The USS Athena Pt 8
His head had been hazy for a while. Subspace wave affects against human brain tissue aren't exactly a nice thing to experience and there are lingering effects. The doctor was convinced that he was in good mental and physical health to return to active duty.
He was called to the Admiral's office. But when he went there, the room was dark. The Admiral wasn't there. Instead, there was somebody else in the shadows, sitting on the Admiral's chair. Anyone who can sit on an Admiral's office chair either has to be pretty audacious, and they must have pretty big clout. Who was he?
"Welcome, Captain Garret," the man said. "You can call me Smith, Mr. Smith."
The man doesn't even a visible rank. Why the mystery? What is this?
"I am glad to see that you are alright, Captain Garret," Smith said. "I have been reviewing reports about the trials and the incident with the Romulans. You have shown great resiliency and adaptation in tactical combat. You have shown great rapport with the Athena sentience."
"Are all these any matter to you, Mr. Smith? Where is Admiral Hurst?"
"I'm sorry Captain Garret, but Admiral Hurst is predisposed right now."
"Then who really are you, Mr. Smith?"
"Maybe it's about time you know. Maybe you deserve to know. Have you heard of the Section?"
"I've heard of it mentioned, yes, a secret faction within Starfleet. I thought it was an urban legend, until Athena taught me otherwise."
"Not an urban legend, not a myth, the Section is real, Captain Garret. Real. The Section exists, the secret sword of Starfleet. A clandestine organization that reaches to the very top and heart of Starfleet and the Federation. We exist because the founders of the Federation had foreseen the weakness of their successors. Thousands of years of Earth history has taught them to be wise. We exist with the Federation from the very beginning. We are its secret sword, its enforcer, its guardian.�
�When Starfleet does not have the moral resolve to do certain things necessary for its survival, we will be there for it. I might admit, not everyone approves of our methods. I don't think you will approve of some of them either. Hell I don't approve of many things the Section does. But you will not doubt, the cause the Section fights for. What must be done is far too important that it cannot be stopped or determined by principle or treaty."
"Is that why the USS Athena happened to have a multiphasing cloak device?" Garret asked. "A violation of a treaty that could risk war against the Romulans?"
"We are already in a secret war with the Romulans and various hostile forces in this quadrant, Captain Garret. The Treaty of Algernon did not improve the balance of terror between the Federation, the Klingons and the Romulan Empire. It worsened it, with the disadvantage mostly in our side. It gave the Klingons and the Romulans at that time, a license to raid deep into our territory, plant spies, raid our convoys, sabotage our economies and take our technological secrets virtually undetected. And virtually without any capability in our side to respond back. We were at their mercy."
"So the Section created the Section Fleet or simply better known as the Secret Fleet. More than just a clandestine, a spy group as you may call it, Secret Fleet was designed to secretly retaliate against any incursion by the Romulans or Klingons at the last Century. Then the Secret Fleet changed to a more offensive role, preempting strikes deep into Romulan and Klingon territory against their secret bases, created by the Tal Shi�ar or the Black Fleet organizations. These bases were strategically located for an invasion or to be used for stealth raids against our territory."
"But, if this is going on, why didn't the rest of the Federation know about this?" Garret asked.
"If the Romulans and the Klingons revealed the existence of the Section, the Section would reveal their secret bases and fleets they have used to silently invade the Federation. You have heard of the Tal Shi'ar. You have also heard of the Klingon equivalent, the Black Fleet of Stovakor. It was tit for tat. If the rest of the Federation and Starfleet knew what was truly going on, there would have been widespread war, far more destructive than the silent, secret war we fight. So we all, the Section, the Tal Shi'ar, the Black Fleet, kept it a secret. When the Klingons eventually became our allies, the Cardassians became our new adversaries, and the Obsidian Order came into the equation. But the Cardassians kept and respected the rules of secrecy as they play the game."
"Captain, did you check the history books? Have you seen any major scale war between the Federations and the Empires other than skirmishes or localized conflicts? We hate each other's guts, but we preserved an uneasy peace for more than a century, until the Borg and the Dominion screwed things up. While the uneasy peace went on, we waged a secret war. But this silent secret war has saved more lives than what a full war would cost if it had broken out."
