Episode 5: E Causa Ignota

Valley of Chula, Romulus

Centurion Turius, once known as V'Nur of Vulcan approached the hideout carefully. After all, one could never know if the Tal'Shiar had noticed his excursion into enemy space. The fake life-sign emitter implemented into a small robot, which somewhat realistically moved between the fire place and the cave should have been enough to convince them he had never left his self-chosen place of exile, but if that had been enough remained to be seen.

The smell of a Set'leth roasting over the fire caressed his nostrils and he remembered just how hungry he was. Since it was unlikely that the Praetor had prepared a feast for him, it could only mean that Decurion Tavrus had arrived, no doubt with news about the Praetor's newest folly. It seemed to become a good day.

He carefully sneaked up to the solitary figure tending to the roasting beast and carefully put the blade of his dagger to his throat.

"Still able to sneak up on the enemy like a true warrior," the younger man noted calmly and Turius sheathed the dagger with a satisfied smile.

"It is good to see you, Tavrus, even more so since you did not come empty-handed."

"I suspected that you would be hungry after the long journey."

"So they noticed I have been away?" Turius asked, as he sat down with a sigh.

"Doubtful," his companion noted. "The Tal'Shiar has all but lost interest in you. They regularly scan for your life-sign, but that is the extent of their surveillance. When it stops moving they will move in to bury you. That is as far as their interest in you goes."

"But you noticed."

"The programming on your little decoy was not precise," Tavrus explained while continuing to season the roast with herbs. "You would never be ten minutes late leaving the cave in the morning, and surely not every day for more than a week. Only someone who has worked with you for years would notice."

"I'm getting old," Turius replied dryly.

"Was your journey successful?" the younger man asked and nodded with satisfaction, seeing that the meat was ready to be eaten.

"It was," Turius answered and gratefully took the meat that his companion had cut off for him. "If all goes well, they are currently beheading the Terra Prime group I have given them data about. I am convinced they will arrange for our passage once they have seen that the information was valid. Unfortunately that will also alert the Tal'Shiar, so our remaining time on this planet is running out fast."

"Do you think they can link us to that?"

"No," Turius explained in between bites. "But they might wish to reactivate us, certainly you, when they lose all their operatives on Terrha at once. Infiltrating the human Starfleet, posing as Vulcans, will be the only avenue left to them."

"I take it you have organized transport?" Tavrus asked.

"An old friend of mine, a freighter captain, is standing by, currently feigning a need for routine maintenance, but he can only keep up the pretense for so long. We must prepare to depart shortly."

"I doubt anyone is paying much attention to a freighter captain right now," Tavrus replied and rolled his eyes. "The Praetor has become obsessed with conquering Haakona Prime, as if the two-front battle against the coalition and the Klingons wasn't enough to stretch our forces thin."

"I told them, he was mad as sack full of Tre'shaks back in the day, but nobody was willing to listen." Turius seethed and threw the bone he held into the undergrowth.

-/\=-

Malcolm was stunned. As soon as he and Trip had come back, TPol had grabbed Trip and kissed him forcefully, right in front of them. Then she had dragged him out of the room.

"Bloody hell, what was that?" Malcolm asked.

"That boy better be in peak condition," Hoshi remarked dryly. "She's going to boink his lights out."

"That doesn't quite answer my question, luv," he argued. "I can understand that she was concerned, after all he isn't really supposed to go on such missions, but that was quite a reaction for a Vulcan."

"Half-Romulan," Hoshi reminded him. "So far she believed her passions were a defect, but I think she starts to embrace her Romulan side, at least when she can do so without danger."

"Because we know who she really is?"

Hoshi nodded. "That tel of theirs is a sun where the usual Vulcan bond is a mere spot-light. It wasn't just Trip in mortal danger. She was too."

"Wait," Malcolm said with a gasp. "If Trip would die, she would die... sort of remotely?"

Hoshi nodded again. "She would never survive the severing of a tel that strong, neither would Trip if T'Pol died. Even if Trip lives long enough to die of old age, T'Pol will die at least fifty to seventy years before her time."

