SB Assailant Episode 1.6 Robbing Peter to pay Paul

[Deleted]

Richard walked out of the Yard Superintendants office. It had taken a lot of arguing and some waving of Richard's diplomatic credentials, but the Wanderer was on the priority list of repairs that the Starfleet repair yard had. It was a long list right now due to the unexpectedly high traffic that Assailant had seen lately. The freighters carrying the Tekarans all seemed to require some repairs from the shipyard before they could leave, and now there were several ships that were in for repair due to damage caused by recent fighting with pirates. It looked as if Starfleet had not expected such a sudden upswing in traffic and was scrambling trying to find the personel and equipment to keep up. That was a bureaucratic issue that Richard had nothing to do with, though.

There was, however, one thing that Richard wanted to deal with before anything else. He headed back to the Wanderer and into Sickbay. Standing by the central biobed was a piece of technology that Richard had heard only rumours about before now. A Cryonic Neural Inhibitor. In the rush of events, everyone seemed to have forgotten about it, except for him...

Richard stood in front of the nefarious device, trying to decide what would be best. In the long run, destroying it would probably be the wisest course of action, but he was always against destroying anything out of hand. Most people might say that this device was evil, but Richard had always been of the opinion that no device was evil, just the use that it was put to.

Turning to one of the sickbay consoles, Richard accessed the transporters and beamed the device into Cargo Bay 3. Then he turned on the dispersion field within the bay to shield it's contents from prying eyes.

That done, he left the Wanderer to find Assailant's Sickbay. It was time to see how T'Val was doing.

[Deleted]

“Ambassador, I am deeply sorry,” Drew answered, addressing Tedak, “As I said to Admiral KezTrek, this matter is largely classified.”

“You said something before about a contact,” Magellan prompted, “I am presuming Starfleet Intelligence is involved.”

Drew nodded his head, “As you, yourself know Magellan, Intel often requests tasks from Starfleet Officers.”

“Are you saying Starfleet Intelligence ordered you to steal my shuttle?” Tedak demanded the disbelief in his voice was evident.

Drew shook his head, “Of course not Ambassador, it was just the most suitable craft.”

Magellan seemed to be accepting Drew’s story, but Drew could tell Tedak would take some convincing. He knew he couldn’t tell Tedak about the message he had received from Palan Sonev, informing him of the location of the Wanderer, and Jibb and T’Val, perhaps one day he would, but certainly not today.

“Ambassador, I will ensure that your shuttle receives priority repair, it will be fully operational again within days, and as way of apology, I would be honoured if you and T’Val would join my wife and I for dinner this evening.”

Drew waited for the Ambassadors answer.

[Magellan Lin]

“Ambassador, I will ensure that your shuttle receives priority repair, it will be fully operational again within days, and as way of apology, I would be honoured if you and T’Val would join my wife and I for dinner this evening.”

"And I hope that you will accept that Starfleet will foot the bill in its entirety. I can understand your annoyance, but its well within the rights of a senior member of Starfleet to appropriate any vessel in the pursuit of his duties. I hope you understand this and that this will not become an issue that needs to go any further than this base."

<Tedak>

"Well if you'll excuse us I think myself and Admirals Keztrek and Drew need to have a conversation. Confidential I m afraid."

<Tedak>

"I ll give you time to get cleaned up Paul, My office in 30mins?" Magellan suggested
Paul nodded
"Sure."

[Deleted]

Richard was leaving the Wanderer when the sound of voices raised in anger attracted his attention. Looking along the docking bay, he saw a sight that he couldn't recall ever having seen before. Three Starfleet Admirals and what looked like the Romulan Ambassador were arguing heatedly beside the shuttle that had assisted him in getting away from the Avenger. They didn't seem to realize that they were getting quite a crowd of onlookers as they sniped at one another.

He owed the pilot of the shuttle a thank you, but this was clearly not the right time. If he went it there right now, he might face some embarrassing questions as well.

