Book 1, Chapter 3: Working With The Enemy

[Deleted]

Worried about Nathan and simultaneously wanting to kill him, Megan leaned back in the chair and tried to calm down. This was becoming a disaster, and the doctor had just made her job so much harder. The only good news was that Sural would soon be going. “Garrett to Ensign Garrett, please escort Doctor Sural to the bridge.”

=/\=We’re on our way,=/\= Marina replied over the comm before the channel closed.

Sighing heavily, Commander Garrett internally debated everything that needed to be done. She would need to speak with Jayden, tell him what happened or at least try to explain. Megan also needed to check in with Lieutenant Tavik and Commander T’Ress to see if they had made any progress on detecting the cloaked warbird. It was even more imperative now, as once their guest returned, the S’Harien could easily cloak, cease position transmission, and disappear taking Nathan with them, and that was something that in spite of the trouble he’d caused she would not allow.

~

Approaching Nathan’s office, where Sural was still working, Marina signaled for permission to enter before walking through the door. “Doctor, Commander Garrett has requested our presence on the bridge. It sounded important,” she added. The message itself hadn’t sounded particularly pressing, but the security officer knew her sister well enough to tell from the stress in her voice that something happened. “I suggest we head there immediately,” she suggested, feeling they needed to go.

<Tag Sural>

Fortunately, he hadn’t put up too much of a fight, and very soon after, the two of them were in the turbolift on the way to the bridge. Marina had seen Nathan enter sickbay briefly, speak to Hannah, and then leave again, but she hadn’t been able to overhear what he’d said. However, the tone of voice had sounded fairly urgent.

When Sural and her sister arrived on the bridge, Megan addressed the Romulan. “Doctor van Breughel beamed himself to the S’Harien. He requested permission to return with you to your vessel to continue your work but apparently was unwilling to wait. I’ve spoken with your Commander, and he has agreed to allow our doctor to remain as a guest aboard the S’Harien and for you to return whenever you like.”

<Tag Sural>

Marina stood openmouthed in shock as she heard what Nathan had done. She’d never expected he, or anyone else for that matter, would do something like that. It was dangerous, more than likely against orders, and just plain stupid. Briefly she wondered if she should have made more of an effort to overhear him and perhaps prevent this, but alas, that wasn’t particularly helpful now, and it was far too late...

“Ensign Garrett, please escort the Doctor to transporter room two,” Megan ordered, grateful that the doctor hadn’t created any further trouble. As much as she would have liked him to remain as a bargaining chip for Nathan’s return, his return to the S’Harien was what she had needed to smooth over Doctor van Breughel’s actions.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Marina replied smoothly, trying to reign in her surprise as she led the Romulan physician to the turbolift. Nathan’s move had been the last thing she had expected, and now she was very worried for him. “Doctor Sural...I don’t know why Nathan did what he did, or what kind of trouble he’s going to be in for this, but he is a dedicated doctor with a family. I...realize you have no motivation to do so, but if you could look out for him, at least as a fellow physician…he needs to get home.”

<Tag Sural>

They arrived at the transporter room rather quickly, and soon he was standing on the pad ready for transport. Once he dematerialized, her shift would officially be over.

~

Back on the bridge, once the transporter room signaled that Sural was present, Megan turned to the officer at Ops. “Transmit a transport request,” she ordered, hoping that Commander Echal would make it easy for them to transport the doctor. A few moments later, sensors showed the S’Harien decloaking off the port bow, their shields down and their transport coordinates verified. “Scan for the doctor’s biosignature. See if we can find and retrieve him before they recloak or raise shields.”

A few moments later, Sural was gone, and the S’Harien recloaked. They hadn’t been able to find Nathan, either because of the time constraints or he was in a shielded location. Had he been found, Megan wouldn’t have hesitated to beam him back with or without Echal’s permission, but that had not been an option unfortunately.

Still furious at him but wishing he was safely on the Jefferson where she would be the only threat to him, Megan again regrouped her mental focus and made the call she was dreading having to make. “Corporal Mitchell, please report to the bridge,” she requested, knowing this conversation was going to be very unpleasant to have.

<Tag Jayden>

Just then, they received the first good news they’d had in awhile: the S’Harien was once again transmitting their position, enabling both vessels to resume their course following the ion trail. This would give Lieutenant Tavik and Commander T’Ress more data to assist in the quest to detect the warbird’s position while it was cloaked. Now all that was left to do was wait for Jayden to arrive, continue to follow the ion trail, and hope that progress would be made tracking the attackers and the S’Harien.

<Tag All>

[Deleted]

Tevio was wasting time, as Govan Echal would put it. In truth, and this Tevio knew, it was anything but that. The conflict between Romulan CO and Human FO, punctuated by the recent exchange that the Intel officer knew had taken place, just now above deck, was too large a factor to ignore. Despite the effort that Echal seemingly wanted him to put into shunning this elusive history, for whatever personal reasons those were, it just could not be put away. It would always force its way into this assignment's overall picture, whether for the good or ill of the S'Harien.

The reams of data were not exhaustive it seemed, but on the downside they were almost entirely useless. Tevio was leaning over his desk, examining the recently uncovered monolithic file store from standing position, having grown tired of sitting and dare he admit a little restless. He sensed Lieutenant Hhurvan moving into the room.

"I'll have to take all of the secondary storage apart too, Lieutenant." The Legate said, his eyes following Hhurvan as the latter glided in and placed some datapads on a tray.

"Yes, sir." He stopped in the doorway on the way out, "May I inquire?" he asked, "Is it necessary to go searching so intensively?" Tevio raised both eyebrows but said nothing. Someone was feeling brave this day... "That is," Hhurvan went on, "With the arrival of the Human doctor and his meeting with the Commander -"

"The Human's been to the bridge?" Tevio cut in emotionlessly, and the question contained within received a sharp nod from Hhurvan. "He was next on the itinerant list of my tasks, but Mavak was supposed to be doing the background research."

"Yes, Legate."

"So he can continue with it can he not? Now depart from my presence and let those of less capability perform their duties, until I can invest the time to give the matter an expert's view. Tomorrow we shall hear ourselves again."

Hhurvan left with a frown on his face, and was just far enough away that he would likely fail to hear the commcall made to Tevio at that moment. "Echal to Ch'varak, report to the bridge, immediately."

A pause first and then Tevio replied slowly, "On my way."

Tevio swept on to the bridge, fixing sight on the impassive Echal sitting stonelike in his seat, which was unusual in Ch'varak's opinion - unless the Commander was frozen in place for reasons other than meditatory contentment. He smirked when he came around into sight of the Commander.

"What madness is this?" he asked, "A Human doctor, a civilian no less, on our Warbird?"

Of course, Tevio wasn't going to explain why he was only bringing this up now, and in front of the bridge crew incidentally... "I presume you have good reason for not having removed him already. If he was to be returned to his vessel or otherwise disposed of then your latest intership communication with Commander Garrett would have cleared that up. He's currently in sickbay, I assume? What do you think he can tell us that we don't already know?"

<Tag Govan>

[Deleted]

“I don’t know how you’re used to doing things on the Jefferson, Doctor, but here, we have protocols that are strictly enforced and consequences for those who do not follow them. See that you ask before you act during the duration of your...stay,” Echal added dryly before continuing. “You will be escorted back to sickbay where you may study your information. You are to check in with the staff there before you touch anything, and they will assign you space to do your work. You are to be under escort at all times and are not to go anywhere without a security officer. If you need to rest, you will be escorted to quarters. These instructions are not to be deviated from in any way. Do you understand?” Govan demanded firmly, still glaring at him.

Nathan cringed under the tirade, visibly fighting the urge to cower, but not quite succeeding. Yet, somehow he did manage to keep his eyes on Govan, where normally he would've averted them. ~progress~ he thought triumphantly, though grimly. The Human doctor listened, nodding or shaking his head where appropriate, all without saying a word. While he was quite glad that he had beamed over, as he had discovered a few things he still needed to work out, he was also scared to death. Not per sé of the Romulans, but more because of the precarious situation he'd gotten himself into. And then there was something about Govan that he didn't quite understand yet, but he was determined to know eventually. He met Echal's glare with one of his own, a defiant glare with a hint of fear.

“Good,” Echal replied, not giving him any time to whine or complain or whatever else he may have wanted to say. “Begin your work immediately. The sooner you finish, the sooner you may return to your vessel and leave mine. Now leave my bridge.”

Nathan nodded respectfully. "Yes sir," he replied acidly, while turning to his escort. "Shall we then?" he asked mockingly, almost adding a sort of insult/endearment to he phrase. He swallowed that on the last second, not wanting to get himself into any more trouble than he knew he was already in. He preseced his young escort back into the lift and leaned against the wall, suddenly looking a little pale. "Get me back to sickbay," he ordered sharply, "immediately." No deviation was acceptable, and he wasn't going to tell his 'host' that he had an illness. It was a weakness that could be used against him, immediately.

== USS Jefferson ==

“Corporal Mitchell, please report to the bridge,” came the order over his combadge.

Jayden sighed, while activating the holonanny. "Freddy'll be home soon," he instructed the nanny, while handing her baby Angel. "She still needs to be changed and then have her nap. I'll be back as soon as I can." He tapped his combadge in return. "On my way ma'am."

The young marine felt miserable, infuriated and scared all at the same time. His husband was missing. Well, technically not missing as he knew exactly where he was, but he also knew he would most definitely be in danger. He somehow was privy to his mate's fear, but couldn't get any exact thoughts due to him being out of sight.

Jayden shook his head, a furious expression on his face by the time he reached the bridge. "Corporal Mitchell reporting as ordered," he announced stiffly, his fear and anger clearly audible in his voice. "Any word on Nathan?" he enquired carefully, "did you find him yet?" He stopped short in his tracks, feeling as if he had almost slammed into a wall of fury. It took only a second to realise whose fury.

(megan)

The half-Betazoid's expression darkend. "Why that..." he started, falling silent. "I'll have his.." he raged on, "of all the stupid..." In his fury, he never finished his sentences, leaving them open to the imaginations of those that witnessed his fury.

(megan)

[Deleted]

Approaching Nathan’s office, where Sural was still working, Marina signaled for permission to enter before walking through the door. “Doctor, Commander Garrett has requested our presence on the bridge. It sounded important,” she added. The message itself hadn’t sounded particularly pressing, but the security officer knew her sister well enough to tell from the stress in her voice that something happened. “I suggest we head there immediately,” she suggested, feeling they needed to go.

"Ah my keeper." Sural smiled as Marina approached, "Of course young lady I suggested the very same to your doctor earlier but he seems to have disappeared. Lead on"

Fortunately, he hadn’t put up too much of a fight, and very soon after, the two of them were in the turbolift on the way to the bridge. Marina had seen Nathan enter sickbay briefly, speak to Hannah, and then leave again, but she hadn’t been able to overhear what he’d said. However, the tone of voice had sounded fairly urgent.

