4.5 Celestial Mary

[Deleted]

T'Val Mercy was just about to go home after a busy duty shift, when a Romulan security officer stalked into her ward, just not dragging a male with him. "He needs attention," the officer snapped, depositing his charge on the nearest biobed.

"I will be right with you," T'Val answered. She had to let her mate know she was going to be a little late after all in closing up shop on her end. The evening shift would take over, but they were not as well staffed as the day shift. Only a single doctor and two nurses would remain behind in the offices.

"I have a patient just come in," she told Stuart, who was cleaning up after a long surgery, "it will only take a few minutes. Perhaps you wish to come with me and help me. Romulans never make the most pleasant of patients."

Stuart nodded and walked after her, keeping a little distance just in case. T'Val walked up to the Romuland and his charge. "Lay him down," she told the officer, "and I shall take a look."

She gasped when she then recognised the patient. "Tedak!" she exclaimed, glancing up at the officer. "What happened. What did you do to him!" She leaned over her ex-husband, holding out a tricorder over his torso.

The Vulcan sighed in relief after the quick examination. "Intoxication," she concluded, then injected something into his system. "He will have a headache but he will be fine. He just had too much ale, that is all. Ah and now that you are here.." She addressed Govan. "I do not believe we have seen you here before."

She indicated the next vacant biobed. "Check-ups are compulsary for every new arrival on this station. As you clearly work for the embassy, they should have told you to report here." When Govan seemed about to argue, she glared at him. "I am not taking no for an answer major," she informed him, "either you lay down willingly, or my husband and I will make you. You may check with any diplomat that we have no qualms about making you do as we say, if it concerns your healths."

[Felix Savali]

After Voran inquired with Felix if he would like to join the away mission, Felix did not refuse the offer. After all with his rank he rarely got a chance to get away with going down on those. So this chance was definitely not worth turning down.

------------------------------------------------------------------

"An Earth vessel set on a collision course/intercept course with Starbase Assaillant and her navigational systems locked down with a Romulan Access code.", Felix said, "Well it looks like a trap, a distraction, a way to cause an incident, for all we know they might've released some unknown biological agent.", Felix said

"However I do suggest now that we are here that we manually bypass computer control and shut her engines down. Then we can get down to accessing the database. I do believe we have some people on the station who know there ways around Romulan codes.", he said

<Tag Voran>

[Deleted]

“Ah and now that you are here…I do not believe we have seen you here before. Check-ups are compulsory for every new arrival on this station. As you clearly work for the embassy, they should have told you to report here." Whoever the woman was, she was clearly some type of medical officer, though a civilian, so Govan groaned quietly at being caught. He hated medical exams with good reason.

Glancing unenthusiastically at the indicated biobed, the Major was about to object when to his surprise, the Vulcan cut him off with a glare. "I am not taking no for an answer major. Either you lay down willingly, or my husband and I will make you. You may check with any diplomat that we have no qualms about making you do as we say if it concerns your health."

Raising his eyebrows in shock at the audacity of the woman, Govan didn’t know whether to get angry or laugh at her foolishness. Instead, the Major decided to, in the spirit of his new job, take a more diplomatic approach, especially since Tedak appeared far too out of it to see what could be considered a moment of weakness.

“I’m sorry, but I am new here, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing anything without being ordered to do so by Ambassador S’Khellian. Wouldn’t want to get in trouble my first day on the job.” Govan replied, trying to appear as genuine as possible and flashing what he hoped was a charming smile, though he had no earthly idea if he was anywhere near successful.

“Also, an attempt was made on Ambassador Tedak’s life a short time ago. I was able to interrupt the would-be assassin, but I am now directly responsible for his safety. Once you have treated him, I need to get him to a more secure location. I can’t risk being distracted for even a moment. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to him while I’m indisposed and distracted by a medical exam.”

Govan’s demeanor instantly changed to be one of deep concern as he glanced almost worriedly at his charge lying unconscious on the biobed. He had no idea if anything he said would work, even if the last part was entirely true, but the Romulan figured it was worth a try. If he was going to have to deal with members of the Federation, the Major would need to change his game plan and use his usual means of getting his way as more of a last resort.

[Deleted]

"There have been attempts on his life for as long as I have known him," T'Val countered, while directing the major to the other biobed. "You can still keep an eye on him. A physical is not extensive, it will only take a minute. Now sit still!"

Though Vulcan, and considerably calmer now after actually having come to terms with the death of her son, T'Val was quite capable of producing a proper glare that would normally scare a patient into submission. She saw however, that it wasn't working with Govan nearly as well. Slowly she held her handscanner over Govan's body, while the Romulan remained facing his unconscious charge.

"He will be fine," she promised, "there was no sign of poison. He is only suffering from alcohol intoxication. He must have had some issues, to have been drinking so much. Either that or he was goaded into drinking that much as I never knew him to finish an entire bottle of ale by himself."

T'Val raised an eyebrow at Govan, as he appeared to be listening. "He used to be my husband. Apart from Ambassador Saarok and Admiral Lin, I am quite possibly the only person who knows him very well indeed. Better than anyone, save for beforementioned persons. And, as diplomat, even one somewhat outcast by his own people, he is always the subject of one attempt on his life or the other." She paused. "I am certain he is just as pleased with your attention, as you seem to be with being assigned to guard him."