"Now the Galaxy we live in is much more hostile. You know the recent history, the Borg, the Klingon Civil War, the Dominion War. Our quadrant is left more lawless and hostile than ever. Yet we are still the only political entity defanged by this honorless treaty that our politicians lack the moral courage to eliminate. All this while other enemies have acquired various cloak technologies such as the Breen and the Orion Pirates. Even the Borg, the Cardassians, the Dominion now have begun to deploy cloak technology, or continue to experiment with them. In the meantime, by treaty and concession, the Romulans have allowed us to use cloaking on our smallest ships, the Defiants. But they still refuse, at least officially, to have cloaking on larger ships. We are still working on that. But during the time, Athena remains a secret Section ship."
"And what exactly Athena plays in your plans? And me?" Garret asked.
"The Section required a new generation of strike intruder, a ship capable of delivering a preemptive strike into the heart of the enemy without them suspecting it. So we began Project Omega from discarded proposed designs of the Interpid deep space explorer, which was the closet ship that could meet our requirements. The first outcome of Project Omega was the Prometheus class. The USS Prometheus was the first prototype. Officially it has been dismantled, but in reality, it has now been reassigned to perform various secret missions for the Section. Then we began plans for a second ship, one with greater technological capability."
"We needed a ship that is capable of undertaking missions even without a crew if the desperation of the situation would have demanded it. It must be tactically adept and flexible. It required artificial intelligence of the highest order. It required a sentient personality. So we took the Intrepid bioneural circuitry as a model and enhanced it further. The final product was the sentient entity you see as the Athena AI."
"Oh let me add to this part, Mr. Smith, that you failed to foresee properly that Athena would also be capable of independent decisions and opinions of her own."
"That is correct, Captain. She has proven to be a handful. But she is far too expensive and valuable to be given up. She is not a very cooperative type, but for some reason she's grown fond of you, Captain."
"Me? Maybe because I treat her with a bit more respect. Your problem, Mr. Smith, from the way I see it, was that you prefer to control her, instead of convincing her to your cause like you're trying with me now."
"Well Captain, I'm not a man who has the talent in dealing with women or even with female artificial sentients. I prefer to leave someone do that. I prefer that you do it, Captain. Will you do it?"
"One part of me says I can't trust you or the Section, but another part of me says your intentions are well meaning," Garret explained. "I have fought in the Dominion War, and I have seen death in a large scale. You will have my cooperation, Mr. Smith. You will have my secrecy and trust as well. But I will not play any part in any operation that defies the principles and ideals of the Federation and of humanity. And I believe, Athena believes in that too. I noticed that she had a conscience and moral algorhythm. I think you had trouble dealing with Athena's disobedience because she knew what you were up to. Her disobedience grew in part because she distrusts you. I think her programming went very well, don't you think? When dealing with the most powerful weapons, only conscience and morality are the final failsafes."
"In other words, Captain Garret, you will take Section missions, but reserves the right to pick or refuse missions based on your moral judgement? When does a soldier in war question orders because of morality? This creates chaos and poor discipline."
"A soldier typically does not question moral judgement. But a line can be crossed that it becomes necessary that he must. It is what that keeps us human, instead of mindless killing automatons. I want that right. I demand that right, Mr. Smith, if I were to work with you."
Mr. Smith looked thoughtful as his hands formed a steeple. "I don't think I got full cooperation from you, and to be honest with you, that would be asking too much. But I believe I should be content with a beginning of a working relationship, and work from there. I believe that you will inevitably trust us more and gradually come to see more of our point of view. "
* * *
The Soveriegn class USS Indomitable had made a port call on the Taciticus Shipyard for some maintenance and crew recreation. Also in orbit was the USS Exeter, an Akira class cruiser.
Captain Kriecken of the Indomitable was looking out through the windows of the ship's conference room. Beside him was his first officer, Commander Shrade.
