Chapter Text

The Romulan Affair

May 2369

“We have a situation in the Beacon. You better get up here.”

The message had been short and as he would soon find out utterly insufficient to prepare him for what he would find at Deep Space Two’s most popular establishment.

It was 0432 when he received the call. Lieutenant So’Dan Leva approached the Beacon no fifteen minutes later and despite the early hour a large group of people had already assembled in front of the bar which was being carefully guarded by a handful of his security officers.

The bad feeling the half-Romulan security chief was beginning to sense turned worse when he entered and found both members of the Klingon as well as the Romulan delegation present. They were being kept at opposite ends of the establishment and additional members of the security detail were trying to keep them isolated.

Members of the Federation delegation were also present. Although none of them were Starfleet, he did spot the station’s first officer, Commander Tristan Rivers, talking to an agitated senior member of the delegation.

“I’m not going to like this, am I?” he said as one of his most trusted officers approached him.

Lieutenant Nora Laas shook her head. “This one is bad,” she said and handed him a cup of dark, extra-strong Columbian coffee. She knew that he detested raktajino, the Klingon coffee that enjoyed wide popularity across the Federation.

Laas and So’Dan were more than colleagues, they were friends and had been almost since they had first met two years earlier. It was perhaps their complicated backgrounds that had made them become friends so easily. While Laas was a refugee from a war-torn Bajor, Leva had spent most of his early life on a Romulan border colony and later on Earth. Due to his unusual heritage, he had never felt at home in either place.

So’Dan took the brew and sipped on it while following his Bajoran deputy to a small adjacent chamber. The room offered patrons of the Beacon the opportunity to hold meetings in private to discuss sensitive matters. It held little more than a table and two rows of seats.

It was currently unoccupied save for the body of a male Ferengi sprawled out across the table. His chest was lined with half a dozen stab wounds, soaking him in his own blood, which was now dripping onto the table and floor.

He stopped sipping his coffee. He had seen corpses before but rarely one so viciously slain. He rounded the room, careful not to step into the puddle of blood, and looked at the Ferengi’s blank face. “He looks familiar.”

“His name is Touk. We picked him up once or twice before. He calls himself, well, called himself, an information trader.”

He looked up. “Hustler would be more appropriate.”

She nodded. “He’s well known in this sector for providing information on extremely questionable terms. The bad news here is that we’ve got a murder case on our hands,” she said. It was only the third such case in the last two years on the space station. Homicides were relatively uncommon within the Federation but in places like Deep Space Two, located in the outer fringes of Federation-controlled territory and accessible to all who wished to come here, crimes such as this one were sadly still occurring at irregular intervals.

“The worse news,” she continued.

“Is that it happened right in the middle of a tri-lateral diplomatic summit between the Federation, the Klingon, and the Romulan Star Empire,” he said finishing her sentence. “I told Rivers that it was a bad idea to allow the delegates to mingle in public areas,” he said and joined her as they left the chamber. “What exactly do we know?”

“After finishing their talks for the day, several delegates made their way down here for what I assume was supposed to be some late-night socializing.”

He uttered a sarcastic laugh. “Klingons and Romulans? Socializing?”

“Apparently, there was some sort of argument and when we got here, we found Touk dead in that chamber. I guess it is safe to assume that he possessed information that rubbed somebody the wrong way.”

He eyed both the Klingon and the Romulan delegation while she spoke. The Romulans were not even attempting to make eye contact with him but he noticed the piercing stare from a member of the Klingon camp. “Let me guess, nobody has talked.”

“Oh, they’re talking all right,” she said. “Especially the Klingons. It’s just that they’re not saying anything useful.”

A tall, long-haired Klingon who had kept his eyes on So’Dan ever since he had arrived broke rank and headed straight for the two security officers. “What is this? Who are you?”

He had anticipated the move and quickly braced himself for the confrontation.

“This is Lieutenant Leva, chief of security,” Laas said as she tried to intercept the huge Klingon. “Please stay back, we will talk to your delegation shortly.”

But the man was not to be stopped and easily side-stepped the much shorter woman. “A Romulan to lead this investigation? This is outrageous, I demand that he be removed.”

“Your grievances will be taken under consideration,” So’Dan said and turned away to place his coffee mug on the bar counter.

“Nobody turns their back on K’Togh, Son of Dolok,” he shouted, drew his dagger in a flash, and moved within striking distance.

So’Dan had been waiting for this. He still held his coffee mug in his right hand and now brought it back around in a swift motion. The mug smashed hard against the Klingon’s dagger-wielding hand and broke to pieces, soaking it with the hot dark liquid.

