Chapter Text
Epilogue
Captain's Log
Stardate 55341.45The scouting mission proceeds uneventfully. Gallant has covered approximately twenty percent of the designated scouting grid; fourteen sections completed, with another sixty-six left. We've already transmitted our latest progress report to the task force flagship, USS Galaxy. Admiral Jellico's response is forthcoming.
Lieutenant Commander Carolyn Kircheis, commanding.
Kircheis closed the log entry with a loud sigh. Scouting in advance of a task force had been a major change of pace since working nearly two years in the intelligence section. The excitement of special operations vanished in the Delta Quadrant upon arrival. Admiral Jellico's command took some getting used to, as well. That he proceeded from a very specific plan and would not listen to any discussion otherwise was frustrating even to those who were trained to obey commands.
"Captain, we're coming up on the shift change," Lieutenant Yamamoto whispered from Kircheis' right side. "You wanted to be reminded?"
With no hesitation, Kircheis practically launched herself from the center seat on the bridge and gestured back to it with her open hand. "You have the conn, XO. I'll be in the mess."
Hiroko slid into the chair and gave her a nod. "I have the conn, aye, sir."
Kircheis already closed the hatch behind her, heading for the service stairwell to the second deck. The shift change always tied up the turbolift with everyone moving about the ship, but the stairs were mostly clear of her crew. The din of the mess hall could be heard from beyond the closed hatch and sharply rose when it opened. Officers and enlisted waited patiently in short lines for access to the replicator, conversing as they stood.
On that night, she decided not to be patient. Although she tended to wait with everyone else, Kircheis opted to exploit her position to jump the line and access the replicator ahead of those who arrived before her. She made her order quick and then departed with the tray in hand to her ready room.
Quiet meals alone within her ready room became the norm shortly after the mission began while Hiroko often took alternating shifts to provide adequate command coverage. With Jellico's standing order that a command officer be at the conn at all times, she has lost the close working relationship with her own XO. There were no chats over meals or rundown meetings in her ready room, only the quick shift reports before command change. Added to the seemingly fruitless patrol duty, Kircheis had fallen into a rut that ran all the way down to her monotonous meal choices.
With a sneer at her tray, she pushed away her half-eaten meal and slumped back in her chair. If she was allowing this to affect her morale, she could just imagine what the crew was facing. As she began to think of ways to combat this growing problem, the ship's communications system alerted her to an incoming message from the bridge.
Kircheis stabbed the channel open with a quick point of her finger. "Kircheis here, go ahead."
"Captain," Piggy's voice sounded over the speakers, "we have a data packet from Galaxy , marked for your eyes' only."
Trying to keep the relief at the monotony being broken, she replied, "Send it through. Kircheis out."
The use of a data packet was unusual; Jellico typically sent brief text acknowledgments to her reports. Kircheis' mind swam through the sea of possibilities including reassignment to another, better mission. When the packet completed downloading, she opened the file with her voiceprint and the screen flickered briefly.
Admiral Jellico's stern expression greeted her. "Captain, this is more than a simple acknowledgement of your progress report."
Kircheis breathed, "No kidding."
Jellico's image continued, "We've received an encrypted message from Starfleet Intelligence, dated a little under five months ago. Per Admiral Nechayev's orders, I have not been made privy to its contents." His last sentence did little to hide his annoyance with that circumstance.
Although the order came from Nechayev, she knew it originated from Leone. Leone did not outrank Jellico, however. "Leave it to her to annoy admirals even from the other side of the galaxy," Kircheis said aloud, allowing herself a little smirk as she did so.
The attachment required additional security, including a question-and-answer challenge based on a very private matter that only Leone knew about. She satisfied the requirement and her screen lit up with the contents. A message from t'Aimne appeared:
Captain, during my service with your ship, you once told me to think of you as a friend as much as an ally. As a friend, I wish to ask for your assistance. Three of my family members have gone missing. I fear they have been taken against their will. If you are able to find any information as to the whereabouts of my cousin, Ael'Ekkhae t'Aimne and her sons, Merik tr'Aimne and Taec tr'Aimne, please contact me. I am enclosing their biometric scans, genetic profiles and images to aid in their identification. Although my family may not want the assistance of outsiders, I know that humans value their families greatly as we do and would not use an unfortunate situation to their benefit when children are involved.
Clearly, the message had been intended for her former commanding officer, Captain Richard James. As before, Kircheis looked for the hidden message within the formal one. A second attachment overlaid the first, as it did within the conference room nearly a year ago. As she read the message, she began to smile, relieved to see t'Aimne was just as unscathed as she appeared to be in the first message.
I am not a suspect in the disappearance of my cousin and her children according to local authorities and I have been cleared of suspicion by a secret Tal Shiar inquest. s'Khnialmnae has acknowledged some responsibility in their disappearance and our House ties have strengthened as a result. Both Houses have encouraged my association with Courig with the intention of future union. Such alliance will be valuable to all.
Kircheis mused aloud, "I wonder how Admiral Coburn feels about the primary mission's success now that we have an operative well placed to give us Tal Shiar secrets," and allowed herself a chortle afterward. She continued to read the enclosed messages, smiling as she read that Ael'Ekkhae and her children had gained Federation citizenship. She was surprised to find they had settled on Betazed, but she supposed that would be the last place any Rihannsu would look for another.
A fourth and final attachment awaited her. It was a short message and coordinates from Admiral Leone relaying some intel. Among the information t'Aimne had liberated from the Tal Shiar database was the position of a semi-stable wormhole within the deepest part of Rihannsu territory. Apparently, the Galae sent a number of small scouts through the aperture to explore the other side.
"What the-?" Kircheis whispered. The coordinates reported by the Galae ships on the other side had to be a mistake. She transferred the numbers to her PADD and then plotted the position on her desktop terminal.
The Galae ships were coming through to the Delta Quadrant. Within a few days' warp from the task force's position.
She immediately opened a channel to the bridge. "Ensign Schweinfurt, put me in contact with Admiral Jellico, right now!"