[Deleted]

The desire to tell the Vulcan what she could do with her scanner was extremely strong, but Govan decided that choosing his battles would be wise while on the station. As long as he had a direct line of sight on Tedak and was within close range there wasn’t much of a case for complaining. Still, the Major wasn’t happy and made his feelings known and glared back at the woman, far from intimidated.

The doctor, at least Govan assumed she was a doctor, continued to speak as she performed the exam, and although he tried to pretend he could care less about anything she had to say, the Major was hanging on her every word to learn as much as he possible could about his new charge.

The name Saarok sounded vaguely familiar to Govan, but he dismissed it. There had been a lot of information in what she said. Tedak had been married to a Vulcan, was close with a Starfleet Admiral and Ambassador, was considered an outcast, and had very few friends and plenty of enemies. With the exception of the far too friendly ties with the Federation, he appeared to be similar to Govan.

“Being pleased is not an issue here. It is my duty to make sure he is not harmed, and I am bound to perform my duty to the best of my abilities. Are you done yet? I have better things to do than sit around sickbay.”

"I am done, and the ambassador seems awake. You may take him with you." T'Val raised an eyebrow, not in the least bit intimidated. "Perhaps you can give him a stern talking to about drinking so much. I would probably get nowhere with him on that. And since he is your problem, it may help that you do the yelling."

[Deleted]

The small device was un-noticable and untraceable. Based on sub-space transponder technology the listening device lasted only 36 hours before it completely disintergrated leaving no trace but a minute amount of dust and unrecognisable quantum signature. It was the perfect device one that Vebn was glad his daughter had managed to procure for him.

He leaned back in his chair and listened to the recording oncemore. The quality wasnt very good, one couldnt expect miracles, but the content was very disturbing. The short snippet that had caught his eye was between Magellan and the captain of a ship out near the starbase.

Apparently a commercial cruiser was on a collision course with the station, that in itself was worrying but what made it worse was the fact that the command controls were locked out with a Romulan algorithim.

A hundred permutations rushed through his mind. He knew of no official operation in this area - as Ambassador he would have been told. It could of course be a black ops, but even then he wpuld have thought he daughter would have let him no. He was after all still aboard. Perhaps then it was an elaborate plot by one of his enemies to clumsily get rid of him or perhaps it was something else. He knew immediatly what he had to do.

***

Sickbay was bustling with all number of simple and non life threatening cases. Major Echal was sat on a biobed with T'Val beside him.

"Leave us" Vebn commanded

Tag T'Val

"Affairs of state come first. Leave us now"
As T'Val left Vebn pulled Govan aside disregarding the venom in the mans eyes.

"We have a situation" he siad in a hushed tone, "Something suited to your talents."

"Go on"

Vebn looked around him,
"There is a federation ship on a collision course with Assailant. The Galaxy has been sent to intercept it. They found it abandoned and its control systems locked out using a Romulan encryption algorithim."

Govans eyebrows rose in interest

"I need you to go aboard...undetected. Find out whats going on. Is this a plot hatched on Romulus - if so you must do what you can to ensure it succeeds and hits the station, after alerting me of course. If however it is designed to frame us or is not in our interests then you will do the opposite and assist Starfleet. Understand"

Govan nodded once,
"2 problems. 1. How am I to get aboard without being noticed and Secondly, Tedaks life is in danger it is my duty to protect him"

Unused to having his orders challenged Vebn scowled,
Taking on the same tone as Govan he replied,
"1. I ve read your file, your more than capable of eluding starfleet. Take my shuttle, it has a cloak. and Secondly, Tedak can go with you. No assasin will look for him there. Just do it alright or else I toss you back to that Trill and have him lock you up again"

TAG Govan

[Deleted]

Tyr sat in his office finishing the draft proposals he had managed to create between K'Tar and Ji'Zhan. After much promising and compromise, he had finally got both men to attend a conference to settle this matter peacefully. Added to this was the benefit that the Romulans would not be present to stir the pot, an absence that would hopefully allow them to reach an amicable conclusion. He sent messages to K'Tar, Ji'Zhan and Savali, informing them all of the date he had managed to set for the talks, but decided to inform Ezdreiana in person. He was also curious about how she would respond to him since his little revelation. He grabbed the padd containing the details and set off from his office, telling the embassy secretary to hold any messages until he got back.

He entered sickbay a few minutes later, and was surprised to see Vebn talking to an unknown Romulan, one who Tyr surmised to be the new arrival. He had read the report Tedak had got to him, irrespective of how annoyed he was at the mannner of the delivery, and had learned a great deal of the Major's service record, albeit that which was on file. He walked away from the main entrance and into the side ward in which Ezdreiana was being kept. Once inside he closed the door and handed over the padd to Ezdreiana, noting the slight difference in the way she looked at him.

