5.3 The Agony of Utopia

[Magellan Lin]

Magellan returned quietly back to his office. He was not convinced Tyr was making the right choice. This whole thing was still salvagable and Tyr need not fall on his sword, the Cardassians were a spent power, still struggling to recover and atone for their part in the Dominion War. Still it was not his choice, it was Tyr and Admiral Clarksons and that was something he had to accept.

Tomorrow Retarius Tyr would be sent to a Cardassian Prison Camp and Ensign Lok Demeter would arrive fresh to start his Operations career on the Starbase. He shook his head, he was not a fan of subterfuge but once you got above the rank of Captain such acts became more and more necessary, and commanding a Starbase on the edge of Federation Space in the middle of a war certainly called his skills of lying and truth bending into action.

Forcing himself away from what was essential not his problem anymore he addressed his thoughts to more pressing matters, Mr Drolar and the El Aurians. Both of which he decided he would deal with the following day.

Rising early Magellan forgoed his usual stop at OPs and instead went directly to th Security centre to see Commander Vanetti. The young brunette officer was sat her desk reviewing the latest Starfleet breifings whilst behind her a panel of screens displayed veiws from security cams throughout the station.

Sharon noticed Magellan looking at them,

"Its like being a god" she mused, "Looking down on the Earth"

Magellan chuckled, "Are you religous Sharon?"

"Only when I need to be. Even the hardened atheist has been known to call out to god when they are bleeding to death."

"You hedge your bets then"

"Always" she replied with a smile, "What can I do for you Sir"

Magellan took a chair and moved it to sit opposite her,
"Its Mr Drolar, I may not like the man but he was manipulated. Is there anyway we can get round the charges before trial."

Sharons eyes narrowed,
"I m not sure what your asking me sir...if..."

"No. No... Nothing like that" Magellan reassured her, "Procedures will be followed I just thought there maybe a procedure to ease the way."

Sharon looked at him and then nodded,
"I ll see what I can do. Is that all. I need to make my rounds and brief Gamma Shift."

"Pretty much. Oh... what about the El Aurians, behaving themselves?"

"Yep. I have the survelliance information for you. 52 El Aurians 6 of whom appear to be under the age of 7 although its hard to tell with such a long lived species."

Magellan took the PaDD from her and looked at the figures,
"It matches the data I recieved from the Federation Council. I better go see Ambassador Tedak. To try and persuade him to do the right thing."

[Deleted]

Unknown to Retarius Tyr, the meeting between himself, Admiral Magellan, Tedak and T’Val was being watched carefully. High up in the room, a tiny bug was watching. It had evaded all the security on this office. It was pretty much as good as bugs get. So obviously, this being Starbase Assailant, the bug belonged to Drolem Simeth. Sat in his own office, on the other side of the station, he watched silently as the meeting unfolded.

There was little on the base he didn’t know about, and even less that he didn’t care about. Events at the moment disturbed him. He had no particular love for Retarius Tyr, indeed the man often bugged him no end. However, he was devious and he got some things done on the base that often benefited the mayor, even if that wasn’t the main purpose. He also served to nicely deflect attention away from the dealings the mayor had.

His fingers toyed around a small switch. He knew the switch that he’d been provided with was mostly for show, but then, much that the mayor did was for just that. And it gave him something to toy with. The meeting was starting to bore him. He flipped the switch.

In the tricorder in T’Val’s hand, a signal was received. A pre-programmed routine was initiated. The tricorder started heating up, the temperature shooting up from a slightly chilly fence post, to a red hot poker in seconds. T’Val instinctively let it go, throwing it across the office away from the trio clustered around Tyr’s desk.

As the device hit the decking, it ripped apart with great force, taking a good degree of the wall beside it along too. The explosion seared into T’Val and Tedak, throwing them across the desk towards Tyr, who in turn was flung backwards out of his chair into the wall. Immediately an array of alarms started sounding, and the embassy security stormed in, to a scene of intermingled human, romulan and vulcan blood with scattered PADDs, pieces of bulkhead and various other articles that had been on Tyr’s desk.

“Get them all to sickbay right away.” The chief yelled out as he walked to the other side of the room, examining the source of the explosion. “And get the scene investigators. And Savali.”

[Deleted]

Tyr's words barely registered on the Romulan, who was more interesting in watching what his ex-wife was doing. Since she was a doctor, he could understand the need for her to scan people, the admiral in particular but once he had gone, surely she could stop her scans? Unless of course she had other motives, that of course he couldn't have known about.

Ambassador Tedak settled back in his seat, listening as Tyr explained in detail what he was about to do and why. On occasion, the Romulan threw in the odd question about his plans and how he would succeed and what would happen if he failed. T'Val in turn raised medical questions, long term repercussions in regards to his memory and so forth.

The discussion lasted well into the night and straight on until the morning. None of them seemed to be able to sleep nor did they appear tired. The Romulan rose to his feet to stretch his legs and paced the office as he debated his next issue. Yes, he had not trusted this Betazoid, but this act seemed fairly selfless. He was sacrificing everything for the Federation, to avoid an interstellar incident. This had to be respected, somehow.

T'Val was still performing her scans, Tedak observed, though by now he wondered what exactly she was trying to find. Or was she running calculations of some sort, in regards to Tyr's medical future?

Then he saw her throw the device away, shaking her hand once the device was free of it. "T'Val are you al-" He was cut off when the explosion threw them both off their feet, debris of the tricorder raining down on them. The Romulan suffered a flash of déja vu, remembering the shards of PADD to which he still showed the cuts and the bits of glass that still clung to him.

Instinctively, he ducked but his response was off, especially as he also tried to protect the Vulcan woman. An attempt he also failed at, quite miserably. He felt himself being shoved hard into and then over the desk as the heat of the explosion seared his back and singed his hair. He cried out as he tumbled into the Betazoid, knocking him into the wall.

Beside him, T'Val had suffered the same fate, though she hadn't been as lucky. She'd been closer to the explosion and instead of being thrown over the desk, she was smacked right into it before her momentum carried her across it. Before losing consciousness, Tedak could hear her moan of agony but he'd lost sight of her.

