Kirina

[kermit]

Chapter 18: ...Or So We Thought

December 2409

“If you’d just let me speak to Commander Temer again, I’d…”

“The Commander is extremely busy right now.” Without allowing the doctor so much as another word, the security officer quite literally shut the door in Kirina’s face. She stepped quickly backwards, only narrowly avoiding a broken nose.

Months had passed since the brutal assault on Artaleirh that never happened. Months, since a group of assimilated Romulan colonists were sacrificed to halt an Elachi advance. Months, since the IRW Irix and her fleet were set adrift, after their crew’s thalaron-induced demise. And months since two Romulans risked everything to safeguard billions of innocent lives.

They could have stayed with the fleet they’d just decimated and taken credit for their work, but Aurelia t’Veras and Kirina t’Nalah weren’t looking for fame or glory. They wanted to do what was right, and best for their people, and they wanted to survive. They left the abandoned fleet intact, to be salvaged, and were picked up in a small shuttle. It was weeks before they managed to make contact with the only-months-old Romulan Republic. They strode aboard, hoping to join a cause.

Instead – after a short meeting with the Commander in charge – they were separated and confined.

From that point on every week was the same, for Kirina. One day of debriefing. Three of isolation. One day in the medical bay. Two more of isolation. She offered what she knew freely, but she was only met with hostility. Where she expected to be welcomed with open arms, she found instead skepticism and paranoia.

To an extent, she understood it. Reports of her experiments – and those of similar scientists – had begun to leak out of the Empire. Kirina couldn’t blame the Republic for being angry. In their place she might have felt the very same way. But she wasn’t in their place. She was stuck. Waiting.

It was maddening.

Maybe Aurelia’s having better luck, Kirina thought to herself.

[kermit]

Chapter 19: Isolation

December 2409

“This is simply unacceptable, doctor.”

The Republic Centurion was clearly not pleased. “You claim to want to serve the Republic, and you claim to have severed your connections with the Tal Shiar and Star Empire, and yet you sit here and protect their secrets!” He shook his head and slid a PADD across the table. “Give me the interlink frequency that you used to tap into the Borg subspace relays.”

“These are not the Empire’s secrets. They’re mine.” She slid the PADD back across, “Some things shouldn’t be known by anyone.”

The Centurion, in his anger, swatted the PADD right off the table, stood up, and headed for the door. As usual when the door opened, two guards entered, folding up the table and both chairs and removing them from the room. And then they were all gone. Though the motions were familiar, Kirina felt something was different this time.

Kirina sat down on the small cot and looked around at her familiar surroundings for the umpteenth time. The walls were gray and barren. The room’s single underpowered light was situated in the center of the ceiling, casting the corners in darkness. She watched the door, waiting for the Centurion to return. She expected him to barge back in, as he did many times before, with some new incentive or threat of punishment. But he never did.

March 2410

“How long has she been like that?”
“About two weeks.”
“Shouldn’t we… tell someone?”
“Nah, the Centurion’s been checking up on her every few days.”

The two guards stood outside Kirina’s cell, chatting idly. The newer of the two, a young Reman sublieutenant, turned to peek through the small viewport in the door. The Romulan doctor was curled up in the corner, opposite the cot, still and quiet.

“She doesn’t look so good.”
“Yeah, no kidding. She been refusing to eat. Last month they had to bring her down to medical.”
“Why is she even in there? Are they doing this for everyone who defects?”
“No, no,” the older Romulan chuckled, “Just her. Apparently she was into some top-secret nonsense and won’t spill the details.”
“So they’re just gonna keep her in there until she talks?”
“Above my paygrade, my friend.”
“True enough! Any idea what they’re serving for lunch today?”

[kermit]

Chapter 20: Suspicion

July 2410

In the wake of the repulsed Tal Shiar/Elachi attack on the independent Rhi System, most Republic Officers found themselves celebrating an important victory. But not all; back at the slowly growing headquarters facility on New Romulus, the newly recommissioned RRF Subcommander Kirina t’Nalah was about a month into her cross-training for military intelligence field work. While the Star Empire and the Tal Shiar had been content to let Kirina work in research and development, the fledgling Republic was interested in more immediately tangible results. Her medical expertise was considered secondary to her experience working on secret projects.

Kirina hated every second of it. Even before she was trained to see such things, it was clear as day to her. For all the studying that she was doing, the instructors were studying her. She repeatedly requested transfer to a clinical position, away from the cloak and dagger of the intelligence service, but her requests were each denied. After all, she wouldn’t need months and months of training for a purely medical position, and then they wouldn’t have all that time to watch her, to determine where her true loyalties lie. She could even see it in the other students. She wasn’t trusted. They were afraid of her.

