Erratic Nerd Writings

{{Made one slight change to Chapter 5 after realizing I made a mistake.  Wonder if anyone will notice? ;-P Onward to Chapter 7!}}

Kanor sat down at the desk in his quarters, the Federation parcel that had prompted this whole ordeal in front of him.  It had been silent in his quarters after his spat with Cypher in the shower.  She was angry, and he understood why, but didn’t know how he could rectify the situation.  He was committed to giving her some sort of physical presence, some form of body.  He believed it was the best thing for her in her personal development as a lifeform, without question.  He did his best to put the issues aside.  Her flinging the word “master” at him had stung, but he needed to be prepared for this upcoming meeting with Kaz and his senior staff. 

While he didn’t normally bother investigating things he was retrieving for a job, beyond what he would need to for completion, this was larger than it had initially appeared.  He had put on a clean jumpsuit before coming into the office, and had replicated himself a “hamburger” after reassembling the machinery parts he had disconnected.  The sandwich was smaller than he had expected, but the taste was acceptable, if a bit uninspired.  The “toppings” that had come with it seemed unnecessary.

He unlocked the seals on the case, and started pulling things out.  A few PADDs, a data storage device, an identification chit, and what appeared to be an interactive holographic display.  He picked up the latter first and activated it.  Sure enough, the hologram of a world was projected into the air above the device, though it wasn’t one Kanor recognized.  There was no ID tag of its name, either, but there was a marker placed on the globe along the equator, along the coast of one of the larger body masses.  Tapping on it, the view zoomed in to what appeared to be a somewhat standard Federation settlement.  Manipulating the image by grasping it with his hands, he maneuvered the aerial view to try and get a better view of the buildings, and understand the layout better.  It looked like a preliminary colony; mostly agriculture, very little industry, lots of residential buildings, some basic defenses.  There didn’t seem to be any coordinates or names attached with the hologram, so Kanor shut it down so he could move on to the other items.

He grabbed the identification chit next.  He was about to place it in the appropriate port on the Enterprise computer at the desk to read what it said, when he realized he had yet to secure the computer.  He frowned.  Setting up a new base of operations, even a temporary one, was endlessly frustrating.  Retrieving his toolkit, he pulled out a specific isolinear chip and connected it to the Enterprise computer to begin securing the terminal.

After that was finally finished, Kanor retrieved the isolinear chip, and inserted the identification chit.  Immediately, a profile screen pulled up.  It featured a Zaranite; whether it was male or female was hard to discern from the picture due to the breathing apparatus that covered their face.  His eyes shifted to the text alongside the picture.

“Ambassador D’larin (retired); Prime Huntress of the future Zaranite colony in the Zenas Expanse.”

There were multiple official seals, Federation and Zaranite the only two he recognized, accompanied by signatures.  The Federation’s was the reigning President in office.  From what he could determine, the Ambassador was retiring to lead up the colony the Zaranites were sitting up on this planet; this was the paperwork showing the multiple levels of government that were giving her that authority.  While the identification chit was mildly valuable, it wasn’t worth setting a bounty on.  Sure, the document could be altered to give that recognized authority to a different individual on a different planet, even; but the effort required for the forgery wasn’t really worth it.  Especially since the Zaranites, long-standing members of the Federation but by no means powerhouses, rarely set-up new colonies.  Their unique respiratory systems, which relied on a heavy concentration of fluorine-rich microorganisms, made worlds they could live on without additional breathing apparatus rare.  If someone tried using this, altered or no, it would draw a lot of unwanted attention.

Whatever someone had wanted from this container, it didn’t make sense for it to be the chit or the hologram.  There had to be something more.  He looked at the data storage device, and the PADDs.  No telling how much information that storage device would have on it; he’d save that for last.  He picked up the first PADD and started sifting through the information on them.

Over an hour had passed before he looked up again, surprised at the chronometer that the desk computer displayed.  He had only gone through about half of the PADDs; skimming mostly, but several sections in the documents on the devices caught his eye and made him stop to read more intently.  Most of his scientific and technological expertise he focused on things that were in his realm of interest; weapons, personal defense, tactics, computer systems.  However, he was well-versed on the base concepts of a broader scope of topics; so he was at least able to comprehend, if not fully grasp, what he was reading.

