Star Trek: The Nara-Maru Files
A Deadly Betrayal
In the year 2561...
"It took Asami and Teela three days of tearing the violation which had been the Holo-Suite program apart, piece-by-piece. Keeping the program as secretive as possible and with limited resources, they eventually discovered who was responsible for the program itself as one of the largest court-cases this world had ever seen had been brought against those responsible. A former business partner and more importantly, one who they… before this point, considered as friends. A Ferengi named Quark…"
184 Years Earlier…
Due to the vast distances that they had to travel, a large court-hearing had been held on Deep-Space Nine at the request of the Iolian Royal Court and granted by the United Federation of Planets along with the backing of the Bajoran people.
As the case against their once friend, Quark continued, a segment of the offensive program had been played out before the court itself, much to the embarrassment of the two women themselves. Since the incident with what had been known as 'The Orb of Pleasure' had amplified Asami's abilities and allowed many within the station to see their most intimate moments in their minds, their personal embarrassment had run deep as they could almost feel all eyes upon them while they sat in the court room.
More of a personal embarrassment had come to light since it had been announced that a large volume of copies had been made and distributed around known space and played out for customers in certain establishments which had catered to adult fantasies. Quickly it had been announced that the program had been developed from a business venture where a holographic representation of the two women had been created for prospective clients of their company, a program which had been duplicated and their physical appearances used for the offensive program itself.
Lasting little more then two hours, the Abettor of Bajoran birth had ruled that the original program be destroyed and all duplicates be returned to the Hirayama Family Corporation for destruction along with a large sum of Gold-Pressed Latinum was to be given to the family itself as reparation for damages. Slowly standing, Teela took a deep breath as she spoke.
"Your Honour… we do not require any payment for damages. However, all copies of stated program must be recalled and given to us… along with the original program. The… Defendant has violated our trust and as a matter of record, will be barred from all contact and business with the Iolian Unity. We can understand the motives for his actions. As stated in article 17, section 31 of Iolian law… of which this court has also vowed to uphold… all… Profits… from said offensive materials must be made in payment to those affected. After discussing this with my… wife…" Teela said with a smile. "All reparations will be given to the Bajoran War-Orphan's Fund…"
"A very generous offer Mrs Hirayama" The Abettor said with a large smile on his face.
"Thank you honoured sir. Quark, your actions have destroyed what could have been a very profitable venture that we where considering handing over to you… we actually liked you Quark. Nevertheless, this action has damaged that venture and as such, you will no longer be considered for future deals with both our Company and those coming from our homeworld…"
"It was only business" Quark said with a half smile.
"Good costumers are as rare as Latinum, treasure them. Isn't that one of your Rules?" Asami said as she stood. "You failed to uphold that rule and as such, you have been barred from any business with us and our world"
"Never place friendship above Profit! Rule 21" He grunted.
"Someday Quark, that day is coming very quickly… you will learn. I expect full payment to be made with the next Bajoran Week. If not… You won't like the alternative"
"Mrs Hirayama, I will not take any threats in my courtroom" The Abettor said quickly.
"No threats meant sir, we speak the truth. As you may be aware of an incident… some years ago on this station itself, we have both been humiliated once too often onboard this station. This, will be the last time we step foot on Deep Space Nine or Bajor… however, if the payment has not been made with the allotted time, my people will be very-very upset… and you do not wish for that Mister Quark!" Asami said slowly and with a scowl on her face.
Without so much as an apology from their former friend, the two took one last walk around the promenade of the old Cardassian Spacestation before they boarded their ship. Leaving the station for the last time with sadness in their hearts. As the docking clamps holding their personal vessel onto the station disengaged, the ship left the station and Bajoran space for the last time as they sat in silence, both of them concentrating on their own consoles. Although in the courtroom, they both displayed the closeness they had always enjoyed with each other, when in private they rarely spoke since the argument which had almost destroyed their relationship since the arrival of the USS Voyager. Had the meeting gone to plan, Asami had her heart set on a brief tour of Voyager's unique designed runabout, the so called 'Delta-Flyer'. from what she had read, the vessel itself had been specifically designed as an advanced long-range scout-ship and with several unique properties that their company could have used.
"Are we not even going to speak anymore Asami? Do you realise that in those chambers, we had more vocal contact with each other then we did in the entire journey out here?"
