Star Trek: Lineage Ch. 09

"You'll destroy the Federation," she said quietly.

"How did you..."

"Didn't you read my file? Top of my class in hand-to-hand combat. Plus, I've been experiencing some aggressive impulses lately."

"You stupid little girl," he sneered up at her and spit a tooth out onto the floor. "We're all there is between the Federation and its enemies."

"No," she shook her head, and reached for his shoulder. Sahar ripped the Starfleet patch off his shirt and held it in front of his face. "This is. I am a Starfleet Officer. Do you know what that means?" She should have been angry, she knew, but she wasn't. In fact, she was as calm as she had been in long time. "It means that I stand for something more than myself. It means that I stand for an idea, the idea that we can be better tomorrow than what we were yesterday, and that I will lay my life down to protect that tomorrow. It means that I will not compromise the integrity of my uniform for any reason. Not for love, not for hate, and not for safety."

"We do what has to be done..." he repeated.

"You're a disease," Sahar told him. "You've stained this," she went on, waving the patch again. "You've defiled it, shamed it, corrupted it like a cancer, and I wouldn't be able to look my daughter in eye if I didn't do everything I could to cut you out and burn you."

"I think..." Gregory coughed.

"It's about time," she sneered.

"I think..." he repeated. "I think your escort is here." Sahar glanced around. She was surrounded by nearly a dozen men and women, each of them armed. "I think you'll come around, soon enough." He smiled a bloody smile. "We'll still have use for you, I think."

Sahar stood and turned to leave, but stopped and look back at Gregory. "I'm coming for you," she said.

****

Cardiff, 0303 hours

Kara, Casana, and Suvak were still debating the best way to get to Sahar when she materialized in the room with them, so startling Casana that she nearly shot Sahar. It took a few moments for everyone to grasp what had happened, except for Suvak, who understood immediately and greeted Sahar with a respectful "Welcome back, Lieutenant Commander."

"You are not going to believe what just happened!" Sahar blurted out when her mouth remembered how to speak.

"Let me guess," Kara replied. "You were abducted by a clandestine branch of Starfleet Intelligence known as Section 31, who attempted to recruit you as an agent for their extremely illegal activities?"

"God damnit, why don't I get to surprise anyone?"

"I am reasonably confident that you surprised Lieutenant Shen," Suvak assured her.

"How did you know?" Sahar asked Kara, ignoring the Vulcan.

"Cass told us," Kara answered. "Wait, how didyouknow?" All eyes turned to Casana.

"I was hoping you wouldn't ask that," she grinned nervously.

"Spill," Sahar said, glaring at her.

"I..." Casana hesitated. She stared at her three closest friends, and relented. "My second host."

"What about him?" Sahar asked.

"Or her?" Kara added.

"Him. And his name was Tazo." She stared at the floor, as if embarrassed. "Tazo was an intelligence agent, first for the Trill government, then Starfleet Intelligence. After about three years with Starfleet, he was transferred to Starbase 343, on the Romulan border. I remember when Tazo was first told," she remembered with a smile. "He was baffled. Tazo was an analyst who spent his career behind a desk, decrypting intercepted Cardassian transmissions. He had no experience with Romulans, and virtually no field experience. There was no reason to send him to the Romulan Neutral Zone."

"They recruited him, didn't they?" Kara asked.

"Yes. An agent of Section 31 contacted him when he arrived."

"And he agreed?" Sahar scowled.

"He didn't know what he was getting into," Casana answered defensivly. "They just wanted him to look at some messages they couldn't decrypt. They said they were worried about a Romulan attack, so Tazo went along with it."

"Why would that warrant Section 31's interest?" Suvak asked. "Starfleet Intelligence makes no secret of the fact that it intercepts transmissions from foreign powers, especially those who have shown hostile tendencies."

"It was all bullshit, that's why," Casana hissed. "They'd decrypted the transmissions months before Tazo arrived at the Neutral Zone. Every time I gave them a deciphered message, he'd nod thoughtfully as he pretended to read something he'd already memorized. They didn't even always give him real messages. Some of them were just made up."

"Why?" Kara asked.

"To test him," Sahar said quietly.

"How do you know?"

"Take a guess," she hissed bitterly.

"She's right," Casana continued. "Tazo had a reputation for... unconventional thinking, and Section 31 wanted to see if he could figure out what they weren't telling him."

"Which was?" Sahar asked impatiently.

"That the Romulans weren't just interested in testing Starfleet's resolve. They were rethinking their basic approach to other governments. The Federation, the Klingons, the Gorn, the Breen, everyone. They were coming out of isolation, and Section 31 wanted to know why and, more importantly, if they could use this change in policy to infiltrate the Romulan Star Empire."

"What happened to Tazo?" Kara asked. "What did you... he do when he figured it out?"

"He didn't. Not all at once, at least. He learned about Section 31's activities piece by piece."

****

San Francisco (UTC -8), 2033 hours, July 13th, 2305

Sahar was exhausted, but still awake. The sun was setting over the Pacific Ocean, setting the sky ablaze in yellows and oranges. It was a beautiful sight, reminiscent of a sunrise she had seen years ago on some nameless planet light years away, but she paid no attention to it. Kara was asleep in the chair next to her hospital bed. She had been with Sahar for the last 36 hours, and hadn't slept in 48. Sahar hadn't slept in nearly as long, but none of that mattered.

The only thing that did matter was in her arms.

She was sleeping now, but had spent most of the afternoon staring up at whoever was holding her. She was born crying, and only stopped when Casana somehow snuck into the room disguised as a nurse and intercepted the newborn between doctors. The girl hushed suddenly when she saw Casana's spots, and in the sudden silence the Trill's transgression was forgotten.

Prenatal genetic testing had revealed a spontaneous mutation resulting in cystic fibrosis, but a simple gene-therapy treatment had corrected the issue. Aside from that minor complication, the child was in perfect health. Now those green eyes were closed, and the center of Kara and Sahar's world slept peacefully in her mother's arms.

Hanging on a coat rack in the corner was Sahar's new uniform, and on the desk next to it were orders to return to theAthena.The color of her new uniform's undershirt had changed to command white, and the orders told Sahar to report as theAthena's First Officer, but that didn't matter either. Only one thing did.

Her name was Morgan Gwawr Tehrani.