Chapter 14: Transition

Trip was packing T'Pau's clothing, which allowed her to spend another half hour at the beach and in the water before the shuttle would arrive to collect her. He wondered why she had brought so much stuff, considering that he had to enforce 'paternal authority', requesting that she wore at least a bikini when out of the water. Practically everything she had brought for the three day stay on the island had been largely untouched.

"How are you doing?" Malcolm asked, entering the room.

"I'm fine," Trip started before stopping mid sentence. "Well, obviously not fine, but getting better every day. We've still got the weekend left. I think I should be good to go come Monday."

"I'm sure I don't have to tell you that T'Pol will watch over you like a mother hen for a while. Hoshi certainly will do too."

Trip sighed, stopping in the middle of the room with one of T'Pau's blouses in his hands. "Maybe it's a good thing," he admitted. "I'm obviously not very good at looking after myself."

"You're totally crap at it, to be brutally honest," Malcolm snorted. Trip saw him leaning against the wall in a relaxed pose.

"Was there something specific you wanted to talk about?" Trip asked, knowing that Malcolm wasn't the type to engage in casual small-talk a lot for no reason.

"Well, I wanted to ask you to talk to Hoshi after T'Pau has left. She wasn't best pleased with the dress code you introduced."

"Malcolm, T'Pau might be thirty-three, but compared to a human, she's sixteen, maybe seventeen. Imagine having a teenage goddaughter prancing around naked in front of you all day. How would you feel?"

"Point taken," Malcolm conceded.

"I don't think it's too much to ask that she wears a bikini or a swimsuit on a beach, is it. The alternative is that I feel like a weirdo all day."

Trip's little rant was stopped by two pairs of hands clapping slowly. He turned around and saw that Hoshi had joined Malcolm in slowly applauding his latest little outburst. She had probably overheard the whole conversation from the adjacent room.

"Congratulations," she said and kissed him on the cheek. "So you finally realized that you won't be shot if you ask others to make compromises for the sake of your well-being."

"Don't tell me you planned this," Trip half asked, half stated in disbelief.

"No, I didn't plan anything," Hoshi answered. "I actually didn't even expect you to have a problem with it. You never had a problem when I was naked."

"You are a big girl already," he said. "And besides, we've known each other for a long time and most importantly, you aren't an adolescent goddaughter of mine."

"Good," Hoshi said and flashed him a grin while picking at her swimsuit. "Because that thing is coming off as soon as the shuttle has taken to the sky."

"It was never meant to apply to you," he said.

"I know, but a little show of female solidarity can't hurt," she replied with a giggle. "It made it easier for T'Pau to accept your restriction."

"I'm not so sure what the Eldest Mother has to say about that," Trip wondered aloud. "We were supposed to teach her swimming. Instead we've turned her into a compulsive nudist. I'm not so sure that she'll be happy with that."

"It's a transitory thing," Hoshi said. "When I got my ground car license, I drove around endlessly for days until the novelty factor had worn off. It's the same for her. Once she's done it often enough, she'll tone it down."

"I sure hope so," Trip said, and started to snicker. "And I hope it doesn't take her as long as you to get it out of her system."

"I am a compulsive nudist," Hoshi said with another giggle. "Now that my neuropressure training is finished, we'll go to the spa at different times than you and T'Pol. We'll take her in with us, so you won't be bothered by it. We'll need her to help Malcolm for a while longer anyway."

"Thanks," he said with a grateful smile and closed T'Pau's packed bag. "I'd half expected that the two of you would try to drag Malcolm into the water."

"Trip, I still need at least one of them nearby to cope with a small whirlpool, preferably by holding my hand," Malcolm snorted. "The whole bloody ocean would be a slightly premature step, wouldn't you say?. I consider it a minor miracle already that I can be on this island here without freaking out about all the water around us."

"I think the shuttle is approaching," Hoshi said and they walked outside, where T'Pau met them on her way back to the house.

"T'Pol has laid out a dress for you in the living room," Trip told her and with a nod T'Pau walked into the dwelling.

Feb. 1st 2157, Romulan space near Algeron

The small cloaked courier vessel glided towards the edge of Romulan space at a steady warp four. Within the hour they were about to cross into enemy space, with another six days needed to travel to Vulcan space.