When Sural and her sister arrived on the bridge, Megan addressed the Romulan. “Doctor van Breughel beamed himself to the S’Harien. He requested permission to return with you to your vessel to continue your work but apparently was unwilling to wait. I’ve spoken with your Commander, and he has agreed to allow our doctor to remain as a guest aboard the S’Harien and for you to return whenever you like.”

"He has gone aboard the S'Harein without me" Sural exclaimed in surprise, "He suggested we do so, but I said we should inform our superiors first. I ll not have him in my sickbay without me." he continued indignantly

Marina stood openmouthed in shock as she heard what Nathan had done. She’d never expected he, or anyone else for that matter, would do something like that. It was dangerous, more than likely against orders, and just plain stupid. Briefly she wondered if she should have made more of an effort to overhear him and perhaps prevent this, but alas, that wasn’t particularly helpful now, and it was far too late...

“Ensign Garrett, please escort the Doctor to transporter room two,” Megan ordered, grateful that the doctor hadn’t created any further trouble. As much as she would have liked him to remain as a bargaining chip for Nathan’s return, his return to the S’Harien was what she had needed to smooth over Doctor van Breughel’s actions.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Marina replied smoothly, trying to reign in her surprise as she led the Romulan physician to the turbolift. Nathan’s move had been the last thing she had expected, and now she was very worried for him. “Doctor Sural...I don’t know why Nathan did what he did, or what kind of trouble he’s going to be in for this, but he is a dedicated doctor with a family. I...realize you have no motivation to do so, but if you could look out for him, at least as a fellow physician…he needs to get home.”

"Your correct in that I have no motivation. I have found his whole attitude in this matter thoroughly unprofessional. He has appeared idle and uncoperative. Not what I expected for Starfleet at all. However as you ask it, I will enusre he gets home."

They arrived at the transporter room rather quickly, and soon he was standing on the pad ready for transport. Once he dematerialized, her shift would officially be over.

Appearing reassuringly on the S'harien Sural made directly for the lab. He tapped his comm unit.

"Tamir is that Human Doctor there"
There was a pause and then Tamir replied, explaining that the Doctor had been and that he had been whisked off to see Govan.
Sural smiled, hopefully Govan would gut him. He then recalled Marinas request. He had been impressed by her calm efficency and despite their cultural differences had been pleased that she had treated him well. Cursing under his breath he increased his speed to sickbay.

He tapped his comm unit once more,
"Sural to Chvarak. We have an unwanted guest please can you pick him up and return him to the Jefferson, we have no need of him and I definetly don't want him in my sickbay"

TAG CHvarak.

As he arrived he was met by Tamir at the door. She indicated that something was wrong,

"The doctor appeared just now from seeing the Commander."

"He's in my sickbay un escorted?"

"There is security present."

"Bah." Sural grunted and pushed his way into his medical facility.

Dr Van Breughal had evidently just arrived and was looking around the room.

"You sir are no doctor.You call Romulans duplicitous but you are far worse. You are idle and complacent. You were slow in autopsing the bodies and failed to make any important discoveries on the matter."

Nathan looked about to speak but Sural had not finished,

"On top of that you showed the discourtesy of beaming here to my sickbay without me because you were too impatient to wait for me. Well I don't want or need your help. I know how to deal with the bio-toxin now and it will be up to my Commanding Officer as to whether we share that information." Sural moved around to plant himself in front of the doctor, "You will be leaving now. I will not hinder your own investigation and will beam one of our corpses over. But suffice to say our partnership is at an end and I ll be making a formal complaint. Now get out of my sickbay."

TAG ALL

[Deleted]

"What madness is this? A Human doctor, and a civilian no less, on our Warbird?" Eyes narrowing, not particularly liking the Legate’s tone, Echal remained stormily silent as Tevio continued. "I presume you have good reason for not having removed him already. If he was to be returned to his vessel, or otherwise disposed of, then your latest intership communication with Commander Garrett would have cleared that up. He's currently in sickbay, I assume? What do you think he can tell us that we don't already know?" Ch’varak questioned, further annoying the Commander.

“I do have good reason,” Echal countered coldly. “Not that I would discuss those reasons so openly on the bridge, as you seem to have no problem doing,” Govan chided sarcastically, standing and moving to the ready room without further comment making it perfectly clear that Tevio was expected to then follow him off the bridge.

Echal was riled, and his emotional control over his temper was stretched thin, so once out of sight as the door slid closed behind them, the Commander turned on the Legate, towering over the shorter officer with his face only inches away from Tevio’s. “Let’s get one thing straight, Lieutenant. This is not ‘our’ warbird. This is MY warbird, and I suggest you remember it, because I will not be spoken to in such a manner on my own bridge. So take care that you address me appropriately, especially in front of the rest of the crew, or you will have crossed a line that I will not tolerate.”

<Tag Tevio>

Leveling a final glare in his direction, Govan turned his back and spun to face the window. “I did not return the Federation doctor to his ship because remaining here gives us a bargaining chip. Besides, I doubt a civilian doctor poses much threat to a ship of highly trained Romulan officers, unless you happen to be afraid of him,” Echal quipped. “As for what information he might have, I doubt he knows anything aside from whatever medical data he contributes, and although he’s insignificant, he will of course remain under guard during the duration of his stay. If you wish to have your staff observe him as well then be my guest. You may even speak to him if you would like, but he is not to be interrogated by anyone but me. Is that clear?”

<Tag Tevio>

“Now get out of my sight,” Echal spat, not even turning around as he glared at the Legate’s reflection in the window as the seemingly endless starscape streamed past.

[Deleted]

It didn’t take long after her request for Jayden to arrive on the bridge. Just one look at the tension on his face made her furious. Nathan should have known better than to put them in this position. "Corporal Mitchell reporting as ordered. Any word on Nathan, did you find him yet?" he questioned, his fear only intensifying her anger.

Taking a careful breath and replacing her mental shields, which not only served to block the empathic Marine but also helped her stay calmer, Megan answered. “He beamed himself to the Romulan warbird after his request was denied by both myself and the Captain. I was concerned he would try something, but a situation arose that gave him just enough time to make his move. He stunned the operator and beamed himself to the cloaked ship at warp,” she told him, knowing that such information would be upsetting but also feeling that he deserved to know the truth.

The fury on Jayden’s face was unmistakable as his face flushed and he struggled for words. "Why that...I’ll have his...of all the stupid..." he tried, failing to complete a thought, although the basic intent of his fragmented sentences was clear enough.

“I concur completely...” Megan commented dryly, swallowing back her own anger. “I’m sorry we were unable to prevent him from doing this. I assure you that if there had been a way, he never would have managed to get aboard that ship,” the First Officer assured him, pausing before adding her real reason for wanting to speak with him. “And Corporal, I can assure you that I will do everything within my power to see that he is returned to the Jefferson safely. He’s made my job rather difficult, but I will get him back, and when I do, I will make sure he sees just how unacceptable his actions were and make it perfectly clear he is never to do anything like this again.”

<Tag Jayden>

Offering him a tight smile, Megan added, “I’ll speak with Major Johnson. I think you should be with the kids right now. Consider yourself off duty until this is resolved,” she insisted, her tone making it clear it wasn’t negotiable. “I’ll keep you informed.”

<Tag Jayden>

As the Corporal made his way off the bridge, Commander Garrett regathered her thoughts and emotions. She hated this whole situation, a situation they shouldn’t be in at all. One thing was certain...she would deal with Nathan when he got back...

Attempting to dismiss those thoughts from her mind, Megan turned her attention to other matters. “Garrett to Tavik, I know you are probably still working on detecting the cloaked warbird, but I wanted to suggest that any theory you develop can now be tested with sensor records from the period of time when the S’Harien stopped transmitting their position. If you can track the warbird from where they decloaked back to when they ceased transmission, that will be a good way to prove a method.”

<Tag Valad>

“Have you and Commander T’Ress made any progress?” the First Officer asked.

<Tag Valad/J’Varr>

[Deleted]

Nathan had returned to sickbay without delay and had carefully made use of Sural's equipment to run his tests and perform his analysis. Using samples from one of the corpses in his sickbay, he was now studying tissue material and immunological markers present or absent on the tissue. Nathan had high hopes to be able to identify that which of the plant was the toxin being used, and the effect on tissue. He was staring through the double oculars of the microscope when he heard footfalls behind him.

Not in the least surprised, he looked up. "Took you long enough," he quipped, returning his attention back to his study, not seeing the fury on the Romulan's face.

"You sir are no doctor.You call Romulans duplicitous but you are far worse. You are idle and complacent. You were slow in autopsing the bodies and failed to make any important discoveries on the matter."

Nathan looked up again and opened his mouth to retort, but he never got the chance for Sural rambled on:

"On top of that you showed the discourtesy of beaming here to my sickbay without me because you were too impatient to wait for me. Well I don't want or need your help. I know how to deal with the bio-toxin now and it will be up to my Commanding Officer as to whether we share that information." Sural moved around to plant himself in front of the doctor, "You will be leaving now. I will not hinder your own investigation and will beam one of our corpses over. But suffice to say our partnership is at an end and I ll be making a formal complaint. Now get out of my sickbay."

This time, Nathan drew himself up to his full height. He was terrified but oddly enough a sort of calm washed over him as he glared back at the alien doctor. "No," he replied coldly, "no, I am not leaving. For one, because we have work to do and two, Commander Echal himself has ordered me to stay here and work here." He nodded over to his guard. "I have never been alone, unlike you. I have not known a solitary moment since I came aboard, unlike you, when you were on the Jefferson."

His glare hardened, his left hand clenching into a fist, which he jammed into the pocket of his coat, feeling his nails bite into the palm of his hand. He was angry, no he was furious, but he was terrified all the same. He knew he was in serious trouble, but he reasoned that what he was doing was well worth that risk. "I have not been keeping secrets, I have informed my commanding officer from the start that I was willing to come here. I have not accessed anything beyond my need to know in this research investigation. You, however, have made full use of our computers, researching items that, from what I can deduct, have precious little to do with our investigation. So yes, you are indeed duplicitous, in that you have used the free access I had granted to for your personal gain. I have been nothing but hospitable to you, I have given you many freedoms my commanding officer quite disagreed on me giving you. And you have been nothing but discourteous towards me, calling me names and being generally rude."

His other hand clenched around the edge of the desk, the skin on his hand turning white with the strain, as he paled a little. He felt the warning dull ache in his chest but for now he ignored it. "I am a civillian," he carried on, "but I am no less capable than any Starfleet doctor. I am damn good at what I do, and my commanding officer values me for it. How does your commanding officer value you? Would you give your life for him? Because here I am, risking my life, so that my commanding officer might live becasue we will find an antidote, so when our ships come under attack, I at least can say I did everything I could to save the crew. Can you? What are you risking?"

He pointed in the general direction of where he thought Jefferson would be. "I'm risking my carreer, my husband, and my children. On top of that I am quite certain I risk the wrath of my commanding officer. But what will my reward be? Saving billions of life. I care not for mine, but for those out there? Oh yes, I do. To save my family, I would gladly risk myself."

