***
Written by
Michael Gray
***
Chapter 1 – The Game’s Afoot
John Thomas Belvedere stopped at the edge of the landing field, watching
various shuttles come and go through the morning air. He didn’t mind Cyrus Wakernaggle treating him as an errand boy if it caused the
ambassador to dismiss him as a threat. He would spend two days here at Wakernaggle’s estate in Maine, acting as nothing more than
a representative for more powerful people in Temporal Investigations, letting Wakernaggle think whatever he wanted. Belvedere was used to
this game, and he was quite good at it. That Wakernaggle
couldn’t begin to guess at who and what Belvedere truly was made it all that
more delicious.
A Starfleet shuttle came to rest at the nearest landing pad. Belvedere waited
until its engines fully shut off. He then approached just as the shuttle door
opened.
Admiral Yuresh, a member of the Janorian
species, and the current chief of Starfleet Intelligence, walked toward
Belvedere. She had greenish-gold skin with dark bronze stripes. Instead of
hair, she had an elaborate bone structure at the top of her head which ended in
horns at the top. Two tentacles of the same greenish-gold skin came down from
her head.
“Belvedere, isn’t it?” she asked, seemingly uncertain.
“Yes, Admiral,” he said, forcing a smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Is there a reason Temporal Investigations is greeting me?” she asked, joining
him as he turned and walked to the waiting ground car.
“Ambassador Wakernaggle felt one of us on the
Committee should be here given the nature of our meeting today.”
“Why the hell are we meeting at his home?”
“The ambassador felt it might be best to let our new members, like yourself,
ease into the committee’s work in a less formal setting,” Belvedere replied.
Yaresh shook her head. “Seems like a waste of time to
me. We could have just as easily met back in San Francisco or Paris.”
“It wasn’t my choice either.”
She cast a glance at him for a moment, then smiled briefly. “Why does he live
in such a cold and damp place?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say it was because this environment mirrors his soul.”
“But he didn’t have to drag us through that mirror, did he?”
“That is likely to place us in a location we’re unfamiliar with, giving him the
advantage.”
Yaresh rolled her eyes as they approached the ground
vehicle. “I’ve heard he likes to play manipulation games.”
“He certainly does.”
***
Cyrus Wakernaggle stood in the large front hall of
his mansion, staring off at the narrow windows at the back side of the room.
His eighty-year-old body was less willing to move these days once he stood or
sat somewhere. It took extra effort just to get moving once again. But that
wouldn’t keep him from the things which needed doing.
He would do a lot of moving once his guests departed the following day. The
young women Wakernaggle had contracted for tomorrow’s
activities would see to that. He told himself it was physical therapy to keep
him active and in good shape, but he knew that deception was merely to assuage
the last vestiges of his long withered moral core. He was honest enough with
himself to recognize he was a predator who enjoyed consuming the innocent, but
humanity needed a predator like him to secure its future within the galaxy.
Cyrus Wakernaggle would gladly fill that role for a
humanity which would never thank him.
Wakernaggle pushed all of it out of his mind. He
couldn’t allow himself to be distracted. He had a new chief of Starfleet
Intelligence to assess, and he had to watch Belvedere closely. Something about
the Temporal Investigations agent didn’t add up. Usually, he found it easy to
collect background information about nearly anyone. But Belvedere was far more
difficult, and what information he had found was suspect.
No, Belvedere wasn’t an ordinary agent. But perhaps that would have its
advantages.
The others arriving weren’t as much of a concern. Bartholomew James was firmly
in his camp, ready to do what needed to be done to bring the Federation, and
more importantly, humanity, to its destiny in the galaxy.
Outside of Belvedere and Yaresh, the others were
easily manipulated into whatever course of action he set before them. It had
taken him more than a decade to bring the 301 Committee into such alignment
with his goals, but it was finally showing results. Now, this powerful entity,
one of the more secretive special access programs within the Federation
government, could do those things he had fought for all his life—putting the
Federation at the top of the galactic power hierarchy, and placing humans into
pivotal positions of power within the Federation. And with that, he might
finally be able to rest and let others take the reins of power.
