Quinn's face looks like it's been carved from stone. Or maybe not even carved; eroded, perhaps, by the terrible forces that have been at work in this galaxy for so many years now. He sits brooding behind his desk, and gazes down at the PADD, and says nothing for a long, long time.
At last, he speaks. "How sure are you about this, Tylha?"
"The intelligence is sound, sir," I reply. "You can see the sources I've used -"
Quinn sighs, a rasping sound in the air. It's a quiet day on Spacedock. I can hear a few bleeps and whistles from distant consoles, the occasional far-off sound of voices... but Quinn's sigh is very loud. He looks away from the PADD, away from me. I can't tell what he is looking at. Whatever it is, he doesn't like it much.
"There is a question," he says, in slow, reluctant tones, "over your own personal involvement -"
I let some frost leak into my own voice. "Whatever my personal involvement, sir, the people of Gimel Vessaris are Federation citizens. They have a right to Starfleet protection. Just because they know me, and they've gone through me to ask for it, doesn't make their claim any less valid. Sir."
Quinn picks the PADD off the desk, glances at it, lets it fall back with a clatter. "You're convinced the threat is credible, then."
"Nausicaan force movements in the vicinity indicate they're gathering for something. And the Nausicaans, and this Gorn ally of theirs, Commissioner Hrissaak, are presenting their case to the Klingon High Council for support. And - maybe most telling of all - former governor Gvochkorr is missing from Rura Penthe."
Quinn nods slowly. "It all seems suggestive, certainly."
I want to slam my hand down on his desk and yell at him. I resist the urge. "Sir, the Nausicaans' evidence - as regards the treaty status of the Gimel Vessaris system, when it was first colonized - sir, it's faked. We know this, we can prove this. We've examined the data cores of the Nausicaan vessel, the Yasan T'o - the one this Hrissaak was trying to capture. Their records don't match the data the Nausicaans are presenting now. Sir, the Nausicaans have no legitimate claim to that system, and they never have."
Demarcation lines, boundary lines - they're hard to draw, in space. There are no geographical features, at any scale that's worth talking about, and everything is in motion, as planets whirl about suns and every star system does its stately billion-year dance around the galactic core. Gimel Vessaris is a class M world lying close to trade routes between several major Nausicaan colony worlds; it's a strategic location, and one which made it desirable for the Nausicaans - and made it important for us to take it back, during the war. But the treaties with the Klingons and the Nausicaans specify boundaries, in the best terms we can manage - current stellar relationships, isographic contour lines mapped out in subspace, things like that.
Marking the boundary lines is complicated... but it's not ambiguous, for all that. Gimel Vessaris lies in Federation territory. It always has. The Nausicaans are presenting data to the High Council, data which they say contradicts that. But I have records - most importantly, the records from the Yasan T'o. Those records prove that the initial Nausicaan conquest of Gimel Vessaris - the raid that killed my fathers and made me an exile - was a straightforward raid, an act of conquest by force majeure, nothing more.
"Commissioner Hrissaak has replaced Ambassador S'taass on Qo'noS," says Quinn. "Whatever his arrangement with the Nausicaans, he's close to the Chancellor, now. He can make himself heard in the High Council."
My nostrils flare. I keep my voice under control with difficulty. "The High Council will change its mind once he's been caught in a lie, sir." One thing I have to concede about the Klingons: they don't like liars.
"Klingons are Klingons," says Quinn. "If the High Council is persuaded to back a show of force... it will be very difficult to talk them into backing down from it."
"The High Council are realists, sir. The KDF took appalling losses during the Iconian War, just as we did. They can't afford another large-scale conflict just now, however much the warrior ethic might demand it. We can prove the Nausicaans are lying, and the Klingons won't throw their lives away for someone else's lie."
"We can't afford large-scale conflict any more than the Klingons can," says Quinn. "We're still rebuilding - you know we're still rebuilding. Oh, I grant you, our internal economy is more resilient, we are probably gaining ground faster than the Klingons... but we still have a very long way to go."
"We have to hope it won't come to an open conflict, sir. We can send in the Diplomatic Corps, present our side of things to the High Council, catch Hrissaak in his lies, and defuse this whole situation. But, sir, we have to consider the possibility - the likelihood, in fact - that the Nausicaans will try to jump the gun. Pre-empt the High Council's decision by presenting them with a fait accompli. It's going to be a lot harder to persuade the Klingons to give the system back once it's already been taken. Besides -" and anger breaks through my self-control to edge my voice "- I've seen what a Nausicaan invasion is like! First hand, up close and very personal! Sir, we cannot subject the colonists to that!"
"So what do you suggest?" Quinn asks.
I bring myself back under control. "As you say, sir, we're not in a good position, militarily. I think it's important, in this situation, not to show any weakness. We should send in a task force with the objective of defending the Gimel Vessaris system. That is my considered opinion, sir. Faced with the prospect of a substantial battle, the Nausicaans will back off, and give us time to pursue the diplomatic options."
