Lost 2 – Heirs of Magic
Disclaimer: I own neither Star Trek nor Harry Potter. I am merely swimming in their pond with this work of non-profit fiction.
Prologue
Former Romulan Science Vessel – Talanth
"We are sure?"
The question caused an almost hidden wince from the Romulan at the communications console. "Nothing is responding in the sector."
"Then another of his plans failed. Set a course for the Kulthori base at maximum warp, our brethren are at risk."
"And the human magicals?"
The figure in the command throne's expression hardened, "We have our agents preparing them a surprise. And besides we shall see how long their zeal remains when the Federation hunts them like hlai. The master had unresolved personal issues with them. I intend to be more…pragmatic. After all, we are the true heirs of magic."
oOoOo
Chapter 1 – A strange homecoming
USS Enterprise – Guest Quarters
Commodore Bryce Culloven stared incredulously at the image of Vice Admiral Blackwell.
"Do you understand your orders, Commodore?"
Culloven straightened in his chair, "Admiral, you realise that my orders might well be construed as being borderline illegal. Given that two of those involved have been granted Klingon citizenship."
Blackwell's severe expression didn't change, "That is why officers from both Starfleet intelligence and the Judge Advocate General's Office will be present while the Article Twenty-Six Special Court request is considered. For the duration of this investigation Captain Patterson of the JAG will be the lead, is that now clear Commodore?"
"Crystal, Sir" replied Culloven. After all what else could he say?
"Good, Inform Picard and the other Captains that the USS Idaho will rendezvous with you and operational command of your squadron will pass to Captain Trent of the Idaho."
"Understood," replied Culloven.
Blackwell gestured and the screen blanked.
Culloven studied his reflection in the reflective surface of the monitor while he considered his current orders. Despite his detailed report, someone at Starfleet's highest levels had requested an Article Twenty-Six hearing for civilians. Outside a handful of cases, most of which had occurred during wars, hearings determining if a civilian could be tried in front of a secret special court were all but unknown.
What were they playing at?
With a shake of his head, he made his decision.
"Culloven to Picard."
"Picard here," replied Picard, almost immediately.
"Are you free to meet me in my quarters, Captain?"
oOoOo
"I see," said Picard once Culloven had given Picard his orders. "And the reason for this change of orders?"
"An Article Twenty-Six hearing for Black, Potter and Kelly."
Picard's eyes narrowed as he considered the implications of that and who would benefit from it. "Some faction in Starfleet Intelligence?"
"That would be my guess," replied Culloven. "If they get their way they will be special detainees…lots of opportunities to make them disappear."
"Are they trying to provoke the Klingons?"
Culloven suddenly looked tired as he ran his fingers through his hair, "I honestly don't know. But you are right, the Klingons won't like it."
"That's understating it, and it is not just the Klingons. Starfleet has granted a hearing to determine if they can try them in secret. It's not much of a leap for them to claim that they pose a clear and present danger to the Federation. Three private citizens, two of whom were illegally experimented on by Federation scientists. If they are successful, it would effectively hand them over to Starfleet as special status detainees."
Culloven smiled bitterly, "And all the parties are bound by their Starfleet oaths not to speak of it. It is a military tribunal and in every other case it would be illegal to try civilians."
"Except in this case…I am surprised that the JAG office would agree to this," said Picard.
"So am I, and it worries me. Any decent JAG officer would be looking askance at this from the get-go. To make this happen someone is playing dirty here and I don't like it."
"Could there be more infiltrators?" asked Picard.
"Maybe," mused Culloven. "My money however would be on some of the more shadowy intelligence groups. Some of whom make the Tal Shiar seem positively restrained. I can see them drooling over someone with the abilities of Harry and Sirius."
"What of the others with the genetic marker?"
"Most that have been identified are Starfleet, so they have some protection. More importantly, the fact that they cannot access their powers would make them less attractive as test subjects."
"And if we do anything we are opening ourselves up for court martial," added Picard.