The Vulcan woman had fallen down on the other side of the desk, before rolling over and coming to a rest beside Tyr. The last she heard was security responding and calling for them to be transported to the infirmary. She wanted to reply, but she couldn't find her voice and to her horror, she wasn't able to move. Her body felt as though it had literally caught fire, which, in fact, it had since her clothing had caught fire.

She felt the transporter take her, but had lost consciousness before she rematerialised in sickbay.

Meanwhile, while security took control over the blast site, Lily became aware of the situation and emergend in physical form right into Magellan's path. "Admiral, there has been an explosion in Ambassador Tyr's office. Three wounded were transported to the infirmary." Her face fell as she gazed away. "The wounded were Ambassadors Tyr and Tedak as well as Healer T'Val Mercy. They're in bad shape sir. Admiral Savali has been called in."

[Deleted]

The slight shudder, and significantly less slight explosion alerted Aiken to the fact that possibly, just possible, something had just blown up. He sighed. It just had to be Tyr’s office. Regardless of the fact that half the galaxy (including Aiken) probably wanted to kill him right now, it was just the angosian’s luck that he wouldn’t get there in time to talk to him. Sure enough as he turned the last corner before the embassy he was confronted by a cluster of security officers, half of them on the diplomatic corps’ payroll, and the other half from the base. He recognised the two that had arrested him, and momentarily wondered if he could get them back, before realising he would far rather get Tyr back.

Without even bothering to check with security what had happened and how everyone was, he started back towards sickbay. After this kind of explosion, regardless of how badly the ambassador had been hurt, they would give him some kind of a check up there. He just had to hope that T’Val wasn’t around; he was still in her bad graces. The walk through the base gave him a time to contemplate. Not that he hadn’t been beating around how terrible his life was anyway, but now he had quiet time to consider where he’d come from and where he was going.

Jail it seemed.

He was sure that he would worm his way out of it somehow. He wasn’t even sure if he’d technically broken the law, it was nearly impossible to tell with these kinds of issues. The problem was that it was politics now. Politics changes everything. His thoughts wandered back to Nahi’s comments earlier that morning. Or maybe it had been the morning before now.. he was losing track. Now that his injunction had been cleared, and Tyr had got him in this predicament, his thoughts had immediately turned to getting revenge. But maybe he didn’t need revenge. Certainly, before, he’d never been that kind of person, that kind of reporter. Granted, there were topics he was passionate about, and he would defend his opinions to the hilt, but he’d never been… this. Press trash.

His pace had slowed, to the extent that he was almost stationary now. He was only about twenty or thirty metres away from the infirmary, but suddenly he didn’t want to go in. He hated himself, what he was, what he did. He felt dirty, like he needed to wash, to scrub himself clean of the crap he’d been rolling around in for the past.. The past too long.

Then the feeling passed, and he wanted complete revenge for what Retarius Tyr had done to him. He strode on towards sickbay, his heart and head now unified in their purpose. But he was stopped again before he reached his target. But this time it was by the station mayor, Drolem Simeth. In spite of his occupation, Aiken had never really had many dealings with the mayor, and was surprised when he greeted him by name.

“No, no, no Mr Drolar. You are always too hasty, too quick to pounce. It might get you some scoops sometimes. But right now, you just need to sit back at pay close attention.”

The reporter frowned at him, and tilted his head as he started to ask a question, but Simeth simply shook his head and with a smile, walked away. Aiken was left completely mystified. He did, however, know enough about the mayor to know that he was worth listening to. So, with his heart now slightly heavy, he turned away from sickbay, and back to his own quarters. To lie to Nahi, he suspected.

[Deleted]

If Drolem Simeth thought his little spying game was going to happen without Saarok knowing about it, he was sadly mistaken There was not a lot on the base that happened without him knowing about it and Spying, well basically any type of recordings, transmissions or communications were filtered through a special hard coded subroutine incorporated into the main computer, a little something S31 had in all the federation computer systems so that they could keep tabs on their own people, for who could be a worse enemy than some overzealous Starfleet commander who thought he knew best. And even tough he was officially "retired" Saarok still kept an eye on things and and every now and then pushed some events in the correct direction when they threatened to head down the less logical path.

He observed the meeting between Lin, Tyr, Tedak and T'Val. So Tyr was going to plant some poor convict who is going to pose as him and be given to the cardassians. Those idiots from Starfleet Intelligence never could handle thing the logical way. He always knew they were idiots as some of the other operatives called them but this really topped it all. One of these days they will go to far and at that time... an accident is going to happen... As he was observing the situation he saw a tricoder heat up and then eventually explode. Simeth was obviously bored so had decided to spice things up. But as no vital players were injured, Saarok saw no reason to intervene at this point. He switched the feed to another place on the station...

[Felix Savali]

Felix was not overly upset with Magellan's overreaction regarding the incident with Tyr. If Tyr was to be extradited to the Cardassians, it would have been his own fault for playing cloak and dagger games. It is a necessary risk and the man knew what he was getting into, just as felix knew what he was getting into when he was assigned as the Fleet Intelligence Officer for this sector. He knew he would eventually have to do some things that Magellan would not look kindly uppon, but that was part of the job and as much as he liked the Trill... ones duty was ones duty.

He was relaxing in one of the lounge bars with his "friend" Joann Lawrence, the civilian chief prosecutor. He had spent some time earlier with his little daughter, who was not so little anymore already being 6 and all. Just as he was whispering some juicy details into Joann's ear a call came about the explosion in the diplomatic section.

"Duty calls honey"; he said to her

"Aww, and just as i was getting warmed up to trying out that stanliess steel bracelets you mentioned", she grinned

"Well how about a rain check?", he asked

"Well i don't know, i might not find it so attractive tomorrow", she said semi laughing while showing him her tongue

He gave her a quick peck on the lips before heading to his office to quickly change after which he proceeded down to the ambassadorial quarters where the explosion had taken place. The new admiral's uniform still felt a bit tight around his neck. After widening it a bit with his finger he entered the embassy. There were, as usual, a large number of security officers, JAG investigators, FCIS agents... Felix went over to Sharon who seemed to be in charge.

