A New Alliance

The active chatter in Ten Forward faded as the group of officers and ambassadors entered. It did not fall completely silent but there was a marked reduction in the decibel level. Bart grinned across the counter as he polished a glass, studying the newcomers with interest. So these were the infamous Predators everyone was talking about.  His grin faded. He really needed to have a quiet talk with Colonel Speares. The hologram was an experienced bartender, he knew that people often said things they didn’t mean, but even so, some of what he had heard worried him.

Kihr’yende's gaze was drawn immediately to the view from the enormous windows that lined the room.  Slowly he moved closer and the crowd of sightseers parted, moving back to avoid him.  Almost hypnotised he drank in the sight of Yeyinde. "I rarely get to see my ship from the outside" he told Khetara quietly, his tone almost reverent.

The Klingon nodded, wordlessly agreeing as a moment of understanding passed between the two commanding officers.

Dragging his eyes away from his ship, the Predator captain examined the room.  He was enjoying this tour of the ship and while still wary, was beginning to relax a little. Engineering in particular had caught his interest, as had the holodecks. Kihr’yende could see great potential for the latter, although he doubted his father had appreciated the lecture on holographic technology. If the Elder had been bored though, he’d hidden it well.

As the two Ambassadors looked around the room, the holographic bartender pulled out some of the large metallic beakers normally used to serve bloodwine.  He thought for a moment, considering what drink to offer the newcomers before deciding on Prune Juice.  The Klingons seemed to like the foul concoction, calling it a warrior’s drink.  He had an idea the Yautja might like it as well.  He was about to unstopper the bottle and pour the drinks when he stopped, looking again at the Yautja.  Their masks covered their faces completely, with no apertures around the mouth or nasal areas.  Obviously, he reasoned, they were wearing the masks for a reason, although what that reason might be escaped him.  Some instinct told him it might not be diplomatic to ask them to remove them.  "Would.... either of you honoured gentlemen care to sample a beverage?" he ventured, finally.

The Elder cocked his head slightly, studying the hologram with interest.  Sensing something different, he touched a control, activating the heat sensors in his mask.  There was no thermal signature coming from the bartender, he simply was not there. Tensing, the old Predator let out a low growl of wary confusion, not quite understanding what he was looking at.

Colonel Speares was at his side immediately. "Is something troubling you sir?"

The Predator turned his gaze on the Ooman.  "What is this that stands in front of me?"

"Oh" Speares hid his impending smile of relief. "Elder, this is our Bartender. He is an artificial life-form – a hologram actually. His name is Bart"

The Elder had heard about the Federation's use of holography, but having paid minimal attention to the earlier lecture, had not realised it had applications outside the holodeck.  He shrugged.  Whatever this thing was, it had spoken respectfully and offered no threat. Switching back to normal vision, he stared curiously at the hologram.  “When my mission is over” he told it, “I will return here and accept your offer… and you will explain to me how it is that a hologram may tend a bar”

Bart nodded agreeably and grinned. "I'll keep your drink on ice, sir" he promised.

With a faint trill of satisfaction, that somehow reminded Speares of a purring cat, the Elder turned away. Moving to follow him, Speares caught sight of Rossi, sitting at a table with some of his friends.  Unaware of his gaze, the Petty Officer was staring at the two Yautja, a look of hate twisting his normally placid features.  Speares tensed, muttering something rude under his breath as the Italian got to his feet.  It was time to get the ambassadors out of here, Speares decided, ushering them towards the doors and at the same time, gesturing to the security escort.  It would be a good idea for them to take Rossi into custody before he did something stupid and got himself and very likely several others killed. 

The doors to the bar swung open and the ambassadors stepped through them, followed by the Klingon General. Speares stopped, turning back enquiringly as a voice called his name.  Rossi was not the only one on his feet he discovered.  The Petty Officer seemed to have backup from his fellow crewmen.  “Colonel Speares we want to talk to you.  We want justice!”

The big marine frowned, not liking this. “I need to deal with this” he told Khetara.  “Carry on the tour without me and I’ll catch up as soon as I can”

“Understood” Khetara responded tensely.  The developing atmosphere in the bar worried her and she wanted to get the ambassadors away from the area before any trouble could materialise. She had already seen first hand what the Yautja were capable of and the last thing she needed was a bloodbath caused by an angry and offended Predator. She stepped into the corridor and the lounge doors closed behind her.

