Chapter 54: Betrayal
August 2414
“Oh! I almost forgot,” Kirina spoke as she lingered in the man’s doorway. “I have a surprise for you. Get your shuttle and meet me outside the station, after work.” She smiled, and didn’t give the confused man a chance to reply, “Coordinates are on your desk, see you there!”
“Kir-” was all he had time to say before she gave a little wave and moved out into the hallway, allowing the door to close behind her.
Hours later, everything was ready. Kirina reached the promenade level, and checked the time. She was too early, so she moved to the nearest wall and waited, out of the way. Only a few moments passed before the station was rocked by an explosion, followed quickly by three more. Kirina was ready, and didn’t stumble, even when the lights went out.
The power outage didn’t last long at all, though it was clear that it was the backup systems that had kicked in to relight the room.
Time to go, Kirina thought, as she headed towards the auxiliary control room.
Kirina materialized aboard the Vauthilai, and walked quickly to the bridge. As she stepped off the turbolift, she was surprised to be met with the sight of Starfleet Captain Buchanan and Aev, bloody and held by the ship’s security. Only meters away, Divan - D’Kera had just finished monologuing over the comm.
“Ah, good,” D’Kera said, “Now we can go.” The ship’s crew moved at the words, and the ship briefly shuddered under Federation weaponsfire, though by all indications D’Kera’s fleet had them vastly outmatched and outmaneuvered.
Kirina walked over towards D’Kera, her voice lowering. She indicated a nearby console, “Ahnar’s out there on a shuttle, waiting to be picked up. I can enter the coordinates.”
“That won’t be necessary,” D’Kera responded, her meaning abundantly clear, before the unexpected arrival of a Republic task force necessitated her attention return to the battle.
Kirina knew she wasn’t going to be able to overturn this decision, even less so while the ship was under fire. Even as the prisoners were unexpectedly transported off the bridge, all Kirina could do was stand there, stammering for no one to hear, “…I told him … he was supposed to come with us. I … told him to wait.”