CM2: The Meeting

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

 

(Personal Log Stardate 11402.21)

 

 

The Avenger arrived at Vulcan some two days later, and the ship slipped into an

elliptical orbit around the planet. Baldwin would remain aboard to coordinate the

mission. The rest of the team assembled in the transporter room. They were given clearance to transport to the planet, and shimmered out of existence.

 

Materializing on the planet, the team found themselves in a port just outside

Shi'Kahr, which had once again became the de facto capital city of Vulcan. John remembered Vulcan as being a very hot planet, and gravity heavier than Earth's;

but the team was in luck this time, it was early spring on Vulcan, and it was early

in the evening when they beamed down. The team quickly got its bearings, and

made its way through the relatively deserted port to waiting groundcars outside.

 

The team got into the cars, and were whisked to a house on the outskirts of town.

They disembarked, and carried their gear into the house. They each took a room,

and then met in the dining room to discuss the mission further. Some two hours

later, Hastings told the men to get some sleep, and they would begin in the morning. John went to his room, and sat down on the bed. He could look out the window

from where he was sitting, and stared in fascination at the landscape outside.

The view was always changing on Vulcan, or so he had always thought, and he

continued to stare outside until the sun went down.

 

He then went into the head to take a shower, and felt refreshed afterwards. He

had just toweled off and put on his robe when a knock sounded on his door. He

opened it, and found Alex Taylor grinning at him. "Come in, Commander," said

John, and the old man shook a finger at him as he entered the room. "Call me

Alex, John," Taylor said, then grinned again. "But I thank you for the rank; I don't

hear that much any more." Randall grinned back at him. "I always have respect

for higher ranking officers, sir," he said mischievously, and Taylor roared with

laughter. "You're Marcus' son, all right," he said. "That's exactly what he would've

said in a situation like this."

 

Suddenly the old man sobered, and John was a little taken aback by the change

in the demeanor of the retired commander. "John, it's only for you and your father

that I'm doing this," he said, looking Randall straight in the eyes. "I still feel bad

about what happened to Marcus, and I tell you, son, when Hastings made that announcement about tracking down the Romulan responsible for what happened

to him, it came as a shock to me the rush of anger that surfaced. I could barely

hold myself in check the rest of the time on the ship. I want to get this dude bad,

Mr. Randall, and I'll do anything I can to help make it happen. You got my word

on that, John," he finished, and held out his hand, which John took and shook immediately.

 

"I appreciate that, Alex," the engineer said softly. "I know you mean every word

of it, and I'm glad to have you here, and to be working with you. It's great to be

here with all of you, though I'm not sure how my captain's gonna feel when I get

back to Challenger." "Don't you worry about that, John," replied Taylor immediately.

"I'm sure that if you get any flak from any of your superiors, both Baldwin and

Hastings will intercede on your behalf. I will as well, should it come down to that."

John smiled and nodded. "Thanks again, Alex, it means a lot," he said.

 

Taylor smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. "All right, let's get some rest,"

he said. "We got a big day tomorrow. Sleep well, Lieutenant." "And you,

Commander," replied Randall, and the old man let himself out. John thought to

himself, 'Boy, it's good to have someone like that in your corner. He's still

almost as angry as I am over what happened to Dad. Mom, the time is finally

here. I'm gonna avenge Dad. This is for the family.'

 

He then put on his pajamas, and slipped under the covers of the bed, falling

asleep almost instantly.

 

 

******************************************************

 

 

The next morning, the team was assembled, and ready to go. They got into their groundcars, and zoomed toward the city of Shi'Kahr. A few minutes later, they

arrived at their destination: Ambassador Shrvan's home. John and Taylor exited

their groundcar, and Hastings exited from his. The rest of the team took off

further into the city, heading for the Starfleet embassy. Hastings, Taylor, and

Randall marched up the steps of the porch, and the admiral touched the control

for the doorchime. They were shown in, and Hastings confirmed he had an

appointment with the ambassador.

 

They were shown to a room with several chairs, and a small sofa. A few seconds

later, Ambassador Shrvan entered the room. John was immediately struck by the presence of the Vulcan. Shrvan was definitely into his latter years as a Vulcan,

as his face was lined deeply, and a shock of white hair adorned his scalp. A

finely honed mustache completed the ensemble of his face, and if Randall had

to guess, was probably around 170 Earth years old.