"These are the details for the Klingon-Debrune summit next week. You and I will be there, along with Commodore Savali, and the Klingon and Debrune representatives. I just need you to sign off on that, and also I need you to stop looking at me like that"
She looked at him and he smiled.
"I mean like you just found out I was a Federation spy"

He couldn't help but peer slightly out of the side window, and observe the two Romulans talk in hushed voices over a biobed.

"You'll forgive me if I leave you for a moment" Tyr said as he tilted his head backwards and closed his eyes, ensuring he was obscured from everyone apart from Ezdreiana. He sent feelers out towards the Romulans, trying to find a way around their strong psychic defences. They were impenetrable, but moments of fleeting concentration granted him two successive glimpes of a ship outside Assailant, something obviously quite important. He broke the link and opened his eyes.

"I'm afraid you'll have to excuse me ambassador, but it would appear that I am needed elsewhere. I'll see you in the office tomorrow once you're released, and then I cna brief you on everything" He nodded and smiled, turning and laving quickly through the door, trying his best to avoid the Romulan's eyeline. He hurried back to the security of his quarters, and once there, opened a secure link to the Galaxy. He reached their bridge.

"Hello" he greeted the young officer on duty "Could you please patch me through to Commodore Savali on a secure line"

"One moment sir. Commodore Savali is onboard a derelict vessel presently, you would only have audio"

"That'll do" Tyr answered as the screen went blank, before a humming could be heard, indicating the transfer to audio only.

"Commodore Savali, this is ambassador Tyr, I have a favour to ask" Tyr rolled his eyes imagining, after their previous conversation, what was going through the Commodore's head.
"Can you tell me if the vessel you're on is in any remote way connected to the Romulans?"

<TAG Savali>

"Don't ask me how I know, it's long, complicated and theoretically unethical. My favour is I need you to send for an ambassador to join the away mission, and I need you to come up with a plausible excuse for it. Anything will do, but I need the opportunity to come onboard. I think the Romulan's are getting curious about whatever it is that you've found, and in my line of work, it's always better to more than your opponents. Can youy manage it?"

<TAG Savali>

[Deleted]

Govan raised his eyebrows at Vebn’s defensive response. The questions had all been valid and needed to be brought up before this little assignment started, so there had been no real need to get upset. Forcing himself to suppress a grin, the Major suddenly realized that Vebn needed him for this mission. Finally, he had just a little bit of power back, though not much.

“No need to get so defensive, Ambassador. There are a few things that need to be dealt with before I accept this assignment of yours. First, I am unarmed and that needs to change immediately, both for this and my job in general. Had I been armed, perhaps I would have been able to catch the person behind the attack on Ambassador Tedak. And I want my honor blade returned to me.”

“Second, I have heard nothing about the release of the Romulan nurse, Tamir, who was imprisoned with me. If she hasn’t been released yet, I expect it to occur immediately. Third, I’m going to need access to as much information as possible. I’m a soldier, not some sort of computer technician, so if I need information to do my job, you’re going to have to get it for me. And you’re right; I am perfectly capable of executing this mission successfully, if given the tools I need to do it.”

<Tag Vebn>

[Deleted]

Vebn scowled at the Major,

"Fine. Done. Tamir will be released into our care at the Embassy. As for weapons...." he paused unsure if he wanted Govan armed, "Yes okay. Have Nelon issue you a side arm, but make damn sure Starfleet don't see you with it outisde of the Embassy. As for information " Again he paused and shrugged his shoulders,
"I know as much as you. This ship is a threat. I have no idea if it is a Romulan plot or not, but if it is - it must succeed, surely you see that nad if it isnt, it either must be stopped or turned to our advantage. This is a dangerous place Major, everyone here is not quite what they seem. Many of the diplomats are former secret services. For such a backwater STarbase a lot of attention focuses here. I promise I will give you as much information as is required for you to do your job. Now go and go swiftly."

As Govan turned to leave Vebn added a parting shot,
"Oh and if anything goes wrong Tamir is back in jail and I disavow all your actions. That should be incentive enough."

[Deleted]

As Vebn left sickbay, Govan could barely contain the grin that was threatening to spread across his face. He was feeling quite pleased with himself as he had made demands and they had been met. True, the Ambassador hadn’t said anything about his honor blade, but it could just be that it hadn’t been returned from the Federation yet. The Major had not missed the hesitation in arming him, which could only mean that part of Vebn was afraid of Govan. That was an extremely amusing and extremely useful piece of information.

The only downside was Tamir, since it was obvious that the Major had slipped up and allowed her to become a bargaining chip for Vebn to use against him. Still, once this mission was successfully completed, Govan was hoping she would be soon forgotten. The only thing left to really do, besides deal with Tedak, was obtain a weapon, or perhaps weapons, from Nelon, which if his previous reactions to the security officer were any indication would be a breeze.

Signaling to T’Val, Govan brusquely ordered. “He needs to be sobered up for his own safety. See that it happens, immediately.”

While the Vulcan saw to Tedak, Govan glanced around sickbay, taking inventory of what he saw. The only people in sight were medical personnel and patients, none of whom looked particularly threatening. Seeing the medical facility reminded the Major of Tamir. She would be released soon and would most likely receive as little help as he had in figuring out what was going on and what to do. That worried Govan, as the poor woman most likely was completely terrified, and unfortunately with him leaving, that left someone else as the only option to help her.