==Jefferson==

Jayden nodded gratefully. "Thank you commander," he answered her, "that's much appreciated. I don't want them to be alone right now. Just promise me one thing ma'am, leave something of him when you're through, because I have something to say to him as well. He won't like it but it has to be done. He'll understand, eventually, even though it may hurt him then and there. This can't go on..."

He nodded politely, saluted briskly, then walked off the bridge.

[Valad Tavik]

Valad profusely perused the ideas that he received from Commander T'Ress. They were good ideas, but as Valad tested each of them in turn, he still hadn't found anything. He had several other ops officers working on the task as well. "Any luck?" he asked each of the teams. Every team replied with an unsuccessful test. Nothing could penetrate the cloak. Not a thing. Valad Tavik, for once in his life was getting nowhere.

D'Etora:
Crew Quarters
D'Etora Maron was asleep. It had been a long time before she had been able to sleep so well. She hoped she would return to duty soon, so that probably helped. She lay in her bed, breathing deeply. Her breath suddenly stopped. The half klingon slowly opened her eyes. She had a smile on her face. Valad. Getting out of her bed, D'Etora stretched. She felt energized and ready for anything. She put on a uniform, for the first time in a long while. She looked in the mirror and walked out the door.

Both:
Ops office
Valad sat in his chair. It swiveled to and fro. He stared off into the distance. He had nothing, not a thing to go on. Not a single lead. He was at a loss. In his youth, he had been trained for this sort of thing. He knew how to outwit the enemy, but why wasn't it working now? He had never found himself like this not even when the unthinkable happened . . .

//Several years in the past//

"Lieutenant Commander Bolan Tavik. You are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment and are hereby stripped of rank indefinitely."

Valad watched as his father was condemned to the end of his life. He stood in the crowd, not wanting to be seen. His father had just returned to Starfleet and was already being booted out. Now, Valad was planning to join Starfleet academy, but with this, was there a point? He would be rejected almost immediately. ~I hate you.~ Valad thought to himself.

As the crowd stood to leave, Valad quietly left with them but hung back in the atrium and watched for his father to be escorted to the ship that would take him to the penal colony. Four security offficers walked out with Bolan Tavik in between them. A look of hate was in his eyes. Valad tailed them, staying within sight but far enough away to not attract the security guards attention. They were very alert, but Valad was trained to stay out of sight. After following them for nearly ten minutes, they made an unexpected move. They turned away from the direction of the transport and began to walk down a back alleyway. What were they doing? Valad began to follow them a little closer. They came to a large open area where the group stopped and waited. Valad kept a close watch on them, trying to figure out what they were waiting for. Out of the shadows came a figure Valad was hoping to never lay eyes on.

"Well done gentlemen." It was the leader of the Agency, known as The Master. Two bodyguards came out of the shadows with him. "Bolan Tavik. You honestly thought you could abandon your own true family. Tsk tsk. Going back to Starfleet. I sent my best to impersonate guards to bring you to me."

Bolan spat in his face."I'm done with you. You did nothing but destroy me. My family is dead, by your hand. What do you want with me now?"

The Master laughed. "I'm not about to let you destroy my firm, Bolan. You know too much, and it is now time for you to go. But I thought you might like to know that there is one member of your family still alive. Your daughter, Aeron, is quite alive, though she has been in stasis for quite some time." Valad gasped to himsef. ~Aeron!~ "You see, Bolan? She has the potential to do so much, but she must be trained properly. I've left her in the capable hands of your best friend, Brevan Dirk"

Bolan almost whimpered and plead, "please. Let her go. She deserves better than you."

"Amusing, to say the least, but to no avail. Its time Bolan." The man took out a phaser. "I am a merciful man Bolan. I have set this phaser to vaporize you. I thought that would work nicely. Now stand up and turn around." Bolan didn't move. "Get him up!"

The four impersonators grabbed him and forced him up. They turned him around. Bolan looked up directly at Valad. His eyes went wide. "Run Valad!" he screamed. Simultaneously, Valad reached into his pocket and pulled an antimatter grenade from his pocket while The Master pulled the trigger. Valad threw the grenade as he watched his father vaporize in front of him. The grenade exploded, sending the entire group sprawling to the ground. The placement of the grenade was perfect. The two body guards and two of the impersonators died instantly while the other two impersonators and The Master went down. Valad walked up and shot the two impersonators with the phaser he carried. The other man crawled to the nearest phaser, but Valad stopped him in his tracks. He rolled the man over and put his foot on the man's chest.

"You know I'm not the Master."

Valad smiled. "Of course I know. But now he has a message." And with that, Valad crushed the imposter's neck and the imposter died instantly.

//Present//

D'Etora walked into the ops office and found Valad deep in thought. "Hey."

Valad looked at her and gave her a weak smile. "Hey. Didn't I just drop you off?"

"I couldn't sleep. I'm heading to sickbay to see if I can get back on duty." She noticed a deep sense of thought in Valad. "You ok?"

Valad frowned a bit. "I just can't make heads or tails of this cloak task."

"Take a break. You're off duty, Valad." She seemed insistent but Valad knew he couldn't.

"I can't, D'Etora. I've got to find a way to penetrate that cloak."

She merely smiled. "Some things never change. I'll come give you a hand when I get cleared . . . . well, if I get cleared." She walked out.

Valad smiled after her. Maybe I should take a break. He got up to walk out and stopped. Some things never change. . . . . that's it! Valad hurried over to a computer console and looked up the vessel schematics for the D'deridex class warbird. It wasn't the Valdore type, but the Valdore type was almost exactly the same internally.

A call came over the comm. =/\=“Garrett to Tavik, I know you are probably still working on detecting the cloaked warbird, but I wanted to suggest that any theory you develop can now be tested with sensor records from the period of time when the S’Harien stopped transmitting their position. If you can track the warbird from where they decloaked back to when they ceased transmission, that will be a good way to prove a method.”=/\=

"Acknowledged Commander."

=/\="Have you and Commander T'Ress made any progress?"=/\=

"We had a meeting Commander but nothing came of it. However, I think I might have just found something that looks promising. I'm on my way to the bridge. Tavik out."

He transferred what he had found to the bridge console and walked out to go to the bridge.

Sickbay:

Crewman D'Etora Maron walked into sickbay confidently. She felt better indeed but she needed the approval of the medical staff to get back on duty. She searched for someone who would give her a clean bill of health, or at least she hoped.

"Nurse Lowell, I'd like to return to duty, please."

(Tag Hannah)

Bridge:

Valad walked onto the bridge and relieved the ops officer on duty. As he took the station, he spoke to Commander Garrett. "Commander, the Valdore type is quite a unique vessel, but not perfect. If you'll notice, it resembles another Romulan vessel, the D'Deridex class." Valad sent the information to her console. "The Valdore type is a souped up D'deridex class vessel. It has the same strengths and very few weaknesses. The S'Harien is invisible to the naked eye but not to scanners if you know what you are scanning for."

Valad brought up the scanning data and tested his theory. "The old D'Deridex class ships could be detected through use of finding any electromagnetic emissions that come from the ship. The new model Valdore type takes care of most of that, so that option is out of the question. What it still doesn't take care of though is the subspace variance that should light it up like a wildfire." Valad looked through the scans from the sensors finding exactly what he needed. "So far so good. It is right there where it should have been. And now for the drumroll, please."

Valad scanned for the subspace variance and sent the results directly to Commander Garrett's console.

(tag Megan)

[Deleted]

Sural could barely contain himself. This doctor actually believed himself to be in the right. He knew full well that the Jefferson commander had not sanctioned his visit nor had Govan. He also knew that the Doctor was well out of his depth medically or so it appeared. The man had delayed autopsying the patients preferring to go swimming with his husband and instead of focusing on a way to utilise the knowledge that a Bajoran flora was possible source he had left his sickbay and come over here, to review results Sural had already disseminated to him.

Reining in his growing annoyance he decided to do pretty much as he normally did in these situations and ignore them.

"Computer. Complete lock out authorisation Sural T-Galorn1. No medical interface, door lock or other coded apparatus is to be operated without Romulan Level 3 clearance."

He turned to Tamir,

"Nurse. I have made some progress I believe I know how to synthesis an anti-toxin. I need you to set up a lab for me with an industrial replicator and 40 litres of biomimetic gel with a transition tank. DNA Sequencer and a High Spectrum Expressor."

Turning to give Nathan a look of cold derision Sural walked past him,
"I will be seeing the commander. When I return we shall begin." he stopped beside the two centurions that had been guarding Nathan and said,
"I see no reason why the Doctor cannot remain here now. But should he wish to leave this room might I suggest the Transporter room might be a good destination"

He left sickbay and went directly to the nearest lift and on to the bridge.
Govan wasn't in command at the moment Dorvel instead occupied the centre seat.

"He is in his office"

Sural nodded and went over. He waited to be called in and entered.

"Commander I felt it prudent to report that I believe I have a way to synthesis an anti-toxin. I however require the assistance of the Jefferson. I need them to send me the complete Genome of the bajoran plant from their database."

TAG Govan

"Whilst over there I deduced and confirmed the origin of the toxin. I believe it to be off Bajoran manufacture perhaps to be used against Cardassian occupiers. Therefore I surmise that Bajorans would be immune, we have Bajoran Genomes on record but I need to compare the sequences with that of the plants."

TAG Govan

"Dr Van Breughal is a fool and has done nothing but hinder my work. Even his crew seem amazed at the audacity he has shown coming over here. He did not clear such a move with either his CO or FO. We have considerable lee way here, returning their doctor might enable us to get the information we need and then you can share the results with them if YOU decide to."

TAG Govan

[Deleted]

Tevio realised it as soon as Echal turned to him once the ready room door had closed: that his questioning of the Commander on the bridge would stir up unrest among the command centre's crew.

But for once, he didn't care too much. Sometimes the internal urges that fought each other within him would spill in the wrong direction, out into the world where they would cause damage. In this case, it was the fight between gaining one over Govan Echal in front of the crew, and preserving the naval code of practice.

".. So take care that you address me appropriately, especially in front of the rest of the crew, or you will have crossed a line that I will not tolerate."

Tevio said nothing at the close-in glare Echal was giving him, he merely grated his jaw, keeping silent.

“I did not return the Federation doctor to his ship because remaining here gives us a bargaining chip. Besides, I doubt a civilian doctor poses much threat to a ship of highly trained Romulan officers, unless you happen to be afraid of him... ... You may even speak to him if you would like, but he is not to be interrogated by anyone but me. Is that clear?”

There was a pause; only five seconds or so in length, but the tension in the air multiplied by ten the time it seemed to take for another voice to make an utterance.

"Yes, Commander," Tevio said eventually. Echal watched as the ghosty reflection of his Intel officer started, then turned around and walked out the door of the ready room. On the other side of this sliding door, Ch'varak was wearing a dark expression, tightened into a dirty look; he was back on the bridge but was not satisfied. Odd thoughts filled his head. The strange temptation to take the commander's chair, start distributing orders, spread excuses to the officers around him for Echal's absence in his ready room. Those slightly disturbing, dangerous ideas soon emptied themselves as Tevio received a communication.

