Mr. Ambassador

[Chirakis 1]

Mr. Ambassador
Chirakis Kirel
Nijil tr’Korgata
Annisha t’Korjata

“The best deterrent is a visible presence. Our forces will be making random pass-throughs.  They’ll occasionally stop for a while. Sometimes it’ll be the whole force, sometimes only a few ships while the remaining units sit tight within reach.  Sometimes cloaked, most of the time not.  But, when all hell breaks loose, Aegis strike forces might not be here, but the RSE sure as hell will.”
          ~Captain Kelley, USS Iowa, regarding the threat of the Alien Alliance.

 

RSE Voldar was already in orbit, on a ‘pass through’ according to Ens Jackson.  By order of interim CSEC Lt Garand, undercover officers wandered among civilians on the commerce deck, in the park, and throughout all areas of the station.  Security's personnel monitoring internal surveillance probed for suspicious activity and scanned for facial recognition. One might call it overkill, but it was much better than actual kill. 

In addition, EnRiov Keshir tr’Aldani, impeccably disguised as Vulcan Ambassador Sejak, waited for Kirel at Antonio’s.  That security’s internal surveillance personnel and facial recognition system did not find him suspicious spoke well of tr’Aldani’s disguise.  That he and Kirel would meet in a secluded area of Antonio’s guaranteed privacy.

“Kirel.”  He rose into a gracious Vulcan bow. “It has been a while, my friend.”

“Yes it has, Mr Ambassador,” she replied, returning his bow before taking her place at the table.  “A very long time.”

“Calling me ‘Mr Ambassador’ shows how long it has been, Kirel.” He gave a slight grin, then leaned back for the approaching server. “Brandy?”

“Yes, thank you.  And my usual.”  The server disappeared, and Kirel relaxed for the first time in several days.  “It has been a trying time, Sejak,” she began. “Very trying.”

“Um… exhausting, from what I have heard.”

“Yes,” she sighed.

“I have also heard that everyone is safe, and that you lost only one vessel.”

“True.”

His eyes narrowed.  “But I can tell that there is something else, Kirel.  Something that you cannot let go.”

The waiter came, served, and left more quickly than Kirel had hoped.  Before she could even think of answering, she considered the brandy, inhaled, then tasted its power: the power of Vulcan and those who fashioned its distillation.  

“Sejak,” she began, interrupting the silence, “Argos II lost power so quickly that there was no time to prepare.  There was no time to strap in, nor even enough time to secure a hold for protection.  There were injuries.”  She paused for another swallow.  “Alexis, Miana, and Annisha were aboard.”

Obviously, he was more than a little disturbed.

“Their injuries were not debilitating, but their recovery will take a while.  You will probably see them in the medical complex.  You must guard your expressions.”

After a long inhale and a sizable taste of brandy, he inhaled deeply, his eyes closed.  “I will,” he said finally.

Putting his snifter aside, and immediately changing the subject, he handed Kirel a thin data disk.  “I have brought the latest images of the family.  We have had another since we last met, Kirel.”

“Another?” She studied the chip, turning it over several times before asking, “That would make…?”

“Seven. Four boys and three girls,” he said oustensibly allowing some pride to show. “And the oldest girl is very precocious.  Much like her mother.”

“Like her mother?”  Kirel raised a brow. “Sejak, I have seen you in counsel.  If she is ‘very precocious’, I would say that she also has a great deal of her father in her.  However,  how is your wife?”

His wife, Riov Ja’lan t’Aldani, worked side-by-side with her husband as a Tal Shiar operative. After the devastation of ch’Rihan, they had disappeared and were presumed dead.  Because their only daughter, Annisha, had become very attached to the Korjatas as her parents, they decided to leave her in their capable hands.

“My wife is very well, and very busy,” Sejak continued.  “Many children to look after and teach before they fledge.”

They continued their conversational dance for just over an hour, exchanging information and discussing possible tactics through ordinary words like children, family, precocious, and fledge.  Instead of images of the family, the data chip contained images of suspect ships traveling through the nebula string, of bases that had been detected inside the nebulae, on planetoids, and on large asteroids. 

Just over an hour later, Kirel began the promised station tour, beginning with the expansive garden, the school, and the medical complex.

*   *   *   *   *   

"Father, au look puzzled," Annisha said with laughing concern. "Are au letting me win?" Nijil, now sitting in a chair next to her biobed, considered his answer.

"Na, what makes au think that Anni? I'm not making an impulsive choice like some ravaging Klingon."

His daughter interjected, "Telpok takes his time."

"Tel-, au mean the man who runs the restaurant?" Nijil asked?

"That's him. He's a great warrior." Her eyes lit up. "He even fashioned a tiny Bat'leth for me."

Nijil turned pale.  "Did he now?" 

She nodded with equal excitement. 

"Au said the universe out there is dangerous… darkness filled with loneliness and despair." She gazed up at him with her big dark eyes. Nijil looked into hers with a squint and tensed his mouth.

"I may have."

Annisha went on. "He's helping me protect myself with honorable moves, so he said." She started to wave her arms. "Some of the moves don't even need a Bat'leth, just my hands, and feet." She could see her father looking a bit dejected. "Don't worry father, I still come to au for my fixing needs."

"Well," he patted her head, "not medical fixing." He let out a long sigh. "So, how do au feel."

She smiled. "I feel fine. I wanna get out of here, but they are checking me out extra long."

"Yeah, they are just being careful, and I put them up to it."

"What? Why?"

He held her hand gingerly. "Au mean a great deal to your mother and I, and people au don't even know. They have the technology here to make a very detailed diagnosis, just like I do with the Nei'rrh."

Annisha's small hand squeezed her father's. "How is the old girl?"

"The shuttle? Ugh, the mission took a toll on the hull and the engines. She'll be in repairs for a month or so."

"Aww, " she looked sad. "Need help?"

Nijil smiled, "We have people on it, but I will get au into something." He returned the squeeze with one hand and brushed her hair with the other. "It's getting long."

"My friends are going to braid it for me." She turned her head around. "What do au think, one braid or two."

"It's your head, but try just the single braid first, but before that au need rest. We'll bring au home soon."

"Alright," she smiled brightly.

 *   *   *   *   *

The medical complex was quiet at 9 pm.  Night nurses went about their business.  Physicians on night shift passed by occasionally, greeted the captain and the ambassador, then moved on to check their patients.  Most of Argos’s personnel had already been released, but a few remained for observation.  The pediatric ward was quiet. Faint, relaxing music drifted from above.  On the pretext of touring, Kirel and the ambassador were allowed to step in as long as they did not wake the children.  

Tr’Aldani watched his daughter for several minutes.  She mumbled once or twice in her sleep, sometimes in Klingon and sometimes in high Rihannsu.  Both he and Kirel suppressed a grin and resisted the urge to laugh.  Eventually their entertainment for the evening was interrupted when the nurses asked them to leave.

“See you in the morning, Mr. Ambassador?” Kirel asked as the lift doors opened to the VIP suites.  

“In the morning, Captain.”