Chapter 803

SENATOR JAMESON'S OFFICE

PARIS, EARTH

Jameson yelled from his office, "ELI!"

Eli Gold closed his computer screen and walked into the office. "Yes Sir?"

Jameson said, "The State Department just sent out a notice of a Klingon delegation coming to Earth."

Gold just knew that the Senator was scheming, and it left a distaste in his mouth. "What is our interest sir?"

"Captain Kang is part of the delegation! It's perfect! Between what we discovered about the connection between him and Jacobs and the timing of the hearing, we could have him testify against Jacobs."

Gold's distaste in his mouth was barely able to be held back. It took his best poker face to keep from being revealed. The feeling was surprising. Gold had participated in ruining the careers of several Starfleet officers and never was bothered, but now something is bothering him. "Why would he testify?"

"Let me work on that. I need you to organize what we know into classified and declassified material. I want to make sure my questions stay on the declassified side."

Gold had his datapad in his hand and started typing. Gold realized he was not typing in the orders, those would be easy enough to do, but he was typing in the names of the Starfleet officers he just thought of. He started putting the names into classified and non-classified folders depending on the background info of the individual.

"Yes sir, I'll get right into that. I need to remind you that the information regarding what we suspect of Kang's son is classified."

Jameson snapped, "I don't care. I want Kang incensed over Jacobs." Jameson thought a bit. "With PEANUTBUTTER codeword active, if I phrase my questions carefully, then I can make Jacobs look like the bad guy and leave it to where he can't defend himself. Hmmm. This requires thought."

Gold nodded, disgusted. This was not the first time that a Starfleet officer could not respond to an allegation made by the Senator because of clearance. "I'll get right on it." More information to go into the classified folder.

AMBASSADOR GORKON'S OFFICE

KLINGON EMBASSAY

EARTH

Ambassador Gorkon's aide, Rorg, walked into his office. Gorkon was reading some intelligence that had come in. "Rorg, what is it?"

Rorg handed over a datapad. "We have a request."

Gorkon read the communique. "This was sent openly?"

Rorg nodded, "Through official channels from Senator Jameson's office. I confirmed it at once."

Gorkon re-read the communique. "What are your thoughts?"

Rorg said, "It is not surprising that the Senator found out that Kang was coming to Earth. That information was part of our diplomatic filing for transport. We had to let them know what ship and who the commanding officer was to take you back to Qo'nos."

Gorkon nodded. Rorg continued, "I find it interesting that he is requesting that Kang attend a hearing concerning Starfleet."

Gorkon nodded. "The Federation Starfleet Oversight committee is conducting a hearing concerning Starfleet's actions over the battle of Starbase 5. Why would they want Kang? He was not involved."

Rorg had a look of disgust on his face. "Senator Jameson is a Federation traitor. He gave us information. He is not honorable."

Gorkon nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, he did and he is not. Do you think he knows of my potential of being Chancellor?"

Rorg's disgust didn't change. "I don't know. I think he is focused on his own chances of power."

Gorkon mused, "And what if he did become President? Never have we had an intelligence asset as President."

Rorg said, "You sound like them. I call him a spy."

Gorkon looked at his aide and chuckled. "Perhaps I've adopted their language."

Rorg continued, "That's the problem we've always had with spies. While their information and manipulation may be valuable, their natural dishonor makes them untrustworthy. A spy by very nature is dishonorable. If we were to have a spy as Federation President, I'm not sure it will benefit us."

Gorkon asked Rorg, "What about now? Should we ask him covertly anything about the hearing?"

Rorg thought a minute, "No sir. I think that Senator Jameson left to his own devices will try to do the job of hurting the Federation far better than anything we could try to do. I don't trust him. I consider him an unpredictable asset."

Gorkon looked at his friend. "You do well to be suspicious. We will contemplate this further. For now, what do you think about having Kang attend?"

Rorg said, "I'm suspicious. It will not to be our benefit. It will serve only Jameson."

Gorkon thought. "Why have Kang attend?"

"He will not only attend. He will be a mang on the Klin Zha game. Senator Jameson will use him."

Gorkon nodded. "How to guarantee that Kang will do what Senator Jameson wants? What will his game be? Does his game serve our interests? We need to think this through before answering."

Rorg thought aloud. "He will try to provide Kang with motivation to lie."

