Admiral Selina Tessier stepped into her office and was immediately handed a padd by her assistant. She had known that her life would change quite significantly ever since the president had made his intentions clear in regards to Asuka III.
While she may not have been the highest ranking flag officer in Starfleet or even the most experienced one, there was no denying that as the primary liaison to Paris, she more than anyone else in San Francisco, had the administration’s ear. And it had been her own strategy that had been chosen in what was now being referred to as Operation Starlight.
It would be the single largest Starfleet combat mission since the end of the War and the first time forces would be deployed on such a large scale on foreign soil. It was an almost unthinkable scenario for Starfleet and the Federation and Tessier had no doubt that it would be subject to great criticism and controversy, even if recent events had swayed both public and political opinion in favor of such an undertaking for the moment.
Now it would be up to her to make this work.
“That’s fine, Jack,” she said as she looked over the padd. “I need you to schedule meetings with the C-n-C, the Commander, Starfleet, Commander, Marines and the Chief of Starfleet Operations. And I don’t care if they have previous commitments already, this takes precedent to everything else.”
The young lieutenant nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
“But first, get me Yaridian on the line.”
Another nod before the adjutant took back the padd and then rushed out of the office to carry out his orders.
Tessier sat in her high-backed chair behind her desk and allowed herself to take a deep breath before facing the one person who would make Operation Starlight possible.
“I have Yaridian for you, ma’am,” the voice of her assistant advised.
She turned the desktop computer to face her and activated it by tapping a control panel.
The middle-aged man with the long gray hair and thick beard smiled at the admiral good-naturedly. “Selina, I understand we are ready to proceed?”
She frowned at that, not appreciating that this man, even though many hundreds of light-years away, always appeared to know exactly what was happening before he should have had any right to. “Starlight has been given the go-ahead,” she confirmed.
He nodded. “Good. Good,” he said and then looked away from the screen for the moment. “I can provide the first shipment of 50,000 units within fourteen days and then phase two within twenty-one days. I trust you will be happy with these to be delivered directly to Asuka.”
She considered that for a moment and then nodded. “That would expedite matters. I will need to have my specialists go over the units first of course.”
“You have had months to study all the specs and the prototypes,” he said with that same fatherly smile. “Almost sounds as if you don’t trust me.”
“It’s not a matter of trust, Yaridian. This is an unprecedented move for Starfleet and we are expanding a great amount of resources to make this work. We have to be absolutely certain of the quality of the product to satisfy all involved parties.”
“Naturally,” he said. “And let me say again that I am very pleased to be dealing with you and the Federation. I don’t even mind that I may have been able to get a better price with a different buyer, I just much rather deal with you.”
“And I appreciate this,” she said and then after a moment she added. “Now, mind telling me how come you already appeared entirely aware of the decisions I myself have only learned a few hours ago?”
“My dear, Admiral,” he said. “Some would call me an inventor, a scientist and a business man but first and foremost I am a futurist. And the only way to be successful at that fine trade is by anticipating events and decisions before they happen. I do this by studying all factors which may influence events until I arrive at an inescapable conclusion of what will come next. I predict the future, if you will.”
“And what? You’re never wrong?”
“Rarely, my dear Admiral. Rarely.”
Tessier couldn’t quite dispel the suspicious look on her face. Then she finally nodded. “I suppose your keen foresight comes to our advantage. I shall contact you shortly with further details about shipment. Starfleet out.”
His image blinked away and Selina Tessier leaned back in her chair, starring at the now blank monitor.
She had just overseen and approved the single greatest shift in Starfleet operations in its entire history. For all her hard work and lobbying to get to this point, she felt surprisingly ambiguous about what she had done.
*
*
“And this is our training facility,” said Masmune as he showed his Bolian visitor the currently rather unimpressive holodeck.
“Very interesting,” said Trelu-Chi Sill as he looked around the empty room before he turned back to the MSD chief. “This is a very interesting facility you have here as well as a very capable team.”
Masamune nodded. “Forgive me for asking, sir, but I have a feeling you didn’t come all the way out here just to tour our building.”
The Bolian considered Masamune for a moment and then nodded. “You are quite correct of course. The truth is that there are a number of individuals in the administration who have been rather impressed by your teams’ action during the Fed Plaza situation. We may have lost the building but if it hadn’t been for CCiD, the loss of life would have been much higher. You succeeded were Starfleet failed.”
“It was regrettable that we weren’t able to work together more closely during that incident,” he said and then gestured towards the doors.
The two men left the holodeck and walked down the hallway to head back towards Masamune’s office.
“Indeed,” the Bolian counsel to the president said. “Thankfully I was able to pull a few strings on short notice to get the UEDA to step in and assist you in the evacuation efforts before the explosion.
Masamune shot the taller man a sidelong glance. “That was your doing? I appreciate that.”
