Chapter 6: A Meeting of the Minds

Chapter 6: A Meeting of the Minds

Captain’s Log. Stardate 5723.4

I sent both captains Duron and Terrah some fundamental protocols for us to agree on prior to meeting here to discuss and finalize our offensive and defensive strategies before we head through the neutral zone and toward our arrival at the Romulan planet Khii. After numerous modifications and concessions sent back and forth as we traveled toward our intersection point, we have finally reached an agreement; with only a few moments until our scheduled rendezvous with Captain Duron and the Klingon warship Negh'Var occurs. How we all effectively adhere to these protocols has yet to be seen, but hopefully we can coordinate and implement a game plan that utilizes each of our individual and combined strengths and abilities.

Meanwhile, our Federation delegates aboard are also working to forge an alliance among each other… which is equally challenging when striving to bring three Vulcans, a Romulan and a Klingon ambassador together; even with a common goal.

I’m beginning to feel like an old vaudevillian: juggling a series of odd-sized balls while riding a unicycle blindfolded on an elongated narrow wooden beam positioned fifty feet in the air… as new balls are randomly thrown into mix and the wind begins to increase from a variety of directions… except perhaps even more challenging than this.

Sterling then exited out of the Ready Room and headed back onto the main bridge. After conferring briefly with the current duty officer at each station on the bridge, he sat down in the center seat.

Ah… the calm before the storm he thought just moments before a signal was received from the Negh’Var.

“Captain” the assistant chief operations officer turned around to face Sterling.

“I just received communication from the Negh'Var. They are now arriving in proximity to our coordinates dead ahead.”

After a slight delay he added “Captain Duron is insisting that he is beamed aboard as soon as he reached the rendezvous point.”

“Thank you Lieutenant Phelix, notify them that we’ll await his arrival on transporter one.” The Captain responded as he stood up from the center seat and turned toward his chief security and tactical officer.

“Lieutenant Commander Archer, you have had the privilege of meeting and interacting with the now Captain Duron on the WovHaqtaj. Let’s go meet our guest shall we?

As he walked toward the turbolift he added "You can fill me in on any impressions you had about Duron on the way down ”

Walking past Pasqual, Sterling looked over and stated "You're welcome to join us too Counselor" as he stepped inside the opened turbolift.

The Orion almost said: You sure? but he reined in his smart mouth and instead rose from his seat with a very straight face as he answered with a perfunctory "Aye, Sir," and followed them in the lift cabin.

He knew he was not in his commanding officer's good graces after the heated discussion they had earlier in the ready room. And there was no point in blowing on the embers now; the captain had made his decision.

So Ray kept quiet and listened to what their guest had to say about their next player in this deadly game they were playing.

Brian had been going over the programming for his point defense phaser screen when Captain Sterling emerged from his ready room. Truthfully until the captain addressed him Archer didn't even notice the arrival of his commanding officer. He still couldn't shake the feeling that he had surrounding this mission. Perhaps his paranoia from years of working for Section 31 was getting the better of him, but there were just too many factors included in what was happening for Brian to dismiss it as paranoia. Brian handed the tactical station over to Lt. Callen and joined the captain and the Orion counselor in the turbolift.

"To answer your question Sir," Brian began as the doors slid shut "Duron is your typical Klingon in that he would prefer action to inaction, and has very little patience for anything that would slow him down which likely would include diplomacy. He is a warrior and a seems a capable officer. If he wasn't I don't suspect that the High Command would have given him command of such an advanced starship. I think it will probably take some doing to convince him not to simply shoot on sight anyone identified as an enemy particularly if we are able to identify those that attacked his previous command. On another note Sir, you mentioned earlier that we could possibly dictate another location for this conference. If that is possible Sir I would recommend we do so. The fact that our allies have been attacked and we ourselves were nearly crippled indicates a leak within either Starfleet, the KDF, or and this one is probably most likely, the Romulans. I can't shake the feeling that if we continue to Khii we are walking into a trap Sir."