Gorkon nodded. "He doesn't know Kang well enough then. We need to figure out what he wants Kang to say before we figure out how he is going to get Kang to say it."

Rorg nodded. "The what should be easy. He will want Kang to testify that Jacobs is a threat to us and therefore a threat to the truce between us and the Federation."

Gorkon was looking at a starmap on one of the wall viewscreens. "Get me the entire dossier on the Wisconsin and Captain Jacobs. Let's reconstruct what we know."

USS EXCALIBUR BRIDGE

HOLDING POINT ALPHA

OUTSIDE STARBASE 5'S SYSTEM

"You've got to be kidding me. A Luau?" Captain Jackson said.

"Sure. Kang helped us out tremendously. Besides, I'm repaying a favor he did with us earlier this year. Best thing I can think of is a large banquet. A luau seemed like the thing to do." Jacobs said on the screen.

"The old man isn't going to like this at all."

"He's already approved. You'll be getting orders to shuttle Kang and Kor and Ambassador Schuck and whoever else wants to come." Jacobs said. "For that matter, bring along whoever you want too."

Jackson was bewildered. To say this is highly irregular is an understatement. "What is our timeframe?"

Jacobs said, "The Luau starts tonight, I'll send you the coordinates. It will start in about six hours. We leave for Earth tomorrow at noon Starbase time."

Jackson nodded. "Alright, I give up. Are you scheming something?"

"No, I'm just being hospitable." Jacobs smiled genuinely.

"Right, that's usually just before battle. We'll be there. Jackson out."

Lieutenant Holt turned around with a datapad. "We just received orders from the Starbase. We are to bring the specified guests to the site."

Jackson sighed. "I'm sorry about being a killjoy. Jacobs has a good idea. Why not?" He raised his arms melodramatically. "Lieutenant Holt, do you want to go to the Luau?"

Holt smiled. "Actually, yes.

"Great, tell Maxwell I want him along too." Jackson turned to Commander Morrow. "Paul, I want you here. I cannot have my whole senior staff away from the ship with Klingons off the starboard bow."

Morrow chuckled, "Understood. We'll keep them at bay."

MALUAKA BEACH

STARBASE 5

The last of the shuttles landed disgorging the guests. Jacobs was smiling along with Leonaidas, Octavian and Lopaka. "Welcome to Maluaka! Thank you all for coming!"

Kang and Kor walked up and greeted Jacobs with a big bear hug. Jacobs smiled and shook hands with Jackson. Jackson was smiling slightly too. "Josh, what do you think the brass is going to think about this?"

Jacobs shrugged. "Admiral Adama is already on the beach. When I pitched this to him, he was all for it. I call this 'diplomatic relations."

Kang let out a rare smile. "It was a good excuse for us to meet again. The Ambassador sends his regards. He could not make it."

Jacobs laughed. "He hated the idea?"

Kor smiled, "Extremely. We had to convince him that this was a good idea."

Jacobs looked around smiling. "I'm glad you still brought guests."

Kang motioned to several Klingons. "You may recognize members of my crew. From our previous feast."

Jacobs nodded and shook their hands. "And your wife, Mara?"

Kang said, "Back on Qo'nos. She is extremely with child. It was better for her to be with our healers at home."

Kor reintroduced another Klingon. "And you remember Healer Vorneh?"

"I do." Jacobs smiled and shook his hand.

Vorneh shook the hand, "And how goes your recovery?"

"I had total recall for about a week. I'm back to normal now. No lasting effects." Jacobs said.

Vorneh visibly relaxed. "Praise God on that! We were praying for you."

Jackson turned and blinked. "You know about God?"

Kor turned and said, "Yes. Do you know about the Lord Jesus?"

Jackson reflexively said, "Yes, but how?"

Kang said, "There is much to fellowship over at the Luau. Tell me Jacobs, what is 'Luau'."

Jacobs turned and led them through the jungle. "It is a celebration in an ancient culture on Earth. There is more to this than food. It is entertainment and fellowship as well." It was only a short walk before they got to the beach. "We have about an hour before sundown. The festivities will commence soon."

The group looked at the setup. There were tables of food, other tables arranged roughly in a circle for people to sit down and eat, tiki torches everywhere, and a large tent sitting on an even larger tarp. Lopaka said, "Come and sit down. Get to know one another."

Jackson asked, "What is in the tent?"