"Sharon", Felix said as he saw her

"Admiral", she replied

"What can you tell me?", he questioned

"Well apparently the tricoder's powersource overloaded and exploded taking with it a part of the office along with some parts of Tedak, T'Val and Tyr.", she said

"I see", Felix said as he looked over one of the pads

"Any indications if it was an accident or not?", he asked

Before Sharon could respond one of the FCIS agents approached them holding something resembling a fly.

"We found this spy fly in the debris, it was badly damaged so no chance of getting anything usefoul out of it, but... someone has been listening in on the conversation in this office", the agent said

Felix looked at Sharon and said, "Well even if we dont know if this was an accident or not, we know someone's been spying on Ambassador Tyr", Felix said

Even thought he didn't say it he thought, well that is just about a couple of thousand people on this base who had motive to do it. As he was about to say something new, Admiral LIn arrived on the scene.

"Admiral"; Felix said as he approached the Trill.

<Tag Lin>

"Well sir so far we know...", and Felix told the man everything he had learned so far, leaving out his personal thoughts on possible suspects for the bug planting

<Tag Lin>

[Magellan Lin]

Magellan left Tedaks quarters immediatly and went directly to the scene of the crime, on the way he made two calls one to sickbay and the second to Admiral Clarkson.

Felix was already on site with Vanetti when he arrived

"Report"

Well sir so far we know...", and Felix told the man everything he had learned so far, leaving out his personal thoughts on possible suspects for the bug planting

"I see. Thats not much to go on. I guess the likeliest suspects are the Cardassians. Revenge on Tyr so to speak."

"Its possible" Felix conceded "But its not quite their way"

Magellan shrugged, assasination was dirty work whichever way you looked at it.

"Well I want the person responsible arrested and tried for murder."

Felix and Sharon double taked,

"Murder...!"

"Yes" Magellan said quietly "Retarius died on the operating table five minutes ago. Tedak and T'Val are fine though, minor injuries only. Tyr took the brunt of the blast."

"I can't say Mr Tyr was a friend but.. " felix began,

"But he may still be alive if you and Saarok hadnt pulled that diplomatic stunt" Magellan replied coldly. "Make ammends by finding his killer. Oh and Savali with Tyr dead Aikens case is dropped understood. Now if you ll excuse me I will need to inform Saarok and contact Tyrs family."

He nodded to the two officers and left the scene of carnage.
He went down into the arcade mooching about for four or five minutes moving rapidly from stall to stall and shop to shop. he got on a number of lifts and then called Lily.

"Activate anti-survelliance software in my area and wipe all records of my movements"

"Yes Admiral" She replied silkily

Satisfied Magellan stopped at a transporter Pad and quickly entered a long series of numbers. He vanished and rematerialised inside a spacious room that was distinct in its complete lack of entrances. In the centre of the room was a figure on a biobed flanked by two medical officers and a man in black.

"Hows he doing?"

One of the medics looked up,
"Fine. See for yourself."

Magellan leaned over to look upon the pale skin and ridged nose.
"Very good Clarky will be pleased. Even if we did have to modify his plans. You have my permission to ship him out."

He paused a moment beside the body and bent to talk to the half unconcsious body,
"Goodbye Tyr I ll be sure to welcome Lok Demeter warmly when I meet him"
With a nod the man in black activated a transporter transponder and all three men the bio bed and the body all disappeared into the ether destined to reappear on an incoming Federation Transport.

"And so it begins again" Magellan mused as he too left the room, "All that remained now was to track down the would be killer and sort out the El Aurians.

[Deleted]

The next morning, Tedak woke up feeling sore and disoriented. Slowly, he lifted himself up on his elbows and looked around to discover himself in the infirmary. On the bed beside him lay T'Val, motionless and pale, the monitor at her feet beeping softly to indicate her state of health.

Strong arms hooked themselves around his, helping him to sit up. His vision focused on a young woman with elegantly pointed ears. "Rayna..." he managed, as a cup of water was held to his lips.

"Don't speak," the Romulan nurse said gently, "you were badly hurt in the explosion but you'll be fine. I've treated you for second degree burns and a few fractured ribs. You'll be sore for a few days but it's mostly muscles protesting now." She held out a fresh robe to him. "You might want to get dressed, admiral Lin was looking for you earlier but you were still unconscious."

She paused as she helped the ambassador get dressed, adjusting his robes then handed him his dagger, which he expertly hid in the folds of his robes. "We kept you sedated over night. T'Val suffered a few more injuries though none are life-threatening. We're still keeping her under sedation for a few more hours."

"What about Tyr?" Tedak suddenly asked, noting that it was only him and T'Val in sickbay, but there was no sign of the Betazoid.

"He did not make it ambassador," the Romulan woman answered sadly, "he died in surgery." That was what she was told anyway.

"Shame," Tedak replied, draining the rest of the water, which was no doubt laced with one medication or the other. "I'd best go see Magellan then. But first I have something else to attend to."

Once he was cleared, Tedak left the infirmary in a hurry, in search for Timor and Selen. "I have a ship for you," he told them, "I have just sent my contact a message to inform him that the deal is on." He had indeed sent Drolar a message to tell him that he was going ahead with the deal. "We have to move swiftly, as I have no doubt that there are people wanting to stop you."

He handed over the PADD with the details. "Admiral Lin was looking for me earlier. I had best go meet with him now. Contact me if there is anything else that you need, and I'll do my best to get it for you." He bowed slightly towards the El-Aurians, wincing as his ribs protested. "Safe journey," he said before walking away.

Minutes later, he arrived at OPS, where security let him pass after he informed them that he had a meeting with Magellan. "I am told you wished to speak with me admiral," he queried politely, then nodded towards a seat. "May I? I'm still rather sore after that explosion. Have there been any new leads on who caused it? I'm certain you'd like to know who was behind it as much as the diplomatic corps would. After all, a diplomat was killed..."

