Tag: sto parallelmiv

Freighter Vana Captain’s log
Day 371
M. Koril

Tovan has re-connected with a few friends, and I have made myself useful assisting with colony building and research. It has felt really…good…to help for a change. Also, it has allowed me to keep my “ear to the dirt” for any more information about the Tal Shiar or my missing contact. So far, my efforts have yielded little more than some data about glowing rocks and floppy water creatures. I will be assisting with the Klingon scouts tomorrow. I don’t expect to get any more out of them than I have from the Romulans, but it should prove to be an…interesting…experience, if nothing else.

Freighter Vana Captain’s log
Day 365
M. Koril

I shuttled down to the meeting point on New Romulus, right on time. My contact was late, but I didn’t think anything of it at first. Very few people are ever punctual. But he never showed. I waited for hours in a warehouse of supplies for the new colony, feeling a bit strange and suspicious down there. Thankfully, my reputation as a cargo hauler has superseded any other reputation and no incident occurred. But the disappointment…

My mind entangles itself with the possibilities of what could have happened to my contact, and why. This secret is holding fast to itself, and swallowing its keepers whole.

Freighter Vana Captain’s Log
Day 364
M. Koril

I never thought I’d be here, again. The Romulan Flotilla. Tovan does not suspect anything, and thinks that we are here to deliver supplies to the new Romulan homeworld. I find it increasingly difficult to lie to him. He has stood by me through so much. It seems really unfair to keep him in the dark like this, but I also know that he has been so much more at peace with himself lately. He has seemed almost happy for the first time since the Jevonite. I don’t want to upset that balance and drag him back into the mess, not until I know that it’s worth it.

A captain does not always have to explain herself, not even to her first officer. Not even to her best friend?

I have contacted the Romulan officer who claims to have detailed information about the Tal Shiar’s attack on the Jevonite. He claims that he will give them to me in exchange for my firsthand account. We have set up a meeting for tomorrow.

My hands are shaking, but I don’t think it’s sunk in yet that I could soon know exactly what happened that night.

Freighter Vana Captain’s Log
M. Koril
Day 357

I have met with every Romulan contact along our route, spacing out my conversations as far as I can for discretion’s sake. Most of the Romulans have denied all knowledge of anything useful to me. One suggested that I return to Romulan space, that there was an officer at the Flotilla who held files which may be pertinent. Her only other suggestion was a Ferengi trader who worked with the New Romulan government, who might have contacts who had heard something. I am loathe to work with any Ferengi, but both are leads that I would be willing to follow.

Now I only have to convince Tovan to return to New Romulus…

Freighter Vana Captain’s Log
Day 312
M. Koril

Something continues to bother me. I haven’t slept. I can’t leave it alone. Tovan is trying his hardest to move on, and I am trying my hardest to respect that, but I can’t leave so many questions unanswered. I can’t find comfort in this mundane life the way he seems to. In the endless hours of dark space between bases, in the waiting times while cargo is loaded and unloaded, in my every waking, breathing moment…my mind is working. Wondering. Taunting me. Asking me if there was more I could do for my crew, for his sister, for everyone who we have lost. If I really have turned over every deckplate, or however that saying goes.

So maybe Tovan doesn’t have to know if I continue my inquiries. Chances are, none of them will lead to anything. Call it a hobby. I simply feel that I must do something. I need to go as far as I can, or this will eat me away. Then, I truly may lose myself.

Of course, if my hobby gets me killed and he becomes captain, at least this log may be a feeble attempt to explain my thought process.

I’ll start with the Romulans.

Freighter Vana Captain’s Log
Day 304
M. Koril

We were about to dock at Starbase 24 to deliver a load of cargo, when the cargo bay doors inexplicably failed. I was on my way to check the cargo at the time, thank the Elements for emergency force fields. Most of the cargo was retrieved via transporter, but we never found three of the barrels.
Starbase 24 was very grateful that we saved their shipment of stem bolts.
Tovan is still shaking, and will not stop asking me if I am all right. I am not going to tell him that this was the most fun I have had in months.
What am I doing out here?

Freighter Vana Captain’s Log
Day 299
M. Koril

Another day. Another starbase. Another Dabo wheel. More strangers, more cargo crates, more of the same space grime and sticky bars and the smell of filth and corroded metal. It’s all starting to blend together, and Tovan and I have really started to get into a rhythm. We never keep the same crew for very long, and that’s fine with me. Who wants to make connections in a life where everyone leaves?

I, too, have become convinced that the Tal Shiar no longer hunt us. Even our status as notorious “legends” has faded, and we are starting to blend into the background. It’s not unpleasant to have the spotlight off us for a while, and simply go about our business. However, I grow increasingly restless in the Vana’s command chair. I can’t quite determine what it is I’m missing.

Freighter Vana Captain’s Log
Day 271
M. Koril

    We got escorted by a Starfleet vessel today after we lost warp capability just inside an area where they were apparently conducting some sort of war games with the Klingons. One of their fancy Prometheus-class escort vessels flanked us until we were able to make repairs. It’s hardly our fault that they did not deploy warning buoys along the outer border of their test area.

    I must admit, I was impressed with what I saw of the Starfleet ship. In another life, I could see myself at the helm of one of those, rather than this clunky freighter. Still, Starfleet life is far too regimented for me.

    No further news about the mysterious Romulan agent. Tovan has doubts that the Ferengi were even telling the truth. Perhaps it was merely an attempt to scare us.

Freighter Vana Captain’s Log
Day 259
M. Koril

   Ferengi. Not my favorite people in the universe, but they can prove useful from time to time. I encountered two of them today while we made a supply stop. They approached me, claiming to have information that I would find “valuable”. I believe they were hoping to sell it to me (cash up front). We came to a…different arrangement. They had allegedly heard that a Romulan agent was searching for Tovan and I, and asking around about any survivors of the Jevonite.

   I…thanked them…for their time. When I told Tovan the news, he was just as skeptical and cautious as I was. Could the Tal Shiar still be looking for us?

Freighter Vana Captain’s Log
Day 257
M. Koril

    We have begun our freight hauling runs. Tovan and I compromised, hauling cargo between starbases near Romulan space, and docking at Deep Space Nine. It is a very long run in a slow ship, but so far, profitable. We have begun to hear whispers of things along the route. Some of the regular merchants and fellow travelers have begun to recognize me, sometimes by reputation alone. Word is spreading of our escape from the Tal Shiar. Legend, even. I have heard things about myself that do not resemble truth.

    It is a far different experience than being hunted. More than once, I have been requested for a specific task, only to turn it down. I am no longer in that business. However, I cannot deny the allure that it still holds. I watch the fast ships leaving for the edges of known space and I wonder what awaits them.

    Tovan grows more content to this life, but I know that he is still upset. He will not talk to me about anything but business anymore. I don’t know what to talk to him about, either. Something feels unfinished.