Culloven sighed, "Jean Luc, my career is already done. You don't get promoted for showing up the Admiralty and this is exactly what I've done. If it comes down to it, I'll do what I think is right."
Picard acknowledged that with a nod. As difficult and frustrating as the situation was, it was very somewhat of a relief to know that Culloven was of like mind.
oOoOo
IKS Kaveth Nar – Mess Hall
Emma looked on as L'kor gestured toward a plate of rare but (thankfully, for Emma) cooked meat.
"That's Targ meat, frozen and cooked of course but still better than any replicated version. Sirius tells me it tastes like goat, whatever that is."
Emma nodded and looked up at the Klingon crewman serving as a kitchen hand, "Okay, I think I'll try that and maybe some…ah Krada."
The Klingon nodded and served her what could only be described as a heroic-sized plate of food before waving her on.
Emma looked down at her plate and sighed, "I have a feeling I'll need to buy new clothes soon."
L'kor grinned and nodded toward an empty table. Once seated she poured Emma a drink from the clay jug, "Don't worry it's the juice of a plant. It's safe for humans and has no alcohol."
Emma took the cup, "Ah, thank you L'kor."
Trying to hide her trepidation, she cut a small piece of Targ meat and dipped it into the sauce that came with the meal. The meat had a strong flavour. Not bad or unpleasant just strong, although the spicy, rich sauce actually made it better.
L'kor was watching her closely but as she began eating. Seeing that she was fine, she returned to her own meal.
Emma chewed and looked around the busy mess hall. It was far different from anything she had ever experienced but despite a few teething problems, she was rather enjoying the noisy, physical life that was a Klingon warship. Food had initially been a problem, given that some Klingon food could be really bad for humans. Her first few meals had to be transfigured by Sirius into something more edible, but after that she had decided to eat in the mess. After all, both Harry and Sirius ate Klingon food.
"How is it?" asked L'kor.
"It's actually pretty good, I've never had goat, but it sort of tastes like a cross between beef and maybe lamb." Emma replied with a smile.
"How did your training go?" asked L'kor. The young human had been studying with Harry and Sirius as well as attending science classes as a part of her 'cultural exchange' aboard the Klingon ship.
Emma shrugged, "It's a bit hard, I mean Sirius and Harry seem to do things easily, but I struggle. Although, I did manage to raise a shield today, with Harry's wand."
"Good, and your other lessons?" asked L'kor.
Emma grinned, "They are interesting, back at school, Klingon culture is not something we've covered in any detail. But here, it is like everywhere."
"That is a good attitude to take and how goes your hunt?" asked L'kor.
When Emma first came aboard the Kaveth Nar, she would have been taken back by the blunt personal question. Now she understood that the Klingons were simply treating her as a crewmate. "He's trying to take things slow. To be respectful and everything."
"Shades of Lukara girl," said a female Klingon, a bridge officer called Korva as she nudged Emma with her shoulder. "He's a male bite him and call him out. The boy has courage and power but he's still a male and sometimes they need a push in the right direction."
One of the male officers scowled but the rest, who had heard Korva, laughed.
"Worked for Sirius," added another.
"What worked for my mate was intelligence, spirit and cleanliness…traits you lack Cha'vak," replied L'kor.
Cha'vak grinned and saluted L'kor with his goblet, "A fine reply Chief Engineer. I wish Sirius good luck."
The officers were all mostly laughing now, and Emma returned to her meal.
L'kor lowered her voice as she leaned forward to speak to Emma, "If you hurry you might catch Harry alone in his cabin, he has nearly an hour before he stands his post in engineering."
Emma managed to not look like she was finishing her meal with indecent haste, but it was a close thing.
"Ah, young lovers full of fire and life. Let's hope they have the sense to go with it," said Korva.
L'kor shrugged, "They do but even if a…ah, accident occurred there are worse fates. My mother always claimed that she was rather rotund when she married. My clan follows the old ways. Carrying a child would be enough to make a claim."
