To Save Today: Act I
Stardate 2264.105
The joys of simple, normal breakfast, promises of the new future before them, seemed as distant as Olympus itself after Jim recounted his suspicions of the last few weeks. The two of them slipped into their oddly more comfortable routine of ambassador and captain without acknowledging the subtle change more than a quick sweep of the dishes from the table. There would be time to determine how breakfast would go in the future.
Diana's mind raced as she and Jim headed to the briefing room. She had been, for the most part, silent and obviously pensive after they had left his quarters.
Admirals in Starfleet possibly colluding with the Romulans, endangering their own citizens…
And Jim was certain Conner was the architect of it all. The man who had been a founding member of the Federation, that Diana had entrusted with the safety of earth.
She could sense that Jim believed that to be the truth.
Diana unequivocally knew that it was not. Whether it was her godly provenance or her own, very Amazon instinct and understanding of who Conner was, she didn't know. But, she could never believe that the son of Lois Lane and Kal-El could ever betray the planet that had he had nearly died for.
Convincing Jim would be trickier.
The two of them hadn't truly spoken regarding the fact that he'd been considering that theory for the last three days - or longer. As they were approaching the briefing room, she knew that however they walked into that room would set the tone for what came after. Regardless of how she felt about his theory.
"Jim, wait." Diana reached out to take his arm before he could get to the briefing room.
He turned to face her, but instead of the ironclad will of the captain, he looked a bit like a kicked puppy. He still felt guilty for not telling her about his concerns, even when she had explicitly asked him to set that aside for them.
"I am not angry with you." Diana said softly. She refused to let that be the foundation upon which their relationship was built. They trusted one another, they could share in their concerns, but they needed to have boundaries. "I might not agree with what you think Conner has done, but, I asked for you to set this aside until I could tell you how I feel. And you waited until you knew there was definitive information." Her hand slid from his elbow down to his hand, squeezing gently as she tried to catch those brilliant blue eyes of his. "I want to get to the truth just as you do. They need to know we have the same goal: The truth."
He clearly didn't like that answer and it took him a long moment scanning her features before he finally conceded. "We do…" He sighed. "Diana, I just don't know that you're going to like what the truth is. And to be honest..." He shrugged. "It's not actually up to you. Even if you believe him, he's still a Starfleet admiral. I have to turn the information over if we nail him to the wall."
Diana's stomach went cold as she recognized the tone. She'd heard it before, when they'd stood on a guard tower centuries ago and she had let her doubt that mankind could ever be so cruel plant her where she stood.
"I know," She finally said, starkly reminded that they would be stronger together, rather than apart. Even if they disagreed. "All I ask is that we give him a chance to explain, and that we make no judgements before we've heard all the evidence."
After a long moment, Jim nodded. "Then, let's see what they've found."
As they entered the briefing room, Chief Engineer Scott, Doctor McCoy, and Commander Spock had taken up their usual places around the briefing room table, and each of them had a data padd in hand. They wore their concern plainly, sitting up a bit straighter as they noticed Diana beside him.
"Gentlemen," Jim said with a nod. "Mister Scott, are the communication interfaces in the briefing room disabled?"
Diana quirked an eyebrow at him, surprised by the request. It seemed, however, that Scotty was not. He simply said, "Aye, sir."
Jim took his seat at the end of the table and Diana followed so that could take a seat beside Doctor McCoy. He nodded to her, but otherwise didn't acknowledge her presence. From the way his brow was furrowed, he was deeply troubled but didn't want to begin speaking for fear that he could not stop.
"As I'm sure Mister Scott told you, I have reason to believe that we have been compromised by someone within Starfleet. We've had a number of serious breaches to our security in the last few months and our crewmembers have been placed in danger for reasons that I think might be related. I asked all of you to comb through our recent missions since Diana came on board because I'm afraid her presence might have been an inadvertent catalyst in all of this." Jim folded his hands in front of him on the table, leaning forward a bit as he carefully avoided Diana's gaze. Since resuming his captain's duties, he had firmly stepped back into the role and refused to give anything away that might compromise them both.