"For once Teela, I have nothing to say…"
"Well I do!" Teela said slowly as she turned to face her. "I am sorry about how I acted. I know that you have your own secrets and that you rarely speak of your past. Ironic, I acted out of jealousy… the fear of loosing you and that's exactly what has happened. I don't want to loose you Asami, I love you more then anything in this universe. Sam, I would give up everything for you… our home, our business even this ship. The thought of loosing you is to painful to imagine, when you spoke about Hiro, I just lost control…"
Slipping off of her chair and kneeling facing Teela, she ran her hands over her wife's hands as she spoke.
"Loose me? You're not loosing me. We've just one mom used to call… 'A Speed Bump' a temporary distraction which has created an argument"
"Really?" Teela said, close to tears.
"Yes! I tell you what, we're still in Federation space… set the auto-pilot and your perfect ass to our quarters… right now. We have a lot of time to make up for" Asami said with a large smile on her face.
"I like the way you think, but why wait? It occurs to me, that we have never really had some… fun… on the bridge!"
Smiling widely, Asami looked up into her eyes as the two kissed with all of the built up lust they had stored since their argument as lust quickly turned into passion between them.
The day had come and gone as the nightshift had taken over at Starfleet command headquarters in one the many large operations centres which had been scattered around the facility. Each large control room had a large display which covered an entire wall and spilled over onto the connecting two walls either side. Each room had been duplicated exactly complete with matching consoles lining the large floor area as between the rooms themselves, they controlled every aspect of the Federation itself and manned by only the most trusted and highly qualified of Starfleet officers in their selected field.
All eight individual rooms, controlled certain areas of the Federation itself along with two back-up rooms, in the unlikely event that one failed.
Sat with his legs up on his console and leaning backwards in his chair, Lieutenant Marshall Ellis Cole had been assigned to the least active of the four rooms, an insignificant region of space nicknamed by those who worked there as 'The Dead-Zone'. even during the long and costly Dominion War, very little activity had emerged from this room itself as it monitored a region of space deep within Federation territories. Much to Cole's personal humiliation, during the Dominion war, that region of space he monitored had been a low priority for the deadly Dominion, a sparsely populated region of space with only three Federation outposts of low priority had been created seventy years ago, now little more then an embarrassment on his record as supervisor of forty trainees which would eventually move onto monitor more 'Interesting' areas of space.
Growling to himself once more and much to the enjoyment of those around him, he stood and walked towards the replicator for one more mug of the vital coffee which had kept him awake during his uneventful nights. It was at this point, the trainee crew looked up in a panic as the lighting in the room turned towards a deep red colour and alarm klaxons sounded throughout the room itself.
"What the hell?" He said with a start as he dropped his mug of coffee and watched as it smashed onto the ground below him. "Report?"
"Sir, we have lost contact with number three outpost, number two has gone off-line…" Replied a young Starfleet Cadet.
"Sir! We are receiving an emergency signal from Outpost three… I mean…"
"I know what you mean Mister Watkins… on screen"
In the centre of the map on the large viewscreen, a human male face appeared as explosions ripped through the room in which he stood, recognised as the command centre of the small deep space outpost itself.
"This is Lieutenant Cole at Starfleet Operations, what is your status?"
"We are under attack by two unknown ships… Outpost 243 has been destroyed, our shields are failing. Requesting immediate assistance Starfleet. We are a civilian research outpost with limited defences"
"USS Carbine is responding Lieutenant, they are the closest ship" Replied the young Cadet as she looked up with shock.
"Help is on the way Commander, just hold on. Can you give me a visual of one or both of the attacking ships or perhaps a sensor image?"
"Unfortunately, our sensors can not lock onto their ships… by the time we have a visual lock for weapons they have cloaked…" Called out the frightened Starfleet Officer.
"Hit-and-Run tactics… has any of you seen those vessels before?"
"I know what you are thinking Lieutenant, they are not Romulan… wait a minute, something is decloaking… they have a weapons lock on, Oh My God! Everyone, HOLD ON!"
Powerful explosions ripped through the Operations centre on the screen before the Lieutenant and his team of trainees as a large hole appeared in the Command Centre itself, blowing the entire crew out into space in a terrifying vision before the shocked Lieutenant's own staff. Briefly, the outline of a ship could be seen through the large hole. Stood in deep shock at what he had just witnessed with his own eyes, the small vessel turned towards the screen itself and launched a deadly barrage of torpedoes seemingly directly at them causing a large explosion before the screen changed into static.