"You are truly looking at bringing them both into your House?" asked Korva.
L'kor nodded, "It's done already. You've seen their abilities? Well, Emma shares that blood. The high council acknowledges the debt they owe for aiding us and have approved the blood adoption."
Korva considered L'kor's words as she took a swig of her drink, "I Imagine the High Council is wondering what would happen if their children were to marry Klingons."
L'kor bared her teeth for a moment before nodding stiffly, "A worry given the honour of some of those families. My father Larkan and my whole house will help protect them and any children to come."
Korva raised an eyebrow, "A worthy plan L'kor. If you need my blade, I will stand with you. The head of my house, K'orin son of Kothar is a general and a renowned warrior but has many reservations regarding some of the High Council. He would enjoy twisting a d'k tahg in the wound."
L'kor gripped Korva's wrist, "I thank you Korva, daughter of M'priel."
In truth, L'kor was somewhat worried about Emma. She had lost her parents only a short time ago. She seemed to be coping but there was a…sadness in her eyes. Even Klingons grieved and Emma needed that release. Speaking to Sirius might be the best thing and she decided to do just that.
oOoOo
Starfleet Command – Office of Admiral Rita Collins
With a sigh, she stretched and felt her spine pop. She had been working at her desk for far too long…hells it was past ten. She had sent her aide, Commander Sorren home hours ago and had only planned to finish sorting through the endless paperwork that came with command rank.
It was a cliché but still true enough that every admiral missed command of a ship. She certainly did and she knew she wore a wry smile when she thought of the hours cursing paperwork in her ready room on the Enkidu.
Still, she was doing important work and her background in the sciences meant that she was one of the best people to lead the dedicated research and science teams that made up Science Ops…well, at least her small part of that team.
No, she would finish up and head home to her wife. Their children were adults and Lucy was probably at home waiting (patiently) for her to get in. She was just reaching to turn her pad off when she saw an incoming message from her old first officer, Bryce Culloven. Why would Bryce be calling at this time of night and why on an encrypted channel? She accepted the call and was further surprised by the delay in connection. It certainly looked like another layer of encryption.
Bryce appeared to be on a starship, given the image. Which was odd as he was based on Earth now, wasn't he?
"Hello B…"
"No names, I've just sent you some one-time ciphers, use number four to call me from somewhere unofficial in thirty minutes…and be careful. It's a catalas incident."
That made her frown. Gotis Catalas had been an infiltrator they had captured two decades ago. She had recently heard…rumours. Nothing solid or official, but rumours that something had been happening in the intelligence community. Maybe there was something happening. Something bad if Bryce was calling old friends.
She nodded and for a moment she saw relief on Bryce's face.
"Say hello to Lu for me, I'll talk to you soon."
She got that message loud and clear.
As soon as she left the building she went straight to a public communicator and called Lucy's private channel. She picked up almost immediately, "Hello?"
"Lu it's me. I'm going to be a bit late. An old shipmate of ours called and was reminiscing about the Catalas incident."
There was a short pause before Lucy replied, "…right. Okay, I won't wait up. Oh, and hey I might duck out and see Ru. His cat is ill…you know how much he loves that cat."
Rita cut the connection, satisfied that Lucy had received and understood the warning. The semi-retired science officer had served with both of them. Ru was Kevos Rull. Their Andorian former security chief and good friend. He'd keep Lucy safe. She entered a command onto her pad and a wall safe opened. She removed a phaser and slipped it and her personal pad into her satchel.
Her next stop was the park near her office and the café that served late-night workers.
Her call was answered almost immediately.
"I'm glad you called Rita," said Bryce.
"What is going on?"
"Do the names Harry Potter or Sirius Black mean anything to you?"
Rita thought for a moment, "No, should they?"
Bryce nodded, "They should and the fact that they don't is another worrying fact in this quagmire."
"Bryce, what is it?"
