TURNCOAT
Rounding a corner in the corridor, Captain Dewey proceeded towards the turbolift. He had finished his tasks and duties for the day as Argo’s XO and was ready to catch some shut eye. Each Officer and base crewmember he passed gave him the traditional greeting and courtesy. He responded by giving a head nod or a slight wave and a forced smile. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate the respect, it was that he didn’t appreciate being cooped up on DS-13 so much.
As the Captain entered the turbolift he let out a deep breath before saying, “Deck 72.” He was on his way to a scheduled concert by several members of DS-13. However, the lift had barely started moving when the intercom summoned him. “Captain Dewey. We’re receiving another hail from General Wrot’Ka from the Klingon Empire.”
“Halt turbolift.” Dewey ordered as he looked up to speak for some reason. “Tell him… the same thing as last time.”
“He is demanding to speak to someone, sir. He implied that if he doesn’t get a hold of someone right this instance that he may just send his fleet to our base to get the attention he is demanding.” The individual informing the Captain of this sounded rather sincere, which is likely how the officer perceived the General’s threat. In all likelihood, the threat was probably far more obvious and ominous than the Officer was letting on.
Hearing this, Dewey rolled his eyes. “Fine. Inform the General I will speak with him. Just… give me a minute to get back to my office.”
With that, communications closed and Dewey redirected the turbolift back up to his office.
As the doors to the lift opened, Dewey stepped out and walked directly to his office. His assistant, a young Junior Lieutenant, rushed over to him. “That Klingon General has been hailing us nearly non-stop for the last week. He isn’t going to be happy we’ve ignored him this long.”
Dewey put his hand up to calm her down, “I know. I’ll handle it. Has anyone been able to get ahold of the Commodore?”
“No, sir.” She responded worried.
“I’m sure he’s fine. He probably just doesn’t want to deal with any of this while on leave.” Dewey passed the woman and headed for his office. “Make sure I’m not disturbed.” He shouted over his shoulder to her. He didn’t want someone ringing the chime for the door while in the middle of a conversation with an already less than cordial Klingon General.
Once in his office, Dewey hit the panel next to the door to lock it. He walked over to his communication console and stood there for a moment. He knew this wasn’t going to be enjoyable. He took a deep breath and forced a smile on his face as he tapped a button and the screen flashed to the impatient General Wrot’Ka glaring at the screen.
“Good evening, General. I’m Captain Dewey. Executive Officer of Task…” He expected he wouldn’t get through his greeting.
“I know who you are!” The Klingon on the screen screamed at him. “Where is Commodore Ashworth!?”
Dewey straightened his posture slightly, “The Commodore is unavailable at this time. How may I be of service, General?”
The Klingon looked as if he was ready to leap right through the screen at him, “You can get me Commodore Ashworth!”
Hardly in the mood for this, Dewey briefly rubbed his forehead. “Is… what, is the universal translator not working? I just told you he isn’t available. Now, what is it that you want?”
The General slowly smiled. Dewey knew the General appreciated a bit of push back. Not too much though, otherwise he could expect a D’k Tahg in his gut next time he saw him. “I have an urgent matter I need to discuss with you.” Dewey gave him a curious look and then nodded and motioned for him to continue. “Right now, at this very moment, there is a spy on Deep Space 13.”
Suddenly Dewey felt guilty for not responding to the Klingon’s hails earlier. It’s true they were busy, but this obviously was something he should have made time for. “Do you know the identity of this spy?”
“She was in our custody for a period of time. Recently she managed to commandeer one of our ships! She is a Romulan by the name of Kirina.” One thing could be said of the General, he got right to the point.
Captain Dewey shook his head, “No. We’ve already checked and cleared her. She’s not a spy. All the intelligence files pass through me, I know she spent time in Imperial territory and have her records from the Republic as well.”
“Are you saying that I am a liar?” Wrot’Ka’s response was calm. A calm akin to one right before the biggest storm of your life.
“No, General.” Dewey knew not to insult him. “Merely that perhaps your Officers are mistaken. Kirina hasn’t…”
“She was one of our prisoners! She acted like a 'urwI' (traitor) to her own people.” Wrot’Ka was clearly confident that what he was saying was true and that Kirina was, in fact, a spy. “She stole one of our ships. That DenIb Qatlh (Denebian slime devil) will do the same to your Task Force. I suspect she is an agent for the remnants of the Tal Shiar.”
Dewey thought for a moment, then realized something didn’t make sense. “How… did a prisoner steal an entire starship?”
Wrot’Ka remained silent as he slowly dragged a finger down the long scar on the side of his face, a telltale sign he was fighting to maintain his composure. “She had proved useful. I had released her to minimum custody and allowed her to mostly roam free, a show of respect and understanding to someone who had assisted the Empire.” Dewey nodded in agreement. The Captain knew it took a lot for Klingons to release a prisoner, obviously Wrot’Ka felt her actions warranted her the ability to do more than rot in a cage. The Klingon continued, “We cannot be certain what information she has stolen, or what she has done with the ship. But now that she is present on your base…”
Understanding what the General was getting at, Dewey nodded again. “You suspect she is gathering intel so that the Tal Shiar could strike hard against both the Empire and the Federation.” The Captain paused for a moment to think. “I’ll initiate an investigation. We’ll do our best to figure out exactly what is going on… and hopefully we’ll locate your ship in the process.”
“My Officers will assist.” Wrot’Ka was direct, almost as if he was ordering the human. “Inform your people that we will arrive on DS-13 to conduct a joint investigation… as this matter is of concern to both sides.”
Captain Dewey shot the General a look, “You know damn well that Condition #3B of the cease fire prevents either side from boarding a permanently fixed location. Now, we could…”
“Then a ship!” The angered Klingon shouted. “I do not care! But I will not leave the fate of Imperial intelligence and one of my ships in the gentle hands of Starfleet.” Calming down slightly, he continued, “A ship would be better anyways. Most of my vessels can cloak… either side could beam to the other to discuss matters and coordinate our efforts. It allows us to avoid drawing attention from the verengan Ha'DIbaH (Ferengi Dog) herself. The last thing I want is for her to suspect we are on to her and have her take off into hiding… or worse.” Hearing those words, Dewey gave the General an odd look. Wrot’Ka explained, “She has a Klingon ship… this means she has torpedoes which she could turn into explosives. Do I need to explain further?”
Shaking his head, Dewey responded, “No. I get the picture. I will inform my staff that we will be coordinating with members of Strike Force: Kargas. I’ll have them start, immediately, monitoring her activity more closely. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of all of this. Was there anything else, General?”
A sharp toothy grin crept across the General’s face. “Not at this time… Captain. But if I am ever forced to wait like this again, I will not bother with getting permission to act.”