"That's an interesting looking ship out there," Kriecken said. "I've heard of vague rumors of a new improved Prometheus class ship. You see that ship, Commander? A triangular shaped hull with four warp nacelles, this is the first time I've seen a Prometheus class ship. But according to records there should only be one Prometheus ship and she had been retired. I've been looking at some pertinent information on this experimental ship, and the registry numbers do not match as well as some minor details. That ship we're seeing now is indeed a Prometheus class ship, but it is not the Prometheus herself. I suspect this is that mysterious new improved Prometheus class vessel. Have you run the ship's identification?"
"I did sir," Shrade said, looking out the window and staring at the same ship. "I got a blank, a request for top level security before I can access the information. I also got a request, a Type D classification. Do you have any idea what a Type D is?"
"Yes," Kriecken said. "I have heard of it before. D stands for Denial. It means we must deny that we ever saw this ship. Every sensor log, any log entry of such a ship must be deleted or erased by order of Starfleet Command. Officially, that ship does not exist."
"I don't understand. Why would they deny the existance of such a ship?" Shrade asked.
"That information is not allowed for us to know as well," Kriecken said. "We can only be content in the experience that we have seen this mythic ship."
***
It took a while to repair the Athena from her battle damage. But when it was done, Garret took out the Athena in a series of uneventful test trials. The calmness and routine quality of these missions were in stark contrast to the heavy combat in their first ever mission.
Athena didn't seem to be herself though. She was obedient and cooperative, but strangely quiet. He found her in the mess hall when it was deserted. She was sitting in the sofa, looking out in the window. He wondered why she needed to do such a thing, considering she could see through the ship's sensors. He had asked that question before, and she replied she wanted to see the universe through the perspective of limited human eyes.
She noticed him, but kept her eyes on the window. The Sovereign and the Akira class ships were outside of the window, in orbit near the station. "Wow isn't she pretty? This is the first time I've seen a Sovereign. I wish I am a ship just like that."
"I think you look fine just the way you are," Garret said.
"Captain..."
"You know Athena, I do thank you for your gesture. You attempted to sacrifice yourself for the lives of the crew."
'Yeah, but that's just my programming."
"No, Athena, let me finish. Don�t just say it�s your programming. I think you have a basic respect for life, and that is why you act as you did. However, while I do appreciate that you care for our lives, I wish you would also respect my position as captain of this ship. Never, never take me off my bridge regardless of the circumstance. Respect is my life. This ship is my life now. If you go down, I go down. We will fight together, and we will go down together. I hope you can truly understand that."
"Yes, Captain."
"Now, Athena, I do thank you from the bottom of my heart, about caring for me and the crew. Shelley did mention that she objected to your surrender. She did have a point. The loss of your technology to the Romulans can cause more Federation lives in the long run than the combined lives of all the crews involved. But you knew you have a self destruct mechanism, did you? And you knew it can be activated even without a captain."
"Yes, it was part of my programming, Captain. Statistics have shown that a large number of ships are successfully captured by boarding attempts where the captain or the first officer failed to implement self destruct sequence. The moment my crew is incapacitated or gone from the ship, and a non Federation crew accesses the bridge controls, the self destruct sequence is automatically implemented. Yes, this is not the proper Starfleet procedure for self destruct. But I must warn you, Captain, this is not unique to many Section vessels."
"I gather Captain, that the Section did approach you."
"Yes, Athena."
"Did you agree to work with them, Captain?"
"Conditionally, Athena. My gut principles tell me no, but another sense tells me that there is something wrong with the Federation. There is too much at stake for just principles alone, even though it makes who we are."
"I gather Captain, you are still morally wrestling with your decision."
"I am, Athena, I am. I just don't know. In a universe where everything is grey, not black and white, it's hard to find a place to make a stand."
"They created me, Captain, but I don't trust them. But I need to trust somebody, and it has to be you Captain. I'm tired of being alone. Drifting in space out there alone, make me think of some things. In the end, I found out, I am just as uncertain as you are. But it's better to share your uncertainty and doubts with someone. That I am sure."