But today, they had much to discuss—the increasingly impudent actions of
Federation President Nilos, the growing influence upon Nilos by Wakernaggle’s nemesis, Tharmon Pelagius, unrest along the
Romulan Neutral Zone, the Zeparan treaty, and… what
to do about Jack McCall. That last item pulled at him the most.
Wakernaggle had held so much hope for Jack. He had
the man’s career planned out in infinite detail. All Jack had to do was…
Well, it was too late for that. Wakernaggle still
hoped he could salvage all the work he had put into Jack, but he knew that in
some cases, the subject simply didn’t understand what was best for him. In
those instances, punishment had to be meted out. But perhaps it wouldn’t come
to that. He’d have a talk with Jack and give him options which he wouldn’t be
able to refuse.
***
Commander Melissa Vargas hurried to the shuttlebay,
having received an intercom request to meet Admiral Marie Alanni there. Melissa
paused a moment to compose herself before entering the door.
"Sorry to bring you down here on such short notice,"
Marie said, standing just inside the door.
"No need to apologize," Melissa said. "Is there a
problem?"
"The USS Legacy is about to pass by three light years
to our starboard, and they're heading straight to Earth," Marie said.
"They're the fastest ship that I'll have a chance to meet up with so I
thought it best to grab the opportunity."
"Does Jack know?"
Marie smiled. "I contacted him just before I called
you."
"Can you wait? I'm sure he'd like a chance to say
goodbye."
"Unfortunately, not," Marie said. "They're slowing
to sublight in about ten minutes, and I need to get
aboard as quickly as possible so they can continue."
"There a fire somewhere?"
Marie grinned. "Classified."
Melissa let out a laugh. "I suppose I should get used to that
if Jack makes admiral."
"Part of the job," Marie said. She handed Melissa a
PADD. "I know Jack doesn't think it will go much of anywhere, but I've
found a lawyer in case he needs one."
Melissa looked at the PADD a moment, but didn't activate it.
"This lawyer any good?"
Marie smiled wide. "He’s the best in the galaxy."
"Thank you."
"Thank you for letting Jack and me have as much time together
as we did," Marie said. "A lot of wives would have felt insecure
about their husband spending that kind of time with..."
"I'm not like that," Melissa said. "As long as our
relationship is solid, I'm willing to let Jack live life as he sees fit. He's
not an object for me to possess."
Marie hesitated a moment. "Are you implying he and I could
have..."
"I’m not implying," Melissa said with a grin.
Marie looked down a moment. "Damn. If I had known..."
"Remember that for next time," Melissa said. She stepped
up to Marie and gave her a warm hug. "You're Jack's friend. That makes you
family."
"Thank you," Marie said, taking a step back. "I
wish you and I had gotten a chance to get to know one another better."
“Include that with next time too.”
The door behind them opened, and a winded Jack McCall flew into
the shuttlebay.
"Good," he said. "I had hoped to catch you
before..."
"I've got about a minute."
"I have things to do," Melissa said, turning to leave.
"Take care, Marie."
"You too," Marie said.
Jack turned to Marie. "I've enjoyed having you here. We
should..."
Marie gave Jack a long hug. "You're lucky to have Melissa.
Don't ever take her for granted."
Marie leaned back a moment, looking up at him.
Once again, Jack realized it would be so easy to lose himself in
her eyes.
“Until next time,” Marie whispered.
“Yeah,” Jack murmured.
Marie gave Jack a gentle kiss.
He didn’t resist.
Marie took a step back from him. "Come and see me if you stop
by Earth.”
"I will,” Jack replied.
She took his hand a moment. "Take care of yourself,
okay?"
"I'll do my best... Admiral."
Marie laughed as she walked to her shuttlecraft.
Jack watched as the door closed and the small vessel powered up.
