Star Trek: The Fall: The Poisoned Chalice by James Swallow Page A

first time, Deanna wished that Titan could have stayed out in deep space to meet the kind of challenges she felt better equipped to deal with.
    Will pushed his food around the plate, lost in thought. “Tell me what you’re thinking,” she said. “Let’s not both sit here and pretend like this is another ordinary day.”
    You always know what I’m thinking, Imzadi . She heard the words in her mind, sensing the shades of his mood clinging to them, smoky and dark. He forced a smile, but he knew she wasn’t going to be deflected.
    Finally, her husband put down his fork and frowned. “What the hell just happened?” he asked, frustration simmering in his tone. “A week ago we’re in deep space cataloging supernova remnants and looking for new species of cosmozoans. Now we’re here, eating pasta while the Federation reels like it’s been gut punched.” He flicked at his collar, where rank pins would have sat; while they were both dressed in civilian clothes tonight, she knew what he meant. “I never asked for this. Hell, I’m still trying to get a grip on what it is I’m actually supposed to be doing here.” Will paused, moderating his tone. “Deanna, someone is making me play catch-up, and I don’t like it.”
    â€œYou want to help,” she said, nodding. “We all do. But this promotion . . . you’re afraid it’s the opposite of that.”
    â€œWhy would Akaar sideline me and haul Titan back in? It doesn’t make any sense, not with everything that’s going on. . . . Bacco, the Andorians, and these arrests . . .”
    â€œHave you talked to him since the ceremony?”
    Her husband shook his head. “All of a sudden he’s like a ghost. His staff take my messages, but he doesn’t return them. And meanwhile I’m chained to a damn desk.”
    Deanna put a hand on Will’s arm. “You know Admiral Akaar. You know he doesn’t do anything without a good reason. You may just have to be patient.”
    â€œI’ve never been good with that,” he admitted. “Ijust don’t want to get caught in the undertow here. I’m not a political animal; I never have been.”
    â€œMaybe that’s the reason why Akaar pulled you in.” She smiled again. “It’s all right for you to have doubts, Will. Change does that to you. Some times we don’t get to choose when and where it happens.”
    â€œThank you, Counselor Troi,” he replied, not unkindly. “But this time around it’s not just my immediate future that’s in the wind. There’s you and Tasha . . . Are we going to be Earthbound from now on? And what about Christine and Tuvok and the rest of our crew? Titan can’t be tied to a base, that’s not what she was built for. . . .” He met her gaze. “I’m wondering what the hell I have let myself in for.”
    She paused. “I think you’re where you need to be. I think we both are.”
    â€œHow so?”
    â€œHave you seen the news broadcasts since we made port? The network is full of tirades and counterarguments. Every pundit on the planet and off it has something to say. People are afraid, Will, and they’re angry. Bacco was respected by millions, even by those who were her political opponents, and now that she’s been taken from them, they have nowhere to direct their grief.”
    â€œThat’s not exactly true,” noted Will. “There’s more than enough blame to go around, deserved or not. And every day there seems to be a new nugget of information conveniently leaked to the media from some ‘credible source’ or other. . . .”
    â€œWhat troubles me,” Deanna began, “are the public reactions being fomented by the rhetoric coming from the Federation Council.” She noted that the kind of language being used by