Backdoors and Allies

[Chirakis 1]

Backdoors and Allies
Wyatt Cayne and Kirel Chirakis

What is the old Terran saying?  A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away?

But it was not so long ago, though it felt like eons had passed since their first encounter with the Alien Alliance.  And not so far away, but a bit too close for comfort.  As Kirel waited for Riov Ja’lan t’Aldani to furnish the information she required for the present situation, she relaxed in her chair. The more she relaxed, the more her mind wandered.  The more her mind wandered, the more she puzzled over the present situation.

The present situation.  

Adriatic’s encounter with a strange object in orbit above a Venus-like planet supposedly drew the ship into a space jump of immense magnitude.  It took them 10 days and a violent encounter with hostile aliens to return to Aegis, and they were very glad to be alive. And now they were supposedly being thoroughly scrutinized by “Representatives from High Command.”  Joy.  How did that happen and why? 

It all began with the Breen.  Aegis was moved to its present location as a buffer between Breen space and that of the Joint Allied Powers: The Bajoran Government, the Ferengi Alliance, the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire, and the Cardassian Union, in conjunction with the United Federation of Planets.  But where the Joint Allied Powers saw a buffer, the Breen saw opportunity.

The Breen attacked Aegis and were repelled… how many times?  Too many to count.  Eventually, the Breen’s hubris took its toll.  They invented a subspace weapon and decided to test it on the first Aegean Class ship.  The Aegean prototype and its crew survived.  The Breen and their armada did not, because they are forever trapped in subspace. Their absence created a power void that freed up millions of Breen slaves.

Within a few months of the Breen’s demise, several species of freed slaves decided to explore the rest of the galaxy.  They found a series of nebulae that became a conduit through which they could travel undetected as they wandered through Joint Allied space.  How many different species came wandering through is unknown.  Some are benevolent. Some are not. We have yet to understand which is which.

And that was…?  After a long moment of thought, Kirel glanced at her notes for the Stardate. 2387.001.  The first day of January in the Terran year 2387.  Not so long ago after all.  Just over a year.  Sixteen months.

She sighed, turning to face the screen as her console signaled incoming.  It would probably be much more information than she expected.  It would also probably be a puzzle, and she was sure that t’Aldani had neither the time nor the inclination to fit the pieces together.  

Suddenly the screen lit up.  Hundreds of lines began to scroll from one of the back doors she could trust.  No.  In this case it was the only back door she could trust to find the true nature of USS Mason’s orders.  As usual, it did not take t’Aldani long to answer the question that Kirel knew would eventually come. 

“Elements! How in the name of them all did this come about?” she spat as the screen began to scroll next to the image of a tall, confident Romulan officer.  A simple glance often put fear into her opponents. 

“How many years do you have available to listen?” Kirel replied. “It's…”

“...complicated,” t’Aldani supplied cryptically. She followed it with a deep sigh, her eyes flashing as blood-crimson as the fires of Erebus.

Riov Ja’lan t’Aldani was one of the most formidable operatives of the Tal Shiar, one with whom Kirel had many encounters before the Great Fire, the desolation of ch’Rihan, which brought Starfleet Intelligence into collaboration with the Tal Shiar.  She was the most dependable person Kirel knew, and from her station at Rendezvous October she was supplying Kirel with the original mission orders given to the Representatives from Fleet Command aboard USS Mason.

And there is a twist to the tale.  Riov Ja’lan T’Aldani was also Annisha’s mother—a closely guarded secret for the child’s sake.  As far as Annisha knew, her parents had died in the Great Fire.  Ja’lan and her bondmate, EnRiov Keshir tr’Aldani, had chosen to leave well enough alone, knowing that the couple adopting her would keep her safe and care for her well.  In Kirel’s mind, the more the young girl matured, the more her mother's attributes emerged.  But now was not the time to think of such things.  T’Aldani’s words began to haunt Kirel, and her mind began to drift again.

Until the door chimed.  “Come,” she said as she blanked the screen and swiveled to face the opening door.

An older man of medium height and build stepped in as the door closed behind him.  Older for a Terran, that is.  His sandy brown hair had grayed along the edges, and his body tanned.  As with many Terrans, he shaved his facial hair. He kept himself fit—a routine he would probably never outgrow because of his life experiences.  A utility belt hung just below his waist.  On his left hip a leather scabbard hid a titanium blade, its handle turned forward, toward his right hand, for swift access and use.  On his right hip, next to his pulse phaser, an antique revolver sat securely in its retention holster next to an ammunition pack.  Some called him an anachronism, but most called him Commander.  He was Commander Wyatt Cayne, Starfleet SI-6. 

"You called for me Captain." A decaffeinated Commander Cayne entered.  Clearly three cups weren't cutting it anymore. 

“Yes,” she said, pulling another chair over and pointing toward the screen as it re-engaged.  “I need your expertise to….” She paused with a sigh.  “To save the galaxy?”  Perhaps saving the galaxy was not her primary objective, but if certain representatives of Fleet Command had their way, it was entirely possible that the fate of their little corner was at risk.

"Just maintaining our little corner of it," he said as he studied the screen. "My life is now watching screens apparently."

