Chapter 7 - Saturday, 28 December 2377
Mei-Wan stood back stage at the Conference Center wearing her Starfleet dress-white uniform and listened nervously to Andrea Lofgren, the Chairperson of the Archaeological Council, introduce her. Lofgren had already spent more than five minutes with the introduction and Mei-Wan had been given just enough time to start worrying about her presentation. She had sent Fowler to check on the files and diagrams she had placed in the auditorium's computer system and the young Ensign had not yet returned.
Her breathing got deeper the more Lofgren prattled on about Mei-Wan's days at the Academy and how she had shown such promise even then. The one professor she knew wouldn't be mentioned in Lofgren's remarks was Janus Osmand. Mei-Wan had spent much of the previous day trying to find out what had happened to drive one of her favorite instructors to drown himself in a tangled web of religious zealotry. Few would even discuss him, but Mei-Wan had gotten her father to finally talk about Osmand.
Sheng Lau thought it was a result of the pain Osmand went through when his wife died, but he had seen signs of his obsession with the Ancient Progenitors more than two years prior to her death. Four years ago Osmand had left his teaching position at the Academy and more or less disappeared from sight. Sheng had received only one communication from him six months after leaving, but it was mostly filled with idle conversation. He never suspected Janus had started a new religion.
Ensign Natalie Fowler wearing her dress uniform walked up to Mei-Wan and whispered to her, "It's fine, Lieutenant. I checked everything."
Mei-Wan nodded. "Thanks for all your help, Natalie."
Fowler smiled. "I'm glad I could help."
Mei-Wan took a deep breath and tried to relax as best she could. Her keynote address would be heard not only by those assembled in the auditorium, but by millions of others at universities and other institutions throughout the Federation. However, the one person she most wanted to be there had been called to another meeting with Admiral Simmons an hour before she left their apartment. Jack had told her he would do his best to make it, but he somehow thought Simmons had more in mind than a quick chat. They had almost argued about it before he left, but she knew it wasn't his fault.
Mei-Wan had grown tired of the tension between her and Jack. She knew it would end within another week if she made the decision she was leaning towards about the expedition, but she didn't want to leave things this way between them.
Fowler nudged her and she took a deep breath as applause filled the huge auditorium.
"Good luck, Lieutenant," the young Ensign told her.
Mei-Wan nodded and walked out onto the stage.
The crowd of fifteen thousand continued their applause as she made her way to the platform. She glanced up quickly to make sure the large fifty foot display screen was active. As she reached the podium she smiled wide as Lofgren shook her hand and then departed the direction Mei-Wan had come out.
The crowd became quiet as Mei-Wan looked out into the auditorium. It was difficult to make out faces from her position, but she did notice her father seated with Raymond Saselo, the Chairman of the Archaeology Department at the Academy. A few rows behind them Kyle Hoffman sat with LeAnn Goodwin and Susan Tanega as well as a number of other Starfleet Officers who she guessed were part of Kyle's crew on the Ravenscroft. However, she couldn't find Jack anywhere. Perhaps he's toward the back of the auditorium, she thought.
Mei-Wan took a deep breath and began her presentation.
"Eight years ago, Archaeologist Richard Galen started one of the greatest adventures for the science of Archaeology in this century. On the planet Hel'yra in the Kel-j'na Region of the Alpha Quadrant that adventure continues and the mystery surrounding the Ancient Progenitors has deepened," she began.
The large display behind her changed to show the planet Hel'yra from high orbit. "The planet and its solar system lie hidden within a nebula which has kept their secrets from the rest of the Galaxy for more than five billion years."
Mei-Wan glanced back at the auditorium crowd and paused as she looked at the fifth row. She saw Jack with a smile on his face seated next to Admiral Simmons and a female officer. Mei-Wan grinned for a moment and returned to her presentation.
***
Shortly before sunset that evening, Lieutenant Mei-Wan McCall continued to be the center of attention at a reception in a large hall in Starfleet's Headquarters Building on Gamala. Nearly two hundred people filled the huge room while drinks and small plates of various delicacies were served. All the Starfleet Officers present wore their dress white uniforms while the civilians wore clothing that covered the entire spectrum of fashion across the Federation.