Pasqual had to exert a massive effort of will not to add the classic 'told you so' and keep his big mouth shut for a moment. He may not have been formed as a tactician beyond the basic Starfleet Academy training but he was a trained and experienced psychologist; and at least ninety percent of any strategy or tactic was based on the mind of the one preparing the plan... or the trap.

So, as the lift went down, Pasqual did not speak of the tactical evaluation of Archer. Ray concentrated on the psychological sides of the problem... one of which was the Klingons:

"You know, Mister Archer, a Klingons commander is not given his command as we Starfleet officers are; he must take it. Traditionally, by assassinating his superior officer and work this way up until he grabs that command for himself, he shows his worth, as much as by staying in command, facing enemies from without and from within with equal strength and resolve. This explains why virtually all of them are so similar in outlook; pro-active, agressive and, because of their cultural sense of Martial Honor, especially straightforward in their attitude."

He made a pause to gather his toughts about the second psychological aspect of their situation, but now in different words than he had the last time he has spoken in the captain's presence as he still addressed the tactical officer.

"Romulans however define Honor and Glory based only on Duty; to eliminate an adversary, their favored way is to let him fail in his duty, discredit and defeat himself. No surprise here that they invented and perfected the cloaking device... Thus, they are rarely playing openly the role of agressors and are never straightforward; even less bent on hunting, chase down and attacking a target. Their way is to indeed lay a trap and wait for you to fall in it... and as you stumble, strike the finishing blow from the shadows."

Ray was but repeating himself from the ready room talk that had antagonized Sterling so much. Hating to be questioned, the man had rejected his counselor's analysis out of hand to play his cat and mouse game in the cosmos... a game that would have been brilliant against any foe but the Romulans.

And now, the chief tactical officer was stirring up those same embers.

Captain Sterling was the third psychological facet of this whole situation; not only as the Federation side of it, but because of his own psychoprofile. But... now that he was listening to his two officers discussing between themselves instead of being directly questioned, Pasqual hoped the captain might be more open-minded this time.

The Orion was no empath, but he knew enough of body language and people to feel in Brian Archer' stare, tone of voice, gestures and posture that he had the exact same apprehensions about this whole thing that he had felt when he had listened to Sterling's plan. And for once in his life, Ray sincerely hoped that he himself was oh so totally wrong... or that the captain would change his mind before Archer and himself could ever be proven right.

Assuming that he could...

As the turbolift doors hissed closed, they began their decent toward transporter one. Sterling gradually nodded in response as he listened carefully to each officer’s assessment and input.

The ongoing convoluted circumstances of these events had been subtly taking their toll on each officers’s psychological stability and to a degree had also impacted their overall confidence in their assessments and decisions as this virtually incalculable mission continued to move forward. Every solution considered or pursued seemed to open up a myriad of potentially more complex consequences and circumstances to address. It was akin to maneuvering in a shifting labyrinth of a mindfield imbedded in a cavernous hall of smoke and mirrors at twilight. Any misstep…

Sterling reached over and abruptly stopped the lift in its tracks as he faced Pasqual and Archer.

“I am in total agreement Mister Archer… every fiber in my body is telling me as well that we are heading into a probable series of traps at Khii.” He replied as he breathed deeply in response to these troubling circumstances.

“It is why I am so hesitant to initially speed off at maximum warp toward this planet… yet as Counselor Pasqual points out; our continued delay presents our adversaries with the opportunity to sabotage this situation even further.”

He turned toward the counselor and stated “It is because of our adversaries’ elusive rather than direct predatory nature that we must somehow continue to offset their intentions to the best of our abilities to keep them off balance while we also prevent ourselves from becoming mere predictable prey.”

Sterling paused for a moment and looked intently at each of these officers before he added “As you know, we have two very divergent allies nearby… who have made it quite clear that they are ready and willing to mix-it-up in this situation as we see fit… the Klingon Duron in his more obvious and aggressive stance… and Terrah stealthily hidden in the Blackwing in his more elusive and cunning Romulan approach. Each will most likely be offering their opinions and strategies as we meet and discuss while enroute, but prior to listening to what each of these Captain’s proffer and given our current limited conditions at this point in time… would either of you care to recommend additional ideas or strategies before our first guest arrives?”