"Sural to Chvarak. We have an unwanted guest please can you pick him up and return him to the Jefferson, we have no need of him and I definetly don't want him in my sickbay"

Tevio smiled instantly; new, more welcome and less-than-pleasant thoughts circled his head now. He headed from the bridge, smirking somewhat nastily at the officers manning their stations as he did so, unafraid to hide hostility and to make sure they knew he was still a presence on this vessel; even if the personal view he'd had on his own standing had taken a knock with Echal's dressing down.

His failure to vocally respond to Sural's request did have its side-effects though... The Legate arrived at sickbay, instantly he went to the heart of it, looking for Sural but not finding him. "The Doctor. Quickly." He clicked his fingers impatiently at some nurse.

"He has gone to the bridge..." the female replied.

"He has?" Tevio asked, moving off to stalk the mostly unfamiliar sickbay and examining a tray complete with mysterious vials.

"Yes, he's gone to see Commander Echal."

Excellent... Tevio thought, bad thoughts on his mind and noticing what was obviously a human through a glass screen into another section of the sickbay.

"Your assistance is hardly needed." Tevio stood in the entrance to the inner area, waiting for the human Doctor to realise his presence. When the Doctor, van Breughel his name did eventually turn, Tevio spoke again, "What makes you think you can make more progress than our own medical officer? Do tell me, I'm curious."

This human wasn't particularly deserving of an introduction from him, thought Tevio, thus the reason he didn't tell van Breughel who he was, or his reason for being there.. unless questioned perhaps.

<van Breughel> <Sural etc.>

[Deleted]

== USS Jefferson, main sickbay ==
"Nurse Lowell, I'd like to return to duty, please."

Hannah smiled. “Please take a seat on the biobed and we’ll have your final check-up. Normally, Nathan’d do the clearing for duty, but it seems he’s gone AWOL.” The last part was said with a fair amount of annoyance. “If you do happen to see him, kick him back to sickbay would you?”

The senior nurse finished her scans just as Jayden walked in, a grim look on his face. “No need for that Miss D’Etora,” he scowled, “not unless you intend to go get him from the S’harien. Don’t look so shocked Hannah, he’s gone over there, and only he knows why. But he’s in for something when he gets back, does the man have no brains at all? He’s in danger overthere, that doctor of theirs is ruthless. Romulans are ruthless people, they know no mercy. And with Sural back there, he’s in even more danger.”

Hannah scowled. “You’re cleared for duty,” she told the Klingon woman, “and don’t mind Corporal Mitchell too much. He’s in a bad mood.”

Jayden rolled his eyes, “Whatever,” he answered, “I’m off duty until this mess is cleared. Where’s Angel?” He marched into the CMO’s office to retrieve his daughter. “I’ll be in my quarters,” he informed the both of them.

== IRS S’Harien ==

"I will be seeing the commander. When I return we shall begin." he stopped beside the two centurions that had been guarding Nathan and said,
"I see no reason why the Doctor cannot remain here now. But should he wish to leave this room might I suggest the Transporter room might be a good destination"

Nathan was on the verge of losing his patience, of all the obstinate people he knew, this Romulan must be the worst of all of them. While he didn’t mind the lock-out, especially since he had alreay downloaded everything he needed onto a PADD and into his medical tricorder, he did mind being ignored and being viewed as useless. As Sural departed, Nathan picked up the nearest object he could get his hands on, and hurled it after the departing Romulan at full strength. It missed the man, smashing against the doorframe and splintering into tiny fragments that reflected the light in sickbay.

“Of all the..” he raged, while returning to the microscope. “Tamir, please do as he says. I see no reason why his anger should get directed at you because of delays. And if you can please explain the workings of said device to me. I am assuming that because of cultural differences, I might find your equipment alternating slightly from what I am used to working with. I will be continuing my investigation on tissue processes while introduced with this toxin, and any immunological discrepancies I can find. Sural may be an expert in his field, but I am an expert in mine. Perhaps, eventually, we can find some common ground and work together after all? What do you think?”

He politely listened to the nurse’s response, though he kept his eyes on the instrument before him. He was unaware of someone else approaching until the person spoke to him. "Your assistance is hardly needed."

Startled, the doctor turned to face him. He could see the man wasn’t finished speaking yet, and waited impatiently for him to do so.

"What makes you think you can make more progress than our own medical officer? Do tell me, I'm curious."

“I don’t,” Nathan replied curtly, “we both have our fields of expertise and while he seems to be intent on finding an antitoxin, I’m quite happy to let him do that. But we also need to discover what exactly the effects of this toxin are, more interestingly, the effect on tissue. It probably is beyond an officer such as yourself, but to us doctors such a theory would be more helpful in finding an even more effective cure, or even means to prevent further disaster. As we have both Romulan and Human corpses, as well as a Bajoran one, we can investigate the difference of effect in each. As such, we have discovered a relative immunity in Bajorans and I’m now investigating what receptors may be responsible for this immunity, so that perhaps we can devise a form of vaccine to neutralise it before it is released.”

A sneer appeared on the normally quite docile doctor’s face. “As said, it’s probably beyond one such as yourself.” He was angry, annoyed and above all clearly beyond any normal reason. Apart from the obvious fact that he was afraid. Nathan was trembling, both in fear and anger, and it could be mistaken quite easily for pure fear as he was easily intimidated. He was just showing a for him quite uncharacteristic boldness, which was fired by his desire to save as many lives as was possible, by whatever means necessary.

=== As former Commander Wintrow Paragon ===

Raltorr strapped on a disruptor and went to wake his partner.
They would take the toxin and if he didnt comply with an increased payment then the toxin would be unleashed on him and a new buyer would be sought.

Wintrow woke and jumped as he saw his partner in crime fully armed and bending over him. "Did he take the bait?" he asked immediately, once he'd recovered his wits. "We can always create a slight mutation, so that whatever cure he might already have for this, no longer works."

An evil grin flashed across his face. "Or we mutate it such that it'll only affect his family, if he doesn't abide by our terms. What do you say?"

[Deleted]

The Legate kept trying to brush aside the human's explanation on what he was trying to do, growing impatient as well as a little frustrated with his lack of intimate knowledge in this area. Knowledge which, Tevio was finding, the human had no problem with flaunting or reminding the Intel officer of his lack in that department.

He hid these feelings quite well though, and instead did an adequate job at displaying his disapproval with the human's method of speech. "Hardly necessary, again," he said, "Of course I am no expert in this area." He slowly approached van Breughel, moving to stand beside him at the workspace counter.

"My awareness of the intricacies of this science is not great." Tevio said, looking at all the equipment surrounding him. "These vials, that needle and that scope-device, I don't know the fine details of their use, or what you are currently using them for, but I don't care either.

"If, you claim to know so much about finding cures in organic tissue, then I suggest you do what you were brought over here to do, stop calling me up on any inadequacies you think I might have, and get on with it!" His voice finished as a harsh whisper in van Breughel's ear.

"Odd," he said on the way out of the side-room, "I never introduced himself, but your intuition told you I was not of a scientific or medical background. Very clever of you. And now I will be honest; you, and your kind, disgust me. Weak, and always allowing ideas such as compassion to obscure an objective decision. Your personal feelings that I've been told brought you to our ship in the first place make your presence particularly displeasing. Please continue with your work and if there are any other.. broken, pieces of equipment," he pointed to the smashed device on the floor, "Then these security officers will 'take care' of you."

<van Breughel>

As soon as Tevio stomped from sickbay, he realised that he was truly feeling the anger with van Breughel. It surprised him; for the anger wasn't without reason - the emotional response of a rather 'strung-out' personality - this was logically acceptable anger that he was sure was justified, given his disposition.

But enough of that, he thought. They were only thoughts, and they would occur whether he could help it or not.... A call came on his wrist device. It was Lieutenant Hhurvan.

"Lieutenant, report." The Legate commanded, already on the way to Intelligence.

"Sir, Uhlan Mavak has found some curious information regarding the human Doctor on board."

Tevio sighed, and in fact did the Romulan equivalent of 'rolling his eyes'. "We'll speak of this in person, Lieutenant, and in private too."

Soon he entered Intelligence, Hhurvan and Mavak both immediately calling him over. They entered Tevio's empty, surveillance-proof and completely secure office. They handed the Legate a datapad and regimentally took it in turns to explain what had been found. Tevio's eyes grew wider and wider as he read down the document and as his subordinates explained. He didn't need them to as it was in front of him, but really he didn't care if they babbled on pointlessly if it didn't directly effect him. At first, the collated articles he was reading through seemed completely unrelated to van Breughel, but as he reached the end, Tevio was unbelieving of a remarkable side-affect he was experiencing: he was actually slightly sweating with the anticipation of what could be done now. The history his department had uncovered was indirectly but quite fundamentally related to Doctor van Breughel, and it heavily featured the former Romulan Tal Shiar agent, Govan Echal.

TBC... <All>

[Matthew Reynolds]

Matthew Reynolds was not one to shy away from his emotions, but the anger he felt towards Nathan van Breughel. That anger had caused the young commanding officer to go completely silent. In his head however things were very different. Matt understood why Nathan had taken such drastic measures, but his decision was going to put everyone else on the ship at risk. Echal had to know that Nathan could be used as a bargaining chip against the Jefferson and Matt knew that no matter what Nathan had done, he was going to save his friend.

"Commander Garrett, when this is over I will leave Nathan in your capable hands, I'm afraid that I might strangle him when I see him," Matt said quietly not wanting to attract to much attention which obviously had the opposite effect. "Everyone back to work! Commander in my office please"

(Megan)

"It's very possible that Govan will not make this easy for us, I would rather not open fire on them," Matt said knowing that a confrontation could cause many more problems than even Nathan was worth," we cannot afford a war with the Empire, but if we are forced to we need to able to defend ourselves."

(Megan)

"We can easily disable their cloak with our Polaric neutralization beam, but I'm sure that Govan knows that we have it," Matt said hoping that he was just being overly cautious," I want you to discreetly prepare Ops, Tactical, and Engineering for this possibility. Our focus shall remain on our initial mission, so I don't want a bulk of the crew working on this."

(Megan)

"Alright, lets get back to work," Matt said as he waited for his first officer to exit. Once on the bridge he was glad to see the very capable operations officer back on duty.

"The old D'Deridex class ships could be detected through use of finding any electromagnetic emissions that come from the ship. The new model Valdore type takes care of most of that, so that option is out of the question. What it still doesn't take care of though is the subspace variance that should light it up like a wildfire." Valad looked through the scans from the sensors finding exactly what he needed. "So far so good. It is right there where it should have been. And now for the drumroll, please."

The entire bridge crew waited in anticipation, but nothing immediately appeared. Matt would have usually been disappointed, but he knew that this was no normal Romulan warbird. The Empire would have put extra effort into a ship that would have constant contact with the Federation.

"Do we have anything?"