Hating to rely on someone else but realizing he didn’t exactly have much of a choice, Govan reluctantly addressed T’Val as she finished up with Tedak. “Thank you for your assistance. I also have an additional request for you.”

Hesitating, unused to asking for a favor like this, Govan continued. “A Romulan nurse was taken into custody with me. She will be released shortly. She had absolutely nothing to do with my actions. Her name is Tamir. I would be…grateful if you would perhaps see that she gets settled into quarters, maybe even be allowed to work here? She’s an excellent nurse…”

[Deleted]

Reluctantly, T'Val left, leaving the major in the hands of a clearly disgruntled ambassador. When she saw Vebn leave, she continued her physical, then cleared the major for duty. However, the Romulan lingered, then told her to sobed his charge up by any means necessary. Not seeing the logic of arguing with him, the Vulcan doctor merely nodded, prepared a hypospray and walked over to Tedak.

At the hiss of the spray, the diplomat stirred, then opened his eyes, looking somewhat embarassed. "You are going on a mission," T'Val told him, handing him a bundle of clean clothes. "You may get dressed over there, Major Echal is awaiting you."

As Tedak moved away to get dressed, T'Val turned to see the other Romulan approach once more. This time, his expression seemd a little softer. “Thank you for your assistance. I also have an additional request for you.”

"What can I do for you major," the Vulcan answered, while packing her tricorder away.

“A Romulan nurse was taken into custody with me. She will be released shortly. She had absolutely nothing to do with my actions. Her name is Tamir. I would be…grateful if you would perhaps see that she gets settled into quarters, maybe even be allowed to work here? She’s an excellent nurse…”

T'Val raised an eyebrow in surprise, then nodded. "I will see what I can do. If she truly had nothing to do with your schemes, and is as innocent as you say she is, then she will make a valuable addition to my nursing staff. Of course, security will have to clear her for duties aboard this station. I will, however, personally see to it that she is made comfortable in quarters."

At that moment, Rayna approached with a PADD, needing her signature for approval of ordering items needed in sickbay. "This is Nurse Rayna," T'Val introduced her to the Romulan security officer. "She too, started working here after she had been captured by Starfleet. She used to have quite a different profession but she graduated to be a full nurse a few months ago. And I could not manage without her."

[Deleted]

Letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, Govan relaxed and actually smiled briefly at her acceptance before erasing any trace of relief or gratitude and nodding, as if expecting her to agree all along. “Thank you. She will be an asset to your staff; I am quite certain of that.”

Another woman approached and handed T’Val a padd, and Govan couldn’t help but notice that she was Romulan and looking right at him. "This is Nurse Rayna. She too, started working here after she had been captured by Starfleet. She used to have quite a different profession but she graduated to be a full nurse a few months ago. And I could not manage without her."

The Major regarded the nurse with a mild level of interest. Being captured by Starfleet was certainly no picnic, though he did not know the circumstances of her capture. Perhaps she could be a friend for Tamir, help her make the transition. Things might not be so bad here for her after all. Nodding stoically in acknowledgement of his fellow Romulan, Govan turned his attention back to T’Val.

“Thank you again for your assistance, Doctor…?” he asked, realizing he had not gotten her name.

“Healer.” she corrected him. “Healer T’Val Mercy.”

“Ah, my apologies. Thank you, Healer Mercy, Nurse Rayna. If you’ll excuse me, I have work to be done.” Nodding again as he turned back to his charge, Govan realized how strange it was to be engaging in simple pleasantries and being polite. It was a bit frustrating and awkward but at the same time almost, for lack of a better word, pleasant to be going through the usual motions of normal interaction.

Crossing sickbay to Tedak, who had changed, Govan calmly informed him, “We are to return to the embassy briefly before leaving. I will give you more information once we have departed.”

Tedak didn’t question this and quietly moved to leave. Govan stayed slightly behind and to the left of him, still intent on ensuring his safety while they remained on the station. Once they arrived at the embassy, the Major allowed Tedak to briefly return to his office unguarded while he dealt with Nelon.

The poor man didn’t stand a chance denying Govan’s requests and was actually quite helpful in securing everything the Major asked for until he felt sufficiently armed with a small collection of different types of blades and the requisite disruptor. Now the security officer felt more prepared and ready for almost anything.

~

Finally on the cloaked shuttle heading towards the liner, Govan decided to inform Tedak of as much of the mission as he felt the Ambassador needed to know. He knew his orders, but he also knew from the man’s ex-wife that he was rather friendly towards the Federation, and thus if this was a Romulan plot would not want to support it. If it wasn’t, he might be helpful, but if it was, Tedak would only be a nuisance at best and a hindrance at worst. Still, at least he’d be safe.

“An abandoned Earth vessel has been located near this station. Its systems are locked out by Romulan encryption codes. I am to determine what is going on and what interest we might have in this vessel without being detected. You are here to ensure your safety, and you will remain here in the shuttle unless I require your assistance. None of us knows what exactly is going on here, so before you ask, I don’t know, and I don’t believe Ambassador s’Khellian does either.”

