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Excellent Work

Good stuff. A recurring villian is born.

Chapter Twenty-Three (cont.)

“Bridge to Captain Dahlgren,” the speaker announced.  Matt frowned and he sat back in his chair in his ready room and tapped his comm badge.  “Go ahead, Mister Shrak.”

“Captain, Vancouver has transported the Council Delegation to the surface—with one exception.  Ambassador Delena Mar has transported to the ship.  She is demanding a private meeting with you.”

Matt sighed, “Escort her to my ready room, Mister Shrak.”

The Captain stood, and smoothed out the wrinkles in his uniform as the chime sounded.

“Come.”

The door slid open and the Ambassador, her aide, and Chan entered Matt’s office.  “Captain Dahlgren, may I pre . . .”

“He knows who I am,” the Ambassador snapped.  “You are excused.”

Matt frowned.  “Madame Ambassador, welcome aboard Republic.  Commander Shrak, would you care to join us—please everyone take a seat.”

Mar glared at Matt.  “I said he was excused; my business is with you.”

“Unfortunately, Madame Ambassador, you are not in command here,” Matt answered as he took his seat without waiting for the Councilwoman.  “I am.”

Chan’s antennae quivered as the Argellian’s skin flushed red and her aide had a pained look on his face.  “Captain Dahlgren, if you would excuse me, I am supervising the transfer of the final load of stores from Portsmouth to our cargo holds.”

“Of course, Mister Shrak.  I will join you shortly on the bridge.”

The Andorian nodded his head, smartly turned on his heel, and exited the ready room, antennae still twitching.

Matt took off his reading glasses and set them down on the desk in front of him.  He sat back and folded his hands in front of him.  “And what may I do for the Federation Council today, Madame Ambassador?”

Mar took her seat, her aide still standing off to one side behind her.  “You can resign,” she hissed.

“Request denied,” Matt answered with a small twitch of his lips.

“I’ve read the Lorsham reports, Captain Dahlgren.  I am fully aware that despite that charade of a court-martial, you are guilty of breaking the Prime Directive.  You do not deserve to wear that uniform and this ship does not deserve to remain on active duty.”

“And yet, here we both are, Madame Ambassador.  I do hope that you did not travel for more than four standard weeks to New Columbia in order simply to ask me to resign; you could have easily have gotten my answer over sub-space radio.”

“No, Captain, I intend to fully participate in the Council Inquiry into exactly what happened here at New Columbia.  You are an anachronism, a throw-back to the bad old times, a myrmidon who relishes in the power at your fingertips in the form of phasers and torpedoes.  You are consumed with violence, and it is always your first answer—and that Captain is an abomination to the Federation.  And I will uncover the Truth of your activities out here, no matter how deeply your Starfleet buries it.”

The Ambassador straightened her spine and she sniffed.  “I had hoped that some small portion of your intelligence might remain that has not been overcome by your naked aggression; that you would see the sense in what I ask and resign to spare yourself—and others—the shame of what is to come.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, Madame Ambassador; what precisely is to come?”

She held up her hand and her aide placed a PADD within her grip; she then handed it over to Matt.  Matt took the PADD, placed his glasses back on his face and began to read.  He let out a deep breath, scrolled back to the beginning and read through the document a second time.  Then he laid the PADD on his desk, took off his glasses once more, and placed them neatly atop the electronic device.

“As you can see, that is a Federation Council Directive calling for the immediate return of this ship to Earth for decommissioning—and an Inquiry into your activities, Captain.  We will depart once my fact-finding mission here is complete.”

Matt stared at the elegantly attired woman seated across from him.  “There are two problems with that, Madame Ambassador; two problems that make that document illegal.”

Her eyes narrowed, and she drew in a sharp breath of air.  “That is a Directive of the Federation Council, you cannot sit there and tell me of its legality!”

“That document is signed neither by the President of the Federation or the Chief of Starfleet Operations—and as such, as you well know, that means it has not yet been passed by the Council.  Only proposed.  And therefore, it is not a Directive, Madame Ambassador, but a poorly played bluff.  Your second problem is that even were that Directive legitimate and lawful, you are not within my chain of command.  So the order for Republic’s recall would have to originate at Starfleet Command and pass through proper channels.  This?” Matt said, tapping the PADD with one hand.  “This means nothing.”

“Are you defying the right of an accredited member of the Federation Council from asserting my lawful authority over this vessel?  Are you disobeying my direct order to return this ship to Earth orbit?” Mar snapped.