"I believe we are being followed," Turius remarked calmly and pointed at a seemingly normal piece of space on the display. Only the trained eye of an operative would notice the little subspace distortion.

"An operative sent by the Praetor to monitor our mission," Tavrus replied nonchalantly.

"I take it you were expecting him?"

"The Praetor is foolishly assuming that his private security code is really private," he answered with a satisfied grin. "When he gave me permission to recruit you for this mission a little too promptly, I decided that keeping an eye on his communication was a prudent idea."

"You are even cleverer than I thought Tavrus."

"Fortunately he is also very predictable," Tavrus continued with a smirk. "He sent exactly the man, who will open the door for us on Vulcan. There is only one man other than myself, who seems perfectly suited to work undercover on Vulcan."

"You already have a plan?"

"I don't need one," Tavrus gloated. "The man chasing us is known as Centurion Lerok, a V'Shar operative, who would have already been executed if the Praetor or any of his advisors could be bothered to read all the Tal'Shiar reports."

"You have finally found a way to reveal the Vulcan undercover operatives?" Turius asked with interest. "In my time most who had the necessary expertise in genetics were wasted as lowly foot soldiers on the front-lines instead of being provided with the necessary equipment to do genetic research."

"That has not changed," Tavrus replied, shaking his head. "But I have lived among Vulcans long enough to know if someone suppresses his emotions naturally or by force. When Lerok did slightly too well in the emotional suppression test, I became suspicious and took him on a hunting excursion."

"They can learn to kill just as well as we can," Turius suggested. "I would hardly call such a test conclusive."

"Lerok easily killed a seth'let, too easily in fact. Vulcans do not relish the smell of blood. They do not enjoy seeing the life leave the beast after a long barehanded fight. He killed it swiftly and painlessly. That's the one part of their nature that Vulcans simply can't overcome. They cannot administer needless pain."

"That we can do so is hardly a reason to be proud," Turius snorted in obvious disgust.

"I did not say this made me proud, Master," Tavrus apologized. "It is a part of our nature that we chose to accept when our ancestors left Vulcan. Our peoples are extremists. While we relish our emotions, the Vulcans seek to lose them. There must be a way of life in between those extremes."

"I see that your time on Vulcan has influenced you much in the same way as it influenced me," Turius remarked. Tavrus could not find any trace of reproach in it.

"It has," the younger man admitted. "I didn't know she was your daughter, when she cowered before the tip of my blade, but I knew that my life started to change when I could not kill her, even though I was ordered to do so."

"When did you last see T'Pol?" Turius asked and Tavrus could hear the pain in his mentors voice.

"Almost two years ago. We were ordered to terminate all remaining Syrranites to cover up our involvement in bombing the human embassy. She was traveling with the Vulcan leader and the captain of the human ship she served on, trying to bring their precious artifact to the capital city. During a fight the human captain and the Vulcan were able to flee with the relic, but T'Pol was separated from them. She was injured but unwavering in her will to resist. Maybe it was the unhidden rage I could see in her eyes that rendered me unable to kill her. I may have felt subconsciously that she was one of us."

"She is only half Romulan," the Elder corrected him. "I believe your hesitation had a different reason. Like me, you must have realized at some point that we have become conquerors for the sake of conquering, killers for the sake of killing. We do not need these planets. We have much more territory than we need to exist. We are shedding the blood of our young in senseless battles."

Tavrus, who would soon be Talok again, thought about his mentor's words and realized the truth and wisdom behind them. The Klingon onslaught was sufficient to keep the imperial forces more than busy enough and the Praetor had rushed into a war on two fronts, hoping that glorious wins against the terhassu would silence the unrest about the horrific bloodshed at the Klingon border.

But those wins never came. The humans and their allies outnumbered them six-to-one, and even though they had no ships that could take on an imperial warbird, two or three of them together could do so, especially if they were using the small specialized destroyers and frigates that the coalition was building in growing numbers.

"Have you come to a decision, Tavrus?" his mentor asked. "It is not too late to return to the Empire in good standing."

"There is no good standing in the Empire for either of us," he answered bitterly. "We are both 'curiosities', gawked at and spurned by the females and our families. We would live out our lives in reclusion or be killed whenever the Praetor needs someone to take the blame for his defeats."