After a while Kirina stopped bothering with the requests. She accepted that she was always going to be an outsider. She let them watch her every move, and even began to welcome it, in the hopes that one day she’d rise above the suspicion. She went about her training with as much interest as she could muster. And so, over the course of the next year, Kirina became something new. Training for the Republic, she spent her days practicing her marksmanship, and learning the art of espionage; she spent time perfecting the mask that was her face, and learning to lie, and to act, and to influence; and she learned how medicine could best be used as a weapon.

She excelled in her studies, and before long, her attitude began to change. She dealt with her displeasure over her situation by finding little ways to keep herself entertained. She played pranks on her peers, she dyed her hair to the horror of the traditionalists, and she made snide remarks at every opportunity. But despite appearances, she never stopped watching, or learning. When it came time to prove herself, she shocked the evaluators by dropping the playful persona and completing her training mission in close to record time.

After nearly two years of disappointment with the Republic, when it finally came time to receive her first real assignment, she expected nothing less than an uninteresting posting where they could keep a careful eye on her. What came, instead, was her turn to be taken by surprise. She was appointed the Chief Medical Officer aboard the RRW Vathos. She couldn’t understand it. After being denied over and over again, they’d finally given her the clinical position she’d been asking for all along.

But she knew it was too good to be true. The assignment came with strings attached: when Republic Intelligence came calling… she would answer only to them.

[kermit]

Chapter 21: Respite

September 2412

More than a year had passed since Kirina’s assignment to the Vathos. The Mogai Warbird had slowly began to feel like home. The crew, save the Commander, knew nothing of her past. The fear and hate she’d received on New Romulus just wasn’t present here. The officers were friendly and welcoming.

For the first time in decades, Kirina made friends. The ship’s mission took her all around the borders of the old Empire, providing assistance to struggling colonies. Aside from the odd pirate encounter, combat was rare. For Kirina, things were as good as they’d ever been. She was happy.

As it turned out, the universe was not content to allow that state to persist for long. It all ended with a beep of the comm in the doctor’s quarters.

“Hello Subcommander, this is Subadmiral Janicka, Repuiblic Intelligence. We have an assignment for you.”

[kermit]

Chapter 22: All The Wrong Places

July 2413

“Kirina! Down!”

That was not an order that Doctor Kirina t’Nalah was going to disobey. She immediately abandoned the genetic comparison scan she was running on her tricorder and hit the deck, just in time to watch the phaser beam pass over her head. She looked up to the source of the weapons fire, a Cardassian Glinn, just as he was struck by a high-power plasma bolt and began to disintegrate. Letting out a breath of relief, she rose to her knee and continued her scan of the unconscious Cardassian civilian.

“There’ll be more where he came from!” After eliminating the Cardassian officer, Commander Merik turned his attention back to Kirina. “Is it him?” He asked, intently.

Kirina shook her head in frustration, “It’s not him. We’ve got the wrong guy.”

“Fvadt!” The Commander shouted, before tapping his wristcomm, “Merik to Vathos, get us out of here.” And with that order, the two Romulans disappeared in a swirl of green light.

Hours later, in a senior staff briefing, a Centurion spoke to the room, “It’s possible that he was never on the freighter, Commander. Our contact on Deep Space 9 reports that an unregistered Klingon Bird of Prey left the area shortly after we did.”

“How could we have missed this?!” Merik’s demand of a question met only with shrugs and concerned expressions. “Get out! All of you!” He shook his head angrily, before letting out a long calming breath. He motioned for Kirina to remain. The man they were looking for was the Klingon assassin, Tralk, Son of Ho’Tas. He was an expert in the use of surgical alteration and genetic manipulation for the purposes of getting close to his targets and avoiding capture after completing his missions. Kirina’s job was to counter these measures and positively identify Tralk so that he could be taken into custody or eliminated. “How did he do that?” Merik asked, with a quiet that he didn’t show to the rest of his staff.

“I’m not certain, Commander,” Kirina replied sincerely, “He must have known we were on to him and faked the biosign. We’ll have to be more cautious next time.”

“We may be running out of chances, Kirina. He’s already assassinated a Republic Senator and a Ferengi CEO, and that’s just what we know about. Next time it could be D’Tan. I need you to find a faster way to detect him from a distance.” Kirina didn’t have a chance to respond, as a Lieutenant barged back into the room.

“Sorry to interrupt Commander, but we just received a new report from Intelligence. Klingon Councilman Braa’k was just assassinated onboard a KDF Starbase in the Archanis Sector.”

[kermit]

Chapter 23: For The Republic

July 2413

“That has to be it, Commander, it matches the signature of the Bird of Prey detected at Hfihar and DS9.”

