Countering Discovery
Posted on Tue Jun 9th, 2026 @ 10:35pm by Lieutenant JG Jezra Siv MD & Sub-Commander (erei'Riov) Minatha ir'Ra'tleihfi i'Liorae-sihaer & Civilian Aetan & Major (Aendeh) Toval
Edited on on Thu Jun 11th, 2026 @ 11:45am
1,986 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Peril at the Unification Accords
Location: Praetorian Warbird Vindex/U.S.S Astrea
Timeline: MD 11, 1200 Hours (Concurrent with "A Matter of Trust")
Continued from "A Matter of Trust"
The Curiosity was proving to be a triumph. Amusingly, it was not a new idea. It was as old as the sands of Vulcan itself.
Aetan would leave the Captain in good health. Pity. Perhaps one of the other officers mentioned would be useful. Maybe the ship's doctor? A look at the Ambassador's autopsy report would be a good place to start gathering intel. They could glean a lot from that. "Computer, where can I find this Dr. Siv?"
"Dr. Siv is currently on deck 7, holodeck 3."
* * *
A headache was settling in as the transport enveloped Jezra, and when it was done they blinked a few times to figure out their surroundings. There was enough spatial awareness to recognise sickbay, and they could feel Alex's support. Every time she tried to call on prior experiences to understand what was going on, she felt worse. Why couldn't she... oh, it was difficult to think. Why was it so hard to think? She grimaced as the headache continued to get worse.
And now...
Anchored in Jezra's mind, Aetan held on as tight as he could. He could also feel some of the disorientation. This was odd. It had never happened like this before. Not this quickly. And it was difficult to maintain his hold on this one. Something was fighting him. Perhaps not consciously, but instinctively, like antibodies fighting a virus. He would attempt to permeate a section of her brain, only to have the meld repulsed. So he would try again, more aggressively.
Still on his meditation mat on the Vindex, Aetan clenched his teeth and fell forward, steadying himself with his hands.
There was the sound of scuttling movement as the door to the chamber opened and Minatha stepped in, brushing past the guard that she had posted outside.
"Progress?" Her voice was cold, emotionless and her face matched it as she settled into a parade rest with hands lightly clasped behind her.
"Your progress is unacceptably slow," the instructor said, holding up Aetan's work for the whole class to see. "You make no attempt to differentiate between the different types of pedagogical approaches, weakening your argument's validity. And your raw data is difficult to follow. Perhaps you're not ready for this level of academic rigor."
"Stand by," Aetan said tersely, his eyes still shut. What had brought up that memory? That was decades ago! He refocused again, trying to envelop Jezra's mind.
"Ha! Look at Aetan! That runt! Wearing a uniform as if he could ever be Tal Shava. Everyone knows your father pulled strings to get you in, weakling. You'll never be one of us."
Aetan clenched his jaw in anger, just as he had on that day. No! Why couldn't he focus? His mind was wandering. This wasn't the time, not with Minatha watching over him!
Father glowered at him from his chair. That familiar look of hostility and disapproval that he was so accustomed to. "I've watched over you, Aetan, have I not? Opened doors for you, given you all manner of opportunities, so that you could make a name for yourself. And this is what you do? Black arts and magic tricks? Do you understand how foolish you look? You're a laughingstock!"
"It's a valid science!" Aetan mumbled through clenched teeth. If only Father, deservedly dead and rotting in his grave, could see him now. Some magic trick, eh? Enough that the Tal Shiar had taken an interest!
He was next interrupted by D'Tara Arrhael, much to his surprise.
"I don't love you, Aetan," D'Tara said, her voice firm and callous. "And I can't marry you. As a colleague I find you interesting, but truthfully...you're a very odd man. I'm sorry."
Where is my focus? Aetan anguished within himself, while simultaneously anguishing at the memory of D'Tara. Stunning and phenomenally bright. He had been so smitten with her. It had been years since they had spoken. He had shoved every memory of her into a box in a faraway corner of his mind. Why think of her now?
Other memories trickled in. Flashes here and there, random and scattered. But they were of faces he had never seen before. Places he had never been. Was this Jezra? Was he finally finding his anchor somewhere in her memories? Good. Perhaps he would find some memory of the investigation, which would give him something to report to Minatha. Then he could leave. He had been with this Jezra Siv too long already, and with an immoderate severity of concentration.
"Just like Rigon, always overstaying your welcome," some random voice from the past said. A friendly voice. A joking tone. It wasn't anyone Aetan knew. The memory was very old and frayed around the edges. Like an old photograph. Jezra remembered it, but it wasn't her memory, either. Who was Rigon?
Aetan's mouth fell open in surprise. Suddenly he understood why he was having difficulty staying anchored to Jezra.
Theirs were not the only minds present. There was another named Siv. Jezra Siv was a dual lifeform.
While he had been struggling with Jezra, Siv had been reading his memories. He suddenly felt exposed.
"Damn it!"
Aetan felt Jezra's mind take a sudden shift in the sea of thought. She had been moved. Perhaps by a transporter. Aetan stayed with her. Under no circumstances could this person--persons---be allowed to live. He reached out for the area of the brain that controlled the heartbeat.
