Episode 1.13: Vengeance, with Interest (Conclusion)

[Patrick Goodman]

Treyva wasn't sure he was ready for this, but the turbolift doors hissed open and forced the issue. He strode out purposefully and approached the two guards outside Schrepfermann's quarters/cell. He was still in civilian clothes, but the Forrest's security officers recognized him. "Captain Tyler said you might be coming down, sir," a young Human woman with cinnamon-colored skin said. She and her partner, an Andorian man, both drew their phasers and faced the door. She pushed an intercom button and said, "Captain Schrepfermann, you have a visitor. Please stand away from the door. Do not attempt to leave or we will fire on you."

"Understood."

Looking at Treyva, she said, "Just knock when you're finished, Captain."

Treyva nodded and said, "Thank you, Lieutenant." The security officer turned back to the door, aimed her weapon, and used her free hand to key the manual door control.

The door hissed open, and Treyva entered. Dietrich was standing on the far side of the room. He was dressed in a nondescript engineering jumpsuit; the ship's doctor had treated the shoulder wound he had incurred during his last escape attempt. "Hello, Treyva," he said. "Please, have a seat." The disgraced captain sat in one of the armchairs in the room.

Treyva shook his head. "I doubt I'll be here that long, Dietrich," he said in a low voice.

"I see."

Treyva looked at him for a few moments. "Your reputation is one of meticulous planning and attention to details, not for your improvisational tendencies," he began, "so I'm curious about how long you actually planned to betray your oath. Your wife and children. Your friends. Me!"

[Davy, aka GM]

Guest Quarters, Deck 9
Anger was met with anger; Dietrich shot up from his seat and, eyes hardened and full of fire, leans in.

"I am upholding my oath!" he hissed. "You're blind to the danger; you're all blind to it, ever since that whale probe incident! The Klingons won't stop; they won't be reasonable. They will start a war on their terms, and we won't stand a chance. To save my beloved Federation, to protect my wife and children, I had to act!"

Suddenly remembering himself, he steps back and clears his throat, tugging awkwardly on the sides of the jumpsuit, then turns away. "I'm sorry, my friend. You're entitled to your rebuke; I know that I've done terrible things in my fervor for my cause, even as righteous as I believe that cause to be."

Turning around again, he explains, "I was privy to the full report on the incident with the Enterprise at the Mutara Nebula. The Klingons were the aggressors there; they murdered a scientist closely connected to Captain Kirk in an attempt to turn a terraforming device into a super weapon. A few months later, the Klingon ambassador declared there would be 'no peace' with the Federation; it was then that I knew I had to do something. I spent a year pleading with the chain of command, from Commodore Krane to admirals Morrow and Cartwright, before it became clear they didn't have my foresight. It was then I decided I must act on my own."

Aboard the Katarina's Shield...
Sorak and Nikolai work to restore full warp functionality and controls on the yacht; it's a slow process, but remains a good engineering exercise for the pair on the long journey to Starbase 24.

The Vulcan is in the cockpit, monitoring indicators as Nikolai tests individual conduits in the access panel just outside engineering.

"Circuit Four-X-Ray-Bravo," the Russian calls out. The readout shows clear, and Sorak responds as such, just as his ears pick up the faint sounds of soft footsteps coming from the airlock. He turns his head slightly to see a young human yeoman round the corner into the central corridor, looking both ways and heading to the bridge when he spies the commander.

"Sir, we just received a communique for you from a Lieutenant Sovar on the Drake," the yeoman says, handing over an electronic pad.

The message reads:

Commander, I felt it was important to send you an update on the progress of our repairs as soon as we knew you were capable of communications.

Given the extensive damage the Drake has received our most-recent skirmish, Starbase 24's chief engineer has put a halt to all repair activity to perform a full assessment on the viability of the Drake as a fighting vessel moving forward. This is a formal inquiry, and will be ongoing by the time you return. Commander Trudeau offered his opinion that, given her age and condition, the Drake will likely be recommended for decommissioning.