Turning, Richard hastily beat a retreat in the opposite direction.

[Deleted]

After changing into a clean uniform, Drew found himself waiting outside Magellan’s office, waiting for the signal to enter, he could see through the doors that KezTrek was also present in the office, both waiting to give Drew a full grilling no doubt.

Before coming to Ops, Drew had made the arrangements necessary to ensure Tedak’s shuttle would get repaired, and then had paid a very brief visit to T’Val in the infirmary. The Vulcan healer was tired, and would likely need a few days rest, but the Doctors had ensured Drew that she would make a full recovery.

At least everything is back to normal Drew thought to himself, but then a pang of regret hit him, although they had determined who the pirate leader was - Captain Dillon, they still hadn’t discovered who had been the senior member of Assailant’s staff involved. False evidence had been planted, that seemed to implicate Drew himself, but those data records had easily been found to be incorrect. So now they were back to square one, just who was the informant on Assailant?

Before he could think of any possible answers, the signal came for the office door to open, stepping instead Drew faced Admirals Lin and KezTrek…

[Deleted]

"And I hope that you will accept that Starfleet will foot the bill in its entirety. I can understand your annoyance, but its well within the rights of a senior member of Starfleet to appropriate any vessel in the pursuit of his duties. I hope you understand this and that this will not become an issue that needs to go any further than this base."

"No admiral it does not," Tedak replied, "but it is common courtesy to ask first. However, it is very gracious of you to offer repairs and I will gladly accept that offer."

"Well if you'll excuse us I think myself and Admirals Keztrek and Drew need to have a conversation. Confidential I m afraid."

"Of course," Tedak replied, then turned to Drew. "I'm afraid you will have to owe us dinner. T'Val will not be released from sickbay anytime soon." He bowed gracefully towards both men, then to Keztrek and turned on his heels. A little down the corridor, he saw Jibb turn on his heels and disappear back onto his ship, and decided to go after him.

"Mr Jibb?" he called, "may I come aboard?" He heard a grunt and took that as a yes. "I believe I owe you my grattitude for saving the life of my wife. Thank you, also in her name. She asked me to convey her grattitude to you."

[Deleted]

Richard hesitated as he stood behind the closed main hatch of the Wanderer. He had been hoping to get away clean, but hadn't quite been able to. Sighing quietly, he opened the hatch to reveal the Romulan Ambassador.

Tedak paused for a second, then said "I believe I owe you my grattitude for saving the life of my wife. Thank you, also in her name. She asked me to convey her grattitude to you."

Richard maintained an uncomfortable silence. He was not used to being thanked for anything. Then he replied "You're welcome Tedak. I certainly couldn't leave her with on the Avenger. I was just getting ready to go visit T'Val. Would you like to join me?"

[Deleted]

Tedak nodded solemnly. "Yes, well you beat me to it. I was going to ask you if you would like to join me. I was just on my way to her after that unfortunate argument with Admiral Drew. Though, I am gratified that that matter is solved."

He led the way to sickbay, where T'Val was sitting up with a blanket draped around her shoulders. She didn't notice the two men entering, but looked up when the two firelizards perched on the diagnostic board gave them away. She actually smiled at seeing the two men together, then beckoned them to come closer.

"Mr Jibb," she called, after properly greeting her husband, the Vulcan way of course since they were not alone, "did Tedak convey my gratitude? I deeply regret having been such a burden to you...ever since we first met. I am of belief that we got off on the wrong foot, would to care to start anew?"

[Deleted]

Richard stared at his feet, embarassed, as T'Val finished her speech. The Vulcan didn't look like she was in very good shape. She had been through a lot today as well, much more than he had been. Richard felt like he had been used as a ball in a Klingon game of Parisi Squares. He could only imagine what T'Val felt like after being stuck inside that machine for so long.

