MSNPC Administrator Soldu tr’Kharis - The Last Order
Teayl Thorn
A wailing cry drifted in through a newly opened door, followed by a cacophony of trills, coos, and other childlike vocalizations. A familiar Jem’Hadar form entered from the noisy room, and silence mercifully returned as the doors closed.
Rurat'dari: ::Quietly:: Hello.
The Orion gave a nod as Soldu’s eye tracked the scientist.
Aduko: Rurat'dari. Good to see you. ::To tr'Kharis.:: As I was saying, a few of our staff...ah...experienced the negative effects of unstable time fields. Some were reduced to..infants.
tr'Kharis: …Infants? How many of them?
Rurat'dari: I don't know how many.
Aduko: Repair Team Nonagon was caught in a shear. There were twelve assigned to the work that day, though there were also newly-assigned Tholian guards.
The old Romulan’s fingers twitched once against the restraint field, the faint shimmer catching the movement. He wanted to cup his face in his hands and massage his temples, but he couldn’t.
Rurat'dari: I heard that they were our colleagues.
Aduko: I've seen at least one juvenile Tholian.
tr'Kharis: That…that wasn’t supposed to happen. ::glaring at the scientist in turn:: Was this a projected side effect?
Rurat'dari: It was either chronitons or tachyons that did it. Maybe the radiation had other effects than what we supposed.
Soldu’s gaze shifted to her and he sighed, seeing the silver lightning.
tr'Kharis: Well at least someone is getting a new lease on life. Good for them…I suppose. The Children of…what does Starfleet call it? Ross 580? ::Looking to Joakim:: Any idea how did this happened?
Aduko: Likely the way we were... ::He lowered his voice again.:: ...using the chronitons. To keep the, ah, gateway stable.
Soldu didn’t react, only a faint tightening at the corner of his mouth betrayed that Joakim was speaking on a highly classified subject. He trusted his second to keep the secrets of the project, and to some degree he trusted Rurat’dari, but there were ears everywhere here and he didn’t know who was listening. If the Starfleet officers hadn’t already discovered the gateway they had built…discovered the connection to an alternate universe, then he wouldn’t tell them.
Rurat'dari: I didn't know that it had that effect. Our information would have inevitably been backdated and lost if the radiation got into it.
Soldu swallowed the smirk at that. He had a backup of much of the project data, not immediately accessible, but that was for the best right now.
Aduko: Possible, yes. But you know...before the reactor's anomalous behavior, I'd wanted to test something. ::A touch of pride came to his voice as he whispered.:: In the simulations, once the aligned star had given everything and extinguished...well, are you familiar with the ancient Earth myth of Sisyphus?
tr'Kharis: ::brow creasing:: Do I look like I know ancient Earth myths, Joakim?
Rurat'dari: Response
Aduko: ::Suddenly feeling as if he'd said enough.:: It was just a story I learned from a visiting human contractor, one of our hired minds. Another time, perhaps...just know that the energy supply would be limitless, clean...none of the brutal instability that the Alliance forced on our work.
Soldu closed his eye for a fraction of a second.
tr'Kharis: It could have been an elegant solution…to the hardships of the Romulan Free State and others. ::Opening his eye to look assessingly at Rurat’dari:: What of you? Have they treated you for radiation damage?
Rurat'dari: Response
Aduko: After this? :: He laughed, though the smile didn't quite make it his eyes.:: I expect to be questioned by the Federation for the rest of my peak working years. Perhaps I'll open up a sad little bar on one of the Rigel colonies in twenty years.
A faint hint of amusement ghosted across Soldu’s features. Something closer to color had returned to his lips with Starfleet’s medical intervention.
tr'Kharis: ::dry:: You? Dispensing beverages… and sharing old Earth anecdotes… to transient clientele? I would visit, just to see this, my friend. But I suspect… your talents would be… repurposed… long before that outcome is realized. Same for you ‘dari. ::tone growing sharper:: Now listen. I am…was the Project Administrator. I was in charge of the base personnel. I will take any blame or fault for things the Federation wants to bring against us. If this is the last order I ever give you… you are to lay all responsibility on my shoulders. Is that understood?
Rurat'dari: Response
Aduko: Response
tr'Kharis: The Lattice is responsible for most of it. I will take responsibility for anything else. You two are to keep your names clear. ::A pause:: It is an order Joakim.
His gaze cut between them again.
Rurat'dari: Response
Aduko: Response
Soldu let his head settle back against the biobed, the restraint field humming faintly as he settled. For a moment, he said nothing.
tr'Kharis: ::almost to himself:: We opened a door. They were in turmoil in that universe, an event of cataclysmic proportions rippling through their reality. Think of the resources we could mine from a universe that unstable. Access to that power alone could advance the Romulan Free State by centuries.
He would bide his time and take his punishment. Whatever Starfleet did to him, as long as he and the others held the knowledge, the key to the secrets of the universe on the other side then he still had power. He was an old Romulan, he had seen the rise and fall of the Romulan Star Empire. The Romulan Free State was slowly clawing its way back to a power in the quadrant. He would do his time, play along and allow the Federation to “rehabilitate” him…and then he would try again. In another place, now free of the Lattice Alliance bungling, they could start The Project again.
Rurat'dari: Response
Aduko: Response
[Tags / TBC]
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Soldu tr’Kharis (he/him)
Station Administrator, The Lid Prisoner, Starfleet vessel
As simmed by
Writer for Lt. JG T'Fearne
Security Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
R240107T14