It was a gesture both appreciated and needed. After the last few days, it was critical that they both continue to function as partners in front of the crew. And for themselves.
"What I do know," Jim continued. "Is that we first encountered a Romulan warbird outside of the Eos system that shot down my shuttle, and ever since that one got away, they keep turning up like bad pennies. They've attacked innocent people, they've somehow gotten hold of our command codes, and while I'd like to think it's not related, I sincerely believe that the Romulan assassin on Khitomer was not an isolated event, nor was Jaylah's kidnapping. So what we need to figure out is what might be going on. And I'm afraid it starts with Starfleet. So, let's break it down." He motioned to Scotty. "Mister Scott, I'd like you to begin. I think your expertise will prove to be the most substantive in this case."
Diana fought a slight smirk as Scotty sat up a bit more, as if he hadn't expected to be called upon first.
"Right, well..." The engineer ran through the display on his data padd, then tapped a couple of buttons on the table console. "I've examined every mission we've had since we first made it to the Eos system. Quite a bit of it has had no tactical advantage that I can think of. But," Diana's breath caught in her throat as she saw the gleaming planet of Themyscira appear before her on the display. "I dinnae think it would be a bad idea to start at the beginnin'. It would have been coincidence that the Romulans found the planet at the same time we did, and they would have been looking for somethin' else. They're not known for caring about stellar phenomena, so the transition of the star would've gone unnoticed. What wasn't unnoticed, however," Diana watched as several red blips appeared on the planet's surface. The chief stood and began to make a slow half-circle around the briefing table as he kept talking. "Were the subspace relays that the Themyscirans built all over the place. I think by letting them go so that we could stabilize the atmospheric barrier, we gleaned more knowledge about how it works than the Romulans could have in the same timeframe, but they took their limited knowledge with them."
"The Romulans haven't come back to Themyscira, have they?" Diana asked, more than a little concerned. They had left the planet to its planetary defenses, but it was a fragile balance.
"No. Our last reports from Federation probes show that the barrier's intact and completely impenetrable by our sensors." Scotty said with a comforting smile. "I figured ye'd ask the question so I checked already. 'Sides, soon as we can get back to that end of things, I wanted to research the barrier in depth. But, I cannae advise we do such a thing until we're sure the ship's secure."
Jim tapped his finger on the table idly as he listened. "So, you're sure the ship's compromised?"
"Absolutely." Scotty replied, a bit more gravel in his voice than he may have intended. It hammered home his conviction within moments, though. Diana found herself watching him with the same fervent attention she had given her team over the years. "Once I realized that warbird could have gotten this whole thing started, I began to check when our database records were accessed by Starfleet. I dinnae have the clearance to see who, but I know what was accessed and when. Every mission related to Diana seems to have been downloaded. It happened most often when we docked at Yorktown, but Themyscira, the Altheans and Circe's stone technology - "
"I'd say it's more of a poison," McCoy interjected, holding up his datapadd. He had come to the similar conclusion, apparently. "Someone at Starfleet accessed all of my logs on the Medusa incident."
Scotty nodded, conceding the point, then continued on. "Delphi and the Nexus, too, it was all there. Everythin' we've done since bringing Diana onboard has been watched and downloaded by someone in Starfleet."
Diana was hardly surprised that Spock offered his thoughts next. Unfortunately, his thoughts were playing devil's advocate. "It would be standard Starfleet procedure to examine the captain's logs after we dock."
"Aye, it would be, not directly from the ship's computers via our command codes." Scotty switched the display, showing an ever-changing set of numbers. They flashed through iterations within microseconds, never stopping. It was encryption to scramble the numbers. "These are our current codes. Wee man and I wrote them to stop the Romulans from going through our shields, but I cannae stop them from getting back into our database. These captain's logs weren't just accessed while we were remote, someone went directly into the Enterprise database and through my new command codes." Scotty set his padd down, propping one clenched fist onto his hip almost jauntily as he leaned against his chair. "Now, I've been asking for new command codes for weeks. I thought they downloaded and implemented them while we were back on Earth." He pointed to the display. "But, that's my program. No new codes were given."