T'Val and Tedak were quiet as Richard thought about what she had said. Things had been very difficult between Richard and pretty much everyone else that he had come into contact with on the station since he had arrived, and the Vampire virus had not helped. Unfortunately, Richard had a very hard time forgiving and forgetting. It was what was left from the many years of difficult existence on frontier worlds that he had been through, before he had come back to the Federation.

"Unfortunately, I'm not a forgive and forget kind of a person. On the other hand, I haven't treated you very well either. Why don't we just call it even and get past it. Sound fair?" Richard said hopefully.

[Deleted]

T'Val nodded carefully. "What has been done to you is not easy to forget, and I do not ask nor want you to forget," she said softly, "though I would very much like for us to get along, if not be friends." She grimaced, then smiled a little. "Seems though, that we keep getting stuck with one another," she added, "fate must be playing a part here, however much I believe there is no such thing as fate."

The two firelizards warbled in agreement, though stayed away from the human ambassador. Tedak noticed this and called Nut to him. "We will be forever grateful anyway," he said, "and if there is anything we can do for you at any time you just have to call. If it is in our ability to accomplish what you wish, you shall get it."

He petted his firelizard. "Is there any word on this Dillon character, and who tried to frame Admiral Drew?" He knew that that information wasn't general knowledge, but he'd been right there when Drew had stolen his shuttle, and he had also been able to access the sensor logs that were covertly kept.

[Deleted]

Richard looked over at Tedak. "Someone tried to frame Admiral Drew? I'm a bit out of the loop as far as that goes. We only spoke to this Dillon guy for a moment, and that was only long enough for him to throw T'Val into the Neutralizer." Richard stopped and looked around Assailant's Sickbay, the looked back at the injured Vulcan. "T'Val, where's Palan Sonev?"

T'Val looked back at him. "Who?"

"Sonev, the man who helped us get off of the Avenger. He opened up my cell as long as I helped him get off of the ship. He was the unconscious one on the other biobed aboard the Wanderer" Richard said quickly.

The Healer closed her eyes in thought. "I vaguely remember someone else aboard the Wanderer besides your doctor. An unconscious human. Richard nodded at her. "But I don't know where he is now. I would assume that he is somewhere here in Sickbay."

Richard looked around again carefully at all of the occupied beds. None of them resembled the man who had claimed to be a member of Starfleet Intelligence. He stopped a doctor who was passing by T'Val's bed. "Excuse me doctor, but another man was beamed off of the Wanderer to Sickbay. Can you tell me where he is."

The doctor looked confused. "I'm sorry sir, but only T'Val was beamed here. There was no one else." Richard looked over at Tedak, who moved quickly to a computer console.

"This is Romulan Ambassador Tedak. I need to know the location of a Palan Sonev."

The computer hummed briefly, the replied "There is no such person aboard Starbase Assailant."

Tedak frowned and said "Where is the second person who was beamed off of the Wanderer today at time index 14?"

The computer paused again, for a much longer period, then answered. "Only one person was beamed off of the Wanderer at that time index."

Richard walked over to Tedak and said "It seems that we have another problem."

[Deleted]

"You believe he is still aboard your ship?" Tedak asked, and quickly cast a glance at Sev. The bronze instantly winked out, only to return a few seconds later his eyes whirling yellow with alarm. "He is aboard the Wanderer," the Romulan announced, and only seconds later, the computer confirmed their suspiscion. "Sev can detain him until you get to the wanderer, he knows the ship. I'll send Nut with him. Do you want me to come with you?"

The two firelizards winked out mid-warble and Tedak gazed at Jibb. Then he glanced at T'Val, who nodded ever so slightly. "Come on, I shall fill you in about what has happened on the station under way."

[Deleted]

Reluctantly, Richard agreed to let Tedak come along. He didn't like the concept of a Romulan Ambassador being aboard a Federation Diplomatic vessel, and he knew that it was in violation of a number of diplomatic protocols. However, Tedak didn't actually have to board the Wanderer. Besides, he had a better idea and tapped his communicator. "This is Ambassador Class 3 Richard Jibb to Security. There is an intruder aboard the shuttle Wanderer, which is in the repair dock. Send a security team to detain whoever it is." He received his acknowledgement and he and Tedak continued quickly to Richard's ship.