Lopaka said, "A surprise."

Everyone sat down at the tables, and Octavian came forward and said loudly, "Let us pray. Dear Lord God, our Heavenly Father, thank you for this time for us to gather. Thank you for bringing everyone who is here. We ask you to watch over and bless those that couldn't be here for whatever reason. We ask for your blessings on the food, and over the festivities of tonight. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Lopaka and the servers started guiding the guests toward the serving tables. The Klingons were sniffing out the food. Kang said to Jacobs, "This doesn't smell like typical human food. Human food is usually bland."

"The Hawaiian food is known for its flavorful variety. Lopaka has also intensified some of the tastes with spices from other areas. We know that Klingons like food tasteful. Lopaka, maybe you should…."

Lopaka nodded and smiled, "In honor of our Klingon Guests, we have a special menu item. Inside the tent we have Gagh. We managed to get some Torgud, Filden, and Wistan Gagh."

Brilk, Kang's tactical officer asked, "What of Bithool Gagh?" Kang scowled at Brilk for the bad manners.

Lopaka said, "Bithool Gagh is illegal to serve over unprepared ground. The other Gagh must be eaten in the tent for fear that anything dropped will dig into the soil and live."

Jackson said, "The Gagh is live?"

Kor said smiling, "Gagh is best served live."

Kang added, "Thank you Lopaka, I'm sure it will be delicious."

Adama made his way over to the Gagh tent. Jacobs asked, "Admiral, are you sure?"

Adama gave a short smile. "We can't have the Klingons going back and saying that we humans don't have the stomach. I've done this before." Jacobs and Jackson shared a look of surprise. The old man still had surprises.

The live entertainment went on for a while, everyone was truly enjoying themselves. After the entertainment was done, it was just time to continue feasting and fellowshipping. Kang looked to Jacobs, "This is well done. I'm glad you had some Klingon delicacies."

"Lopaka somehow found a menu and tried to make something nice for you."

"He did."

Jacobs explained. "I wanted to return the honor you paid me over Maghreb."

Jackson asked, "You went over Kang's ship after I left?"

Kang nodded, "Yes, but he first had to earn it."

"How?"

"He jumped off a building to save my wife." Kang said, eating a large piece of pork.

Jackson saw that Kang was serious. He turned to Jacobs. "Really?"

Adama leaned over and mentioned, "How else do you think you get to be an official friend-of-the-family to a Dahar Master?"

Jackson was bewildered. "Josh, you've been holding back."

Jacobs shrugged, "Not entirely. It hasn't come up in conversation."

"Ok, well tell me how you guys know Jesus."

Kor started, "It starts we me capturing Jacobs." Kor told the whole tale. Jacobs was embarrassed because Klingons do tend to embellish somewhat.

Jackson was dumbfounded. "And from you, Vorneh, to Kang…"

Octavian said, "Hank, don't you see? In the Bible it says when a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. That's true in your case too."

Jackson thought a minute. "You're right. When I first met Josh, I wanted to destroy him."

Kang asked, "Why?"

"Well, can I say why Admiral?" Adama nodded while chomping on a melon. "An Admiral, Clayborne, wanted Josh humiliated. I didn't like Josh much because I thought he didn't help a classmate of mine out when he should have." All heads turned to Jacobs. "Wait, when I got the whole story, the old classmate of mine was being a whiny brat, Josh had bigger concerns. I would have done the same thing."

Jackson continued to finish telling his story which led into the meeting with Kang. Kang finished some lung of targ, who knows how Lopaka found that, and observed. "Jacobs, your life has touched many since you started on your voyage. Is everyone around this table a believer?"

All nodded. Kang asked, "Admiral Adama, were you ever against Jacobs?"

Adama shook his head, "No. I saw right away he was going to be one of my best Captains."

"But you weren't a believer when you first met him."

"No, I wasn't. That came later."

"Because of him?"

Adama nodded. He didn't want to reveal using the Bible as code to get around a breach in Starfleet codes. "I was given a Bible and started reading it. It had a profound effect on me."

Kang looked at Jacobs, "You should be honored, your life changed these people."

Jacobs shook his head, "No, God changed these people. I was just an instrument."

That started a debate. Octavian finally said. "Everybody, this is a matter that has been debated for generations. I think we can all say that it is obvious that God has used Josh this past year in everyone's lives."