K’Togh dropped his razor-sharp d'k-tahg but before he could even attend to his injured hand, So’Dan grabbed his wrist, twisted his arm around his back, and pushed the taller Klingon face-first into the bar counter. “Don’t ever threaten me again.”

“You’ll pay for this,” K’Togh spat.

“And you might want to reconsider your attitude unless you wish to get more familiar with our holding cells.”

“So,” Laas said and stepped behind him.

He added a little bit more pressure to the Klingon’s arm before stepping back and letting him go.

The Klingon wasted no time. His honor had been attacked and he required swift retribution. With or without a weapon he was going to charge the security chief again.

“Mister K’Togh.”

Upon hearing the voice, the Klingon stopped in his tracks, apparently deciding to limit his rage to a murderous stare to make his thoughts undeniably clear.

It was Commander Rivers who had called out for the Klingon. The Starfleet officer swiftly stepped next to the warrior. “Please return to your delegation, I will handle this.”

The Klingon spat at So’Dan’s feet and without another word picked up his weapon and returned to his comrades.

The station’s first officer quickly joined So’Dan by the counter. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Lieutenant? As if these diplomatic talks weren’t already rocky enough, this incident was the last thing we needed. This whole thing needs to be treated sensitively, and I don’t need somebody like you adding fuel to an already blazing fire.”

“With all due respect, sir,” Laas said. “Mister K’Togh made the first move.”

But the first officer completely ignored the young junior lieutenant. “Mister K’Togh has a valid point. There is a very good reason why we have kept you out of sight over the last few days,” he said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Starfleet isn’t even supposed to be directly involved in these talks, so I can’t have a Romulan Starfleet security officer anywhere near this. I’ve already requested for a special investigator to head this case and they should be here within three days.”

So’Dan just stood there, his eyes focused on K’Togh who had now rejoined his kinsmen.

“For heaven’s sake, just keep a low profile and maybe we’ll get through this.”

“Sir,” an excited ensign was making his way across the bar and toward Laas. He held a tricorder grasped in his hand.

All three officers turned to face the man.

“Calm down, Ensign,” she said. “What do you have?”

The ensign took a few breaths before speaking. “I finished scanning the victim for DNA as you requested. I also did a scan of everybody currently present in the Beacon.”

“Speak, man,” Rivers said with losing patience. “What did you find?”

“One of the DNA signatures was a match,” he said and turned to the Romulan delegation. He pointed at a young Romulan man who was now flanked by security officers. “Mister Ruwen. I found his DNA traces on the victim’s body. It’s a near-perfect match.”

“Excellent,” Rivers said quickly. “Perhaps we’ll solve this case before the investigator even gets here. Put the man in a brig and have his quarters searched.”

“He is a diplomat, sir,” said Laas. “Don’t you think we’ll need a bit more than a preliminary DNA residue match?”

The first officer shook his head. “It’s enough to hold him for now. We won’t charge him with anything just yet and if we don’t find anything else that incriminates him, we can let him go. But I’m not willing to let a potential murderer roam around the station,” he said and turned back to So’Dan. “But I don’t want you anywhere near this. Don’t worry, we’ll keep you updated.” Rivers turned on his heel to approach the Klingon delegation, no doubt trying to smooth things over with K’Togh.

“What is his problem?” she said as she watched him leave.

“The man doesn’t trust me. Never has,” So’Dan said. It was nothing new to him. He had met many people like Tristan Rivers in his career. Few were willing to trust a man who had the blood of the infamously deceptive Romulans pumping through his veins.

She looked at him. “What do you want me to do?”

“Follow his orders. It doesn’t help anyone if we’re both suspended from this case. I’ll be in my office,” he said and without wasting another thought left the Beacon, leaving Laas behind to deal with Ruwen’s arrest.

*        *        *

“We’ve found a ceremonial Romulan dagger in Ruwen’s quarters. Preliminary scans confirm Ferengi DNA residue on the blade. I have no idea how he managed to get it onto the station.”

“The Klingons are allowed to bring some bladed weapons on board for cultural reasons,” he said in response to Laas’s report. The tone in his voice did little to hide his displeasure over that particular policy. So’Dan sat in his chair behind his desk, neither looking directly at his Bajoran deputy nor at his immediate superior who was also present.

Commander Rivers paid no attention to the observation. “I guess that wraps it up then. Ruwen killed Touk. The Romulans are not going to like it but that’s tough. He killed a man on a Federation starbase and he’ll have to stand trial for that.”

Laas, who certainly couldn’t claim to be an expert on homicide investigations, clearly knew enough to know that something was missing. “What about motive?”