"Blimey," Malcom sighed. "That tel doesn't sound like such a good idea if you look at it that way."

"She wouldn't have it any other way," Hoshi said. "I wasn't exaggerating when I told Captain Archer that I simply couldn't find a proper translation for how deeply connected true Ashayam are. It's beyond our understanding."

"Does it have any upsides?" Malcolm asked, letting cold pragmatism prevail over any notions of romance. "I mean, what do they get out of it, other than being a double kill if the enemy manages to shoot just one of them?"

"Normally I would just slap the shit out of you now," Hoshi said and shot him an angry look. "But you can't know it, so let me give it to you in 'spook terms'. At some point, when Trip's brain has adapted to it, they will be able to communicate telepathically. That's handy isn't it? They will also be able to pinpoint each other's location over light years of distance. Handy, right? And if one of them gets injured, provided you can put them into direct contact, they could heal each other better than any equipment or any animal in Phlox's zoo could. That good enough for you?"

Malcolm sighed and sat down.

"I'm sorry, luv. I'm just completely in security officer mode here."

"I know," Hoshi said and leaned over to kiss him. "That's why you don't have my fingerprints on your cheek. I'll give you a pass until this here dirty business is over; we need you in that mind-set right now. But when this is over, I want you to take a few bottles of beer and sit down with Trip. He'll be able to put into male-understandable terms what their relationship means to them."

"I'll do that, luv. Hell I just got permission to get sloshed," he joked lamely.

"You better not try to out-drink Trip," she said with a chuckle. "But while you're at it, you can ask him what I really got my reprimand for at Starfleet Academy. You'll see Trip in a new light, and me for that matter."

"Are you yanking my pizzle, luv?" he asked with a confused look at her. "Why don't you just tell me yourself? What's that sudden mystery about?"

"Because I would get too emotional," Hoshi said. "And I think you'll get a better picture if Trip tells you as a man to a man. Look at it as the Security Officer investigating the background of a crew member."

"This day is definitely weird," Malcom sighed, shaking his head, and started up the console.

"Damn and blast, I was right!" he swore after reading Falkner's message. "Admiral Black was the mole. He's gone missing!"

-/\=-

"How did you get past the security lock, Hoshi?" a visibly disheveled Trip asked. Yep, T'Pol had properly taken him to task, Hoshi thought with amusement.

"Computer code is just another language," she replied with a chuckle.

"So, if I read that correctly, the asshole is in a lake in Virginia? Has he drowned?"

"Unfortunately not, yet..." Hoshi said and called up an image from a surveillance satellite she had tapped into. It showed a little rowing boat with a solitary figure fishing in the lake.

"Guess I'll have to have another go," he sighed. "We'll never get Malcolm to go diving. I'll put a concrete necklace on him."

"You will not," T'Pol said and Trip nearly jumped out of his skin. She had entered without them noticing.

"I will do it. Vulcans have a much higher capacity for retaining oxygen and we need less of it to begin with. I can dive for up to fifteen minutes without needing additional equipment. That way he will not notice my approach. The exhaust air from human diving gear could alert him. Admiral Black is a trained professional, including counter-intelligence measures.

"Yeah, but you've not exactly evolved to feel comfortable in water," Trip reminded her.

"Some of us did." she corrected him. "We don't have extensive oceans, like Earth, in fact our largest sea is no bigger than Earth's Baltic sea, but it exists. All operatives are trained to deal with marine environments. I will take you there when we get to Vulcan the next time. You might find it entertaining. Vulcans don't wear swimsuits when they bathe in the sea."

Hoshi doubled over, laughing hysterically when she saw Trip's stunned look, with his jaw hanging down at his knees. T'Pol had delivered one hell of a zinger. At least among his friends it was the worst kept secret that Trip was a bit of a boob fetishist.

"Hell, you'll definitely have to take me there," she said amid giggles.

The door opened and Malcolm entered. He was momentarily stunned by the merriment before his eyes.

"You guys are in a good mood," he noticed dryly.

"Trip will explain when this is over," Hoshi said, still amused. "While you got rid of your disguise, we've found a way to deal with Admiral Black."

