What Price, Honor? Pt 1

[will_marx 0]

Despite the constant security alert aboard Arcadia, Will had slipped into the Security office, to escape the insanity of phasing or irate crewmembers, equipment and perpetrators. While there was even the hint of a problem, he didn't want to go to his quarters. If there was even the hint of some type of contamination, he didn't want to bring it home to his family. At least he'd kept a few cots and sleeping bags in the security office for situations like this; just before he left the bridge, Will had contacted Ranko and Xian and told them what was going.

Of course, he wasn't even lucky enough to get a chance to crawl into his cot. Looking at his terminal screen, with the flashing inbox icon, he sighed and opened the mail. “Commander Marx, you are hereby ordered to reported Commander, Special Operations Command, Bolarus Sector for assignment within the next 48 standard hours.”

 

“Great,” he muttered, “its not as though I have a ton of stuff on my plate as it is now.” Walking over to his gear locker, he comm'd Betty, and requested that his X-wing be prepped for departure.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Starbase 10

Bolarus Sector HQ

 

“Commander Marx, the Admiral will see you now.”

 

Will nodded as he entered Admiral Powell's office, the sector commander, R4 trailing behind. “Admiral, you wanted to see me?”

 

“I did, Commander. We need to take a small team into Romulan space...”

 

“Are you serious, Admiral? The Romulan government has had a bounty on my family's head since my father was a captain.”

 

“We have assurances from the Praetor and his ministers that your bounty has been abandoned.”

 

“Admiral, my father once taught me that the assurances of someone who wants you dead don't amount to a hill of beans.”

 

“Nevertheless, Commander,” a new voice replied, “the Praetor's wishes will be fulfilled.”

 

Will spun around on his heel, and looked over the new presence. It was an older Romulan male and, if he read the rank insignias correctly, a senior Admiral. “I'll see it when I believe it.”

 

“Commander, our alliance with the Federation during the Dominion Wars proved that our two empires can work together. And we should continue to work together for the good of our peoples.”

 

“Commander,” Admiral Powell added, “you were specifically requested by Admiral Terrh.”

 

“Indeed,” Terrh said. “I've followed your exploits...as much as classification barriers allow...and with singular interest in your hunting down the Dread Pirate Roberts. We had invested much time and effort in eliminating this thorn in the side of the Imperial merchant houses. And you managed to pull him out into open battle. Most impressive.

“Commander Marx, what we ask is that you lead a small team into Imperial space, to the Talvath system. Several high ranking members of the Fleet and Imperial Army are actively adapting Borg technology to change the balance of power, and we believe that is where their research center is. The Praetor wishes them stopped or, at the very least, information regarding their program.”

 

“So why can't your own people or the Tal'Shiar do this?” Will asked, skeptical of the whole mission. He moved to sit on the couch in the Admiral's office.

 

“Because we do not know who within the military or Tal'Shiar have been subverted. For all the Praetor knows, these...rebels could be sitting on Continuing Committee, Commander.”

 

“Fine,” Will replied. “I'm both an outsider and expendable. Obviously, there's not much choice for me. How many on my team, how are we getting to our destination, and are there any other incidentals I'll need to know about?

 

Admiral Terrh answered. “It will be a team of 9 additional personnel, hand picked from men on my staff. They're loyalty to the Empire is without measure. You and your team will have an Adehlla-class warbird at your disposal.”

 

Admiral Powell picked up. “As for the incidentals, Commander, you will undergo an RNA learning regimen in Romulan, as well as cosmetic surgery. And your...little friend there will have to remain here.”

 

“No disrespect to you Commander,” Terrh interjected, “but your surgery will also have to include an ocular implant. No self-respecting Romulan would be found without both eyes. There would be questions asked about one's honor.”

 

“Fine,” Will muttered.

 

“One last thing, Commander,” Admiral Powell added. “Special Operations Command has given us one last asset—your tutor in all things Romulan. A Doctor t'Tamarak will visit your quarters after your surgery.”

