4.4 Convergence

[Deleted]

The recent departure of Saarok had come as a real shock to Ezdreiana especially under the circumstances. Section 47,which therefore meant the Federation, was in the middle of two warring neighbors and it would take all of them to keep it contained. Saarok's new assignment with the Vice-President also meant that Ezdreiana would be the lone Diplomat at Assailant. All other DCS ambassadors were on Earth or on their respective planets trying to keep things together. It meant that she would have to redouble her efforts to keep peace and ally herself to those that had power.

Once the conference was over she would make it a priority to meet with the Debrune, Klingon, and Romulan Ambassador's. She knew that it would not be an easy conversation, but they all realized that a larger war wouldn't do them any good.

"Ambassador Ezdreiana, your meeting at the University is in twenty minutes," the hotel attendant said," there's also a message for you from DCS."

"Thank you," Ezdreiana said as she read the message. She couldn't help but be in complete shock. She had not asked for an attache or even felt that she needed one, but she knew it would be pointless to fight it.

"Ezdrei, things have been set in motion, be careful," she told herself. Her career choices had taught her to trust no one, but she would need to approach this Retiarius Tyr differently. He might just be a junior attache, but she doubted it. She would have a few friends look into this man, but she doubted that they would find much.

As she approached the gathered crowd, Ezdreiana instinctively changed her demeanor and mood. On a planet filled with telepaths, she needed to block her mind to all. Hopefully her many years of training would appear as complete naivety and obliviousness.

"Ezdreiana, it has been many years since we have spoken," Tovlor said giving her the Vulcan salute. She gladly returned the salute and even offered him a smile which she knew would irritate any Vulcan.

"You have not changed since we last spoke Tovlor," Ezdreiana said becoming much more serious than before," I presume that you have spoken to T'Reed?"

"Yes, your husband on currently on Qo'Nos speaking to the House of D'Ghor, they have remained our closest allies in this war. They have formed a blood alliance with your husband to protect you and your family. The entire fleet is at your disposal."

"That is very good to know, Tovlor," Ezdreiana replied surprised to not hear this from her husband. "Tovlor, I will ask you to keep in contact with Starbase Assailant. When I'm done here, I'll be traveling to Assailant as quickly as possible."

"Understood, Ezdreiana, I will speak to you soon," Tovlor said before excusing himself and leaving Ezdreiana once again alone with her thoughts.

"Ambassador Edrez...Ezdira...Ezdreiana" He flummoxed, eventually getting it right "I'm Retiarius Tyr, but you can call me Reti, or Ret, whichever makes it easier. I'm your new junior diplomatic attache. I'm responsible for most of your mundane stuff, but I can be a great help with other things, I think. I'm really happy to be here, this is one of my best assignments so far. I'm rambling aren't I" He laughed a short childlike giggle that turned into an unappealing snort.

"Rambling is half of the job Mr. Retiarius Tyr, there is no reason to be nervous," Ezdreiana said giving the young man a reassuring smile. She was having doubts about this man's ability to perform any type of diplomatic situation, but she knew that it could just be a ploy.

"Well then, if it's alright it you ambassador, I'm going to go and get unpacked. I've been put in your house, so I'm available anytime" He gave a cheesy smile and a thumbs up as he backed away.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Tyr," Ezdreiana said as she stopped a waiter and took a drink. ~Nice to meet you indeed~ Ezdreiana thought as she took a drink.

There was no way that she could get any type of substantial information of Tyr, but she would try to keep her ears open. At that very moment she felt very vulnerable. She didn't have all the answers and things were happening that she didn't expect.

"Mr. Tyr, please be adviced that I'd rather be on Assailant working, but my superiors feel differently," Ezdreiana said," I'm waiting for word from Admiral Lin for further instructions."

(Tag Reti and Magellan)

OOC: Welcome to the DCS and thank you for inspiring me to actually post. Very good impression on your first day

[Magellan Lin]

It was just approaching noon when an entourage of security officers and diplomats appeared at the hotel complex. A trio of security officers entered first, verifying that the interior was safe and secure, then in a hum a man materialised in the lobby.

Sirok straightened his robe and headed for the stairs the security officers falling into step beside him. He rapped firmly on the door.

"Allow me" Tyr said leaving the trill and opening the door. "Oh err, Mr Vice-President"

Sirok looked at the attache with a look of barely concealed contempt, as one may consider an ant.

"Ambassador Ezedreiana" he greeted

TAG Ezed

"I thought it only polite to see you before you left"

TAG Ezed

"Yes it is illogical for you to remain here whilst there is work to be done. I know you and Saarok worked closely together but his talents are better utilised on my staff rather than on some backwater starbase. I believe you have some work ahead of you concerning the Tholians, in fact if Admiral Magellans expedition succeeds you could be very busy indeed. As will I" he paused and stood by the window,
"Much is changing in the galaxy at the moment, the Debrune have returned the Romulans are quiet war is raging such incidents are not just events but opportunities, Opportunities I hope to make the most of"

"You and President Zahara" Ezedriana stated,

Sirok looked up,
"Logically...now with the conference completed I m sure you should have no trouble getting a transport back to Assailant."

TAG Ezedriana

"Indeed. Well life as the Vice President is a busy one. I must be gone. Perhaps we shall meet again one day. Live long and Prosper"

Sirok turned smartly on his heel and left the room, the guards accompanying him.

TAG Tyr and Ezed

[Deleted]

"Mr. Tyr, please be adviced that I'd rather be on Assailant working, but my superiors feel differently," Ezdreiana said," I'm waiting for word from Admiral Lin for further instructions."

"Of course ambassador" Retiarius answered as he fussed needlessly about the room, straightening things for no apparent reason "I can imagine that a high ranking ambassador like yourself can't wait to be back on the front lines. I can't wait to see what it looks like myself" He smiled, just as there was a tap on the door.

"Allow me" Tyr said leaving the trill and opening the door. "Oh err, Mr Vice-President"

The Vulcan entered with his entourage of guards, and Retiarius didn't need to be a telepath to work out what little regard the Vice-President held him in. Given his assignment however, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. As the Vice-President and ambassador conversed, Retiarius retired to the other side of the room and began sorting out the padds on the desk. As he did this, he put out soft telepathic feelers, trying to find a way into the Vice-President's mind without alerting him. The result was even stranger than had been expected. He knew that the will of the average Vulcan mind would make mind reading extremely difficult at best, but this mind was outright impossible. He reached out ot the guards who had accompanied him, and surprisingly found the exact same level of complete isolation in all of them. Retiarius peered up slightly as the conversation continued, looking quizically at the Vice-President. The Vulcan obviously had something to hide, as he had gone to such great lengths to train himself and staff to resist virtually all telepathy. The only way he was likely to give up anything by that method would be a forceful telepathic assault, and that would be too overtly torturous to be viable. Retiarius consigned himself to the fact that he would have to work things out in a more conventional manner.

Sirok left with his guards, and Retiarius moved to Ezdreiana's side.

"Wow, that was the Vice-President of the Federation" He said in a near awestruck voice "Well looks like you got your wish ambassador, you get to go back home. Should I make the travel arrangements for today?"

<TAG Ambassador Ezdreiana>

Retiarius departed upstairs and re-entered his room, accessing the computer terminal.

"Computer, ambassadorial search protocol 22 Beta. Search for all available vessels heading for Starbase Assailant today. Enable"

"Available, commercial freighter Karl Marx, employed by the Denebran Business Consortium, departing in 18 hours"

"Something more recent and Federation operated"

"Available, Federation garbage scow Birmingham, departing in 5 hours"

"Something more secure"

"Available, USS Ptolemy, Miranda Class science vessel, departing in 3 hours and thirty minutes"

"Perfect, open a channel to the Ptolemy" Retiarius straightened in his seat and smoothed out his shirt. Moments later the image of a middle aged woman with slightly greying hair appeared on the monitor.