By the time they got there, Tedak had finished filling Richard in regarding station events while he had been away. It all sounded quite fishy to him, but it was time to find out what was going on aboard the Wanderer. There was a heavily armed three man security detachment at the main hatch, commanded by a Marine lieutenant who eyed Richard and the Romulan beside him carefully. "Are you Richard Jibb?" he asked.

"Yes lieutenant. Did you catch the intruder?" Richard asked back.

"There was nothing aboard except two fire lizards. They're yours?" the Marine said, glancing at Tedak.

Tedak nodded, closed his eyes and called Nut and Sev to him. The two lizards appeared immediately and settled onto his shoulders. "What happened?" he asked them and stood as the two lizards sent what they had seen to the Ambassador. "He beamed off" Tedak said after a moment.

"I don't see how that's possible sir. We have been monitoring the ship since we received the alert. There have been no transporter traces reported. I also have a team in there scanning right now. There are no ionization remains that would indicate that anyone was beamed from the ship in the last few minutes" the Lieutenant said.

"Well, someone beamed off of the Wanderer, somehow" Tedak replied. "The Starbase shields are up, so whoever it was is at least still on the base. We need to start a search."

The Marine nodded and started issuing orders over his communicator.

[Deleted]

Tedak saw the sceptical look on Jibb's face. "You don't believe it," he said accusingly, "the firelizards can't lie. They don't know how, they only pass on what they see." He turned on his heels. "I am going to see admiral Magellan," he added, "we need to shut down all docking bays and restricht any ships already having received clearance to leave."

He strode away with long paces, then halted and turned. "You coming?" he called back, "the guards and I suspect your ship, will tell you when someone tries to board again."

He continued his strides and marched into OPS. To his surprise, they hadn't even gone to yellow alert. "We have an intruder alert," he announced, "someone tried to steal the Wanderer. He or she is still aboard this station, you need to lock down all ships and retract any clearances for departure."

He gazed at the admirals around him expectantly. He gazed at the two firelizards, then pointed at Magellan. "Show him what you saw," he told them, and the duo lifted off to hover before Magellan's eyes, staring at him intently, then the duo turned to Drew and Kez in turn, to show them too.

[Magellan Lin]

First bit fits in before Tedak arrives.


"Ah Paul come in" Magellan greeted ushering Drew in to the office. Keztrek was already present. She sat in the corner half in shadow.
"Kez" Paul nodded.
"Paul" She replied curtly
"Shes annoyed with me cause I ve got myself into trouble again" Paul chuckled.
"You seem to have a knack for it" Keztrek replied
"Well at least I m not cooling my heels in a prison cell this time."
"Well you would have, if you hadnt skipped off aboard a stolen ship."
"Hang on Hang on" Magellan wailed raising his hands, "Ceasefire. We all know Pauls innocent"
"Only because Saarok cracked the code" Keztrek noted
"Yes." Magellans face darkened, "He seems rather able in the arena."
"Where exactly did that second ship come from?" Drew asked
"I d say that was his doing too" Keztrek replied "He was using the comms heavily the whole time you were gone."
"Any logs"
"Nope" Kez replied
"Thought as much"
Magellan rubbed his forehead,
"This is a little of track, Saaroks not the issue here. The Avenger is. We still don't know who betrayed us. Or who set you up Paul"
"We have an idea " Kez answered "The planted money wasnt done very well. An amateur"
"But that doesnt fit the MO of the guy whose being leaking info."
"Which means..."
"Which means we potentially have two moles. One who is better than we are with our own systems" Magellan pointed out.
"So whats next?"
"Further investigations I suppose. The trail seems cold. I ve put out a wanted report on the Avenger, and I doubt we'll see them for a bit. And we seem to have sileneced the pirates - we took out several of their key ships."
"So back to normal"
"What passes for normal. But lets keep an eye out. The clever mole will take time to trap but I expect the other one will slip up soon enough"
"Indeed" Keztrek replied.
They were interrupted by teh arrival of Tedak.