The majority of the documents were focusing on outlining revolutionary new terraforming techniques the Zaranites had developed after years of research.  They were specifically designed for their own unique biological needs on planets, yet the basic concepts of their advances could be adapted to suit other species without many changes.  Apparently, the Zaranites had been searching for a suitable site to field test these techniques for a couple of years, now. 

“Well, it looks like they found you…but still, the question remains, who cares?”

The relatively easy adaptation for other species would undoubtedly explain the Federation’s interest and heavy involvement, but the techniques were certainly no Genesis device or anything.  It was a big deal for the Zaranites; if the experimental methods ended up proving successful, it would drastically alter their ability to populate the stars.  The Zaranites were such a relatively minor race politically, though, Kanor couldn’t fathom why anyone would want to bother attempting to stop them.  Maybe the race that inhabited that ringed ship wanted the technology to adapt for their own needs; but he had a hard time believing they were capable of a feat such as that vessel, yet needed to resort to stealing this.  Sure, it could be just that simple, but Kanor still felt the need to dig deeper.

He got up to get some water from the replicator and move around a little.  He had been avoiding talking with Cypher during all of this, though he knew she was watching.  He took a sip of water as he walked around in the living area, then steeled himself.

“Cypher?”

“Yes, Master?”

His jaw tightened at her continued use of the noun.  She needed to act her frustration out, however; he couldn’t deny her that.

“What do we know about a Federation Ambassador D’larin, recently retired?”

“Nothing more than what you have discovered going through the contents of the parcel so far.”

“Are you able to access and utilize the Enterprise’s computer systems without risking your discovery?”

“As long as this one does not attempt to alter key systems or intrude upon the barriers surrounding the watchdog AI, this one believes so, yes.  If this one were constrained to the limits of a physical body, this one would undoubtedly require a hard line connection that would be significantly more difficult to secure.”

Kanor rolled his eyes.  Now she was referring to herself as an impersonal object, too.

“Alright, I want you to access the Enterprise’s databanks for any information they may have on D’larin.  If you cannot find anything significant, attempt to piggyback any subspace transmissions to access larger networks, but only if you’re certain you can do so undetected.”

“Affirmative, Master.  This one will update you as needed, or, at the latest, give you an overview of my progress before you depart for your meeting with the Enterprise crew.”

He spoke through clenched teeth.

“Thank you.  Alert me of the time and issue your report no later than 1240 hours.”

“As you command, Master.”

Kanor tossed the remainder of the water back and scowled, biting the retort back while trying to stifle his ire.  She would get over it, eventually.  He hoped.  They had never had an argument of this nature before.

After relieving himself in the lavatory, he returned to the office and picked up a new PADD.  More reports from varying Zaranite scientists detailing the progression of different projects concerning the new methods they were developing.  This one seemed more current than the others he had been reading, and appeared to be the culmination of all of the lab work they had put into the effort.  There was a transcript of approval from the Zaranite Hierarchy to proceed with a small scale and controlled live test, as well as mention of petitioning the Federation Council for beginning the search for a suitable uninhabited planet.

All well and good.  Standard bureaucratic dances.  Again, nothing that really hinted at a reason for this information to have been stolen.  He wondered if there had possibly been something else in the container originally that the pirates had removed; it seemed unlikely they would have guarded it like they were when he had boarded their ship, however, if that were the case.  He reached for the next PADD to start skimming over, sitting the first in the growing pile of PADDs he had already gone over.  This new one seemed to contain information about the planet he had seen in the hologram.  Initial surveying reports. 

“Now there’s something I didn’t see in the hologram…” he murmured.

Ruins.  A massive site, from what was described.  Kanor poured over the details, trying to extrapolate the scenario and read between the lines.  Everything else about the planet was ideal for their initial test site.  The evidence of a past civilization had demanded they investigate the planet thoroughly; any remaining intelligent life would have made the planet unsuitable for the terraforming and colonization process, so they had to be sure.  After they had verified there weren’t any remnants of the builders of the ruins-or any other ruins, for that matter-they had turned their efforts to investigating the one site more in detail. 

