New Neighbors

Chapter 21

Amy made sure that Jake and Sotis did not cross paths over the next few days by keeping Sotis restricted to his quarters. TuLak on the other hand was not restricted and was moved to his own quarters. The request to move them to a PDF ship was postponed. Amy was dreading the meeting between TuLak, Sotis, Turrini, Ted, and Jake. But it had been three days since the capture of the sphere and it was time for them to bring everyone up to date. Amy started the meeting off with a polite warning to Sotis to keep his comments about her to himself. After telling everyone what had happened with the spheres and that one of them had been captured, the crew confined to the selected planet, and the discovery of the clones, she told them that all of the thirty clones had been transferred in stasis to her ship.

Sotis interrupted to say that they should be destroyed and to demand that he be given control of the PDF since he was the only surviving member of the council. Jake was about ready to hit Sotis again when Amy just shook her head and told him mentally to hold on for a minute.

"Councilman Sotis, I have reread the bylaws of your council. And if I understand them correctly, all members are elected. With the exception of the leader who has always, for the past 500 years, been named Tuvok. Is that correct." Amy asked.

"Yes, the Tuvok family has been in control of the council for 500 years. But they no longer have any living members that are fit to head the council. That is why I demand that you bow to my authority as the only surviving member of the council." Sotis replied.

"But you are not the only surviving member. Since my grandfather was a member of the council and my father is dead, I claim the seat." Turrini said.

Everyone, except Amy, stared at Turrini. Amy had cornered Turrini earlier and reminded him of his heritage and his rights under the bylaws. Turrini had agreed to keep this under wraps until now. Sotis was speechless and livid. He had thought he was the only member to survive, except for Admiral TuLak.

"Well councilman, now we have two council members. And to prevent any further problems Captain Turrini's DNA has been verified by your own computer as authentic. We have also found three more of the council, they are in the Med Bay undergoing treatment as we speak. But there is another matter that we need to discuss.

Sotis turned white at the announcement that three more of the former council had been found, not to mention Turrini. The rest of the ones present were surprised also. Amy then activated the monitor on the wall and the three council members in Med Bay were seen. When Sotis saw which three it was, he turned even whiter, if that was possible.

One of the three who was more senior than the rest, then said that in order to take the position of leader, the person had to be qualified and able to prove their heritage. He then said that DNA evidence showed that Amy was a descendant of the Tuvok family. But, a little known stipulation was that the head of the council had to be telepathic. That rule, or stipulation, had been in effect since the council was formed over two thousand years ago. Only then could Amy claim the position.

Amy admitted that she was telepathic and asked what was needed to prove it to the satisfaction of the council. Sotis regained his voice and said that there was no such thing as a telepath. With that Amy scanned him and started to relay the information she found there. At first the information was just trivial, his current thoughts about the surviving members of the council were not very nice. Then Amy noticed something that Sotis was trying very hard to hide.

"Councilman Sotis, where is Council Leader Tuvok? Your thoughts that we will never find him give you away. I have only been scanning you at a shallow level so as to not cause any harm. But if I have to, I will scan deeper. That could be very uncomfortable for you. I've been scanned deeply before and remember the experience very well, it wasn't pleasant in the least." Amy said.

"How would I know where that old fossil is? I haven't seen him since the attacks started!" Sotis replied. As he finished speaking, Sotis' eyes opened very wide and he grabbed his head as if in pain. Everyone was staring at him, especially the three council members in Med Bay.

"Admiral Ward, this is not our way and is a misuse of your abilities. I insist that you stop at once" the senior member said.

"I'm not doing anything to him, I was pushed out of his mind and not by him. AL, shield this room now!" Amy replied.

It was only a few seconds before Sotis was able to relax and show some relief, he just collapsed. Then Amy noticed that Jake, Kate, and Ted had collapsed also. She called for medical assistance. As the Med team arrived, Jake, Kate, and Ted started to wake up.

"What the hell was that? Amy did you try something?" Jake asked, and Kate and Ted were looking at her also.

"No, as I said I was pushed out of his mind. There seemed to be someone, or some thing, fighting me for control of his mind. I have had AL shield this room the same way the prisoners are shielded. AL is there any way to determine who or what was fighting me and where it is right now?" Amy replied.

"Open your mind, with the shielding in place whoever it was can't get in but you should be able to get out. See if you can detect him." AL replied.

Amy closed her eyes and let her mind seek out the source of the attack on Sotis, and her friends. She could sense what seemed like a faint trail and followed it. The trail appeared to lead towards the planet they had placed the reptilian prisoners on. She found the source, but it was very weak now. Amy opened her eyes and told everyone what she had found and then said that she was going to the location to see who or what it was. Jake and Ted objected very quickly to this idea. But Amy was determined and over ruled them. She had Ted order a squad of Marines to accompany her, plus Jake and Ted, to the planet.

Sotis was still unconscious and had been placed in a shielded bed in Med Bay, right beside the three council members. Amy, Jake, Ted, and the Marines had just boarded the shuttle when Turrini came in and said that he was coming along as a representative of the council, and a friend. The shuttle took off for the planet.

As soon as they got closer to the planet Amy started to scan for the location of the mental energy. She was using herself as a direction finder. Amy finally was able to narrow down the area so the shuttle landed in a rocky area at the base of some mountains. The Marines were the first ones off the shuttle, even though scanners showed nothing in the area. It took a bout an hour before they found a hidden cave that had the entrance collapsed. Amy told them that the source was very weak. Several of the Marines were tasked with digging out the entrance to the cave.