"This is Commander Mary Oldham, first officer of the USS Ptolemy, how may I be of assistance?"

"Good day Commander, I am Retiarius Tyr, diplomatic attache to the Ambassador of Trill to the Federation. We need passage to Starbase Assailant, and we hear that you're going that way. If it's not too much of an inconvenience that is"

"Not at all" the Commander replied with a smile "It's just a convoy duty, and on of the freighters is stopping at Assailant. I'll arrange quarters for you both; if you could be onboard in about three hours, we wnat to set off in three and a half. Touchwood we should have you there in a little under twenty four hours"

"Thank you Commander. See you soon" the transmission cut out and Retiarius rose and went back downstairs.

"I've got us passage aboard the USS Ptolemy ambassador" he told Ezdreiana "We need to be onboard in about three hours. Is there anything that I can assist you with?"

<TAG Ezdreiana>

[Deleted]

The Romulan nodded in understanding; Stuart trusted him with his wife, as they all shared a common grief and a common history. Tedak had given up his happy marriage so that T'Val could be with Stuart, and he still didn't regret it. "I'll go see her this afternoon," he promised, "and I'll take her to the holodeck."

He smiled wistfully. "There's this program I used to take her to. You do know she loves sailing right? This program has her work as a deckhand on this big sailing liner. Haul the lines, raise the sails, climb the mast. And she just loved it." He raised an eyebrow at the human doctor. "I take it she's never shown it to you then."

Getting back to his feet, he once more rearranged his flowing robes. He'd been informed that soon Ezdreiana would be arriving with a new diplomat, and he would like to meet this diplomat before spending the time with his ex-wife.

"I have to meet with Ezdreiana and a new diplomat," he informed Mercy, "I'm sure you'll want him in here for his physical too?" He nodded as Mercy answered an affirmative. "I'll send him to you then."

The Romulan diplomat hurried to the dockingbays, where the USS Ptolemy would be docking in an hour.

~an hour later~

Tedak walked up to the Trill ambassador who was accompanied by a Humanoid male. "Ambassador Ezdreiana, it's a pleasure to see you again," the Romulan smiled as he walked up to give the woman a brief hug, then turned towards the newcomer. "I am Ambassador Tedak, representative of the Romulan Empire."

(Tyr)

ooc: sorry for moving you guys along but Mercy, T'Val and I are rather bored with not having a mission...or other interaction)

[Deleted]

Ezdreiana couldn't help but feel distrust towards her newest attache. His emotions seemed genuine but everything told her to be careful.

"Allow me" Tyr said leaving the trill and opening the door. "Oh err, Mr Vice-President"

Sirok looked at the attache with a look of barely concealed contempt, as one may consider an ant.

"Ambassador Ezedreiana" he greeted

"Vice President, this is a surprise," Ezdreiana said as she took a seat in the living area.

"I thought it only polite to see you before you left"

"Mr. Vice President, we both know that being polite is a waste of both our times," Ezdreiana said," I would rather be working."

"Yes it is illogical for you to remain here whilst there is work to be done. I know you and Saarok worked closely together but his talents are better utilised on my staff rather than on some backwater starbase. I believe you have some work ahead of you concerning the Tholians, in fact if Admiral Magellans expedition succeeds you could be very busy indeed. As will I" he paused and stood by the window,

"Much is changing in the galaxy at the moment, the Debrune have returned the Romulans are quiet war is raging such incidents are not just events but opportunities, Opportunities I hope to make the most of"

"You and President Zahara" Ezedriana stated,

Sirok looked up,"Logically...now with the conference completed I m sure you should have no trouble getting a transport back to Assailant."

"That will not be a problem, I'll be back on Assailant before the weeks end," Ezdreiana said wondering what Lily would do to Sirok for calling Assailant a backwater spacestation.

"Indeed. Well life as the Vice President is a busy one. I must be gone. Perhaps we shall meet again one day. Live long and Prosper"

Sirok turned smartly on his heel and left the room, the guards accompanying him.

"Wow, that was the Vice-President of the Federation" He said in a near awestruck voice "Well looks like you got your wish ambassador, you get to go back home. Should I make the travel arrangements for today?"

"Awe is not a good quality to have in our line of work," Ezdreiana said to her attache," yes he is the Vice President of the Federation, but as you could tell he has his own agenda."

"Wow, that was the Vice-President of the Federation" He said in a near awestruck voice

"Well looks like you got your wish ambassador, you get to go back home. Should I make the travel arrangements for today?"

"Yes, I need to contact a few friends on Betazed before we leave," Ezdreiana said as she headed towards her office. Hopefully Tyr would be able to find a transport that would take them back home quickly.

"Computer contact....................."

"I've got us passage aboard the USS Ptolemy ambassador" he told Ezdreiana "We need to be onboard in about three hours. Is there anything that I can assist you with?"

She hadn't heard him coming, but she was satisfied that he heard nothing of much importance.

"No, there is nothing for you to do, I'll be on the Ptolemy within the hour," Ezdreiana said," I will want to speak to the ship's command team. We are going to be joined on route to Assailant."

(Tyr)

[Deleted]

Retiarius walked away from the ambassador, curious as to who would be joining them en route. He knew that the ambassador wouldn't allow him to be involved in anything sensitive, so he decided to settle in and earn her trust instead. Anyway, the ships computer logs would provide any information that he needed at a later date, and it was not Ezdreiana that he had been sent to spy on, but someone else.

He cleaned out his room, carefully removing the chameleon programme for later use, and then departing with the ambassador for the Ptolemy.

~The next day on Assailant~

Retiarius disembarked with the ambassador at his side. The journey had been an uneventful one, with him having remained in his quarters for the majority of the time, whilst the ambassador had remained in her quarters, undoubtedly with her mystery arrival. He looked around, assessing the bustling docking bay as he moved through the crowd. It was both the perfect place for a quick kill, and the perfect place to avoid being caught.

Just then a Romulan man approached, hugging Ezdreiana in a friendly manner. Retiarius took a step backwards, his mind flashing back to his years undercover in the Star Empire, working intelligence gainst the Tal Shiar, and then to the dossier he had read before this mission. He quested out gently towards the Romulan's mind, and encountered the same stonewall of resistance he had become accustomed to all those years ago.

"I am Ambassador Tedak, representative of the Romulan Empire."

"Tyr, Retiarius Tyr, I'm a Betazoid" he said rather stupidly, then adding "I'm a member of the Federation Diplomatic Corps, i've been assigned as Ambassador Ezdreiana's junior attache"

<TAG Ambassador Tedak>

"Thank you very much. It's an honour sir, but if you'll excuse me I'd best go and settle in. I'm sure you and the ambassador have many important matters to discuss" He bowed out, half tripping over his own feet as he departed.

<TAG Tedak/Ezdreiana>

Moving down into the habitat section, Retiarius found his assigned quarters, which he had been informed about by subspace. He entered and looked around his room, which, whilst not being wholly spacious, appeared comfortable. He first placed the chameleon programme, masking his actions, by attempting to program a pink gin into the computer. Secondly, he placed his things around the room in his usual ordered mess, allowing him to notice if things had been moved more easily. Finally, he scanned the room for any additional monitoring devices, of which he found none. Just as he was finishing this, a message appeared on his terminal informing him that he should report for the physical the Romulan ambassador had told him about earlier. Leaving his quarters he found his way to the bases busy main sickbay, where he found a human male doctor, one whose face was all to familiar to him from his intelligence dossier.