He continued his strides and marched into OPS. To his surprise, they hadn't even gone to yellow alert. "We have an intruder alert," he announced, "someone tried to steal the Wanderer. He or she is still aboard this station, you need to lock down all ships and retract any clearances for departure."

He gazed at the admirals around him expectantly. He gazed at the two firelizards, then pointed at Magellan. "Show him what you saw," he told them, and the duo lifted off to hover before Magellan's eyes, staring at him intently, then the duo turned to Drew and Kez in turn, to show them too.

"I see so this Sonev who helped rescue T'Val is missing. Thats not unusal for SF intel"
"But he treid to steal the wanderer"
"Hmm I suppose" Magellan replied, "Perhaps he needed an exit"
"Well arent you going to look for him?"
"Do you have any idea how long a search of this station would take. And how easy it would be for an Intell officer to avoid us? No we'll need something smarter than that. I ll agree to a station shut down, but I think our best bet is to release Sev and Nut to track him down?"

[Deleted]

Tedak nodded. "Call on Saarok's duo too..that will make four of them." He gazed at his two, and instantly the two winked out. He smiled at the admirals. "You will be amazed how handy these creatures can be. Of course, if you want some privacy, they can be a pain too, they re always tuned in to their owners...and if the owner is a telepath, or telepathically linked, also to his or her partner."

He bowed politely towards the two men and the woman. "I apollogize for barging in like this. I shall take my leave of you now so that you can continue what you were doing before I interrupted you. I will make sure my firelizards will not fly in unannounced." He bowed again and turned to leave.

[Deleted]

OOC Before we get to the meeting with the Admirals

Richard followed quietly along behind Tedak. The Romulan Ambassador seemed quite hostile, overall. Richard was perfectly aware that the fire lizards weren't lying. Lying and concealing information were the constructs of intelligent, enlightened civilizations. It was very rare for any animal to be able to lie.

Richard shrugged inwardly. The Ambassador was undoubtedly under a lot of stress after all. His wife was in Sickbay after being kidnapped and placed in that machine. Richard still wasn't sure if he should keep it or destroy it.

While he was thinking, he, Tedak and the fire lizards arrived at their destination. Tedak swept into the room without knocking, Richard still following quietly behind. Sitting around a desk were Admiral Magellan and two other Admirals Richard didn't know personally. He hadn't been in a room with this much brass in it since his last formal diplomatic dinner.

Tedak immediately got into a conversation with Magellan regarding recent events, showed him what the fire lizards had seen aboard the Wanderer and then quickly walked out of the room, leaving Richard standing there with three Admirals looking at him expectantly.

"Well, it seems that I am no longer required. I guess that I'll be on my way as well" Richard said calmly and turned to leave the room.

Magellan held up a hand. "Actually Mr. Jibb, I'd appreciate it if you would remain for a while. You're the only person aboard Assailant who has seen this Palan Sonev, besides one fire lizard. I think that it might be useful if you participate in the search." He looked over at the other two Admirals, and received nods in response. "By the way" Magellan continued, "this is Admiral KezTrek and Admiral Drew." The two stood to shake hands with the courier.

Richard took a long look at Admiral Drew. "Excuse my saying so, Admiral, but taking on a Defiant Class vessel in a stolen shuttle is a fairly unusual act for a Starfleet Admiral. And thanks, by the way..."

Drew gave an uncomfortable sidelong glance at KezTrek and replied "Options at the time were extremely limited. I did what needed to be done."

Richard nodded and resolved to try to get to know this particular Admiral a bit better. People who were willing to do what needed to be done were pretty few and far between. He also wanted to know how he had managed to remain an Admiral.