He quickly explained what he knew and his current orders.
"Right, well this is a bleak damn situation. I assume you've spread the word among those you trust?"
"I have and now I'm going deep and dark," explained Bryce. Meaning that he was going to disappear and begin trying to uncover how far this all went. She was guessing that it went too far for her peace of mind…and too high. It should be impossible to cover up the death of senior officers and the fact that Starfleet had been and potentially still was infiltrated was horrific and very dangerous. "Be damn careful Rita."
The connection terminated and she noted that her private pad showed no sign of a recent call.
She took a deep breath and then ordered a coffee and began her walk home. Normally a twenty-minute stroll. Tonight, she did it in ten.
She kept to the main traffic area. It was still busy, after all there were plenty of restaurants and bars nearby and it was a Friday night. The crowd would also make following her harder.
There were three ways into her apartment building, so she took the one she never used. Her apartment appeared empty, which was a relief…right until she walked into her kitchen to see someone sitting at the breakfast bar.
The figure raised its hand showing a phaser was pointed at her.
"Admiral Collins, take a seat."
"And you are?" Rita demanded as her hand slowly toward her satchel.
"Don't," warned the man sharply.
"What do you want?"
"I want to know what Commodore Culloven told you."
Rita didn't let her expression change, "Who?"
The man sighed, "I see, so you are choosing the path of pain. Before things become unpleasant Admiral, I should tell you that my companions have your building surrounded, your communications are offline, and transporters are being blocked. There is no escape except by cooperating."
Rita was a fit woman for her age, but the intruder was just a little too far away. Her options were limited…but at least Lucy appeared to have escaped the situation.
Before she could say anything, the world went white.
When she could see again, the first thing she saw was a familiar blue-tinted face.
"Well Ma'am that was a bit of excitement."
"Ru?" she managed to whisper.
The Andorian nodded and smiled slightly, "Lucy got in contact with me, and I called in a few favours. Sorry about the stun grenade but I couldn't risk the bastard shooting you. Don't worry about Lucy, she's at my daughter's place and she has a full squad of security surrounding her. People I hand-picked."
Rita lowered her voice, "That might be dangerous Ru…I've been warned that we might have another infiltration situation in command."
"That's where I come in Rita," said another voice from her right. She turned her head to see a familiar face, Admiral Alonzo Freeman. He grinned at her shocked expression, but it changed to a frown. "Lieutenant Commander Rull contacted me as soon as Lucy got the warning out. I was not expecting to find armed men and a human with no records at all…nothing. That is a worry and has me thinking Starfleet intelligence. Now I know what's happened, I need to know why."
Rita had known Alonzo for twenty years…she was positive the man with her was a loyal officer. Hell, he had just saved her bacon.
"I receive a call from an old friend, Bryce Culloven…"
Admiral Freeman sat frowning as the story unfolded. Then sat quietly, clearly thinking through what he had been told. The Andorian security officer swore in his native tongue and then began issuing orders to tighten security.
"I don't like this situation at all Rita. We should be reporting this, but Culloven's warning worries me. How the hell did this get hidden? Our people have been killed, illegal experiments and who knows what else. I need to get you off world and looking into this, if you are willing?"
Alonzo outranked her but not by much, so it was more a request than an order. "I'll do it."
Alonzo tapped at a pad and frowned, "Okay so the Enterprise…Picard is a good man as are the other Captains involved. Bryce isn't an idiot, so he chose people he knew well. Well, I think I'll emulate him and stay off the sensor grid for now. I'll organise a ship for you, off the official record. We need to get on top of what is happening both here and with these, what do we call them, empowered? I'm not comfortable with Wizards."
"I think that they prefer wizard. I'll take Lucy and Lieutenant Commander Rull as well," she wasn't asking.
"You do that, and tell Lucy that if she feels more comfortable, I'll reinstate her as active."
oOoOo
Three hours later, the USS Cerritos warped away from Earth with three extra people on board.