Spock rose an eyebrow. "Were you informed that the command codes had not been received?"
Scotty shook his head. "Even worse, my request has been deleted. From our databanks."
"How is that possible?" Diana asked. "If you have scrambled the codes, would you not have been present to delete the records?"
He sighed, a bit more contrite as he glanced over at her and shrugged. "I'm good. But, whoever they are, they're better. I've never seen encryption like this. It's..." He seemed to be at a loss. "The kind of thing that Starfleet Intelligence encryptors know how to do. I'm not a security expert. Eventually, my code will always be cracked."
"Is that how they got the worm into the ship's systems?" Jim asked.
"Aye, I think so. They waited until ye started accessing information a little too close to what they've been trying to steal from the Federation and began to delete our entire A.R.G.U.S. database - "
"Did you say A.R.G.U.S.?" Diana blurted out. Judging from the look on Jim's face, he had expected the information, but he had neglected to mention it to her. Frowning, she tore her gaze from the captain and turned her attention to Scotty. "The only reason someone would want to come through old A.R.G.U.S. projects is if they are looking for information relative to myself or the Justice League."
The chief engineer seemed to agree. "Oh, aye. I checked my historical backup, and most of the records deleted involved you. I suppose that might be because there were so few intact." He glanced over at Jim, worry coloring his features a bit more. "There's more. Before Jaylah's power fluctuations hiccuped the worm, it had started to chew through her personal logs. Looks like it was designed to erase any of her research but didn't know how much of it she had offline."
"Implying that someone does not wish for her to continue her work," Spock said, steepling his fingers together as he considered the possibility. "If she was kidnapped in order to silence her from further work, it may have been because the Romulans believed they had retrieved the intelligence they needed."
"But, she told me she never created anything on the scale that she did this time." Diana said, recalling her prior conversations with Jaylah. "Nothing more than say, big enough for a breadbox."
"Perhaps the spies felt that this was sufficient." Spock replied. That thought made Diana's stomach turn even more. They had been willing to throw Jaylah's brilliant mind, her very life, away, all for an edge in yet another Cold War.
She would not see that happen again.
"So, someone, probably at admiralty level, has access to the ship, to our records, and doesn't want us to know that the Romulans are after something more intense than their current cloaking technology." Jim said as he motioned for Scotty to take a seat. "And Jaylah was kidnapped and sent off to die, presumably because they don't want anyone replicating the technology she built in prototype at the Academy." Jim frowned. "But, how does Khitomer connect to all of this?"
Diana thought back to the outpost, its wild and untamed people in the throes of a difficult alliance. "I think I may have an answer to that..." She added, not necessarily unsure, but still trying to puzzle it all out. "When I met Ares, he told me that he had no interest in what the Romulans were doing. He said they were busy stirring up the 'pot' with a number of races. And Colonel Worf stated that the Klingons wanted the Alliance with the Federation because the Romulans had recently turned on them." She turned to look over at Spock. "Perhaps Motar was not directly there because of me, but for these greater machinations. Perhaps the Romulans want the Klingons to be as isolated as possible so they will not help the Federation when they attack." The more she spoke, the more she could sense the ring of truth itching at the back of her senses. "The Romulans want to take the Federation, not the Klingon Empire. They only want to ensure we have no allies left."
"Even so, we don't know which admirals are doing this." Jim said with a frown. "We're still missing something. Kent wanted me off of the ship, cut loose from Starfleet. He wanted me out of the way for this little game the Romulans are playing."
"Jim, it may not be possible to receive the confirmation that you wish." Spock remarked, glancing over at him. "Even if you have suspicions based on your time in San Francisco, it may not be Admiral Kent's doing."
