No Man's Land (Part 2 of 10)

Posted on 21 Apr 2017 @ 2:04pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Aren Ban & Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin & Ensign Miraj Derani & Ensign Mimi & Ambassador Soral Varro & Sub-commander S'anara Valdran & Chief Petty Officer Crispin Snow & Petty Officer 1st Class T'Lin & Petra Varelli Ph.D.
Edited on on 21 Apr 2017 @ 2:55pm

2,829 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 14 - Statecraft
Location: IKS DuJa'Q, Klingon Neutral Zone
Timeline: MD 11, 2248 hrs

Previously, on No Man's Land (Part 1)...

2PO Crispin Snow had been looking forward to bed, but fate was not to be kind, and he had to turn halfway to his bunk to head to engineering. Without a fully trained engineer, the crew, such as it was, was muddling along with the patchwork of skills provided by people like him, from operations, and others. Down here you got no information as to the why general quarters had been called, and given what had happened last time, firing on a Starfleet vessel, sometimes ignorance was bliss.

Varro had just finished talking with Eviess when the call came in. Knowing a thing or two about Engineering he decided to go back there and help. He entered, gave a nod to the small group there and took his station.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Deck 3, Forward Section - Bridge

The Neutral Zone slowly came into sight on the main viewscreen. It didn't look any different than any other portion of open space, of course, but the impending de-militarized zone cast an ominous mood across the bridge. The sound of the occasional console chirp was the only sound present to interrupt the silence of their transit.

"Helm, slow to impulse," Saalm ordered when she saw her battlecruiser about to enter sensor range of the nearest probe in the Starfleet network. "The Federation has lined our side of the border with a sensor net composed of interlinking probes," she started to explain to her bridge crew. "Each probe is powered independently but shares data with its nearest counterpart. We can't disable one without alerting the others in the grid which would alert Sector Command to our presence. But...we can conceal our presence by adjusting our engine signature to simulate that of a subspace wake and then accessing the probe's data mainframe to implant the data." Subspace wakes were a natural phenomenon that occurred throughout the galaxy. Though rare, they were frequent enough that it wouldn't make the reading implausible to whoever happened to be observing.

Aren nodded, knowing what she was going require of the crew. "Sir, I believe that would take more time to construct and implement than we have time for. I purpose an alternative method. When new wormholes open, they emit erratic neutrino levels. We can then mission align the warp coils to have a fluctuating warp field, which would also give out fluctuating neutrino levels as well. We can then set up a our own senor probe to emit erratic neutrino levels, and a couple of chroniton particles to simulate the collapse of a wormhole." Aren said as he started typing commands into a PADD. "While our 'fake wormhole' probe is going off, we can putter across the net, making it appear that wormhole opened up in the area and collapsed. without anyone being the wiser." He added as he sent a rough outline of his plan to the generals PADD.

While she listened, the Orion general's data pad chirped when it received the new information. She'd thought her plan had been quite calculated and without flaw, but after seeing the new proposal and its merits, she began to slowly nod in agreement. "And this wormhole signature will simulate a natural phenomena and obscure our warp field's signature, yes?"

Aren nodded. "Yes, but we will have to purposefully misalign the warp coils. That will significantly shorten the operational life of them, and we will be not be able to travel above warp 3-ish, until we re-align them, and stabilize the warp field. But we have the added benefit of a 'possible worm whole' will excite any captain or science team. Ever since the Bajorn wormhole was found any potential wormhole is a prized and sought-after scientific prize, you know that Starfleet will be running everything they can to figure out what this anomaly was, and even if they do detect us it will be long after we have completed our mission." He replied.

It was a much larger astronomical event than Saalm had anticipated creating. Ideally their battlecruiser would draw as little attention as possible on its passage through the Neutral Zone, but she realized Ban's plan would be 'louder' and have a higher chance of success than her own more-subtle plan. Despite the increased attention, however, she realized the benefit of the wormhole signature: distraction. Which was just what their vessel needed to complete its mission.

Turning her head to look into the Trill commander's eyes, Lirha sincerely hoped he knew what he was proposing. Then she gave him a single nod. "Very well. Execute the plan."

Aren nodded. He tapped his com-badge. =/\= Bridge to Engineering. We have a plan to sneak past the senor probes. I need to to purposely misalign the warp coils, you should have what we require on your display shortly. Bridge out. =/\=

Aren paused for a moment, taking a moment to think how he wanted to respond next. =/\= Bridge to Science Team. I need you to rig up a probe that will emit erratic neutrino levels for a few minutes. During that time we need it to radiate trace amounts of chroniton particles. This should simulate the birth and collapse of a wormhole. You have authorization to use what ever resources necessary to get this task done. You will have the requirements, and basic specifications of what we need on your PADDs shortly. Bridge out."


