Surefoot 57: Cloak and Dagger

Saddleworth, England, Earth -- 52 years ago:

The ancient Emperor lay sprawled on the bed, wrinkled and feeble, staring up through rapidly-weakening eyes at his killers, the life quickly ebbing from him, but still desperate to speak.

His poisoners, his wife Agrippinilla, and her son and his stepson Nero, crowded him, Nero frowning in frustration. "What's he saying? Why isn't he dead yet? When do I get to be Emperor?"

"Quiet!" his mother scolded. "These could be the old fool's final words!"

The ancient Emperor, Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus -- more colloquially known as just Claudius -- raised a hand and declared, "Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud... hatch out."

Then he dropped his hand, and died.

Nero looked to his mother in confusion. "What does that mean? What?"

In the theatre audience, rapt to the intense death scene onstage, a twelve-year-old boy named Ian Trenagen wondered the same thing... though of course unlike Nero, he did not dare ask his own mother, who was sitting silently beside him. Being his mother's son, he was well-versed in Terran history, but she had not told him that they would be travelling into the village to attend the play, so he had no time to prepare, and she had confiscated his Pocket PADD so he couldn't cheat and access the Cynet to read up on it.

The village Theatre's production of I, Claudius had been lengthy, a marathon of plots and counterplots, of deception and ambition, of lust and murder. Much murder. But despite the proliferation of killings, Ian struggled to stay alert, knowing of what was to follow once they left the theatre.

*

The winter night was cold and wet as the audience poured out, opening umbrellas as they made their way out to the tram stops and the autotaxi depot. Mother and he had their own private autocar, parked nearby, and she led her son along the dark, winding main street of the village, flanked by closed storefronts.

Lieutenant Commander Margaret Thatcher Trenagen was a tall, imposing woman with a burr of snow-white hair and an aquiline nose, reminding Ian of Claudius' grandmother Livia as depicted in the play: always watching, always judging, always seeking weakness, advantage. She was a veteran instructor at Starfleet Academy in San Francisco, only occasionally returning home, these times rarely coinciding with Ian's returns from boarding school. She held her umbrella truculently, as if vexed that the British weather chose to pour down upon her and make her as drenched as the hoi polloi, and her cultured British accent was clear over the sound of the rain. "Identify the protagonist of the play."

Ian breathed in, clutching his own umbrella and keeping far enough from his mother's side to prevent water from running down onto him. In the few instances where he had met her cadets and colleagues, he had received the impression that among them, Margaret Trenagen was a cold and humourless taskmaster, always formal and challenging. It gave Ian some small comfort to know that she didn't treat him differently to anyone else. "Claudius is the apparent protagonist, Ma'am, being the main character, the narrator of the story. It is through his eyes that we see the Imperial Family through four Emperors, ending with himself. But Claudius remains passive for most of the play, surviving by playing the fool, and allowing family and friends to die.

Livia, in contrast, is more active. Though she lies, cheats, conspires against and murders anyone who is an obstacle to her ambitions, even to the point of poisoning her husband Augustus, she does what she does to keep in place a more stable and prosperous government than the Republic that Claudius desired."

Mother offered no visible reaction to his answer; she never did, unless the reaction was in the negative. "You believe a repressive Empire that offers stability and prosperity is preferable to a totally open and free representative government?"

Ian repressed a smile as he recognised a particular turn of phrase she used. "There is no such thing as a totally open and free representative government, where all its citizens are accountable to the same laws; as noted by Professor John Gill in his 2258 paper on the Democratic Paradox, it can only exist as an ideal. Every government requires an internal security framework unaccountable to the laws that control the rest of its population."

"The Federation has existed for over 150 years. It seems to have survived without such a framework."

He was relieved as they walked through a side alley and entered the carpark, where their autocar awaited to take them to their home outside of the village. "Professor Gill's paper also noted that such a framework does not have to be visible, or even officially acknowledged. In fact, the security framework would work better if the population was not aware of its existence, and so as not to be creative and careful about avoiding its attention. As Sir Francis Bacon wrote, 'Scientia Potentia Est: Knowledge is Power'."

Mother walked them to the autocar and stood outside it, making no attempt to unlock the doors and let them climb inside and get out of the rain. "And what was the significance of the line, 'Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud, hatch out'?"