Kor nodded, "What of the future?"

Jacobs said, "Our immediate future is to escort you to Earth."

Kang asked, "What then when you are there?"

Adama said, "We have a hearing in our government. We have some explaining to do."

Kang asked, "Over the recent battle?"

Adama nodded, "Yes."

Kang looked in the fire and thought a bit. "It's Senator Jameson, isn't it."

Adama looked at Kang. "How did you know?"

Kang mentioned, "I watched the hearings on the commissioning of the Wisconsin. Mara and I dug into Jacobs' past to learn what kind of man he is." After contemplating a bit, "Senator Jameson is not to be trusted. He has a further agenda behind just 'finding out'."

Adama nodded, "We realize that. We will be careful."

Kang looked at Jacobs, "Not all battles are on the battlefield."

Jacobs nodded understanding. "But I can't carry a sword into the hearing chamber."

Kor observed, "Too bad, you could learn a thing or two from us Klingons."

BRIDGE

USS WISCONSIN

IN ORBIT AROUND STARBASE 5

Leonaidas said, "All stations report ready."

Besides the normal crew, Kang, Kor, Adama, and Jackson were also on the bridge. Jacobs said, "Ahead warp 3. Gentlemen, we will rendezvous with the Excalibur and Klolode in twenty minutes."

Kang said. "The damage to your ship was extensive."

"Yes, but commander Santini's crew did a great job fixing it."

Kang continued, "You still have one warp nacelle inoperative."

Jacobs nodded. "Yes, it will slow us down, it will take an extra three days to get to Earth. Starfleet Command wants to study the effects from the Kah'less on our nacelle."

Kang nodded. "As we would do. We ourselves do not know the full extent of that weapon's potential."

Jacobs raised an eyebrow. "I suspected. I also imagine you will be doing extensive scans of that nacelle from your ship."

Kang smirked, "Of course."

Carter turned and said, "Approaching Alpha sir."

"Slow to impulse. Gentlemen, let us know when you are ready for warp speed."

The extras left the bridge. Leonaidas asked, "Is Kang spying on us?"

"Yes and No. He is still a Klingon officer and a good one. So, he will try to get whatever data he can on us. Once all the Klingons are off the ship, you can start your security sweep." Jacobs said.

"Would he put a bug on us somewhere?"

Jacobs thought a little bit. "Only if ordered. I trust Kang. I don't trust his leadership."

KLINGON EMBASSY

PARIS, EARTH

Gorkon tapped the message button. "AMBASSADOR GORKON, THIS IS KANG. WE ARE NOW ENROUTE TO EARTH AND ARE DOING SCANS OF THE DAMAGED WARP NACELLE ON THE WISCONSIN. THAT DATA WILL MOST EFFECIENTLY BE TRANSFERRED VIA DATACHIP WHEN WE ARRIVE. WE ALSO HAVE DONE A COMPLETE SURVEY OF THE DAMAGE TO BOTH THE WISCONSIN AND EXCALIBUR AND FIND IT CONSISTANT WITH EARLIER SCANS FROM THE ONE SURVIVING SHIP FROM THE BATTLE.

"I DETECT NO DECIEPT FROM STARFLEET. MY FIRST IMPRESSION OF ADMIRAL ADAMA IS THAT HE IS QUIET, RESERVED, AND VERY WISE. RESEARCHING WHAT WE HAVE ON FILE OF HIM FINDS IT CONSISTANT WITH WHAT WE OBSERVED. THEY ARE PRESENTLY COMING TO EARTH FOR ADVANCED REPAIRS AND ALSO FOR A HEARING OF SOME SORT REVIEWING THEIR CONDUCT IN THE BATTLE.

"I FIND THEM TO BE HONORABLE OFFICERS. AS YOU WELL KNOW JACOBS IS MY JUP-QORDU. HIS CONTEMPORARIES ARE EQUAL IN HONOR. IT WAS INTERESTING THAT DURING THE FEAST ON THE ISLAND, I MET A GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT HE HAS HAD A PROFOUND INFLUENCE ON.

"IN SHORT, I TRUST THESE PEOPLE, I DON'T TRUST THEIR LEADERSHIP."

Gorkon leaned back in his chair. That says it all, doesn't it? He imagined the same could be said about Klingons. For all the bravado of Klingon Honor, he knew that his people did not have it. No one trusted them. That had to change. That was the reason why he was pursuing the Chancellorship.