Kirel’s eyes narrowed as she studied him a moment.  Our little corner was a common phrase, so she let it pass and gestured toward the replicator.  “Get some coffee, Commander, and one for me. We’re going to need it.”

Cayne obliged with a wanting of the brown liquid himself. "Computer, one-half liter of coffee, double-sweet and...Captain? I don't believe I know your coffee tastes." 

“Black… as the dark spaces between the stars.”

"Right…."  He then had identical mugs in each hand, handing one to Chirakis.

“Perfect.  Now, settle in. We have much to discuss.  But first….”  She swiveled to meet his gaze, mug in hand.  “Tell me what you remember of the Adriatic’s mission.  I want pertinent facts that might draw the attention of someone who would be interested in using whatever you found or witnessed for personal gain.”

"Hmm," he considered for a moment. "I'm not sure of any personal gain unless someone thinks there is hidden Breen technology or intelligence buried on that hellish rock. That satellite led us to that world, though I don’t have the foggiest idea how they arrived at their conclusion.  But I'm no expert on forensics. But it had logs or sensor data within, anyhow, my thinking was perhaps a hidden base right under the Federation's nose." He drank some more, and talked some more.  Captain Chirakis noted several things as he spoke.

"It's no Risa and tough to scan, so it would be a good way station at least. That's when we found something holding the ship back. We couldn't leave and a warp attempt was even worse. Some kind of passage took us light years from our previous position. Already a shi...show, sorry, then the damn thing explodes behind us. Quite a show if you ask me, and none too good for sensors. They were off the charts. If that was a method of travel for someone it’s extremely risky. I wondered later if it was a defense mechanism, but I'm not aware of any species that can pull that off. An-."

Somewhat reluctant to pause his thoughts, Kirel held up a hand.  “What do you mean by ‘hellish rock’?”

"That Venus-like planet. Temperatures...gases. Scary that someone lived there a millennia ago."

She nodded.  “And by ‘that satellite’, you mean the device that was retrieved by Adriatic?”

"Yes, I was not sure what to call it. Not quite a probe, ship...a rather lucky find by all accounts."

“And the ‘passage’.  Can you describe that more thoroughly?  Would you know it by another name, perhaps?”

"That Jackson fellow…. Oh, is he back to himself?”

“Ensign Jackson?  Yes, I believe he has been released to his quarters.” 

“Anyhow, he called it a corridor, but I don't think they named it. Something—and I hate using these words because it had characteristics of other spatial anomalies I've encountered—but it seemed to be intent on preventing the ship from leaving.  Jackson called it a corridor, but I don't know of corridors that hold you in place. I can normally walk back and forth through one. Again, if someone was controlling that corridor, then it's beyond anything Starfleet has in its arsenal."

Kirel studied his expression a moment, sipped her coffee, then mused,  “Interesting.  So, a wormhole perhaps, but not an ordinary wormhole.  One similar to the wormhole of DS9?”

"There were no verteron particles though.  About the only thing I remember from my study of that passage."

“An artificial conduit held in place by advanced technology?”

"Just appearing right where we were just when we were there, not detected before? That's my thought on the matter. I expect us back at that planet."

“Then, given your expertise and experience, you believe that it could be an artificial conduit of some kind?”

Cayne smiled. "The Prophets did it, but they had all the time in the...universe."

She appreciated his wit, but there was an irony in her smile as she considered that possibility.  “And whatever it was took you seven days away from Aegis, to the edge Alien Alliance space.”  She rocked back in her chair to think and consider the implications.  Then, “Commander, do you remember anything about the area of space where the ship stopped?  A planet, or a planetary system?”

"Not particularly, just that it was at the edge of known Alien Alliance space. That seemed convenient too, but I was busy trying to get a safe route home. I could check the logs, unless you believe someone compromised the records."

“No.” She said emphatically.  “No one has compromised the records.  We have them.  Intact.  In a safe place.”  She gave a knowing smile, then asked, “You called stopping on the edge of Alien Alliance space ‘convenient’.  Why?”

"It threw us—and I know that's not the right word—just to their border, as if to say get out, like if we escort a ship to the Aegis perimeter. I guess the distance we traveled could have been anything, few kilometers… light years. Perhaps I was just tired, but it's a thought that took me out of what I was doing for a moment."

Kirel nodded slowly as the pieces seemed to fall into place. “Anything else you can think of, Commander?”

"Not that I can think of at the moment. I was so focused on tactical I'm sure many events occured in plain sight. Perhaps a mind meld." He laughed, but considered the idea.

“Mind meld.”  His sense of humor seemed to cut into everything he did, even in dire times.  “Before we begin to plow through the information on the screen, I will advise you of this, Commander.  

“If you do remember, come to me, to Captain Ramson, or to Commander Coleridge.  What we have just discussed is classified Top Secret.  Captain Ramson is about to curtail the questioning by our good friends on USS Mason.  That, also, is not to be spoken of until she gives the word.  Understood?”

"Does saying 'understood' mean I've said too much?" He lifted his mug and took a final gulp.

“No, it does not.  In fact, your powers of recollection are exceptional.  You have much more information in your memory than I ever imagined, given the circumstances.  And please do not tell me it is from your SI-6 training. It might want me to change agencies.”  Her smile broadened. 

“Now, if there is nothing else, let’s take a look at this puzzle on the screen.”