Sovar

Curious about the report, Nikolai joins Sorak in the cockpit and waits patiently for his chief to relay the news.

OOC: You know that Commander Trudeau is the chief of Starbase 24's repair facility.

[Davy, aka GM]

Rec Lounge, Deck 11
"Okay, if someone plays a suit, you have to play a card from the same suit, if you have it; if you don't have a card from that suit, you can play any card. Now, if you play a spade, that card then 'trumps' the highest card from the original suit. If you don't play a spade, you can get rid of low cards from your other two suits, so they don't hurt you and your partner later. The highest card wins the trick, and counts toward your score at the end of the hand."

Cole, Tobin, Miruku, and Katya sit around a table in the rec lounge for a game of spades, the navigator explaining the game to the Trill science officer, who had only seen it played once or twice at the academy.

"At the beginning of the hand, once you have your cards, you and Cole will figure out how many tricks you can take out of your own hand, and without revealing the contents of your hand to your partner, bid on what we call the contract," Miruku continues.

"That's right; if you reach your bid at the end of the hand, you get 10 times your bid, and if you don't, you lose 10 times your bid," Katya chimes in. "It's going to take some time to get back into the swing of this. I don't think I've played since second year."

"I grew up playing; dad didn't let us gamble on the ship, so gin and spades were the games of choice," Miruku replies. "How about you, Cole, when did you first learn the game?"

[Doug Burke]

Sorak took the pad from the young human and thanked him for his assistance. He then read the message from the senior engineer currently aboard the Drake. And then he read it again. And again. As he finished his fourth read-through, Nikolai entered the cockpit.

"It's there a problem at home, sir?" The young Russian was nervous because he had never seen his superior so... closed off before. If anything, it made the already implacable Vulcan even more so.

Sorak, his eyes focused on something in the middle distance, blinked and then regarded his protege with an expression only those who knew him best would recognize as troubled. Handing the pad to Nikolai, Sorak nodded. "Indeed. It seems we are once more at the crux of the future moving onward."

Nikolai read the message twice before hissing a Russian epithet under his breath. He jerked his gaze up to meet the Vulcan's eyes and cried out, "They can't be serious! The Drake has plenty of lightyears left in her!"

Sorak nodded, his expression still troubled, "Indeed, she does. However, I find myself having what you humans call 'mixed feelings.' On the one hand, she is a good ship with a good crew and just needs a chance to prove that outdated does not equate obsolete. On the other, the history of the Drake is replete with numerous 'second chances.' Which choice is most logical? Opposing decommissioning to take just one more chance, or bowing to the inevitable and spending our energies on the ship to come? Which option serves the greatest good? I find myself at an impasse."

The engineer took the pad back and looked Nikolai in the eye. "I require more data. Signal Sovar and have him forward all data he has on the Drake's current state, planned repairs, any recent stress and materials tests. Anything the inquiry will use to make their decision. Use my full authority to have it sent a soon as possible." He turned and left the yacht, saying over his shoulder, "I must inform the Captain."

[Nolmir]

Tobin nods along as the younger officers explain the game, his expression serious and intent.

"At the beginning of the hand, once you have your cards, you and Cole will figure out how many tricks you can take out of your own hand, and without revealing the contents of your hand to your partner, bid on what we call the contract," Miruku continues.

"Ah, I see. I suppose the trick lies in properly evaluating the strength of your hand while accounting for what your partner may or may not have. An intriguing teamwork exercise."

[Renny]

"I grew up playing; dad didn't let us gamble on the ship, so gin and spades were the games of choice," Miruku replies. "How about you, Cole, when did you first learn the game?"

Cole grinned broadly in recollection.

"I grew up in rural Australia. Not much else to do as a kid apart from chase the sheep and learn to play cards."

[Davy, aka GM]

Rec Lounge, Deck 11

"Ah, I see. I suppose the trick lies in properly evaluating the strength of your hand while accounting for what your partner may or may not have. An intriguing teamwork exercise."