[evoran]

Lieutenant Commander Kyle Harris had settled into his role as first officer on the Galaxy quite well, all things considered, though it had come sooner than he'd thought. At 27, he was relatively young to be in such a position. When their former first officer, Commander Mel Tol had been killed, Captain Voran had offered him the job. He'd been honoured as Voran had said that he preferred someone already on the crew got the job and that he thought Harris was up to the task. Since then, Harris had done his utmost to justify the Captain's faith in him.

Getting up from the Captain's chair, Harris ordered, "Open a channel."

There was a momentary delay, then Assailant's Operations Center appeared on the screen, in the middle of it was Admiral Lin.

"Admiral," said Harris, "This is Lieutnant Commander Harris on the Galaxy, Captain Voran wanted me to inform you that they have been unable to halt the rogue vessel yet; the systems have been encrypted with a Romulan code. They are going to attempt to manually bypass the computer systems, but he asked me to contact you so that you could try and get some information about this from one of the Romulans on the station, besides, we may need one of them to decipher the codes."

<Magellan>

[Felix Savali]

After he received the mesage from Tyr asking him for a favour, the nerve of the man he thought, he was supossed to come up with a plausible way of getting the Ambasssador on the ship. He walked over to Captain Voran to discuss the issue with him.

"Captain... i believe we may need to get someone who is well versed with Romulan codes up here to take a look at this. And altough we are friendly with the Romulans at this time i would rather not have one of them lurking around here... however i do believ Ambassador Tyr should be able to help us as he has in the past done some work with Romulan systems. Therefor i would like for you to arrange for him to be transportd here to this vessel.", Felix said

<Tag Voran>

[Magellan Lin]

Magellan acknowledged the requests and told Voran he would do what he could,

"I will contact Vebn immediatly, though I m not sure how helpful he will be. What timeframe are we on here? Should I begin an evacuation of the station?"

TAG Voran and Felix

"Okay I ll bear that in mind - I will see Tyr as well though I am not comofrtable putting a diplomat in such a dangerous situation. Until I have more information do what you can, search the ship fully I want to know what happened to the crew. Magellan Out."

Magellan moved quickly,
"Zoilip you have Ops and prep evac plans. Contact the Mercy's make sure they have the Hospital and sick ready for emergency removal. I ll be with Vebn and Tyr"

Magellan found Tyr first,
"Mr Tyr. A word if I may"

"Of course Admiral" the Betazoid nodded,

"We have a situtaion developing. I m not sure why but Commodore Savali believes you maybe able to assist."

Magellan quickly outlined the problem witrh the Celestial Mary and answered Tyrs questions where he could,
"Can you help? If so I can have a shuttle prepped."

TAG Tyr

[Deleted]

Tyr forced himself to surpress a smile as the Admiral told him of the Commodore's request. Irrespective of how unwillingly the assistance might have been rendered to him, he couldn't deny that Savali was fast. He didn't even hesitate, and, without skipping a beat, answered Lin immediately.

"I'm fine with that Admiral. If you'll just let me grab some of my old ciphers from my office, I'll get to the shuttle pad as soon as possible" He smiled, nodded, and ran off.

Returning quickly to his office, he grabbed a couple of old padds from his desk, and an old decryption device he had once stolen from a former member of the Obsidian Order. Placing these items in a small shoulder bag, he departed immediately for the primary shuttle pad. He arrived within a matter of minutes, and was greeted by a smiling ensign, who showed him to the co-pilot seat.

"Admiral Lin said I was to take you out to the Celestial Mary. Where do you want dropping?" The esnign asked as he sealed the entrance hatch and powered up the main engines.

"If you could beam me on to the bridge, that would be excellent" Tyr replied, adjusting the ring on his right hand to activate the cricket phaser matrix concealed within.

The primary bay doors opened, and the shuttle sped out, heading towards the commercial vessel that was progressing ever closer to Assailant. Matching course and speed, the shuttle entered a safe transporter cycle with the Celestial Mary, at which poit, Tyr stood to move to the transporter padd.

"Once you've done this that will be all ensign. I'll come back on the Galaxy as and when I'm done"

"Ok sir, energising"

~Onboard the Celestial Mary bridge~

Tyr materialised on to the bridge of the liner, to be greeted by the two ranking officers present. He nodded and smiled at both of them.

"Commodore, Captain Voran, how are things?"

<TAG Voran and Savali>

"Well, I worked a little with some Romulans involved in encoding whilst I was at the Federation Embassy on Romulus. I can't promise anything, but I'll have a bash"

He moved over to a rear console, out of sight of all the others on the deck, and began tapping on random keys, ensuring that he didn't do anything to immediately break the encryption.

"I think I'm going to need computer core access to override this" He called over his shoulder "Would one of you care to join me?"