"Doctor Mercy I presume" Retiarius entered smiling with his hand extended, almost knocking a nurse over in the process "I'm Retiarius Tyr, one of the diplomatic attache's. I believe I need a phyiscal"

<TAG Doctor Mercy>

"It's actually my first time on a starbase this big" Retiarius made idle conversation as the doctor did his prodding and poking "I'm normally stationed on planets or small orbital platforms, so this is a really big experience for me. I get to move around a lot, which is a benefit of not being tied to a family I guess. What about you, got a wife maybe, or some kids?" His voice was casual so as not to arouse suspicion, but pointed enough to get answers.

<TAG Doctor Mercy>

The doctor finished his exam, and Retiarius stood to leave.

"Well thank you very much doctor, it's been a pleasure talking to you. Perhaps we can have lunch sometime"

<TAG Doctor Mercy>

Retiarius departed sickbay, once again almost knocking over the exact same nurse as earlier. Returning to his quarters for a padd, Retiarius was about to leave again, when a note appeared on his computer terminal, telling him that he had an incoming transmission. Sitting at the terminal, he opened the link, and the image of a man of his age, slightly overweight, ith blue eyes and mess blonce hair appeared on the screen.

"James" Retiarius attempted to sound pleased, covering his curiosity and fear over the method of communication.

"Please don't stand on ceremony Ret" James scolded him "I wouldn't be talking to you if it wasn't a secure transmission. The boys in tech came up with it, the code's actually interwoven into the main datastream transmission. Even if you find it, which is nigh on impossible, it's just as impossible to crack without the right decoding programme"

"What decoding programme?" Retiarius asked, coonfused as he had no programmes running.

"It's interwoven into the chameleon programme. They were designed together to be jointly foolproof"

"It had better be" Retiarius grimaced "I don't know how it's going to work with this AI Lily. I mean, I know it's programmed to counter AI, but we've never pressure tested it against something so comple..."

"Don't worry" James cut across it firmly "Starfleet Intelligence tech division knows what it's doing. Anyway, we're friends so the transmission origin and destination won't arouse suspicion, and this conversation is only a small layer of code. Everone watching the main decoy transmission, if they are that is, is convinced that we're talking about 20th century rock music. Ayway, I need a brief that isn't coded, how's things out there?"

"I've met Tedak and Stuart Mercy" Retiarius reported "Tedak is either a devout student of meditation or ex-Tal Shiar, because he has a complete telpathic block. Mercy seems nice, but he clammed up around the topic of his son. I don't know how I can viably get down to Qualinost without arousing suspicion yet to observe the Debrune Elders, let alone find this holy son. I'm planning on focusing base side until the situation changes or the opportunity arises. Keep an eye on the Romulans and Debrune this side, and try and get in well with the Mercy's as well. I just hope something at my end will give. What about other leads, what does Sirok and the Romulans look like?"

"Whiter than white" James' face darkened at the Vice-President's name "We've got nothing on Sirok, and the fact that he's got IAB on his side has made things harder for field operations and covert ops. Luckily almost all of SI is showing solidarity. Counter-Intelligence is running interference on IAB, and nearly all operations handlers are feeding in false reports on locations and missions. We've also buried certain field operatives in paperwork, such as you and the guys in the Star Empire. We're keeping up intel and forming a defense plan, it's just we've gotta watch our backs more than ususal" He coughed "Anyway, that's it for one transmission. Self coded messages three times a week, and a one of these talks a fortnight. Fourth message will contain times. Stay safe old friend"

"You to" Retiarius smiled and nodded as the screen went blank. He sat back in his chair and looked upwards. Oh for the good old days when the threat was just from the outside, instead of having someone inside giving them a helping hand. Adamant to continue his mission, he tapped his commbadge.

"Mr Tyr to Ambassador Ezdreiana. Ambassador, seeing as we've had a long trip, and I'm more or less settled in, I was wondering if we could have lunch, to you know, get acquainted. We could invite Ambassador Tedak and the Mercy's if you like, they seem nice?"

<TAG Ambassador Ezdreiana>

He tapped the comm panel on te computer.

"This is diplomatic attache Retiarius Tyr to Ambassador Tedak, would you care to join me and Ambassador Ezdreiana for lunch?"

<TAG Ambassador Tedak>

[mercy]

"I take it she's never shown it to you then." Tedak was referring to the sailing program he and T’Val had enjoyed in the past. “No, I mean yes, she’s mentioned sailing in general…not the specific program.” It gave Stuart an idea for a sailing trip down on Qualinost.

Tedak rose to take his leave of this meeting. "I have to meet with Ezdreiana and a new diplomat," he informed Mercy, "I'm sure you'll want him in here for his physical too?" He nodded as Mercy answered an affirmative. "I'll send him to you then."

Stuart showed him the door and they said their good bye’s once more as the Romulan diplomat exited the infirmary. Jill, his head nurse, whisked by handing him a PADD, it was today’s list of rounds he was going to have to make. There were only a handful of patients in the critical care unit, the rest were stable and were just waiting proper recovery time for their release.

*Three hours later.*

Stuart was back at the infirmary lounge, where the main nurse’s station was for greeting and directing any newcomers. He had just signed off on the rounds he had performed when one of those newcomers came in through the main entrance.

"Doctor Mercy I presume." The man was too busy extending his hand that he nearly knocked Jill off her feet when he passed her. "I'm Retiarius Tyr, one of the diplomatic attaché’s. I believe I need a physical."

~This guy needs more than a physical.~ Stuart thought to himself, but graciously smiled and offered his hand in return. “Welcome to Assailant then. Please, follow me.”

Stuart led him to the nearest secluded biobed for the exam. “Please make yourself comfortable right here, and I’ll take that.” He accepted the PADD the diplomat carried and verified his identity via Lily, the starbase’s sentient computer, while Retiarius took off his main robe and then settled himself. “I suppose being a diplomat a starbase such as this one is nothing new to you.”

"It's actually my first time on a starbase this big." Retiarius made idle conversation as the doctor did his prodding and poking "I'm normally stationed on planets or small orbital platforms, so this is a really big experience for me. I get to move around a lot, which is a benefit of not being tied to a family I guess. What about you, got a wife maybe, or some kids?" His voice was casual so as not to arouse suspicion, but pointed enough to get answers.

Stuart inwardly shook his head. He knew that these diplomats always knew more than they let on. He had been around them long enough. “Yes, a beautiful wife who is not only my partner in life but also here in the infirmary. She is a Vulcan Healer. And we have…” Stuart suddenly paused in mid-sentence before he regained his composure. “…we have a son. A Debrune child that was initially placed in my wife’s care before we met.” Stuart was not ready to speak about D’Beren in the past tense, he still had little hope…very little.

Stuart finished his exam, and Retiarius stood to leave. "Well thank you very much doctor, it's been a pleasure talking to you. Perhaps we can have lunch sometime."

“Yes, that would be nice. I would be interested to hear about the medical facilities on those smaller orbital platforms. I imagine them being no more than a ship’s sickbay.”

Retiarius added how he looked forward to a future lunch date. Quickly he departed sickbay, once again almost knocking Jill Tsomba over, who pretended to be throwing a PADD after him as he exited. “How rude!” She proclaimed as she turned to face Stuart with disgust in her eyes. “Now-now Jill, calm down. Listen, I want to check on T’Val. So I’m going to take an early lunch and when I get back you can take an extended one.” Stuart winked at Jill who simply smiled her gratitude in return.