Matt shook his head.  “No, Madame Ambassador.  Under Title 15, Book 19, Section 433, Paragraph 12 of the Federation Regulations you have the authority to declare a Galactic Emergency and assume command of all starships necessary and proper to deal with the situation at hand.  Are you declaring a galactic emergency, Madame Ambassador?  If so I need to log your declaration and the time in the ship’s protected memory core—and inform the senior member of the Council Delegation on the surface, as well as Admirals Hansen, Hall, and Parker.”

Mar sneered.  “I don’t have to declare an emergency, Captain Dahlgren.  You will return this ship to Earth under my command.  Unless you want to condemn your family.”

Matt sat upright, and he coldly stared at Mar.  “What was that, Ambassador?”

“I will be the next President of the Federation, Captain Dahlgren—there are many who owe me favors for my political support.  And I will use the power of that office to ensure that your family is black-balled from their chosen careers.  I will hound them until they leave Earth—your eldest daughter is a student at Julliard, is she not?  Such horrid things can happen to a girl so far away from home at such a tender age; things that will make her never again sing.”

Matt licked his lips and he forced himself to unclench his hand and sit back in his chair once more.  “Madame Ambassador, I cannot quite decide whether you are an idiot or a fool.”

She jerked and opened her mouth, but Matt drove on.  “Computer.  Replay Ambassador Mar’s last comments.”

“I will be the next President of the Federation, Captain Dahlgren—there are many who owe me favors for my political support.  And I will use the power of that office to ensure that your family is black-balled from their chosen careers.  I will hound them until the leave Earth—your eldest daughter is a student at Julliard, is she not?  Such horrid things can happen to a girl so far away from home at such a tender age; things that will make her never again sing.”

Mar went, but Matt calmly continued.  “Store this conversation in the ship’s protected memory files—access granted to myself, Admiral Parker, and those I later designate.  Authorization Dahlgren Three Four Seven Beta Two.”

“Acknowledged.  File saved in permanent protected memory.”

“It is illegal to record a member of the Federation Council without prior authorization!” Mar thundered, rising to her feet.  “I’ll have you broken, you . . .”

“SIT.  DOWN,” Matt replied in a cold, cold voice.  “And no one at all will care that I broke your precious privacy laws, Ambassador; although in truth I did not.  This is a Starship.  All conversations that a starship Captain has with a Federation representative are automatically recorded—unless they classified beforehand.  That is a fact that you would know if you sat on a single one of the Starfleet Oversight Committees.”

“I have only to release that recording, Madame Ambassador and your career is done.  No politician, not even those who owe you will risk coming to your defense for that statement.  None.  Now, Ambassador, I want you off my ship before I give in to my aggression and violent tendencies and rip you in half for daring to threaten my family.  Know that if I even suspect that you are behind anything that happens to them, I will release this recording.  I will ruin you, I will ruin your career, I will hound you back to Argellius II, and then I will kill you.  Do you understand me, Madame Ambassador?”

Mar curtly nodded.  “This isn’t finished, Captain Dahlgren,” she said as she rose.

“Madame Ambassador, you had best pray to God that it is.  Or I will finish it.”

The Ambassador and her aide exited, and the door slid closed behind them, and Matt leaned forward, his mouth tight against one tightly clenched fist.  “Computer.  Copy the entire conversation with Ambassador Mar, seal it to be opened only in the event of my death, and transmit to the protected memory storage aboard Balao and Portsmouth.”

“Data transmitted.”

“Record three more copies and transmit to Admiral Parker on Earth and Admiral Shran on Andor, as well as to Ambassador Sepak at the Vulcan Science Academy on Vulcan; sealed once again to be opened in the event of my demise, storage destination, protected memory core.”

“Data transmitted.”

Matt stood up, and he opened a small cabinet, taking out a dark green bottle and two crystal glasses.  He set the bottle on the desk and tapped his comm badge.  “Dahlgren to Talbot.”

“Talbot.”

“Quincy, join me in my ready room.”

“Is it the leg again?”

“Just get up here.”

Matt sat down and pulled out the cork from the bottle, and he waited for his friend.

And that gentlemen, ends Book I.  Two months and I must say this has been the fastest writing I have ever done in my life.  Hope you enjoyed it!

Master Arminas

Very nice story!  Looking forward to more of  your work!

Enjoyed the book and can't wait for number 2 now.