Rorg walked in with a pad. "I've gone over the data from Kang."

"What did you find?"

"A few things. First, the damage from the weapon fired on the Wisconsin was extensive. Kang got some good scans before they went to warp- clear, non-distorted scans of both nacelles. We had up close scans of the new nacelles from other close encounters. The damage done to this one is amazing in that the ship did not blow up."

"From feedback in the warp plasma?" Gorkon guessed.

"Not really, their safety systems are extensive and would have prevented that. I am talking about the weapon's effect on matter. Even the vacuum of space has dust, free hydrogen, and various other debris. The beam will cause those to explode as well. The beam was only close to the Wisconsin, it never touched it. What we see is from a handful of random particles interacting with the beam in close proximity to the Wisconsin."

"They didn't graze it?" Gorkon asked.

"No sir, the damage was only from nearby matter being converted to energy."

Gorkon thought a bit. "It is useless to us to assess the weapon; it is still in a decaying orbit around that gas giant. It is far beyond our capability of retrieving. What does the extent of damage tell us about these new classes of ships?"

Torg said, "Ambassador, I can't assess the damage from the weapon accurately enough, but the damage that was recorded from disruptor hits and photon torpedoes tell a great deal. First, these new shields are going to be a problem for us. The shields dissipate energy far quicker than their old shields. The metal is a new alloy composite mix. It is stronger, lighter, and appears to not be as affected by warp field degradation as their old materials."

"What about compared to ours?"

Torg said, "I'm not an expert, but talking with Kang's science officer he thinks it's getting comparable to ours. It may even last a century."

Gorkon nodded, "Encode the data and send it back to the homeworld. Now, what do you think about Kang appearing before Senator Jameson's Committee?"

Torg said, "I ran it past some of the other intelligence operatives. In the short term, they think that it will be good. Senator Jameson has given us the opportunity of showing the Federation that we aren't savages that they stereotype us as. Also, Kang is a good representative because he thinks before he speaks, and rarely uses the bravado we are associated as having. Short term, downstairs thinks this is a great PR opportunity we could not have possibly arranged."

"Long term?" Gorkon asked.

"This could possibly help Jameson in his election bid. He could be seen as understanding us or even favorable. Downstairs is evenly split on this. Some think that if he ascends to the Presidency, he will be as treacherous with us as with his own people."

Gorkon smiled. Torg asked. "What do you think?"

"In the intelligence business, it is important to remember our mission. What is our mission here?"

"To strengthen the Empire and Weaken the Federation."

Gorkon walked over to the wall map that showed known Klingon space. Gorkon changed the map around to show the entire portion of known space. "Our sole job is to strengthen the Empire. You got to think as the humans say 'big picture'. To one side we have the Federation, Romulans, Orions, and other smaller powers. To the other side we have the Cardassians. Right now, we are at war with the Cardassians…. A war that does not go well. Strained relations with the Romulans, constantly fighting Orion criminal activity in our space, and other smaller powers that are not friendly with us. Add to that list we are in a cease fire with the biggest power this side of the Cardassians."

Gorkon looked at the map. "The High Council and Chancellor Bogkor squandered a chance. The Federation responds to friendly overtures. Look at Jacobs' actions with Kang and for that matter Kor. We need to foster relations with that faction in the Federation…"

Torg exclaimed, "Improve relations? We need to defeat them!"

Gorkon calmly said, "We have a long memory of the Hur'q. They occupied us and dominated us for so long that Klingons now have a xenophobia of any race. We had to fight our way to freedom from the Hur'q. That unified us. Then we had to make sure that never happened again. Any aliens we came across we conquered without question. Our mentality for nearly the last thousand years viewed any alien was to be conquered or scared off. It is beyond our ability to even think of being cooperative to an alien."

Torg nodded, "You've said this before. But how does this help us?"

"The Klingon Empire strength is spread out too much. It would help if we can make it to where we don't have to worry about somebody." The Ambassador said.

"Like the Federation?"

Gorkon nodded. "Like the Federation. What if we can make it to where we are not adversaries? Then we don't worry about them attacking us. That would make us stronger against the Cardassians without even having to build any more ships."

"Your opposition to the action against the Federation."

"Exactly."

Torg looked at the map. "Your plan with the Federation?"

