as many people want and leaning more towards the design you wanted…"
"A 22nd Century design? I like it. I noticed that you have a twin console design, similar to a Starship's Conn and Ops systems?" He said quickly with a large smile.
"Yes, we have a similar design on the Nara-Maru. The colouring that you requested was… unusual though. However, the metallic silver appearance is an interesting idea. Relax Tom, once your vessels are constructed, the… colour will not be used again, unless you want more ships of course. Each vessel we built is unique to its customer. Several other clients have requested at least four ships of identical design. Once the design they chose had been built, it became their own property" Asami replied slowly.
"And what if they chose to build more ships on their own, based on your design?"
"Then we'd have yet another court-case on our hands. We bought the rights to the Archer Class starship from the Federation and registered our own design variation with Federation and Iolian law, which is now a protected design. Plus, our engine designs are… difficult too replicate"
"What about repairs or replacement parts?" Tom said slowly and cautiously.
"We guarantee a ten year warranty on all ships, each vessel is tested meticulously for any flaws before delivery. In the… unlikely event of a malfunction… our engineers will repair said vessel free of charge for the duration of the warranty. When the ten year has expired, you will have the option of continuing with the warranty or take the risk of going alone. However I feel that I must warn you Tom, any unauthorised modifications made the vessel could possibly result in the warranty of the vessel in question… void" Asami said firmly as she showed him around the bridge.
"So I will not be able to modify my ship if required?"
"Depends on what the modifications are, our Legal department would iron out those details with you once I return to Iolia, let's just say that… don't screw with the engines or primary systems. Six months ago, a client installed a new system onto his ship. A Holo-Com-link, it fried the main computer core and almost blew out the EPS grid…"
Onboard the Nara-Maru, Teela remained sat at her console as she continued to hack into the station's main computer core while being carefully watched by the Starfleet Observer, Miles O'Brian.
"Relax Miles, I'm not going to enter into any… classified data, I've accessed Quark's personal database. Looks like he's been into the main computer a few times, he left his backdoor open, very sloppy. I'm in… now, where are you, you little… Ahh! Perfect. Tertiary back-up systems for the auxiliary computer core. Sending the virus. Once activated, it will shut down the systems before the virus will purge itself from the database… nothing will remain and no sign of what happened"
"Interesting tactic" Miles said with an impressed smile.
"This isn't my first war-game sir. I'm… very old in human terms. As a Cadet, I was pitched against three Iolian scouts with nothing more then something similar to a Starfleet Runabout. Granted, I lost… but I took two out of commission and left the third limping home under thrusters. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must change before I join my lovely wife for the final half of the meeting"
Signing the papers brought with her into the meeting, Tom nodded as he looked around the holographic representation of the small engineering section of their famous new class of civilian vessel while the doors of holo-suite opened and Teela stepped into the engineering section wearing a traditional Iolian dress for her status. An ankle length Iolian Silk dress which hugged her figure almost like a second skin, white with silver detail around her slender waist yet almost see-through with the exception of her matching underwear. Shock gripped Tom as his jaw almost dropped at the vision before him as her long dark hair flowed with her graceful movements while Asami smiled slightly as she spoke.
"Tom Bears, you know my business partner and wife, Teela?"
"Umm-umm… yes, a pleasure to meet you in person finally" He said with a slight stutter.
"Forgive me for being late, I had something to take care of via subspace back home" Teela said before kissing Asami's left cheek. "So, I assume that you are impressed with out vessel?"
"More then. How long before you can deliver those ships?" He said with his eyes wide open.
"We have several Keels for these vessels already on the shop floor, however the extensive details you want will take a little longer, three months…" Asami said with a smile.
"Can it be sooner? The vessel I am using is almost past it's lifespan… can it be sooner for at least one?" He said with hope.
"Sam, that's what I'm late. Remember Jarvis Core?"
"Yeah three ships of… promising design" Replied Asami.
"He has cancelled his contract with us. He has… purchased a vessel with a competitor"
"SHIT! Alright, Tom… his design is not far from yours and almost complete. With a few modifications… we can have one ready by the end of next month?" Asami said quickly.
"Really? How much will that cost me?" He said with a sigh.
"Upon cancellation of a Contract, all deposits are none refundable as stated in the contract. His deposit should pay for the refit needed and the rush on delivery that you require…"
"Sam is right Tom, I've check with our legal department, that's why I am so late. Legally, we can transfer the contract over to you"
"Really? Agreed!" He said with a large smile.
Once Teela had written out an addition for the new contract, Tom signed it quickly before they left the Holo-suit for the bar below and a celebratory drink which Teela and Asami had bought for everyone in the bar as they shouted 'Drinks all 'round!'. As their allotted time fast approached, the two quickly left the bar itself and headed back towards their vessel with cheers from the patrons at the bar itself. From the rear of the bar, an alien male walked towards Quark with a look of greed in his eyes as he spoke to the Ferengi.
"Who are those intoxicating women Quark?"
"Teela and Asami Hirayama. As the hewma'ans are fond of saying… 'They are out of your league' Tebb" Quark replied with a large smile.
"Anything is available, for the right price Quark"
"Not them, I know a few who have tried" He laughed.
"In that case Quark, I have a business proposal for you… one that will be very profitable for the both of us"