What followed were a series of photos.  At first, they were aerial shots looking over different parts of the location.  The first wide-angled shot of the entire site in its entirety made both of Kanor’s eyebrows rise, however.  A large, central ring; with multiple lines-some straight, some curved and squiggly-jutting out from it all around, almost like a sunburst.  While it was far too small to be the ship they had encountered yesterday, it was clearly of the same design.

That was it; there was the connection, finally.  The planet the Zaranites were planning on colonizing was, at some point in time, home to the same aliens that had been operating that ship yesterday.   At least they came from the same cultural background, if nothing else.  It still didn’t explain what, exactly, they wanted with the parcel: see what the Zaranites had been doing on their planet, trying to remove evidence of their existence?  It only seemed to open up more questions, but at least he had his connection.  This PADD still hadn’t contained the exact coordinates for the planet in question, so Kanor set it aside, apart from all the others, and started rifling through the remaining PADDs to find which one had the report where the planet had first been discovered.  He spoke without thinking.

“Cypher, I think I finally found the link tying all this together.  I think I’ll recommend to Kaz we go pay a visit to this colony in the Zenas Expanse, once I find the coordinates.  Did you find anything yet on that Ambassador?”

“Congratulations, Master.  As per your orders, this one first began with the Enterprise’s databanks for information concerning Ambassador D’larin.  Five days ago, a civilian transport vessel was en route from Earth to Zaran II, when it was attacked by pirates.  A crewmember and the Ambassador were killed during the altercation.  The description of the pirate ship listed in the article matches that of the ship you encountered with the parcel, and that of the description posted with the original bounty listing.”

Kanor’s temporary rise in spirits was dampened by the reminder Cypher was treating him like he was some sort of slave master.  She had, in many ways, been his only friend for a number of years.  He was used to thinking of her as a valued cohort, not merely some tool.  His shoulders unconsciously sagged.

“Ah.  Why was she using a civilian transport, versus an ambassadorial shuttle?”

“She presumably had retired and was on her way to her homeworld to take over as head of the future colony, though this is simply conjecture.  This one has not been able to determine her official state status, as this one has been commanded to remain inobtrusive.”

Kanor glanced at the chronometer.  About an hour before his meeting.  He needed something to do physically.  His argument with Cypher and the in-depth technical reading had left him restless.

“Thank you for your valued input and efforts, Cypher.  It’s no wonder I consider you my closest friend.”

She didn’t respond, though he hadn’t expected her to.  It wouldn’t be that easy.

“I’m going to head down to the Hunt, get that security camera assembled.  Let me know the latest update about the former ambassador when the time hits.”

“As you command, Master.”

Kanor sighed as he got to his feet and began repacking the Federation container.

                                                                           ****

Kanor left the cargo bay an hour later, one of his own style of covert security devices tucked away in his jumpsuit.  Cypher had been unable to determine much more about D’larin, other than that she had officially retired from her role as Ambassador for the Zaranite people.  Several things remained unclear; primarily, though, just how the aliens had first discovered what was going on, and how they knew D’larin would have what she did.  Hopefully he would find those answers in his continued searching of the material on those PADDs.

It was time to attend this meeting with Kaz’s senior staff.  He had run into both the Romulan officer Selorus and the young Trill Jax on his way down to the cargo bay, so he hoped it helped to solidify in the Enterprise crew’s minds he had left the parcel on his ship.  Now, the delicate act of informing them of what he had found while still keeping himself relevant and necessary for their purposes.

The turbolift was empty when he first boarded it, but a few decks later it stopped, and he found both Marcie and Jax waiting outside the doors when they opened.  Jax nodded somewhat stiffly in Kanor’s direction as they joined him, and Marcie smiled, though it faltered as her eyes drifted up.

“Kanor, you oaf, you’ve got stuff on your head…c’mere, crouch down some…”

Kanor frowned, but stopped his hand from lifting up; instead, he leaned towards her so she could reach.  He felt her fingers plucking at the hardened ridges on his skull.