"Get Admiral Sovar down here, right NOW!" Cole said with shock.
"Sir, do you realise the time?" Called out a shocked Starfleet Cadet.
"I don't care… get everyone down here. Wake them up personally if you have too"
Two hours later, the usually silent monitoring centre of Starfleet Operations had turned into a crisis centre as the last Federation Outpost was attacked and destroyed using the same tactics as the last two. Declaring an emergency, several Starfleet vessels had been sent into the quiet region of space to search for the vessels which had turned into a deadly foe. Although the only image of one of the attacking vessels had been recovered from the databanks, the image was currently being analysed by Starfleet Tactical Operations for anything which could point to whoever had albeit declared war on the Federation itself.
Relegated to a small section of the command centre by the Vulcan Admiral, Lieutenant Cole observed an assigned sector as an emergency hail crept over his monitored channels. Standing quickly amidst the gathered crowds of senior officers, he attempted to get the attention of the Vulcan Admiral himself by speaking up and eventually yelling the Admiral's name, as he isolated the distress call, he stood and whistled as loud as he could as everyone turned to look in his direction, including an angry Rear Admiral.
"SHUT UP AND LISTEN!" He yelled. "I'm picking up a distress call from a freighter, they are under attack by our… Renegade ship"
"What is it Lieutenant?" Replied the angry looking Human Admiral.
"Sir, they have identified one of the ships by name… it's called the Nara-Maru sir…"
"That is impossible" The Vulcan Admiral said stoically. "I am familiar with the Nara-Maru and its operators, they would not attack anyone in such a manner"
"Perhaps sir, the USS Diligent is responding. We have a visual… putting it on the main screen sirs"
Appearing on the large screen before them in addition to several smaller screens on the consoles scattered around the room, a live sensor image feed from the Defiant Class starship filled the screen as it closed on one of the rogue vessels. A sleek black ship could be seen with four warp nacelles in tight formation around the small hull of the ship. Pushing past the officers to get to the front of the gathered group, a grisly looking Starfleet Admiral stopped before the screen in shock as he examined the vessel for himself as his jaw dropped at what he saw.
"This is impossible. Get me the Diligent now!" Yelled the shocked Admiral.
"Yes sir!" Replied an Ensign at his side. "On screen sir"
"This is Admiral House at Starfleet Operations, patch me through to that vessel… NOW!"
Shock turned into a cold dread as the vessel on the screen before him made an almost impossible move to attack the Diligent itself, spinning around on its axis during forward momentum while the main weapons of the vessel fired its deadly volley of torpedoes directly at the Starfleet ship itself, for a brief moment, it seemed to hover in space before thrusting towards the Defiant class ship with all forward weapons firing , collapsing her shields and continuing its deadly barrage of attacks against the failing ships hull. Passing over the small Defiant Class ship, the now rogue vessel kept it's forward weapons on the crippled ship as it repeated the same seemingly impossible move against inertia before the screen faded under the sounds of explosions.
"This is impossible. I know them, I trained Asami myself! She would never do this" House declared as he turned towards those in the room.
"The evidence seems to point at the fact that your former student would do this Admiral" Replied Sovar.
"I don't believe that. Contact the Iolian Government… let me speak with the Regent himself"
"Yes Admiral" Cole said with a nod. "Should I alert the fleet to be on the look out for the Nara-Maru?"
"What was their last reported location, aside from this… attack?" House said once more.
"One moment sir. Accessing the database… four hours ago, they where last reported leaving Deep Space Nine enroute home. Admiral, taking into account the reported maximum velocity of the Nara-Maru, this sector is only one hour away… from their last reported position and time of departure"
"I am well aware of that Mister Cole. Get me Deep Space Nine… clear the room of all none essential officers, those ranked Lieutenant Commander and over may stay. Mister Cole, come with me, Sovar…"
"Aye sir!" Cole said with a nod.
Walking quickly towards a makeshift private office, House and Sovar entered the room as the young Lieutenant stood at attention before what was once his console, now covered with transparent walls and a door which had been created by makeshift holographic technology.
First to appear on the screen before Admiral House was the Regent of Iolia and mere seconds later, in a split screen, Colonel Kira Nerys appeared on the left of the screen. It seemed to last for hours as the arguments passed back and forwards between those in the room and on the screen while the evidence itself had been played out before the two. Shock at what they had seen with their own eyes had gripped the Regent and Colonel while Admiral House spoke with disappointment in his voice at his own words.
