Introduction: Tigelis IV

The plastisteel window took up a whole wall of the conference room. Outside, stars glittered with a brilliance and clarity impossible to achive on an inhabited planet. A world hung suspended in that starry background. It's brown, blues, greens and whites forming a canvas of seas, continents, and clouds. A world that from space looked much like any other world in a hundred hundred star systems scattered throughout the Empire.

But to the man standing in front of the window, looking down onto that world, it was home. Or at least, he'd like to think it was home. Ironically, his family line had made Tigelis IV their home for hundreds of years, and yet he had never stepped foot on it. And now he might never be able to.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" asked a voice from beside him. Of course, he had seen the doors open and the figure approach, reflected on the window.

"Jolan true, Senator Merek," greeted Lieutenant Telan Merek. They silently contemplated the planet slowly spinning below them.

The Senator sighed. "How are you acclimating onboard the D'taret?"

Telan smiled. "It's been... different than I expected."

"Yes, I suppose the Star Navy has changed greatly in 200 years."

"I'm adapting." Both men continued to look outside for another minute or two.

"How is the Plague?" asked Telan. The Phyrox Plague had spread over Tigelis IV quickly. And from there on to other words in the sector. Only immediate martial law and the Senator's personal fleet had stopped it from spreading to other worlds.

The Senator frowned. "Our scientists are still trying to find a cure, but I fear they will be too late. Soon, thousands will die, then millions. When that happens, the Star Navy won't be able to keep people from fleeing the Sector, spreading the Plague throughout the Empire."

"It can't be that serious! Surely we will find a cure!"

"I'm afraid the Empire's medical technology is sadly lacking."

Telan turned to Senator Merek. "Perhaps the Federation?"

The Senator turned to Telan and gave him a fatherly gaze. "Be careful voicing your thoughts. Although you have had a rather familiar relationship with some Starfleet officers, few in the Empire share your opinions. The Senate has categorically forbidden going to the Federation for aid."

"You're still going to try something." A statement of fact, not a question.

The Senator smiled. "Yes, I cannot let our family, our people die in order to satisfy someone else's idea of D'era. My agents have told me that the Federation has recently discovered a cure for the Phyrox Plague, though they are keeping it secret."

"I'm here because you need my help." Another statement.

"Perceptive. You are quite correct. I am entrusting you to retrieve the cure. You have friends in Starfleet. Contact them, persuade them to help you. Then bring back the cure to me, secretly."

"Secretly?"

"You must not let the cure fall into Senator Kassus' hands. It would give him and the Jaridan the political leverage to gain majority control of the Senate. I know I'm asking a lot of you, but I also know that you have the ability to accomplish this mission."

"I won't fail you," promised Telan.

"There is no other option."