Stuart entered their quarters and he spotted T’Val lounging on the chaise, just staring out through the one huge window they had here in their living room. She was simply dressed in her pink pajamas. A button up top with matching pants made out of alien silk. She had loved the feel of it against her skin, mainly due to the fact that it didn’t trap heat, but felt cool to the touch at all times.

Reaching her for a hello kiss, Stuart noted her tear-streaked face. He had no idea how long she had been up, just sitting here. He sat down next to her, stroking her beautiful red hair as she continued her empty stare into the stars. Quietly he asked, “Have you eaten anything?”

<T’Val>

[Deleted]

Slowly with a rising melancholy Vebn reached forward and turned off the screen before him. It had several years since he had last viewed those pictures. A time when his wife and daughter had joined him on an excursion to Rigel, those had been more innocent times, before the Dominion War, before Shinzon, before the end of the Romulan Empire has he had known it. That past was long gone and it was people like his daughter who strove to recreate it. Free thinkers like himself were apostates even to other apostates like Tedak.

Whilst he was grateful for Tedaks assistance back on Romulus he was well aware that it would cost, and cost him dear one day. For now at least he and Tedak had an uneasy alliance and working relationship. For all his faults Tedak was better suited as a liason to the Debrune, leaving him free to deal with the other nations although that had pretty much ground to a halt. The accidental revelation that Romulus was supplying cloaks to the Tholians had made him, the deal maker and the person who had spilled the beans a persons non grata to both Ambassador Kaskrene and Major Korok.

As if on cue his console bleeped. Vebn switched screens and allowed a small smile to play across his lips. The data worm he had set into the Klingon Embassies computer network had returned with some interesting snippets of information. The Klingon fleet were preparing an offensive in the Totati Sector and were even drawing up plans for an assault on Aenvolis. A bold move given that that Tholian Colony was in Federation Space and under the protection of this very space station an assault there could draw the Federation in to the Colonial War. A very handy fact to know. Then his eye drifted over to what appeared on first glance to be a useless piece of information. The transfer of several millilitres of Nalotium a highly combustible byproduct of Tholian warp engines.

His chin resting on steepled fingers Vebn thought deeply. This meant something but he didnt have all the pieces of the puzzle but he recognised a pertinent piece of information when he saw it. He would need to dig a little deeper. He paused as Nelon entered.

"Excuse me sir I thought you would like to know Ambassador Ezdreiana has returned from Betazed."

"And Saarok?"

"He has not."

Vebn frowned,
"Have our operatives on Betazed follow up on that, find out where he has gone. Anything else?"

"Yes. Ezedriana has returned with a new attache, one Retarius Tyr"

Vebn shook his head,
"I ve not heard of him, should i have"

Now it was Nelons turn to shake his head,
"No. He comes up clean in our records, he seems just what he is - a diplomatic attache"

Vebn smiled,
"No one here is exactly what he seems. Have an agent do a thorough background check."

Nelon looked down at his PaDD
"There isnt anyone available for a couple of weeks."

"I am a patient man I can wait. Have him shadowed for a few days, get one of the local goons to do it, he won't find anything out but it may rattle our Federation Allies."

"Yes sir"

Nelon left and Vebn leaned back in his chair, his melancholy was lifting, he had a problem to investigate and a new diplomat to antagonise."

[Deleted]

At first, T'Val didn't even realise that her mate had come hom, nor that he sat beside her. Only when he hugged her and repeated his question, did she shake her head. "I was not hungry," she answered hollowly, keeping her gaze on endless, staring into deep space.

"But you have to eat," Stuart responded, looking down on her in concern, "you can't sit here all day and not eat."

Her face stained with tears, she finally looked up at him. "I am not hungry," she repeated flatly, "and I am not in the mood for debate." She wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders, then got up from the couch and walked up to the window. "Do you think he is aware of us visiting him?" she finally asked, "I do not like it that we are not allowed to touch him. I miss him Stuart."

T'Val finally turned around, after gazing out for a long time. She looked fragile and scared, even though she attempted to appear as Vulcan as possible. "I miss my son, is that so strange?" Then she started to wonder what he was doing home, as usually he didn't come home for lunch if she was having a day off. "What are you doing home?" she asked, "other than checking up on me?"

Of course, she did appreciate him coming home as that meant she wasn't alone. She didn't want to be alone right now, even though she told everyone she wanted to be. "I am sorry." T'Val walked up to her mate and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face against his shoulder. It helped that he was a good head taller than she. "I want to come in for another run of tests," she finally suggested, surprising both herself as well as Stuart. She hadn't been in for any testing since the crash, as both of them had other things on their minds, but now she wanted this to succeed more than ever. "I need the diversion," she insisted, "please, take me with you to sickbay, so we can continue your research. There must be something that can be done?"

[mercy]

She was even more beautiful when she was feisty Stuart reflected as she quickly closed the matter about her eating. “Yes, I’m sure he is aware of us being there.” Of course he lied to her as he had no reason to believe that D’Beren was truly among the living. She had shot him a blank look, his mind had betrayed him, but she did not call him on it.

“Yes dear, I am checking on you.” He answered to her wonderment about his being home. Of course she was glad that he did. When they embraced she had mentioned wanting to continue his research. It had surprised him at first, but then he realized that under the circumstances it was no surprise at all. He feared however, that she might be grasping at hope that wasn’t there.

“My love..” While holding her back at her shoulders he was looking directly into her eyes. “…you know there is a very low chance of us finding any positive results for this?” She nodded in the affirmative. “But that won’t stop us from trying. Go get dressed then.” She turned towards the bedroom to change.

*Starbase Assailant Medical Center*

After another half-a-dozen scans of T’Val’s physiology Stuart was now busy studying them. T’Val had come over to have a look at the readings herself. “Do you see this?” Stuart was pointing at one of the blood sample readouts. He didn’t wait for a response. “I’ve seen this before; actually I’ve seen this more recently. Ji’Zhan, Jak’Dor, and other Debrunes. Of course it is more prevalent within them as they are full Debrune, so that explains why I haven’t noticed it before in your scans. You’re quite a bit removed from the Debrune culture…but obviously still have some of the genes.”

T’Val followed what he was saying, but her look gave way to his point of all of this. “I’m sorry dear. I’m thinking that you are missing certain aspects of Debrune genome that is keeping you from becoming pregnant. I’ll need to run more tests…and I need more reference samples. Maybe Ji’Zhan can help? I’ll give him a call.” Stuart ran to the nearest terminal to send out a message explaining the situation and asking for Ji’Zhan’s presence at his earliest convenience.

[Deleted]

"That is possible," T'Val replied quietly, "as the Debrune genome has been passed down through my father's line and apparently I am the first female in his line as his father and his grandfather too had the Debrune genome."

She listened as he suggested calling upon Ji'Zhan for help. "That is an excellent idea," she said, smiling for the first time that day, "though he is no medic, perhaps his knowledge of Debrune history may be of assistance to us."

T'Val was starting to feel better, even though she couldn't get the image of her son's broken and battered body out of her mind. Now, she was starting to be able to deal with it a little better, but she was prone to the attacks of depression more often than before.

"Tedak came by earlier," she suddenly said, "he asked if I would be interested in going to the holodeck with him. He said he saved my original sailing program. Would you mind terribly if I went with him?" She knew Tedak and Stuart had finally come to a certain understanding where she was concerned, especially since when they first met, the two men couldn't stand each other.

"I will keep Yade with me at all times," she promised, stroking her little green firelizard with affection. The little green crooned in delight and flexed her wings in appreciation. "And tomorrow, perhaps you and I could spend our free time on the promenade? I want to redecorate our quarters."

[Deleted]

Tedak had just entered his office after exchanging a brief greeting with Neral and Vebn, when Lily informed him a communication was waiting for him.