Ian looked up at her, seeing her face haloed in mist and rain and streetlamp light like some spectre. "Claudius had spent his life detailing a truthful account, as he saw it at least, of the activities of Livia, Augustus, Caligula and other members of his family who had underestimated him, saw him as a stumbling fool.

Agrippinilla and Nero burned the scrolls to hide the truth, but Claudius had prepared a back-up copy, hidden and destined to be found centuries later. Long after he and everyone else was dead, this information would be released, and he would have some revenge."

He looked up at her, smiling and waiting for her to acknowledge his response in the affirmative.

Instead, she countered with, "Hobbes."

He blinked. "Ma'am?"

Mother's expression tightened; there was the negative. "While 'Scientia Potentia Est' is commonly attributed to Sir Francis Bacon, there is no known occurrence of this precise phrase in either his English or Latin writings. The exact phrase was written for the first time in the 1668 version of Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes. The error was obvious to anyone with intelligence."

She took his umbrella from him, shook the rain off it, folded it up and tucked it under her arm, before doing the same with her own, and then opening the autocar door -- just her own. "You disappoint me."

He stood there in disbelief, rain beating down unchecked onto his head. "But- Sir Francis Bacon said something very similar- I'm certain I read-"

"Excuses are for the weak, not for our family. And remove that distasteful hurt expression from your face. Learn to accept defeat with decorum."

He stiffened, and stopped wiping the rain from his face. Rein it in, show nothing, nothing... "Yes, Ma'am. I won't make that mistake again."

She climbed into the autocar. "The house security system will activate at midnight. I suggest you don't tarry, and use the time to reflect on your failings."

Ian watched as the autocar door slid closed, and it drove away and left him behind.

He flipped the collar of his coat up, before beginning to follow the familiar ten kilometre route home, hoping the rain would end soon.

*

USS Surefoot-A, Deck 3 Fore -- Arboretum -- Present Day:

Agony shot through Sakuth's skull like a phaser beam, sending her hurling backwards onto the floor. There was a high-pitched sound, cutting mercilessly into her very being, ripping away her discipline, her mental and emotional stability. Some sonic weapon employed by Hrelle-

No. he lay there, unconscious, as did his son. And there was no one else here except-

She winced and gritted her teeth as Sreen screamed again, the frequency affecting the discipline of the Vulcan agent.

Unprecedented levels of terror and rage swept through Sakuth, unchecked.

Even Hrelle's bastard cubs were a threat.

A threat to Sakuth.

A threat to her mission.

A threat to the Federation.

Take whatever steps are necessary, Trenagen had ordered.

They all had to be eliminated.

Without hesitation, she drew the hidden miniature phaser from her jacket, rolled the power bar to a lethal setting, and fired it at the still-screaming cub in the chair.

The chair given to her by her grandmother, Fleet Captain Ma'Sala Shall.

The Head of the Mother's Claws, the Caitian Secret Service.

Within the chair, hidden sensors detected the energy beam, and erected a force field bubble, absorbing the energy to strengthen its own power, even as other mechanisms within began broadcasting a distress signal on all channels...

*

T'Varik entered the Bridge, with Jonas Ostrow in tow, as she moved up to the Security station. "Computer: locate Captain Sakuth."

C'Rash looked to Sasha at the centre seat, and then frowned at her partner as the computer replied, "Captain Sakuth is in the Shuttlebay."

The Vulcan's expression furrowed. "Computer: run Priority Internal Sensor Scan, Authorisation T'Varik Alpha One, locate all traces of invidium."

"Working."

"What's going on?" C'Rash queried.

"Jonas has confirmed that the Shiprot infestation was faked, most likely by Sakuth. I believe she has also faked her continued presence in the Shuttlebay."

"Then why are you scanning for-"

"Invidium is a substance employed by certain intelligence agencies as a biological container for cybernetic implants, because it's rare and not easily detected by starship internal sensors. Recently, however, I had Chief Grev make modifications to the sensor algorithms to locate-"

"Invidium has been detected in the Arboretum," the computer replied.

Sasha rose to her feet, looking alarmed. "Dad's there, with the cubs!"

T'Varik stiffened. "Bridge to Captain Hrelle, respond immediately."

He didn't.

Suddenly the ship snapped to Red Alert. Sasha joined C'Rash at the latter's station, checking, Sasha reporting, "Phaser fire in the Arboretum! And we're getting a distress signal in there on a Caitian frequency from..." She looked up, eyes saucered. "Sreen?"