“We can safely assume that Touk tried to make a profit from the talks. And he was certainly not above extorting delegates and threatening to disclose sensitive information if they didn’t meet his demands. He must have had something on Ruwen or the Romulan delegation. Something worth killing him for.”

She didn’t look convinced but she couldn’t offer a better explanation either.

“I don’t think we should close the book on this so soon,” So’Dan said.

Rivers pierced him with a glare. “Oh really? Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

He stood. “If there is a problem, Commander, I’d rather have it out in the open.”

Rivers took a step toward So’Dan. “Don’t get me wrong, Lieutenant you’re a good officer—“

“But,” he said, interrupting the other man with a disingenuous smile, “you don’t entirely trust me because my mother happened to be Romulan.”

Rivers looked taken aback by the accusation. “Don’t be ridiculous. This has nothing to do with that. But as you could see for yourself, your presence is causing anxiety among the delegates on all sides.”

He shrugged off the comment, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction. “In any case, I have since spoken to Ruwen—“

“I gave you explicit instructions not to involve yourself in this investigation,” said Rivers, exploding with anger.

So’Dan decided to ignore the outburst. “He seemed to be quite comfortable talking to me and I believe him when he said that he had nothing to do with this.”

Rivers laughed. But there was nothing joyful about it. “Do you believe that you have some form of special bond with him because you’re both Romulan? That is truly delightful. Tell me, Lieutenant, do you make it a special point to believe every word coming out of a murder suspect’s mouth?”

“No,” he said, unruffled. “But I was quite interested in hearing his side of the story. He claims to have been framed and that he knows exactly by whom. He knows the identity of the true killer.”

“Of course, he does.”

“At the very least we should look into his claim,” Laas said.

Rivers whipped around to give the Bajoran an incredulous look which caused her to reconsider her next words. He turned back to Leva. “Who does he say did it?”

“He wouldn’t tell me,” Leva said and took his chair once more. “He wanted certain assurances first.”

“How convenient. I’m not willing to play games with this man, Lieutenant. I don’t want you anywhere near the prisoner again,” he said and looked at Laas. “That goes for you, too. I’ll arrange transport to a more secure facility as soon as possible. As far as you are concerned, you’re done.” Rivers gave So’Dan one last, insistent glare, underlining the seriousness of his statement, before retreating from the office as if it were enemy territory.

Laas turned to So’Dan as soon as the doors had closed behind Rivers. “You didn’t tell me that you’d talked to Ruwen.”

“I didn’t.”

She looked perplexed.

“I tried to but he didn’t say a single word to me,” he said and leaned back in his chair. He didn’t add that he hadn’t tried very hard either. Striking up a conversation with a Romulan was something that didn’t come naturally to him. The idea alone made him slightly uncomfortable.

Laas considered him suspiciously. “What are you playing at here, So?”

The sinister smile that crept onto his face would have made any full-blooded Romulan proud.

*        *        *

There was of course no night in space.

But Deep Space Two just like most other Starfleet ships and installations observed a twenty-four-hour day and during the later hours, light levels were dimmed to create the illusion of nighttime.

This was also true for the holding cells that were currently occupied by only one prisoner. The Romulan was fast asleep on his simple cot and did not notice that an unannounced visitor had entered the facility. Even if he had been awake, he would have been hard-pressed to make out any features on the dark-clad man. He knew how to stay in the shadows and expertly approached the cell without making a sound.

He stepped up to the impenetrable energy barrier that kept the prisoner locked in his cell and entered a few commands into the control panel beside it. The force field dropped with a gentle whirl.

The stranger carefully stepped into the cell and approached the sleeping Romulan. He reached into a pouch inside his pant leg and removed a small hypo-spray. He made sure the settings were correct before he reached out for his victim’s neck.

“Poison?” the Romulan asked.

The stranger froze.

“Not the most honorable way to kill an enemy.”

Before the black-clad assassin could react, the man on the cot made his move. Viciously kicking his feet into the side of his attacker’s knee, the stranger immediately stumbled backward from the blow.

The prisoner jumped out of his cot and brought up a high-powered flashlight he had been concealing under his body. He activated the palm-sized device, pointing it straight into his would-be assassin’s face.

Blinded by the bright beam, the attacker stumbled back and fell against the bulkhead.

So’Dan Leva was not yet satisfied. He gripped the flashlight tightly in his hand and delivered a powerful blow against the other man’s head, causing him to lose all remaining balance and drop to the floor.

So’Dan shined his light back onto his defeated opponent identifying him for the first time. Then he squatted down next to the defeated Klingon warrior and took the hypo-spray. “What is this?” he said with barely concealed fury as he held up the injector.