<TAG Savali or Voran>

They left the bridge and entered the central computer core. The room was dark, lit only by the red glare of the emergency lighting, and the computer core hummed away quietly in it's place at the centre of the room. Tyr moved over to the central column and opened an access panel to begin typing in his override commands. He surrepticiously slipped the Cardassian decryption device in to the matrix as he worked. Well, he could do without explaining how he had come to possess something from Cardassian intelligence. He pressed on, unlocking one layer of files at a time, until he finally hit on something interesting.

"Sir. I haven't been able to access any vital systems yet, but I have been able to gain access to low level areas. You can see the flight recordings if you like"

<TAG Whoever came with me>

[Felix Savali]

"Commodore, Captain Voran, how are things?"

"They could be better... we are attempting to override the Romulan codes in order to change the course of the ship. Perhaps we shall have more luck now that you are here Ambassador", Felix said

"Well, I worked a little with some Romulans involved in encoding whilst I was at the Federation Embassy on Romulus. I can't promise anything, but I'll have a bash"

He moved over to a rear console, out of sight of all the others on the deck, and began tapping on random keys, ensuring that he didn't do anything to immediately break the encryption.

"I think I'm going to need computer core access to override this" He called over his shoulder "Would one of you care to join me?

"I'll join you Ambassador", Felix said as he joined the man and they proceeded down to the computer core

When they moved away from others Felix quietly spoke to Tyr.

"I got you on the ship... but you better be carefoul what you're doing. If someone suspects you're doing something out of order you could get into trouble... and I will not help you out of it", he said

<Tag Tyr>

They left the bridge and entered the central computer core. The room was dark, lit only by the red glare of the emergency lighting, and the computer core hummed away quietly in it's place at the centre of the room. Tyr moved over to the central column and opened an access panel to begin typing in his override commands. He surrepticiously slipped the Cardassian decryption device in to the matrix as he worked. Well, he could do without explaining how he had come to possess something from Cardassian intelligence. He pressed on, unlocking one layer of files at a time, until he finally hit on something interesting.

"Sir. I haven't been able to access any vital systems yet, but I have been able to gain access to low level areas. You can see the flight recordings if you like"

"All right, let's have a look", Felix said

<Tag Tyr>

[Deleted]

Shrugging in apparent disinterest, Tedak sat back in his seat and tried to enjoy the ride. However, the problem was intriguing on it's own. A Federation liner was locked out with Romulan codes, who would want to do that, and why? And more importantly what were they going to find? "I'm not going to let you board that ship on your own," he finally spoke up after several minutes of deathly silence.

Meeting Govan's glare, he squared his shoulders and defiantly glared back. "I don't care what Vebn thinks, I don't like him and I don't trust him and that feeling is mutual. And I still don't know if I can trust you, even though you did save my life back there. For all I know, you have a hidden agenda of your own. No, I'm going with you. Now, I think we should discuss theories."

He pointed out the window towards the vessel. "Why is a Federation vessel locked out by Romulan codes? How could it have happened? I'm quite certain the crew would've given quite a fight, and Romulans aren't generally known for taking prisoners. Now, they could perhaps have been locked from the outside, trapping the occupants, in which case we'll need to try and contact them somehow. Or, they're a ruse and the ship's hoping to get rescued, the Romulan occupants hoping to board Assaillant or any rescue vessel that way and overpower everyone."

Then, the Romulan diplomat shook his head. "It's powerless, it obviously has no rudder-control and it's headed straight for Assaillant. My first thought would be that it intends to ram the station and do as much damage as possible. If that is the case, it would only take one fanatic to operate that vessel, using sensor masks to make it appear out of control. On the other hand, that vessel could be used by Romulans, thereby sending many innocents to their deaths, assuming that vessel is properly stationed by people."

[Deleted]

Govan took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, repeating the process many times as the Ambassador expounded upon the numerous theories running through his overly active mind. The Major had no idea a Romulan could talk so much. No, scratch that; he knew but had never been in the position of being forced to endure listening to it. The only thing the security officer got from all that rambling was that in spite of his efforts to be discrete and leave out all of the facts, during the quiet trip the sensors had informed Tedak of everything he hadn’t been told him. Well, and he had come up with similar theories to Vebn's.

Once the opportunity arrived to get a word in, Govan immediately interjected, “I told you; I have no idea what’s going on. I’m here to find that out. There’s no need to jump to any sort of conclusion without evidence and facts. I also told you that you are staying here. You’ll just slow me down and get in the way. The only reason you’re here at all is so that I can make sure no one tries to kill you again, so I’d rather you didn’t drive me to make an attempt myself just to do my job.”

Tedak opened his mouth to speak, clearly about to argue, but the Major would hear none of it. “No…I don’t care what you say. You’re staying here. Besides, I could use someone monitoring the sensors, perhaps intercepting communiqués between the away team and that Federation starship out there. We’re not working with them until we know what’s going on and if we have the same goals. We’re here to serve the best interests of the Empire, not the Federation.”

Stopping short of actually insinuating that the Ambassador would side with the Federation over the Empire, as that would only alienate Tedak and quite possibly make it more dangerous to leave him behind unattended, Govan glared determinedly at the only other occupant of the shuttle. The glare had no effect, and the Major was beginning to realize that intimidation was a whole lot harder when you no longer had the free reign to inflict pain and suffering at will.