Pasqual hesitated but for a moment. Since the captain was now asking for it, he would again give his counsel.

"Well, Sir, since we did not immediately take advantage of our superior speed to get there before them, rushing to Khii is now not only useless, but exactly what is expected of us this late in time. We lost time and they probably beat us to it by now. At this moment, I would guess that they're waiting for us there or just about to be ready to. I support Mister Archer's recommendation: have the conference held somewhere else... and if possible, in a place and time known only to you, Sir."

He thought a moment before adding:

"But the sooner and the closer from here the better, Sir. It won't be long before they realize that we are not going there... and then they will come after us."

Sterling allowed a subtle smirk to escape as he listened to the counselor before he responded “Yes Mister Pasqual… I do feel a bit guilty for having possibly inconvenienced our adversaries by not proceeding and arriving as they have been expecting … but as the French say… 'C'est la vie'.”

Then with more serious intensity he quickly added with almost a whisper “The Game’s afoot Counselor… and their quarry is now on the move… but they know not where… and they know not with whom.”

"With all due respect, Captain Sir... I wouldn't bet on it."

I'm really making efforts to endear myself to him now, do I? Ray silently mocked himself. But the captain just now admitted that hestill thought his space dance had tricked an enemy that had in all probability never even bothered to look for them in the first place... while giving that same enemy all the time he needed to compromise the Khii meeting site.

But the point was moot now.

"So far, Sir, they have always been two steps ahead of us. I strongly support Mister Archer's caution. To get to the point, Sir;we could very well have a Romulan spy here aboard any of our ships... if not all of them."

Sterling looked squarely at Pasqual and stated “But I am betting on this Counselor, or more accurately, this is why it is imperative to test not their resolve for that is clearly apparent, but their methods and opportunities for garnering a variety of information about us and our mission; including our whereabouts.”

Sterling felt he wasn’t conveying his point so he clarified.

“They’ve had the fortune of spies and sympathizers feeding them inside information about us and our mission even prior to our launch… this is of course in addition to any other methodologies that they invoked; that is until their advocate’s unintended interaction with the Blackwing. Then their advantage slipped. From this point forward we cannot risk proceeding with our delegation to Khii or any other designated locale until the possibility that any such advantage still exists has been exposed and then snuffed out.”

The Captain passionately yet calmly continued.

“We’ve already isolated Starfleet out of the loop for the remainder of this mission… after I sent Admiral Kelek a set of highly encrypted and coded messages that disclosed nothing about our procedures or potential locations, but a carefully phrased heads-up about some of our concerns, along with a few suggestions. However, if there are potential leaks as you expressed Counselor on any of our ships, then it is imperative that we strive to expose them as well. Inaccurate information, even slightly so, can be used as one traceable method. Scanning for hidden signals, continuous background checks on all ship’s personnel and a host of other security measures will be in full force throughout the remainder of this mission. But ultimately, no one will know precisely what is going on except me. All vital information will be delivered only to specific individuals as needed in the most concise and timely manner.”

The Orion nodded in agreement.

"I suggest we observe complete radio silence and restrict communications between our ships, Sir. We can filter and monitor any subspace signal and thus immediately catch any attempt to transmit data off or too any of them and locate the points of contact. I also have an idea as to how to closely monitor and securize intership communications; since we fly together, we could establish an old style encoded lasercomlink between us."

“Agreed on all accounts Counselor.” Sterling affirmed as he added “Let’s get this encoded lasercomlink set up and operational as soon as possible… along with enhancing our monitoring of any types of unauthorized communication signals… even among the three ships. If there are any illicit signals transmitted at any point in time we’ll need the ability to triangulated their origin as mentioned and apprehend the culprits virtually within moments of their occurrence.”

"Aye, Sir, I'll get on it."