(Tag All)

[Matthew Reynolds]

"Captain, we are receiving an encrypted transmission which is addressed to you," Monica reported from the secondary ops station," I don't know where its coming from, but I'm trying to pin point its source."

"I wouldn't bother Monica, trust me on this," Matt said as he walked towards his ready room. Matt was one hundred percent positive that the message was from the same secretive individual who had contacted him as the mission began.

"Captain Reynolds, Govan Echal is not your enemy at this moment," the stranger said as soon as the doors closed behind Matt," you should also know that your weapon will not work against the S'Harien. I'm afraid she is just as or more advance than the Jefferson."

"I'm confident in our capabilities, but who are you? I appreciate your help, but I don't like secrets," Matt said alarmed that their only advantage was now gone.

"Captain, please do not be a hypocrite a Starfleet captain holds many secrets especially you," the stranger said sounding a bit annoyed at Matt's attempt of self righteousness.

"Alright then, you know that I have access to information, but it seems not as much as you," Matt said a bit surprised at the stranger's knowledge.

"Or your first officer, Captain. She can be a great asset to you and your crew. She has many friends in high places, but beware of her friends," the stranger said," you are close to your target captain but be careful. You will be receiving a file shortly. You do with it as you wish."

The last time he had spoken to this individual he had tried to trace the transmission, but he knew that it wouldn't work. The fact that he was giving Matt some new information intrigued him.

"File uploaded"

"Open file," Matt said who almost skipped a breath once he saw who was involved in the report. Echal Govan and Megan Garrett had some personal history, more than Megan had let on when they had spoken about the Romulan Commander.

"I doubt you are my friend either," Matt said to himself as he made sure to treat this stranger with caution. Making sure to erase the file completely, Matt walked back onto the bridge. Matt understood that Megan had a secretive past, but he knew that it was in service to the Federation and that eased his worries," Commander I doubt our beam will work on the S'Harien."

(Megan)

[Deleted]

Still seething after Tevio left, Govan paced his office for a few minutes to blow off some steam. It wasn’t as useful as beating someone to a bloody pulp, but at least it helped a little. In fact, he had just taken a seat and attempted to force his muscles to relax when the chime sounded. Feeling his ire rise once more, the Commander tried to smother it, clenching his teeth as he granted access to whoever was there. When the doctor entered, Echal wasn’t exactly pleased to see him, but not overly or particularly furious either. Still, it wouldn’t take much of anything to set him off...

"Commander, I felt it prudent to report that I believe I have a way to synthesis an anti-toxin. I, however, require the assistance of the Jefferson. I need them to send me the complete genome of the Bajoran plant from their database,” Sural reported.

“Fine,” Govan commented offhandedly. “I’ll have the information sent to sickbay.”

"Whilst over there, I deduced and confirmed the origin of the toxin. I believe it to be of Bajoran manufacture, perhaps used against Cardassian occupiers. Therefore, I surmise that Bajorans would be immune. We have Bajoran genomes on record, but I need to compare the sequences with that of the plants,” the doctor babbled on...

Biting back the urge to snap at Sural for all this useless information, he dismissed the medical babble by moving toward the conclusion of this conversation. “You will get the information as soon as I have it. Continue working with the human doctor, and perhaps he’ll have what you need,” Govan suggested without really thinking, surprised by the fury that suddenly sprang into Sural’s eyes at the casual mention.

"Dr. van Breughel is a fool and has done nothing but hinder my work. Even his crew seem amazed at the audacity he has shown coming over here. He did not clear such a move with either his CO or FO. We have considerable leeway here, returning their doctor might enable us to get the information we need, and then you can share the results with them if YOU decide to," Sural offered as Govan’s mind spun with all this.

“Interesting...” Govan murmured leaning back in his chair digesting everything he’d just heard. There had clearly been something odd about the way this Federation doctor had arrived, but the way Sural phrased it sounded like perhaps he had done so directly against Garrett’s wishes. That was a handy little piece of advice and a major advantage. And now, his own doctor, who was being driven mad, had found the anti-dote. Apparently, he had most of the cards, and now, he had options too.

“Clearly you want me to get rid of him, but he is more valuable to us the longer we have him. It gives us more control over this situation, so you’re just going to have to deal with him. Try to get the information from him if you can, so we can bypass the Jefferson altogether. If not, I’ll get the information anyway,” Govan ordered, not at all caring if this inconvenienced or frustrated Sural as that was a fridge benefit.

<Tag Sural>

Knowing the doctor was unhappy only created a smirk on his face as Echal was left in his ready room once more. Stretching back in his chair, the smirk plastered across his face, Govan considered everything he had learned. Once they had the anti-dote, his dominance would be even more secure. He’d have almost everything she wanted: her doctor and the cure. Wouldn’t he just love to see her face then… Maybe this would be payback, his turn to have the upper-hand and win the game.

~

Standing in the observation room adjacent to the cell, Govan watched the prisoner with mild confusion. This didn’t appear to be a Federation agent, and if she was, she wasn’t very talented or well trained. Even though left completely alone without knowledge of his presence, she had started crying several times in the last fifteen minutes he’d stood watching. When not crying, the young girl simply clutched her knees to her chest as if they would protect her, sniffling every now and then with her eyes darting around as if looking for either some kind of threat or someone to save her. It was a bit pathetic, and it left him…what was the word the Sub-Colonel had used...unsettled. An enemy he could handle, but she didn’t look like an enemy...

Dismissing those thoughts as weak, Govan tried to focus on his objectives, but at least now he knew exactly what Sub-Colonel Kalad had meant by his rather cryptic comments. She didn’t look like a threat, but then just how had she managed to get inside such a top-secret, highly secure Tal Shiar facility? And just what was she doing here in the first place? There had to be more to her than met the eye, but if she was deceiving them, the human certainly knew what she was doing. Either she was no threat and very lucky/unlucky or she was highly skilled and very dangerous.

Deciding he had learned everything he could from mere observation, the Centurion briefly stepped into the hallway before entering the detention area. The girl’s eyes widened as soon as she saw him, and she actually pressed herself against the wall and gripped her knees tighter, looking absolutely and completely terrified. Hating the flicker of compassion he felt, and the inexplicable desire to make himself less imposing, Govan stepped inside, forcing his face to remain set, and then faced her.

<Tag Garrett>

~

Hanging back as far as she could during the...exchange? altercation?...Tamir was almost near tears. She didn’t handle conflict well, and two angry doctors facing off like this certainly fell into that category. When whatever Nathan threw, she’d been too busy being invisible to see what it was, smashed into pieces at the doorway, it was all she could do to keep from crying out. The nurse had felt happy to work with a Federation doctor again, but this was even worse than dealing with Sural and the other Romulans here. This was a lot more terrifying, and for a fleeting moment, she really wanted Govan here but knew calling him would probably end the human’s life.

Unfortunately, as soon as Sural was gone and the fragmented item fell to the floor, the doctor turned right to her. She hadn’t been invisible enough... “Tamir, please do as he says. I see no reason why his anger should get directed at you because of delays, and if you can please explain the workings of said device to me. I am assuming that because of cultural differences, I might find your equipment alternating slightly from what I am used to working with. I will be continuing my investigation on tissue processes while introduced with this toxin, and any immunological discrepancies I can find. Sural may be an expert in his field, but I am an expert in mine. Perhaps, eventually, we can find some common ground and work together after all? What do you think?” Nathan questioned as the nurse’s mind spun with what to say and do.

“I...I believe that device is most similar to your detronol scanner, and the one next to it is very similar to your electron resonance scanner,” she explained, almost as familiar with Starfleet medical technology as she was with Romulan. “Most of the other devices you should be familiar with based on their similarities to Federation counterparts. If you have any other questions, just ask,” Tamir offered politely before hurrying to comply with Sural’s orders to arrange a lab for synthesizing an anti-dote.

Tamir now wanted to avoid Nathan as much as possible, since he was acting so angry... Neither did she want to upset Sural, so in this case, both goals managed to work together, getting her into the lab to do what her superior asked and away from the Federation doctor. Why the human was acting so aggressive she didn’t understand, but she certainly didn’t want that turned toward her. So the nurse very quietly did her job, trying to stay in the background while waiting for Sural’s return.

<Tag Nathan/Sural>

[Deleted]

=/\=We had a meeting, Commander, but nothing came of it. However, I think I might have just found something that looks promising. I'm on my way to the bridge. Tavik out,=/\= the Operations Chief informed her, just as the turbolift doors opened and deposited Captain Reynolds onto the bridge, looking well rested and much better.

“It’s good to see you back, Sir,” Megan replied, gesturing for him to join her so she could explain about what’d happened with Nathan. “You may already be aware of this, but Doctor van Breughel assaulted Ensign Green in transporter room two and beamed himself to the S’Harien. The warbird was still cloaked and both ships were at warp, but he managed to arrive there somehow, in spite of it being perfectly clear to him that he was not authorized to do so. I’ve been in contact with Commander Echal and managed to smooth the situation over with him, but the doctor remains onboard the S’Harien, and I have yet to determine how or when he will be returned.”

Matt seemed aware of the situation, but that didn’t erase the anger from his face. "Commander Garrett, when this is over I will leave Nathan in your capable hands, I'm afraid that I might strangle him when I see him," the Captain responded quietly, before glancing in the direction of a nearby and far too interested tactical officer and adding, "Everyone back to work! Commander, in my office, please,” he requested.

Nodding, Megan followed him, adding once the doors were closed, “The feeling is certainly mutual, but you can be assured that he will be dealt with upon his return.”

Captain Reynolds also nodded briefly in acknowledgement before moving onto their current predicament. "It's very possible that Govan will not make this easy for us. I would rather not open fire on them. We cannot afford a war with the Empire, but if forced to, we need to able to defend ourselves," he mused, pausing for her input.

“Agreed, but hopefully it will not come to that. This is a very diplomatically charged situation on both sides, and he has to weigh the consequences of his actions just as we do. Our hands are certainly tied more than his are, as they have the clear advantage here. Having the doctor not only gives them a bargaining chip, but he also arrived in such a manner that may be used against in the end. Not only that, but both of the senior medical officers are on the warbird, making it all the more likely that when a solution is found, the Romulans will have control over it. I have our medical research and scientific departments working on finding the anti-dote, but they are already behind compared to Doctor van Breughel and Doctor Sural.”

Sighing heavily as she fought back her continuing irritation, Commander Garrett moved on. “I also have Commander T’Ress and Lieutenant Tavik working on a way to detect and track the S’Harien while under cloak. They are currently transmitting their position, as per our agreement, but this is a newer design, and doesn’t have the same vulnerabilities as previous Valdore class warbirds or the D’Deridex class.”

"We can easily disable their cloak with our Polaric neutralization beam, but I'm sure that Govan knows that we have it. I want you to discreetly prepare Ops, Tactical, and Engineering for this possibility. Our focus shall remain on our initial mission, but I don't want the bulk of the crew working on this," Captain Reynolds ordered.