Finally, realizing Tedak had as little intention of budging as he had, Govan sighed exasperated. “I’m not beaming over just yet. First, we need to get up to speed with what they know from here before I dig deeper on the liner, try to establish a link with both vessels’ computers if possible and tap into their communications.”

Turning to the console in front him, the Major tried to focus on the task at hand rather than his frustration. He hadn’t technically backed down; just delayed the need to end the discussion one way or the other. Govan was seriously regretting his decision to bring the Ambassador along, thinking maybe it would be easier if he just stunned him and kept him safely drugged until the mission was over. But somehow, the security officer didn’t think that would go over too well in the end.

[evoran]

Once Tyr and Savali had left the bridge, Morley said to Voran, "What do you make of this Tyr, Captain?"

"I'm not sure," said Voran, "but there seems to be some sort of tension between him and the Commodore. There may be something going on here that we don't know about. Keep your eye on him, Dan."

"Yes sir." Said Morley.

"Mr Vatrax, is there anything else you can do to stop the ship?" Voran asked the science officer.

"Not until we can access the computer," replied the Denobulan, "of course, we could destroy the engines, but then we risk destroying the whole ship and losing any indication as to how the Romulans are involved in all this."

"I'll only consider destroying the ship as a last resort." Said Voran, then he tapped his combadge, "Voran to Savali, how are you doing down there, Commodore?"

<Savali/Tyr>

[Deleted]

"Tranferring data to your station" Tyr called as he routed the flight transponder information to the Commdore's station.
"Anything of interest"

<TAG Commdore Savali>

Tyr kept working at his station, slowly delving his way through the layers of encryption, he began to notice something quite strange. Quite literally every system had been encrypted, but even sttranger than that was the fact that it had all been done with top level encryption. Why anyone would want to use a maximum level encryption code to lockdown the sonic showers was beyond Tyr, but he kept working none the less. The more critical systems were proving increasingly difficult, so he opted to begin working from the ground up. He heard Voran's call throught to Savali, and called over a response to the Commdore.

"Commodore, you can tell the Captain that I'm routing all controls to the decrypted systems to the bridge right now. He is now the proud commander of the sonic showers, replicators and emergency lighting. Everything else will have to wait"

He got back to work, once again sifting through the data to try and find a decryption algorith that worked. For all that the Cardassian decryptor had been designed for tasks like this, it was constantly being stonewalled by the sheer level of Romulan encoding. WHoever had created this had built it to last, and had known exactly what people would be looking for. Suddenly, he heard a noise above them, moving in the metal gantry. The noise was faint, barely recognisable, probably nothing, but it could have been something. Arming the cricket phaser concealed in his ring, Tyr moved over to the Commodore, as if handing over a padd of algorithms to try.

"I'm sorry to bother you Commodore, but I have a sneaking suspicion that someone is in here with us"

<TAG Savali or Govan if you've come aboard>

[mercy]

Stuart found himself staring off into space…literally, as he was looking through the reinforced window that allowed him to look past the station into the vast unknown. Several thoughts had been traversing his mind with no particular importance to any single one of them. They were all important one way or another; the research of T’Val’s child bearing or lack of, the current space freighter that was headed this way, the never ending Debrune politics, and D’Beren’s death.

“Sir, you have a visitor. Her name is Tamir.” Stuart acknowledged the charge nurse and allowed her to show the visitor in.

Shortly after, he was joined by a young Romulan female. T’Val had mentioned the request of the new Romulan security officer, that she might be allowed to work here at the infirmary. Stuart pulled out a PADD as he offered her to take a seat. He looked over it again, as it was a security background check of her. She indeed was trained as a nurse according to Romulan records, if they were to be believed, and there didn’t seem to be any other security alerts on her. Her past appeared clean.

“Well…first off I’m Doctor Mercy, Stuart Mercy. I believe you have already met my wife T’Val. She’s a doctor too, but she prefers Healer T’Val. So you want to work here…hm. If you don’t mind, tell me what experiences you have in this field.”

[Deleted]

Ezdreiana was ready to leave sickbay. She understood the reluctance of setting her free, but she would be of more use if she was working towards a solution in this matter. Tyr had been extremely helpful during this time as he kept her briefed on everything that was happening. Thanks to him she would be able to immediately begin working on the summit and hopefully a peaceful way out this situation.

With word coming down that one of the Debrune elders was missing, tension was at an all time high. The amount of Romulans on Assailant was beginning to worry her, but Magellan knew what he was doing.

"T'Val, can I be released from sickbay?" Ezdreiana asked hoping the Vulcan healer would grant her request a bit earlier than expected.

(T'Val)

[Deleted]

"And how do you propose to do that?" Tedak countered, "they're not answering any hails and they're not slowing speed. Either they're a kamikaze or they're out of control. Considering the tense situations in this area lately, especially after the Tholian incident and D'beren's death, I wouldn't be surprised if it were the first option."