"I sympathise Mister Regent, but the evidence itself is overwhelming…"
"This is not possible! Teela would NOT Attack Starfleet… Asami has always been the strongest voice in our Alliance, an Alliance that SHE created after her mother's passing beyond the veil!" The Regent said with slight anger in his voice.
"I trained Asami Hirayama myself Mister Regent. I count her as a good and decent friend. Colonel Kira, we have not heard from you on this?"
"Admiral House, during our… War-Games, the Nara-Maru used the same tactic against the Defiant as you know. We have attempted such a tactic in the past against a Klingon ship… it is nearly impossible to perform without causing damage to our own ship, yet they could perform such a move successfully. Regardless, I find it hard to believe that Asami and Teela would use this in anger against Starfleet…"
"Sam was a Starfleet Officer Admiral House, although she has sworn her allegiance to my homeworld Iolia, she would never attack Starfleet… I request permission to send four of our vessels to look for the Nara-Maru…" The Regent said quickly.
"Request Denied! Any attempt to send Iolian vessels into Federation Space will be met by our own ships" Sovar said sharply.
"You do realise Admiral Sovar, they are Iolian citizens… both of them?" The Regent said as he leaned closer to the screen. "I will not allow anyone to attack…"
"Mister Regent. The Nara-Maru will not be harmed in any way. You have my word!" House said, quickly cutting him off. "I will personally take command of this search for that vessel. Colonel Kira, launch the Defiant. The USS Sentinel is currently in orbit, it could take awhile to reach you… but I am on my way. Mister Regent, have your fleet standing by to assist, in the event the Nara-Maru has gone… Rogue. Mister Cole, I am granting you a temporary field promotion to Captain for the duration of this assignment, you are at my side"
"Sir? Umm… Yes sir!" Cole replied with a large on his face.
"Good! Sovar… you will be my eyes and ears back here"
"Yes Admiral. However sir, you do realise that the USS Sentinel has yet to launch. The systems on the vessel have yet to be tested?"
"I know that Sovar however, the Sentinel was designed with Iolian technologies graciously given by our esteemed Iolian allies. Mister Regent, I give you my word… I WILL get to the bottom of this. Starfleet Out!"
For the first time since he took his current assignment, Marshall E. Cole arrived on the bridge of a Starship after five years working in the bowels of Starfleet Command. Wearing the Red Undershirt of Command along with a Temporary Captain's pips on his collar as his eyes instantly fell onto the large seat at the centre of the command deck of the one of a kind Federation Starship. Designed with Iolian Technology integrated into her key systems which included the first generation of Iolian inspired crystalline hull armour and if successful the design would be installed on subsequent vessels yet to be constructed. At his side was the aging Starfleet Admiral House, former instructor and Commandant at Starfleet Academy, in the last years of his service to the Federation he acted mainly as Acting Fleet Admiral in light of the illness of his predecessor and close friend, Fleet Admiral Walter Harrison III.
"Admiral on Deck" Cried out the Security Chief as everyone stood at attention.
"As you where" He said with a nod.
"Admiral, Captain… your transfer orders have been confirmed. Welcome onboard sirs…"
"Thank you Commander. How long before we can launch?"
"We have yet to test the new Warp design at full power sir…" A voice called out from behind them. "… However, after reviewing the orders, I can give you warp six in fifteen minutes. Once the new designs come on line, we can go to maximum warp in five hours"
"That's not good enough Miss…"
"Franklin sir, Lieutenant Commander Valerie Franklin… Chief Engineer" Called out the tall dark haired woman. "It is the best I can give you sir. The new inner-mix ratios have never been fully tested. This ship has yet to leave the system under her own warp power, if the new ratios are off, even by a fraction… let's just say this will be a very short life for this new ship of yours"
"Every minute we wait, that ship could attack another, we have already lost one vessel and three outposts. Ready or not, this ship has to launch in fifteen minutes Commander. Cole, you where an Engineer correct?"
"Yes Admiral" The young Captain replied.
"As your first challenge Captain, get down to Engineering and get this ship ready to launch, Commander Franklin… I expect the both of you to have this vessel ready in time, dismissed"
"Aye… SIR!" the Commander replied with anger.