"Do tell," Malcolm said.

"He's in Virginia," Hoshi explained and put up the satellite images on the screen again. "Since he apparently doesn't dare to venture into settled areas, he's fishing to feed himself. We'll put a 'concrete necklace' on him as Trip called it – job done."

Trip could see that Malcolm was taken aback by Hoshi casually describing an assassination mission. Of course, Malcolm couldn't know that Black and Hoshi had a somewhat sordid history. He guided him away from the ladies and whispered to him.

"I'll explain when we're through here. And you don't have to worry. T'Pol will do the diving."

Obviously having picked up on his idea through their connection, T'Pol had engaged Hoshi in discussions about their upcoming mission, so to Malcolm it would look like they had not noticed Trip's clandestine conversation with him.

-/\=-

Hoshi tried desperately no to laugh when she saw Malcolm's cross-eyed look. Right now, she, Trip and Malcolm were lying in the undergrowth with their pulse rifles charged, ready to fire if something unforeseen would happen.

What had made Malcolm lose his professionalism for a moment, was the way T'Pol had started her mission. As she had explained, due to her physiology, she didn't need any equipment, so she hadn't worn any, and Malcolm was currently trying to digest the view of a stark naked Vulcan silently slip into the lake and dive below the water line. Thankfully he quickly regained his wits.

They waited about five minutes and suddenly Black fell forwards off his boat. As planned, T'Pol had just yanked him down by pulling the fishing line from under the water. There wasn't much of a fight. The human just disappeared into the depth, which probably meant she had quickly applied a nerve pinch to incapacitate him.

A further two minutes later, they could see movement among the water lilies, which meant she was currently entangling his legs in the long underwater stems of the plants. For any investigating body it would look like he had fallen into the water and while struggling for air had gotten himself entangled in a bunch of water lily stems.

Everybody breathed a sigh of relief when her head reappeared from under the water. Calmly, T'Pol swam ashore and before she could climb out again, Malcolm hurriedly went to 'check the perimeter'.

"Have I inconvenienced Malcolm?" T'Pol asked as Hoshi helped her to towel herself dry.

"A bit," Hoshi said and giggled. "He wasn't quite prepared for that view. You could give any human girl an inferiority complex."

"I do not understand."

Hoshi heard Trip laugh and then she saw how he closed his eyes and concentrated. Suddenly T'Pol's eyes went wide.

"Okay, you two,"Hoshi said, looking at them while handing T'Pol her clothes. "What did you just just talk about? Can you already communicate through your tel?"

"Trip cannot yet clearly communicate with me, but he can send me images and emotions," T'Pol explained while getting dressed. "If I understood his communication correctly, my breasts appear to be fairly large by human standards and since Vulcan tissue has evolved to withstand higher gravity than that of earth they do not have the shape of similarly sized human mammary features. That might have discombobulated Malcolm."

"That's one way to put it," Hoshi said with a laugh. "And he managed to convey all this just using images?"

They disarmed their rifles and started to walk towards the hover car that was parked several kilometers from the lake.

"There is no scientific way to explain it," T'Pol said. "Trip is not sending a mere slide show to my mind. Those images translate to emotions, even artificial memories. In the same way my emotions translate to images in his mind."

"Wow!" Hoshi said. "That must be an amazing experience."

"If you wish to experience it, you are invited to join us in meditation," T'Pol said. "In fact, it might be helpful if a trusted friend has experienced our tel. Trip and I have decided that, if both of us should be incapacitated, we want you and Malcolm to speak for us."

Hoshi gasped. "That's quite a responsibility."

"That's why we didn't choose just anyone," Trip told her and gently squeezed her hand.

-/\=-

Mayo Lake, Virginia

Authorities found the body of a 55 year old male in the morning hours on Tuesday. According to the coroner's report, the man had gone overboard while fishing and in his struggle to get back into his boat got entangled in in a field of Nymphaea and drowned. An investigation found a nearby cabin belonging to the deceased, which contained large amounts of alcohol, so the authorities assume that alcohol abuse might have been a factor in the accident.