 

The ambassador was around six two in height, and carried himself with all the

sureness and confidence that Randall had come to be accustomed to from

Vulcans. Then, his eyes fell on the man accompanying the Vulcan, and a surge

of involuntary anger came to the surface of his skin. This had to be Shrvan's

chief aide, the Romulan calling himself Shrak. John stared involuntarily at the

man, until the aide turned to lock eyes with him. An eyebrow went slowly up as

the man looked at Randall, and John had the sudden thought that the Romulan

might actually recognize him. In fact, that was the reason he had been brought

along for this meeting. The aide then turned to the ambassador as the Vulcan

greeted the Starfleet officers. For the purpose of the mission, Taylor had been temporarily reinstated into Starfleet, should any background checks be run on him.

 

"Greetings, Admiral Hastings," came the deep voice of Shrvan. "I am honored

by your visit, but I must confess to being a little curious as well. It is a well known

fact that you rarely leave Starfleet Headquarters, so this indeed must be a special occasion." Hastings inclined his head. "I am honored you took the time to see us, Ambassador," he said. "May I present my aides, Commander Alex Taylor, and

Lieutenant John Randall." At the mention of the engineer's name, Shrak's eyebrows

went sharply up, and the ambassador noticed it as he turned to his aide. "And may I present my chief aide, Shrak," he said, and the Romulan, having somewhat

recovered his equilibrium, nodded at the men. "I am honored, gentlemen," he

said smoothly, and an ice cold feeling ran down the spine of the Challenger

engineer.

 

"Shrak, I could not help noticing your reaction at the mention of Lieutenant

Randall's name," said Shrvan. "By any chance, do you know him?" Shrak

quickly shook his head. "No, Ambassador, I do not," he said, looking again

at Randall. "But, I have the strangest feeling that I have seen him somewhere

before," he continued, and John thought to himself, 'Pounce on this.' "If you'll

excuse me, Ambassador," he said, "I was just thinking the same thing as your

aide; that we have met before. It's very strange." The ambassador looked at

Randall. "No doubt you have probably met at an official function somewhere,"

he said, and John quickly nodded. "That must be it," he agreed, and the

Romulan again was staring at him. John returned the gaze squarely, but he

knew his anger was beginning to surface; he could literally feel his eyes turning

cold, and he was sure the Romulan had picked up on it.

 

"So, Admiral, what has brought you here today?" asked the ambassador, and

he waved the men towards the empty chairs. They all sat, and Hastings launched

into the cover story the team had agreed to bring up to the ambassador. Shrak

and John rarely took their eyes from each other; the Challenger engineer was

convinced that the Romulan knew who he was. When the admiral finished, the ambassador looked at him. "This is a very serious matter, Admiral," he said slowly.

"I was not aware of any of these alleged doings. Shrak, have you heard anything

about this?" "No, Ambassador," replied the Romulan. "Very well, then," continued Shrvan. "I am due to attend a conference on Earth in 3.4 days, so I have a little

time to look into this matter. Admiral, I thank you for bringing this to me, and I

give you my fullest assurance it will be looked into with all due haste." "That's

all I ask, Ambassador," said Hastings. "Thank you for your time, sir."

 

The ambassador inclined his head, and the Starfleet men arose from their chairs.

As they were led to the door, John sneaked a quick glance backward over his

shoulder, and caught Shrak looking at him as the lieutenant exited the residence.

The men piled into the groundcar, and sped away. Hastings looked over at Randall.

"What do you think, John?" he asked. The engineer gave a wicked smile. "He

knew who I was, sir, I'd stake my career on it," he answered. "Alex?" asked the

admiral. "I'd have to agree with the lieutenant, sir," replied Taylor. "I was watching

him the whole time, and I'm with John; he knows." "Then I would say phase one is complete, gentlemen," said Hastings, and both Randall and Taylor said, "Yes, sir."

 

Hastings smiled. "I'll inform the others, and we'll proceed with phase two," he

said. John and Alex looked at each other, and smiled. Randall knew he was

closer to getting revenge for his father. He was also slightly overwhelmed at

the rate it was now happening. He told himself to slow down, and try to savor

some of this; after all, he had only been waiting almost all his life for this, and

now, it was finally in motion.

 

 

END LOG