"What if the KDF commits its full support to the Nausicaans?" says Quinn.
"It's a risk, sir. That's why the task force has to be substantial. We need to show the KDF we're prepared to make a stand, too. They're as well aware of their current weakness as we are, they won't want an all-out war for the sake of some very questionable Nausicaan demands. If we show them the system is strongly held... we can, at least, hold off war until the diplomats can get to work on the High Council."
"I don't like it, Tylha," says Quinn. "The KDF will be thinking along the same lines as you. They know they're weak, so they will want to look strong. This situation has the potential to blow up in our faces."
"I know, sir. But the alternative... isn't acceptable. We cannot abandon Federation citizens to Nausicaan aggression. We just can't do that, sir. Part of Starfleet's mandate is to defend our citizens."
Quinn's face looks a thousand years old.
"Yes," he says. "Unfortunately, you're right." He picks up the PADD. "Coordinate with Logistics Command on the resources you'll require. Tenth and Twelfth Reserve Fleets are within your operational radius already, you can take their full resources to Gimel Vessaris. Talk to Tactical Command about crew requirements... and, God help us all, contingency battle plans."
"Yes, sir." I salute. "Experimental Engineering has combat-ready ships on hand. I'll supplement the reserve fleets with those."
"I hope I don't need to impress on you," says Quinn, "the importance of... not actually using those resources."
"No, sir. All ships will have strict instructions. Fire only if fired upon, or if necessary to defend Federation citizens."
"Yes," says Quinn. "I suppose that will have to do."
---
I'm going through the long, long lists of logistics requirements, later, when the call comes through. "On screen."
The face on my desk console is Pexlini's. "Hey," she says, "how's it going?"
"I'm busy." I frown. "I haven't had any status updates from you in a while -"
"Oh, yeah, well, paperwork, yanno? It'll get filed, trust me. Anyway. Needed your specialist knowledge."
"My what?"
"Engineering, kinda thing. You know about experimental warp drives, right? Tell me why we don't use combination asynchronous warp and Borg-style subtranswarp."
"What?" My antennae twitch. "Pexlini. Where are you, and what is all this about?"
"Deep space, and catching Kalevar Thrang. Why don't we combine those two super-fast drive systems for one that's super-duper-fast?"
"Because it would be hellishly complicated and finicky. Either one of those systems requires constant in-use adjustment by highly trained specialist engineers. That's why we don't use them as standard - we simply don't have enough personnel available to fit those drives and run them in every ship of the fleet."
"OK, but we don't use any ships with both drive systems, am I right?"
"Sure. The warp coil geometries aren't compatible. You would actually have to build two separate drive systems into the ship, and then the warp fields they generate aren't compatible either, outside a very narrow range of frequencies - frequencies at the lower end of the subspace harmonic scale. You could only build a small ship with both drives, and most of it would be the drives. Besides, actually coordinating the two systems so that they synergised - that's a whole different level of finicky. It'd take an engineering genius to do it, and constant maintenance to keep it going."
"So we add engineering genius to Thrang's list of talents. OK, gotcha. So, if you had a small, very fast ship like this, and you did enough damage to its warp nacelles -?"
"Pretty much anything that causes a power spike would knock the synchronization out. You would only get the benefits of one of the drive systems, until you repaired and re-tuned the engines. For that matter, there's a whole range of subspace harmonics where the fields actually interfere with each other - knock either drive into that range, and you'd be lucky to make better than warp two."
"Oh, that sounds good. Can you send me some tech specs on that, kinda thing?"
I sigh. "I'm a little busy here."
"It's important." Pexlini's voice goes hard and flat. "I wouldn't be calling you if it wasn't important."
"OK. Let me see what I've got. You're using those corrosive-plasma weapons, which will help a bit...." I turn to the main computer console, pull up records, discussions, theoretical papers. It's a complex issue, but it's one that's been argued about several times in Experimental Engineering. Several of the blue-sky thinkers are huge fans of over-complicated drive systems, and I've heard all the arguments for... and against.
"Right," I say, eventually. "Transmitting the theoretical studies over your data channel now. Your engineering staff will be able to work out the re-tuning for your weapons systems - don't forget, you will lose some overall weapons power while you're generating the specialist effect."
"That don't worry me. Much," says Pexlini. "Thrang's ship isn't big, if it can't run, it can't put up too much of a fight. I hope. Thanks, Tylha."
"Are you planning on giving me a full progress report any time soon?"
"Technically, I sorta can't, right now, on account of my KDF contact can't turn her reports in, and we can't have Starfleet knowing what the KDF doesn't. In a combined operation. Technically."
I glare at her. If things go wrong, we could be at war with the KDF soon. But I can't say that out loud. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"I think so. OK, talk to you soon. Pex out."
I continue to glare at the blank screen. I may not have much experience in Starfleet Intelligence, but I think I know when an operative is up to something. I hope it's something useful.
Then I turn back to the logistics sheets. Never mind Pexlini. I hope I know what I'm doing.
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