Sterling then turned to his chief tactical and security officer and inquired:

“Anything to add Mister Archer?”

Archer frowned in thought...

"The counselor's idea is an excellent way to make sure our comms are at least better protected I will do what I can to coax some extra protection from our shields and I have a point defense phaser program in place in the event we are ambushed....the only other note I would add Sir..is that someone once told me never to trust a Romulan..even if they are giving you a hug there is a chance they are looking for a place to stick a knife. That may be biased Sir, it may be paranoid...but I don't think anyone who's ever dealt up front with the Romulans would disagree with me."

As an after thought Archer tapped his combadge

"Archer to Security, security team to transporter room one. On the double."

"Aye Commander, we're on our way."

Sterling sighed deeply as he nodded in affirmation to Archer’s assessment.

“Which is exactly what has made this mission in itself such an extremely challenging proposition.”

Then with a slight smirk he added “What makes this all rather ironic and paradoxical is that we have such fervent adversaries stopping at nothing to impede our progress and interrupt or prevent this potential summit. Are they truly that assured that we will succeed?”

Then with a bit of a laugh he bellowed “I’m not! Hell, we have our own delegation still battling it out on deck 3… virtually no closer to their own agreements then when we left… if fact… probably further away since K’Vada and D’Tan joined them.”

Then calming down a bit he added “But I have to admit… I am quite impressed with Ambassador D’Tan. Even though he is a full-blooded Romulan… he is unlike any Romulan I have ever met. He seems to channel all of his energy and passion toward resolution and peace. Watching him work with K’Vada alone was a sight to behold. At this point, if there is any hope in having this summit work at all, it would seem to lie mostly in the hands of this Romulan himself.”

Captain Sterling then disengaged the stop on the turbolift and after a slight jolt they continued to descend toward transporter one to meet with the Klingon Captain Duron.

Exiting the turbolift on deck 10, Sterling, Archer and Pasqual ambled their way toward transporter one. As they entered room, the three senior officers of the Icarus were soon joined by Archer’s security team.

Transporter chief Lieutenant JG Samuel Taggart was manning the station as the hail came in from the Klingon warship Negh'Var.

Taggart turned toward the commanding officer and stated “Captain Sterling, Captain Duron is awaiting our signal to transport him over.

Looking at his fellow officers after taking a long and quiet deep breath he responded: “Confirmed Lieutenant. Beam him over now.”

“Yes Sir” the transporter chief acknowledged as he engaged the transporter mechanisms.

As the molecules of the Klingon Captain began to materialize, Sterling leaned over to security chief Brian Archer and whispered “You may have the honors of initiating introductions Lieutenant commander.”

Archer was taken slightly by surprise that his CO would defer to him, but he supposed it made sense given he'd worked closely with Duron.

"Captain Duron, welcome to the Icarus." Brian said stepping forward.

Duron fixed his gaze on the human and nodded to him in acknowledgement "Archer, skip the formalities."

Brian smirked "Yes Sir. Captain Duron meet the Commanding Officer of the Icarus Captain Sterling, and our communications officer and ship's counselor Commander Pasqual."

Duron nodded to both men in turn and raised his eyebrows at Pasqual "An Orion counselor...that is almost as humorous as a Klingon counselor." He then fixed his eyes on Sterling "Captain, my men and I owe you a debt for running off those Romulan cowards. You will not hear me say this again, so listen well. Thank you. With that unpleasantness done, it is quite the situation we have ourselves in is it not? You should know that the High Council has given me permission to seek vengenance for every Klingon life lost in that honorless ambush. The Romulans speak of honor, but they have none and we will not abide any further treachery."

“Well Captain Duron, I’m just glad we arrived before that damn ship fulfilled its mission with the WovHaqtaj and your honorable crew.”

He then added “I understand your wanting to seek justice for the loss of your warriors and the damage inflicted upon your ship... just know that you also had a level of redemption… perhaps quite ironically in your eyes… thanks to our Romulan ally Captain Terrah aboard the Blackwing who destroyed the ship and crew that attacked you and your crew aboard the WovHaqtaj. This occurred at the cost of another Romulan ship and their entire crew who gave their lives as they literally served as bait for the attacking ship.”

