Outageous Fortune

[Chirakis 1]

Outrageous Fortune
~Chirakis

USS Mason, NCC 76559, was the 6th ship to bear the name.  Her predecessors were majestic, her crews hand-picked, sailing with dignity and pride.  Every incarnation sported the most advanced weapons systems, the 21st century version being the revered AEGIS guided missile system with cutting-edge technology that struck fear into her adversaries.

And now she was an Envoy Transport for a ruthless, cowardly wouldbe guardian of the Federation.  It made her sick.

“Try not to be too vocal with your thoughts,” Captain Ramson had warned.  “I believe someone on Mason is to some degree telepathic.”  

Of course, the captain was correct.  There was a telepath aboard, and Kirel’s  bondmate, the Sindar Captain d’Ka, had often warned her of her anger.  If he were listening now, he would warn her again.  The mere thought of Cdr Adrian Walsh, Assistant to the Consul General, elevated her desire for blood.

“Guard your thoughts, Kh’éile.”

D’Ka’s psionic connection came through soft, but insistent—a delicate but effective balance.  It irked her that he’d been listening all the time.  Perhaps watching?

“Get out of my head,” she grumbled, pressing her fists against the office desk.  The surveillance screen gave her a full-on view of USS Mason, interior and exterior, as well as crew movement.  She continued to stare, exacerbating her anger that Walsh would have the audacity to attack the crew of Adriatic.

“I should cram a Regulan bloodworm down his throat,” she continued as her anger grew, “just as he did to our young operative on Sextus IX.  He always targets the most vulnerable.  He’s beginning with enlisted, Thytrin.  Enlisted personnel follow the orders of their superiors; they know very little about the mission. The only reason he is questioning them is to torment them and to gather information that he can twist into whatever he wants it to be.  What’s more, he is a coward with a telepath in tow so he can rake the innocent into nothing.  His mission is to destroy that crew, and that…” Her desk vibrated violently as her fist came down.  “...that I will not allow!”

Kirel stood silent, staring at the surveillance monitor, then pushed off and began to pace.

“Are you finished?”

A few minutes passed before she replied, “Perhaps.”

“Then consider this.  You have just dropped yourself into their trap.”

Her pacing stopped. Her jaw clenched.

“There is a telepath aboard, Kh’éile, and that telepath is there not only to listen, but to manipulate.  You wish to help the crew?  Ignore her.”

Another few minutes of consideration and, “If I do, she will be angry instead?” settled her thoughts.

“Perhaps.  You will not know until you try. And I doubt that Captain Ramson will appreciate draining her budget for yet another new desk.”