[Magellan Lin]

"I am told you wished to speak with me admiral," he queried politely, then nodded towards a seat. "May I? I'm still rather sore after that explosion. Have there been any new leads on who caused it? I'm certain you'd like to know who was behind it as much as the diplomatic corps would. After all, a diplomat was killed..."

"indeed he was and we are treating it very seriously. Our officers are investigating as we speak and Tyrs killer will be caught and tried. You know I dont stand for that sort of thing on my station. Now to my reason for calling you."

Tedak took the offered seat,

"Its the El Aurian refugees. I understand you have been helping them"

"Yes" Tedak replied "And I m surprised the Federation wouldnt offer them help"

Magellan nodded,

"We did years ago. But they were unwilling to agree to our terms and fled."

"Unwilling?"

"You know they have children with them. Well they were after their parents encountered the Nexus. We have no problem allowing them to return but the nexus is to much of an unknown to subject children to. Teh deal was that if they wanted to go - their children had to remain and be put in care. We still stand by that and if you try to help them we will arrest them all and take the children in to care anyways. It doesnt seem they are fit parents"

TAG Tedak

[Deleted]

"I have observed them," the Romulan retorted as he sank down in the offered seat. "They don't seem like unfit parents to me, in fact, by wanting to return to the Nexus, they want what is best for their children. Surely we can't deny them happiness?" He took a moment to make himself comfortable, before looking up to meet Lin's eyes.

"Aside from that, they're hardly your problem as the Federation seems to have refused them any help. You've given them unreasonable sanctions. While I agree that a child deserves a chance at happiness, we can't deny their parents' wishes to take their children with them."

Tedak held up his hand, silencing the Trill before he could respond. "I wasn't finished. Equally, we can't expect a parent to allow us to seperate them from their children, of have them abandon their child into someone's custody. You forget admiral, I have lost a child. I am all too familiar with the despairing feeling of this loss. Imagine how the parents would feel if we would take their children. The child would be forever unhappy, and would forever blame us for taking them from their parents. That's a foreboding for them to go...hauling with the enemy...to put it mildly, when they grow up. Or even go at lengths to join their parents when they grow up, and then they might not do it so peacefully as their parents did."

He paused again, wondering what the admiral was thinking. "I have offered them help and I have arranged a ship for them. They are, in essence, under my protection and I shall see to it that they reach their destination, unharmed and unhindered. They don't mean anyone any harm, they just want to return to the only home they ever felt safe. The Nexus. If you wish to help me, so much the better, but I'll do this on my own if I have to. I don't need Federation resources to pull it off, because I already have what I need. If that was all admiral, I do have other duties to attend to. Provided the doctor will allow me, as I was injured in the attack that killed Tyr. And T'Val is still in a coma, contrary to the reports that I've read. Any idea when Stuart Mercy will be coming back? I know T'Val is extremely concerned as he hasn't been in touch."

[Magellan Lin]

"I have to disagree on all counts" Magellan sighed heavily "Firstly they are on my station and last time I looked that was still a Federation one, therefore they are responsibility. Secondly they are not Romulans and therefore not your official responsibility, I m sure Ambassador S'Khellian will back me up on that. Therefore any assistance you render them will have to be your own and not as part of the Romulan Government." He too now paused to collect his thoughts.

"I do understand your concerns but please respect mine the Federation Council hasnt ruled on this lightly. If the Nexus were so great why are we all not flocking to it to experience Utopia? Because we know there is more to life than that, that life is sweeter when your achievements are your own not just magiced up by some phenomemnon we know so little about. Picard experienced the Nexus, he does not wish to return, people can survive outside of it. And as for the children consider this... The Nexus forms some kind of telepathic link with the person and fulfills all their wishes in some kind of dream state.

An adults wishes are very different than a childs. An adult entering has more experience of life to make those choices. A child has only a childs experiences. By allowing them entry forever locks them as children and even if they wish to grow up it will only be a stereotype of what they view growing up will be. It may not be death in the terminal sense, but its certainly death of personality maybe even soul. The restriction that they may never ever grow and develop. I m sorry Tedak I see you feel strongly and I hope you see I do to. My decision stands the Adults may go, they have free will but the children do not. I will do all I can to see they are not taken. As for Dr Mercy I do not know, he still has more than ample leave left although of course he has been notified of T'Vals injuries."

[Deleted]

"Of course I respect your position," Tedak shot back. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he gazed at a point on the wall just beyond Magellan, thereby avoiding to meet his eyes.

"But you don't seem to understand me. You never did anyway but that aside. I can't allow you to tear up those families. Yes this is your station and yes I'm sure Vebn will have something to say, but I'm not doing this on behalf of my government. Vebn probably doesn't even know."

He sighed miserably. "I'm on my own," he continued, then cast Magellan a scorching glare. "But I gave them my word, and I'm going to do the best I can to see to it that they're all going where they want to go. With, or without your help."

This time, he rose to his feet, planting both hands before him on Lin's desk. "Tell me admiral, what am I without my honour? Because if I break my word, that's exactly what I'll lose. These days, my honour is all I have, and I don't risk it lightly. You know me well enough to know this, even if you don't understand me."

The Romulan straightened, still holding the Trill's gaze with his own. "I gave my word," he repeated, then fell silent, waiting for the tirade that was surely to come. If there was anything he was reasonably good at, then it was angering the starbase commander. He had suffered it before, and he reckoned he'd suffer it again. And he would, if it'd help the El-Aurians. Plus, regardless of what'd happen, he still owed Drolar a favour. So he'd rather see his plan succeed than see it failed after all the efforts he went through to even arrange the vessel.

[Deleted]

Tyr sat in the mess hall of the Federation transport vessel, drinking deeply from a cup of hot jumja tea. He had read the legend he had been sent several times over, and was now getting into the habit of, well, the apparent habits he was supposed to exhibit. The drink was one of them. It had the amazing ability of being both sweet and tart, but he knew the taste would eventually grow on him. He rubbed the surgically altered nose ridges, and then traced his hand around his cheek to feel the Bajoran earring that now adorned his right ear. It felt odd, not only that he had given up his life, but also that he had given up his species for the Federation. Lin's last minute adjustment had been nothing short of genius, preventing the Cardassians ever uncovering the duplicity. Regretably, it also prevented the ruse from ever being undone. He would be another man forever.

