Section 31_ Rogue - Andy Mangels [122]
Hawk saw the shape silhouetted in the bedroom doorway and recognized it as his partner. He heard a tentative voice, whispering, “Sean?”
“I’m awake, Ranul,” he said, shifting backward to a seated position against the bed’s pillows. “I’ve just been taking some quiet time.”
The Trill sat down on the edge of the bed, tentatively. He had given Hawk his space during the last several days since their quarrel. Hawk knew it wasn’t fair to keep Ranul at a distance, physically or emotionally. He leaned forward and enfolded Ranul in his arms. “I’m sorry,” he whispered into his ear, feeling Keru’s beard tickling his cheek.
After a few minutes went by, Hawk leaned back again, but he took Ranul’s hand in his own.
“So, after saving the universe, defeating the Romulans, and escaping with all your limbs intact, what are you gonna do for an encore?” Ranul’s voice took a slightly higher tone, and Hawk knew that his lover was smiling at him in the dark.
Hawk snorted a laugh, and squeezed Ranul’s hand. It’s now or never, he thought. As jocularly as he could, he said, “I dunno. I was thinking about joining a rogue intelligence organization within Starfleet that goes around the rules to accomplish its goals.”
“What?” Even in the dim light, Hawk could sense the look of confusion on Ranul’s face.
Sighing heavily, Hawk leaned forward again, coming closer to his partner. “You know all that stuff I was talking to you about before? The classified stuff?”
“Yeah.”
“I need to make a decision about it.”
“What do you mean?” Keru asked.
“This needs to stay between us for now, Ranul.” Hawk saw Keru nod in the dark, and continued speaking. “I was approached by Ambassador Tabor to join a secret organization within Starfleet. They’re like Starfleet Intelligence, but more proactive. They respond to threats against the Federation by any means necessary, even if it means going around every law we have, even the Prime Directive. If I’m to believe what Tabor told me-and what Commander Zweller said later-this group is responsible for saving a lot of lives, and for keeping a sometimes too-fragile peace when less decisive authorities refuse to act.”
Ranul put his other hand on top of Hawk’s. “Why do they want you? Would you have to… leave the Enterprise?”
“I think they want me because of my eidetic memory, but it could be because of my piloting skills, or something else entirely. And don’t worry. Nobody has asked me to leave the Enterprise. I’m assuming that I would be their agent on this ship.”
“A spy, in other words.”
Hawk was uncomfortable, but he didn’t sense that Ranul was prejudging him. “No… maybe. I think they feel that they need someone on this ship who can work for them-who is working with them. You know as well as I do that the Enterprise gets itself caught in the middle of a lot of turmoil. And those sorts of situations are their specialty.”
“If this organization is so secret, and they want an ‘agent’ on board, how do we know there isn’t one here already?”
Hawk thought for a moment. That hadn’t occurred to him. “I guess we don’t,” he finally offered.
Keru opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again with a sigh. “You remember how I lost my family,” he said at last.
Hawk nodded. Keru’s father, stepmother, and teenage sister had been living in a settlement on Hakton VII, a planet in the Federation-Cardassian demilitarized zone. Then the Federation signed a treaty with Cardassia in 2370, effectively abandoning several Federation colonies to the Cardassian Union’s tender mercies. Many settlers had refused to relocate, not wanting to leave their homes and lands behind. A few months later, the Keru family was among those reported killed during an unprovoked raid on the settlement, following reports of anti-Cardassian factions stockpiling weapons there.
Ranul continued speaking, his voice taking on a slightly bitter edge. “I think that the Federation was wrong in giving its citizens a choice between giving up their homes and accepting