“What is this, towel?  You shouldn’t scrub so hard with those, looks like you’re shredding them or something…”

Kanor scowled.  Remembering his earlier incident, he HAD checked in the mirror after his post-workout shower, but apparently he hadn’t gotten everything.  How was it her eyes were so much sharper than his; it was his forehead!  His eyes happened to glance over at Jax as Marcie smoothed her hand along his cranium, checking for any last bits.  There was a bewildered look on the Trill’s face, as well as something else he couldn’t quite place.

“Thank you.” he growled.

“No problem.”

The turbolift doors opened soon after, and the three of them stepped out to continue down the corridors of deck seven.  Jax seemed to step a bit ahead, but since Kanor didn’t really know where he was going, he was content to follow him.  He set his pace to match Marcie, instead, but she seemed mentally preoccupied, so he remained silent.

“There’re the stragglers now…what took you guys so long, ol Hairy Knuckles get lost, you guys have to whip the mule into the right direction?”

Jax made a strangled sound in his throat as he glanced over his shoulder, and when Kanor looked over at Marcie to see who Skid might be referring to, he saw her grinning at him.  In fact, everyone seemed to be.  He frowned, resisting the urge to look down at his hands.

“I do NOT have hairy knuckles.”

Skid smirked as she came up to clap him on the shoulder with her left hand.  “Coulda fooled me, boyo.  C’mon, everyone’s waiting inside already.  I was about to come lookin for you.”

“We are precisely on time.  You told me 1300 hours…”

Jax walked through a pair of doors into what Kanor assumed was the main briefing room; with Marcie, then Skid, not far behind him.  The doors appeared to be made out of wood, with an area in their joined center of transparent material.  The transparency was in the shape of an off-center arrowhead, pointing up, with a five-pointed star etched inside.  Kanor had seen something similar to it before representing the Federation’s Starfleet, but why it was adorning the Independent Fleet’s Enterprise, as well as the significance of the differences, he couldn’t begin to fathom.

He followed behind Skid, his eyes sweeping around the circular table that dominated the center of the small room.  It was well decorated, but seemed strictly functional.  No viewports, some flag off to the right side with a standard Kanor didn’t recognize.  Kaz was seated directly across from the door, and everyone else seemed to be gravitating towards chairs they were accustomed to sitting in.  Being the last one in, Kanor found the only empty chair remaining was one of the two immediately in front of the door.  His eyes darted around as his jaw tensed; he would be forced to sit with his back to the door.  That small little detail immediately put him on edge.

“Alright, now that we’re all here, I’m going to do a round of proper introductions, since we have a visitor.  I’m pretty sure everyone has met our current mission consultant, but this is the first time we’ve gotten to really sit down together in a long time.”

Kanor sat down in the chair reluctantly, his back ramrod straight.  Why was every damn chair on this ship so plush and…soft?  Kaz took a sip from one of the two glasses in front of him.  Then, after sitting it back down, gestured across the table to Kanor.

“This is Mister Kanor.  He will be collaborating with us on our current mission, and will be included in all communications and discussions about said mission that do not compromise Fleet security.  Mister Kanor will be staying aboard our fine vessel while we’re working together, and will also be conducting a series of security evaluations for our crew and our operating procedures.  I’ve chosen Skid to help Kanor in his endeavors, and ensure things run smoothly as he interacts with the crew.”

Kanor heard Selorus mumble under his breath about Skid being a paid escort, and Skid, sitting just next to the Romulan, promptly did something under the table that made Selorus wince and hiss in pain.

“I don’t give much of a damn about ranks, Kanor, but since we’re doing some formalities…”

He gestured towards the man sitting to his immediate right.  Kanor noted the presence of the chain dangling from his left ear and disappearing under the table; he might not have recognized Drei otherwise.  The long green spikes had been shaved off completely, and the top of his head was now devoid of any hair.  He seemed to have developed a full, neatly trimmed growth of facial hair that surrounded his mouth and chin, though, and was also dyed green.  Kanor couldn’t readily explain the sudden sprouting of facial hair so quickly.

“This is Lieutenant Commander Drei, our senior communications officer.”