Our sources report that the victim is a high-ranking Starfleet official, although we don't have any information about his identity.

"How the hell did they get Malcolm to dive?" Falkner muttered. "Bloody good job. The water lilies were a nice touch."

-/\=-

"Right," Malcom said the next morning as they reconvened in the bunker below the house of Trip's parents. "I'll do the mission in Russia. I'm supposed to be the spook here and so far I've been a spectator, mostly."

"I would say none of us is too keen to go into Siberia at this time of the year, so be our guest," Trip said. "T'Pol was cold enough after going skinny-dipping in March."

"Any problems?" Malcolm asked her.

"I did experience mild symptoms of hypothermia. Fortunately Trip was more than willing to 'warm me up'," she replied dryly.

Even Malcolm had to snicker about that.

"Okay, Hoshi, did you get the Methanol?" Malcolm asked.

"Here," she said and handed him a metal flask.

"What do you have in mind?" Trip asked. "You gonna spike his drink?"

"According to Falks Terentiev is one hell of a hacker, but pretty much hogwashly bladdered day in and day out. Since he distills his own Vodka, it shouldn't be too difficult to add some spice to his recipe."

"I hope you have some expensive fur ready," Trip said, looking at the screen. "According to Hoshi's scans he is in Oymyakon and they have minus thirty-nine centigrade today."

"On Andoria they call that 'summer'," Malcolm replied dryly. "Hold the fort, and when I give the signal you tell Amanda and her troops to move in and detain the foot soldiers."

"Don't do anything that I would do," Trip replied and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

-/\=-

"The secret is in the spices," Malcolm's voice came over the comms unit.

Trip rushed over to the console and keyed in the comms code of Starfleet security. "Quad bike to Gator. The market has opened, repeat, the market has opened."

"Shopping bags are ready," came Amanda's reply.

-/\=-

San Francisco

Starfleet Security has conducted a successful raid of a recruitment camp during the night of March 26th 2155. The camp in question belonged to the terrorist organization "Terra Prime". Six hundred fifty seven members of the organization were detained, while twenty-eight were killed during an exchange of fire.

The operation, conducted under the command of Sargent Major Amanda Cole is believed to have decapitated the organization. Both the Vulcan and Andorian embassies have congratulated the United Earth government and expressed their satisfaction that the main source of xenophobia on Earth has been swiftly dealt with.

"Just like old times, wouldn't you say?" Falkner said and stopped the news transmission. He put his phase pistol squarely between Harris's eyes. "Now, dipshit, four people pulled off that stunt, and two of them aren't even operatives. Care to explain to me why you couldn't manage?"

Harris looked at him in shock. Falkner had to stop himself from spitting out in disgust. He had basically just walked into Harris's office. The section had become a mere kindergarten.

"Well, since you're a bit tongue-tied, I'll explain it to you," Falkner said. "You and Black were in cahoots. He had the dirt on you, you numbskull. How stupid do you have to be to be caught fucking your secretary? He blackmailed you. He was going to tell your old lady, wasn't he?"

Harris nodded, still looking scared out of his mind.

"Now, any self-respecting man would have celebrated getting rid of that old hag. I've seen horses what look better than that thing you have to make do with at home. But she was billionaire's widow when you married her, so that's what you was after. It was enough for you to fuck that rotten flesh, unless of course you had her sitting naked on the curbstone and waited for cross-pollination. That son of yours came from somewhere."

"Leave my son out of it," Harris demanded lamely.

"I will, don't worry," Falkner spat. "The bastard isn't to blame that his father is a complete and utter shithead. But you will pay. You knew about the hybrid child. You watched as it died, despite the fact you could have done something about it. But that would have meant Black would have snitched on you and you would have lost your ol' loaded lady. You destroyed the lives of Tucker and T'Pol for your own gain. Unlike you, those two are fucking heroes of the Xindi war!"

"What do you want of me?" Harris asked angrily.

"Nothing," Falkner said. He put the gun to Harris's temple and pulled the trigger.

"Just wanted to say my bit," he said to no one as he carefully put the phase pistol into Harris's dead hand.