C'Rash moved to the doors, Sasha following. T'Varik followed as well, looking back at Jonas. "You have the Conn! Send Security to the Arboretum!"

*

Kami rushed up as soon as the transporter beam finished coalescing, embracing her mother and taking in her scent once more. "Mama! I've missed you! Missed you so much! Thank you! Thank you so much for coming for us!"

The older Caitian female with the dark fur greying along the sides hugged back, purring and sniffing too. "I will always be there for my family, Daughter of Mine. Always." She drew back, still clinging to Kami, her smile broad. "And all of you are alright? The cubs? Esek, C'Rash and her Vulcan mate?"

Kami slipped an arm around hers and led her out into the corridor. "All fine. Esek just came back from that awful space station with twenty children that had been abducted. Got himself wounded in the process, of course, but I can't stay mad at the fat bastard for too long. He gives me those big bronze eyes of his, and tells me about the cubs he rescued, their ordeal, and how he had to help them..."

Ma'Sala chuckled, shaking her head. "I remember a few times of you getting hurt falling out of trees, and then telling your fathers about the baby flutterbirds you were supposedly helping to feed up in the high branches. Speaking of which, I have some marvellous news from home-"

Then they stopped, as the ship went to Red Alert... and an alarm flashed on Ma'Sala's wrist communicator.

And Kami stepped back instinctively as she saw her Mama's entire demeanour change, from warm and relaxed, to something sharper, dangerous, her hackles raised and her teeth bared. "WHERE'S SREEN?"

*

Sakuth stopped firing, watching the force bubble around the infant's chair continue to glow from the absorbed phaser energy, leaving only the Red Alert klaxon sounding overhead.

In the padded safety of the chair, Sreen tried screaming again, but she was hyperventilating now, barely able to catch her breath, and possibly even in danger of a cardiac arrest. The infant was no longer a threat.

She returned to Hrelle, prepared to take him somewhere else to finish her work-

-Until the Arboretum doors opened, and she turned and fired again.

Walls and plants sparked and burned, as Ma'Sala and Kami dove for cover, the former drawing a Caitian blaster pistol from her holster. "DROP YOUR WEAPON! NOW!"

Sakuth moved behind a tree, firing again. In her chair, Sreen caught the scent of her mother, and began screaming in panic for her.

The cry cut into Kami, every instinct exploding within her, driving her to emerge and retrieve her daughter before Ma'Sala could stop her.

Sakuth took the opportunity to fire at Kami, catching her thigh and making her cry out, spin and drop to the floor in pain, her leg and uniform smouldering. Still, she continued to crawl towards Sreen, until Sakuth fired at her again, burning the bulkhead in front of the Caitian, Kami barely crawling away from the blasts.

"STOP THAT!" Ma'Sala roared. "OR I WILL EAT YOU ALIVE!"

Sakuth was gathering her emotional and mental discipline once more, and took the opportunity to begin preparing her other weapons and equipment. "Fleet Captain, inform the Bridge that they will turn over command of this ship to me, or I will execute your family!"

"What? Who the frick are you anyway?"

From her meagre cover now behind a Betazoid thorn rose bush, Kami caught her breath, fought down her pain, and called out, "She's Captain Sakuth- She's one of Trenagen's Section 31 people-"

Ma'Sala growled. "Trenagen?" She bared her teeth. "Enough! Stand down, and I'll speak with the Bridge! Stop firing! Let my family leave unharmed!"

Sakuth ignored the offer, never expecting her own to be taken seriously anyway, activating a hidden control... and vanishing.

Kami watched, gasping. "She's transported away!"

Ma'Sala scented and listened. "No! It's a personal cloak! Stay where you are!"

"My cubs- my husband-"

"I said stay where you are!"

Then the Arboretum doors opened, and T'Varik, C'Rash and Sasha entered.

"Lock that door!" Ma'Sala barked at them. "Sakuth's in here! Cloaked!"

T'Varik slapped her combadge. "Computer: Security Lockdown on Arboretum-"

A phaser pulse of lethal strength appeared from nowhere, racing towards T'Varik's chest.

C'Rash tackled her partner to the ground, letting the beam strike the wall behind them and burn the protective coating. Overhead, the environmental systems kicked in, pumping strong compensating blasts of cool air into the open area, making the taller plants sway as if caught in a strong wind.

Sasha dove in the opposite direction, reaching for a short Deltan pufferball tree, ripping it out of its planted place.

