Demands of Honor by Kevin Ryan Page A

honorable path to
Sto-Vo-Kor.
When that portion of the tale was told, he watched Koloth carefully for a reaction and found nothing but calm interest on his captain’s face. Deciding that he had come this far, he told the rest of the tale and described the empire’s involvement in the dilithium mine on System 7348, and its later effort to destroy the mine and the planet. Finally, he described the contents of the message he had received earlier informing him that the same member of the High Council was responsible for both the infiltrator program and the near destruction of an entire world full of people of their own blood.
    When the tale was told, Koloth simply nodded. “What do you intend to do about all of this?”
    â€œI intend to kill the bloodless coward responsible for my brother’s death.”
    â€œEven if he is a member of the High Council?”
    â€œI will follow my path to vengeance wherever it leads. My brother’s spirit demands it.”
    Koloth gave Karel a grim smile. “I see that you haveambitions beyond even command of your own ship.”
    â€œBoth the honor and future of the empire require action.”
    â€œTrue. We have all seen deceit and dishonor at work in Kahless’s empire. There is much work to be done to set it right. I will do what I can to help you in your personal battle, but your allegiance to this ship must remain strong. We will be at System 7348 shortly, and I suspect that Duras is leading us into a slime devil’s nest. I will need your full attention on this mission.”
    â€œI will do my duty to you and this ship, Captain.”
    Koloth nodded. “Then, we will see about saving the empire.”

Chapter Eight
    U.S.S. ENTERPRISE
    FEDERATION-KLINGON BORDER
    F ULLER HAD DONE THIS many times before. No, not just
many.
He had done this exactly twenty-nine times before, and he had sworn he would never do it again.
    Michael Fuller entered the security office to meet his new squad. The team he had been training with was all there, with the addition of Ensign Jawer, a young man who had served on Sam’s last squad. Acknowledging them with a nod, he said, “You are all here, so I assume that you all received the message from Commander Giotto.” They nodded. “We all know about Lieutenant Parrish’s pregnancy—and we had all hoped that she would be with us a bit longer—but a mission has come up. Our team got the call and it will be too dangerous for the lieutenant in her current condition.” Gesturing toJawer, he said, “Before I tell you what I know about this mission, I would like to welcome Ensign Jawer to the squad. He has served this ship with distinction, earning him a number of decorations and citations for both bravery and creative thinking.” Turning to Jawer, Fuller said, “We’re lucky to have you, Ensign.”
    Jawer immediately blushed at the attention.
Damn but they are young,
Fuller thought.
    â€œNow, you all know me from training, and you may know something about my career in Starfleet before I reenlisted. I was a section chief for more than twenty years. I’m telling you that now because I know there can sometimes be resentment in a squad when one member is promoted quickly and assumes command of the team. If any of you have concerns, let’s get them out in the open.” Fuller paused, waiting for a response from the people in front of him.
    â€œSir,” Ensign Parmet said. “We all know who you are, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we are lucky to have you as our commanding officer.” There were nods from most of the others, especially from Jawer.
    One face, however, remained skeptical, and Ensign McCalmon stepped forward. “Yes, we all know who you are. No one has any doubts about your experience or your leadership skills—the fact is that you were in Starfleet longer than any of us has been alive. However,
I
am concerned about your