Deck 6, Engineering Hull - Main Engineering

Snow looked at Varro with a raised eyebrow. "Misalign the warp coils?" he asked the Vulcan, not entirely sure he'd heard correctly. He touched his comm badge. =/\="Engineering to Bridge, understood."=/\= He acknowledged the command and turned to the screen, where the new details popped up, confirming that Snow had heard him right. The petty officer grabbed a set of tools. "Do you want port or starboard?"

Varro sighed. "I'll take port," he said as he picked up his tool kit. He knew what they were trying to do. With the warp coils not misaligned they would simulate a wormhole collapse. He shook his head. The fact that he found logic in this chaos amazed him. He looked over at Snow. "We have to synchronize the misalignment for it to work properly. Let us get all things set and we'll engage on a countdown of three. Agreed?"

"Works for me. Lets go monkey-wrench this thing." The petty officer headed out of main engineering for the nacelles, ready to drag the coils out of alignment when Varro gave the call.

Varro took his place on the port side. He began pulling wires and chips and finally he turned his attention to the coils. He bypassed the coils manually and began setting and swapping the equipment. He used the sleeve of his uniform to wipe the sweat off his brow. "I'm almost ready here. How are you doing Mr. Snow?"

Snow twirled his coil spanner around in a figure of eight. Levering one set of coils a couple of centimetres to the right was probably over kill, but it was an obvious, easy and above all, fast fix, if they needed to move fast. "All good here."

"On my count of three, if we did this right we should notice a slight jolt in the ship. On my mark," he wiped the sweat off his brow. "Three.....two......one....Mark!"

In the starboard Nacelle Snow twisted his Quantum flux regulator around, allowing the coils to work whilst out of alignment, and stepped back as the the nacelle went through its reboot sequence. "Snow to Varro. Mine is hot. Yours?"

"Good here Mr. Snow," Varro said.


Deck 9, Forward Section - Science Lab

=^=Yes Commander=^= T'Lin replied. It seemed an odd request but there was little that seemed logical to her perspective on this whole voyage.

She turned to Varelli and said, "Very good, let us get the probe ready. I will do the neutrino emission modification and would you like to do the chronitron part?"

Petra nodded. "Sure. I can modify the probe to detect chroniton particles." She pulled up the specs and began to organize what she'd need for the probe.


Deck 3, Forward Section - Bridge

Once the preparations had been made and the warp coils misaligned, it was Ban's cue to execute the plan. Lirha hoped the artificial singularity they were simulating wasn't too big of a distraction, but it was too late to change their tactics. "On your command, Mister Ban, launch the probe and take us to warp."

"Helm, please bring us into position. As soon as the probe starts emitting the nuetrinos, you are to proceed into the Neutral Zone at best possible speed. " Aren said before turning to tactical. "Tactical, on my order launch the probe." He ordered, giving Ensign Derani a few moments to maneuver the ship into position. "Tactical, deploy probe."

Amaranai had been listening to the entire conversation for the last few minutes. She understood some of what was being talked about and had a vague idea about other parts. It was an interesting plan that the commander had come up with and it would be something if it worked. She heard the command and then moved her fingers across her panel as she set the coordinates for the probe.

The special probe had been loaded in the launcher and noted on Amaranai's panel. She pressed the launch command and watched the probe escape the ship toward its own destination.

"Probe is away, sir," she said to the commander.

Aren nodded, hopping that his plan was going to work. He had run the numbers and it all should work as advertised. "Very well. Helm, proceed." Aren ordered.

Miraj bit her lip, knowing they were getting closer to the point of no return. "Aye, sir," she replied to Ban and engaged the warp core. The whole ship felt decidedly unsteady to her sensitivities; there was a shudder coming from the rear where the coils had been misaligned; there was a resistance to the helm as well and she managed to make it creak into, "Warp 2 and holding, sir."

IKS DuJa'Q's nacelles spooled up and snapped the battlecruiser into low warp to began its short five-minute journey through the Federation sensor net. In no time at all, they would be within the Neutral Zone and out of harms way...at least for the time being until they had to penetrate the Klingon sensor probes on the other side of the border. The tactical display on the bridge's large viewscreen showed them making steady progress which was encouraging -- at a speed of Warp 2, they could enter and cross the expanse, and be within Empire space in a matter of hours. There was nothing left to do now except wait, and so Lirha leaned back against one of the walls with her hands clasped behind her back while she began to fiddle with one of the gold emblems on her armored cuffs.


Five minutes later...

S'anara reviewed the sensor readings on the console, "We're entering the Neutral Zone."

"Yes, confirmed," said Chorag who was still situated in the command chair. He slowly rose from his station to stretch and step forward to the streaking stars on the main viewer. Then he turned back to look at Saalm and Ban before making a request. "General, I wish to review our course through the Neutral Zone with Ensign Derani. I am familiar with this section of space and need to verify our exit point along the Klingon border."