Drei, who had been sitting back in the chair, his arms dangling off the sides casually, gave Kanor a rather dead stare and simply lifted his chin in Kanor’s direction.  Kanor assumed that was an acknowledgement, though it seemed insulting somehow.  Kaz continued around the round table with the person sitting to Drei’s right.

“This is Lieutenant Daniel Jax, our senior ship’s pilot.”

Jax, who was leaning forward, his hands clasped together tightly on the table in front of him, nodded his entire head in Kanor’s direction.

“Mister Kanor.  Nice to have you on our side, as it were.”

Kanor returned Jax’s head-bow, but didn’t respond, as his eyes moved to the person sitting on Kanor’s left, the other seat in front of the door.

“Lieutenant Commander Samantha O’Neil, our chief medical officer.”

Marcie gave him one of those room-warming smiles as she waved her right hand in his direction.  Kanor resisted the urge to grin back at her and return her wave; it somehow didn’t seem appropriate.  He shifted his gaze to the person on his immediate right.

“Lieutenant Selorus, our senior science officer.”

Selorus met his gaze, but offered no other signs of greeting.  Kanor had no problem returning the favor.

“And of course our chief engineer and my executive officer, Commander Skid.”

Skid performed some form of mocking salute with two of her fingers to her brow as she winked at him.

“Hairy Knuckles.”

Kanor snorted, crossing his arms over his chest as he averted his gaze, glancing down at the two glasses of liquid in front of everyone at the table.  Both were clear, though one seemed to have a slice of some green fruit he believed was called a “lime” floating along its top.  The glass in front of Kaz seemed to be missing its lime, though it seemed to have some sort of stick in it instead.  The liquid inside of Kaz’s glass was a medium brown in coloration.

“Normally, Lieutenant Sh’lan would be sitting where you’re at, Mister Kanor, but something tells me he won’t be able to make it today.  I don’t think he’ll mind lending you his chair for the time being.”

Skid, Drei, and Jax joined Kaz in chuckling at that one, though Selorus and Marcie didn’t seem to react to Kaz’s joke.

“Now, Mister Kanor.  Did you happen to bring the Federation case that was the object of our initial job?”

Kanor met Kaz’s gaze across the table. 

“I stopped to review the contents of the case before coming to this meeting, yes.  I will, of course, share the information I went over.”

Kaz’s lips pursed together, but he held up his left hand and gestured for Kanor to continue.

Not feeling comfortable sitting down, especially with his back to the door, Kanor got to his feet.  He proceeded to tell Kaz’s senior staff about Ambassador D’larin, the Zaranite colony project and their terraforming experiments, as well as the ruins they had discovered, and the pattern they were laid out in.  He intentionally left out details, but hit the main components. He also moved around the table as he talked, so he could keep an eye on the door, as well as look at everyone directly as he drew near.  He wasn’t surprised when Kaz immediately spoke up as he finished.

“Thank you, Kanor.  Please; sit down, relax.  So those donut-drivers didn’t want people poking around their past.  How’d they know where to get to D’larin, and was her death incidental, or intentional?”

Kanor noted Kaz knew D’larin was dead, though he hadn’t mentioned it himself.  At least the Commodore kept himself aware of the details of a mission, versus relying solely on his subordinates to do so.  Kanor respected that.  He tried not to show his discomfort at resuming a seated position too easily.

“I’m not sure.  When I boarded the pirate’s vessel, I encountered fairly competent professionals, hygienic matters aside.  Despite a surprise attack, they rallied quickly, responded effectively, and knew how to remain relatively calm during a fight and shoot well.”

“You know it’s bad when a Klingon is commenting on hygiene.”  Skid said.

Jax chimed in.

“Though I don’t think we had quite as difficult of a time as Kanor did boarding their vessel, I’d have to agree on his assessment.”

“Judging from that testimony, as well as the rather surgical attack on the transport vessel by the pirates, it would stand to reason they murdered the Ambassador because they were instructed to, not by happenstance.”

Kaz nodded at Selorus’ statement. 

“Alright, then.  So how did they know she’d be carrying that information?”

He looked around the room, then settled his gaze upon Kanor.  Kanor shook his head.