Andrea Lofgren and Raymond Saselo stood with Sheng Lau talking to Mei-Wan. Each held a glass of wine as they conversed with each other and with those who came by from time to time to congratulate Mei-Wan.
Jack watched his wife as he stood with Admiral Simmons and his own father, Admiral Jeremiah McCall. The two Admirals discussed fleet deployments while Jack pretended to listen. He was grateful when his new Chief Staff Officer, Commander Celeste Purcell, walked up and asked, "Captain, may I have a word with you?"
"If you'll excuse me, Admiral… dad."
Jack followed Purcell as she walked to a less crowded section of the large hall.
"What is it, Commander?" he asked.
"I got that information you were asking about," Purcell said.
Jack only nodded as she paused a moment.
"The ship you asked about has no openings for officers or command pilots," Purcell said in a lowered voice as Jack sighed.
"And," she continued. "Because of their mission profile they don't allow for civilian members of the crew."
Jack shook his head. "Not even for spouses?"
"No, sir."
"Damn," he said under his breath. That was it. His last option was gone. Now all that was left was to accept reality as it was.
He turned to Purcell and smiled. "Thank you, Commander."
She watched him closely. "Is there another ship you'd like me to check on, Captain? I know there's one of the new Pioneer Class starships about to be commissioned in the next few months. I could check on the crew roster for it if you'd like."
Jack smiled and shook his head. "That won't be necessary, Commander. I was just curious about that particular vessel."
Purcell nodded.
"Again, thank you for your help. Now, if you'll excuse me," Jack said. He walked toward Mei-Wan and those assembled about her while Purcell watched him, confused by the odd behavior of her new CO. Everyone had warned her that Jack McCall had an interesting personality. She just hoped that strange requests for information was as far as it went.
Across the hall near a serving table Natalie Fowler stood with three other members of the Chamberlain's Archaeology Section watching their immediate superior receive congratulations from everyone that made their way past her.
"At least she seems happy today," Lieutenant j.g. Sunita Mahajan said to the others.
Ensign Todd Duarte, a tall brown haired man of twenty-three took a sip of his wine. "Anybody know if we're going with her to the Ravenscroft to be part of the expedition?"
Fowler turned to the others. "She told me that the Council was allowing her to take up to four of us from the Chamberlain with her if she wanted. She already asked me if I'd be interested."
Ensign Jalel Nelith, an Arcturan, grinned. "What is the Earth phrase?"
Duarte smiled. "'Suck up' is the one you're looking for, Jalel."
Fowler frowned. "At least I'm trying to take charge of my career." She pointed at Duarte and Nelith. "You two couldn't wait to come down here and take shore leave."
Sunita grinned. "That's all they ever think of."
Duarte placed his empty glass on the serving table behind him and picked up a full glass of wine and took a long drink of it. "Hey, we invited you two to come along."
Fowler rolled her eyes. "Sampling the pleasures of the local holodeck shops isn't my idea of fun."
Duarte tilted his head and smiled. "It was for us."
Natalie turned to Sunita. "What about you? You coming along for the adventure?"
The dark haired Lieutenant Mahajan shook her head. "No, I'm staying on the Chamberlain. If Lieutenant McCall transfers I figure I've got a good shot at taking her place to command the Archaeology Section."
Duarte turned to Sunita. "What do you mean 'if' she transfers? Hasn't she accepted the position yet?"
Fowler shook her head. "Not as of this morning she hadn't."
"Do we still have the option of going if she doesn't?"
Sunita grinned. "Nope. Members of our Section can only transfer to the Ravenscroft if she does."
Nelith and Duarte turned to look at each other. "We need to have a talk with her, Jalel," Todd said to his friend.
"Don't bother," Natalie replied. "I've been trying to talk her into it for the last five weeks and all she does is get mad every time I try to push her into accepting."
Duarte looked down at his empty wine glass. "So are we just supposed to wait around until Lieutenant McCall decides if our careers get the best break we could ever dream of?"
"Pretty much," Fowler replied.
Raymond Saselo stood talking to Mei-Wan as Andrea Lofgren walked away with a tall Vulcan.
