Answers

Posted on Wed Aug 14th, 2024 @ 6:21am by Commander Grace Vetur & Lieutenant Zero

1,819 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Standing By
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: MD00

ON

Grace led the two admirals into her ready room and headed to the replicator. "Can I get either of you something to drink?"

"I think a glass of wine is in order," Kathryn said. Then she turned to Max. "I'm sorry. I came twelve hours early, thinking I'd be away before he showed up."

Max stood there quietly, looking firmly at Kathryn, before answering. "No thank you, Captain." He looked over to Grace and continued. "My thanks to you and your crew for remaining firm while all this was going on. Please extend my gratitude to them on their resolve and commend them for their fine work."

"Thank you, I will. But I do have one question." Grace replicated a glass of wine for herself and Admiral Burke. As soon as she gave the admiral a glass, she turned to Max. "Thanks to Captain Kilgore, I remember the two of you when I was a child, and he made several broad hints. Would you please clarify?"

Max looked away slightly as he let out a deep sigh. "That sounds a lot like Thayne. He gives you enough information to draw you in while still holding on to the pieces that matter the most to you." He placed his hands behind his back as straightened up. "When you people were first being considered for membership into the Federation, a team of delegates were sent to meet you all and access where you were as far as technology and socially. Thayne and I were a part of that delegation. As members of Starfleet Intelligence, it was our job to access your threat level and establish if your interest in joining was genuine." He looked over to Kathryn before looking back. "It was nothing against your people. The officers above us were always looking for the next big threat and any invitation to the Federation was always met with curiosity and skepticism. When I was given the position I have now, I made it a point to change that way of thinking. Not everyone has a hidden agenda. Not every secret needs to be a secret when more eyes on it will help solve the problem faster."

"I understand. That explains a lot of what he alluded to." Grace shook her head. "He likes to pretend to be harmless, but I saw him kill a member of his crew without blinking an eye." She paused. "He wants something in this sector."

Kathryn stayed just far enough away to hear the conversation but not to be intrusive. She had her own questions, but those could wait for later when she could ask Max in private.

"I can't say whether him being in this sector is about what he is looking for or just an attempt at doing his own business, but I can tell you for sure, he won't find what he wants here." Max replied softly. He let out a deep sigh as he continued. "The Starship he is looking for is his old ship. The U.S.S. Pridwen. In Arthurian lore it was thought to be the name of the shield King Arthur used. In a poem it is thought to also be the name of the ship he sailed when traveling to the Celtic Underworld. Of course, that was Prydwen with a Y and his shield is Pridwen with an I. Thayne would often get a big kick out of that." He smiled slightly, as if resisting the urge to laugh, before it faded. "That was our plan. We both designed ships that were to be the flagships of Starfleet Intelligence. The Cerberus was the sword and the Pridwen was the shield." He lowered his head slightly and then looked up. "That was the hope, anyway. The hope of two young officers who were trying to make a name for themselves while simultaneously changing the galaxy for the better. Dreams made by fools." He whispered slightly as he looked over to Kathryn for a bit. "Some dreams are harder to let go than others." He added before turning back to Grace. "The second thing he is looking for is not a thing. It's a person. What I am about to tell you, Captain, must not leave this room."

"Sometimes we forget that it's our choices that determine our destiny, not just our wishes," Kathryn said quietly to Max.

"Of course, Admiral Hunter." She knew that most of what was said here would not leave this room.

Max gave Kathryn a smile, before turning to address Grace. "Thayne is searching for his daughter. A woman who has come to refer to herself as Morgana. Sometimes going by the last name of Frey. If we are talking about Arthurian Lore, I don't need to tell you who she is." He took a moment to gather his words before continuing. "Currently, there is an Officer whom I trust with her, so she is not in any danger. Nor is she a threat. However, we can't keep playing three-card monte with them. I would like to place them somewhere. Somewhere they can be useful and not have to keep moving them around in an attempt to keep them out of danger. If he wants them, he'll have to come get them ad be met with Starfleet in his way."

