THE VETHARI CHARM OFFENSIVE PART 5: DESSERT

Posted on Wed Dec 31st, 2025 @ 4:39pm by Commodore Stephen MacCaffery

638 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: The Tavrik Accord: Orchestrated Chaos
Location: Captain's Private Dining Room, USS Valley Forge

Time: 2100 Hours

For ten seconds, no one moved. The room held its breath.

Then Steerforth exhaled a breath he seemed to have been holding for an hour. "By the Maker. You actually threatened to blockade the Alpha Centauri lane?"

"I threatened an audit," Stephen said, sinking back into his chair. The adrenaline was fading, leaving him shaking slightly. His hands were trembling, and he had to grip the edge of the table to steady himself. "The blockade was just the... implication."

"She bought it," Mackenzie said, and there was exultation in her voice. She was grinning now, a tiger who had seen blood.

"She blinked. The Silken Thread is coming home. Veln is going to..."

"We need to tell him," McKinney said, already standing and moving to the comm station. "Tell him the ship is being released. Tell him the Vethari are... cooperating with the negotiation."

"Tell him the war just changed fronts," Stephen said quietly. "Because that's what just happened. The hot conflict turned cold. The violence moved from physical to economic, then from economic to diplomatic. But don't mistake that for peace, Captain. Tharn meant every word. The Vethari will find another way to assert their dominance. When they do, we need to be ready."

McKinney's hand paused over the comm badge. "Do you want guards increased? Additional security at The Lanterns?"

"Everywhere," Stephen said. "Double the security detail at Meridian Station. Check with Starbase 369 to increase patrols in the sector. And prepare contingency plans for a medical emergency at the conference facility. If Tharn decides we've become inconvenient, she might try to remove us. Having trauma teams standing by might be the only thing that keeps people alive when she plays that card."

"You think she'll try assassination?" Steerforth asked.

"I think she's the kind of person who considers murder a business expense," Stephen replied. "Yes. I think it's possible. Maybe even likely. Which means we prepare for it, hope we don't need the preparations, and make sure that if she does try, the attempt fails spectacularly."

McKinney tapped the comm. "Bridge, this is the Captain. I want a security upgrade on Meridian Station, effective immediately. Double-shift personnel. Increase perimeter patrols to fifteen-minute intervals. Priority One."

"Aye, Captain," came the crisp response.

"And prep a construction detail for Island Chain Seven," Stephen said. "Full civilian casualties monitoring. Medical teams staged for emergency response. If Tharn thinks we're going to build something on her potential battlefield, she'll want to make sure we understand the risks."

Mackenzie was already making notes. "I'm filing the preliminary trade audit paperwork tonight," she said. "Just to establish the paper trail. If you ever need to follow through on that threat, we'll have documentation going back weeks, not hours. It'll look like we were just being thorough, not reactive."

"Good," Stephen said. He glanced at his plate. The food was cold, forgotten while the real contest played out.

"Captain," he said, "I believe your chef prepared dessert?"

McKinney's expression shifted, as if he was still processing what had just happened. Then, slowly, a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Chocolate torte," he said. "The replicators are very good with chocolate."

"Then let’s go back," Stephen said, letting himself relax fractionally. His hands steadied, heartbeat slowing. "I believe there was dessert. Something extravagant and unnecessary, if the replicators are feeling generous."

He turned from the viewport, from the smog, the politics, the twelve security officers waiting outside, ready for violence he had only postponed.

For a moment, he was just a man at a table. Not a negotiator. Not the Federation’s blade. Just a man.

The game would resume in the morning.

But for now, there was chocolate.

And that would have to be enough.
​
End Log

Commodore Stephen James MacCaffery
Federation Special Envoy to Tavrik III
Starbase 369

 

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