"Then, how do we find out?" Diana asked, posing the question that no one seemed to want to ask. It wasn't until they all turned to look at her that she realized - with a note of exasperation - why. She sighed, frowning and crossing her arms over her chest. "I am not so naive as to think that we will solve this by talking. I am not afraid of the truth, even if it is not an outcome I hope for. We must confirm Jim's suspicions, one way or another."
The group fell silent, but not for long.
Jim stood and braced his hands on the briefing table, a slight air of mischief and wit about him. "I have an idea for that."
Stardate 2264.106
Diana's spot on the bridge seemed somehow less welcoming when she knew what was about to occur. Jim's plan was more than risky, it was suicidal. But, ultimately, she agreed with him, even over Scotty and Doctor McCoy's objections. Spock had been more logical in his assessment and eventually conceded the captain's point.
Nevertheless, the information was limited to the five of them. Hikaru, Jaylah and Nyota had all been told nothing. It had been quite touching, if not troubling, that even though the captain clearly was keeping something from them, they had obeyed his orders.
Even when he had ordered them to a heading that would cross the Romulan Neutral Zone.
Even as the Enterprise stared down three Romulan warbirds that had decloaked within moments of the ship breaching the border.
Even as he told them to keep shields up, but to power down the weapons. He would be cooperating with the Romulans, should they be willing to talk.
"Captain, we're being hailed." Nyota's voice was tight with worry, but she covered it well. It was more Diana's sense of empathy and acute sensitivity to emotions rather than vocal tones that told her how concerned the lieutenant was. She was inclined to agree.
"Put it onscreen, Lieutenant." Jim replied without missing a beat. He stood from his chair with that easy, fluid single step she'd come to expect. His body was taut like a wire, stock straight and ready to move. Beside him, Spock had left the science station and gone to join him.
It took everything in her to remain at her vantage point on the bridge and to not join them. Even the doctor had been told to remain in Sickbay, much to his protesting.
The viewscreen quickly flashed away from the starscape ahead of them to present a tall, imposing Romulan woman. She wore her hair so long it tumbled down her shoulders, but her ears were adorned with golden cuffs at the top of the lobes.
"I am Commander Linvah. You have breached the Neutral Zone and entered Romulan Space. This act could be considered a statement of war. Explain your presence here." The woman conveyed a sense of command while far more cold and calculating than Diana had expected. She recognized it as a skill that Lex Luthor had used with aplomb: the double meaning. As he spoke, he calculated the next twelve moves, for he saw all of life as one great chessboard.
"I apologize, Commander Linvah. I am Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise." Jim replied, careful to keep his tone neutral and almost a bit too charming. If Diana had not been worried that this would all fall apart within moments, perhaps she would have found it more amusing. Unfortunately, the fact that he took pains to identify himself and the ship to the commander only gave the rest of the crew a sense that something was very wrong. "Our navigational system seems to have malfunctioned and we drifted off-course. We had no idea we'd crossed into Romulan space, but we will gladly rectify that and turn back around."
"You will not." Commander Linvah simply replied, looking them over with dark, scrutinizing eyes. "If your systems are so faulty, then we will gladly escort you back to Romulus, where you will be interviewed and your ship checked for any... questionable contents. You understand that we must take precaution. Prepare to be boarded - "
"Commander Linvah, I don't know if you're familiar with Starfleet protocol, but under no circumstances will I allow you to board my vessel." Jim clasped his hands behind his back, as if he were chatting about the weather. "But, even with such a... charming offer of assistance, I do not have the authority to hand over Starfleet technology into your hands. And should you attempt to do so, we will be forced to destroy the ship."
Linvah rose an eyebrow, seemingly unfazed but perhaps intrigued. Diana's stomach swam uncomfortably with the profound... deception of it all.
