Captain’s Log, Stardate 86020.13. The USS Stonewall has just moved into orbit around Vulcan. Prior to our arrival, I contacted Captain T’Laris, who suggested we meet at a Vulcan temple. It hasn’t escaped my notice that the coordinates she sent me were removed not just from the site of her conference, but from most of the more populous areas of the planet.
Nick materialized on the surface of Vulcan in a shimmer of blue transporter light. He had come alone, which thankfully hadn’t raised too many eyebrows. It was Vulcan after all. Nick looked around and saw that he was standing at the foot of a very large staircase that scaled the side of a large rocky hill and led up to a temple. To his other side was wide but rather simple fountain. There were very few people around and the only Vulcan wearing a Starfleet uniform was sitting on fountain’s edge. She stood as Nick approached, and he immediately recognized her from her dossier.
“Captain T’Laris. A pleasure,” he said, raising his hand in the standard Vulcan greeting by parting his fingers into two pairs. T’Laris returned the gesture with a stoic expression.
“I have been expecting you, Rear Admiral Ford. I received a message from our mutual colleague, Rear Admiral T’Rehes. I request that you follow me.”
Nick nodded, but was surprised when T’Laris began leading him away from the temple toward a rocky area in the distance. She didn’t say a word to him for a good fifteen minutes. Nick was about to ask where they were going when she finally resumed talking.
“T’Rehes was brief in her message, Rear Admiral, which I have deduced to mean that you wish to speak with me about the Borg. Is this correct?”
Nick looked at T’Laris in surprise, then nodded. “Yes, it is. Are you familiar with a recent General Order that allows the formation of secondary fleets?”
T’Laris looked over her shoulder at Nick for a moment, then turned her attention back to the hill they were climbing. They reached the top just as T’Laris responded.
“Yes, Rear Admiral, I am.” She turned back to Nick, not continuing her response.
“I intend to form such a fleet, with the express purpose of determining what threat the Borg still pose to the Federation. At the moment, it would be mostly concerned with fact-finding in light of Starfleet’s refusal to restart a Borg Task Force, but that might change depending on the facts we find.”
T’Laris nodded again, studying him. He noticed that she seem particularly focused on his Borg implant. She then cast her gaze back toward the temple and continued.
“Rear Admiral, did you know that Vulcan officially protested the disbanding of the original Starfleet task force that had been assigned to evaluate the Borg?”
Nick shook his head, somewhat surprised by the revelation. “No, I didn’t.”
“Vulcan’s own intelligence service, as well as that of a number of member worlds, disagreed with Starfleet’s assessment of the situation. They felt that Starfleet lacked sufficient evidence and that their logic was... flawed. However, like so many other aspects of galactic politics, that all changed two years later when the Hobus star went nova.”
“Why did that affect Vulcan’s assessment?”
“It was not their assessment that it affected so much as it was their desire to have it heard. The Hobus nova resulted in the destabilization of the entire Alpha and Beta quadrants. The Vulcan High Council became very concerned about the increasingly violent and unstable nature of the Romulan Star Empire in particular. While Vulcan still does not claim the Borg are not a threat the way the Federation does, it does claim that there are much more immediate and lethal threats to deal with.”
Nick looked at T’Laris, trying to piece out where she was going with this. Was this her opinion as well? If that was the case though, why had T’Rehes sent him to her?
“Is that what you believe, Captain?”
“Belief is an inappropriate word, Rear Admiral. However, I do understand your meaning. I disagree with Starfleet’s decision. However, that is not my main concern. I have actually already spent some time investigating the Borg and something... troubling... has caught might attention.”
“What do you mean?” Nick asked, his voice filling with concern. “Have you found something that indicates they’re coming?”
T’Laris shook her head. “No. It is not what I was able to find that troubled me. It was what I was not able to find.”
When Nick’s face took on a perplexed look, T’Laris continued. “A number of key reports that were authored by the original Borg task force have vanished, Rear Admiral. They have simply ceased to exist within any computer system that I have access to, including those on Vulcan, Earth, and Memory Alpha. It is... perplexing. While I have a number of theories, I have no evidence for any of them.”
At that moment, T’Laris’ communicator beeped. A voice came through reminding her that she was due back at the conference in five minutes. She turned back to Nick.
“I apologize, but I must return. Please, Rear Admiral, keep me informed. I am interested in this fleet of yours.”
Nick was dumbfounded by T’Laris’ sudden revelation and departure. “Wait, Captain, is that all the information you have?”
“Unfortunately. I currently lack any access to the more confidential of Starfleet’s records, so I cannot confirm if the records are missing or have simply been moved to more secure location within the system.” She suddenly stopped for a moment, then looked back at Nick with a raised eyebrow.
“Rear Admiral, you mentioned in your initial transmission that you were headed for the Klingon Front. I imagine Starfleet keeps a number of intelligence officers stationed there. Perhaps the one stationed on K-7 could provide you with sufficient access.”
“K-7? Who is on K-7?”
T’Laris raised an eyebrow. “Need I remind the Rear Admiral of the consequence of exposing the identity of a non-public Starfleet Intelligence officer?”
Nick nodded in understanding. “No Captain, you do not. Thank you for the help.”
T’Laris nodded and raised her hand in the Vulcan gesture. “Live long and prosper, Rear Admiral Ford.”
Nick returned the gesture, and the two soon went their respective ways in shimmers of transporter light.