"T"

[Joe Manning 0]

"Tea, sir?" the waiter asked.

 

Gaston barely glanced up from the newspad. "Uh, yes," he blurted. "Two cups, please. Earl Grey. Lukewarm."

 

It was a lovely morning on Aldebaran colony, but the Interstellar Frontiers executive could hardly enjoy it. What once promised to be an exciting time for the corporate powerhouse of transportation and construction was turning out to be a period of scandal and disaster. They'd been lined up to oversee the mass colonization efforts in the Hyades cluster region, then reports of scandalous activities by select board members were leaked by an anonymous source to their contacts in the Federation Council, and the mining activities on Epsilon Tauri I were shortly thereafter sabotaged by Klingon pirates. A catastrophic and, Gaston was certain, all too suspect chain of events that lead to the Council distancing themselves from ISF.

 

"Sorry I'm late," Lisa Worden announced her presence at the table. "Our liner was held up in orbit."

 

"The colonial traffic is getting thicker these days." Gaston stood for his young assistant and slid the newspad across the table. "Look at that."

 

Worden grabbed the pad and quickly glanced over the headlines as they sat.

 

ROMULAN SUPERNOVA IMPENDING?

Federation scientists report disturbing readings

 

BAJORAN OFFICIAL ASSASSINATED ON DS9

Cardassian involvement suspected

 

MINE DISASTER PROMPTS KLINGON PIRATE HUNT

New suspicions raised about attempted theft

 

Worden quirked an eyebrow and touched the headline to bring up the story. "New suspicions?" she asked.

 

"Yes, it is like I have been saying," Gaston replied annoyedly. "There was always more to this story than a band of Klingon misfits blowing themselves up, quite conveniently, on Goldrock. Now this Admiral Thorne believes that they had accomplices and that those accomplices are still at large. There are no details being revealed yet, but it is clear that the whole sabotage is starting to be looked at in a different light -- far too professional and well-prepared to have been a simple act of piracy."

 

"And you believe you have an idea about who these ... accomplices ... are?" Worden asked, glancing up at Gaston warily. She already knew where this was going.

 

"Well, isn't it all too convenient?" Gaston huffed. "This Consortium of Bolians appears out of nowhere with a small fleet of ships, announcing that they have the firepower to adequately protect interests in the Hyades cluster. The board of directors is convinced that the Federation Council is going to give them the Hyades contract now. But there is nothing to protect the Hyades cluster against! Klingon pirates?! What in God's name were they doing so far from Klingon territory if someone on our side of the border wasn't pointing the way?"

 

"You're making a very serious charge, Gaston," Worden pointed out. "The Council appears to be convinced that the Gular Consortium is respectable enough to receive the commission. They could not have earned that respect unless they've been wooing the Council for several years."

 

"Yet we have heard almost nothing about them," Gaston said, reaching for the teapot after the waiter placed a tray on the table.

 

"Because they have been subtle and quiet," Worden said, her eyes continuing to scan the news story. "ISF is a very prominent organization, Gaston, and it's been around for a long time. Which means that little that we do is not public knowledge. The Gulars are newcomers, and they haven't done anything to draw attention to themselves before this power play, so they have enjoyed the luxury of being able to work behind the scenes. I'm sure they've been making a play for the Hyades contract since the year we originally proposed the colonization. They no doubt have the Bolian government behind them, and their control of this commission would give Bolarus significant political leverage in the Federation."

 

"And what else have they been doing subtly? These accusations that have been made against our board members, perhaps?! All patently false, yet the accusations alone have proven damaging enough of our image to help scare off the UFP Council. Never mind that we have been doing reputable business with them for over sixty years. Bah! This tea is too hot!" Gaston slammed his cup down and grabbed a napkin. "The board expects me to get things done in the Hyades cluster. I am going to have to speak to this Admiral Thorne."

 

"I would be very cautious about getting too close to him," Worden put down the newspad and regarded Gaston seriously. "Thorne is part of that new movement in Starfleet -- radicals who believe that the Federation is not doing enough to bolster security. They are not on good terms with the Council, and any association with him could further distance us. Besides, he is not interested in Federation politics and corporate maneuvering. He has made it clear that he is after Klingon rebels."

 

"Klingon rebels who may have Bolian contractors aiding their efforts," Gaston said. "Contractors who may represent a threat to Federation security ... aiding the sabotage of Federation mining colonies, for instance. If I can just gently steer Thorne in certain directions, he may uncover something that would damn the Gular Consortium and put -us- back in the Council's good graces."

 

"I've warned you, Gaston," Worden sighed as she took a sip of her tea. "I would only advise you to be as subtle in your 'steering' of this Admiral as you purport the Bolians have ... " Gaston waited for her to continue, but her eyes were suddenly diverted out the glasteel dome and toward the sky. "What is -that-?"

 

Gaston followed her gaze to the sky. He could hear several other people in the restaurant mumbling to each other confusedly. "-That- ... looks like ... " he hesitated, finding the notion almost too ridiculous to even mention. " ... like a wormhole."

 

And not just one wormhole, but several, opening throughout the Aldebaran sky. They looked just like the one Gaston had seen many times at Deep Space Nine. He knew that stable wormholes were among the rarer occurences in the galaxy. To see a skyful of them was awe-inspiring. The occupants of the restaurant were all standing, uncertain of what was happening. Gaston found himself on his own feet.

 

"What's going on?" Worden asked as she stood beside Gaston. There was a nervous edge to her voice.

 

Then objects began pouring from the wormholes. Dark clusters descending from the sky. Spaceships. It did not take long for panic to flow over the restaurant and the voices to elevate to cries of alarm, even before the ships began firing on the surface.

 

"Dear god!" Gaston exclaimed. "Lisa, we have to get out of here!"

 

Klaxons began sounding over all of Aldebaran and Starfleet runabouts were taking to the sky to respond to the unforseen assault. A lovely morning on Aldebaran colony was turning into a nightmare ...