C'Rash looked over at her. "Cousin! What the frick are you doing? Stay down!"

Sasha ignored her, grabbing the tree by its wet, gnarled roots and smacking its body against the vent, freeing thousands of tiny feather-like seedheads into the airwaves and creating a swarm of fluffy, sticky plant parts that spread quickly outward...

...Many collecting against a transparent humanoid outline on the Arboretum path.

Clever Cub, Ma'Sala thought, shouting, "There!" She aimed and fired, C'Rash following.

Energy struck the outline, overloading Sakuth's cloak with feedback and breaking it. She took burning wounds to her chest and legs but dodged the resulting fire, limping away.

T'Varik tapped her combadge again. "Bridge! Emergency Medical Transport for the Captain, the Counselor and the cubs!"

Jonas' voice responded. "We can't, Commander! There's some sort of transporter inhibitor present!"

Sakuth dropped down behind cover again, reaching into her jacket and drawing out a small cylinder, keying in the activation code and hurling it in the direction of the new arrivals.

Ma'Sala saw it arcing upwards. "TAKE COVER!"

The cylinder detonated a neuroleptic pulse, Sasha catching the worst of it, flooding her nervous systems with energy and sending her into spasms as she collapsed into a pile of compost.

Ma'Sala called out in Old Caitian, "C'Rash! Follow my lead! Charge and fire!"

The other Caitian grabbed her phaser and rose along with the Fleet Captain, both of them staying low but moving quickly through the brush on either side, firing at Sakuth to cover each other.

Sakuth stayed her ground, ignoring the huge burned chunk of her left thigh, reaching into her right boot and withdrawing a set of tiny brass spheres, holding them in her hand in the direction of the faster C'Rash and murmuring a command in Vulcan.

The spheres flew out like a tiny swarm on their own power, striking C'Rash in the chest and abdomen, flattening into discs and sending an electrical charge through her, dropping her like a neutronium weight.

Ma'Sala doubled her speed, claws bared as she leapt onto Sakuth-

And passed through her, slamming into the half-blasted tree behind her.

She twisted around, ignoring the pain in her shoulder, growling and swiping out repeatedly, her hand passing through Sakuth again and again as if the Vulcan was a ghost.

Sakuth responded by striking back, her hand apparently more than solid, cracking the Caitian's muzzle viciously, and then again, breaking her collarbone.

Ma'Sala crouched back, teeth bared in pain and rage. "Molecular Phase Shifter-"

Sakuth stayed focused on her opponent, ignoring her own many bleeding, burning wounds. "Indeed, Fleet Captain, allowing me to make parts of myself intangible, or as dense as tritanium. You can do nothing to me in response."

Ma'Sala stopped, clutching her broken paw as if in defeat... and smiled through a bleeding mouth. "Yes, I can, kussik... I can distract you."

Sakuth's brow furrowed, too late sensing that T'Varik had moved up from behind, her fingertips on either side of Sakuth's head, her proximity allowing her to force a mindlink and temporarily paralyse her without having to physically touch her. Sakuth's eyes widened, mentally fighting against the psychic attack.

T'Varik spasmed in pain. "Ca-Can't- Can't hold- she's- fighting-"

"Then I'll take the fight out of her," Ma'Sala promised, drawing a multiphasic knife from a scabbard on her belt.

And drove it deep into the place on Vulcans where they keep their heart, the knife's mechanisms finding and matching Sakuth's phased frequency.

T'Varik released Sakuth as Sakuth dropped her weapons and other devices and clutched her wound, pea-green blood seeping heavily through her paling fingers as she staggered back, stumbling to the floor of the Arboretum... but still reaching into her jacket with her free hand for something else.

"She's still armed!" T'Varik warned.

Ma'Sala drew out her blaster and fired again, striking the Vulcan's free arm at the elbow... and sending the lower half of the limb burning and flying to the ground, leaving a smouldering stump.

"Now she's only half-armed," Ma'Sala growled, sheathing her weapons, her eyes still on Sakuth as the latter finally collapsed beside her excised limb. "Check on the others."

T'Varik moved quickly to check on Misha and Hrelle, while Kami finished crawling to Sreen, reaching up for her. "It's okay, Sweetheart..." She looked up. "T'Varik! My boys-"

"Esek and Misha are both alive." T'Varik smacked her combadge. "Bridge! Drop the Security Lockdown! We need multiple Emergency Medical Teams in the Arboretum, now!"