Subterfuge

Posted on 07 Jul 2013 @ 1:56pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Petty Officer 1st Class Siren Hex Saalm & Lieutenant Commander Amynta Markos

1,367 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: IRW Munera - Deep Space (Runabout intercept node)
Timeline: MD 08 - 0650 hrs

Previously, on Explanations...

Taking another swig of her hot chocolate, Lirha looked around the table to see if anyone had anymore questions. She was a bit surprised that no one had asked about Project Sienna but that was also a relief since the less people who knew about the highly-classified experiment, the better. "Very well, then." she finally said after a short period of silence. "If there are no further questions, I would like everyone to go get some rest. We have a two-day trip ahead of us and I would prefer that everyone is sharp once we arrive at SB-185. I will take the first watch at the helm and we will rotate on four hour shifts." she explained.

"Alright," the Capellan sat up in his seat. "We'll see what happens, won't go in unprepared." It was like Rice said, they all had their captain's back. He stood and grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair. "Understood," Kell acknowledged, leaning on his hands.

Siren nodded, standing as well. She'd definitely grab some more sleep after the interruption to her night, but she'd also take the chance to read up on what she could get her hands on through the computer regarding what the Captain had told them. It didn't hurt to do a little homework, especially as she hadn't been on the Galileo as long as some of the others.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Through the forward viewscreen, the stars streaked by either side of the green warbird in a familiar spectacle well known to any warp-capable civilization. The search grid provided by Romulan intelligence had been accurate enough, and it hadn't taken long to locate and discretely pursue the small Federation runabout which was supposedly carrying their mission's high-value target: Captain Saalm.

The Valdore class warbird IRW Munera quickly began to close on the runabout from astern, hidden and camouflaged from Starfleet sensors by her advanced cloaking device. In only a matter of minutes, they would be in transporter range and able to commence their covert operation.

"Is the boarding party ready?" the commander called out over his shoulder on the bridge of the large Romulan ship.

The sub-commander nodded, her dark eyes going to him. She stepped forward, her hair in the same cut as the men had. And she was as hard as any of them, and just as cunning. "They are ready for your orders."

Leaning back in his command chair and touching the tips of his fingers together with satisfaction, the stone-faced command did not acknowledge his subordinate's reply, yet simply narrowed his stern brow and gave the command to begin the operation.

"Close to within tractor beam range and prepare our transporters to match their shield frequency as soon as we disengage the singularity drive." he commanded to the entire bridge crew.

The Lieutenant at the helm brought the ship closer to their target, his young features serious with the task. His Romulan colour tinted fingers moved quickly on the controls as he set the tractor beam, snaring the runabout in its grip and dragging it out of warp and into their reach.

The Romulan sub-lieutenant almost looked as if he hesitated for a moment before his fingers moved quickly over the controls, uncloaking the warbird. His eyes focused on the screen in front of him, his lips moving silently as he matched the frequencies. There was a hesitation for a moment before he beamed the first team over, closing his eyes briefly. Like someone who had fired a disruptor at their pet or houseslave.

With precision stealth and the element of surprise, the Valdore Class latched on to the small runabout with a green tractor beam and tugged it from warp. The stars ceased blurring and returned to their normal state, then shimmered briefly around the massive olive hull as it decloaked in optimal position. A quick maneuver brought the warbird directly over top of the tiny craft and pulled it even closer within its grasp.

"Excellent." the Romulan commander said in the most unenthusiastic voice possible. He stared at the viewscreen then held his hand up and motioned behind him towards the lift, signaling for his bridge team to also beam over to the runabout. "Assist the boarding party and bring me back Captain Saalm's biological samples. Do not harm any of the crew or else they will suspect something has transpired, and remember to implant the false computer core memory files. We only have eight minutes before Federation sensor nets will detect our presence while uncloaked. Do not fail me." he instructed, having no qualms sending any incompetent officer to the depths of the Reman mines for the remainder of their natural lives.

T'Manda, the sub-commander, gave a grave nod before she motioned for the others. She had not bothered answering the threat. She knew the punishments for failure. She knew it all too well. She let herself be beamed over with the rest of the team, looking around at the collapsed people. "I'll take Saalm," she said to the others, walking to the cockpit area. For a moment she just watched the Orion before moving to her. She looked...almost peaceful.

It was strange to see an Orion out cold. She let out a breath as she knelt by her, reaching for her kit. She opened what looked like a metal cylinder with a nasty looking wire on it. Without any ceremony, she tilted Lirha's head and pushed the wire under the skin, just where her hairline started behind her ear. It was difficult to find something like that, and T'Manda believed in may things.

Including discretion.

Finishing, she checked that the DNA sample was good enough before filing it away. She shifted Lirha's body forward and pulled up her uniform, exposing her back. She took another instrument...long, with a sharp claw like needle. She traced her fingers over her spine, counting softly to herself before stopping. There. She took the instrument and pushed it through, her eyes narrowed before she started to draw out bone marrow.

Varen sent a glance her way from the console. The young Lieutenant frowned slightly as he turned his attention back to his work, manipulating his way through the computer to replace the memory files for the block of time they were aboard, falsifying them to hide the fact they'd ever been there.

The other Romulan moved to check on the others, his eyes going over Siren. Her red hair fascinated him. He looked over at the smaller human female, reaching to touch the long hair before looking at the blond woman as well. "They are all unconscious," he stated and straightened.

The familiar chirp of the sub-commander's communicator sounded followed by the voice of Munera's commanding officer which came crystal clear across the comm. "Sub-commander, report." he half-demanded, half-inquired from his position on the cruiser's bridge. "We are running out of time."

T'Manda frowned as she put the samples away, checking on the Orion's lifesigns before moving to the others. "I have all the samples," she said, her eyes dark.

"And what about the crew? Have you implanted the memory core files?" he retorted with impatience permeating his voice.

"Done," the Lieutenant straightened up from the console, finishing just as the voice sounded through the eerily quiet Starfleet vessel. "No problems, their systems are simple."

"Excellent." the commander curtly replied. "Reactivate the shuttle's autopilot then return to the ship at once."

The sub-lieutenant moved through to the cockpit, activating the autopilot again. "We must not linger," he said and closed his eyes as he was beamed back to the warbird.

T'Manda watched the unconscious people for a moment, frowning. She reached out, touching the firey red hair of a woman for a moment, to tuck it behind the round ear, before letting herself be beamed back to the Munera.

[OFF]

--

Romulan Commander
Commanding Officer
IRW Munera
NPC'd by Lirha Saalm

Sub-Lieutenant
IRW Munera
NPC'd by Amynta Markos

Sub-Commander T'Manda
XO IRW Munera
NPC'd by Aria Rice

Lieutenant Varen
IRW Munera
NPC'd by Scarlet Blake

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