"Patch it through Lily," the Romulan replied as he settled himself at his desk. He had just been to see T'Val but had only spent a brief amount of time with her. She hadn't seemed in the mood to talk and had indicated she wished to be alone for now. Knowing Stuart would check in on her later on, the Romulan had abided by her wishes, but not before inviting her to the holodeck for the evening.

"This is diplomatic attache Retiarius Tyr to Ambassador Tedak, would you care to join me and Ambassador Ezdreiana for lunch?"

~diplomatic...~ Tedak thought, then remembered the young man from his brief exchange with him at the shuttle bay, when Ezdreiana had introduced them. "Certainly Mr Tyr, please let me know when and where."

The Romulan acknowledged the time and place and promises he would be there.

~ sometime later~

Tedak walked into the restaurant and spotted the Trill diplomat and her new trainee almost immediately. Above him, his two firelizards twittered in delight upon seeing the Trill again. "They are pleased to see you, madam ambassador," Tedak smiled cheekily as he held out a seat for her, then seated himself opposite of her, leaving Tyr a choice of seats.

"How are you settling in?" he finally addressed Tyr, "she's not making things too difficult on you is she? After lunch, I think we should head you over to the Romulan Embassy to meet Ambassador s'Khellian."

[Deleted]

Ezdreiana had been troubled at the lack of curiosity from her new attache. She had informed him that they would be joined by someone halfway through there trip back to Assailant and he had not once asked her who it would be. It turned out to be a less than successful meeting, but a few of her ideas had been accepted. In a matter of days, a small Vulcan fleet would reach Assailant which would be at her disposal. This was good news for everyone since the Jefferson would be docked for a while.

With her business finished, Ezdreiana allowed herself to rest. She knew that the Ptolemy would reach Assailant in a matter of hours and the important work would begin once again.

On Assailant

As both walked onto the busy docking bay, Ezdreiana couldn't help but notice the Romulan walking towards them. Ezdreiana was pleasantly surprised by Tedak's hug which he returned.

"I hope you haven't gotten into trouble my dear friend," Ezdreiana said suddenly remembering Retiarius.

"Tyr, Retiarius Tyr, I'm a Betazoid" he said rather stupidly, then adding "I'm a member of the Federation Diplomatic Corps, I've been assigned as Ambassador Ezdreiana's junior attache"

"He's rather clumsy, don't you think?" Ezdreiana asked as Retiarius left to find his quarters," for some reason I don't trust him."

(Tedak)

Ezdreiana was pleased to know that it just wasn't her, but she had to take into account both of their histories. Both of them had worked in very dangerous jobs and trust was not something they found everyday. After a few more words, both of them excused themselves to their respective offices.

"Lily, please inform my office that I have arrived and will be in my office in a few hours," Ezdreiana asked.

"Affirmative and welcome back Ambassador," Lily replied," it's been rather boring without you."

"For some reason, I don't believe you," Ezdreiana replied smiling. Assailant was many things, but it was never boring.

"Mr Tyr to Ambassador Ezdreiana. Ambassador, seeing as we've had a long trip, and I'm more or less settled in, I was wondering if we could have lunch, to you know, get acquainted. We could invite Ambassador Tedak and the Mercy's if you like, they seem nice?"

"That is a very good idea Mr. Tyr, I'll meet you in a few minutes," Ezdreiana said as she entered her quarters and took a seat.

A short time later

Ezdreiana once again spotted her Romulan friend, but she was even more pleased when she spotted his two firelizards. They were spectacular animals that were very protective of their companions.

"They are pleased to see you, madam ambassador," Tedak smiled cheekily as he held out a seat for her, then seated himself opposite of her, leaving Tyr a choice of seats.

"Well I'm happy to see them as well," Ezdreiana said as she petted one of them softly," thank you Tedak and please stop calling me ambassador."

"How are you settling in?" he finally addressed Tyr, "she's not making things too difficult on you is she? After lunch, I think we should head you over to the Romulan Embassy to meet Ambassador s'Khellian."

"Of course I am Tedak, I wouldn't be a good ambassador if I wasn't," Ezdreiana said as he offered both men a smile and a slight chuckle. "We both know that things on Assailant don't happen anywhere else. He needs to get used to it fast."

[Deleted]

Retiarius left his quarters, carrying a padd containing the station's schematics, and headed out for a restauant he had spotted earlier called Hishar's. As he emerged from the turbolift onto the main promenade, he scanned the crowd quickly, and immediately his senses were alerted to a scruffy looking middle aged man in a dishevelled suit, sitting against a pylon, and doing the most overt piece of surveillance Retiarius had ever seen. Whilst he could have lost him easily, Retiarius was, at this moment, in no mood to give away the fact that he had counter-intelligence training. However, it was becoming increasingly public knowledge that he was clumsy, and so this could work to his advantage.

Without ever breaking his stride, Retiarius walked from the trubolift, and turned left onto the promenade. He sauntered, appearing in no particular hurry, and looked around at everything, trying to appear easily impressed and touristy. At one point, whilst examining a shelf laden with glittergams, Retiarius dropped his padd, and immediately turned around on bended knee to retrieve it. Brushing himself off as he returned to his feet. He could see that the man was still following him, now leaning against a console, and emitting an air of aggressiveness that told people not to interfere with him. This, and a quick telepathic probing of the man's mind, calmed Retiarius down. No intelligence service in the galaxy would send someone so blatant on a mission if he had been made as an SI officer. He know was certain tha this was just a local thug, hired by some curious member of the community to observe him. This had reminded him of something important though. He was walking around in a hostile environment, and he had yet to take the time to manifacture himself any particles weapons for his personal defence. That would have to be his first order of business later on.

He walked further on, and eventually reached Hishar's a moment later, where the two ambassadors were already seated. He waved a little over-enthusiastically, narrowly avoiding hitting a waitress sqaure in the face. Apologising profusely as he backed in the door, then almost knocking over a potted plant, Retiarius eventually made it to the table and sat facing the door, seeing his observer forcibly make his way past a waiter and sit alone at a table with a clear view of Retiarius. He smiled quietly to himself, gauging accurately that the man had obviously not, and would probably never guess that he had made him within four seconds of them laying eyes on each other.

"How are you settling in?" he finally addressed Tyr, "she's not making things too difficult on you is she? After lunch, I think we should head you over to the Romulan Embassy to meet Ambassador s'Khellian."

"Of course I am Tedak, I wouldn't be a good ambassador if I wasn't," Ezdreiana said as he offered both men a smile and a slight chuckle. "We both know that things on Assailant don't happen anywhere else. He needs to get used to it fast."

"I've only been with the ambassador for a few days" Retiarius smiled as he opened the menu "She has yet to have the opportunity to make things hard I think" He laughed "Anyway ambassador, waht do you mean things happen here that don't happen anywhere else. Is that like all this talk I here about some religious figure caught in a shuttle crash on the planet surface?" He leaned in slightly, probing for information.

<TAG Ambassador Tedak/Ezdreiana>

Retiarius nodded as he listened.

"I don't suppose either of you could tell me anything about the Debrune people? It's just, being up here and all I expect to have to deal with them at some point or other. Plus I'm a bit curious, after all that's why I joned the DCS. Who knows, I might even take some shore time planet side. But I'm rambling, sorry"

<TAG Ambassador Tedak/Ezdreiana>

Once the meal was finished, Retiarius sat back satisfied, happy at the quality of the food here, and even happier that his obtuse shadow had foolishly decided to start on the Saurian Brandy, and was now in no position to follow the signs for the exit, let alone a moving person. Retiarius cleared his throat, as he removed his glasses for cleaning.