“Something isn’t right…” Commander Merik responded, “Cloak the ship and bring us to the far side of the planet. Prepare a shuttle for launch.” As the RRW Vathos moved invisibly around to the opposite side of Nimbus III, the unregistered Klingon Bird of Prey in question continued its derelict orbit. The seemingly-abandoned vessel was presumed to belong to the rogue Klingon assassin, Tralk, that the Republic crew had been assigned to locate and capture.

In the Vathos shuttlebay, Commander Merik and Doctor Kirina t’Nalah were preparing to depart along with a pair of Reman security officers. “We’ll make a pass within transporter range of the derelict on our way down,” the Commander spoke to the Remans first, “Once aboard, secure the ship and signal when it’s safe for a salvage team to move in.” The middle-aged Romulan man looked to the redheaded doctor next, “You and I will test out that new scanner of yours and go locate our friend Mr. Tralk.”

The shuttle departed and deposited the security duo as planned, before heading for the surface. Once onboard, the pair of Remans quickly realized that they had beamed aboard a hornet’s nest. They avoided or defused several traps laid for them before succumbing to a nerve toxin that had been released as soon as the ship detected lifesigns aboard. Evidently, Tralk never intended to return.

On the ground, Merik and Kirina made short work of Tralk’s efforts to remain hidden and proceeded to a makeshift safehouse at the bottom of a large canyon. They stormed the structure, expecting a fight, but instead found only partially charred wreckage. A fire had been set, only recently. Judging from the sloppy work by an expert assassin, they must have missed their target by mere minutes.

Not ready to give up, the pair set to work trying to find any consoles or documents that were salvageable; anything to give them a hint as to Tralk’s destination or next target, or how he’s remained one step ahead of them the whole time.

“What was that?” Merik asked in a hushed tone. Not having heard anything, Kirina’s gaze lingered on her tricorder as she continued trying to activate one of the consoles. By the time she looked over to the Commander, he had just barely managed to draw his weapon and fire towards the door when he was struck in the chest by a disruptor bolt. He slumped to his left, colliding with a table before reaching the ground, lifeless.

Kirina’s gasp in surprise was cut short.

“Do not move, Romulan, or you will die with him.”

[kermit]

Chapter 24: Bedfellows

July 2413

“Do not move, Romulan, or you will die with him.”

Kirina looked to the doorway. Six Klingons, armed with heavy weapons, blocked her path. Her Commander was dead or dying, and she was holding a tricorder rather than a weapon. She was at their mercy and they knew it.

If not for the realization that they had come to Nimbus with the same goal, that probably would have been the end of her. As it turned out though, these Klingons needed her – and so a bargain was struck: Kirina would help them eliminate Tralk, the rogue assassin. In return, she would be allowed to live.

With certain death as an alternative, Kirina graciously accepted.

Two weeks and four failed escape attempts later, Kirina finally found herself back on New Romulus - unfortunately, she was there in Klingon bindings. The search for Tralk had led them to a joint conference on the new Republic capital – an opportunity to assassinate both Proconsul D’Tan and Emperor J’mpok.

Her knowledge of the assassin would be vital, they said, to their attempts to locate him. And it was. Tralk had disguised himself as a Romulan citizen, and Kirina was able to lead the Klingons right to him. They were merciless, and the assassin was dealt with swiftly – no doubt safeguarding the lives of several high-value targets.

With the mission finally complete, Kirina had hoped to be released. The Empire and Republic were allies now, after all.

[kermit]

Chapter 25: Abandonment

August 2413

Kirina was brought before General Wrot’ka, in the Klingon Embassy on New Romulus. She’d been told that she’d be returned to her own people, once the threat of Tralk was dealt with, but Wrot’ka apparently had other plans.

“The Klingon Empire,” he explained, “is unwilling to publicly admit that it lost control of one of its own operatives. The Chancellor and your Proconsul are going to deny that an assassination attempt ever took place.” Kirina was not too concerned. She didn’t require any credit for her work, and she simply wanted to return to her life. But the General wasn’t done. “Your people, Doctor, are unwilling to admit that they required our help to protect the life of their own Proconsul.”

“We wouldn’t have needed your help if you hadn’t interfered with our–” Kirina protested, cut off.

“Details,” the General said, “You are dead.” Kirina’s eyes widened. She didn’t like where this was going. Wrot’ka motioned to a Lieutenant holding a Republic-issue PADD.

“Kirina t’Nalah was killed in action on Nimbus III,” the underling read, “in an accidental cave collapse. It was tragic, but unforeseeable, and the Republic will mourn her loss.”

“It was not my choice to make. You’re not going home because your own people don’t want you back. You are a complication,” The General concluded. Kirina stood speechless for a moment. He wasn’t lying. There’d be no honor in deceiving her like this, and they had nothing to gain by it. “I could kill you…” the General suggested before a pause. Perhaps he was awaiting a response, or possibly just giving Kirina enough time to contemplate her own mortality.