"Is a long-term plan. But it starts now. We need to choose factions in the Federation. What if we don't just simply make the Federation weak? What if we try to not only restore honor to the Klingon Empire but to the Federation as well?"

"But Starfleet hates us!" Torg said. "At least Jameson's political allies have always favored us."

Gorkon nodded. "Yes, to the latter. To the former maybe. What is your opinion of Starfleet officers we have battled against?"

Torf asked, "Personally?"

"Yes, and others you have read about?"

"Kirk, Pike, extremely honorable, and cunning. Adama honorable and tough. Garth a genius, at least before he went crazy. Nogura was a genius to the point of he had to see in the future…."

Gorkon noted the honorific Dahar Master use. "All good names. Did any of them hate us?"

Torf thought a bit. "I can't think of any one hating us. They fought well, but not with hate. I don't know why I thought of that before."

Gorkon speculated, "Klingons are distrusting. Too many times we fight out of hate. It is the bloodlust in us."

Torf's eyes clicked. "You are saying if the honorable parts in Starfleet…"

"And the Federation Government…" Gorkon added.

"Can be strengthened, that would help us out. The names I listed… Add to that Jacobs. And possibly Captain Jackson."

Gorkon said, "I think Kang testifying would be great for us. Jameson will not get what he wants. Kang is a Dahar Master. Add to that, he is one of the best Dahars. He is perfect to show the Federation the best of Klingon honor. And he will speak well of Jacobs."

"And Senator Jameson's attempted leverage?"

Gorkon said. "We will prepare Kang with our theory that Jameson is going to try to manipulate him."

ELI GOLD'S OFFICE

PARIS, EARTH

It was humorous in a way. Senator Jameson's request aligned with what he wanted to do. He had the work Jameson wanted done in five minutes, but now was going over all his files separating them and organizing them by event and classification. Jameson gave him the idea on how to do more further organization. So many events that were open to the public had a classified background. The public was swayed one way or another because of misdirection or innuendo when there was a whole other story to be told.

A great example is this file PEANUTBUTTER. Jameson had the President classify the first known case of where the Organians did not intervene in hostilities between the Federation and Klingons. Jameson plans to use innuendo, which he does very well, to make Kang think that Jacobs killed his son. He will probably tie in dishonor or something like that too. So in this event, there is what is publicly said, and what has been classified.

And the list goes on, and on, and on. Gold worked on it for most of the day. He really had no idea that what he had participated in was this extensive. He helped ruin so many lives. The regret Gold felt was intense. And the shame. That was something new, he never was ashamed for what he had done in the past, but now he saw that it was wrong.

He started thinking about his past. He had done what he thought was ok, was just necessary to further an agenda, but now he saw that so much of his life was spent in doing wrong, sinning against his fellow man. Where had that come from?

Then he thought about Starbase 5 and the time there. Gold's original task there was to stop the corporations that had been giving kickbacks to Jameson to get lucrative contracts with Starfleet. In the urgency of the buildup before the Klingon attack, Starfleet had terminated contracts because of proven fraud. He had been out there to at best reestablish the contracts, at worst to smooth things over with the local judges. Gold had hit a wall he never had before seen. He was so cut out of the process that when it came time for him to leave, he could not. And Jameson did not even send any help to get him off the world. Gold felt and was abandoned.

And in the total helplessness, there was kindness and charity. From somebody he never would have thought of. Samuel Cogley. The very man that led the charge to get rid of corruption at Starbase 5 now extended charity to Gold. And Gold did nothing to deserve it, or earn it. There was something else to that part of his life, something that sounded remotely familiar.

There was a common theme here as he looked at past. He was so undeserving of charity, but charity he got. He received it from the people he tried to hurt. And the people he tried to help abandoned him. What does that say of the character of the people? He grew to admire and like the people from Starbase 5. Cogley treated him like a friend. Even though they were opponents.

Reluctant opponents. Cogley was very able at protecting Captain Jacobs from the committee. Gold had spent many years working for Jameson, and now all the enthusiasm in what he did was gone, replaced by regret. If he could only undo all this, be free from the stain on his life. Be free from the chains of the past. Yes, chains. He felt like he was chained to Jameson and wished he could break free, but that would never happen.

Gold just kept working on organizing the files. He wasn't sure why he was doing it. It benefited him in no way whatsoever. The work showed him just how much he was chained to Jameson.