PROLOGUE
Lt. Kevin Alber’s hands were shaking as he tried to boost the gain on the
subspace communication. He had anticipated the signal being jammed and so he had
hidden a number of relays through out the the nebula just in case the “worse case
scenario” happened. “Worst Case” was happening even as he tried to get Admiral Eric
Pressman on the line. Just getting the Admiral on the line was problematic enough.
Because Alber’s assignment was top secret, even if the Admiral was in his office taking
calls, he might not be able to respond. Fortunately the Admiral was available, but he
sounded distant, his voice hollow. Admiral Eric Pressman’s face was distorted, not from
static, but from the waxing and waning of the digital signal which caused blocks of pixels
to freeze or fade out completely before new information swept in to refresh it. The
Klingon’s must have been jamming a wider area than usual, perhaps anticipating that
Alber would have hidden relays in order to circumvent their jamming a signal. Which
also meant that they knew that he knew that they were onto him.
“They’re moving everyone out now,” Lt. Kevin Alber said. “I’m not sure where
they’re taking us, but we’re going to lose this project.” Alber was afraid of more than
just loosing the project. He was certain he and the other black-ops’ engineers were likely
to lose their lives so that the Klingons could maintain the secret and the technology to
themselves. And since the present Engineers and Admiral Pressman were the only ones
in Fleet that knew about this particular project, it was unlikely anyone would be missed
and Pressman would be unable to complain, even to the Klingon’s who he had made the
deal with. Alber had known the risks when he had signed on for the joint venture and had
figured some of the counter measures he had taken would detour the “worse case
scenario.” He was wrong.
The project was a simple one. Under the command of Admiral Pressman and his
counter part in the Klingon Empire, an Admiral Sheaar, the two would design a new class
of starship. It would be the first Klingon Federation hybrid ship, at least, that Alber was
aware of, combining some of the best technology the Federation and the Klingon Empire
had available. It was Pressman’s idea to legally circumvent the restrictions placed on the
Federation by the Romulan Federation treaty, a treaty that prevented the Federation from
developing their own cloaking devices. Since the Klingon’s already had cloaking devices
and they were not a member of the Federation when the Treaty between the Federation
and the Romulans had gone into affect, there was no restriction on the Klingon’s use and
development of cloaking technology. The Romulans had no doubt believed the Klingon
Empire’s days were numbered, and, consequently, were not impressed with Klingon
research and development or there would have been greater emphasis on the restriction of
Klingon technology. Considering the peace between the two empires was tenuous at
best, it was also likely the Romulans had simply chosen to risk the Klingon’s improving
their technology. The Romulans had stolen technology from the Klingons in the past, so
they could do so again if need be.
Truth be known, the Klingon’s research and development had slowed to a
veritable crawl, and judging by the ships and the uniforms on the Klingons that crewed
them, the Klingons were nothing more than a rag tag fleet, a mere shadow of the
formidable enemy they once were during the Klingon Romulan War. Admiral Pressman
believed this to be true, at least, and apparently, so did Admiral Sheaar, or the two
wouldn’t have made the agreements they had made, all clandestine in nature. Alber knew
