“Nonsense”, R’Rel said and shook away the thought. “The point is… T’Mir was so disturbed by Hesperia incident that he is very likely going to retire. Losing twenty eight marines and the extensive damage to the Nez’rel have taken its toll on him as well. We had to bring M’Rella clan engineers all the way from Cait just to get repairs started. And given T’Mir’s dual service as a commanding officer both in Caitian Interstellar Navy and Starfleet, we are running short on liaison personnel between the two organisations”, he explained and looked to Kee’ren.
“Oh, no”, Kee’ren said and shook his head. “Absolutely not. I am not taking up T’Mir’s position, R’Rel. I have a family on Bajor.”
“I am not asking you to migrate back to Macadarna, Kee’ren. I am not that inconsiderate. However, my suggestion has already been taken up by the Navy Command and they will forward it to San Francisco.”
Kee’ren frowned. “You could have at least asked me.”
“Come on, Uncle. You’d say no probably”, Ki’ras said teasingly, trying to diffuse the tension.
“I’m not acquainted with Macadarnan or Caitian politics at large, but I think the Governor has made the right choice”, L’Vor hopped into the discussion and then turned back to R’Rel. “But, Governor, who is going to join us?”
R’Rel reached for the small console to the right of him and pressed a button. “Nall, send our guests in.”
A moment later, a Ferasan adorned in the gray and black Khitomer Alliance uniform stepped in, followed by a semi-bald, brown-haired and short Human Starfleet captain and a Klingon civilian wearing a black tunic that reached down to his knees and equally dark pants.
Upon reaching the five humanoids already sitting, Ferasan bowed. “Lord Governor R’Rel, at Your service.”
“Good to see you, N’Rat. Please, you and your guests have a sit”, R’Rel said and chinned to Ki’ras who left again for refreshments.
“This is Captain Wanya Lesyak, commanding officer of USS Aspasia”, N’Rat introduced the Human, then turned to the Klingon. “And this is Thorgar, son of Morak, recently joined House Krotak as their scientific advisor.”
R’Rel nodded and introduced everyone present and Ki’ras brought a new set of refreshments.
Lesyak took a long sip of Andorian ale and gasped lightly. “Hm, Northern Regions, by Earth Year 2403.”
R’Rel laughed lightly. “Someone has well calibrated tasting buds, I see.”
Lesyak smiled discreetly. “I am just a fan of the ale, so I now a few things here and there, Governor. Though I suppose this is not the reason why Captain Fahv brought me and Mister Thorgar here.”
Thorgar grumbled and took a long sip of bloodwine, emptying nearly half a mug. “Indeed. N’Rat implied an unsanctioned scientific collaboration. Be warned, Governor R’Rel, I will not disclose anything about the House which accepted me and my family, nor will I commit to anything that might bring their honor into question.”
“We are not an illegal group, Thorgar”, L’Vor spoke up before R’Rel could answer. “We are just… borderline legitimate. As in… our legitimacy is a matter of interpretation, but still within the… the…”, L’Vor fell silent at the loss of words.
“Let’s just say we look for cracks, holes and rough edges in the interstellar law to get things done”, Taev finished the thought.
“Truth, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder”, Lesyak added. “Jokes aside, N’Rat gave us a crash course introduction on your most recent activities and, from a perspective of someone who had at least one First Contact gone horribly wrong early in my career, I’d say you are doing just fine. Though I must confess… at first glance it is difficult to see what we all have in common.”
R’Rel purr-chuckled again and gazed over his guests. He leaned back into his chair and rested his paws in his lap. “Throughout the history of the Federation and its neighbours, there existed groups which understood the inertness of the systems in which they lived and sometimes went to great lengths in the name of common good. Some groups did so in shadows, some openly. Some have conducted their actions as legitimately as possible and others… not so much. Among the former groups there was one called Kirk’s Cabal.”
Kee’ren and Lesyak frowned at R’Rel at the mention of the name, but only Lesyak spoke. “Wasn’t Kirk’s Cabal a myth? Just a bedtime story about heroism?”