"But, how about I offer a truce? If you would like to communicate back to Romulus so that the formal Romulan ambassadors and the Starfleet ambassadors can meet on neutral ground to discuss getting us back across the border... we would be willing to have an exchange." Jim motioned to himself and then to Spock. "My first officer and I would be more than happy to discuss this in person."
"Captain..." Nyota protested under her breath as Sulu and Jaylah turned to face their captain, ready to burst.
Diana caught Jaylah's eye and shook her head, trying to catch her before she gave away the subterfuge. And not a moment too soon. Linvah seemed to be considering the offer.
"Very well. I will arrange for two of my centurions to beam aboard your vessel. In return, the two of you will come here and we will speak. But, I warn you, my patience has limits. I will not indulge in idle gossip forever." The Romulan turned to a console on her spartan bridge and tapped a button. "Prepare yourselves."
With that, the communication cut. No sooner than the woman's face was gone, Jim relaxed visibly just long enough for the rest of his bridge crew to come after him.
"Are you kidding me, sir?" Hikaru said with more passion and fervor than DIana had heard from him before. "For all we know, they'll take you and blow us up!"
"And you volunteered Spock for this?" Nyota was just as incensed as Diana expected. "Romulans and Vulcans have been sworn enemies for millenia, you have no idea what she'll - "
Jim rose his hands to silence them both. If he was curious as to why Jaylah had remained silent, he didn't ask. But, Diana knew. She still held the ensign's gaze, silently pleading for her to trust Jim.
"Objections noted, but this isn't up for debate. Mister Sulu, you have the conn." Jim turned to Spock, motioning to the turbolift. "We need to get moving."
Without waiting for an invitation, Diana followed after them into the turbolift. While she had been very accustomed to issuing orders and carrying through difficult tasks over the centuries, she had always found it difficult to ignore the pull of her heart on such matters. In fact, she had never been afraid to voice objections when she felt necessary.
"This could still go very wrong," Diana remarked as soon as the lift was in motion, echoing Jim's sentiment from a few days before in his quarters. She stopped short of voicing her more personal objections to the transfer. She had agreed to the plan before… now, she found herself thinking of how deeply it had shaken her to lose him once.
"I know." He replied, glancing over at her. Hearing his voice, so confident yet… aware of the risk, helped to quell her fear. For now. "But, it won't. I'm absolutely certain we'll be fine."
"It is statistically impossible for you to be 'absolutely certain' about any one course of action, Jim." Spock said over Jim's other shoulder.
Diana fell silent as she felt for her lasso beneath her jacket. She didn't know if it was in a search for the truth… or comfort. Yet, it reminded her that she still had a part to play in this drama. Once they had agreed to this particular course of action, she had made sure to wear her armor underneath her ambassadorial clothes. If the Romulans did not honor the transfer, she would disavow them of the notion that deception was acceptable. With great prejudice.
They reached the transporter room a few moments later where Scotty was already waiting for them.
As Jim and Spock made their way over to the chief engineer, he had two communicators - non-Federation - held out to either of them. "Here. These should work just fine through the Romulan shields, if needed. They're modeled after the communicators that Jaylah designed on Altamid. Just... be careful. I've no idea if they'll know about these."
Jim nodded and clapped him on the shoulder. "As usual, Mister Scott, you are a spring of optimism."
The two men made their way to the transporter pad. For a moment, Diana remained planted on the carpet before them, knowing that it was her duty to wait for the transfer to take place and to ensure peace while they were gone.
But, that had not been the first time she had been told by the man with such kind eyes that she was to remain behind on a journey where she could not follow.
Diana crossed the distance and stepped up onto the transporter pad, pulling Jim close. In that moment, he was the only one in the room, and she would be sure to remind him that he needed to return. She kissed him passionately, knowing full well that this could be the last time. Again.
When they finally broke apart, Jim was panting and looking a bit less collected than he probably wanted to be. "I... okay..." He breathed.
