Dreadnought Admiral Kang, Flagship, Northern Fleet
Admiral's Office, 7 September, Y177

      "And finally, I need the answer to the greatest mystery," Wallek said. "Why did the ESS let this happen? While their primary duty is to prevent treason, are they not also charged to report inefficiency? If Axe Wielder's gunnery was the worst in the Northern Fleet, and the captain did not fix this with extra training, why didn't the ESS point this out and demand his relief?"
      "That is something of a ... complex issue," the Flag Lieutenant began. "The ESS detachment on board is also from Klegarine, and apparently has the same 'gentleman sailor' approach to things. The ESS commander on the frigate squadron leader pointed out this failure, as did other ESS commanders."
      "And it was not corrected?" Wallek asked. "This makes no sense. Has the ESS been corrupted?"
      "No," the Operations Commander responded, "but they were prevented from doing their duty. The performance of the ship was above minimum standards, but the ship simply took no shame in being the worst. Every decision of the captain was within the bounds of his discretion, but every one of them was the low-risk approach."
      "There was nothing that ... forced me to relieve the captain," the Admiral said, "but in any other case I would have, as it was within my discretion to do so. But there was pressure from the Imperial Palace, and no doubt from the Klegarine government and the government of other planets paying for extra ships, to leave the ship alone. It was against my better judgement, but I kept the ship in secondary sectors expecting that, in a few months, new ships would be under construction and the political pressure to leave Axe Wielder alone would have been removed. But war is war, and the Kzintis attacked one of our mining colonies, and Axe Wielder was close enough to be called into the battle. After refusing one dangerous mission, the ship was caught in a crossfire and crippled."
      "Is the ESS replacing their detachment?" Wallek asked.
      "They cannot, for political reasons," the Personnel Officer said. "But they have taken the second best solution."
      "Which is," Wallek asked.
      "The detachment's junior officer and two mid-grade technicians were casualties," the Personnel Officer said. "The ESS has replaced them with new personnel, not from Klegarine. The new officer is senior to the detachment commander, and the two technicians have been replaced by master petty officers who are senior to any of the enlisted technicians. Indeed, one of the senior petty officers is from Walkuria. They will report on board the day that you do. They have their work to do, but it will get done."
      "Does the crew know I am coming?"
      "No," the Admiral said, "they do not."
      "Good," Wallek said. "I don't need them preparing an ambush."
      No one considered that he might be joking, and indeed, he was not.


Axe Wielder, conference room,
Battle Station Z9 Repair dock, 29 Sept Y177

Axe Wielder, Lower Storage Compartment
Six days later

      "Are we safe here?" Kaustin asked.
      "For a few minutes," ESS Lieutenant Kaltrop said. "I have two of my trusted sergeants monitoring this section. They won't see anyting."
      "Can we do anything about this insane plan to take the ship into combat?" Kaustin asked.
      "Negative," Krealander said. "Their orders are valid. And you may as well delete any requests for transfer. They won't be any transfers off of this ship, other than to a penal ship, a hospital, or a mining colony."
      "Those orders must be based on invalid reports," the Weapons Officer said. "Our combat record is exemplary."
      "You need to catch up to reality," Krealander said. "Our combat record is not exemplary. The fact that simulated gunnery has improved every day since Wallek arrived shows that our gunnery was never up to standards. We never made a kill. We never followed up reports that could have given us a kill."
      "There is more to being a warrior than killing," Kaustin said.
      "That way of thinking is why you failed," Krealander said.
      "Can we do something about all of the hitting?" the Weapons Officer asked, trying to change the subject. Everyone was starting to expect that Krealander would be the new XO as soon as Wallek decided to send Kaustin away, and more than a few thought that Krealander had changed sides to join the Walkurians. "I've been knocked to the deck several times per day. Is that some kind of humiliation ritual?"
      "No," Krealander said. "It's just the way that warrior-class Klingons greet each other. The Wakurians are more enthusiastic about it than most."
      "Kross got rid of that nonsense when this ship was commissioned," Kaustin said. "We'd be better to have stayed rid of it."
      "The state of training is improving," Krealander said.
      "Not really," the weapons officer said. "These Walkurians are too stupid to run a starship. Our crew is doing all the work!"
      "And there is more work than there should have been," the engineer noted, "because we were sent back on patrol without full repairs. It has been impossible to get any further backup systems on line due to the constant training."
      "No matter," Kaustin said. "Stay alert, stay alive. Sooner or later, the Klegarine government will find out what has happened and will deal with this."
      "In the alternative," Krealander said, "we could train hard and become better warriors on a better ship."
      "You have made your position clear," Kaustin said.

Bridge, Police E4I Bold Raven, 16 October Y177

      "Found it!" the sensor operator reported.
      "Captain to the bridge!" the XO said into the intercom. "Where is it?"
      "Bearing 42 right, range two hundred thousand," the sensor operator said. "It's cold, should be after all this time, but that is the Free Trader XT33. She was assigned to supply runs between outposts and colonies in this mandate. She was reported missing five months ago about a parsec from here."
      "Any life signs," Korack asked as he entered the bridge.
      "No signs of life," the sensor operator said.
      "Orders?" the XO asked.
      "Standard protocol," Korack replied. "Beam aboard samples of the floating debris, and send over a boarding team with a crime scene kit. If there is DNA from whoever looted that ship, I want it. Two teams, in fact, with full scanners. One in suits to search the outside, one in battle dress to search the inside." Thinking more about it, Korack made a decision.
      "XO, you have the ship. I will board with the inside team after they report it clear. Ask the ESS to send someone with me, a senior sergeant or an officer."
      "In and out?" the XO asked. "We have a patrol route to get back to. Not that I object to command."
      "Enjoy the command," Korack answered with a grin. "We have all day, and I need evidence. I need weapons traces, fingerprints, bodies for autopsy, a copy of their log, whatever we can find. If they knew what was happening, somebody recorded something, and hid it hoping that the pirates couldn't find it. If they didn't, I will. While I'm over there, take the ship and circle the area, full on search, active scanners.
      "You can send the report to the Police Commandant at Battle Station Z9. Emphasize that we have found nothing, but are conducting an exhaustive search as a training exercise for the new personnel on board."
      "We don't have any new personnel," the XO said. "The whole crew is the same hand-picked team you have kept together for six months."
      "I know that," Korack laughed. "I don't want the Fleet coming around to see what we're up to, or to interfere. And get a harbor tug out here. I want that hulk taken somewhere that the lab techs can spend a week scanning down to the sub-micron level."
      "You want this pirate, don't you?" the XO asked.
      "I want justice for the crew of that freighter," Korack said. "I don't care who killed them. Pirate, Klingon, Kzinti, someone else. They will be identified, and they will pay for their crime. Order must be restored."
      "The boarding team says they are ready for you," the communications officer reported."
      "Tell them I am on my way."

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