“…but you have been useful to us. No. You will be kept alive to serve the Klingon Empire on my starbase.”

[kermit]

Chapter 26: Terror

September 2413

Green blood trailed along the floor of the dimly-lit KDF starbase. It marked the path taken by a Klingon guard as he lazily dragged an unconscious Romulan woman by her ankles. He moved past the crew quarters, then past the medical bay, then even past the brig, all without stopping. His destination was the armory, where he deposited his prisoner inside an empty targ cage.

“HA!” the armory officer laughed as the guard locked the cage, “Who did she offend this time?”

“Captain Ch’Bargh again. She refused to keep her mouth shut. I don’t know why the General doesn’t just kill her and be done with it.”

“K’Vok said the General was honor-bound to keep her alive,” he armory officer replied again, “But if you ask me, I think she amuses him.” The guard snorted, before taking his leave.

Some hours later, Kirina slowly roused to a low rumbling noise. She was sprawled out awkwardly on the bottom of the cage, and covered in dried blood from a deep wound on her left cheek - clearly inflicted by a Klingon dagger. She blinked and squinted and looked around as she slowly pulled her limbs in towards her core.

The Romulan’s disorientation broke abruptly as her vision focused on the growling targ poking his snout through the cage’s bars. She gasped abruptly and scrambled backward, only to find herself in the corner of the enclosure. The Klingon targ handler’s bellowing laugh at her reaction could probably be heard from decks away.

“I’m sorry, petaQ, did I interrupt your beauty sleep?” He laughed again, presumably at his own ‘joke’, before reaching forwards to unlatch the cage. As the door swung open, Kirina crawled towards the exit, only to be stopped by the targ lurching forward at her. Before she could back way, she received a nasty bite to the upper arm. The yelp of pain she let out was overshadowed by yet another few moments of howling laughter from the large Klingon.

“You would do well to learn from him, petaQ, he has the instincts of a warrior! Now come! The General summons you.” Kirina remained still, curled up in the corner of the cage, now holding pressure on her fresh wound. She was tired and terrified, and she probably had a concussion. Her thinking was slow, and she was uncertain what she wanted to do in this situation.

The Klingon didn’t give her a chance to figure it out. He reached in to grab Kirina by the wrist, yanking her out onto the floor. The targ jumped forwards for another bite, sending the woman diving for cover. A well-placed foot-stomp from the handler stopped the creature from pursuing, thankfully. The Romulan struggled to catch her breath as he proceeded to pull her up to her feet.

[kermit]

Chapter 27: Mercy

October 2413

“Enough!”

The yell from the half-Romulan in a KDF uniform was enough to stop the brawl in an instant. Flanked on either side by an Orion and a rather large alien, the Major stepped forwards into the center of the starbase bar. As she approached the dogpile it slowly cleared, revealing a small redheaded Romulan sitting atop an unconscious Gorn, who looked as though she had just taken a beating from the gaggle of Klingons around her.

Despite her less-than-stellar condition, Kirina smiled up at the Major, with the faux-innocence of a child with her hand in the cookie jar.

“Get her cleaned up, then put her back in her cell,” the large alien commanded to the room, obviously to the Major’s approval. The trio of clearly high-ranking officers turned to depart and amazingly the Klingons, that mere moments ago had been ready to toss the Romulan into the fireplace, obeyed without question.

“Who was that?” Kirina asked absently, out loud, without seriously expecting an answer. To her surprise, she got one.

“Major Tre’lana Corrano.”

The name meant nothing to Kirina, but she decided to press her luck. “Why did she stop you?” she asked the nearest Klingon more directly.

“You belong to her now.”

[kermit]

Chapter 28: Pity

October 2413

“Get up!”

Kirina’s sleep was interrupted by a Klingon brig guard yanking her out of bed by the arm.

“What?!” She screeched in her sudden consciousness. Her tone earned her a blow to the head, before she was allowed to drop to the floor.

“Get. Up. The Major has a task for you.” The guard stepped outside the cell and waited for Kirina to stand. “This way,” he said as she got to her feet. Despite the manner in which she was treated by the guard, Kirina was actually pleased by this turn of events. Were it not for Major Corrano’s interventions, it was likely that she’d have been killed already.

For whatever reason, the high-ranking KDF Officer saw fit to make use of her talents, and with each ‘task’ she completed, the more trust she earned. In Kirina’s mind, that meant one step closer to escape. More than that, however, this particular evening presented a rare opportunity.

As Kirina was led into the station’s sickbay, the task she was assigned became quite clear. There were several Romulan Republic officers cluttered around the room. Some were on biobeds, others the floor, and still others walking around. The Klingon doctors were either refusing to help, or not being allowed near their patients.