It was the dead of night, and most people were either pulling a graveyard shift, or were in bed. Either way the room was emptied and the lights low, giving an optical illusion of melancholy greyness as the vessel approached Assailant. Within half an our the vessel had docked, and Ensign Lok Demeter disembarked the vessel stepping for what was technically the first time onto the deck of Assailant. He had to give intelligence credit, when something was done, it was done right. He had been gone not even 24 hours. Knowing he was now once again subject to Starfleet protocol, but also knowing that a low ranking officer on a starbase of thousands would not report directly to the Admiral in charge, he opted instead to seek out Zoilip, the head of operations, and now his superior officer. He found the man easily enough in the Fishtank, a place where he had spent many lazy afternoons enjoying the fish courses (a natural speciality) and doing paperwork. He wondered if it would look too suspicious if he were to order the same dish again.

"Commander Zoilip" he addressed the Bolian who looked up. Tyr could see in his eyes that he thought he vaguely recognised the man, but then dismissed it. The surgery and subvocal processor had truly done their job.
"I'm Ensign Lok, transferred from the Starfleet Operations Research Division on Vulcan, reporting for duty, sir"

"Ah, ensign" Zoilip pulled a padd towards him "We have been expecting you it would seem, but your transfer has been delayed a few times. No matter" He passed the padd to Tyr.
"You've been assigned six shifts, two in Ops, three in station maintenance, and one with the quartermaster. Here is your schedule, your quarter assignment, and a station map. You have two hours to settle in before your first shift. Carry on" The Bolian sat down again, and Tyr came to attention before leaving.

He made his way to the turolift just opposite the restaurant and entered with a crowd of other people, standing at the front of the door. Just before they swung shut, he saw a group of Andorians disembark from one of the access points to the docking area. One of them had half an antennae missing. Tyr's heart skipped a beat, and the door closed. He had been assigned quarters in and amongst a few dozen other newly arrived officers and crewmen, about five decks up from the DCS wing, but he chose not to peruse his new settings, or even sweep for monitoring devices. No-one on the station, save three people knew what had happened, and so he seriously doubted that anyone would wish to monitor another simple ensign. He threw his bags onto his bed and then departed again hurriedly, padd in hand, heading back to the turbolift. If there was anything that the uniform and new identity was good for, then it was his ability to now walk into ops with impugnity and very little attention. A busy command centre such as this would hav no shortage of officers milling around with reprots. Now, he was just one more of them. He chimed the Admirals office door and entered, stepping into what appeared to be an argument between the Admiral and Tedak. The door shut behind him.

"Lily, privacy mode and enable sensor scrambler pattern one. Authorisation Lok 73 Delta Pi" A chime confirmed the acceptanc of the command. He looked from the Trill to the Romulan.
"Don't mind me, I didn't mean to interrupt" He fiddled with his earring "The nose I might be able to get used to, but this thing is annoying as hell. Thanks for how you handled matters, you have both my and SI's appreciation. How are you after the attack, and how's T'Val?"

<TAG Tedak and Lin>

"Good to hear, well as good as can be expected" He paused "I didn't just come here to let you know I'm back. We have a situation. A group of three to four Andorians came aboard on a transport within the last hour. I remember them from my time monitoring the Orion Syndicate. They're in the Intelligence level 7 classified files, codename "Blues Brothers". They're a bunch of mercenaries, assassins, bounty hunters, debt collectors. You name it, they've done it, and they're good at it. The good news is that they're nothing to do with the Cardassian and Romulan situation, they're petty criminals, not galactic players. The bad news is that I suspect that they're involved with the El Aurian guests we have right now, which is bad news for them and the station. My recommendation is that you keep tabs on them, and either find a way to get rid of the El Aurians, or put them somewhere safe"

<TAG Lin>

"Whilst I would love to help Admiral, I fear that I have to report to the quartermaster. I'll check in when I'm able"

He came to attention and left the office, preparing to restart his old career.

[Magellan Lin]

"Lily, privacy mode and enable sensor scrambler pattern one. Authorisation Lok 73 Delta Pi" A chime confirmed the acceptanc of the command. He looked from the Trill to the Romulan.
"Don't mind me, I didn't mean to interrupt" He fiddled with his earring "The nose I might be able to get used to, but this thing is annoying as hell. Thanks for how you handled matters, you have both my and SI's appreciation. How are you after the attack, and how's T'Val?"

"Your welcome Mr Ty...Demeter" Magellan replied and let Tedak explain his health.

"Good to hear, well as good as can be expected" He paused "I didn't just come here to let you know I'm back. We have a situation. A group of three to four Andorians came aboard on a transport within the last hour. I remember them from my time monitoring the Orion Syndicate. They're in the Intelligence level 7 classified files, codename "Blues Brothers". They're a bunch of mercenaries, assassins, bounty hunters, debt collectors. You name it, they've done it, and they're good at it. The good news is that they're nothing to do with the Cardassian and Romulan situation, they're petty criminals, not galactic players. The bad news is that I suspect that they're involved with the El Aurian guests we have right now, which is bad news for them and the station. My recommendation is that you keep tabs on them, and either find a way to get rid of the El Aurians, or put them somewhere safe"

"Perhaps you can keep an eye on them for me." Magellan suggested.

"Whilst I would love to help Admiral, I fear that I have to report to the quartermaster. I'll check in when I'm able"

Lok Demeter left the room and headed out of ops.

"An interesting man " Magellan mused

Tedak nodded.

"Though there are times I feel he is too cunning for his own good. Still better an ally than an enemy wouldn't you say" Magellan continued rhetorically, "Now Ambassador I suspect our empasse is unlikely to be breached so for now we beg to differ. Can I suggest you tread carefully."

TAG Tedak

Magellan waited until Tedak had left his office before evaluating their meeting. He was frustrated that Tedaks sense of honour prohibited him from seeing things from the childrens point of view. There was no way Magellan was going to allow them to remain Peter Pan like in a state of perpetual youth. An idea began to crystallise in his mind.