It was a slightly odd request, Lirha thought, but nevertheless she appreciated his initiative and thoroughness to ensure the correct flight vectors. No doubt he, as a former Klingon Academy student, knew a great deal more about this portion of space than the entire Starfleet crew combined. His tactical awareness would come in hand if anything suddenly went wrong. "Proceed," she nodded, then walked down to the command chair to take his pace in the center seat. "Ensign Mimi, what's the status of our cloak?" It never hurt to be too cautious, especially given their current position. If the concealment device malfunctioned at this stage of their journey, it would be a critical mishap.

Mimi ran another quick diagnostic on the cloak. "The cloak is operating normally.. General." She said after the results came in.

Chorag walked back up to the aft section of the bridge and behind the helm station. He took notice of Ban out of the corner of his eye before turning his attention to the ensign's console and leaning down over her shoulder to inspect her course plotting. "...Yes, very good," he said quietly and thoughtfully. The time was now imminent. "There is a small pocket of subspace distortion at this point, here," he pointed on her console to position along their current flight path, "from one of the Empire's fiercest battle with the Federation before the First Khitomer Accords were signed. We would be wise to adjust our course and avoid it. Do you agree, Miraj'ah?" After asking his question, he casually stepped back from Derani and pulled out his data pad while taking several unsuspicious steps closer to Ban. His fingers tapped at the red display until he queued the encrypted message he'd prepared which would send a coded signal to all of his people.

No! No I do not agree! Miraj hoped she managed to keep her face neutral as she reached for the blade hidden under her console. She held it tight to her arm, the flat of the blade resting against it, point towards the crook of her elbow. She got up from her seat and moved towards Lirha in the command chair. "Ma'am?" she said quietly, "I need to show you something."

The Orion general heard Derani's voice but could also detect that it was moving closer to her. It wasn't like the dutiful ensign to leave her post in the middle of the shift, but Lirha couldn't help but wonder what was needed of her. Perhaps it was urgent? Her chair spun around to look at Miraj as she approached. "Yes?"

Miraj's heart sunk. She was hoping Lirha would have kept the chair facing away, so she could have hidden her actions from the Klingon she knew would be watching. She couldn't do it. It was too horrible an idea. She couldn't kill anyone, let alone someone she knew, someone who Miraj thought had suffered enough. She might have been able to fake it if Lirha hadn't turned around. But she couldn't now. It would be obvious to Chorag where her loyalties really lay, with Starfleet, her crew, with Lirha.

She got closer, right into the Orion's personal space. She held Lirha's eyes, and then dropped her own eyes to the knife at the admiral's side. There was nothing more she could do. She pretty much knew what would happen next. Chorag would want his revenge for her 'betrayal'. So be it. Better her than the entire crew. She put her lips close to Lirha's ear and whispered, "Chorag is mutinying, right now!" She showed Lirha the Klingon knife lying along her arm.

The Orion's eyes watched Miraj lean close and then reveal her information. Her own gaze somehow remained calm when the ensign spoke the words to her -- at first they seemed to not make sense, but it took only a mere second or two of thought to piece the various elements together. "And you think a course change is necessary?" she asked in code.

"He's waiting for me to kill you," Miraj whispered quickly, then stood back. "Yes Ma'am. A radical one." Miraj was out of ideas, Lirha had to do something fast, or someone was going to die. Her, most likely. Possibly the unsuspecting Ban. Maybe all of them.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

GEN Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
IKS DuJa'Q

Commander Chorag
First Officer
IKS DuJa'Q
[PNPC Saalm]

Ensign Miraj Derani
Chief Flight Control Officer
IKS DuJa'Q

CPO2 Crispin Snow
Operations Officer
IKS DuJa'Q
[PNPC Derani]

Ensign Mimi
Operations Officer
IKS DuJa'Q

Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical and Second Officer
IKS Duja'Q

PO2 T'Lin
Science Officer
IKS Duja'Q
[PNPC Warraquim]

Lieutenant JG Marisa Sandoval
Counselor
IKS Duja'Q

Petra Varelli, PhD
Forensic Anthropologist
IKS Duja'Q
[PNPC Sandoval]

Ambassador Sorel Varro
Chief Diplomatic Officer
IKS Duja'Q

Petty Officer Eviess
Medical Officer
IKS Duja'Q
[PNPC Varro]

Lt. JG Eelim Galan
Security Officer
IKS Duja'Q
[PNPC Varro]

Commander Aren Ban
Executive Officer
IKS Duja'Q

Lieutenant JG Amaranai Franklin
Assistant Chief Security / Tactical
IKS Duja'Q

Lieutenant Commander Luke Wyatt
Strategic Operations Officer
IKS Duja'Q

Ensign Abbey St James
Security Officer
IKS Duja'Q
[PNPC Wyatt]

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