"Sorry to be a bother ambassador, but I believe you mentioned earlier about visiting an Ambassador s'Khellian at the Romulan Embassy"

<TAG Ambassador Tedak/Ezdreiana/s'Khellian>

[Deleted]

Anyway ambassador, what do you mean things happen here that don't happen anywhere else. Is that like all this talk I here about some religious figure caught in a shuttle crash on the planet surface?" He leaned in slightly, probing for information.

Tedak's eyes flashed with sudden anger as he listened to the new ataché speak. "This 'some religious figure' as you call him is a three year old boy, my son," he shot back, "and he is still alive and well cared for by Debrune medical specialists. Security on all sides is aiding in the investigations towards the cause of the crash. Official statement is that the crash is an accident and I for one would like to believe that it was. It is bad enough that my only child may not survive, but it is worse for the Debrune people, and my ex-wife."

His firelizards fanned their wings in response to the anger emanated by their bondmate, but remained where they were upon a silent order from the Romulan. ~he is just very ignorant~ he thought angrily as he kept his gaze fixed on the young man before him. Under the table, Ezdreiana reached for him and put a warning hand on his leg to keep him from making the situation go from bad to worse. He nodded quietly to acknowledge her silent warning, but kept his gaze on Tyr.

Retiarius nodded as he listened.

"I don't suppose either of you could tell me anything about the Debrune people? It's just, being up here and all I expect to have to deal with them at some point or other. Plus I'm a bit curious, after all that's why I joned the DCS. Who knows, I might even take some shore time planet side. But I'm rambling, sorry"