R’Rel shook his head firmly, causing his mane to swing a little. “It was quite real and some of the finest Starfleet officers were members. In the past fifty standard years, the Cabal was struck by misfortunes. First by the initial Bluegill conspiracy which led to death of Captain Walker Keel who had been guiding the the Cabal. Later on, the Dominion War and subsequent destruction of Romulus drained the Cabal’s resources and personnel.”
“Were you part of the Cabal, Governor?”, Ki’ras asked.
“No, I was not, but they jumped in on an occasion or two when Macadarna needed help. In fact, they were the ones who helped us maintain contact with Ferasan Dominion through the decades and they pulled N’Rat’s tail out of a fire during when the Klingon Empire seceded from the original Khitomer Accords.”
“Does this Cabal still exist then?”, Taev asked.
“Given how they always existed and acted off the records, it is difficult to answer that question. I know their primary mission was to keep at bay another group within the Federation but they never named them specifically. Every trail we followed over the past three or four years have led to a dead end. The Cabal’s membership is gone or have gone into deeper hiding.”
“So you want us to fill in their spot”, Lesyak concluded. “With all due respect to everyone her, we are not exactly the Alliance’s finest, Governor R’Rel.”
“Likely not, Captain Lesyak, but you all have a few things in common. You’ve all suffered fracture of trust or have been publicly shown as deeply vulnerable. You mentioned that dreadful First Contact in the Delta Quadrant. N’Rat and his pack were hunted down for openly questioning Ferasans’ alignment with the Klingon Empire. Thorgar had his family slain by Aakar, Taev was a victim of Tal Shiar in more ways than one could count, L’Vor was involved with a lot questionable actions over the course of his career.”
L’Vor rolled his eyes. “And what about you, Kee’ren and Ki’ras?”
“We are Macadarnans. That’s bad enough, believe me”, Ki’ras quickly answered. “Uncle Kee had his indirect involvements with Maquis before they were exterminated and I am sometimes asked a few favors by the Department of Temporal Investigations. The Governor here… he is so old that he’s seen more spit fur balls than all of us combined”, Ki’ras finished his explanation, prompting everyone to chuckle or laugh.
“Alright, thank you for such a vivid explanation, Lieutenant”, L’Vor said smiling, and then turned his focus to R’Rel again. “But I fail to see where all this leads. Not that I am unreceptive of our new members or anything…”, he said and looked to Lesyak and Thorgar briefly, then back to R’Rel, “… but these meetings of ours are becoming quite conspiratorial, Governor.”
R’Rel shivered his whiskers a little and looked to L’Vor. The young Romulan-Vulcan had had an inquisitive nature much like Ki’ras. But unlike R’Rel’s fellow Caitian, L’Vor was more daring, just enough to tip the balance of power or the balance of secrecy without anyone noticing.
R’Rel stood up, pushing his chair backwards and started pacing slowly by his work desk. He clasped his paws in front of him, his tail and ears relaxing slightly downwards. He glanced at the window behind his desk and then back to the assembled visitors. “I’ve been in Starfleet and public service for almost one hundred and thirty years and I really have seen many fur balls, as Ki’ras put it so eloquently. In that long time, I have seen rise and fall of the United Federation of Planets and its allies and enemies alike. I don’t mean military victories and capitulations, mind you. More like general ups and downs. Throughout most of that time, civilian governments and their respective military branches like Starfleet, Klingon Defense Force or both Romulan Navies were able to keep up with interstellar, political dynamics”, he said and paused for a moment.
“But there were also times when they did not and this led to emergence of various groups who played in the zone of ‘gray morality’. I already mentioned Kirk’s Cabal, but we could also add the Maquis, Fenris’ Rangers, Romulan Unification Movement, Reman or Bajoran Resistance, Qowat Milat, Leghbe’lu’wI’ and House Pegh, just to name a few.”
Thorgar scoffed. “Oh, please. Leghbe’lu’wI’ or The Unseen are a child’s fable.”
“So was the group behind the founding of Tal Shiar”, N’Rat growled back at the Klingon. “Until their existence was implied in the Dovarnis incident on Aurek colony. And it took a lot of digging just to get their name and existence brought to a speck of light.”
