Shades of Grey

Plot Points:
Meliar took a job transporting a secret cargo from the Empire to Earth. He was given two Precursor artifacts asa payment. He claims he would not have taken the cargo had he known what it was beforehand.
Councilor Nichols doesn't seem to believe the story and recordings the crew gave Agent McArther are wholly true.
Nichols was willing to fake a Quarantine order to detain the crew.
The Thoron Hegemony was willing to threaten war over this diplomatic incident.
Colonel Harst had a personal meeting with the Thoron Ambassador to Earth.
Nichols is rumored to have "connections" to the Melanie crime family.
Nichols may be plotting to unify the Alliance into a single government, under his leadership.
The Klarg Star was designed by the Kaa as a reconnaissance device. Several ships were to be smuggled into the Alliance. Each would have the same AI program onboard, to allow the eventual retrieval of the data. Just how far this plan goes, and what it's final goal was is not known.
Desperate for a low profile, the crew intend to take the Purple Star through the black hole near the old Kaa starbase.
Season One Finale.

Synopsis:
The Righteous Indignation returns to the Empire heavily damaged. Commander Smith informs the crew that the ship was ambushed by several Republican cruisers. Although most of her escorts were destroyed in the battle, the Righteous Indignation destroyed most of the Republic's remaining cruisers. Meliar arranges to take a mysterious cargo to Earth; he declines to explain anything more. The Klarg Star One then leaves for Earth, where upon arrival Kress transmits a recorded message. The excellently produced clip features the bridge crew in full uniform, demanding an immediate berth in Stardock 1, and the gift of 1 partridge in a pear tree from the appropriate planetary authorities. The ship lands. Meliar delivers his secret cargo, and returns with two hollow globes (supposedly of Precursor origin) filled with a goldenish powder he says are payment. He also says that had he known what the cargo was, he wouldn't have carried it. The crew experiment with the globes; they have a single button on them, which causes them to glow lightly while floating. Merlmer finally decides they're the Tk'Mara equivalent of Lava Lamps.

The next day, the crew lands and pays a visit to Nichols' office. Nichols reviews the data tapes the crew gave to Agent McCarther. He asks rather pointedly whether they had been edited. The crew claims that they had initially removed the evidence of K'yrth from the data, to avoid raising unwanted attention. Nichols seems not to completely believe that, then asks in detail about the mission to the starbase, and the second encounter with Kordivan. Finally, he lets the crew leave, and they return to the station for the night. They learn, however, that the Klarg Star has been placed under Quarantine. Not at all pleased with the news, Merlmer sends Meliar to scout out the stations underground for information, and possible weapon sources. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew tries the direct approach, and coms the station Commander. He doesn't know about any Quarantine; after investigating, he becomes suddenly disturbed and asks to meet with the crew privately in a remote part of the station.

Leaving a message for Meliar, who later joins them, they meet the Commander. He explains that, apparently, Councilor Nichols has ordered FedInt to detain and further interrogate the crew, using the Quarantine as a pretext. The Commander provides evidence that the logs had been tampered with, but he can't come forward with it himself. After he leaves, the crew, desperate to avoid the search teams already looking for them, flee to the Thoron Embassy. Kress uses the data chit McCarther gave him to get an audience with the Ambassador. They find him in conversation with Colonel Harst.

The Ambassador agrees to help. As K'yrth is a Hegemony citizen, the Ambassador can use the evidence to start a formal diplomatic protest. Under such scrutiny, Nichols would then have to release the Klarg Star, but Earth would still be an unwise place to remain. Before leaving, they discuss the whole situation. Nichols has apparently been somehow involved with the Melanie crime family for a little while. The crew wonders whether Nichols might be planning to stir up trouble along the Kaa border. Harst also mentions (name), a group who believes the Alliance should be expanded from a defensive agreement to a true government. Nichols might be trying to form such a government, and then lead it. Also, the soon-to-be completed Federation Battlecruiser, to be Captained by a fairly politically neutral Admiral (name), may play into this.

When asked about the AI found on the Klarg Star's computer, Harst grows grim. Some time back, Kaa Intelligence had proposed building several ships which would be smuggled into the the Alliance. The ships were designed to gather and record information, until they came into contact with a Kaa ship. If the Kaa transmitted a certain signal, the AI onboard would activate and kill the crew, allowing the Kaa to retrieve the information. Harst thought the plan had been canceled; he has no idea just how many such ships might be out there, or just what information they're looking for. For that matter, he has no idea just how the Klarg Star wound up being sold by a second-hand spaceship dealer in the middle of the Federation.

At any rate, anxious to stay well out of FedInt's sight, the crew decides to fake a retreat to the Thoron Hegemony (with the Ambassador's help). In reality, they plan to return to the Empire, pick up the Purple Star and return to the radiation zone near Kaa space, and attempt to travel through the black hole. Upon arriving in Imperial Space, the crew finds an Iraari Cruiser waiting for them.

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