“I’m not so sure about the Polaric Neutralization Beam,” Megan cautioned. “These modifications they made seem to be designed to erase the weaknesses which the beam was designed to exploit. I haven’t actually tested it yet, as the S’Harien would be aware of our attempts, but based on the data, I doubt it will work without making further modifications ourselves to compensate for the changes. We’re working on that, but hopefully diplomacy will be enough, and that won’t matter,” Commander Garrett stated, adding, “Lieutenant Tavik was on his way to the bridge with news, so perhaps shortly we’ll have more information on this,” the First Officer suggested.

"Alright, let’s get back to work," he agreed, gesturing for her to go first as they both reentered the bridge. They had just settled back into their command chairs when Valad did indeed arrive, and headed straight for his console, clearly on a mission.

"Commander, the Valdore type is quite a unique vessel, but it’s not perfect. If you'll notice, it resembles another Romulan vessel, the D'Deridex class. The Valdore type is a souped up D’Deridex class vessel, as it has the same strengths and very few weaknesses. The S'Harien is invisible to the naked eye but not to scanners if you know what you are scanning for. The old D'Deridex class ships could be detected through use of finding any electromagnetic emissions that come from the ship. The new model Valdore type takes care of most of that, and so that option is out of the question. What it still doesn't take care of though is the subspace variance, which should light it up like a wildfire. So far so good; it is right there where it should have been. And now for the drumroll, please…” Valad hesitated as he sent the results.

"Do we have anything?" Matt questioned just as he was pulled away for a coded transmission. Megan was so focused on the screen and working to sift through the data for that one piece of information they were looking for, but in the back of her mind, she made a distant note to check into that transmission, as it sounded...odd...

It took forever to sift through all the data, and the Commander was so engulfed in the task that she was unaware of the bridge crew around her, waiting with baited breath for her answer. What Lieutenant Tavik said had made so much sense, but there were a whole lot of subspace frequencies to scan through. Most likely if any variance was present, it would be within a very narrow band frequency, especially when moving and creating very little ‘wake’ or disturbances, so while adjusting the target scan area to compensate for that movement and carefully scrolling through the frequencies, it would take some time to ensure it wouldn’t work or prove it did.

After quite a few deathly silent, tension filled minutes, she finally saw something. It was just a tiny blip in her scrolling, but as Megan quickly went back and carefully calibrated the sensors to lock into the extremely narrow band frequency, suddenly there it was: the S’Harien, right where it should be... Unfortunately, the frequency was so specific, that could only mean one thing. Their detection was dependent on very particular warp field calibrations, meaning that they could easily be changed, but there was good news too: the Polaric Neutralization Beam could be adjusted.

At that moment, Captain Reynolds emerged from the ready room. "Commander, I doubt our beam will work on the S'Harien," Matt commented, looking a bit worried.

“Not as it is, Captain, but we can change that,” she informed him, feeling hopeful, but also acknowledging that things weren’t as simple as before. Motioning for him to join her at Lieutenant Tavik’s station, the Operations Chief amicably gave over control of the console to her as she accessed the data from her own. “There is a slight subspace variance left by the cloak. It’s in a very narrow band, so you really have to look for it, but it’s there. The Polaric Neutralization Beam can be adjusted to light them up, but it’s not as simple as before. You have to already know what the frequency is to make the calibrations before you light them up, and if they were to recalibrate their warp field, the frequency would change and they would not only disappear again, but we would have to start from scratch to detect their presence.”

Taking a breath, Megan continued, “Commander T’Ress will be needed to make modifications to the device to make it more efficient as far as changing frequency, and I would actually recommend against using it unless it is necessary to prove to another player that the warbird is actually out there. Otherwise, we’d tip our hand and let them know that it’s time to recalibrate, which would give them the time we would then need to find them again to get away or do whatever they want, so this is a lot less convenient for us, but it’s better than nothing,” the First Officer concluded.

<Tag Matt/Valad>

“Nice work, Lieutenant. Well done,” Megan praised the Operation Officer, genuinely impressed with his work. “Continue to keep an eye on the S’Harien and monitor any fluctuation in frequency. If recalibrated, work out from the known frequency in both directions and keep track of both minor fluctuations as well as the more drastic changes. The more data we collect, the better, and the easier it will be to adjust.”

<Tag Valad>

Stepping aside to contact their engineer, Megan tapped her commbadge. “Garrett to T’Ress, I’m forwarding you information about the Romulan’s cloak. Review this data and come up with a way to modify the Polaric Neutralization Beam to light up specific subspace variance frequencies, but I’m afraid you won’t be able to test it, except on the holodeck, as we don’t want to tip our hand. Once this is done, take a look at any information you have on Romulan warp fields and estimate the range of frequencies they could be calibrated to, as that will help us limit the range we’d need to monitor whenever they recalibrate their warp field,” the Commander ordered.

<Tag J’Varr>

Beginning to feel a little bit better, as now if they had to go in to retrieve Nathan it would be slightly easier, Megan moved back to one of the science consoles, where she still felt a little more comfortable. She didn’t want to be idle waiting for whatever would happen next, so she took a look at the second task she’d assigned to their Chief Engineer. Most likely they would need it before this mission was finally over.

<Tag All>

[Deleted]

"I never introduced myself, but your intuition told you I was not of a scientific or medical background. Very clever of you. And now I will be honest; you, and your kind, disgust me. Weak, and always allowing ideas such as compassion to obscure an objective decision. Your personal feelings that I've been told brought you to our ship in the first place make your presence particularly displeasing. Please continue with your work and if there are any other.. broken, pieces of equipment," he pointed to the smashed device on the floor, "Then these security officers will 'take care' of you."

Nathan paled and sat utterly still while the Romulan leaned close to him. He feared this officer, and his intuition told him this man was highly dangerous. "I'm a doctor," he finally replied coldly, trying very hard to hide his fear, "compassion is part of my profession. And my personal feelings have nothing to do with me being here. However, if I am such a threat to you, then I'll gladly return to my own vessel. It appears my presence as well as my assistance are clearly unwanted."

He watched Tevio leave the medical bay, then he hurried after Tamir, into the lab. He found her dutifully setting up the equipment Sural had demanded. Quietly, he picked up one of the parts and handed it to her. "I'm sorry if I scared you," he apologised, "but Sural just got on my nerves. Please, don't be afraid simply because him and me can't get along. I'll be going back to my own ship soon, so I won't be in your way much longer." He assisted her in setting up the equipment without saying much else. He had all the information he needed, and then some. When he returned, he too would be able to continue his research; while it appeared he'd been a nuisance, he had learned a great deal. Sometimes, appearing weak was an advantage, since it resulted in being thoroughly underestimated.

Once he was done, he returned to the main sickbay area, where his guard was still dutifully watching. Calmly, though still trembling, Nathan approached him. "Mr Lhoel," he addressed the guard, obviously having learned his name somehow, "I wish to speak to Commander Govan. Take me to him." No please, just a simple and very clear order. "Now," he added, as he snapped his medkit shut and stuffed his tricorder back in the pocket of his coat.

[Valad Tavik]

(A JP between Sub-lieutenant Taev Lhoell and Nathan:

"Mr Lhoel," he addressed the guard, obviously having learned his name somehow, "I wish to speak to Commander Govan. Take me to him." No please, just a simple and very clear order. "Now," he added, as he snapped his medkit shut and stuffed his tricorder back in the pocket of his coat.

Taev Lhoell was disgusted. "Need I remind you that you cannot give me orders." He accessed his communicator and sent a message to Commander Echal that the doctor wished to see him. "We will remain here until the Commander responds."

"Naturally," Nathan replied acidly. "Idle around why don't we. There's work to be done, and I need to return to my vessel to do it."

"And either way you are going to see the Commander. You will not leave this ship until he deems fit." Taev had a harsh tone. He averted his gaze from the human doctor or a moment looking at the computer screen. "I am curious about one thing. You and doctor Sural are of the same profession and you deem compassion as being of utmost importance. Yet, the way you treat each other is inconsiderate and domineering. Why?" He asked with a gentler tone. He had a certain compassion for doctors. Taev was ruthless, yes, but not towards everyone.

"Competition, and annoyance," the Human answered honestly, "and I suppose mutual distrust. Human and Romulan co-operation still does have a very long way to go. I'm sure you agree."

"I would. Though I am a firm believer in finding the mutual benefit for all, I have doubts about whether this mission will be fruitful." Taev turned back to face the doctor. "I do not doubt your abilities, but I have doubts about whether members of your command structure can be trusted. Its my job to protect this crew from anything, including sabotage and fallacy."

"I trust my commanding officer with my life," Nathan replied immediately, and without hesitation, "I do not, however, trust your doctor. He's hiding something. He has no compassion for his patients, insofar I can see. There's a coldness about him that I can't quite...understand, I guess."

"Everyone in this galaxy has something to hide, Doctor," Taev replied. "Its in our training that we derive the coldness we have. We make the uttermost sacrifices for the betterment of our families, our crew, and even ourselves. This compassion that you speak of has no value compared to progress."

"I disagree. Compassion is part of a doctor's work. A patient must be put at ease, must trust the attending doctor and must trust that he or she will get well. If not, then there's nothing a doctor can do. A patient must want treatment. And our compassion helps us convince the patient to go through with treatments, to get well. Progress is but part of the job. I agree though, that everyone has secrets. I suppose, that even I do, though I feel i have nothing to hide."

"I won't argue for or against it as I am not a doctor." His communicator beeped confirming his message. "We've been given clearance to see the Commander by Dor'Vel. We'll have to continue this discussion another time. Please follow me." Taev led then doctor out into the hallway. "I will say this to you doctor. Keep everything you say to short phrases. You are not wanted on this ship and I recommend that you leave as soon as possible."

That sounds like sound advice, I'll try to remember it. I am just...a passionate man I suppose. And a medical issue, especially so many people dead, it gets to me. I live to help others, it's what I do. Anything to protect my family, and my friends. I don't want to endanger my children, but this very mission endangers them."

"I understand. I would do anything to protect my children. My father sacrificed himself for me and I would do the same for my children. This may sound a little . . . strange coming from a Romulan, but are you children in good hands while you are over here?"

"My husband will take care of them. And I have no doubt a Romulan can care for his children. My sister in law is, in fact, Romulan." He smiled a little. "She and my brother have three childen, two of which adopted. I have a son and a daughter."

"I have two sons. One is coming of age to be assigned on his own starship and the other is fourteen years of age." Taev stopped in the corridor. "Forgive me, but did I hear you say 'husband.'"

Nathan nodded quietly. "You heard correctly."

Taev raised his eyebrows. It appeared as though the Federation had become quite . . . liberal. 'No matter,' Taev said to himself. "I see. We are nearing the bridge." Taev stopped the doctor again. "Remember doctor, at this point, your first priority is to get back to your ship. If you find a way out in the conversation, please take it. Do not . . . dawdle." They entered the bridge.

Nathan nodded in silence, suddenly very tense and nervous. He followed Taev onto the bridge at a respectable distance, but not too far away to appear too scared. He looked up to meet Govan's eyes. "I believe my work here is done commander," he stated calmly, though he felt far from, "I request to return to Jefferson to continue my part of the project there. You have my word that anything I uncover, will be sent straight to you."

