Queen’s Knight, Part 1: Setting the Board

Posted on Mon Apr 26th, 2021 @ 9:53pm by Lieutenant Frederick Carlow

Mission: Heroes of the Hov'hurgh
Location: Admiral’s Ready Room, USS Infinite Diversity
Timeline: 2409

Admiral T’Vyn sat in her perfectly appointed ready room, a steaming cup of tea in hand and a datapad in the other, going over the old designs of the ship that had gone missing so many years ago. The IKS Hov’HurgH was a relic from a day and age of peace and cooperation that she had worked her entire career towards achieving. The blended ship was still dangerously powerful, a testament to the forward thinking Klingon woman that had worked so hard to integrate their technologies, as well as her scientists and engineers that had made it possible.

The light-eyed Vulcan woman had been there, in the background, on the day that the Hov’HurgH had vanished and it was a day that she had never forgotten. Had it not been for the concerted effort on the part of all of those present at the station, the Anazi would have overrun that sector and the station would not have survived. The location had been so far buried after that, when it had been rediscovered a few years ago, only a very few people in the galaxy even remembered the project.

The wartime need had been great enough to warrant getting Victory Station operational as a medical facility, but not before T’Vyn had ensured that there was nothing left there of any importance. Walking through the damaged, time worn station had brought back the names and faces of those lost in that battle in an unerring stream, but it had also brought back the memories of a diverse group of people, standing together against a daunting, common enemy with courage and conviction. Just the vaguest of beginnings of the peace and cooperation that the Vulcan diplomat had always envisioned.

Now, it looked like there might be a chance to plant that seed again, in the form of a time-tossed Klingon Colonel and her diverse, allied and loyal crew. After sixteen years of war with their one time allies, the Starfleet Admiral would find it to be most acceptable to set the weapons aside and extend a hand of friendship once again. However, she was realistic.

“Mister Carlow, my ready room please,” T’Vyn ordered after tapping her communicator. She still had her old black-and-gold, hand-held model from her early days in Starfleet, encased in a protective cube of transparent aluminium. A reminder of where she had begun and of friends lost and left behind, but she did find the pins to be more logical for a number of reasons. Perhaps it was a bit sentimental for a Vulcan to hold onto old tokens, but she had gathered a great many gifts and treasures over her numerous years as an ambassador, so it didn’t stand out too much. She wasn’t exactly your typical Vulcan anyway, not that very many people would ever know that.

It had been her long time, closely held Deltan contacts in the Tal family that had informed her of when and where the Hov’HurgH would reappear, but a number of small skirmishes, and having to go after Mister Carlow, had slowed them from getting there in time to aid in the battle. The Klingon battle matron had already moved her large, lumbering vessel and was towing the battered Miranda-class out of the area by the time that the Infinite Diversity had arrived. When the distress call went out on the old Alliance signal, they had been there to intercept and respond, and it had taken hours to catch up to them. T’Vyn had silently watched them for the rest of those hours from her cloaked position, while they sized up the threat and gathered intel, before she had made contact.

The Kolari on the Hov’HurgH had caught her a bit off-guard, which was a rare thing, as she hadn’t been expecting to find Tenas there so soon, nor in that particular guise, though it did make sense. That meant that things were being kept from her, and the Admiral hadn’t gotten to where she was by being kept out of the loop. As a matter of fact, she was normally quite in the middle of things, though no one really knew that either, and she preferred it that way.

Stepping through the door was a sight that many who knew Carlow, for any real length of time, would not expect. Not only was his dress and general demeanor in ship shape, his pins were even polished or at least new looking, he also gave a standard acknowledgement of his existence and a nod as most officers might expect. “Yes, Captain.”

He didn’t sit down, not knowing if this was going to be a brief visit or not. Even that was out of the ordinary. Normally he might plop down, grab a mug of the brew and then plop his legs up on her desk after making some off the wall wise crack or strange observation, but he owed her. Owed her in ways she might not even know. Of course, only T’Vyn would likely know just how much of a strain this was for him. Regimental never was his thing.

The honey-eyed Vulcan woman looked up from the padd when he entered and tilted her head to the side, inspecting the white-haired man for a moment. T’Vyn couldn’t help but think about the time that she had put in trying to teach the man in front of her about military protocol and etiquette, and just how hard that he had always tried for her. Mister Carlow had always gone out of his way to do what she asked and do it as well as he could. She was actually rather certain that he had saved her life so many years ago. He was loyal, he was dedicated; he simply was not a military minded man.

“Please, Frederick, at ease. Have a seat and make yourself some tea,” T’Vyn said to the white haired man in his new uniform. She motioned to the ever present tea-set on her desk and she set the datapad aside. “We have some things to discuss, my old friend.”

The large man plopped down with a sigh of relief. Fred quickly got to work fashioning himself some tea. He smiled widely. Not just because he was having one of his favorite beverages. More so that having tea with his favorite Vulcan reminded him of that one day in the holosuite where she was Alice.

He had not been the mad hatter but wished he had been. He always wished they could have had time for a vacation together. To him T’Vyn was not only his best friend but one of the few like minds he had ever found. Heck, if she was not his senior officer, Carlow would have asked her out long ago.

“So Klingon’s huh? Wonder what they will be serving at the Fiesta.” Finding himself far more hungry than he normally would at this time of day, flipping out his PADD and making quick note of that, he got up quickly and replicated some cucumber sandwiches and blueberry white chocolate scones on a matching tea tray to the Captain’s.

Reaching to the datapad that she had set to the side, T’Vyn pushed it across her tidy desk towards the white haired scientist. “These Klingons are a bit different. Their captain, Colonel VaQ’taj, should be a general in her own right, but politics kept her buried for years. That ship is her brainchild, built by the cooperation of the Alliance.” The Vulcan woman paused as she leaned back in her chair, then finished, “An alliance that I spent a good number of decades working towards. An alliance that broke under the strain of shady political dealings. An alliance that it would be most acceptable to me to see restored. And we may have a chance to take the first tentative steps towards those ends with this HoD and her crew.”

While his Captain spoke, the lieutenant continued to eat a few more mouthfuls of his small sandwiches. His mind still dissected much of what she said and in fact came to rest on something T’Vyn had in common with this VaQ’taj. Swallowing quickly before asking the burning question on his mind. “Does that mean she is far younger looking for her age as well?” With his own time and dimensional hops one thing Fred had not been blessed with was youth. At least his body was quite healthy for his age. In fact, he mused to himself, now his body looked more like a refugee from that planet they just came from, than someone from the twenty first century.

One thing was for certain, the little cucumber sandwiches did nothing to appease the gods of hunger. He hoped the scones, being heavier, would have some more impact. He kicked himself for not popping out some cheeses or something else with protein. Especially since T’Vyn had not touched any of the appetizers just yet. One thing he would avoid would be cheeseburgers, even sliders, given the memories those might hold.

The light-eyed Vulcan woman took a small sip of her tea and took up one of the vegetarian offerings, studying it before eating it. After a moment, she looked back to Carlow and nodded briefly, answering, “The Hov’HurgH disappeared on it’s maiden trial, twenty-six years ago, assumed lost with all hands. It was,” there was a pause as she thought back to that day, then she continued, “an incredible loss to the Alliance and were it not for her sister ship, the USS Spartan, the project would have been ended entirely. As it was, no further Alliance vessels came of it.”

“That’s a real shame..” The old astronaut stroked his goatee like a thinking cap as he continued. “lord knows we could use more stability and peace in the Alpha quadrant. Its not like we have ever had a lack of threats trying to tear us apart. Some of which happen without anyone ever hearing about them.”

TBC