"Then it is decided," his old teacher proclaimed.

"It is decided, Master. Once we reach Vulcan space Lerok will contact his superiors and warn them of us. We will surrender ourselves to them and betray the Empire."

"That is a grave decision, Tavrus. Our own will be out to kill us. That is, if the Vulcans don't forestall them and terminate us first."

"It is a risk I'm willing to take," the younger man replied with grim determination. "The Vulcans will not kill us before they have all information we can provide. If that information shortens the war by just one year, it will save hundreds of thousands of our families from grieving for their sons and daughters. If it costs my life to achieve that, so be it. I'd rather die a merciful death at the hands of the Vulcans than wasting away on our home world as an outcast, presiding over needless massacres."

=/\=

three days later...

First Minister Soval hid his hands in the wide sleeves of his ceremonial robe. The assembly of ministers and sub-ministers was currently waiting for General V'Daro, the head of the V'Shar. The the organization's most senior operative had requested this meeting to present new information. If he went as far as requesting an immediate session of the High Council, it could only mean that he had information of the highest importance.

"Is it wise to invite the Humans to a session with the highest ranking representative of our intelligence service, Excellency?" Sub-minister Sulak asked.

Soval regarded the young man with a hard look. Sulak was a most effective overseer of their shipyard operations, but he was one of the Council members who still had to let go of some of their preconceptions.

"Sub-minister, we are involved in a war and are part of an alliance. Surely you understand the logic of involving our allies from Starfleet Intelligence, especially as our two species have been tasked with providing the majority of intelligence."

Chastised into silence, the young councilman acknowledged the rebuttal with a ritual bow.

A soft notification sound from the console in front of him forestalled any further discussion and Soval pushed a button to establish the connection to the subordinate who had called him.

"The subspace connection to Earth has been established, Excellency," the sublieutenant reported.

"Forward it to the council chambers," he ordered, and the face of Commodore Falkner appeared on the view screen. From the little interaction he had with Earth's new head of Starfleet security, Soval knew that he spoke flawless Vulcan and was exceedingly more efficient to work with than the disagreeable individual who had occupied the post before.

"Councilmen, I introduce – Commodore Falkner, highest ranking officer of Starfleet security."

All attendees of the session acknowledged the Human's virtual presence with a nod that was wordlessly returned by their ally on Earth.

"As we are complete, I admit General V'Daro to the floor," Soval decreed.

"Excellency, Ministers, Commodore," the General opened his speech, and with satisfaction Soval noticed that the seasoned operative had included the human in his greeting. "We have received information from one of our operatives that two high-profile Romulan agents are currently on approach to Vulcan."

Soval raised his hand to silence the murmurs among the attendees. Interestingly, he noticed, the human showed less reaction than some of the younger individuals in the Council chamber.

"Proceed," he ordered once silence had been restored. "What do we know about these operatives?"

"One is called Tavrus," V'Daro explained and brought up an image of the man on a second view screen. "He spent several years as an operative on Vulcan using the name Talok. He rose to the rank of Major in the High Command forces and is believed to have been one of former Administrator V'Las's closest confidants. His last position in the Romulan hierarchy was that of overseer in the Tal'Shiar."

"The boss himself drops by," the human interrupted. "Now it gets really interesting."

"What is your assessment of the situation, Commodore?" Soval asked. Obviously the human had something to contribute.

"We've only got one operative left on Romulus, but she's an effective one," the alien explained. "Your information about Tavrus's position in the Tal'Shiar matches ours. On top of that we've found out that he's gotten himself into a rivalry with Admiral Valdore – their fleet commander. Apparently Valdore wants to attack at all costs, while Tavrus tried to delay and maybe even back out of the war altogether, because he realized that we vastly outnumber them."

"Most interesting information," general V'Daro noticed. "We might need to consider then the option that Tavrus is a defector."

"That will depend on who his companion is," Falkner added. "We didn't know about Tavrus's approach to Vulcan, but what we do know is, that four days ago all records about Romulan operatives in coalition space were irreversibly destroyed. Whatever undercover agents they still have in our space, they have no way of contacting them anymore unless Tavrus has given that information to someone else."