“What happened?” Kirina asked of anyone listening as she grabbed a medkit and went to work.

Several hours later, the sickbay was nearly clear of patients, most having been moved back to their ship after treatment. Kirina was running a medical scanner over the ranking officer’s head. Centurion Kaeni had explained that their ship was deployed to the Dyson Sphere as part of a joint Federation/Klingon/Romulan task force fighting the Voth. They sustained heavy damage and much of the crew was killed in the fighting.

Apparently the Klingons decided that Kaeni and her crew had fought with honor, and allowed them aboard the starbase for medical care and repairs. For Kirina, this was her way home.

“Are you experiencing any dizziness,” she asked as she applied the last of her treatment.

“Not anymore,” the Centurion replied, “Are we done here?”

“Almost finished. Just one more hypo,” She said, perhaps just slightly louder than necessary, “You just tell me if this feels better, okay?” Kaeni nodded and Kirina leaned in to press the hypo to the Centurion’s neck.

She whispered over the hiss of medication, “Do you have a shuttlecraft?”

[kermit]

Chapter 29: Desperation

October 2413

Kirina sat alone in the darkened shuttle, awaiting the signal. She held one hand in the other, to stop them shaking. Of course she was nervous. If this didn’t work, it would certainly mean not only her death, but the deaths of Kaeni and her crew as well.

The Ferengi shuttle did not have the power or the fuel to reach the edge of Klingon space, but even still, it was Kirina’s best chance to escape her indefinite confinement. The plan was to launch at the same time as a Ferasan freighter convoy headed to a Federation Starbase, and latch on to avoid detection. From there, it would be a simple matter of booking passage on a civilian transport back to the Republic.

When the signal came, Kirina held her breath and engaged the autopilot. She waited for the comm ordering her to turn around, or the jolt of a tractor beam, or the weapons fire that would end her; but none of it came. The plan went off without a hitch, and within the hour she was safely stowed away in the cargohold of the Convoy’s #4 ship.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl on the freighter. For the Romulan stowaway, each uneventful moment that passed only served as a reminder that she might be discovered in the next. It was impossible to sleep when every creaking of the noisy old ship was indistinguishable from the sound of the targ cage that she was certain would be closed around her the instant her guard was down. Two weeks of travel felt like two years.

November 2413

Kirina had barely moved out of the way in time for a Ferasan crewmember to walk through the hold without noticing her. If not for the heavy jolt a few moments earlier, she might have been taken by surprise. As the large cargo door at the rear of the ship opened, the stowaway was once again forced to quietly relocate to avoid detection.

“Welcome to Deep Space 13,” said the bright young Starfleet Ensign in gold that appeared on the ramp. To the man’s disappointment, the feline crewmember just grunted and began unloading cargo.

It worked, Kirina thought to herself, this is my chance. As the dock crew got to work, Kirina snuck into the freighter’s engine room, to wait for her opportunity to slip past.

“Who are you?! What you doing in here?”

Kirina awoke with a start, to a very flustered Ferasan with a disruptor aimed in her general direction. How long was I asleep? she thought, How could I be so careless? The Ferasan spoke again, “Stand up slowly, or this one will shoot!” As Kirina followed the instruction, he continued his questioning, “Where did you come from?”

“I’m sorry,” the drained Romulan replied, her voice hoarse from exhaustion and underuse, “I was just so tired, from uh, unloading cargo…”

“Lies! This one saw last dock worker leave an hour ago!” Kirina winced, fresh out of excuses. “Mrrrr…” the Ferasan emitted, “Yeesss… Syndicate pay Hegoss top latinum for such prizes.” He waved the disruptor towards the cargo section of the ship, “Go over there!” Kirina slowly started to move as the Ferasan spoke into his communicator, “Bridge,” he said, “Hegoss capture great prize. Romulan! Lift off now.”

Kirina saw an opening – he’d gotten careless with his aim while keying his comm, and she wasn’t going to let the moment pass by. She recklessly jumped at the feline’s disruptor. The Ferasan yelped as his face met elbow. After a short struggle, she turned the man’s disruptor around on him and fired.

The success was practically intoxicating, and she couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of still being alive. The feeling was short-lived, however, as her rationality reasserted itself. If the crew found the dead Ferasan, they’d report it to the station. If they didn’t find him, they’d report his disappearance. Either way, the station would scrutinize outgoing passengers and she would be discovered.

The pit in her stomach grew with every passing second. There has to be another way, she thought, as her eyes fell on the freighter’s nearby plasma conduit. It’s not their fault, she thought, as she rummaged through her medkit. But there’s no time, she thought, as she mixed up a concoction. And I’m NOT going back, she thought, as she applied it to a rusted tritanium beam supporting the conduit.

Content in being around to ponder her selfishness later, Kirina set off at a dead-sprint for the cargo door.