“I am still looking into all the contents of the package, but so far, nothing suggests they encountered any living remnants of the aliens or an existing civilization, which is why they were continuing with their plans to establish the colony there.  One of the ambassador’s aides seemed to be directly overseeing the surveying of the planet, and wrote several of the reports herself.  If I had to peg a weakness in the chain of security, it’d be her.  I was going to recommend we investigate the site of the proposed colony, see if there are any clues there.”

Selorus spoke up from Kanor’s right.

“I believe it is imperative we further study the aliens and their construct, as well as ensure we keep aware of their location at all times.”

Kaz nodded.

“I’ll be including both points in my report with Admiral Stapleton this evening.  Skid?”

Skid, having just emptied the contents of her container with the lime in it, licked her lips as she sat forward a bit.

“Selorus and I spent the morning going over the data those probies gathered before they were destroyed, and we’ve compared our findings with various public information archives, as well as the Independent Fleet archives.  We can’t find anything even remotely close to what we saw back there.  Ship design, if you can call that fookin thing a ship, has never been encountered.  And the bloody tech is unlike anything else, too.  I can’t even begin to wrap my soggy head sponge around how that thing operates.  No discernable engine area, no bloody front and back, even.  I might just consider offerin me left arsecheek for a chance to crawl around her insides.”

“Now Skid, what would you do with your right one?”

Skid smirked across at Jax.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I’ve been analyzing the recordings of those transmissions they made, as well.  They’re just…off, somehow.  The two signals were, at first glance, identical.  But when I started breaking them down to try and understand what sort of information they contained, several irregularities appeared that don’t seem to have any correlation with each other.  As if there was an element built-in that was specifically random and chaotic, which doesn’t make sense.”

Kaz nodded as Drei spoke, though Kanor got the impression he was hearing information he had already heard. 

“Get together with Skid and Selorus, see if they can offer any additional insight.  Jax, I want…”

“I would like to have access to the sensor logs from these probes myself, see if I can see anything…different.”

Kaz shifted his gaze from the Trill to look across at Kanor.  He seemed perturbed by the interruption, but inclined his head a little.

“Fair enough, though we’d better have access to these documents from the Federation package you’re going over as well.  Again, in case we can see anything…different.”

Kanor grunted mentally.  A request he couldn’t deny, if he wanted access to the sensor logs.  The Hunt wouldn’t have been able to pick up anything on that ship from inside the Enterprise’s shuttle bay; he would have to rely on their sensor data.

“Very well.  I’ll make copies of the pertinent data and send it to you as soon as it is complete.”

Kaz’s eyes narrowed at Kanor’s use of the phrase “pertinent data”, but he seemed to be willing to accept that, for now.

“Alright.  Send it to everyone in this room, then; we’re all on the same page.  Now, as I was saying, Jax, I want you to…”

Kanor glanced over to his left at Marcie, who so far hadn’t said a word at this meeting.  She seemed to have a device in her right ear, and was concentrating on a PADD she held in her left hand beneath the table’s edge.  Kanor craned his neck to see what was on it, but could only see what appeared to be some random lines and odd animated animals, symbols, and shapes.  The device in her ear seemed to be emitting some form of music, though he could only just barely make it out.

“…Mister Kanor?”

Kanor looked up to see the rest of the table looking at him; except Marcie, at least.

“I need you to work with Jax in determining where this colony planet was, exactly, in case we do end up going to investigate it ourselves.  I’m assuming you haven’t uncovered the exact coordinates?”

Kanor somehow stiffened in his chair even more.

“I did not.  Again, I haven’t gone over all…”

Kaz interrupted him, waving a hand dismissively in a way that Kanor found very irritating.

“Oh yes, you’re trying to do all the work yourself and discovering it’s not nearly as fast and efficient as an entire staff of professionals working together.  Very well, then; when you can, get with Jax and work on narrowing down the location so I have something other than ‘some fucking planet somewhere’ to go off of.”

Kanor’s eyes narrowed, his temper flaring at Kaz’s blatant brashness.  He bit back his initial retort, and forced himself to not rise to the bait.

“I have determined it is in the Zenas Expanse so far.”

Jax seemed to be surprised at that.