"I take it she doesn't want to go with him?" Grace asked. "I can't blame her. I doubt he'd let something like that go. He's not a forgiving man."

Max shook his head slightly. The idea of a man he once trusted, like a brother, was able to shoot someone in cold blood. He couldn't think of any reason Thayne would go from being the man he was to the man that was being described now. With a slight scoff in his throat, he turned to Kathryn and looked at her for a moment, before turning to Grace to respond. "Thayne had the intention of setting off a biological weapon on a planet in order to kill one man who betrayed him. As my officer reports it, Morgana was attempting to stop him to prevent the weapon from being set off and killing innocent people. My Officer was investigating something separate and came across her in mind investigation. I am told they had come across each other before. The details of that meeting I was not given full disclosure on, but it did leave him with an impression. Anyway, they were able to stop the weapon. Morgana, I am told, refused to returned to her father and my Officer has kept her safe ever since. Unfortunately, the man she was originally trying to help, was captured by Thayne anyway. Needless to say, his end was not pleasant."

"An entire planet for one man?" Grace had a hard time understanding that level of hatred. "Does his ship still exist somewhere?" She didn't want to know where, and maybe she shouldn't even know if it was still around, but a part of her was curious.

Max looked to Kathryn, but this time his look wasn't like it was before. It was as if he was worried about what he was about to say next. Like he was holding back a secret, which wasn't unusual for Max, but having kept it from Kathryn for this long felt far worse. Even though he had all but forgotten about it at this point, and never thought it would ever be an issue, it still felt wrong to keep it from her. "If you search for it in the records, it's been destroyed. Officially, decommissioned and taken apart."

She slipped her hand through his and squeezed. "You don't need to say more." Then she turned to Grace. "This, too, is to be kept secret. No one must know that Max and I are together. It could be a liability to him in his work."

"I understand." Grace had said that a lot, but she did. There were some things that were better not known and not spoken of. And, if she wanted to be a good commanding officer, she would need to practice more discretion that most. "Is there anything else I'm not supposed to know?"

Max smiled a bit, raising a brow slightly, before replying. "If I told you everything, Captain. I'd be out of a job."

"I think he does that to remind us how invaluable he is." Kathryn smiled at Max. "In truth, he is." She turned back to Grace. "I think you know all you need to. If anything else comes up, contact me. I can usually find Max, if necessary."

"Thank you, ma'am. And thank you, admiral. I appreciate the rescue. I'd offer you a meal, but I'm not sure if you need to leave the sector before Kilgore looks for you."

Kathryn looked at Max, then back to Grace. "We should leave. There's still much that needs to be discussed and done."

Grace remembered one other thing she should tell the two admirals. "Lieutenant Rose and I had a bounty on our heads. When we visited the nearby planet, I asked about starting a business with the HTA and photocopied the contract. Captain Kilgore said he paid off the bounty."

"Yes, I heard something about that," Kathryn said. "Do you have a copy of that contract?"

Grace pulled it up on the computer and copied it to a PADD, which she then handed to Admiral Burke.

The admiral looked through the PADD and handed it to Max. "Yes, I can see why they don't want that getting out. I know you had no idea what you were getting into, but from here on, leave the HTA to Admiral Hunter. He has people who can find out more. Also be aware that the HTA does not control this entire sector of space, although they would like you to think they do. The Federation has a settlement that is also mining cordanium. Few people are aware of this, and I would like it to stay that way for now."

"Yes, ma'am." As long as she and her ship weren't in trouble, Grace was happy to avoid the HTA.

"If you hear from either the HTA or Captain Kilgore, let me know," Kathryn added. "Otherwise, you should be able to continue on your way." She looked at Max, who nodded.

"Good luck, commander," she added before she tapped her combadge and the two admirals dematerialized.

When they were gone, Grace sat at her desk and drained her glass. This was not an auspicious way to begin her command, but at least it was official. She still wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

OFF

Commander Grace Vetur
Commanding Officer
USS Ontario

Admiral Kathryn Burke
Commander
Theta Fleet

Admiral Maximilian "Max" Hunter
Chief of Covert Operations
Theta Fleet

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