"I just want you to remember that." She finally said, offering an explanation as she kept her hands on his shoulders. As they had embraced, his hands had slipped up to her face again. It was as natural as breathing for both of them. "Just in case you consider doing something foolish." She finished, then finally pulled away.
"Compelling argument…" Jim said dumbly.
As she finally stepped back onto the carpet, she barely caught the look Spock was giving Jim with his eyebrow raised higher than she could ever recall seeing it. Meanwhile, Mister Scott's jaw had gone so slack, she was sure he would dry out his tongue.
Diana cleared her throat loudly, a move that Jim echoed.
"Mister Scott," Jim said after a long moment. "We are ready to beam over."
"A-Aye, sir," Scotty said, still thrown by Diana's remarkably unrestrained moment of passion. "Beaming ye aboard... now..."
Diana clenched her hands into fists at her sides as she saw Jim and Spock disappear in the shimmer and swirl of the transporters. As the pads went dark, she felt her heart clench as she considered that no one else had come through on the other end. Would the Romulans betray them after all?
When the pads lit back up and she watched two Romulan Centurions arrive, she realized that if she was hoping for absolute truth and certainty with Jim's safety... she would not find it here.
Stardate 2264.107
Eighteen hours after she had watched Jim and Spock deliver themselves over to Romulan custody, the bridge was fraught with panic. Commander Linvah had simply hailed the Enterprise to state that the captain would be beamed back to the ship and that Commander Spock would remain aboard with her.
Everyone waited with bated breath for the doctor to confirm the supposed transport.
"McCoy to the bridge." The doctor's voice filtered over the bridge as they all stared down the three Romulan warbirds in the viewscreen. Below her, Sulu sat in the command chair, just as alert as she was. "I have the captain."
"How is he, doctor?" Sulu asked.
Diana gripped the railing, bracing herself against the startling reality before her.
"He's dead."
The three senior crewmembers turned to look at each other, stricken. Time slowed to a crawl as Diana crossed the length of the bridge in nearly the blink of an eye. By the time they had heard the sound, the turbolift doors were already closing. Diana was already gone.
The doors opened on the medical deck, and Diana sped with the fury of the gods. Lighter than Hermes, more thunderous than Zeus himself. She barely had time to skid to a halt before the double doors to Sickbay opened and she slid into the room.
"Leonard!" She called, her heart in her throat. They had talked about the risks, they had discussed the plan.
But, what if it had gone wrong?
A monitor was flatlining somewhere in Sickbay, but not in the primary wing before her. McCoy's office doors were closed, but she could hear his voice, somewhat muffled, from somewhere in the bay.
Diana's will carried her clear across the room into the newly refurbished secondary, critical wing. The room had been destroyed in Vanessa's rampage all those months ago, and now housed the best Starfleet medical technology that the Yorktown had to spare.
And one of those highly specialized monitors kept wailing.
But, not because of her fear that Jim would be prone on the biobed, charred by disruptor fire or worse.
He was standing beside the biobed, holding one of McCoy's sensors in his hand. It should have been placed on his forehead and as a result, was causing the terrible squeal from the monitors. Whether he had worn it at all and taken it off, or if he had been in the process of arguing with the doctor, she couldn't tell.
Until she saw Leonard's scowl and Jim's roguish grin when he saw her.
"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes," Jim said, clapping the sensor into McCoy's hand and crossing the room. As if it had been months, not hours, he swept her into his arms and embraced her, burying his face in her neck for a long moment.
Her brow furrowed in concern as she returned the hug. It wasn't Jim's first spy game in any lifetime, yet he seemed reluctant to let go. "Jim, are you alright?"
Jim stiffened a bit. She could catch the brief flicker of embarrassment, although she wasn't sure how she knew. He seemed as in command as ever.
"It was a little hairy over there." He finally said as he pulled back, resuming a more professional distance between them. "The Commander's taken an interest in Spock, so we're using it to our advantage."
"An interest?" Diana said, crossing her arms over her chest as she tried to stifle her worry. "How so?"
