What Was Next

[Cmdr Ba'alyo 0]

Commander Zen Ba’alyo opened his eyes, somewhat refreshed by the rest he had stolen. The digital chronometer near his bunk showed nearly six hours had passed. Six hours since the insertion team came back aboard, having safely recovered the Federation ambassador from the surface of Qo’noS.

 

By their account, Curzon Dax had been fighting with bladed weapons alongside the Klingon vanguard taking the Great Hall. Despite the ongoing surface battle, Marines and Starfleet officers from Challenger had located and extracted him. The ship had been unable to use the transporter to beam Ambassador Dax to safety, due to a combination of scattering fields and diplomatic lock-out. When Zen thought about it, it made sense to keep unwanted people from beaming in and out of your central government building.

 

His tension hadn’t eased until the shuttle had touched down safety in the Challenger aft bay. As was the Efrosian habit, he’d endured it silently.

 

Then, he left the bridge to Lieutenant Commander Cyiy, who had looked well rested after returning from the senior staff dinner aboard Georgetown. He asked Lessard to alert him if there was a change in status, but it looked like loyal Klingon forces would make short work of the few rebels remaining in the Great Hall.

 

Since Lessard had not woken him, he did not know if the Klingons had finished their recapture of the government center or if they’d liberated Chancellor Azetbur, but it was natural to assume the worse hadn’t happened. No sudden reversals on the surface, no alerts indicating the ship or the convoy were under attack. Six hours with nothing bad developing, he noted. Perhaps the longest stretch since he’d arrived. He wondered if Captain Seiben was back aboard yet.

 

He sat up, swinging his boots over the edge of the bed, and stretched his tall frame. At least the waiting was over.

 

With the convoy supplies delivered, medical treatment begun, and the environmental study underway, Challenger had accomplished its primary orders in Klingon space. Other events had slowed them down, but with "Cardinal" dead, the Ambassador safe, and the coup resolving itself without Federation intervention, he wondered if remaining at Qo’noS was just begging for more trouble. Zen thought about their secondary mission – the missing ships from the earlier convoys. The starship Columbia was still speeding toward an encounter near the Azure Nebula. Was that where the last piece would play out? Would Challenger be part of it?

 

He slipped on the white turtleneck of his command uniform and got to his feet. Time to see what was next.