 

“Understood, Admirals.” Will stood, sketched the barest nod to the Admirals and left the office, R4 in tow.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Starbase 10

Visiting Officer's Quarters

 

Will stood in front of the mirror in his quarters, trying to get used to two things. The first, was being able to see with both eyes again, after 5 years of missing his left eye. And the second was the arched eyebrows and pointed ears of a vulcanoid. “Jesus H. Christ, I'm a Romulan.” R4 gave an electronic chuckle, then chirped a bit. “I know, I won't pass through a scanner net without it coming back as human. I'm sure SOCOM's got something for that."

 

"There are ways to simulate a Rihan's biochemistry to target the specific tests of their sensors, rekkhai..." A low female voice came from the door behind him; a Rihan woman, with close-cropped dark hair and cool black eyes was standing straight-backed in the doorframe. She wore a Starfleet medical tunic, though at the moment it showed no rank insignia. "They are na even all painful; I am sure we will manage something to keep you out of harm's way."

 

"I take it you are Dr t'Tamarak?"  Will replied, evenly.  He didn't wait for the reply before continuing.  If she were here to eliminate him, they'd probably both be dead before station security could even respond.  "And if so, please enter, and have a seat.  I fear we have much to discuss, Doctor."  R4 spun around and scanned the new occupant in the room, before chiming in with a series of beeps and whistles.  "No, R4, I somehow doubt that."

 

Jaiysa t'Tamarak eyed the small robot a touch suspiciously and then moved into the room, taking up a position still standing on the edge of the living area. "We do indeed, erei'riov...though I am unfortunately na given to know as much as I would like regarding your mission." Folding her arms, she eyed the lloann'na-Rihan man in front of her with skepticism. "So I must ask you, rather than the other way round, where to begin."

 

Will sat down on the couch and motioned for Jaiysa to take the chair across from him.  "Please, have a seat.  The basic jist of the mission is to slip into a potentially heavily defended target area, wreak as much havoc as myself and my team can, then get the hell out of Dodge.  But to do that, I need to be able to work closely with my team, which means cramming a lifetime of being Rihan into me in the next week."  And pray that the powers that be don't move the timetable up, he said to himself.  "So, to answer your question of where to begin, the begining is usually the best place to start."

 

Jaiysa smiled humorlessly. "The beginning, then. I would waste time complaining that the Rihan people are far too complex to be boiled down to a summary statement, but...it would do neither of us any good." The expatriot doctor had technically been a Federation citizen for some time now, but there were some habits she would never shake; the sardonic edge at the bottom of her voice was one of them, a skeptical tug that said she wondered at the motives involved and the likelihood of success. "Honor, erei'riov. Honor is at the bottom of it all. The honor of the empire, foremost, followed by your own if it does not interfere. If you can fake that...you will have no difficulty." She raised her eyebrows just slightly, curious to see whether he would respond to the implicit jibe. To be honest, she knew nothing of the man, or his honor, one way or the other. The Federation could be close-lipped as the Rihannsu when the mood struck them.

 

"Honor, eh?  Sounds like the Japanese code of Bushido.  I was raised under the various Earth codes of honor and chivalry.  This," he tapped near his left eye where the scars were still visible, ignoring the jibe, "is a result of honor.  And before you ask, it's an ocular implant, not my real eye.  Up until yesterday, I wore an eyepatch.  It was both a reminder to me to keep my wits about myself and the path honor takes.

"So, yeah, I should be able to act in a way that won't shame either the Empire or the Federation.  Unlike those we're going after.  Although, I'm sure they see their actions as bringing honor back to the Empire, it's not what the Praetor thinks."

 

"There are many kinds of honor, rekkhai," Jaiysa said noncommittally. "And many ways of justifying oneself by it." Good...he had not lost his temper but he had not let the comment lay either. Perhaps he had not been ill-chosen after all.

 

tbc