<Tag Govan>

[Matthew Reynolds]

Matthew Reynolds could easily remember the days when the Polaric neutralization beam gave the Jefferson against any Romulan, Klingon, or cloaked ship the advantage. The fact that the Romulans now had a defense against it made Matt realize how complacent the Federation had become towards known enemies. Then again Matt remembered the lecture he had received about the Romulans and how they were no longer our enemies but friends and allies.

"Lieutenant Tavik, I trust that you will be able find that subspace variance quickly if they should decide to change thier warp field?" Matt asked clearly pleased at what the operations officer was already able to accomplish.

(Valad)

"I agree with your assesment Commander, we would be giving Echal another advantage over us and that is something we cannot afford right now," Matt said as he looked over what Megan had just finished explaining to them," I'm amazed at how small the subspace variance actually is. The Romulan Empire really outdid itself this time."

(Megan)

"Alright, we know what we are looking for and I'm sure that Echal will make the next move sooner rather than later," Matt said before the three officers parted and began to work once again.

(Tag All)

[Deleted]

“Clearly you want me to get rid of him, but he is more valuable to us the longer we have him. It gives us more control over this situation, so you’re just going to have to deal with him. Try to get the information from him if you can, so we can bypass the Jefferson altogether. If not, I’ll get the information anyway,” Govan ordered, not at all caring if this inconvenienced or frustrated Sural as that was a fringe benefit.

Sural couldnt help but grimace at the commanders remarks but it was to be expected. Govan was not an easy man to deal with, not at all. He should be grateful for small mercys. With a curt nod to the commander Sural left the bridge.

Knowing the doctor was unhappy only created a smirk on his face as Echal was left in his ready room once more. Stretching back in his chair, the smirk plastered across his face, Govan considered everything he had learned. Once they had the anti-dote, his dominance would be even more secure. He’d have almost everything she wanted: her doctor and the cure. Wouldn’t he just love to see her face then… Maybe this would be payback, his turn to have the upper-hand and win the game.

Sural returned to sickbay and was surprised to see that the human doctor was gone.

"Tamir?. Tamir!" he called out as he looked quickly around the room spying the broken equipment and fearing the worst,

TAG Tamir

"Oh good I thought for a moment the Doctor had done away with you. Where has he gone?"

TAG Tamir

Sural very nearly exploded, He had explicitly told security to keep the doctor here or in the transporter room, not to take him to the bridge. He sighed heavily. This cultural exchange was taxing him somewhat. On the one hand he had met the Garretts both reasonable and principled people and yet on the other there was this Van Breughal who was rude, evasive, hostile and duplicitous. He wondered how the Federation could survive as a whole when there was so much diversity in just one species.

Trying to ignore the matter Sural decided to return to the job in hand and leave the politics to Govan. "Tamir can you prepare a replicator for large scale replication of an anti dote. I believe one could be synthesised once we have access to the plant genome."

TAG Tamir

Now Sural just needed the genome. He went to his desk and opened up a comm line to the Jefferson.

"This is Dr Sural. I need to talk to Commander Garrett"

TAG Jefferson

"Dr Van Breughal is currently meeting with my Commander. I need a copy of the genome of the Talau Plant, native once to Bajor, I belive it holds the key to an effective antidote. But I cannot create it without access to that information which I suspect you have in your vast databanks... Can you help?"

[Deleted]

Karmek met Raltorr and Wintrow in a deserted section of the outpost. He was not happy.

"What do you mean coming here now" he exclaimed his neck ridges taut, "This is a great risk. Our original rendezvous was fine."

"We changed our minds" Raltorr shrugged, "We have the bio toxin you wanted and if your new Obsidian Order want it then you'll have to pay double"

Karmek scoffed in derision,

"Double. Thats ridicoulous especially now."

"What do you mean now?" Raltorr asked suspicously,

"You bodged the job, you have two starships on your tail. There is no way I m going to take delivery when a Federation Starship and a Romulan Warbird are on our doorstep, they'll be here within the hour. I guess you left an ion trail"

Raltorr scowled, He didnt suspect that Karmek was lying but the arrival so quickly but a whole new complexion on things. He needed a way out and quickly. His mind span as he worked through a number of possibilities.

"Our partnership is at an end" Karmek stated "I may try and purchase the toxin at a later date, but now the property is far too hot."

"Your right the partnership is over" Raltorr replied levelling his disruptor and burning a hole through the startled Cardassians chest.

Wintrow looked at him in amazement. Raltorr shrugged and adjusted his disruptor to a non-lethal setting and turning it on his erstwhile partner, Wintrow tried to go for his phaser but was too low. A carefully aimed blast struck the former Starfleet Officer rendering them unconcious.

Calmly Raltorr checked both bodies and removed any incriminating documents. Then placed the disruptor into the Humans hand. Next he went over to the nearest comm unit.

"Starfleet Vessel. This is Outpost security we need your assistance." Raltorr reported, "We have apprehended a human who has killed one of our researchers, we need you to take him into custody. You can find him at these co-ordinates." Raltorr entered in the transporter location of Wintrow and then keyed off the comm.

Next he reinitialised the comm unit entering a Romulan scrambling code,

"This is Raltorr to incoming Romulan vessel. I am the one who took the Bio-toxin. I am willing to hand it over to you intact in return for rescue and protection from Starfleet. I will steal a vessel and come to you. This is the only way you can ensure starfleet doesnt get their hands on what could be a very useful tool for the Empire."

TAG Govan

[Deleted]

OOC: Joint Post Between Myself and Doctor Nathan van Breughel

"I believe my work here is done, Commander," he stated calmly, though he felt far from, "I request to return to Jefferson to continue my part of the project there. You have my word that anything I uncover, will be sent straight to you."

Lounging in his chair, Govan intentionally observed the doctor without speaking for several moments. He was trying to be brave, but his fear was palpable, especially to someone so trained to looking for it. Finally, after allowing the silence to stretch, he spoke. “For someone so eager to visit our vessel whether receiving permission or not, you do see surprisingly impatient to leave all of a sudden. Were we not as hospitable as you would have hoped even after having arrived so unexpectedly?”

"You were quite hospitable, Sir," the Human replied politely, "and more than patient with me. It is your medical officer I am having issues with. I fear we do not get along, at all. I cannot in good conscience work directly with him. I fear he is hiding information from me, locking me out of his part of the research, whereas I have given him every access, and more, while he was on the Jefferson. He has been dishonest, and more than rude. Sir."

“I see,” Echal responded. “I am sorry to hear you are having such difficulties working with our personnel. Doctor Sural is a very dedicated and professional officer, and I can only surmise that his mistrust of you may very well be a direct result of your transporting yourself to our ship and entering his sickbay without allowing him the privilege to be there and personally introduce you to his domain. I’m sure you are the same way with your medical bay and would have responded in kind to someone intruding on your space without your knowledge or permission. Just my guess...”

Moving on before Nathan could reply, Govan continued. “Well, no matter. If you’re not getting along, you’re not getting along. However, it would appear that we are in somewhat of a difficult position now, as I have an agreement that you are to be our guest here. I wouldn’t want your Captain to think that I am going back on such an arrangement and being less than gracious. I’m sure that you can understand.”

Nathan nodded quietly, his fear rising. "I do," he answered softly, not quite meeting Govan's eyes. "However returning at my own request, with a desire to continue research with equipment I can at least read the controls of, surely has no bearing on your hospitality? I don't know how I would've responded if Doctor Sural had entered sickbay without me present. It didn't happen, so I can't give you an honest answer to that."

Enjoying this far too much, Echal felt this ‘kill’ would be far too easy...if it wasn’t for the Sovereign class starship nearby. Pity really... “Such a request could easily be misconstrued as a reflection of your dissatisfaction with our hospitality. Surely you can see that...” Sighing heavily, as if to reflect his grave disappointment, Govan very slowly rose from his chair emphasizing his height before speaking. “However, I would not be a gracious host if I were to require you to stay past your comfort. It does put me in a bad position though...how would you recommend we fix this little problem?” Govan asked, shifting the impossible question over to the human doctor.

Nathan shifted uncomfortably; he had no idea how to fix this. "As I am not dissatisfied with your treatment of me, especially since you have been more than patient and more than gracious, and as I am clearly unharmed and in good health, I have no doubt that Captain Reynolds will thank you for hosting me, and seeing to my safe return. On my part, you have my word that no ill words shall be spoken about your treatment of me. And I can give that vow, as it is the truth."

Tilting his head slightly to the side as if considering the words, Govan paused for a good length of time before sighing once more. “I suppose under the circumstances, I have no choice but to trust your sincerity. I will contact your vessel and make the necessary arrangements,” he relented. “I have to hope this will not come back on me.”

"I shall ensure it does not, Sir," the doctor replied, clearly relieved. He bowed slightly as if to emphasize his words. "I shall await escort to the transporter room."

Nodding once to Sub-Lieutenant Lhoell, Echal replied, “I will have you escorted there now. Wait…how is it done...” he questioned to himself before extending his hand for Nathan to shake, trying to keep a smirk off his face at his mock diplomacy.

For the first time, Nathan smiled, while reaching out with his right hand, folding his fingers around Govan's. He applied a little pressure. "Just apply a little pressure," he explained, in slightly accented Rihannsu. His knowledge of the language was adequate, but limited.

Trying not to scowl, as he had planned to squeeze quite vigorously, Govan very carefully shook the hand as he had been instructed, gritting his teeth in frustration. “Have a safe transport,” he offered, releasing Nathan’s hand and allowing him to cross to the door. “Oh, and doctor?” he added, waiting for the human to turn back around. “Next time, I suggest you seek permission before transporting to a Romulan warbird. Such an act could very easily have resulted in...unnecessary consequences.”

“I understand, Commander. Thank you for the warning, regardless. I shall endeavor to do better next time, provided there will be one." He had strong doubts about that one. He would be glad to be back on his home ship again, though he knew for certain that trouble would be accompanying his return. "Jolan Tru, Commander."

Once the human had disappeared into the turbolift and the door had closed, Echal threw himself back into his chair. How dare that intruder instruct him like that, and in his own language too. What an arrogant fool. Up until that point, Govan had been in complete control, and he had planned to squeeze the doctor’s hand to the point of pain, without actually causing damage of course, just to remind him of how easy it would be for the Romulan Commander to crush him like a bug, and instead he’d taken advantage of the gesture of friendship, false as it was, and acted smug.

Taking a calming breath, Govan decided it was no matter. The human was gone, and now he could focus on more important matters. And unfortunately, the next pressing matter involved contacting the Jefferson. At least now his request for the ...well whatever it was that Doctor Sural needed, came with releasing the doctor, so he was coming at it from a position of strength yet again. Raising himself up in his seat, Echal glared at the screen. “Open a channel to the Jefferson,” he ordered.

