Sometimes it doesn't pay to read the news

[Akios]

<<Backposting--some time during shoreleave at Starbase 259, a few days ago>>

Off and on, when he had free time, Turuas'ta would look up the latest news on the Federation News Service and other sources. Sometimes he'd even look up the news from Aurelia and his home colony, Walok.

After the scandal about ten years ago that had led to his grandmother's retirement, he had done everything possible to distance himself from the world of politics and diplomacy. However, political science classes at the Academy had made him realized that he still enjoyed following current events, as long as they were sufficiently distant. He had taken some pains to make sure that his grades in diplomacy and intercultural relations were only average, to ensure that anyone looking at his Academy scores to determine his future assignments wouldn't be inclined to suggest anything other than Engineering.

So one morning he was reading through the news when he came to a headline that stopped him dead.

"Captain Jaol Tesk of USS Andromeda Missing in Action"

Turuas'ta's first ship assignment had been the Andromeda. He'd served as Assistant Chief Engineer for several months, even though he was fresh out of the Academy. The assignment had been grueling, leaving Akios with no time for social engagements, but he'd had the opportunity to get to know Capt. Tesk from their work together.

Tesk was a skorr, an avian species very similar to aurelians, though they'd evolved in a heavier gravity environment similar to Earth. He'd heard that the skorr believed that they and aurelians shared a common ancestry, a belief that was neither confirmed nor denied by comparing their genetic makeup.

Tesk was a good man. There had been times when Akios had thought he'd made too much of an effort to adopt human mannerisms and customs, but that adaptability may have been one of the things that had made him a good captain.

Akios crosschecked the story against Starfleet records, and was surprised to find that Tesk was missing, but also the Andromeda was still on the same mission where he'd disappeared. What was going on? It wasn't like FNS to report MIAs during ongoing missions.

He accessed the communications system. "Computer, I would like to contact Tok'kata Akiot, a reporter with the Federation News Service."

+"Working."+

While the computer established the connection, Akios thought about his elder brother. Tok'kata had been the first to leave home because of their grandmother Gergera'ta. As the first child of his parents, he'd been expected to follow in the family business, namely politics. His mother's political career had been un-noteworthy, especially compared with Grandmother's, so Gergera'ta had taken a personal interest in his upbringing. It was hard to say whether that had hastened his departure, or whether she had actually managed to hold his interest longer than would have otherwise been the case.

Regardless, he'd suddenly announced that he was forsaking politics for journalism, and had secured a position with the Federation News Service. That had not pleased Grandmother, but she'd been philosophical about it; after all, she had five other grandchildren of Uloulo (Tururas'ta and Tok'kata's mother).

Then the Dominion War had started, Tok'kata had become an embedded correspondent, gained some notoriety, won a few awards, and in the end had been the reporter to break the story about the scandal their grandmother had caused. Tururas'ta knew that it still rankled his brother that that story, perhaps the biggest of his career, had been suppressed because of concerns as to how it would affect Federation morale. Those had been dark times.

+"Subject Tok'kata Akiot located."+ the computer announced located.

"Open channel."

The face of Turuas'ta's elder brother filled the console screen. Turuas'ta noted that his brother was still wearing human-style clothing and still stuck to dull earth tones, in compensation for his brilliant red plumage. Tok'kata and Turuas'ta didn't look like brothers to humans. Tok'kata had a different father than Turuas'ta, a fact which didn't matter nearly as much in Aurelian society as it did in much the rest of the Federation, and chance genetics had given his elder brother bright red plumage rather than the mixed blue and green common to the family.

"Turuas'ta, it's been a long time," Tok'kata said. "I see you're on another ship now. What is this, the third?"

"Kl'klklkt!" Turuas'ta rasped at his brother. "Nice of you to notice. It's not like I've been requesting transfers. You haven't changed since the last time I saw you."

"You're showing some white," Tok'kata said, referring to the white stress bars in Akios's plumage. "Which ship did that to you?"

"In the end you could probably blame that girl whose father was in the Personnel Office," Turuas'ta said. "Kiol, I need to ask you about something I read in the news."

"One of my stories?"

"No, at least I hope not. I read a blurb that said a captain had gone missing, Jaol Tesk. Of the Andromeda."

Tok'kata nodded, folding his hands and resting his chin on his knuckles. "Home office wasn't too happy about that, reporting on a missing captain during an active mission. Don't expect to see anything more on that story for a while, or from that reporter."

"That's about what I figured," Turuas'ta said. "That's why I'm calling you. Andromeda was my first ship, and Tesk was my first commander. I'd like to know if there's anything more that you guys have that wasn't put out on subspace."

"You know that if there was, I wouldn't be able to tell you here," Tok'kata said. By 'here' he meant on an open channel. "Were you close?"

"Not especially close, no, but I have a lot of respect for the man. If you could look into it, I'd appreciate it. Sometimes I've thought I should have fought that transfer, stood my ground, but the time I was just too overwhelmed to do anything but go along with it."

Tok'kata nodded again. "I'll see if I can find out anything. How do you like your new ship?"

"It's a Promethius class. Whole new ball game. Got a much smaller crew than the Galaxy class, so I'm looking forward to getting closer to my crewmates."

"That's always good. If you haven't already, you'd better start watching the news for Tholian items. Their ambassador had an altercation today that you'll be hearing about. It could cause some border tension."

"Thanks for letting me know. Have you mentioned this to Lut?"

"I sent her a message half an hour ago. You should be hearing from her shortly."

"Thanks for staying on top of that. Last thing Walok needs is antagonistic Tholian border patrols."

"I'll message you if I hear anything. Akiot out."

When the channel closed, Akios set up a search program to deliver any news about the Tholians to his message queue. With the Gorns and the Tholians only sectors away, the Walok colony where his family lived always had to be conscious of any problems with their neighbors.