He exited his office and went into Ops.
"Commander Vanetti is busy at the moment so I have a job for you Commodore" he addressed Felix, I want you and Zoilip to begin rounding up the El Aurian refugees. I want them all placed under protective custody. Make sure you sieze the children first. When you have them all, contact me and I will speak to them personally and you need to be quick I suspect Tedak won't sit around doing nothing not whilst his honour is at stake."

[Deleted]

The Romulan nodded. "I'm always trying to tread carefully admiral," he insisted, then turned on his heels and marched out of the office. It was almost time to meet with Timor and Selene and if he didn't hurry, he was going to be late altogether.

As fast as his injured body would let him, Tedak hurried towards a turbolift and ordered it to take him to his quarters. There, where it was most discrete to do so and even less suspect, he had told the two El-Aurians to meet with him.

When he arrived, to his surprise they were already waiting and he ushered them into his personal domain. "We have a serious problem," he breathed, as he sank into a chair, waving for the other two to find themselves a seat. "We're running out of time. Magellan will let the adults leave, but he'll insist you leave your children behind."

He paused to catch his breath. "I suggest we start moving immediately, families with children first. I won't allow them to seperate you and I'll do as much as I can to help you. You must understand, however, that once I am barred, I won't be able to help you and bar me they will once they realise what I'm doing."

The Romulan nodded towards the door. "I have sent you the information on the vessel and its location. I recommend we move immediately."

ooc: couldn't be bothered to change account this early, sorry! if required, I'll repost on the correct one tonight. ~tedak~

[Magellan Lin]

Selene looked worriedly at Timor,
"They can't! not the children. They ll not have my child" She stammered and then ran off.

Timor rose and thanked Tedak,
"Can you come with us. We may need your help."

Tedak nodded "Of course, I ll do what I can. The ship is this way."

Timor stopped briefly at a comms console.
"Riztrak I have a ship start getting our people moved. Tell Talian to deliver the supplies to these co-ordinates."

"Lets go" he said to Tedak " I just hope we are not too late"

"Nor I " agreed Tedak "Magellan is not one to hang around."

They moved swiftly out of the Arcade and in to the depths of the station. The ship Tedak had acquired via Aiken was berthed not in the interior dock but was instead umbilically linked to the lower docking hard points. It meant a lengthy journey through the station in to its depths and beyond. As they travelled the El Aurians joined them in dribs and drabs. Once matters had looked rocky Timor had instructed they split up as much as they could, only now were they reuniting in a final bid to escape the station.

"What if they try to stop us once we leave?" Timor asked,

"The Admiral would not fire on a civilian ship."

"He could tractor us back in or send a ship in pursuit."

Tedak shrugged, "This is the only chance you have, you ll have to take it."

The lower docking points were not like the upper departure lounges, they were used mostly for cargo vessels and as such contained a lot of heavy lifting gear, anti grav platforms and cargo transporters. Dock workers of all descriptions worked feversihly about them moving the various goods in and out of the station.

At the end of the corridor along which they were rushing now some 25 in number they were met by Selene crading a young child.

"They are on to us" she said, "Security officers were waiting for me but I gave them the slip"

"The others?" Timor asked

"I dont know" Selene shrugged "I havent seen anyone else. But theres a problem. Theres a checkpoint up ahead they are checking everyones ID"

Timor slammed a fist against the wall, he could feel the bliss of the nexus slipping from his grasp once more.

"Don't worry" Tedak calmed "There is a diplomatic channel. Follow me."

The Romulan ambassador led the assembled group of refugees down an inocous side passage that led to a biometrically protected security door. Tedak entered his details and scanned in his iris.

The door slid to one side and quickly they were ushered through. The corridor led past the customs checkpoint and emerged on the main outer decking corridor that led to each of the airlocks. Checking the numbers Tedak began to lead them towards the correct berth.

"This is it" Tedak noted as they approached a circular airlock. He tapped in an ID code given to him by Aiken but the door refused to budge.

"They must have blocked it" Timor noted angrily,

Tedak looked about him for another way but this was it, through the door was the ship.
"Lily?"
The avatar of Lily appeared before them startling some of the El Aurians.

"Yes Teedak"

"Can you over ride the lockouts on this door?"

"I can." Lily replied bluntly

Tedak smiled and was about to thank her when she continued,
"But I cannot. I promised Starfleet I would not disobey orders and I have been ordered not to allow you to assist these people further I am sorry Tedak."

The Romulan scowled under his breath, even though he could understand Lily's point of view. "I know you are Lily," he answered midly, before turning towards the El-Aurians.

"Perhaps we can force the door" Talian suggested grabbing a nearby bar and approaching the door.

"I wouldn't do that" came a voice from behind them. They turned to see Commander Vanetti and a team of ten security officer stood in an arc around them phasers drawn.

"Commander" Tedak began

"Can it Ambassador" Sharon noted coolly, "I have a murderer to catch and I could do with out diplomats running off disobeying instructions. I do not want to stun you but I will if I have to."

The guards hefted their phasers.

"You can't seperate us" Selene squealed "I ll not let you take my child."

Talian and some of the others grunted in agreement and it looked as if violence was about to break out .

"We're desperate" Riztrak pleaded "Please let us go"

"Not my call" Sharon said

Talion once again turned to the door and tried to jimmy it open. Worried the seal would be broken and a hull breach be created Sharon levelled her phaser and fired. Talion crumpled unconcious on the floor. the action created a distraction giving Riztrak enough time to grab a dagger from his boot and swiftly grab Tedak. Holding the blade so tightly to the Ambassadors neck it drew a sliver of green blood.

"OPEN THE DOOR" he screamed "Open it or I ll slice him. I ll not miss the nexus again."

Sharon motioned for her team to back up a little.