"I understand no one has yet to translate the language the Ancient Progenitor spoke in that holographic message."
Mei-Wan shook her head. "No and the Federation has had some of the best linguists we have working on it the last three months. No one seems to have found the key to it yet."
"It just seems strange that the message locked away in the combined genetic information of many of the quadrant's humanoids would be easily understood by the universal translator, but the message you found is still resisting any attempt to decipher it," Saselo said.
Mei-Wan nodded. "I agree."
Jack walked up to them and smiled at his wife. She turned to Saselo.
"Professor, I don't think you've met my husband--- Captain Jack McCall," she said.
"Captain McCall."
"A pleasure to meet you, Doctor Saselo."
Mei-Wan turned to Jack. "Raymond was the first instructor who let me sit in on classes at the Academy when I was twelve."
"I think the Academy and the Federation has been rewarded far beyond anything we could have imagined for my agreement to that arrangement," Saselo said.
"It appears a number of Mei's instructors from the Academy made it to Gamala to hear her give the keynote address."
Mei-Wan turned to Saselo. "Did you know that Janus Osmand was here?"
Her old instructor nodded. "I'm not surprised. Ever since he resigned he's been obsessed with the Ancient Progenitors."
"Now he's decided to share that obsession with some Skorr warriors and with a couple of planets in violation of the Prime Directive," Jack said.
"I hope he didn't do too much damage," Saselo said.
"He only gave warp technology to a species just beginning their move into space," Jack replied.
Saselo took a deep breath. "I hadn't heard about that."
Mei-Wan nodded. "We went and talked to him a couple of days ago at the Federation Security Building. He went on about how wrong the Prime Directive was."
"He mention his dislike for Erodius?" Saselo asked.
"Yes, he did. You knew about his views?" she asked.
"He always had a problem with the founding philosophy of the Federation. He thought the Prime Directive especially problematic. We used to argue about it all the time."
"Well, now he'll get to argue about it in a Federation prison or mental facility for some time," Jack said.
Saselo turned to Jack. "There is such a thing a dissent, Captain."
"Disagreement is one thing professor, acting out against a principle we've lived by for more than two hundred years is another."
"Starship captains have been known to violate the Prime Directive from time to time throughout our history. They always seem to find an excuse for them at the ready when they do so," the aging Academy Instructor replied.
"Sometimes starship captains are faced with the need for a quick decision that lives will depend on. There have only been a few reported cases where a starship captain actively sought to violate it," Jack stated.
The professor grinned. "It seems captains tend to fall back upon 'lives are at stake' whenever there's a rule or procedure they don't wish to be bothered with."
"Sometimes there are issues that demand a larger view of the situation at hand."
"I think that's what Janus Osmand might say, don't you, Captain?"
"That's completely different," Jack said forcefully.
"You mean like your disregard for archaeological protocols on Hel'yra?"
Mei-Wan took a deep breath. She knew why Jack made the choices he did on that world even though she thought he was wrong.
A grin came to Jack's face. "I'm afraid that's still a classified matter."
Saselo did his best not to frown. He had heard enough stories of what had happened on Hel'yra to know that Captain McCall was not the kind of person who should have been making decisions about the treasures on that distant world. For the life of him he couldn't understand why Mei-Wan, one of his most brilliant students, had married such a man.
Sheng Lau walked up to them and turned to Sasleo. "Raymond, Andrea asked if you could come over and talk to Stenan from the Vulcan Science Academy for a few minutes."
Saselo nodded and left Mei-Wan, Jack, and Sheng alone together. Mei-Wan's father turned to his son-in-law.
"So how have you been, Sheng?" Jack asked.
The older man took a deep breath. "I'd be doing better if I thought my daughter's husband was encouraging her to go on the expedition to Hel'yra rather than playing some silly passive aggressive game with her."
Jack rolled his eyes. What is it with Academy professors tonight? he thought.
"Dad," Mei-Wan started. "I really don't think this is the time or place for this."
Sheng turned to his daughter. "Andrea and Raymond won't say anything to you, Mei, but they're worried."
"It's her decision," Jack interrupted.
