Chapter 7

Chapter Seven- Revelations 

Archer and Pike beamed back aboard the Enterprise with the Orions that were caught on New Vulcan. They and Giotto, along with another from security beamed back to the ship with the prisoners to be met by eight more security crew members. The three men felt that they couldn’t over do it as these men would have killed the newly created Bastans and their offspring. Not forgetting that two of those Bastans were the Captain and First Officer of the Enterprise. Archer and Pike were livid over the matter that they were able to make it onto the ship in the first place. If they hadn’t already figured out how they achieved it then they would have been busting heads finding out who helped them. They all headed down to a lift and headed to the brig. When they arrived they lead the prisoners to the cell that already held the Orions caught on board. 

“Well, gentlemen. Welcome to your new home until this matter is resolved and then you will be sent to a prison planet.”

“What can you do Starfleet? You try us and send us to a Federation prison. That will be far less painful than what would happen to us if we betray our employer. So go ahead, try us and be done with it.”

Giotto, Pike and Archer frowned at these words. So whoever hired them was willing to kill them, even in Starfleet custody, to keep them quiet. Coupled with the technology they had on them, than it could only be the Romulans. The device was similar to the cloaking devices that they used on their ships. This was worrisome. If they started using these devices regularly, then they would be able to assassinate anyone or get anywhere. Archer rubbed his forehead trying to stave off the impending headache. They were going to have to deal with Marcus. They were going to have to have a conference with the others on this matter. He gestured the others to follow him out of the brig. 

“Well this is a fine kettle of fish we’re in,” Archer groused.

“If they have portable cloaking devices this is going to be a problem,” Pike said to them.

“Sir, if I may?”

“Yes, Giotto.”

“We have the devices that they had on them. We can have Commander Scott look at them. He figured out a way to scramble them. You can have him look at them and he could crack them. This might help with the rest of their cloaking technology.”

“Good idea, Lieutenant Commander. Take the devices to Commander Scott and let him know that we need him on them ASAP,” Archer told him.

“Yes, sir,” Giotto saluted and headed away with the rest of the security.

“Fuck me this is going to be a shitstorm,” Pike let out a frustrated sigh.

Archer smirked, “I’ll fuck you after the call. I’ll need that sweet ass to calm myself after dealing with Alexander,” he said.

Pike blushed at his words, “Jonathan,” he hissed.

He snorted, “Come on let's get back to our quarters have Lieutenant Uhura put the call through.” Pike sighed and followed Archer back to their quarters. Jim was right, he so was the woman in their relationship.

**********

After they had Uhura put in the call, they sat down and waited for the Admiralty to call back. It would be a while as they had to get everyone together. Archer smirked as he knew that Alexander had figured out that he and Chris were together. The faces he made when he had to talk to them were hilarious. All he could think was the man needed to get laid, though they would have to pull the stick out of his ass first. He sat up straight when he heard the comm beep for the incoming call. Pike smiled when Margaret Blackwell's face was the first to be seen on the screen.

“Margaret, how are you?”

“I’m doing well, Chris. How goes it with you and Jonathan? What is so important that we have an emergency meeting with all of us?”

“Let’s wait until everyone is ready.”

Once they could see that everyone was in the room, Pike was pleased to note that Hargrove was not there. Wonder where the new homophobe was, he thought. Archer launched into the explanation on why they were all called together.

“Well, some Orion's decided to play assassins. They were apprehended but what we found on them was concerning.”

“Who were they trying to kill?” Admiral Berman asked.

“They tried to assassinate the two Romulans and their families as well as managing to get aboard the Enterprise for the Captain and Commander. We are assuming as they were apprehended on their way to their quarters.”

“Who cares,” Admiral Marcus sneered. “It’s not like those freaks are necessary. We all know that Captain Kirk and Commander Spock are only...”

“Admiral Marcus!” Admiral Whatley cut him off. “Please control yourself. If you continue in that vein you will be brought up on charges.”

Marcus settled back in his seat to sulk. If frustrated him to no end that they allowed those two to keep their command. They weren’t even considered human or a Vulcan hybrid anymore. They were freaks and no one saw anything wrong with letting them stay in Starfleet. He was still angry for the things that Komack had said about his daughter and not getting the job done when he tried to remove them. They were a danger. How did they know that they were still loyal. They were a whole new species now!

“What was found on them, gentlemen?” Admiral Barrett asked them. He could tell by their faces that it would not be good news. He also wanted to distract them from Marcus so there was no fighting between them. He knew how they felt about Jim and Spock.

“We found cloaking devices on them. We believe they are working with the Romulans on this. We know that when they were all rescued from Excalbia they had a run in with the Romulans that were there to rescue their command team as well.”

“We read the reports on the confrontation; do you think it was them behind it?” Admiral Nogura asked them.

“We believe so. They tried to kill them at that time due to their refusal to go back to the Star Empire and to leave their mates. Their refusal was not well received.”

“Have the Orions said who they were working for?”

“No. They refuse to talk. They seem to fear being killed by the people who hired them rather than the prospect of prison time.”

“This is not good. If it is the Romulans and they have come up with a portable cloaking device, we could have real problems,” Admiral Blackwell said with a frown.

“How were you able to locate them with them using the devices?” Admiral Whatley asked.

“It was a tip from Merrok. He was able to pick up on their thoughts. He and Kor seem to always to be aware of their mental surroundings on a subconscious level and are always listening. Even though they didn't see anyone, they mentally heard them. He mentally lashed out and did some physical damage.”

“It says here in the report from the Enterprise that Commander Scott was able to send out a frequency that disrupted the devices.”

“He did. We gave him the devices to see if he can come up with a way of picking them up on the scans that we do at Starfleet and on our ships. We are hoping that he can come up with a way to combat the cloaking devices.”

“It will be interesting to see what he comes up with,” Admiral Berman mused. “Well, we will need to keep an eye out. We’ll have the USS Frigg head out to New Vulcan and pick up the prisoners. We will get them squared away. Keep us updated and we will let you know if we hear anything on our end.”

With that the meeting was at an end and the call was disconnected. Pike looked at Archer before he spoke, “We are so screwed.”

Archer snorted, “I’m not but in a few minutes you will be.” He grinned and dragged Pike into the sleeping area. It was a few hours before they were seen out of their quarters.