"Ah…" Jim tilted his head, clearly trying to find a way to be delicate. "Let's just say she's fascinated with what makes him Vulcan and her Romulan. And she's interested in crossing that distance with… Spock embracing his wild side. If he has a wild side."
"You can't possibly tell me someone other than Uhura finds that pointy-eared statue romantically attractive?" McCoy blurted, incredulous.
"Look, I don't pretend to understand all the details," He replied. "The point is, the plan worked. He kept the Commander distracted long enough for me to use this - " He pulled the communication device that Scotty had given them before. "To scramble their medical sensors while Spock put me in some sort of trance. They thought I was dead, I was sleeping. With the 'captain' gone, he should be able to convince Linvah that they only need one of the warbirds to escort us, not all three."
Diana furrowed her brow as she found that the answers she had hoped for strangely did not comfort her. But, she kept her reservations to herself for the moment. Besides the trio in sickbay, only Chief Engineer Scott and Spock knew the depth of their plan. It had gone so well, she felt that to mention her concerns would invite… complications.
Instead, she turned her attention to the next phase. "Were you able to confirm that these vessels are Tal Shiar, not simply scouts?"
Jim nodded, pulling a patch from his pocket. When he held it up, she recognized the symbol from the Federation databanks. "Spock handed this to me before he used the meld to knock me out. Said he found it in Linvah's quarters."
Diana arched an eyebrow the same as McCoy. The doctor almost sounded impressed. Almost. "Didn't think the fella had it in him to lie and worm his way into a lady's quarters. "
"I'll be sure not to tell Nyota you think she is so easily wooed," Diana remarked, a moment of brevity in all of the darkness.
"It's the Aquila." Jim interrupted them both before their battle of wits could begin again. "Symbol of the Tal Shiar. Linvah absolutely came here to take the Enterprise as a trophy."
Diana took the patch from him to examine it. "The same term used by the Roman Empire on Earth. Ares may not have had a direct hand in their creation, but something tells me this was his idea. The secret police to sow discord?" She scoffed and shook her head. "More like his own pet project got out of hand."
"I don't know, Diana, their interest in us seems more… conventional." Jim crossed his arms, continuing his intelligence briefing while they had the time. If he was thinking about anything other than the events of the last day, he was careful not to give that away."What Spock could access suggests we're right. Someone's been sending messages to the ship from Federation space, but he couldn't figure out how. The Commander didn't give him enough time to get that far, but he said it looked like the messages went back as early as the MACO days. That lines up with when Conner joined Starfleet."
"That could line up with any Augment that may have survived the war." Diana reminded him. She knew that there was an element of denial to her tone, but she was still not convinced. "So, in either case, you will need proof."
"Which is why I'm going back." Jim said, turning to McCoy. "So, we better get started before anyone wonders why we're not turning over one of their Centurions."
McCoy nodded, making his way over to a set of tools he'd assembled before Jim's arrival.
Diana's stomach writhed as she considered the deceit she would be asked to perpetuate. Before he could try to take her mind off of it with a smooth word or two, she turned to face him fully. "Jim, you should let me tell the crew - "
"No, Diana." Jim clearly had no room for argument. "I know you hate to lie, but if Linvah contacts you, I need to know Sulu and Uhura will be able to do this. And the best way to convince them is to keep them out of the loop."
"But, Jim - "
"No." He shook his head again, then backpedaled towards McCoy. "Until further notice, Jim Kirk is dead. Now, please, head to the transporter room. I need you to make sure the coast is clear."
She had agreed to the plan once. And even if she did not like the idea of putting Jim and Spock into such danger, she knew that the answers were aboard that ship. She had to trust that he could do this.
When he arrived in the transporter room twenty minutes later, clad in one of the Centurion uniforms and cosmetically altered to look just like a Romulan, she told herself that her trust would be repaid in kind.
Not by Jim, but by the gods themselves. They would help him to the truth.
Or she would wrest it from the hands of Fate itself.