Richard turned to Magellan. "So do you have a plan to track down Sonev?"

[Deleted]

Tedak walked back to sickbay, continuing his brisk pace. He was rather miffed that Magellan had turned him away so easily, even though he did raise the alarm phase on the station. ~he still doesn't trust me~ he thought, chagrined ~how am I ever going to get that brass to trust me. Fleeters, hmph!~

He stalked back into sickbay, where he found T'Val sitting on the edge of the bed. "Are you allowed to be up?" he asked gently, his voice betraying the anger he still felt.

T'Val nodded. "The doctor just released me. He said I will still need a lot of rest, but I am yearning to see my child. Is the nanny still with D'Beren?"

Tedak nodded and held his arm out to her. "Come, you must still be cold."

T'Val shuddered at the thought. "Please, do not remind me, this is not something I wish to be constantly reminded of. I am still having nightmares, however illogical this may sound to you...or to myself. It was horrid."

"I know," Tedak almost whispered, "it severed our bond. It was again Saarok who saved my life. We must not make this a habit my love." He smiled down at her gently, as he draped an arm around her frail shoulders. ~she has lost weight~ he thought with alarm. In silence, he led his wife to their quarters, where she instantly ran over to their son.

"My son," T'Val whispered, hugging the child close. THe boy cried happily.

"ma," the infant brabbled.

T'Val looked up. "Did you hear that?" she asked, staring at the boy in disbelieve. "what did you say?"

"Ma," the boy repeated, waving his little fists in the air.

"I believe he just called you ma," Tedak said dryly, but he smiled.

"So he did," T'Val said, as she lowered the boy back into his crib. "I must inform the Debrune council that D'Beren has just spoken his first words."

~she looks too pale~ Tedak thought, worried ~she mustn't talk to them yet, but I can't keep her from it. They expect it of her...who are they to expect this of her!~ Anger flushed his cheeks, but he kept silent, and motioned for the firelizards to keep quiet too, as T'Val informed the Debrune council.

[Magellan Lin]

"Managing a search is very difficult. Especially for someone with his skills. I have my staff searching as well as the 4 firelizards. Its about as much as we can do for now. I would remain content that he rescued you and secondly that he failed to take the Wanderer"
"Thats hardly the point Admiral"
"Maybe" Magellan replied "But this still my station an it may be advantageuous to give this Sonev a little rope."
"Rope?"
"Yes rope on which to hang himself."
"I see. Care to elaborate?"
"Put it this way, I m not convinced he was SF Intell - We know that there are more than one pirate factions involved around here. And we have discovered one set aboard the Avenger. There is still a contact or contacts aboard Assailant. I think he'll make contact with his contact and thereby we get not only him but verification of the contacts guilt. Patience Mr Jibb is a wonderfull thing."
Jibb was riled by the Admirals supercillious tone.
"Can I at least assist?"
"Of course you may assist with the surveillance of prime suspect - Drolem Simeth. And I highlight the word survellience, survey and report DO NOT interact. Contact Security and Ops if you finding anything. Fair enough?"
"Sounds Fair" Jibb replied.
"Good" Magellan replied.

[Deleted]

“One another thing,” Drew added, “We still need to investigate whatever involvement Lt. Tomlinson had in all of this, and I would suggest we limit his involvement in the investigation into our beloved Mayor.”

“Agreed,” Magellan replied, “Admiral KezTrek can head up the investigation team.”

There were a series of nods of agreement around the room, has everyone approved of the plan, now all they had to do was put it into effect.

“I’ll start to run a station wide scan for any unusual activity,” Drew said, nodding in goodbye to the others in the room. Settling himself in his station at Ops, Drew entered his personal codes, and logged into the computer systems, at once he began setting about the scan’s needed for the detailed search of the base, he also made sure special attention was paid to all shuttlecraft docked at the base, and use of all transporters.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” he whispered to himself as he looked for there would be escapee.