K’Togh looked at him through dazed eyes, a feral grin his only response.

“Some form of poison? Something untraceable, no doubt,” So’Dan said, his eyes sparkling with fiery apathy. “You’re nothing but a coward,” he spat and moved the hypo closer to K’Togh’s neck. “How would you like a taste of your own medicine?”

So’Dan had underestimated the Klingon’s resolve. With surprising agility, the warrior launched himself at the security officer, pushing him back and onto his back. K’Toghhands raced for So’Dan’s throat and his grip quickly tightened. “I do prefer it this way,” the Klingon said with a widening smile. “Even if you are not worth such an honorable death.”

So’Dan gasped for air that was not making it to his lungs. His eyes locked with K’Togh’s and he recognized the maddening pleasure the man took from taking a life.

Almost too late did he realize that the hypo was still in his hand. K’Toghspotted his intent and quickly disposed of the poisoned injector. But in doing so he had to take his hands off So’Dan’s throat.

Recognizing his chance, he brought up his knee and buried it deep in the Klingon’s groin. K’Toghwent limp and So’Dan pushed himself away to get a chance to catch his breath.

But once again K’Togh recovered quicker than he had anticipated. “I think I’m going to enjoy ripping out your entrails and stuffing them back down your throat, petaQ,” he growled as he got back onto one knee. He turned to search for his opponent in the dark cell but instead found something else. A phaser rifle. And he was looking straight down its barrel.

“Think again.”

Nora Laas held her weapon firmly, keeping it trained at the Klingon, with the emitter nearly touching his face. “So, are you all right?” she said, never taking her eyes off K’Togh.

So’Dan struggled back onto his feet. Moments later the light in the holding cell came back and he saw three more armed guards who had accompanied Laas and who were now quickly moving in to secure the Klingon.

“Just get him out of my sight.”

Laas nodded to the guards who grabbed the Klingon and dragged him out of the cell to find him another yet fairly similar accommodation.

May I ask what exactly prompted you to attempt this insane little operation all on your own?” she said.

But So’Dan simply shrugged off the comment.

She decided to let it go. “K’Toghis our man then. How did you know? And how did he get in here undetected?”

“It’s a theory,” he said slowly as he began to massage his bruised neck. “But you’re not going to like it.”

“Try me.”

“Relations between the Star Empire and the Klingons have been severely deteriorating since their involvement in the Klingon Civil War last year. I believe certain individuals, even some on our side, do not want those hostilities to be overcome.”

“I can see the Klingons holding a grudge but Starfleet officers and Federation officials?” she said. “That’s difficult to fathom.”

“But not without precedent. Same thing happened at the Khitomer Conference.”

“Khitomer,” she said with surprise. “I’m not a great student of history but that must have been over a century ago.”

He nodded. “History tends to repeat itself.”

 “I imagine Touk got hold of information about the conspiracy and tried to blackmail members of the Klingon and Federation delegation. That is the only way I can explain Commander Rivers’ involvement.”

She gave her friend a look of utter disbelief. She quickly looked around to make sure nobody was in earshot before she moved in closer. “You think Rivers is in on this?” she said in a hushed tone.

“How else do you explain how easy K’Toghgot access to the brig? I didn’t tell anybody else about Ruwen’s alleged knowledge of Touk’s true killer. And I think it should be quite obvious that the man detests Romulans.”

Laas didn’t seem all that convinced.

“Didn’t you notice how K’Togh reacted to Rivers at the Beacon last night? Almost as if the two of them had an understanding. He isn’t even part of the talks, when did they get a chance to create a rapport?”

“That’s a lot of conjecture. And even if what you’re saying is true, this will be nearly impossible to prove.”

So’Dan shrugged “I don’t have to prove anything,” he said and headed for the exit. “I’m a security officer, I’m not here to expose conspiracies. K’Togh is in custody for attempted murder. It won’t be that difficult to connect him to Touk as well. I’ll make sure he’ll pay for what he’s done.”

She still seemed to have difficulties getting her head around what he had revealed. “So?”

He turned to her before he had reached the threshold of the cell.

“Where’s Ruwen?”

“I released him.”

She stepped closer. “You did that before you had any evidence whatsoever that would exonerate him? You’ve accused Rivers of being prejudiced against Romulans, but aren’t you worried that you’re letting your own emotions dictate your actions as well?”

So’Dan’s only answer was countering her insistent glance.

“For all we know he might have had a part to play in this as well,” she said.

His features hardened. “I got my man, Laas. Case closed.”