“All the way out there?  That’s out in Cardassian space, maybe even Tholian.”

Kaz’s eyes seemed to light up at the mention of the Tholians, Kanor noted.  The Commodore emptied the contents of the beverage container down his throat, then reached to pull the stick out of the glass.

“Well, when you get a probable location, make sure to find out what’s been going on in the local area for the past couple of months, I want to know what we might be flying into if things come to that.”

“Aye, sir.”

Kanor grunted in response, not about to refer to anyone as “sir”.  Kaz and Drei seemed to exchange a glance as Kaz held the stir stick to his lips and sucked on it in a fashion Kanor could only describe as overtly suggestive.  Drei’s grin spread from ear to ear.

“Any idea how long we will be back with the Fleet?”

Kaz drew the stir stick out of his mouth and returned it to his empty glass as he glanced over at Selorus.  Selorus, Kanor noted, hadn’t touched his lime-containing drink.  Curious, he checked everyone else’s, and saw Marcie had completely drained the other container, but also hadn’t touched the glass with the lime.  Jax was in the process of knocking his back, and Drei’s was empty.  He reached out for the one in front of him, holding it up to his nose with curiosity.

“The Admiral led me to believe we’d be going back out early tomorrow, but a lot of it depends on what decisions we come to based on my report.  I doubt we’ll be offering shore leave, let’s put it that way, as I plan on pushing for us to be back out as soon as possible.”

As he inhaled, Kanor detected the distinct scent of alcohol in the beverage he was holding.  He couldn’t place what kind, the scent of the lime was too strong, but at least that explained the enthusiasm Skid had downed it with so quickly. 

“That about do it, then?  I’ve gotta head down to engineering while I’ve got a chance, before we dock.”

Kaz held up a hand towards Skid as he looked around the table.

“Two last things.  First, with the forced absence of Lieutenant Sh’lan and his second-in-command, I’m making Ensign Ai Tsukinawa interim senior tactical officer, due to her level of bridge experience, while Ensign Munson will be the interim senior security officer, due to his lack of bridge experience.  Commander Skid and I will look into promoting a new security chief, though I’m planning on doing so away from Fleet space, citing the urgency of our mission.”

Kanor read the context behind that easily enough.  Sh’lan had been an outsider amongst a tightly-knit group Kanor was only beginning to make sense of, and possibly placed by this Admiral Stapleton Kaz was referring to.  Kaz wanted to avoid another outsider being forced upon him.

“Secondly, once Kanor sends out the information from this Federation package, I want you all to go over it thoroughly.  I want to make sure we’re looking at this from every damn angle we can, so I need all of your insights into this, however thin or farfetched it might seem.”

Kaz looked around the table slowly, making eye contact with each of them.  Marcie didn’t lift her head up from whatever she was doing on her PADD, but Kaz didn’t seem to be fazed by the behavior.

“Alright, we’ll arrive in Independent Fleet space by 1530 hours.  Until then, work on those assignments, and report back to me no later than 1400 hours.  Remember, no shore leave, but I’ll certainly be throwing a party for the whole crew tonight after I get back from that awful meeting with the Brass…”

“Balls.”

Kaz didn’t seem to miss a beat at Skid’s coughing, one-word interjection.

“…so make sure you’re ready to kick back, and bring your damn swimwear!”

Skid hefted her empty glass.

“And better booze!”

“Hey, I happen to like gin and tonic!” Jax replied.

“You would, Jockey!”

“Mister Kanor, if you’d stay a bit longer?”

Kanor looked across the table at Kaz as the others got up from their chairs and started heading towards the door.  Marcie, at the commotion, looked up from her PADD, then shut the device down and got to her own feet.  She shot Kanor a glance, smiled a little, then turned and followed behind Jax, who was talking animatedly with Skid.

“…why we couldn’t do that in the lounge, so much nicer in there, and we can usually enjoy the pool…ohhhhhh because of HIM…”

The doors slid shut behind Kanor, leaving the two of them in silence for a few moments.  Kaz took the time to withdraw a pack of cigarettes and his miniature flame-maker.

“I understand you attacked a trusted and valued member of my crew yesterday.”