[Deleted]

Tedak was sitting in his quarters watching over D'Beren. It had taken some work, but he had finally convince T'Val to get some sleep. It was clear she needed it. The child was sleeping quietly as well, and he was savouring the quiet that he knew wouldn't last.

Almost on cue, the comm panel on the desk chimed quietly, and Tedak walked over and tapped the screen. A Starfleet lieutenant was visible. "Excuse me Ambassador, but there is an incoming communique from Supreme Elder JakDor of Qualinost for Healer T'Val."

Here we go, Tedak thought to himself. "Thank you. Put it through to this station please." The officer nodded and pressed a few buttons on his panel. The weathered face of Elder JakDor appeared.

"I was expecting Healer T'Val, however, it is nice to see you face to face at last, Ambassador Tedak" JakDor stated.

Tedak kept his face impassive. He and JakDor hadn't actually met before. It seemed that the Debrune Elder had been doing some homework. "It is nice to see you as well, Elder JakDor. I'm looking forward to working with you on the Qualinost Terraforming Project."

Courtesies concluded, JakDor got down to business. "I received a message from Healer T'Val. I understand that the Holy Child is doing well?"

<Tedak>

"Excellent. I have also seen that the influx of Tekaran refugees has begun to gather at Assailant, and I presume that they are going to wish to begin moving to Qualinost. I'm afraid that I will not allow that until the Federation has fulfilled some part of it's half of our agreement" JakDor said bluntly.

<Tedak>

[Deleted]

Courtesies concluded, JakDor got down to business. "I received a message from Healer T'Val. I understand that the Holy Child is doing well?"

The Romulan frowned a moment at the mention of the word 'holy', as it didn't quite go down with him that a child could be divine. "Yes he is well. T'Val takes great care of him, and she cares deeply for him, almost at the cost of her own health. I finally managed to get her to sleep a couple of hours, she has been through quite an ordeal recently. D'Beren called her mother, in ever so much a childish fashion and she was delighted to hear it. Well, as delighted as Vulcan gets that is."

He allowed himself to smile at that.

"Excellent. I have also seen that the influx of Tekaran refugees has begun to gather at Assailant, and I presume that they are going to wish to begin moving to Qualinost. I'm afraid that I will not allow that until the Federation has fulfilled some part of it's half of our agreement" JakDor said bluntly.

Tedak nodded. "I understand Elder, perhaps we can start negotiations on allowing a few to settle? There are some with families, small children. I have spoken with the Tekaran delegates at length, but I will convey your concerns to admiral Magellan at the earliest opportunity. You have my word on that. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

<Tedak>

[Deleted]

Wearily, Richard left the Admiral's office and started mentally preparing himself for his next job of monitoring Drolem Simeth. The courier decided that it would be best to find some information on this Simeth person, as he had yet to meet or interact with him in anyway. Also, Richad needed some relax for a while.

For Richard, it had been an extremely long day and he was looking forward to getting some rest and sleep aboard the Wanderer. He walked slowly through Assailant's repair facility and towards his shuttle. Finally reaching the main hatch, he keyed in his access code, and was very surprised when the door didn't open. He tried again, but the door still refused to release. Leaning over, Richard examined the keypad and found that it was not active. Cursing under his breath, he started trying to remove the faceplate to repair it when he heard a voice from behind him.

"Excuse me, but may I ask what you're doing?"

Richard turned to see a Starfleet Junior Lieutenant standing behind him, looking at him curiously. Closing his eyes in exasperation, he replied "My name is Richard Jibb, and this is my vessel. I am trying to get aboard so I can get some sleep. Why is the door pad deactivated?"

The lieutenant pulled out a PADD and tapped at it briefly. "The Wanderer has been shut down to assist the repair teams overcome a fractal encryption algorithm. We've been unable to decode it so far, so we have been limiting the freedom of the main computer and using Assailant's computer system to try to overpower the shuttle. As a result, all systems aboard your ship have been shut down."