Now, Taev frowned. “Are we going to discuss each species’ secret cabals or will you let the Governor finish his talk?”
R’Rel purr-chuckled. “Thank you, Taev. As I was saying, some of these groups played their game on the border of legality or just beyond it and some committed themselves to terrorist activities, having no other ways to achieve what they perceived as a greater good. What is common to all of them is that they relied solely on informal channels to conduct their activities and, sometimes, major legitimate organizations like Starfleet or Klingon Defense Force relied on such a… informal conduct.”
“So this is as best as we are going to have for admission that Starfleet supported the Maquis or the Remans, right?”, Taev asked provocatively and smiled. “Not that I mind that as long as you drop a hammer or two on Tal Shiar.”
Lesyak raised his arm and R’Rel nodded to him. “Forgive me, Governor R’Rel, but are you going to suggest that we here become one such group? To act beyond the line of legality or legitimacy.”
“That is an excellent question”, R’Rel answered excitedly. “My answer is – no. I don’t want us to become one such group. But what I would like is that we all mimic their way of operation and establish a kind of… informal, but still legal channel of communication. For example, if you, Captain Lesyak, find something that might be of interest to say…”, R’Rel gazed across the assembly before him, “… Lieutenant Shissar or Mister Thorgar, then I would encourage you to draw their attention to this finding of yours. If it is not explicitly classified, of course.”
“Hm. Given how Starfleet and Federation bureaucracy are slow, I can see potential benefits in this direct peer-to-peer information exchange”, Lesyak concluded.
Thorgar raised his bloodwine mug. “I am more of a scientist than a warrior. Timely delivered information can be sharper than a mek’leth, as our great poet Sheq’spir said. So I will drink to this proposal”, he said and took a sip of his drink.
“You do realise this will eventually attract attention of our respective intelligence services. Tal Galan will be first to suspect something”, Taev said.
“Weeeeell…”, Ki’ras hesitated. “I suppose I could ask Vetrah to lend a hand. He just loves to fool around with the Republic, as much as she does with the Empire.”
Taev face-palmed. “Looks like Sasha’s sense of morality is highly infective in my case”, he said, prompting a laugh from Ki’ras and L’Vor.
N’Rat leaned forward and smiled. “I think we could explain all this communication as a… secondary intelligence information exchange. I am sure there is somewhere a clause in the founding documents of the Khitomer Alliance about that as well. And as the Allied Fleet Service officer, I report directly to Chairman Ksenneta.”
R’Rel cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention again. He smiled. “Good. This is good, our work hasn’t begun yet and you are already discussing ideas. Let me be absolutely honest with all of you. No one has to involve themselves if they feel uncomfortable and I am certainly not expecting any of you to involve your respective crews and ships. Consider this group to be.. unofficial advisory body. No ordering around, no vertical hierarchy. Simply a goodwill collaboration. Whether it grows into something bigger, only time will tell.”
Kee’ren rubbed his chin and then scratched his left ear which flapped several times. “Governor, what about trying to contact those groups? Or at least find them.”
“As I already said, Kee’ren, all trails on Kirk’s Cabal have been lost to me. As for others, only if you are willing.”
“The Republic Navy has been searching for Qowat Milat”, Taev said, getting everyone’s attention. “Well, uhm,… that’s what I heard at least.”
N’Rat nodded. “It is true. Your inquiry about Algorab and protomatter led to that”, the Ferasan confirmed.
“My… my inquiry?”, Taev stuttered.
“I can’t say more than that. It is a delicate matter and it involves some old school Imperial Romulans”, the Ferasan continued. “Let’s leave it at that.”
“I have to stop in Fenris system anyhow so I will ask around”, L’Vor said.
“Things are setting into motion slowly”, Lesyak commented.
“Indeed, Captain”, R’Rel said and sat down again. “But I suggest we return into the more public spaces for now. I assume each of you have some duties to perform while guesting here. You and your crews are invited to join for a dinner in four hours from now.”
“I suppose we are dismissed”, Lesyak said honestly and emptied his Andorian ale. “Thank you, Governor, for hosting us. I will see you all later then.”
One by one, they left the state room, leaving R’Rel alone to ponder on the meeting.