"That's right, Jack. It is. And you should support her in that decision."
Mei-Wan looked down at the floor. Jack and her father rarely saw eye to eye about anything, but they had never openly argued like this and she couldn't believe they were getting into it now.
"I will accept whatever choice she makes," Jack said.
Sheng turned to Mei-Wan. "Raymond thinks it would be the biggest mistake of your career if you turned down the opportunity to lead this expedition, Mei-Wan."
She turned to her father. "Then it will be my mistake, won't it dad?"
Sheng's eyes went wide and he opened his mouth to say more, but stopped, realizing he was pushing Mei-Wan in exactly the opposite way he wanted to. He turned to Jack and glared.
"If the two of you will excuse me, I think I need to go out on the balcony for a few minutes," he said.
A smug look came to Jack's face as Mei-Wan's father walked away. She watched him go while Jack made sure his face was a blank slate by the time his wife turned back to him.
"I really wish the two of you would at least try to get along."
"What did I do?"
"You could have just let it drop, Jack."
He shook his head. "Fine. Next time I'll just keep my mouth shut."
Mei-Wan looked at him and after a moment a smile came to her face. Within five seconds Jack found himself smiling as well.
"Okay," he said. "I know that's a lie."
Mei-Wan laughed. Jack's smile widened. It feels good hearing the sound of her laughter, he thought.
Mei-Wan took a drink from her nearly empty wine glass as Jack looked down at his own.
"I found out which ship has been assigned to the expedition" Jack said.
"The Ravenscroft."
Jack's eyebrow raised and he grinned. "And do you know who the CO is?"
Mei-Wan hesitated and then spoke. "Commander Kyle Hoffman."
"I guess my sources aren't as good as I thought. That information was released only a few hours ago."
"Kyle," Mei-Wan started. She thought better of using his first name. "Commander Hoffman told me two days ago."
Jack's grin faded. "You know him?"
"Yes," she said as she paused a moment too long. "We served on the Farragut together. He was in charge of the Archaeology Section when I came aboard."
Jack slowly nodded. "Oh."
Mei-Wan looked up and took a deep breath as Kyle walked up to her.
"Well there you are. Getting a chance to see you tonight is near impossible," he said.
Jack turned to look at the person intruding on their conversation.
"That was an incredible presentation, Mei," Kyle said ignoring Jack.
Mei-Wan smiled. "Jack this is Commander Kyle Hoffman." She turned to the new arrival. "Kyle, I'd like you to meet my husband, Captain Jack McCall."
Kyle looked at Jack with a quick glance. "A pleasure, Captain McCall."
"Commander," Jack said closely watching the younger man.
Hoffman spent only a moment sizing up Jack McCall. He turned his attention back to Mei-Wan despite addressing a question to Jack. "Did you see Mei's presentation today, Captain?"
Jack's jaw moved ever so slightly. Something about this man didn't sit well with him. "Of course I did." He looked at Mei-Wan. "She was brilliant."
He put his arm around his wife's shoulders and for the first time that she could remember, she didn't like it. Kyle fought back a frown.
"I can't wait to see what she does with a fully dedicated mission to Hel'yra," Hoffman said. He turned to her. "You'll change everything we believe about ourselves and the Galaxy, Mei. I'm really looking forward to it."
Jack's eyes narrowed. That was it, he decided he really didn't like this guy. "She still hasn't decided to accept the offer to lead the expedition."
Mei-Wan wished he hadn't said that. Jack was starting to really irritate her.
"I know you, Mei. You'll accept it. Someone with your hunger for knowledge can’t walk away from an opportunity like this," Kyle said.
"I've still got time to think about it," she replied.
Celeste Purcell walked up to Jack. "Excuse me, Captain McCall."
Jack, Mei-Wan, and Kyle turned to her as she continued. "Admiral Simmons requests you meet him in his office."
"What's this about, Commander?"
"There has been an incident in the Izar Sector, sir."
Jack turned to Mei-Wan. "If I'm not back before the reception ends, I'll see you back at the apartment."
Mei-Wan smiled and nodded. Jack left with Purcell and Kyle grinned at the thought of finally having Mei-Wan's undivided attention.