"But where am I supposed to sleep?" Richard complained.

The young lieutenant looked puzzled. "You can sleep aboard Assailant sir. There's plenty of space available. But you can't sleep aboard your ship." Turning, the lieutenant walked off.

Richard sighed. He wanted to stay aboard his ship, but it seemed that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Irritated, he walked out of the repair facility and onto an empty turbolift. Tapping his communicator, he said "Access accomodations database."

"Working. Request complete" the computer replied quickly.

"This is Richard Jibb, Ambassador Level 3. I require accomodations aboard Starbase Assailant. Is there anything available?"

The computer paused for a second, then said "Richard Jibb, Ambassador Level 3 already has assigned quarters aboard Starbase Assailant."

Richard looked up at the computers speaker in puzzlement. "I already have quarters? Why?"

"Federation Diplomatic protocol Section 892, paragraph 5, states Federation Diplomatic personel permanently assigned to any Federation posting shall be supplied with appropriate quarters until such time as they are moved permanently to a separate posting. Paragraph 6 states that at such time..."

Richard cut the computer off. "That's enough." So, he already had quarters. That was different. "Computer, where are my quarters?"

"Quarters for Richard Jibb, are located on Deck 17, Section 32, Room L41."

Richard redirected the turbolift to Deck 17 and stepped off when the doors opened. Proceeding down the corridor, he found room L41 and opened the hatch. Taking a deep breath, he cautiously stuck his head through the open door.

The room was palatial, with a wide view of the planet Qualinost. Richard walked in and the door swished closed behind him. He could see the line of Tekaran freighters waiting to dock with their loads of refugees, along with their Starfleet escorts. He did a fast inspection of the entire series of rooms. There was a large receiving area, sitting room, kitchen, several bedrooms and sanitary facilities.

The last place besides the Wanderer that he'd had to himself was a miserable shack on Garbin 4 that he had been forced to hole up in for 2 months while evading some local thugs who were trying to extort protection money from him. He'd had a small computer repair business at the time that was making a lot of money, and the local gang had wanted a piece of it. He had barely escaped that place with his life. This apartment was a castle compared to that hole. In fact, the rest of the places that he had called home over the last decade were rarely much better.

Shaking his head at the odd turns his life had been taking recently, Richard set about getting a meal out of the replicator, sat down in front of the magnificent view and tried to relax.

[Deleted]

Tedak nodded. I understand Elder, perhaps we can start negotiations on allowing a few to settle? There are some with families, small children. I have spoken with the Tekaran delegates at length, but I will convey your concerns to admiral Magellan at the earliest opportunity. You have my word on that. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

JakDor's eyes had an angry glint in them as he opened his mouth. Then he closed it again, obviously rethinking what he was going to say. "I would appreciate it if you could arrange for the Debrune council to meet with whatever governing body the Tekarans have. It is time that we met with our potential neighbours. However, I would like to repeat that no Tekaran will be allowed to set foot on Qualinost without my approval."

JakDor sat back in his chair, his eyes measuring the Romulan Ambassador.

<Tedak>

[Deleted]

"As you wish," Tedak replied, measuring the Debrune Elder in turn. He didn't miss the angry glint in the man's eyes and knew he had to tread carefully when dealing with this man. "I will contact the Tekarans, and beam down with them in half an hour. Where do you wish us to beam down to?"

<JakDorn>

"I shall also contact Admiral Magellan, and advise him to keep the Tekarans from beaming down. I will let T'Val sleep though, I will inform you in person of what she has been through. Our trusted nanny will take care of D'Beren. Do not worry, she has been thoroughly screened by starfleet security, as well as DCS security."

<JakDorn>

Wearily, Tedak closed down the communications console. "Ambassador Tedak to Admiral Lin, could you spare me a moment of your time please, it is important." After an affirmative, Tedak explained the situation briefly, then set to gather the Tekarans and meet the Debrune Council.