[kermit]

Chapter 30: Reunion

November 2413

The Federation starbase was in chaos. One of their people had been killed, and another gravely wounded. Kirina sat patiently in the waiting area. She smiled and she nodded at anyone who passed, and internalized the rest.

Her hastily concocted plan had worked completely. The lockdown didn’t last long, and nobody would know that she was the cause of it all. She headed for the nearest computer terminal, and then towards the nearest lounge area. It would be a few hours before the next transport back to Romulan space would be boarding, and it’d been days since she’d had anything to eat.

Everything was going according to plan. Soon enough, she’d have a full belly and be quietly on her way home. Except, that isn’t what happened.

“Elements, that’s not possible.” She heard Aurelia say from across the room, “Kirina?”

[kermit]

Chapter 31: Blood

November 2413

“I don’t know who you think you found, t’Veras, but Doctor t’Nalah is dead. You hung her banner yourself, months ago.”

Admiral Tokkra leaned back in his chair, shaking his head dismissively. Aurelia tapped her wristcomm and waited. Barely a moment later, Kirina strode into the office and approached the desk. The Admiral was not impressed. Just the opposite, he tapped a button on his desk and called for security. “There are procedures for this sort of thing, t’Veras,” he said as two guards entered and took up flanking positions around Kirina, “Subcommanders do not return from the dead.”

“She’s been held by the Klingons,” Aurelia replied, “since Nimbus, Admiral.”

“And for all you know she was sent here to infiltrate our ranks.” The admiral shifts his gaze to one of the guards, “Get a medical officer to come down and verify her identity.”

At gunpoint, Kirina reported her experiences of the past year, irritation rising with each ridiculous question, the answers to which the Admiral clearly already knew. Aurelia paced around a bit, waiting. When the officer with the medkit finally arrived, Kirina held out her arm knowingly as he took out a hypospray and filled a small vial with a sample of her blood.

Before the medic reported the results of his scan, Kirina was already speaking, “Are you satisfied that I’m not some changeling infiltrator now?”

“Actually, no,” the Admiral replied smartly, “Changelings, and other such creatures, have beaten simple blood tests in the past.” Aurelia scoffed. Kirina gritted her teeth and held her hand out towards the medic. Tokkra nodded, curiously, and the man placed the vial of blood in Kirina’s palm. In an instant, she lunged towards the Admiral’s desk, causing the security officers to raise their weapons in a panic.

Kirina slammed her hand down, hard, on Tokkra’s desk, smashing the vial into tiny pieces. She ran her hand along the surface of the desk and the Admiral’s PADDs and even a photo frame, spreading green blood as widely as she could.

The guard shouted for her to step back, and she complied, holding up her hand, palm-open towards the Admiral. Her hand was cut and bleeding, shards of broken hypospray vial embedded in her skin. To the man’s credit, Tokkra managed to wipe the look of shock off his face fairly quickly.

“When that dries,” Kirina said with a cold fury, “you’ll have your answer.” She turned and unceremoniously walked out of the office.

The guards moved to stop her, but the Admiral silently waved them off.

[kermit]

Chapter 32: A New Mission

November 2413

“You want me to do what?”

“You’ve presented us with a unique opportunity, Subcommander,” the voice on the other end of the subspace transmission spoke with the typical calm of a seasoned intelligence officer. “We have only a short window in which you can return to the Klingon starbase without arousing the General’s suspicions.”

“I won’t do it. I’m not going back there.”

“You will carry out your mission as assigned, or we will be forced to see to it that your biological state matches the details of your service records.” Kirina blanched at the realization of what being declared deceased really meant. The Commander on the other end of the line continued, “The Republic can’t afford to have incorrect records, after all. You’ll receive the specifics momentarily. Command out.”

Kirina slumped in her chair as the channel closed. She read through the assignment details as they came through.

“It’ll be different this time, Kirina.” She snapped her head around at the voice from behind her, but seeing her friend, she relaxed just as quickly.

“How will it be any different?” Kirina asked.

“You’ll have me as your backup,” Aurelia replied.

[kermit]

Chapter 33: Tradecraft

November 2413

“Well, I heard somebody lost the key to the cage!”
“For a month? How long does it take to replicate a new one?”
“It can take as long as you want!”

The boisterous Klingon laughter and banter at her expense gave Kirina some measure of reassurance. Certainly their wild conjectures as to why she hadn’t spent any time in the base’s main hall were more believable than the truth. Ignoring the commentary, the Romulan proceeded to an empty table with her meal. Or at least, that’s what she’d intended.

“Maybe she got tired of listening to the likes of you!”
“Oh-ho, K’Vok, it sounds like you’ve grown protective of your little pet!”
“She is nothing! But a better medic than that spineless lizard you keep in your medical bay!”