Seeing a visible reaction beginning to etch across the Klingon’s face, Sterling swiftly continued.

“They are currently traveling ahead of us in a cloaked stance and will be escorting us as well on the remainder of this mission.”

Ray kept silent as he observed the Klingon captain. His abruptness, overbearing attitude and hostility was as always most predictable for one of his kind, especially an officer of the ironically called Klingon Defense Force, But, like Kevada, he was one of those rares Klingons willing and able to talk and especially listen. When Sterling mentionned the Romulan confrontation, the Orion immediately saw the change of attitude in the burly warrior.

Well done, Captain, silently congratulated Pasqual.

By revealing the sacrifice of lives the Romulans did, even against their own kind, to stop and punish traitors, Sterling had forced Duron to recognize the Honor of these particular Romulans he would now have to deal with, made him unable to dismiss them as a whole but to consider them in a more specific light; but most of all in a most favorable light according to the Klingon's own set of values.

Finally, the table was starting to be set properly for the diplomatic event that was in fact at the heart of this whole drama.

Duron finally grunted "So it seems that not all Romulans are honorless P'Taq. Very well, I will work with you and this Terrah so long as his honor remains. But I warn you Sterling, if he shows any sign he will betray us I will not hesitate to blow him out of the sky."

Sterling gave the Klingon a somewhat devilish smirk as he replied “His actions Duron have already spoken for his honor, as did ours.”

The Icarus Captain turned and gestured as he led the group toward the turbolift. As they were en route for the lift, Archer’s security team followed silently behind them; calm but clearly ready for anything out of the ordinary.

As the lift doors sealed toward the center and they began their brief journey up toward deck one, Sterling continued his message.

“We all are all now… each of us… committed in this mission for a common cause, as unusual and rare as this seems; and even though we all arrived at this point under different circumstances.”

Looking a bit more serious he turned toward the Klingon standing less than a meter away in the confined turbolift and addressed him directly.

“Terrah will be joining us again here shortly to confirm our upcoming plans. This will present you with the opportunity to meet this honorable Captain for yourself. If your eyes and ears are as keen as they give the impression to be Duron, you may be surprised to find a kindred spirit present in one who would appear… to someone less enlightened… to be an opponent.”

A word to the wise... inwardly smirked Pasqual as he recalled how "less enlightened" Sterling himself had acted and reacted to the councilor himself since he came aboard.

But he didn't said nor showed any hint of his bitter amusement. It didn't matter anymore.

At that moment the lift opened and Sterling led them back into his Ready Room.

After they arrived into the Ready Room he walked over to the replicator as he offered each officer a beverage.

Sterling chose iced tea with lemon and distributed the remaining beverages as they were replicated before he sat down into his chair.

"Prune juice," asked Ray for himself. Then he looked at the Klingon captain; " a warrior's drink, Captain Duron. Would you dare try it?"

With an almost annoyed gesture and a grunt, the Klingon accepted and took a good swallow of the dark brown liquid in the tall glass he was offered. His eyes almost dropped out of their sockets as he looked at it, speechless, then with a new expression of respect and gratitude at the Orion.

Ray only smiled back and winked.

He activated his terminal and called up a file on the mission that included a graphic display of the area surrounding the planet Khii. He initiated it and transferred the image to a holographic display installed in the ready room by Captain Walsh of Starbase 39. A very useful devise for moments like this he realized.

With the display illuminated, Sterling looked to Duron and inquired to the Klingon Captain.

“Are there any tactical ideas or thoughts that you would want to discuss or share before Terrah arrives?”

Duron paused in thought "I would expect our enemies to be waiting for us, cloaked. It is what I would do if I wanted to execute an ambush." he before shaking his head "bah! they could have a thousand ships waiting for us and we would not know it until it was too late. I do not like it."