Determination set on his face as he glared at Govan. "You're not beaming over alone, it isn't safe," he insisted as he turned back to his console. "We could try and disable their engines by firing our own phasers at full disable strength," he suggested, "then we could hack into their computer and command it to release an anethezine gas to render the occupants unconscious. After we have subdued them, then it will be safe to board that ship. Before then, I am not allowing you to beam over. Not on your own. Besides, what if you beam over and they fire on this shuttle when we have our shields down? What would Vebn say?"

[Deleted]

The young woman looked at the human doctor with wide, frightened eyes. One moment, Tamir had been sitting in her cell, the same cell she’d been in for what had felt like months, and the next moment the guards were escorting her here to what was clearly a medical facility. Was she to be put to work as punishment for her assumed involvement with Major Echal? If so, that would certainly be better than spending the rest of her life behind a forcefield, but the nurse was still terrified.

“I…I studied nursing at the University of Togal on Romulus. I worked at a hospital there in triage and intensive care for a year before being assigned to the…to a Romulan warbird. I’d only been onboard a month when…” the nurse trailed off nervously, as she’d been trying to be brave throughout her incarceration and not say anything that she might not be supposed to reveal.

“Please Sir, you have to believe me. I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m just a nurse. I take care of people who are sick; that’s all. I don’t want any trouble, and I didn’t mean to get involved in anything bad.” Tamir pleaded, blinking back tears. This whole ordeal was beginning to take its toll on her.

The guards had not listened to anything the Romulan woman had to say and demanded information from her that she did not know, though a few officers had begun to show some compassion. There was no reason to believe that this doctor would be any different; however, just seeing someone other than a security officer without a weapon, especially a medical officer, had given her a moment of hope.

Finally glancing back down at the floor, Tamir whispered, “I’m a good nurse. I will do whatever you want. Just please don’t send me back to that cell.”

~

Govan’s fists clenched and released at his sides as he struggled to not strangle or punch the Romulan sitting next to him. It was clear that Tedak would either have to be unconscious or he was coming along too. While the Major vehemently preferred the Ambassador taken out of the equation, somehow he knew doing so would come back to bite him. Because of the apparent distrust between the two Ambassadors, Vebn most likely would not object if the security officer did knock Tedak out, but that would mean putting all his eggs in one basket so to speak, and Govan wasn’t ready to trust Vebn exclusively, not yet and perhaps not ever.

“Fine.” the Major finally conceded, glaring in displeasure. “You can come, but let me be clear. I am in charge of this mission, and you will do exactly as I say, when I say it. This is within my area of expertise, not yours, and any unapproved action on your part could jeopardize our cover. Otherwise, you will stay here, and you won’t be in any condition to protest. You got it?”

The look Tedak sent his way would have killed him if looks could kill, but Govan didn’t even blink. Finally, the Ambassador nodded, though he looked far from happy about it. Whether or not his fellow Romulan would actually do what he was told was another matter entirely. Still, the nod would simply have to do for now.

~

Half an hour later and the duo had made their way to a deck above the computer core. They had already been near the bridge, accessing the control center by carefully cracking a door to slip a small audio and sensor surveillance device inside. The only other lifesigns aboard were in the computer core, so that’s where they had gone next. So far Tedak had been cooperating, not saying a word and merely following along, which in the Major’s mind proved he didn’t need to be here.

Reaching the computer core through the section above the two Federation citizens, Govan signaled for Tedak to remain there while he moved closer to see if he could hear what they were saying and get another recording device as close as possible. The Ambassador shook his head indicating he was coming, causing Major Echal to fix the man with the most threatening glare he could manage and nod that he was indeed to remain. The diplomat shook his head again, meeting Govan’s glare with one of his own, apparently determined not to get left behind.

Barely managing to hold back a frustrated sigh, Govan rolled his eyes and began to move forward cautiously, not needing an argument. Tedak followed wordlessly, at least seeming to know enough to be quiet. Unfortunately, when the feet of the two men settled on a particularly temperamental section of deck, the metal groaned under their weight. The Romulans froze, Govan sending a scolding glare back at Tedak as if to inform him that wouldn’t have happened if he had stayed behind as requested, though it may have whether he had or not.

While continuing to remain still to avoid making any more sounds and glaring at each other, one accusingly and one defensively, the voice of one of the men below could be heard. "I'm sorry to bother you Commodore, but I have a sneaking suspicion that someone is in here with us"

Glaring back at Tedak once more as if to say, ‘this is your fault’ Govan very carefully knelt on the deck and slipped the surveillance bug on the underside of the metal. Rising slowly once more, the Major signaled the Ambassador to back up and the two men made their way backwards from the suspicious men below.

Once they were finally alone once more, Govan turned on his companion and whispered furiously, “I told you to stay behind. Now they suspect we’re here.” With a frustrated sigh, Govan raked his fingers through his hair trying to remain calm to complete the mission. “Alright, we need to get out of here, but first we have to find an operational computer terminal and implant a bug to link the computer with the shuttle. And the next time I tell you do to do something, you do it, alright?”

Not giving the Ambassador a chance to answer, Govan moved off to find an already activated terminal. Powering up and using a previously deactivated consol would show up on the bridge, so that was out. He just hoped it was only a matter of time before they found what they needed and were able to get off this ship. The last thing he needed was to be captured…again…