Orion Citadel-ship Oshur
Orion Prime
Feb 10, 2155

First Mother Orada finished her ablutions, rising naked from the cleansing pool to fetch her robe from the nearby bench. Priestess Morhan waited on hand, having just begun to report the latest news.

"What more do we know?" Orada asked.

"The Vulcan First organization and the human ship Enterprise have both discovered the writings of holy Aramea in the excavation site on Vulcan. They are aware that the Purifier exists somewhere in a quinary system, but not exactly where."

"They know too much." Orada said. "It would be better if all involved were eliminated. The Purifier can never be discovered."

"There are simply too many individuals in the know. The Enterprise has already reported what it knows to Starfleet Command, and it can't be known if or to how many the whl'k'n wuh'rak reported. Those aware of the Purifier's existence must already number in the hundreds, easily."

"This is already getting out of hand. Mobilize our laywomen. The humans and Vulcans are sure to come here, seeking what they can about the device. Anyone attempting to learn of it must be eliminated. This is of the highest priority and supersedes even the greatest of our most abundant secrets. However long it may have taken to infiltrate their respective organizations, our laywomen outing themselves in order to protect the knowledge of the Purifier is more than acceptable."

"Many have spent their lifetimes obtaining the positions of authority they enjoy."

"For this very purpose."

"I understand. I only hope our laywomen haven't gone native in too great a number."

"We can only hope." Orada said. "We will move the citadel-ship to the Panqual system, as a last line of defense. This vessel should be able to handle anything the humans or Vulcans can field."

"This begs the age-old question. Why not simply destroy the Purifier?"

"Its potential is far too great. Who knows when it might be needed? Better to keep it hidden until that day."

"It already proves too tempting. How easily could we use it to dominate known space for the Orion people?"

"Abstaining from that ambition is our burden. We have shouldered it for over a thousand years, and we will shoulder it for a thousand more if need be."

"Praised be the First Mother."

"Praised be the First Mother." Orada repeated.

NX-01 Enterprise
En route to Orion Prime
Feb 11, 2155

Malcolm waited in line in the mess hall to fetch his meal. Once he arrived, it was an easy choice of pork chop and caesar salad. For dessert, apple pie.

Major Perez followed suit, retrieving her own meal. She listened as Malcolm detailed his interrogation of the Vulcan First operative Sokil.

"After that, all I had to do was pay attention." He said. "Once he got talking, he wouldn't shut up. Right now, we know that the runes on Vulcan were transcribed from an Orion priestess named Aramea that the Mind Lord had captured. We're in a race with the Vulcan First people to get to Orion Prime, looking to uncover everything we can about this Aramea."

"The Orions don't give anything for free. What do we have to offer for this information?"

"Starfleet Command has issued us a thousand standard Earth credits, in latinum form, for trade. We can practically buy a full harem of Orion slave girls for that kind of money. Command is taking this Purifier thing very seriously."

"A superweapon that can wipe out whole species. We can't let something like that fall into the wrong hands."

"Certainly not." Malcolm opined. "Imagine what Vulcan First would do with it. They're the Vulcan equivalent of Terra Prime. They'll wipe out anyone non-Vulcan from the face of their homeworld."

Malcolm was slightly put off when another person entered the conversation. Lara Hernandez, a new cargo technician working under Tucker. She sat down at the table without so much as a by-your-leave and jumped right in.

"So, Orion Prime." She said, "I wonder if the captain will grant us shore leave."

"We're there strictly on business, so I doubt it." Malcolm said.

"The Purifier thing. A grim business indeed."

"Now, how did you hear about that?" Perez asked.

"Word gets around. It's a small ship."

"Hoshi, no doubt." Malcolm said. "No secrets around her."

"I won't reveal my sources." Lara said. "But I do wonder how anyone could keep this Purifier thing a secret for so long. I'm really afraid we'll get there and not learn a thing we don't already know. Searching every quinary system for a superweapon could take years, even if Starfleet put every ship at its disposal to the task."

"Well, it's the only lead we've got." Malcolm said. "And Vulcan First certainly seems to think there's something to be had."

Malcolm finished his meal in silence, not wanting to give away any further information in front of crewman Hernandez. Major Perez followed his lead. When he finished his meal, Malcolm excused himself and left the mess hall, heading for security.

Major Perez caught up with him.

"Say, Lieutenant." She said, "Tucker's reinstating movie night on Thursdays. That gives me two days to find a date. Want to come? They're showing the Wizard of Oz. I'm always down for a musical."

"A date?" Asked Malcolm, clarifying.

"Absolutely."

Malcolm considered the matter for a long moment. Almost long enough for Perez to take offense.

"I'd be more than happy to accompany you.' He said, at last.

"Great!" Perez said. "I'll meet you there. You bring the popcorn."

Safehouse One
55 Dupont Circle
Long Island, New York

Paxton called the meeting to order, and a hush fell over the room.

"Mark," He said, eventually. "Tell them what you told me."

"Well," Mark said. "Our asset reports that Archer and the Enterprise have uncovered the existence of an ancient superweapon called the Purifier. It has the capacity to wipe out all sentient species from a planet, bar one. They're on their way to Orion Prime at this very moment to discover where in known space this weapon has been hidden."

"I don't need to tell you what this means for us." Paxton said. "With one fell swoop we can rid Earth of every non-human, all at once, and retain that superiority for as long as we possess the weapon.

"Johansen, you'll hand over your cells to Mark for the time being. I want you to make every extrasolar asset we have made ready to seize this weapon the moment its hiding place is discovered. That puts us up against the Enterprise, but we have a small fleet of merchant vessels loyal to our cause. Even the Enterprise can't stand against ten heavily armed J-class freighters.

"Now, our intelligence is limited to what our asset can glean after the fact. And our freighters can't match the speed of a warp five ship. We can only hope, at best, to get there after the fact. Everything rests on our being able to wrest control of the weapon from the Enterprise in an entrenched position. But I have every faith in our boomers. The Enterprise won't be able to stand against them for very long."

"There remains the issue of Vulcan First." Mark interjected. "They have the same intelligence Archer has, and they're on their way to Orion Prime as well."

"We'll let Archer deal with them." Paxton said. "I doubt they can field any ship capable of taking on the Enterprise. They don't have the resources we do.

"In the meantime, it's business as usual. We conduct every political action we have on the board. No sense alarming Interpol with our sudden lack of activity. We give no hint we're aware of the Purifier or that we aim to seize it for ourselves. I'm thinking of the christening of the USS Lovel Daedalus class, Carols. You have a green light for your bombing. That can't go unanswered.

"Carry on for now, with the hope that we secure this weapon. It could be the answer to our every prayer. This meeting is adjourned until we have further news."