***************

As the debate in Ten Forward escalated, no-one noticed when a crewmember got up and quietly left, making his way through the corridors of the ship towards the cargo bays.  It had gone exactly as he had hoped, as he had predicted.  The unfortunate ‘incident’ earlier in the day and the surviving crewman’s drunken grief, had done more than he could have hoped to assist him in his mission.  

Thanks to the time of day and Khetara’s orders to keep non-essential personnel out of the way, the main thoroughfares were deserted and he passed no-one, only a small cleaning robot, whirring away as it passed back and forth, polishing the floors of the corridor.  Irritably, he kicked it out of his way and continued towards his goal.

Slipping into Cargo Bay One, the largest of Endeavour's freight handling facilities and the one that the senior officers were most likely to show to the Predators, he moved across to the control console and inserting a data chip that would give him access to the systems at a level far beyond his own security clearance level, he set to work.

He was a skilled engineer and quickly and efficiently he began to enter commands, rerouting subroutines and disconnecting the bridge override.  Speed was of the essence.  He had very little time to accomplish his goals and getting caught was not part of his plan.  Finally, with a cold smile, he stepped back, the job done.  The Klingon General and her visitors would enter the cargo bay and they would not leave it alive. It was unfortunate, he acknowledged, that undoubtedly there would be innocents killed as well, but he had his orders. Satisfied that all would go according to plan, he silently left the cargo bay in search of a safe, quiet place to wait.

Dark and ominously silent, the cargo bay waited, empty for almost an hour before the group of officers and alien dignitaries finally arrived. Overhead rigs ignited, flooding the cavernous space with light. Khetara stepped forward, gesturing with a hand towards the nearby equipment as she began to describe the freight operations to the Yautja.

The group slowly moved around the cargo bay, examining the various facilities. Under the watchful eye of the security escort, a group of crewmen began a demonstration of the antigrav cranes.  Kihr'yende listened carefully to the explanations.  It was not so different to his own ship, he decided, cargo was after all, cargo.  It was obvious to him that the Oomans were extremely proud of their equipment and he had to admit that the emotion was warranted.  They were small and relatively weak, but their ingenuity more than made up for their deficiencies.  He made a noise that the demonstration team decided was likely to mean approval.  They showed their teeth at him in response and it took great restraint for the Yautja Captain to remember that the baring of teeth was the Ooman way of demonstrating pleasure or appreciation rather than a threat or a challenge. He nodded slightly and moved on.

Concealed in the junction of two jefferies tubes deep in the bowels of the ship, the saboteur waited for the right moment to act. Using another officer’s ID, he had remotely linked the main cargo bay computer to his padd and now he studied the display, waiting for the right moment to act. Not for the first time since this had begun, he experienced a moment of regret for the lives he was about to take. He knew and liked some of the freight handling team.   Dismissing the thought as irrelevant, he checked the padd again.  The life sign indicators were as ideally placed as they ever would be. It was time to act. He hit the control and slowly the great cargo bay doors began to open.

At first no one noticed. No alarm sounded. No warning lights flashed around the edge of the hatch. It was not until the wind whipped up that anyone realised something was wrong and by then it was already too late. The roar of the escaping air and collapsing equipment all but drowned out the terrified scream as a crewman was blown out into space.

Khetara lunged for the console, frantically trying to engage the emergency force-fields but nothing was working as it should.  She was barely able to hit the alarm before the almost hurricane force wind pulled her away from the console and towards the open doors.  She slammed straight into what felt like an iron bar. Kihr’yende's clawed hand gripped the Klingon General around the waist as he pulled her against him and braced his legs, toes gripping the deck and his free hand hanging on grimly to the nearest piece of gantry-work.  The predator captain had just saved her life, she realised, or more accurately, she corrected herself, had bought her a few more seconds of life.

With some effort Khetara managed to raise her arm to the com badge pinned to her uniform, “Khetara to bridge… emergency… beam…”  Words became impossible.  There was no longer any oxygen left in her lungs and black spots danced before her eyes as her vision faded into darkness.