"Steady on" she said in a neutral voice assessing if she could stun him before he could complete her threat, she doubted she could. Instead she tapped her commbadge. "Admiral I suggest you get down here we have a hostage situation"

"I m already on my way" Magellan replied "Lily informed them. Tell them to take it easy I have a solution I ll be there within five minutes."


ooc: modified in orange, with Lin's permission

[Deleted]

The Romulan froze as the blade was tightly held to his throat, his arm wrenched behind his back; he was held immobile. He felt something slide down his throat and felt the sting of the bladde. It was unfortunate that he had no way to reach his own dagger and defend himself, however he knew that doing such could only escalate the situation. "Commander, lower your weapon," he suggested, "Talion won't hurt me. As he said, they're desperate and only want to leave with the vessel I have arranged for them."

He paused as the blade bit harder against his skin. He was held tight against the El-Aurian, who also used him as shield just in case Vanetti might try to stun him. Swallowing carefully, he stood as still as was possible, despite his muscles protesting because of his injuries. "Unlock the hatch commander and let them go. That's all they ever wanted."

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Lily standing to the side, quietly reporting to Lin on what was going on. The Romulan locked his eyes on Vanetti again, then sighed miserably as the Trill admiral finally arrived. He strained in an attempt to ease the pressure from the dagger of his throat, but Tolian seemed determined. "Admiral, what a pleasure to see you again," he commented dryly. "But I doubt these people are interested in hearing your solution, all they want is to leave in peace. Which they would've done if your commander hadn't interfered and locked down the hatch."

[Deleted]

Tyr headed down into the central area of the station, and made for the spacious offices of the Quartermaster and his division. Largely responsible for the provision and acquirement of equipment, both for the station and for any other ships that were berthed here, the offices were always full of officers about their business, and members of the station's complement, or ships captains petitioning for supplies. As with ops, Tyr entered into the throng unknown, just another gold uniform in a sea of similarly dressed, now truly inconspicuous. He moved over to the main desk at the entrance, sidestepping the queue of varied Angosians and Tellarites, and signalling for the attention of one of the crewmen in attendance.

"Excuse me Petty Officer, where is the Quartermaster?" He asked "I'm supposed to report in"

"In his office sir" She pointed to a door on the mezzanine level "Commander Quinn"

"Thanks you" Tyr nodded and left, taking the spiral staircase up to the next level, he dodged around varied milling crewmen and chimed the door. A gruff voice called him to enter.

He walked in and came to attention in front of the only desk in the well lit room. Behind said desk sat a greying human of African descent, probably in his early sixties, who thumbed through a series of reports whilst neglecting to even look at Tyr. He remained at attention for a minute as the man finished looking through his padds, and then, finally, look up at the Bajoran ensign before him.

"You're Ensign Lok" It was not a question "Why did you request transfer here?"

"I wanted to get some more practical operations experience sir, not just aide engineers and scientists like back on Vulcan"

"So you wanna be useful, huh? Well you better be, because this is one of the busiest ports in the sector, and that makes this division the busiest division in the busiest port in a pretty damn important sector" He heaved his slightly corpulent frame from his chair and onto the deck, gesturing with a wag of a fat finger for Tyr to follow him. They stepped from the office onto the landing overlooking the massed and controlled chaos below.

"That's the entrance desk, where ship and station crews make requests for equipment. Inventory details are taken, registrys and so on, and then it gets passed into the back rooms" He pointed at a series of blocked off areas all full of terminals and chattering personnel.
"There you find what you need within a reasonable timeframe and arrange for it to be delivered. You then arrange support to make delivery of your own orders, and to install them if that's what's needed. If you need further support, call engineering"
A passing lieutenant gave series of padds to Quinn, causing him to grimace.
"Damn shuttle merchants, they sell ships to folk and give 'em no idea what sort of sorry tub it is. Lookie here, Romulans bought a modified trawler style vessel with a faulty driver coil, and then submit the repair notice so the new owner has to deal with it. Tell you what, your first assignment is to get this off my desk, I've got more important things to worry about"

The padd exchanged hands, and Tyr was left alone, looking in wonder at the signature that Tedak had left on the padd. This must have been the vessel that he planned to evacuate the El Aurians on. Taking it into a deserted side office, Tyr sat down at a computer terminal.

"Lily, where is Ambassador Tedak?"

"He is outside one of the outer docking berths..." The appearance of the new holo avatar made him jump slightly, but he took it in his stride. What he did not was the continuation of the sentence.
"...With a knife to his throat"

"Explain?" Tyr asked, something clearly having gone wrong in the last hour.

"Admiral Lin is not allowing them aboard the spacecraft, and so they took Tedak hostage in order to be allowed safe passage"

"It won't do them any good anyway, the driver coil doesn't work. Oh no..." He paused.

=/\=Ensign Lok to Commander Vanetti=/\=

=/\=Ensign...?=/\= She was blatantly confused =/\=Whoever you are, this is neither the time nor place=/\=

=/\=Lok, Ops division, and you can't allow the El Aurians onto the vessel=/\=

=/\=Who the hell are you to know about things like that. This is restricted information, and something I have far more experience in dealing with=/\= She was speaking in a hushed voice now, having clearly moved away from the group.

=/\=Listen Commander, the driver coil isn't functional. If they try and power up the driver assembly it will stall the entire ship. They'll think it's sabotage and kill Tedak. I'll think of something, but for the Prophet's sake, stall them!=/\=

<TAG Tedak and Lin>

[Deleted]

Tedak closed his eyes for a moment, thinking hard. How could the coil stall? He had no idea but he was very certain there was nothing wrong with the vessel. "He is lying," the Romulan explained as the pressure increased, both on his throat and his arm. "I have checked the vessel myself and I have the assurance of the provider that this vessel will take you where you need to go. He did say it wasn't in too good shape but good enough to get you to the Nexus."

The Romulan breathed hard, perspiration now appearing on his face. Drolar had assured him that the vessel was spaceworthy and his own checks had proven that Drolar had spoken the truth. "Whoever this ensign is, he has no knowledge of this situation." That was the first lie he had spoken, but it was for the good of the many. "He probably only wishes to stall and sabotage the vessel himself."