More laughter erupted and then a fight broke out – as was so often the result when Klingon warriors were given too much downtime. Punches were thrown, and then people were thrown. Bloodwine splattered and blood flowed. Kirina’s table became a casualty of war, forcing her to relocate.

With all the commotion, no one noticed the recording device placed behind the bartop.

One down, Kirina said to herself as she (mostly) dodged a flying plate of gagh.

[kermit]

Chapter 34: Unfinished Business

November 2413

“And, for ajoi, watch yourself. If they knew about me on Deep Space 13, they know about you there.”

As the playback of Aurelia’s message finished, Kirina shifted her weight and began subtly scanning her eyes over the transport ship’s other passengers. Though her most recent undercover outing to the Klingon starbase had been uneventful, this news was unnerving.

D’Kera Mandukar was still out there.

Commander D’Kera Mandukar, of the IRW Okhala: one of the most feared members of the Tal Shiar still at large. D’Kera was there from the beginning. The horrors that Kirina and Aurelia had rebelled against on the Irix, D’Kera Mandukar thrived upon. Irix and her fleet were only one of many, and D’Kera Mandukar’s was never thwarted. And now she was back, in search of vengeance against those who dared defy her and her kind.

In search of Kirina and Aurelia.

Despite her fears, Kirina’s trip back to the Federation Starbase was uneventful. She reported to her handler, detailed the latest findings from her mission, and then they discussed Mandukar. They knew she would never give up. They knew they’d never be safe, so long as she was free. And they knew the Republic would never approve, but they had no choice.

It was time to take action.

[kermit]

Chapter 35: The Plan

December 2413

“You’re sure they’ll help you? Once you tell them that you’re…”

“There’ll be no going back, I know,” Kirina said, “The General will be furious. But it’s the only way.”

Aurelia nodded and took a swig of her kali’fal. “Let’s run through this one more time.”

And they did.

The goal: Assassinate Tal Shiar Commander D’Kera Mandukar, and destroy the IRW Okhala, her borg-enhanced adapted battlecruiser.

Step One, would be to obtain the firepower necessary to destroy the formidable battlecruiser. The Republic was not willing to commit resources to hunting down one ship, Starfleet couldn’t be trusted to understand mnhei’sahe, and pirates or mercenaries would be too unpredictable. But there was one group that could be easily predicted, and which Kirina was uniquely positioned to manipulate: The Klingons.

D’Kera was no doubt aware of Kirina’s presence on the Klingon starbase, so Step Two would be to arrange for a single uncloaked Klingon ship, with cloaked backup, to contact Okhala and offer Kirina as part of a prisoner exchange. When the takes place a second, masked, transporter beam would be used to insert a strike team aboard the Tal Shiar vessel.

Step Three involved the strike team disabling Okhala’s shields and cloak, before rescuing Kirina, killing D’Kera, and transporting back to the Klingon ship.

Step Four, the Klingons destroy Okhala and earn their honorable victory over the Tal Shiar.

“Kirina if this doesn’t work…”

“I know.”

[kermit]

Chapter 36: Mandukar

December 2413

Okhala, this is Blood River. Your prisoner awaits transport. Respond.
This is Okhala. We will accept your prisoner immediately. Engage transporters.
Very well, drop shields and prepare for transport.

“Vance. Engage Transporters.”

In a swirl of red light, Kirina found herself transplanted from one dimly lit bridge to another. The brownish red hue of the Klingon lights was replaced by the eerie green glow of borg technology melded with what must once have been a proud Romulan vessel. She barely had a moment to contemplate her situation before she felt a blinding pain to her head and toppled over onto her side.

After striking Kirina with the butt of his rile, the Lieutenant roughly dragged the redheaded Romulan to her feet and led her off the bridge into the Commander’s office. The room had been prepared. Kirina was deposited into a restraint chair in the center of the room, and before long, her wrists and ankles were immobilized.

Show time, Kirina thought to herself. She would need to do more than simply stay alive. She had to keep D’Kera close, so that when Aurelia and her team arrived, they’d be able to kill her. She had to sell it, for as long as possible. She took in a breath, and then began struggling against the restraints.

“Ah, Doctor t’Nalah, back with the Tal Shiar where you belong,” Mandukar’s voice was unmistakable. “Tell me, you didn’t think you could hide forever, did you?”

D’Kera liked to talk, and Kirina needed her to continue talking. Defiance, she realized, was her best chance. The Commander would have to try to break her of it. Kirina snarled like a cornered targ – a sound she’d become all too familiar with – and shouted uncharacteristically at her captor, “Khoi-udt, susse’thrai!”

D’Kera just smirked, unperturbed, “Or maybe you thought you could get the better of us, lead your friends here? Well, just know, we’ve jammed that little tracker of yours.”

