Choosing Sides

[Cmdr Ba'alyo 0]

He would not choose a moment of crisis to voice his concerns.

 

He'd only been aboard the starship Challenger a few hours. With the appearance of the missing freighter, then the sudden scrambling of Klingon forces, and now the boarding action, he'd had no time to meet with the man he had been ordered to serve under.

 

He did not know Captain Rolf Seiben.

 

He had read the official records and knew the human had earned the right to command, but he did not know how he thought.

 

While the intelligence man might think the Prime Directive something to ignore, this was still a Starfleet ship and he did not set Federation policy. That was for President Ra-ghoratreii, the Council, and the Admiralty. The Marine commander was far too eager to inject herself into the internal affairs of a foreign power. But her ranks were used to following conflicting, difficult orders. He would not fault her for it.

 

As first officer, it was his duty to object if they were violating protocol. If the Klingons were going to start shooting at each other, Challenger might need fall back, protect its convoy, and withdraw. Things would be different if it were a Romulan invasion or a Tholian attack, but it wasn't. This looked like Klingons deciding their own fate, even if it didn't meet Federation approval.

 

Unless Captain Seiben knew something he didn't. Did he already have orders or information he hadn't shared? From Zen's position near communications, he stole a glance at the human through pale, white eyes. Although he saw in wavelengths that differed from many humanoids, the image gained him no insight.

 

No time for that now. The ship was in danger. As he'd said earlier, "Debate later. Battlestations."

 

Clearly, they had the right to repel hostile boarders. And if they could find the ship that fired on them, they'd be within their rights to return fire and destroy it.

 

He was confident of the crew's abilities. They had not treated him like an outsider. Ensign Lessard had done good work, using comm traffic to speculate which ships might be loyal. Lieutenant "T" at tactical had kept watch and his cool, not firing on anyone without the captain's order. The Vulcan at science had speculated the attacker was another Klingon ship that could fire while cloaked.

 

No more torpedoes were coming at them, so the focus was on the Klingons spilling into Deck 15, Section 2. The issue of taking sides beyond the ship would come later. Onboard, he knew which side he was on.