Once the opening was big enough and stable, they entered the cave. Two Marines first, followed by Jake and Ted then Amy then two more Marines. That left six Marines to stand guard outside the cave. It took a while but the lead Marines finally found an old man chained to the cave wall. He appeared to be in very bad shape. When Amy tried to scan him she found that he was just barely hanging on. The old man was taken loose and transported to the shuttle for the trip back to the ship. On arrival, the old man was taken directly to Med Bay under guard.

It took a couple of hours to stabilize the old man enough so that he could be questioned. As soon as he was awake, the old man asked where he was and what was happening. Doc just told him he was safe and that the Admiral would be there shortly. It was at that time that one of the council members noticed who the man was, it was Council Leader Tuvok. Amy, Admiral TuLak, Turrini, and the rest of the council members were summoned immediately.

Tuvok was very weak but he explained that he had been overpowered by a group of telepaths. When he had awaken he was in chains in a cave. He had been questioned for days on end and given only a few sips of water and a couple of bites of bread. He had kept passing out so he had no real clue as to how much time had passed. He had overheard once that his captors referred to a traitor on the council who had given them information so they could capture him. Their opinion of the traitor was not very high. He had finally gotten enough strength to scan one of them before being discovered, the traitor was Sotis. Tuvok went on to explain that suddenly one day his captors had left very quickly and collapsed the entrance to the cave. He lost track of time after that and drifted in and out. A few days ago he had tried with everything he had to reach someone, he had detected Sotis' mind and noticed that someone was already there. He had used all of his energy to push the person out and try to take control of Sotis, but had failed. The next thing he knew was when he woke up here. Tuvok passed out again.

This information really upset the council members and TuLak was very upset. His life long friend had been treated very poorly and the person behind this treatment was Sotis. But as angry as TuLak was he would not seek vengeance on an unconscious man. Sotis had never regained consciousness since the attack on him. The Doc had told them that Sotis' mind was gone, he might wake or not. The Doc also reported that Tuvok had burned himself out and if he survived he would never be the same again.

It was several hours later when Tuvok woke up again, he appeared slightly stronger than previously. One of the first things that he did was to try and use his mental traits but to no avail. When he stirred it woke TuLak, who had been at his bedside for the last few hours. TuLak was glad to see that his old friend was awake once again, they had a lot to catch up on whenever time allowed. TuLak had Amy and the rest of the council notified that Tuvok was awake again. After everyone was present, Tuvok told them that he was unable to use his telepathy and that he had to resign as council leader. Turrini suggested that Amy be made Leader for the time being since she was a descendant of the Tuvok family and had full use of her telepathy. TuLak agreed saying that during his dealings with Amy she had shown that she was a very level-headed person and had earned his respect and trust. The rest of the council accepted the suggestion. Amy told them that she would have to think about it, but only if Tuvok was agreeable and was willing to serve as her advisor when he got back on his feet. Tuvok said that he would do whatever he could to help; then asked about Sotis. Tuvok was told that the battle between Amy and himself had completely done Sotis in and that he wasn't expected to survive.

The next morning Amy agreed to take on the leadership of the council, she had talked this over with Jake and Kate the night before. Her first act was to "blacklist" Sotis and his family, at the suggestion of the rest of the council, for 100 years. Tuvok was again asked to serve as an advisor to Amy, so she didn't make too many mistakes, he agreed. Amy suggested that Ted be promoted to "Acting Admiral" for the duration of this conflict to take her place as commanding officer for the fleet. The council agreed and Ted was notified of his promotion. TuLak suggested that the council announce that they were back in session so as to reduce the fear now present in the system and that they contact the rest of the member systems with the updated news.

The announcements were made and this time Amy made sure that all of the PDF ships were notified and that the restrictions on Sol and Alpha systems were included. She was tired of the problems that had happened in the past due to poor communications. Ted had sent for one of the new space platforms and it would be in system in about two days to assist with repairs to ships and the planet-side rebuilding. Amy also asked that each member system send one representative to the council, for now she would represent Sol and Alpha system. Ted sent messages to all PDF ships to start rotating back for refit and upgrades. Several ships replied that they didn't recognize Ted's authority, this was handled by TuLak with very little tact in that he told them that if Ted said to jump the next thing out of their mouths had better be "how high?". 

Over the next few days, while the remaining council members took care of reorganizing the system, Amy spent much time with Tuvok. They got acquainted, and with AL's help, Tuvok and Amy learned about their common relative, Captain Tuvok. Tuvok gave Amy several suggestions about how to deal with the council and the quirks each member had that could be troublesome. Of course Sol and Alpha systems were kept up to date on all developments via the new communication method. Everyone was surprised when not one but two space platforms arrived along with Carol. Jake had not been idle, he had done a very through survey of the system and found that with very little work they could start producing the silicon based fuel here in this system. He had also found and taken control of four beacons that the Iberians had placed in the system.

There were a few attempts by the Iberians to re-enter the system but none were successful. As more of the member systems sent representatives the council grew and became more useful to all the systems. Communications were improved, ships were upgraded, and the preparations for the attack on the Empire were started. Once again there would be 100 plus ships going, but the attack would not take place for about a month. With TuLak giving much input, along with Tuvok who was getting stronger, it was decided that they would use an Iberian tactic, they would place beacons in the systems so that their own ships could jump directly into the systems close to their targets.