SNIP:
Ross stared at him for a moment,
then nodded. He took another sip of his drink, then put the glass
down. "Agreed." He looked over at Kaylan and Lukas. "Now,
as far as I know, neither the Captain nor the two Commanders have heard
this yet. So how about we start at the beginning??"
***
Lukas looked at the gathered
officers. "Mah part in this is... easy,"
Lukas told them, though easy was far from the truth, considering he had
to watch his sons, or what would become his sons die in his own sick
bay. "Ah have the information brought back from the future bah mah
twin sons of the devastation the T'Kil will cause in the Federation.
There will be no Federation." He glanced from face to face to see
how each registered the information. "Then
there is the data we collected on the world of the Wasiri. Bah all
evidence we saw, they were a completely harmless race whose only sin
was to be in the T'Kil's path."
"They need no other reason,
Commodore",
Kaylan rubbed a small glass of scotch between her hands as she walked
around. She looked around at noone in particular as she continued, "When
unprovoked, the T'Kil attack randomly at their leisure. But, when
provoked the T'Kil attack strategically, with such quick
ferociousness...." She stopped for a moment and looked at Lukas
sympathetically, her voice softened as she spoke mainly to him, "They
have no qualities of mercy within themselves. No form of diplomacy
will sway them from their goal. I am so sorry you had to see what was
once the future of your sons, but....that future has now been changed.
More than anything Commodore, please believe that to be true."
"Ah have no choice *but* to believe that, Commodore Zen," Lukas told her. He appreciated her
empathy twoards him and the future versions of his twin sons, Rohan and
Ronov. "To think anything less would mean those two brave teenagers
made the ultimate sacrifahce for nothing. And please, everyone..." He
looked at each officer gatherred. "Call me Lukas."
Archer nodded. "Commodore
Zen is quite correct. I won't pretend to know more about the T'Kil
than she does. After all, she's been studying them for quite some
time. From what I do know, they are a brutal, savage race that has
been at this game for eons. We're nothing to them." Jack looked
over at Kaylan. "We should tell Commodore Fyrstk how we learned of
the T'Kil threat."
Lukas turned and looked again at Zen. He couldn't help but wonder, if
the T'Kil were as strong as that simulation he and the Eagle crew were
put through, how were they going to beat this? Would his twins have
sacrificed their lives in vain? No. He was determined he would see
that it doesn't come to be. And with this gathered talent, surely they
would come up with a way.
Kaylan nodded; yes, he was right. Lukas needed to be filled in on
everything. It was time everyone present knew everything, including
one person still missing. She drank down her scotch and turned her
attention back to Lukas, "A few of us in High Command have known of
the T'Kil for almost two years now; they have known of us for far far
longer." She sat in one of the chairs and placed her glass on the
end table next to it,
"Lukas, as long as we have known of the threat, I have known that...
when the right time came, I would then realize it was time for us to
have this conversation. And that this threat would effect you in a far
more personal way, at this time, than it has the rest of us in this
room. What I didn't know until recently was how. I am going to
explain to you how we learned of the T'Kil threat and how it involved
the future of your sons."
"I'll start from the beginning",
Kaylan got up and began to pace, "Just
a little over two years ago the crew of the USS Patriot had been found
with the the warp core missing and the crew unconscious, having no idea
what had happened to them. They were medically checked over, cleared,
with the exception of Cmdr. Tom Culkin. An anomaly had been found
within his bloodstream. He was then sent to Starfleet Medical where
found hidden was a biochemical message coded with my Starfleet ID
service number. Combined with a sample of my DNA, it activated a
message sequence, which became a computer program."
As Kaylan talked, the headache became as it had before. The pain
was extremely intense and Tavor found himself leaning back in a
recliner. Not able to take the lights, he laid back his head and
covered his eyes with one of his hands.
Kaylan stopped pacing and looked at Lukas, "This
program had information from the future, beginning with the past year
to ten years from now. In this future there was no more Federation and
Starfleet was only a handful of battle beatened starships. This is the
future from when your sons came back. And, a future that was not even
the original timeline itself. "
While Ross was listening, he happened to glance over at Tavor. The
Vulcan officer seemed to be extremely uncomfortable. Being as discreet
as possible, Ross made eye-contact with Kaylan and inclined his head
slightly towards Tavor.
Kaylan looked from
Ross to Tavor, then suddenly at everyone thoughtfully, "I
suggest we adjourn for dinner...for the night as well. Colonel Tom
Culkin could not make it here today, but will be arriving here
tomorrow. We can finish this meeting then."
Ross, Admiral William J.
Starfleet Commander-in-Chief,
Earth, United Federation of Planets
Commodore Lukas Fyrstk
Commanding Officer, USS Eagle
Zen, Commodore Kaylan
Starfleet Tactical Operations
Archer, Captain Jackson Phineas
Commanding Officer,
NCC-84777, USS Patriot
Commander Anni1
XO of the USS Patriot
LtCmdr Tavor
USS Patriot
CSEC/Tac
