A few minutes later Lieutenant Devron and Doctor Andrianakis materialised on the transporter pad of the Jaxartes; the Betazoid engineer was at the controls as he was in most cases, in front of them stood Lieutenant Stuart, standing to attention. The young Orion gave a crisp salute, much better than the hastily returned one her captain gave back. “Welcome back sir.” She beamed enthusiastically before turning slightly to her right. “I believe you know Rear Admiral Devron?” There was a slight tone to that last part.  The sort of tone that suggests ‘you may be my commanding officer, but you still have some serious explaining to do.’

“It’s been a while sir.” Jason shook the hand of the man who up until a couple of days ago had just been a mystery man.  The man with no name dressed in black.  Here he was though in full uniform, much like the one in the photo those two security officers had shown him. “Care to join me in my office?”

“I’d love that.” Replied the older man.

“Your dismissed number one.” Jason announced. Then stepping closer on his way out, whispered. “How the heck did you get this ship up and running?”

Lyanna merely tapped the side of her nose and winked. As the two Devron’s exited the room. She felt the Phoebe’s hand slip under her arm. “So” The doctor enquired. “What do we know?”

The Orion tapped the other woman’s hand before pulling way and turning around.  “Well its clear from not just the name those pair are related.”

“Why do you say that?” Phoebe asked.

“Way too secretive for one thing.  I mean what sort of an Admiral appears out of nowhere without any sort of escort on a civilian space station and knocks on the hatch of a corvette?”

Andrianakis stood there a moment pondering that though as the Lieutenant walked off. “And what do you think?” She asked Torf.  The Betazoid just shrugged and made his own exit from the transporter room.

**********

Inside the Captains Office/Quarters the two men sat facing each other; freshly replicated drinks in hands. “Care to explain all this, Sir?” Jason asked after a long silence.

“There is something big going on, something sinister.” The older man replied.

“More sinister than what ever has security out looking for you?” Devron looked his name sake straight on pointing an accusing finger. “If you are putting me or any of my crew in any kind of danger just by being here. I will drag you to the brig myself; Rear Admiral or not. Are we clear on that Sir?”

“Crystal. There is something going on within Starfleet, and those involved are doing their level best to stop me or anyone else finding out what it is.”

“What makes you so sure?

“I’ve lost three operatives in the space of two months. Only had one guy killed under my command since joining intelligence before that!”

“What were they investigating?”

“A massive cover up or possible conspiracy of some kind.  I suspect massive alien involvement.  But how it connects to the forthcoming Frontier Day, I have no concrete evidence.”

“You’re asking a lot for me to believe something like that.”

“Look at the attitude towards your Fourth Fleet and their battle with the Dominion.  It was like Starfleet didn’t care about the loses.” Jason considered that for a moment.  The Admiral was right in the sense that no one had seemed in any rush to support their efforts and had done a lot to conceal the true scale of the conflict.  But a conspiracy; and to what end?

“Then there’s that Changeling you encountered.  One of two originally on the USS Johannesburg and could have only come from Earth.  So neither of them was connection with your lost fleet.” The Admiral paused for a moment. “Taking you Ensigns place had not been part of their original plan.  I’m sure of it, and I think they completely messed up there.”

“Any idea what they were doing or if there are any more?”

“Whatever they were planning, Captain Vance is having that ship complete stripped down and turned inside out.  Which for ship the size of an Obena Class, could take some time.”

“I take it he won’t be getting back to Earth for the celebrations?”

“Command tried to order him back and said the Changeling incident was most likely an isolated event!”

“How did he react to that?”

“He was more than happy to comply if it hadn’t been for the unexpected failure of the warp core.” The older man smiled. “It’s amazing what accidents a good Chief Engineer can arrange for you. If you ask nice.”

“Anyone know you’re on this ship?”

“Other than your crew.  No one.”

“You do realise we’re escorting the Chapel back to Earth?”

“Last place anyone is going to expect to find me.  On a Federation vessel heading for Earth.”  Rear-Admiral Devron leaned back in the chair a grim half smile on his lips.

“So tell me why do I have the same name as you?” This was the other big question plaguing the young man’s mind.

A sad faraway look crossed the Admirals face as he looked out the small window to the stars streaking past. “You look so much like him you know.” He signed. “Moment I laid eyes on you, it was like looking at his twin.”

“Who?” Jason asked. “Are you saying there is a real Jason Alan Devron out there?” He pointed out into space through the window.

“It’s a hundred times easier to create a past around a real person than create a whole new identity from scratch. Besides, it was his idea!”

That last part shocked the Lieutenant the most.  The guy whose name he’d been using to hide from those ‘Earth First’ terrorists was alive!  The young man was visibly shaken, so much so, that he had to put the cup down. “What kind of a mess have you got me into?”

“Honestly I don’t know what mess anyone is in.” The Admiral tried to sound reassuring. “And I don’t know who I can trust anymore.” He looked back at Jason. “Besides, you are my grandson to.”

Jason couldn’t find the words to follow that comment. He’d always assumed this name was totally random and just to stop anyone from the terrorist group tracking him down.  However he’d often wondered why go to all the elaborate trouble just for a young cadet.

The silence between them lasted a few minutes, neither man knowing what to say to the other. Then the young Lieutenant leaned forward a thought just crossing his mind. “How come no one’s realised I’m not the same person?”

“Because my damn full idiot of a son, your father was married to two different women and both had a son, within a month or so of each other.”  The Admiral slammed his cup down sloshing some of the liquid across the coffee table between them. “Your half-brother, bless him agreed to you taking his name and place when I figured out who you were.”

“But my dad’s name was Poole.” Stated Jason.

“My wife’s maiden name.”  The older man grabbed a couple of tissues from a small box in an attempt to wipe. “I’d really hoped to meet and tell you all this under better circumstances.”

“So tell me about my brother.”

The Rear-Admiral spent the better part of an hour going through the life of one Jason Alan Devron.  How he’d grow up wanting to join Starfleet and journey into space like his grandfather had.  How one night his mother had taken him with her in the car and had followed her husband; only to discover he was leading a double life.  She’d raced off and had an accident soon afterwards. The young Lieutenant remembered vaguely about the crash. Car accidents were extremely rare, as most cars were computer controlled.  But this one had been in manual mode with all the safety systems disengaged.  The car had ended up in the river Cherwell. It wasn’t all that long before his dad had left.  Both he and the brother he’d known nothing about; would have been 12 at the time.

“He wasn’t offered a job on Lorillia was he?” Jason Questioned. “You sent him there, in the hope he wouldn’t do any further damage to mom’s life.”

The other man nodded. “Fat lot of good it did you or her in the end.”  George Devron walked over to the window looking out at the stars hands behind his back, clasped together. “I’ve spent half my life protecting the people of Earth, mostly against dangers they have no idea even exist.  Yet I couldn’t protect my own family.”

Jason had walked up behind him, placing a hand on the older man’s shoulder. “Whatever is going we’ll find out. Together.”