Kanor squirmed in his chair at the accusation, his nose wrinkling as Kaz lit the cigarette up and inhaled deeply.

“She assaulted me in the corridor, I defended myself.”

“Just like you defended yourself against Munson upon my bridge, with a nerve pinch?”

Kanor’s lips compressed into a thin line.  He remained silent.

“Understand this, Mister Kanor.  We have entered into a business arrangement.  I am tolerating your presence aboard my ship because of said arrangement.  I was impressed by your apparent restraint concerning your temperament, especially concerning your societal background and upbringing.  That doesn’t give you free rein to blow off steam towards my crew whenever you feel like it.”

Kanor’s jaw was clenched, but he managed to force words past his lips.

“There may have also been certain…physical issues involved, as well as a great deal of misunderstanding.”

Kaz’s eyes narrowed as he studied Kanor, finishing his first cigarette, dropping it in his empty glass with the stir stick in it, then starting another one.

“Either way, don’t let it happen again.  You want to have sex with someone on my crew, by all means, go ahead.  Don’t kill them.  And don’t go picking a fight and being a fucking bully.  I fucking hate bullies.”

Memories of his own experiences flooded through his consciousness.  Had he become what he had despised growing up?  It twisted his gut in a knot, especially as he thought about his fight with Cypher.

“Agreed.  I…apologize.”

Kaz studied him some more over the curling cloud of smoke rising from his cigarette.  Kanor looked at him unflinchingly.  He did not apologize to people lightly, but Kaz was right; he had been bullying Munson.  Despite it being part of his instincts for interaction with other males of a physical nature, there was no excuse.

“I appreciate that.  I consider the majority of this crew a privileged family, Mister Kanor, and because of that, we’re like family with each other.  There are certain individuals, being jealous and envious of that, who try to break it up.  They try to force their brainwashed loyalty-blinded fanatics onto my ship, and then wonder why they just don’t fit in.”

Kaz tossed his second cigarette butt into the glass and drew out a third, but didn’t light it just yet; instead, he held it between his middle finger and index finger, gesturing with it.

“Sometimes, we can break through that brainwashing.  Rip off the wool over the eyes of those poor damn fools.  It doesn’t happen as often as I like, but it does.  That usually leads to our family growing stronger.”

Kanor reached for the other glass in front of him to examine as he listened to Kaz.  This one seemed to be water, so he partook of the beverage.  The situation Kaz was describing sounded fascinating.  Kaz, for his part, went to grab another cigarette from his pack, before realizing he still had one between his fingers, unlit.  It didn’t stay that way for long.

“My crew has better camaraderie and trust in each other than any other ship in the entire Independent Fleet; I’d stake my life on it.  That’s why we don’t focus on ranks here.  That’s why I encourage everyone to participate, why I want them to raise questions.  Hell, that’s why this table is round.  No head, no foot…round.”

Kanor held his glass of water as he glanced at the table they sat at.

“I was curious about that, actually.”

“Chain of command is important, issuing orders without fear of their not being followed is important.  However, if I ordered my crew to…say, attack and murder a transport ship full of children, someone better fucking disobey my ass and question my sanity.  That’s important, Kanor.”

Kaz placed his cigarette between his lips as he stood up, then reached up with his left hand to remove it and hold it again.

“My superior will most likely want to meet you once we’ve concluded our meeting.  For security reasons-yours, as well as mine-I’m going to make sure you remain aboard the Enterprise.  He will not be happy you were responsible for killing Sh’lan; despite the fact the situation demanded it.  I’d be very, very careful around him.  He can be a fucking idiot sometimes, but he’s a powerful fucking idiot, with a lot of resources at his fingertips.  He’s also got a worst temper than you, I’d wager, and certainly less restraint.”

Kanor raised his eyebrow at Kaz inquisitively as the Commodore circled around the table, stopping nearby as Kanor also got to his feet.

“Then why is he your superior, and why do you tolerate him?”

Kaz inclined his head as he took a final puff on his cigarette.  He reached past Kanor to drop the stub into Kanor’s glass with the lime still floating in it.

“He can be useful.  And, like I said, powerful and resourceful.”