The Continuing Story of Deep Space 2: Page 63
Tevek pondered, closed his eyes and straightened his back.
After a deep sigh he reopened his eyes and through the windows he could see that the sun was shining, people were having fun in the grass outside the building, some of them even had a picknick. Birds sat on the window-shelf. How appropriate it seemed. Everything just felt like this was the moment his group was waiting for since years, ever since the start of the Dominion incursion. Finally the opportunity for his beloved section 31 to leave the dark, silent, corners where they used to hide and plan their operations, and from where many actions were taken. Actions were taken with or without the knowledge of Starfleet, but then, nobody didn't really care…It was all for the greater good, just as what is taking place right now. The only two people never wanting to join section 31, Admiral Van Rhee and Admiral Necheyev, will be sorry that they didn't. Time is running out on them and they will never know what hit them. Tevek stood up and gazed around, as if he would never see this office again, looked through the window again, grinned and walked to the door, which opened in a quiet and softly way. Oh what a difference…leaving his quiet office he entered a noisy and crowded hallway, where a myriad of people, of all sorts of races, walked between the many doors of the even more offices, which, by some mad architects idea, al gave to the hallway. Every hallway, and there must be half a dozen like them, on this floor only, came together in a huge greenhouse with numerous plants and flowers in the center and fountains around them. After a five minute strawl Tevek arrived at a bench near a fountain, only a few meters from the glass doors, leading to one of the exits. He sat down, leaned somewhat back, not too much - he is a Vulcan after all - and briefly touched a communications-crystal in his left coat-pocket.
He then took it to his mouth and said "Time is at hand".
Vice admiral Conan O'Conners' face first turned pale and then blushed. "Time is at hand"How did he longed to hear these four simple words and yet… How did he fear them… The end of an era… the end of the beginning… O'connor was just in a restroom to refresh himself between two meetings. The one more boring than the other… The one meeting was about how to best increase production of the shipyards in the best possible way and the other one how to best downsize the shipyards because the efforts were to high to keep them producing. Yes, this was Starfleet at his peak. The one side not knowing what the other is doing, corrupted by the bureaucracy, which only purpose was to keep itself in business, ineffective because of all the different people whom wanted to have a say in everything,… This all would change shortly…still they had to work hidden and quiet. Section 31 was not strong enough yet and too many things could still go wrong, worst off all - public opinion. He tapped his commbadge and a friendly female voice replied…"Sharon, could u fill in for me on the meeting at 14.00u ? I am not feeling well and I am headed for the infirmary. U can report to me later in the evening…shall we say … over dinner…9 o'clock ?" Oh yes, he had his way with women. "Sure honey, 9 o'clock will do…see u then…bye" She replied with a happy voice. O'Conner drank the bit of beer that was left in his pint and walked away from the counter. While leaving the cantina he passed two young cadets. He, himself barely in his fourties, guessed that they couldn't be older then about twenty and now he couldn't do anything but curse the rotten timing of Tevek. As if they new the girls smiled at him and went to the counter, where he was sitting a second ago.
The vice-admiral turned his head in the way he was walking and, a bit startled, he noticed that he almost walked his head into the wall to the right of the exit-doors.
Lt Cmdr Geert Van Nieuwenhove was making haste while getting to the DS2 bridge. While almost running, he passed through one corridor after another (the continuous refitting and restructuring of DS2 has made it quite a maze, and sometimes you really needed maps or computerguided help to reach a destination, and Geert was using a map right now, since he couldn't afford losing a minute) And also passed three of the refurbished androids, working on some bulkheads. Just as he sighed of relief while arriving at the turbolifts a small, oddly shaped crystal, in his trouserpocket began, very softly, almost unnoticeably, vibrating. And now Geert DID stop and tried to catch his breath. The doors from the turbolift slid open, but he didn't enter, on the contrary, he turned his back and the doors closed with a hiss that sounded like if they were irritated. But, off course, that wasn't possible. Geert started walking toward the nearest room where he could find a subspace-communicationsstation and it didn't take him more than five minutes to find one. He entered an empty room (one of the so many) which still needed a lot of finishing. Stepping over some loose cables he pushes a seat to its place at, what seems to be, a desk. While sitting down the Lt cmdr grabs the crystal, puts it in an even stranger looking, small rectangular box and places it next to the communicationsnode, where the computer is connected to.
"Computer, activate subspace communications array, section Delta part 3a" And the screen lit up. On the top of the station, where different research- and other arrays are placed, a small square shaped antenna lifted up and turned a few centimetres. Van Nieuwenhovens' eyes went open as wide as they could. On the computerscreen was only one sentence readable, yellow letters against a black background…"TIME IS AT HAND"
"GEERT, WHERE ARE YOU…" it sounded suddenly around him (internal communicationssystems lie everywhere in the room on the ground, ready to be installed) , and he, somewhat shocked and remembering that he had to get to the bridge as soon as possible, replied "On my way Joeri…be there in a sec"
"YOU BETTER BE…Joeri out".
Still pale in his face Geert left the room and, now in a calmly fashion, walked toward the turbolifts, from which one was still waiting, but then, who else would take the lifts.