Minatha watched Aetan's face carefully, noting small shifts as his focus faltered and smiling inwardly at the display. Not so perfect afterall. She watched as he regained his focus and spoke sharply. "Problems, Preceptor?"
Before Aetan could respond, the intership comm opened.
[Bridge to Subcommander Minatha.] Toval's deep, emotionless voice rang through their ears. [We are engaging in evasive maneuvers and moving into Barisa Prime's lower exosphere. Astrea is attempting to move closer to our position.]
Minatha's eyes narrowed and she cast a fiery gaze over Aetan before turning on a heel and marching back out of the chamber to head to the bridge. She called out over the comm. [I will be there presently; once in the exosphere maneuver us to the other side of the planet and prepare to break orbit there.]
Aetan remained in his spot, eyes still closed tightly. He had been only vaguely aware of Minatha receiving a message from the bridge, and stepping away. Good. He needed everything he had to focus. He was now struggling against two minds instead of one. Something he had never done before. He grunted from the strain. A trickle of green blood fell from his nostril.
[Yes, Subcommander.] The comm closed immediately after.
The doctor was now in Sickbay, medication coursing through their veins, making its way to Jezra's autonomic nervous system, fighting against Aetan's efforts, chemicals coursing through Jezra's brain that attempted to stabilize the host's heart rate.
Aetan heard new voices through Jezra. Muffled and remote. He knew they were not, however. They were in the same room. "I don't see how it's possible to keep them separate. We can administer to the symbiont, but the host..."
Medical personnel. They were trying to save her life. If he was going to make a killing blow, then it had to be now. He focused on oscillating his own brain waves. The ripples in the sea of thought became surges, then swells, and then violent breakers. He kept this up for as long as he could, even as he felt the arrhythmia building in his chest. He could sense it building within Jezra too.
"Doctor! Neural shock!" Another voice said.
...Take advantage of any opportunity that you find to hinder the Astrea's investigation. And... I can NOT stress this enough... Do. NOT. Get. Caught. Do. NOT. Reveal. Our. Capabilities."
"NO!" Aetan said through gritted teeth. This symbiotic lifeform was strong. Keeping it at bay was grueling. No matter. He could sense Jezra's mind fading, like a dying star losing its light. There wasn't much left to which he could anchor himself. He was almost done here.
There was silence for several moments, or at least as much as was ever present on an active Warbird. It seemed rather odd but it was not meant to last as the click of Minatha's boots on the deckplating soon returned, echoing through the chamber and it was not long before she herself was at the door again, talking quietly to herself and shaking her head.
"Preceptor; we are moving the Vindex. Astrea is too persistent to make it possible for us to maintain this position. Whatever you have left to do, make it quick. You have five minutes before we are under way... do not let the need for haste compromise our mission or I assure you that there is an airlock in your near future."
"Stand by!" Aetan answered sharply. Confident that he had finished the job. He broke contact with Jezra and pulled his mind back to the Vindex. Before fully returning, however, he anchored to one of the centurions standing guard duty on the bridge. Only for a few brief seconds. He observed the activity of the crew as they monitored the Astrea's movements. He listened to their conversations, professional and clipped. He felt the weight of the disruptor pistol at his hip. Any good centurion would have it set to kill, no doubt.
Aetan opened his eyes. Blood dripped from his nostrils and stained his tunic. He wiped it with the back of his hand and studied it for a moment, then rose to his feet. His gait was unsteady. He staggered away from the Curiosity, which was now powering down. Looking to Joreel, and then Minatha, he flashed a grin. With the blood covering his lips and chin he looked like a feral animal.
Minatha observed quietly for a moment before clicking her tongue. "Preceptor, you seem to be having some trouble." She stepped to the comm panel by the door and activated it. [Medic to the Curiosity Chamber.]
Aetan responded with a sly, half-suppressed chuckle. "To borrow an old line from the Humans, 'You should see the other guy.'" He found a chair and sat in it, taking a moment to recover himself. Meanwhile, the summoned medic came rushing into the compartment with a first aid satchel in hand. Aetan accepted a sterile cloth to wipe his face then shooed him away. "I'm fine. Go."
Minatha nodded, the movement wasting no effort or energy. "I want the curiosity dismantled and taken onto a shuttle. Since you know the thing best I want you to accompany it. There is a ship in orbit preprogrammed into the Shuttle's Helm. Get there and they will take you back to Romulus while we deal with Astrea."
continued in Red Alert Part II…
Doctor Aetan
Tal Shiar Officer
PWB Vindex
Tal Shiar
(NPC of Sakkar)
Sub-Commander Minatha ir'Ra'tleihfi i'Liorae-sihaer
Commander Officer
PWB Vindex
Tal Shiar
(NPC of Alexandra Blackstone)
Major Toval
Executive Officer
PWB Vindex
Tal Shiar
(NPC of JB Dorsainvil)
Sub-Lieutenant Joreel tr'Rehni
Tal Shiar Officer
PWB Vindex
Tal Shiar
(NPC of Jezra Siv)
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