The pressure eased just a little and Tedak sighed in relief. He was already leaning as far back as possible into Tolian, without the risk of breaking his own arm or cutting his own throat. "Admiral, you'll have to let them go. Please!"

ooc: @ tyr don't rescue tedak....mag's got a plan!

[Magellan Lin]

The Romulan locked his eyes on Vanetti again, then sighed miserably as the Trill admiral finally arrived. He strained in an attempt to ease the pressure from the dagger of his throat, but Tolian seemed determined. "Admiral, what a pleasure to see you again," he commented dryly. "But I doubt these people are interested in hearing your solution, all they want is to leave in peace. Which they would've done if your commander hadn't interfered and locked down the hatch."

Magellan ignored Tedak

"Put down your weapon and step away from the Ambassador please Mr Tolian."

Tolian shook his head,
"I ll not release him until we are well clear of the station. I ll do it I lll stick him if need be."

Magellan approached a few feet closer his arms spread out and hands open,

"I understand your pain I really do. When I lost contact with my symbiont it was as if the world has shrunk, I can barely comprehend what you feel. At that time I would have done anything to re-establish the blend. So I believe you when you say you would kill Tedak. But what would that achieve, you still won't be on the ship and a Tal Shiar Hit squad will be on your tail"

"Hes right Talian" Timor said "This is not the way, we ve never used violence."

"This is for all of us Timor" Talian spat back.

As he spoke the comms broke into life and Magellan heard the conversation between Lok and Sharon he frowned.

Tedak closed his eyes for a moment, thinking hard. How could the coil stall? He had no idea but he was very certain there was nothing wrong with the vessel. "He is lying," the Romulan explained as the pressure increased, both on his throat and his arm. "I have checked the vessel myself and I have the assurance of the provider that this vessel will take you where you need to go. He did say it wasn't in too good shape but good enough to get you to the Nexus."

The Romulan breathed hard, perspiration now appearing on his face. Drolar had assured him that the vessel was spaceworthy and his own checks had proven that Drolar had spoken the truth. "Whoever this ensign is, he has no knowledge of this situation." That was the first lie he had spoken, but it was for the good of the many. "He probably only wishes to stall and sabotage the vessel himself."

The pressure eased just a little and Tedak sighed in relief. He was already leaning as far back as possible into Tolian, without the risk of breaking his own arm or cutting his own throat. "Admiral, you'll have to let them go. Please!"

Magellan looked back at Tedak,

"I don't have to do anything. I don't give into blackmail. I do however have a counter proposal."

"Go on" Timor said stepping forward to stand in front of Magellan.

"I will charter a ship for you and allow you to go to the nexus."

Everybody froze for a second,
"This is a trick"

Magellan shook his head
"Its not, the coil might be faulty it might not. But I m not willing to take that risk. There is a condition."

Timor rolled his eyes and Talian increased his grip again.

"Listen" Magellan urged "You will be allowed to leave with some exceptions. The children and their parents will remain as will Talian who will be charged with threatening Tedaks life."

"I already explained" Timor said "That you can't deny us all the right to go to the nexus."

"Your're right" Magellan agreed, "And neither can you deny your people, your children to choose. The condition is that the children and their parents remain on Starbase Assailant until they turn 18 at which point they will be adults and can decide for themselves whether they wish to go with you or not. That is my offer and it is the best one I can give you. You will be given jobs and quarters to make your stay more tolerable."

Timor looked at Selene and the others,
"Can I have a moment?"

"You may" Magellan replied "But don't take long, Talians arm looks like its getting tired."

Timor and the rest of the El Aurians gathered into a huddle after a few moments Timor emerged.

"We agree."

"Thank you Timor. You do your people credit. Now Mr Talian how about you release the Ambassador."

Talian hesitated,
"I can't go to jail. I ll end it myself."

Tedak quickly interjected fixing Magellan with a hard stare,

"I ll not press charges Talian." He said, "You can go with the others"

Talian looked suspciously at Magellan "Is this true"

"If Tedak doesnt press charges then there is no case to answer" Sharon shifted uneasily at his side but Magellan motioned her silent, "You have my word."

Talian slowly released the knife and let it drop to the floor, as quick as lightening Sharon was stood on the knife and had Talian in a lock looking at Magellan.

"Release him Commander" Magellan said, "Escort those that which to go to the nexus now to the Dock A the Eventine will deliver them. Have the families taken to teh quartermaster and quarters found. Oh and get Alari to check the drive coil on the merchantman."

Vanetti nodded and stooped to pick up the knife.

"Ambassador I suggest you return to your duties" Magellan said with a weak smile on his face.

As he left he tapped his comm badge.

=^= Ensign Lok please see me in my office in 20 minutes. Admiral Lin.=^=

[Deleted]

"I considered helping these people as being part of my diplomatic duties admiral," Tedak offered dryly. "May I bid my farewells to those departing?"

The Romulan wanted to bid them farewell, especially since he had come to know a few of them along the way. He could not blame Talian for what he did, hence he didn't press charges; he'd known they were desperate. He only wished that Magellan had told him about his compromise sooner.

"And another thing," the Romulan continued, offering Magellan a weak smile of his own while he rubbed his bleeding throat. "I have a favour to ask of you admiral. I would like to remain involved with the El-Aurians that are forced to remain behind due to having young children. I would like to be able to guide them, and teach their children."

He nodded towards a group of El-Aurians clustered close-by. "As ambassador, I believe it is my duty to see to it that diplomatic relations are established, and as such, I would welcome the opportunity to share some of my culture with them and learn about theirs. With your permission, of course."

Tedak was at all surprised that the Trill admiral had not threatened to press any charges against him, after all he had acted against the Trill's wishes, even though Tedak was rather outside his chain of command. Despite all, the Romulan did live on his station, by the admiral's grace at that. "I'll be stopping by sickbay to have my injuries looked at, and I wish to sit with T'Val. She still has not regained consciousness and I am worried for her."

He offered the admiral, and all others assembled, a polite bow, then quietly walked away, as dignified as was possible, given the circumstances. Yet, what the others did not see, was that Tedak was actually smiling. After all, some good had come of the situation in the end, even though it wasn't all what he'd hoped for.