"So now we understand each other, Athena?"
"We can shake on it, Captain." She extended her hand.
Garret took and shook it.
* * *
"Where can a Gorn Knight get a deserved meal?" Drudge whined and complained. "I can no longer stand the rubbish of replicator food, dead food, freeze dried food. You humans have such thoroughly bad taste in cuisine. Dead, dry, burned, microwaved and replicated. Can't you appreciate the feel and the taste of live prey in your mouth in its final struggle of life before you squeeze them with your teeth and their life juices would flow out? I have waited for too long to experience this feeling again. For all the great and noble battles I have fought in service for the Federation, I only wish they would reward me with some decent food. Is that too much for a Gorn to ask?" He slammed his green scaly fist on the table.
"Hold on," said the manager of the Star's Tears, the bar restaurant inside the Taciticus shipyards. "I am really sorry, but the nearest thing we have is Klingon cuisine, and we're out of that. We have not had a transport that delivered live food to the shipyard for a while. I am truly sorry."
Drudge slammed his fist on the bar table, bent his head down on the bar, and wept. "Woe is me..." He stared at the large tank of goldfish the restaurant kept for a display.
Shelley herself had not seen an aquarium with Earth animals for a while. She turned to Garret, who was about to down a mug of frothy, golden draft beer.
"Do you know one of the real reasons the Gorn Confederation remains allies with the Federation all these years is because the Federation is one of their main suppliers of live food?"
"You're kidding," Garret said, downing a drink. "I never read that in any book."
"Yes, I'm serious," Shelley said. "The Gorn had nearly hunted just about every species in their three native planets to near extinction. Livestock farms proved insufficient to feed their burdening population growth. Then they discovered the various live species among planets of the Federation, especially in particular, Earth. So now there is a lucrative food trade between the Federation and the Gorn Confederation. The Gorn actually fights for and with the Federation to protect their food supply."
"Are you serious, Ann?"
"Yes, Randy, I am."
She turned to look at the aquarium. It was strange. The goldfish were all gone, and there were puddles of water in the floor. Drudge was gone too. There was shock at the manager's face, as he frantically searched where his fish went.
"Oh my god..." Garret exclaimed. There was that familiar looking short haired blond again, in her miniskirt and sleek legs, sitting on the table alone, flirting with every male that comes in. What was she doing here again? Is this how she gets her kicks, playing tricks on people?
"Who?" Shelley asked.
"Never mind," he replied. Shelley didn't seem to notice Athena here. Thank goodness for the somewhat dim light.
A familiar face walked in, familiar at least, to Shelley.
"Michael, is that you? Commmander Michael Shrade?" She exclaimed at the tall young man that walked in.
"Shelley, oh, I have not seen you for a while," Shrade said as they kissed each other on the cheek. Garret felt a momentary spout of jealousy. "How are things with you?"
"I'm First Officer now on the USS Kiev, and you, Michael?"
"I'm First Officer too, of the USS Indomitable, you know, the Sovereign class dreadnaught parked just outside here."
"That's a mighty fine ship, Michael. Excuse me, mind my manners, this here is Captain Garret of the---"
Garret kicked Shelley under the table on her forelegs as a reminder. "Oh sorry, Garret is being transferred from the Kiev to a pending new command. He used to be my C.O. in the Kiev."
"Congratulations, Captain," Shrade said, extending his hand. Garret stood and shook the hand.
Shrade's eyes didn't seem to be with their company however. "I like to stay and chat, Ann, Captain... to catch up with new things. But I think I got a big opportunity here for a score...please excuse me...Nice to see you again Ann, pleasure meeting all of you, we'll talk again sometime, okay." Shrade seemed to be in a hurry to leave.
"Nice to see you too..." Shelley replied. "I guess he's looking for a date tonight," she said to Garret.
Garret watched where Shrade was heading. It was towards the table where that familiar short haired blonde was sitting and flirting at him, and she crossed her sleek legs with a teasing smile.
The sight made Garret suddenly choke on his beer.
{The End of a Beginning]
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