Still rankled at the notion that Tyr ignored his first answer, Tedak was again the first one to answer the question. "The Debrune are an ancient species, it is believed, and scientifically proven that they are the parent race to the Vulcans and the Romulans and many other Vulcanoid species. They are a peaceful and spiritual people, but I think Ambassador Ji'Zhan may be more able to tell you about the Debrune as he is a Debrune Elder. And yes, you are rambling but as you are new, I believe you are allowed to. Assaillant's computer intelligence, Lily, may also be able to provide you with more information. Just call her name and she will respond."

~~~~

"Sorry to be a bother ambassador, but I believe you mentioned earlier about visiting an Ambassador s'Khellian at the Romulan Embassy"

"I'll be sure to let you know when you are a bother Ambassador Tyr," the Romulan responded, "and yes I did mention visiting Ambassador s'Khellian. If your mentor allows it, I will take you there when your duties to her are finished."

[mercy]

The regular workday had come to a close as Stuart was sitting alone at home. He had told T’Val earlier that it was alright for her to join Tedak on the holodeck, although he didn’t think it was going to help her one bit. It didn’t ease Stuart’s mind any for his wife to be spending this kind of time with her ex-husband. He didn’t know why it bothered him other than just being a ‘man’ he supposed. Stuart shook the thought from his mind to focus on something else.

Maybe it was the silence that was getting to him, D’Beren’s absence. The child was not running around from room to room, as he sometimes had done in the past. The lack of his presence turned into sheer solitude for Stuart and he didn’t know what to do with himself. He feared turning on the holovid for fear of hearing any news of the crash. Instead he decided to just lie there on the sofa.

Stuart looked at the large digital readout on the opposite wall, which indicated the local time of the starbase. At 2030 it was well into the evening. He hoped T’Val would return soon as he closed his eyes waiting for her. His mind wandered to their little shopping trip for tomorrow. She wanted redecorate their quarters and he was looking forward to shopping…at least that’s what he told himself before he dozed off.

[Deleted]

T'Val had spent the entire afternoon with Tedak on the holodeck, and now she realised how much she missed doing this. Just spending her free time on a holographic ocean in a holograpic sailing boat. It also helped getting her mind off her current issues. The whole afternoon she had spent laughing and actually having fun.

Tedak had been pleased to see her smile again, and he was glad he could've been of help. When he would escort her to her quarters later, he'd have to remember to mention it to Stuart as he knew the young doctor would be very happy to hear this.

Together, they braved the strong winds and qualls that would come down on them and nearly capsized the boat. And if it didn't rain, the spray from the waves slamming against the hull would drench them both. But T'Val didn't care, this was when she loved sailing best. Wiping the hair out of her face, she hung on to the ropes of the main sail, struggling to keep it from sliding from her cold fingers.

Tedak was on hand to help and together they had gotten the boat back under control. He too smiled, especially when it finally stopped sailing and the wind settled down a little. They enjoyed dinner on deck; a simple dinner made of sandwiches and a can of coffee. Even though T'Val generally didn't like coffee and was more of a tea person, she drank the hot brew without comment.

A few hours later, Tedak dutifully dropped his ex-wife off at her quarters, but not before he had draped her in a blanket that would keep others from staring at her wet clothing. Her hair was dripping wet and sticking to her face, as were her shirt and slacks. T'Val smiled brightly at her husband, handed the blanket back to Tedak and disappeared into the bathroom.

The Romulan beckoned his young human friend closer. "She had a great time," he informed Stuart, "and I suggest you take her to this particular program more often." He handed Stuart a memory rod before continuing. "I've not seen her so happy ever since the accident, but I think it also has to do with her belief that you are making progress on your research." Tedak frowned slightly. "You are making progress right?"

Minutes after Tedak had left, T'Val reappeared from the bathroom, dressed in a long simple brown dress with long sleeves. Her hair was still twisted in a towel as she walked up to her husband. "I had a great time, thank you for letting him take me. We should do it too, I'm sure you will like it. How was your day?"

[Deleted]

Retiarius nodded as he rose from the table, deciding he had pushed the Romulan too far to make him useful for the remainder of the day.

"In that case I look forward to my duties being over" He turned quickly to Ezdreiana "Not that I don't enjoy my duties, it's just that I've never had much of an opportunity to... I'm going to go now" He turned and quickly dpearted in his usual false guise of incompetence, obtaining a surrepticious glance at his former shadow, who now seemed drunkenly intent on his argument with his plate of string beans and steak.

He returned to his quarters, planning his next move carefully. His objectives could be obtained through numerous routes, but which one to take remained obscure. Tedak could probably provide the most direct answers, but his attitude and suspected training would make him unco-operative. The opportunity to get down to Qualinost and to observe the people for himself was limited, and even more limited was the chance to observe the Debrune Holy Child. Of all his options, the best possible outcome he oculd see was to undergo a pincer manouvere, and to hope for at least one hit. Firstly, he would have to get some sort of data worm into the Romuan embassy computer, but how to do that remained a difficulty. Secondly, he would have to get increasingly close to the Mercy's, starting off gently, but progressively ingratiate himself with them, hopefully getting him ever closer to the child, one of the major keys to the conspiracy.

He sat down at his computer terminal and began phase one, creating a data sifting programme in a datafile seperate from the main system, hopefully keeping it isolated for Lily's consciousness. He wrote in the code manually for several hours, specifically creating the programme to copy and transmit any transmissions containing key words, such as Debrune, Romulan, Vulcan, Sirok and reunification, or those which were encrypted. Not having the luxury of transmitting everything to SI cryptology, Retiarius realised he would have to decode the transmissions himself, not a proposition he relished, given the abundance of work that needed to be done, both for his real mission, and his cover job. He also feared any direct linkage between him and the Romulan embassy, and so programmed the worm to disguise all the stolen data in seemingly mundane reports and queries, and to route them to the Federation embassy data pool, via the Klingon and Ferengi embassies. Once there, he could pick them up as he pleased, not arousing any suspicion that he was doing anything other than his job. He saved and locked e programme, which itself was disguised within a message to Ambassador Tedak, asking him when it was convenient to meet him to go and see Ambassador s'Khellian, as Ezdreiana had released him from his duties. The second the message was opened, the worm would be silently released, virtually undetectable in the multi layered hub of activity that was the Romulan embassy computer. Then he turned to the mound of paperwork that had appeared in his absence. He sifted through this for the next few hours, arranging several meeting with an Arbazan trade delegation, noting down a list of diplomatic etiquette for a dinner with the Gorn ambassador, and correcting several errors in a mining proposal to the Orions. Finished, it was almost eleven, and Retiarius fell back into his bed, ensuring that the door was locked, and fell into a deep sleep. The sheer volume of work, that was the only real problem of intelligence.

~Early the next morning~

Retiarius was awake bright and early, transmitting all the paperwork he had completed the night before to ensure that he didn't have to spend the entire day running around. Burning the midnight oil had obviously paid off, as the volume of work he had cleared ensured him a good few hours of downtime. He did not, however, send the message he had prepared, along with the hidden data worm, to Tedak. That could wait for the time being, s he had other things of equal importance to attend to.

His morning routine would hopefully kill two birds with one stone. A secondary aim was for him to build some sort of weapons to defend hiself with, his current defensive position standing at nil. This could be achieved by a simple shopping trip for the appropriate parts, and would also link in with his more primary aim, that of getting to know the Mercy's.

He moved to the replicator and ordered a cup of white coffee, double strong, double sweet, and a bagel with jam and butter. He removed the newly synthesised objects and placed them on the table in his quarters, pciking up the cup and draining the contents almost immediately. Now came the more unpleasant part of his task. He set about cutting through the bagel with the replicated knife, slowly edging it through the centre. Then he deliberately slipped, and the bagel flew away from him, ut the blade kept going, cutting a three inch diagonal gash in his left palm that began to bleed. Retiarius swore violently, despite the deliberate nature of his act, and pressed the clean white napkin to his hand, stemming the bleeding. He quickly departed his quarters for sickbay.

Arriving at sickbay, he walked in just as Dr Mercy and his wife were exiting, apparently heading for a day out given their absence of medical clothing. Retiarius glanced at the Vulcan for a fraction of a second, and recognised her in the exact same way that he had recognised her husband, from the intelligence dossier on this mission.

"Sorry to bother you doctor, but I don't suppose that you could have a look at my hand before you go" He put on a quiet needy tone to his voice, arousing Mercy's sympathy "The bagel got away from me, and this is the result" He smiled weakly, being led back into sickbay, where the doctor set about quickly treating his hand.

"So are you to going anywhere nice today?" He asked, gesturing at their civilan clothes with his good hand.

<TAG T'Val/Doctor Mercy>

"Oh" Retiarius perked up a little, smiling more "That's a funny coincidence, I'm shopping myself today. I've just gotta get some stuff to fix one or two things in my quarters. Do you mind if i tag along?" Assuming that T'Val's mind would be as closed as other Vulcans, Retiarius din't even bother reaching out to her mind, but instead pushed gently towards Mercy, sensing his sense of sadness over his son and his wife's condition, and subtly enhancing them, making him more open to the Betazoid's apparently friendly offer.

<TAG Mercy/T'Val>

[Deleted]

"Sorry to bother you doctor, but I don't suppose that you could have a look at my hand before you go" He put on a quiet needy tone to his voice, arousing Mercy's sympathy "The bagel got away from me, and this is the result" He smiled weakly, being led back into sickbay, where the doctor set about quickly treating his hand.

T'Val glanced at her husband, then beckoned the diplomat back into sickbay. As the diplomats weren't starfleet, she usually ended up caring for any that were injured, rather than Stuart. "Come with me ambassador..." she started, raising an eyebrow as he hadn't introduced himself.

"So are you to going anywhere nice today?" He asked, gesturing at their civilan clothes with his good hand.

T'Val didn't miss the fact that he avoided naming himself. "We are going shopping," she stated matter-of-factly, glancing pointedly at her husband. "We wish to redecorate our quarters. Now, please sit still while I tend to that cut in your hand. You say a bagel got away from you...are you certain you did not just get careless?

"Oh" Retiarius perked up a little, smiling more "That's a funny coincidence, I'm shopping myself today. I've just gotta get some stuff to fix one or two things in my quarters. Do you mind if i tag along?"