He waved that off. “Not at all. It is that kind of cooperative working spirit that the President values and would like to see more of in the future.”
They reached the office and stepped inside. The chief moved behind his desk while the Bolian remained on the other side. “It makes sense. Of course it is not always an easy proposition with so many different agencies working at cross-purposes,” he said as he set down.
Sill took a seat also. “That’s one of the reasons for my visit. Recent events have shown that Earth is much more vulnerable to terrorist attacks than we previously anticipated. Especially those of a cybernetic nature.”
“I would have to agree with that assessment.”
“To cut right to the chase, as they say, the administration feels that we need a more proactive institution to protect Earth from these kind of attacks.”
Masamune aimed a suspicious look at the man. “What do you have in mind?”
The Bolian lips drew a wide smile, showing off rows of pearly white teeth standing in sharp contrast to his azure colored skin. “We want your team to take on a more global role, Mister Masamune. I have already spoken to the Lady Major and while she wasn’t exactly happy about losing your vast law enforcement expertise, she agreed with me that your team could do much good on a larger scale.”
The chief nodded slowly. “I would require additional resources and I would request that we keep our base of operations here in San Francisco.”
The Bolian stood. “I think that can be arranged,” he said and offered Masamune his hand.
The chief left this chair as well and shook hands with the presidential counsel.
“I think this is going to work out great. I will make sure that I get somebody to be in touch with you soon to work out the details but I’m confident that we are doing the right thing here for the good of the planet,” he said, still wearing that wide smile.
Masamune nodded.
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Mister Masamune,” he said. “I’ll find my own way out.”
“The pleasure was mine, sir.”
The Bolian turned and headed for the exit.
“Mister Sill?”
The counsel stopped and turned around.
“Whom would this new agency answer to exactly?”
“You would answer directly to the Office of the President,” he said, still smiling. “You never know, you just may have met your new boss.”
*
*
Mech found her were they had met the last time, inside the Japanese Tea Garden inside the sprawling Golden Gate Park.
She was kneeling next to a small koi pound, feeding the fishes which eagerly nibbled off her delicate fingers.
Mech stepped up a few feet behind her and watched the school of colorful carp excitingly dash back and forth across the pond while the elderly, white haired woman made sure that every single one would get its turn.
“I’m glad you made it out of there alive,” she said without getting up or turning her head.
“Not all of me did.”
The woman shook her head. “You lost a body,” she said. “That’s all. You preserved what really matters.”
“I wouldn’t have gotten out without your help. Helcon was clearly planning on keeping me trapped in my own fantasy until it was too late. Either that or convince me to join his cause.”
“I don’t think you were ever in danger of crossing over to his side,” she said.
But Mech wasn’t entirely sure of that. Something about Helcon had seemed very familiar to her even if she had been unable to know exactly what that was. Whatever it had been, she would have been lying to herself if she claimed that she hadn’t been at least a little bit curious.
And his promises to unleash powers which were buried deep inside her had been tempting. It was impossible to ignore that they existed. Especially now since she had pulled off one of the most amazing feats of her life by transferring her own consciousness into an entirely different body.
“He claimed to know you,” she said, trying to refocus her thoughts.
Mother stood and dusted off her dress. “Did he now?”
“And he warned me about you. Claiming that you have your own agenda where I’m concerned.”
She smiled at that. “We all have agendas, Mech. Even those who tell you otherwise.”
“I know.”
“Are you’re worried that you’re playing for the wrong team?”
Mech shook her head. “Whoever Helcon is,” she said, “his aims clearly involve terror and destruction. He must be stopped. But I want you to tell me what you know about him. The truth and no riddles this time.”
She nodded and began to walk down the beautifully manicured walkway with Mech quickly joining her by her side. “I agree that you deserve the truth but regretfully I cannot tell you who Helcon is. I’ve been trying to find out myself over the last few years, ever since I first encountered his name on FedNet. What I do know is that he controls vast resources and that he sees you as a potential threat.”
“Why?”
“Because of what you can do, of course. Because whatever his plans are, he believes that you are the one wildcard which may stand in his way. That’s why he has been coming after you like he did. And he will continue to try to either convince you to join him or eliminate you. Those are his only two options.”
They halted on top of the high arching Drum Bridge.
“His overall objective,” Mech began. “It has to do with Nyuchiba, doesn’t it? He was behind Fed Plaza and as a direct result he has single-handedly managed to commit the Federation to a war far outside its own borders.”
Mother nodded as she glanced at the still watery surface below. She dropped a small stone into the water which quickly caused ripples flowing across the entirety of the pond. “It’s without doubt his opening move,” she said. “As to what he’s truly after, that will be for you to figure out. I just hope that once you learn of the real nature of his game, it won’t be too late to stop it.”