Ray looked away and carefully froze his face. The Klingon said exactly what he had warned the captain about, what Archer had also agreed on during their useless meeting in Sterling's ready room; a situation they could have avoided if the captain had but listened to his officers and flown straight to Khii to beat the Romulans there, instead of needlessly wasting time dancing around space.

The captain had made an error in judgment by favoring his own perceived cleverness instead of consulting first those under his orders that were there, trained and experienced, to help him make the right decision. But now, he was willing, even asking to listen to a Klingon captain... Either he had now learned from his mistake... or Tyrell Sterling was an aristocrat at heart; beleiving you had to have a certain defined status to be worthy of attention.

Pasqual firmly wanted to beleive it was the first and not the second possibility. But that would be determined by one very simple thing; if he would agree to Archer's recommendation and move the conference away from the obvious deathtrap they had allowed Khii to become.

Sterling nodded in agreement with the Klingon Captain as he replied.

“This is exactly the reason Duron I was not in a hurry to rush off to this planet as well.” Sterling stated as he slowly sipped on the frigid beverage.

“This was also a difference of opinion even among my staff. Reflecting on all of the events that occurred I believed that it would be impossible to arrive to this location even at the greatest possible speed and beat our opposition there… because in all likelihood, they were already present and preparing for arrival at Khii before we even departed our starbase.”

Contemplating this state of affairs he continued.

“Based on all of these events we experienced, it conveyed to me that our opponents had already known about this mission and the location before we were even called in and briefed on it. This mission, according to Admiral Kelek, was apparently six months in the making. At what point and from whom they garnered this information is yet unknown. But they were able to place a Starfleet saboteur among our crew even before our departure… which tells me again that the opposition was already in motion long before we even entered the scene.”

He paused for a moment and took another sip of tea before continuing.

“Therefore our mission and our lives under these circumstances were literally too vulnerable to risk directly entering into this region and location clearly known already to our opponents… who were most likely waiting there… prepared and concealed in anticipation: like a pack of hungry predators.”

Mulling over these events that had transpired he added:

“It was this main advantage that they were able to capitalize on… knowing each step of our journey… knowing where we would be and when… and striking from the shadows when the opportunities presented themselves. It is this advantage that we are striving to deprive them of for the remainder of this mission.”

He then looked at the Klingon Captain as he spoke.

“Our challenge will be to develop a way to allow this summit to occur without setting a foot anywhere in the vicinity of this designated planet.”

He then leaned back slightly in his leather bound chair and after a reflective moment stated rather cautiously as he looked at each of his officers sitting in the Ready Room.

“We do however have an advantage now that we did not possess when we left spacedock.

That benefit is clearly the Blackwing and the Negh'Var... led by their cunning Captains as our allies.”

Sterling then stood up and walked over to the replicator and ordered another cup of tea. As he sipped on the chilled beverage, he continued.

“Do our adversaries know about our allies?” he asked rhetorically as he began to pace around the room, stopping in front of an empty display case.

“We do not know… however, it is obviously to each of our benefits to keep our interactions, plans, and all courses of action as covertly hidden and secure as possible.”

Captain Sterling then reached up an activated his combadge.

He contacted Lieutenant Samuel Taggart manning transporter 1 station.

“Mister Taggart, is Captain Terrah ready to join us again?”

The transporter chief responded immediately “Yes Sir! I have his coordinates ready.”

Nodding in approval, Sterling noted “Excellent Mister Taggart. Beam him here... directly to my Ready Room… about one meter from the door.”

With just a slight hesitation Taggart responded “Ah… Captain…I will need a moment to calculate the precise coordinates within that room…”

As the transporter chief spoke, Sterling walked over near the Ready Room door.

“Lieutenant,” he interrupted “just lock onto the signal of my combadge” as he removed the device and placed it on the floor approximately one meter diagonally from the door.

Then from the floor the voice distantly replied “Affirmative Captain.”

Within a few moments the imposing figure of the Romulan Captain Terrah materialized right next to Sterling’s combadge.

“Well” he stated emphatically as he eyed-up Duron now standing but 3 meters away; as if he was measuring the form and substance of an opponent.