"Actually, yes we do," T'Val said coldly, "I wish to spend some private time with my husband." Seeing his disappointment, she softened up a little. "Very well, as long as you will not stay with us the entire afternoon. I need some time with my husband, it is important to me."

[Deleted]

The dinner had been a rather uneventful evening. She was glad to see that her newest attache annoyed everyone as well but other than that nothing new was learned. Ezdreiana was saddened to hear that Tedak's child was ill, but she knew that he was being taken care of by wonderful doctors. With these thoughts in mind, Ezdreiana went to bed hoping to get a few good hours of sleep in.

As soon as she closed her eyes, she opened them once again only to realize that fourteen hours had passed. She had Lily double check the chronometer, but it was to no avail. She had indeed slept fourteen hours, but rather than be more rested she felt like she had worked a few days without rest or food.

"Computer please begin musical score Alpha one," Ezdreiana said as she crossed her legs ready to being meditation. No sooner had she entered her meditation cycle, that she blacked out once again. When she woke once again she was alarmed concerning her current medical state.

"What the hell is happening to me?" Ezdreiana asked herself as she exited her quarters and headed towards sickbay. Once she entered the starbases massive sickbay, she was greeted by one of the nurses on duty. Without realizing it, Ezdreiana's hand clutched her weapon and fired it killing the nurse instantly.

"What the hell!!!............" a nursed asked of the commotion before seeing his dead friend.

"Ambassador, who did this?" the nurse asked not realizing that the she had done it herself. Ezdreiana without even thinking fired again able to perform the kill shot once again. Due to the proximity of the shot, Ezdreiana's robes were now covered the deep shade of red which could only be blood.

"Where is he?" were the first words that Ezdreiana asked. Ezdreiana looked at her hands in horror not understanding what she was doing. Those questions disappeared almost as soon as they came and she began once again to ask "Where is he?"

It wasn't long until she came upon the three people that Ezdreiana knew. Commander Mercy, T'Val, and her attache, Tyr. Her hands once again were raised and she fired at them.

"Where is he?" Ezdreiana asked," Where is he?" She continued to ask this as she fired onto the three

"What the hell is happening?" Ezdreiana asked regaining her free will but loosing it just as quickly. She fired once again finally finding her mark. On the floor bleeding profusly lay Tyr, T'Val and Stuart Mercy.

"Tell me where he is?" Ezdreiana asked T'Val who was now covered in blood. "Where is the Divine Child? We must save him. We know he's not dead, we must save him."

[Deleted]

T'Val raised an eyebrow in surprise as she continued to bandage Tyr's hand. "Ambassador Ezdreiana, what can we do for you?" she started, then froze at the sight of an odd looking weapon trained on them. "Where is who, ambassador?" she returned, as the Trill continued to repeat her question.

Three shots were fired in rapid succession; first T'Val saw Tyr fall down to the deck, then Stuart was shot. The Vulcan woman screamed as she saw her mate go down, then felt herself being slammed back against the biobed, before falling down to the deck. She couldn't breathe and she felt as though her entire body was on fire.

T'Val noted the confusion on the Trill's face as she seemed to struggle over the control of her own body. She couldn't understand who the Trill was referring to when she kept demanding to know where 'he' was. Instead of answering, she struggled to reach her mate. Her clothing was starting to grow slick with blood, her blood. She looked at it with distant interest, trying to keep her fading attention on the diplomat holding the weapon.

"Why?" she asked as Ezdreiana knelt beside her. She now mentioned saving the Divine Child. "You cannot save him," she whispered, a distinct sadness crossing her features, "he is beyond saving. He is dead." She needed to believe he was dead to continue with her life, at least for now. Her eyes widened as she saw the diplomat raise her weapon. "Please," she whispered, "help us. Let us help you. Ezdreiana please..." Beside her, she felt Tyr stir and heard him groan. Stuart too, was conscious and struggling, but T'Val doubted either would be able to bear the excruciating pain much longer.

[Deleted]

Tedak turned over in bed, pulling the blanket up over his head in an attempt to ignore the buzz of his alarm. He reached out with one hand and slammed it off, then turned over again, burying his face in his pillow. He needed the sleep, and he had spent most of the night tossing and turning.

"Tedak wake up." Lily didn't use her usually affectionate slurring of his name. Instead she used her urgent modulations.

"Leave me alone," the Romulan murmured as he crawled deeper under the blankets.

"Wake up!" Lily yelled at him. "There's been a shooting in sickbay."

The Romulan bolted upright and jumped out of bed, wildly reaching for his robes. "What? When? Who?"

Lily fell silent as she gathered her data. "Ambassador Ezdreiana has shot three people, but it so far unknown who."

Tedak was already halfway out of his quarters when he froze in fear. "T'Val," he whispered, as his firelizards woke up and keened in a specific manner. He raced out the door, up several levels to the diplomatic deck and stormed into Vebn's office. "We have a situation," he gasped, as he quickly explained what Lily just told him. "One of the Federation ambassadors has lost her mind, and she just shot three people in sickbay."

He literally yanked Vebn out of his seat and dragged him bodily along, while he alerted security. "Update," Lily reported, "two nurses were killed, Ambassador Tyr and Doctors Mercy are badly wounded but still alive. Ambassador Ezdreiana has sealed off main sickbay."

Tedak gazed sadly at the older Romulan. "We have to do something...perhaps one of her previous hosts...her symbiont...." He started, frantically trying to find an explanation for his friend's behaviour. He had already forgotten that he was supposed to arrange measures to receive a wanted Romulan commander in disgrace. This particular commander was to be sent back to the Empire after Sovereign class USS Devastator delivered him from Bellicose to Assaillant. It was said this commander was extremely sadistic and dangerous. Of that, Tedak had no doubt, but now the issue had taken second rank to SBA's current volatile situation.

[Deleted]

Retiarius smiled his usual cheesy grin at T'Val, as she gave way to his request.

"Thanks Mrs Mercy, it's so nice to have people to spend time with"

Moments later, a bout of phaser fire broke th air, and within moments two nurses lay dead, with Ambassador Ezdreiana advancing on the trio, her phaser drawn. Upon seeing her, Retiarius had jumped up from the biobed, and had moved next to a trolley of medical equipment, apparently in fear, but really frantically searching for a weapon to use, cursing his own lack of preparation.

"Where is he?" Ezdreiana asked," Where is he?"

Within moments, Retiarius found himself on the floor, screaming in agony as he clutched at the bloody wound in his abdomen, bleeding profusely onto his clothes. As T'Val talked to the ambassador, Retiarius conjured up his reserves of training and discipline to fight through the red mist of pain in his mind, feeling around for a weapon.

Upon falling, he had knocked over the trolley, and all manner of scattered and broken implements lay under and around him. All he found was hyposprays, loaded with random drugs, and a laser scalpel. He knew he could kill her if he could get close enough, but he didn't want to have to do that. Not only would it break his cover, but it would also cause a valuable resource to be lost overall, and his training refused to allow him to do that, even if he himself might have. As he began to push a hypospray of what he prayed was an sedative up his sleeve, his ears pricked up at the mention of a Divine Child. They were talking about the Debrune boy on the surface, the crux of the matter he had been sent to investigate. He would have smiled about how all this information was falling into his lap, that is had he not been bleeding slowly to death on the floor of a starbase sickbay. He rolled onto his back, facing upwards, towards Ezdreiana. He focused his mind, reaching out towards the ambassador with all his will. The disjointed noise and chaos of her mind was reminiscient of a Klingon opera, loud and indiscernable, and then, suddenly a force obscured from his view took complete control of her, and threw Retiarius forcefully from her mind.

"Ambassador" He pleaded, tears of pain stinging his eyes "In the name of the Four Deities, Mrs Mercy just told you what you want to know. Your son is dead isn't he?"

<TAG T'Val>

"Look" Retiarius had now painfully pushed himself into a half sitting position, edging slightly closer to Ezdreiana "How about you let us go. We don't know anything, we can't help you" He was begging now, trying to pass that last three feet towards Ezdreiana before he could use the hypospray.

<TAG Ezdreiana>

[Magellan Lin]

Commander Zoilip was in the scene within moments. Years as a Tactical Officer had not been dulled aboard Assailant. Nicoletti and T'San were poised at the entrance to sickbay.

"Report" Zoilip barked holstering is Phaser and hunkering down beside them.

"Shooter inside Sickbay. Lily says its Ezedrieana"

"Ambassador Ezedriana!" Zoilip recoiled in shock, "And we are out here Why exactly?"

"Sickbays sealed. Lorenzo and Cuvaul are covering the larboard exit whilst Stix and Veloz the other exit." Nicoletti replied curtly

"Can lily over ride the computer lock outs."

Nicoletii nodded, "She thinks so but it will take her a few minutes. What about anastethzine gas?"

Zoilip shook his head, "Sickbay is isolated to reduce bio hazards- its an independant secure life support system, she would see any tampering immediatly. What about transporters?"

"Lily is unsure she can get a firm enough lock before she could fire."

Zoilip looked pensive a moment,
"Looks like we may have to do this the old way. We'll try negotiation, have F'rass contact her son, he maybe useful to have online. I want Counsellor D'Tarn up here with the Ambassadors psyche file. And just in case have the Marines send up a patrol with a demolitions team. If need be we will go in hard as a last resort."

Nicoletti nodded and began to carry out the orders. Zoilip himself stood and activated an open comm to the Sickbay,

"This is Commander Zoilip. The sickbay is surrounded. Now dont be alarmed, I just wanted to find out whats happening, do you have any injured in there. Perhaps you could send them out and we can discuss what it is we can do for you?"

TAG Ezed etc

[mercy]

Stuart was in pain, drifting in and out of consciousness. He briefly saw a variety of hyposrays lying about on the floor. ~How did those get there?~ He had lucidly wondered, not realizing they had been knocked over during the shooting. He saw T’Val struggle too, but she was holding up better than he was, it only made sense considering her Vulcan physiology. Another body lay there as well, but a name escaped him for the moment, he was a stranger.

Focusing his mind, Stuart concentrated on the hyposprays again. He looked, trying not to bring attention to himself. He could hear voices; someone was trying to contact Ezdreiana. She kept calling for The Divine Child. It sounded familiar, but his mind wasn’t clear at the moment. ~Focus!~ There it was, the correct hypospray he was looking for. Quietly he grabbed it, adjusted the dosage, and turned it towards himself. A shot of the coagulant enhancing drug shot through his arm, making its way to the wound where he had been shot. For the time being he wouldn’t bleed to death.

T’Val was lying next to him as Stuart shot a dosage into her arm as well. A biobed was blocking Ezdreiana from being able to see them, and she was being distracted by others from outside of sickbay. Stuart was able to slide the spray over to the stranger that had been shot as well. That’s all he could do for the moment as his strength was sapping away from him. Stuart closed his eyes for a moment ~...at least I'm not shopping...~.