[Deleted]

"I agree with your assessment, Commander. We would be giving Echal another advantage over us, and that is something we cannot afford right now. I'm amazed at how small the subspace variance actually is. The Romulan Empire really outdid itself this time," Captain Reynolds commented looking over her shoulder at the data.

“They’ve had several years to work on it, but their first attempt appears to be quite affective. Fortunately, with Lieutenant Tavik’s discovery, we now at least know it’s there and how to find it. We’ll just have to hope that it’s easy to find again when a recalibration is made, but at least we have the building blocks for a new defense.”

"Alright, we know what we are looking for, and I'm sure that Echal will make the next move sooner rather than later," Matt concluded, as Megan nodded and continued her work. At least they knew where the S’Harien was and would even if they ceased transmitting their position. Now they just needed to know that they would be able to find them again should they recalibrate their warp core, and they would be good.

A few minutes later, however, her work was interrupted by the sound of an incoming transmission. Glancing over at Valad, Megan waited to hear where the transmission was coming from, or rather whom, and then for Matt to order the channel opened.

<Tag Valad/Matt>

=/\=This is Dr Sural. I need to talk to Commander Garrett,=/\= the Romulan CMO requested, surprising Megan at his specific request to talk to her. Glancing quickly at Matt and receiving a nod, Megan transferred the call to her station and replied.

“This is Commander Garrett. What can I do for you, Doctor?” she asked carefully.

=/\=Dr. van Breughel is currently meeting with my Commander. I need a copy of the genome of the Talau Plant, once native to Bajor. I believe it holds the key to an effective antidote, but I cannot create it without access to that information, which I suspect you have in your vast databanks...can you help?=/\= the Romulan asked.

Surprised that the request was coming from Sural and not his Commander, and to her personally no less, Megan spared a quick glance in Captain Reynold’s direction before responding. “I can transfer that information to you directly over this frequency, as it is in all of our best interest to get an anti-dote developed,” Commander Garrett replied diplomatically. “Once we both have access to a cure, this mission will be a lot less dangerous for everyone involved. I’m sure you agree,” she added, making sure the implication that they expected access to the anti-dote was perfectly clear.

<Tag Sural>

“I’m pulling up the file you requested as we speak. I’ll keep this line open and make the transfer as soon as I have the necessary data, within a few moments, Garrett out,” Megan finished, closing the channel, but leaving the link open as discussed.

“The file he requested has no information that I would feel uncomfortable leaving in the hands of the Romulans,” the Commander stated as she carefully reviewed the data again, checking for anything sensitive. “It’s only relevance is scientific or medical,” she added before, satisfied with her survey, beginning the file’s transfer.

<Tag Matt>

Once the transfer was complete, Megan moved to speak with Matt. “For Sural to contact us directly and circumvent Commander Echal was unusual, and somewhat dangerous I’d imagine. However, it is certainly a good thing that we’ve cultivated a relationship with the doctor, as it may be beneficial to ensure we receive the anti-dote, if not from Govan than at least surreptitiously from Sural,” she commented.

<Tag Matt>

The Captain had barely finished speaking when the Ops station began signaling an incoming transmission once more. Once it became clear that this time, the call came from Commander Echal, Megan subtly stepped out of the way back to the science station. It was bad enough having to see his face up on the viewscreen at all, but it was even worse being within his line of sight and having him look at her...

~

As soon as she caught sight of the next person to enter the cell, she knew this was the interrogator. The superiority and smugness of the previous two had given away their command status, but the wiry build of the one, and the less than fit physique of the other did not indicate the physical strength required of an interrogator. This one was very different. He was a natural intimidator. The strength and control just exuded from his well over six foot tall and well built frame. This was someone to be feared, someone extremely dangerous, and now she knew what she was up against.

Although Megan’s natural reaction would have been to straighten her spine, tense her muscles, and strengthen her resolve, at least his intimidating presence made it pretty easy to cower in fear instead. Even with all her training, she still felt a surge of dread at the sight of him, and something told her this would be one of the worst challenges she ever faced, no matter how long her Black Ops career would last, if it would even last past this mission, which now, she wasn’t entirely sure it would...

He just stood there, staring her down for several moments while she clutched her knees to her chest and literally shook. Megan thought she saw the tiniest bit of a flicker in his expression and posture, but if it actually happened, it was so quick, it was impossible to confirm. Finally, swallowing hard and pretending to gather her courage, the Lieutenant very slowly released her legs and let her feet slip back to the floor. Placing her hands carefully on the bench at either side gripping the edge as if to hold herself up, she took a very slow, deep breath. “Hello,” she murmured, knowing that with that single word, their game, and her interrogation, had begun.

[Deleted]

"Tamir? Tamir!" The sound of Doctor Sural calling her so urgently startled the nurse, as she rushed out into main sickbay from the lab she had been carefully cleaning. “Oh good, I thought for a moment the Doctor had done away with you,” the doctor explained, which she thought was rather thoughtful of him. “Where has he gone?"

“He was escorted to the bridge after he had requested to speak with Commander Echal,” Tamir replied, trying not to wince at the fury that suddenly crossed his face.

After several moments of observing what appeared to be some sort of brief internal conversation, which seemed to settle his anger from less of a full burning fire into more of a smoldering heat, her superior spoke to her once more. "Tamir, can you prepare a replicator for large scale replication of an anti-dote?” Sural requested. “I believe one could be synthesized, once we have access to the plant genome.”

“Of course, Doctor,” Tamir replied, trying to calm herself down by remembering that he had not been angry with her. “I have a lab set up as you requested, and I can easily add one of the large replicator units to the arrangement as well,” she replied before quickly going to do as requested, hoping that this mission was nearly over.

~

Grateful to see the face of Captain Reynolds on the screen rather than his nemesis, Govan was still not exactly in a pleasant mood. “Captain...so good to see you have deemed to make time to speak with me,” Echal commented dryly, not being able to resist the goad, before moving onto the actual matter at hand. “I believe that your doctor is ready to return to your vessel. I have granted his request to be transported home, but with this permission, I also have a request to make of you. Our doctor requires some additional information to aid in his work on developing an anti-dote. I assume this won’t be a problem,” the Romulan Commander remarked offhandedly.

<Tag Matt>

Hating to give up the advantage of having their Chief Medical Officer, but knowing there was no way around it, Govan forced a smile. “We will drop out of warp right behind you and decloak in preparation for the transport. Send us your transporter coordinates at that time, and then we will return your doctor to you. Coordinate with Doctor Sural in sickbay, and he will inform you of all the information he requires. I hope that I will hear from him shortly that he has everything he needs, Echal out.”

<Tag Matt>

As the S’Harien dropped out of warp and decloaked in preparation for returning the Federation doctor to his ship, they received an incoming transmission. “Sir, we’re receiving a signal from an unknown source. It is utilizing some sort of scrambler.”

“Inform the transporter room to handle the transfer on their own. Get a trace on that signal and open the channel,” Govan ordered Dor’vel, frowning at this latest twist.

=/\=This is Raltorr to incoming Romulan vessel. I am the one who took the bio-toxin. I am willing to hand it over to you intact in return for my rescue and protection from Starfleet. I will steal a vessel and come to you. This is the only way you can ensure Starfleet doesn’t get their hands on what could be a very useful tool for the Empire.=/\=

Caught off guard by this sudden offer, Govan hesitated briefly before making up his mind. “We are currently working with Starfleet, so it wouldn’t be safe for you to come to us at this time. I would recommend positioning yourself in between your current location and the Neutral Zone, so that you may meet up with us on our way back to Romulan space. If you get caught, do what you can to hide the toxin, and I will ensure that we negotiate for you to be transferred to our custody,” he offered.

<Tag Sural>

Dor’vel appeared to be working frantically at his console, which in Govan’s mind meant that the signal most likely wasn’t going to be traceable. Romulan or not, this was not someone to be trusted, as he had attacked Romulan targets and had killed Romulan citizens, and that made him an enemy. However, not working with him now would most likely result in many deaths, and allowing this toxin to fall into the hands of the Federation was also an unacceptable risk. This was clearly the only way, and hopefully, they would end up with the toxin and this traitor in custody. In the back of his mind, he made a note to have Tevio research the name and see if they could pull up some kind of record on him that might contain useful information.

[Deleted]

Nathan allowed himself to be escorted to he transporter room; not that he had much choice about that one as his guard was in ever present attendance since he was left alone in sickbay. He didn't mind, his spirits were already raised because he was allowed to go home. Yet, despite knowing there would be trouble, he had no regrets about his impulsive decision, and actions. He felt he had learned a great deal, and not just about the Romulan doctor, the antidote and the toxin. No, he felt he had learned a fair bit about himself too; he hadn't panicked before the commander, and he hadn't suffered any major damage to himself either. So, he learned he was able to pull off a mission, without getting himself hurt or in serious trouble...while away from home. And that was worth the trouble he knew he would be facing upon his return.

He stepped upon the transporter pad and faced Lhoel. "Jolan tru," he offered, before the controls were activated and he once more found himself on the familiar transporter pad of the USS Jefferson. He had expected quite a lot, but what he was facing, was beyond expectations. The officer he had drugged, was back at the controls and looking none too happy. Nathan met his gaze squarely, though it wasn't without a hint of anxiousness. "I'm truly sorry," he said, before the other man could say anything, "it won't happen again."

"Damn right it won't!" Nathan was roughly grabbed by his arm and spun around. Jayden looked infuriated as he grabbed both of Nathan's arms, tightly. He shook him, beyond reason. "What the hell were you thinking Nathan. Did you ever consider us, when you did something that stupid?"

Nathan recoiled from him, terrified, before gathering his wits and facing his beloved. He nodded in silence, letting Jayden rage on; he'd take care of the bruises later, when Jayden was not around to become remorseful about them. The way he saw it, he'd earned this treatment, though it stung and hurt him deeply.

"Say something," the younger man demanded furiously, "say something, damn you!" He could see the older man's terror, but he was too angry to let it get to him. He loved the man too much, not to let him know how worried and angry he was, or had been.

In response, Nathan just stepped forward and kissed him with a passion he'd not shown before. No mere words could express how he felt right now. To his surprise, Jayden responded in kind, and he sighed heavily. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I did what I felt I had to do. Sural is using subterfuge, I felt he was hiding something. I was treated well, at least by their commanding officer. Guarded, of course, but I did get work done, and I got the information I need, that Sural didn't share with me before."

"I'm to take you to the captain," Jayden replied coldly, though the manner in which his hand was taken, was with more care than before. "Come, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get you home. You didn't suffer any strokes while over there, did you? Did you have to use any medication? Did you take it at all?"

"I always take what I may need," Nathan replied, stung, "and I felt the start of one, but I didn't need medication. It passed quickly. It was more a resonse to fear...Sural can be quite...terrifying when he's angry."

Jayden nodded in silence as they stepped into the turbolift. "Be prepared for even worse fury than mine," he warned, "I have no doubt they'll order your arrest. You did disobey direct orders, you see."

"I'm aware of that." Nathan straightened and stepped onto the bridge, steeling himself for what was to come.