"He's rather uptight, isn't he?" Hoffman asked in a way that came off more like a statement than a question.
Mei-Wan didn't want Kyle and Jack to be antagonistic toward each other. "He's had a lot on his mind lately."
Kyle smirked. "I'm sure he has."
She started to say something, but was interrupted by the voice of Hank Evans as he approached with Kadan Loftus.
"Excellent presentation today, Mei."
Mei-Wan turned to the pair. "Thank you, Hank."
"You even made an old space traveler like me interested in Archaeology," Evans said. He turned to Kyle and handed him an empty wine glass. "How about getting me a refill, sonny?"
Kyle looked at the glass forced into his hand and started to say something, but instead nodded and walked away. Hank smiled.
Mei-Wan shook her head. She guessed Evans purposely walked over to give Kyle a hard time. "What are you doing, Hank?"
Evans' eyes went wide with a 'who me?' look.
Loftus grinned. "He does outrank you, Hank."
Evans turned to her. "Who? That kid?"
Mei-Wan rolled her eyes. She thought perhaps it was time she went back to the apartment and called it a day.
***
On the twelfth floor in Simmons' office, Jack, the Admiral, Jack's father Jeremiah, Celeste Purcell, and a Vulcan named Tavak--- Simmons' Chief of Staff--- all stood facing a large wall display.
"We just received this transmission from the Burbank about fifteen light years from Izar," Simmons said as the display illuminated.
On the screen an image of a roughly cylindrical object bristled with structures along its surface moved across the starfield. Its hull had wide gaps where glowing energy blazed so brightly it seemed more a shiny solid than non-material energy.
Jack McCall had seen this ship before or at least one that looked like it. "It’s a G'voda vessel," he said.
Everyone else looked at him. Simmons frowned.
"Are you sure?" the Admiral asked.
Jack nodded. "I'm certain. You don't forget a ship like that."
Jeremiah McCall took a step closer to the display and observed the spacecraft.
"One of these things took out four Borg cubes?" he asked.
"Tore into one of them," Jack replied.
Jeremiah grinned. "Sounds nasty."
Celeste Purcell turned to Jack. "But that was in the Kel-j'na Region. How did it get here without Tartarus warning us?"
"Those ships can generate their own wormholes. The real question is why is it here," Jack said.
Simmons watched the G'voda craft as it moved out of view. "That's exactly what I'm worried about. We have to find out why it's here." He turned to Jack's father. "Jeremiah, I'd like you to take the Third Fleet out to the Izar Sector and find out what its doing there, but avoid engaging it unless absolutely necessary."
Admiral McCall nodded. "I'd like to take along any other available ships. It might be a good idea to have as much firepower as we can, Fergus."
Simmons thought a moment. "I agree." He turned to his Chief of Staff. "Commander Tavak, contact all functional starships in orbit of Gamala and have them assigned temporarily to the Third Fleet and under Jeremiah's command."
Jack turned to his father. "Have your engineer contact Kristen Bishop aboard the Chamberlain. She was working on a defense against the energy surge that thing puts out when it uses its weapon. You might need it."
"Let's hope my fleet isn’t anywhere near that thing when it fires its weapon," Jeremiah replied. He patted his son on the shoulder and exited Simmons' office.
The Admiral turned to Jack, "Any chance Chamberlain could go with them?"
Jack shook his head. "Last I checked with Bishop she said it would be another five to seven days before the ship would be functional."
Simmons walked to the chair behind his desk and sat down. "Let's hope the Third Fleet can get by without you."
Jack thought about his father confronting the G'voda vessel. He didn't like what he imagined might happen.
Outside Simmons window a small four millimeter square chip of metal hung on the outer surface of the pane. A tiny near imperceptible light slowly flashed on the chip.
A few hundred feet away on the roof of another building, a winged, golden Skorr knelt listening to Simmons voice come out of a small receiving device. After a moment he touched an electronic unit attached to his head.
"Notify the others. An opportunity has presented itself," the Skorr said.
He placed the receiver on his belt and spread out his wings as he stood to his full height. He stepped off the side of the building and took flight into the night sky.