“It would seem that our little soiree is about ready to begin.” The Romulan captain began, almost challengingly.

Sterling could sense the initial tension rising as the Romulan and Klingon captains glared at each other suspiciously. He casually stepped in between them and announced:

“Captain Duron, I like to introduce you to Captain Terrah… the warrior that avenged the cowardly attack upon your ship and its mighty crew by intrepidly blowing this QI'yaH and his crew of spineless petaQs out of existence.”

Archer watched Duron to gauge the Klingon's reaction to meeting the Romulan who had stolen his revenge away. Duron regarded Terrah for a moment before finally speaking.

"It seems my men and I owe you a debt of honor Captain. Though I would have much preferred to exterminate those cowards myself."

After seeing the reaction and listening to the response of the Klingon captain, the tension and unintended posturing among the guests seemed to ease a bit.

Knowing Klingons as the Romulan Captain did, he knew it was a rare moment for Duron to make an acknowledgement of gratitude; especially under the circumstances.

He looked directly at the Klingon and responded “Understood Captain Duron.”

Terrah then added “It was not my intention to deprive you of your retribution Captain, but rather to assuredly vanquish the traitorous bastards that killed my brothers on the Kazara.”

"That I understand," Duron said "even if I do not always understand your people Captain, death for treason I understand, the concept is very...Klingon." Duron smiled a toothy grin at his own comment as he finished speaking.

Brian Archer watched the exchange between the two captains and realized that even among their differences they had found common ground. He suspected however that they would situational allies only. If this were a different time and place these two men were more likely to be adversaries than allies. Whatever the case though Archer knew the Icarus was lucky to have allies with such powerful vessels, even if they were temporary allies.

"So, we all agree that we're walking into a trap," Archer said to the assembled officers. "The question is what do we do about it?"

The collection of officers, Romulan, Klingon and Federation standing there in the Ready Room of the Icarus were somewhat astounded by the brazen interjection by the security chief at that moment.

All except counselor Pasqual.

His expression alone said that the answer had already been given and was crystal clear... and some annoyance was starting to creep up in his eyes listening to the tactical chief having to repeat himself again, stating once more the obvious even after he had already proposed the solution to his Captain.

Ray was starting to beleive that all these lofty starship commanders loved hearing the sound of their own voice so much that they didn't even see how they created themselves the problems they were procrastinating about. But far from him to say anything about it. Last time he did, his one captain alone almost made him walk the plank for his "disrespect;" and now with three of them... including a Romulan and a Klingon no less...

He who does not talk to whom would listen looses his man, Confucius of Earth had said; he who talks to whom will not listen looses his words. The wise man neither looses his man nor his words.

And so, Ray wisely kept quiet. But he still observed everyone intently.

As they stopped and turned a gaze intently at him in an almost synchronous manner, one officer took a few steps closer toward the security chief.

“Well Sterling” the Romulan Captain responded rather gruffly, eyes squinted and fixed solely on Brian Archer standing directly before him as he spoke contemptuously. “It would seem that your subordinate is rather eager to confront these traitors.”

An eerie and awkward silence shadowed those words and seemed to stretch on indefinitely.

This atypical alliance among these exceedingly diverse representatives from differing factions within this region of space was precarious at best. A misplaced word or misrepresented gesture could potentially result in a variety of unpleasant reactions and consequences.

Then still staring at Archer and just as suddenly, Terrah bellowed with a smirk emanating from his scowl.

“In this instance… I happen to agree with this human… in terms of mapping out our strategy…now” as he turned back to face the remaining officers.

Sterling outwardly maintained his poker face, but inwardly breathed a mammoth sigh of relief as once again the tension in this exchange was averted.

He then responded immediately.

“Gentleman, please have a seat and let us begin to hash out our strategies.”

Then they gathered around the Captain’s meeting table in his Ready Room, chose a place to sit and began their intense and animated discussion.

All except counselor Pasqual.

He wisely stood back...and he still observed and listened to everyone intently.