"See?" Katya quips. "I told you the scientist would pick it up quickly."

Miruku giggles, flashing a warm smile at the Trill.

"I grew up in rural Australia. Not much else to do as a kid apart from chase the sheep and learn to play cards."

"I figured you for a farm boy," the navigator teases. "So, you went from shepherd to security guard?"

Katarina snickers and shakes her head, turning to Tobin to rescue Cole from having to answer the ribbing. "So, I had a classmate at the academy whose dad was a liaison for the Trill consulate in Hong Kong," she recounted. "He told me that the consul and his staff would never use the transporter; they'd rather take a four hour flitter ride than beam across a continent. Once, when they were touring some ancient shrine in Thailand, his pregnant wife went into early labor. Instead of beaming the consul's doctor over from Hong Kong, they flew him there, all the while refusing to allow the local staff to treat her.

"Ling's father told him later that the consul explained it as a 'religious' thing. Have you heard of such a taboo?"

[Nolmir]

Tobin pauses. "Ah, yes. It's a rather common attitude among my people," he replies, before quickly changing the subject.

"So, Cole, how did you like rural life growing up? My mother played the kinor in several orchestras, so we spent most of my childhood in big cities. As a child, I sometimes fantasized about what it would be like to live out in the country." He smiles. "I probably had a rather idealized vision of it, I'm afraid."

[Renny]

"Well, Commander, I love the farm and I miss it every day, and my folks. My parents tried to avoid technology wherever they could. Tried to make us appreciate nature.So it was a pretty rudimentary way of life." His eyes seemed to focus on a point light years distant.

"Ironically it was being in the Outback that led me here. Hard to get away from the lure of the stars when they are all you can see at night."

[Patrick Goodman]

Treyva stood up a little straighter and sighed. There didn't seem to be any room to reason with the man, but he still felt the need to try. Instead, though, he said, "Who gave you the right to make decisions for trillions of lives? What made the great Dietrich Schrepfermann right and everyone else in Starfleet wrong?" He turned towards the door. "If you could only hear the hubris in your voice. Perhaps your counsel will choose an insanity defense when you're court-martialed." Taking the couple of steps to the door, Treyva knocked and said, "Lieutenant, I'm done here."

[Patrick Goodman]

Are we headed back to Starbase 24 by way of Korvat? We have a deal with Kainiss to honor.

[Davy, aka GM]

OOC: You folks are headed directly back to Starbase 24, under orders. Mia is sending an agent to pick up Kainiss.

I've had a busy day today, but I'm trying to get a post written up.

[Davy, aka GM]

Guest Quarters, Deck 9
Dietrich can only nod ruefully in response, even as it looks for a moment like he wants to say more. The security officer opens the door, she and her partner once again train their phasers on their prisoner as the captain departs.

Science Lab
Days pass, the brief conversation continuing to darken Treyva's mood as he tours the small science lab with the young Denevan lab manager, a lieutenant, j.g., only a few years removed from the academy. He was paying only cursory attention to the science officer's demonstration of his latest experiment when he spied the familiar form of Sorak enter the compartment, the slightest hint of concern breaking through the Vulcan's unflappable composure. Something was clearly on his mind.

OOC: You gents can take it from here.

Rec Lounge
"I must be a glutton for punishment, then," Miruku quips.

Katarina shoots her a look. "You know you love it."

"I do. I really do."

The navigator pauses for a moment of reflection, then turns her attention back to the cards. "Okay, let's do this first hand face up, so you can see how the game flows..."

OOC: Once Treyva and Sorak finish their conversation, we'll move on to the closing scene.

[Patrick Goodman]

Treyva stopped short as he saw Sorak's expression. "No good has ever come from that look, Sorak," he said, trying to sound more cheerful than he felt. "What's wrong?"

[Doug Burke]

Sorak's brows furrowed momentarily before he stepped forward, offering his Captain the data pad. "It seems I am the bearer of potentially bad news, sir."