Tracker. Singular. She hasn’t detected the backups. Need to move on, can’t let her get suspicious. Kirina forced a grin in response, displaying a measure of composure, “No matter. When I’m done with you, you’ll regret surviving Jouret.” It was a bold statement, from the prisoner in the room. But it seemed to hit the mark.

“You know in a way the… Jouret incident…” D’Kera’s expression sours, “Well, I suppose it saved me from your horrors, didn’t it?” She moved about the room slightly, “Unleashing the assimilated colonists on your fellow Rihan? My my doctor, that is low. Those people could have been saved.”

Good. Keep her going. “Their sacrifice saved an entire planet from the likes of you and your alien allies.” Kirina’s voice was full of contempt, “And what of that, Commander? Since when do rihannsu rely on the help of yikh like the Elachi?”

“Times change, dear doctor,” D’Kera mused, “You should know that better than I. After all, you spent how long working with Borg technology?”

“Look around you! At what’s become of your ship!” Kirina struggled pointlessly against her restraints, “You’re the scourge of the quadrant. What good is your superior technology if you’re using it against your own people?”

“Scourge of the Quadrant,” D’Kera repeated, turning to the side, “…I like that. It reminds me of the Empire, when we wielded power effortlessly…” She stepped back in front of Kirina, looking down at her helpless prisoner. “Don’t you miss that?”

“The Empire didn’t murder its own!” Despite her efforts, this outburst was real, and full of emotion. “It didn’t experiment on innocent colonists!”

D’Kera stepped back to her previous position, still keeping out of mauling distance. “Idealistic. An admirable trait, but… misguided.” She paused, “I assume you haven’t come to retake your old job?”

Kirina was surprised into a sarcastic sort of chuckle, “Are you offering it?”

“Something like that.” D’Kera snapped her fingers. An underling emerged from the shadows, holding a small device. A device Kirina knew very well.

A neural implant, she recognized. Based on her own design from all those years ago. If it was implanted, she’d lose control of her body, and everything she knew, D’Kera would know. “Veruul!” she shouted at the minion, lashing out violently in his direction, only to be stopped yet again by her restraints. “You probably don’t even know how that works!”

D’Kera wrapped her self-satisfaction and pure, focused, rage around a vicious little smile. “Oh, he doesn’t,” she replied in an almost singsongy tone, “But that’s half the fun…”

In all she’d been through, somehow this was the most terrifying prospect Kirina had yet encountered. It was a fate worse than death. When the underling approached with the implant, she continued to lash out, kicking, headbutting, and biting any extremity that comes within range.

D’Kera motioned her underling back, her smile fading. “No? Well, then, suit yourself.” She drew her disruptor, clearly modified from Imperial standard.

Kirina stilled. All the flailing-in-place in the sector wouldn’t protect against a close range disruptor blast. As the modified weapon’s blue energy struck her the pain was severe, but she clamped her jaw and waited for the worst to subside. “Kllhe!” she growled as the underling approached again with the implant. Kirina resumed her thrashing, albeit with less strength.

“Please, doctor,” D’Kera said as she grinned and raised the disruptor again, “DO speak up!”

This time, Kirina cried out as the blast hit her. She slouched in the chair, leaning listlessly to one side without the strength to keep herself upright. She found herself barely able to keep her eyes open, her peripheries filled with blackness. She managed to speak, but only barely, her voice shaky and quiet. “You’ll die in this room today, susse’thrai.”

D’Kera stared at the little doctor for a long moment. Kirina thought she saw a hint of sadness in her face, but the pause was too good to last. Only as the searing, unbearable pain returned, did she hear D’Kera’s flat reply.

“I died a long time ago.”

[kermit]

Chapter 37: Complications

December 2413

Kirina slowly blinked her eyes open. That alone took nearly all of her strength. She was standing, but not under her own power - supported. She swallowed and attempted to focus on her blurry surroundings. There was noise, and speaking, but she couldn’t quite make it out.

As her vision came into focus, she saw the face of her friend, Aurelia. She looked… grateful. It was an odd look for her. Kirina tried to look around, but couldn’t quite manage it. She was looking for the corpse of D’Kera Mandukar, but she couldn’t see it. She managed to eke out a murmured, “Dead?”

There were other voices. The rest of the team. But it was hard for her concentrate. All she heard was Aurelia’s response. “Complications. Don’t worry.”

Complications? What does THAT mean?! Kirina was having trouble speaking, but her mind was racing. If she’s not dead then all of this was for nothing! She flailed with all her remaining energy, as if she were perfectly capable of finishing the job herself. She wasn’t, of course, and the foreign arms supporting her weight had no difficulty keeping her in place.

A few moments later, she slipped back into unconsciousness.