Mission 94.1201: Hlmnae Hlun: Try Again

[Deleted]

The S’Harien had been docked at Starbase Assailant for five days, seven hours, and eleven minutes, and as far as Govan was concerned, that was quite enough. His crew had worked around the clock almost endlessly trying to get their ship up and running again and had needed to practically rebuild the power system. While they had reluctantly accepted supplies, parts, and power from the base, Echal had refused any offer for additional personnel and had kept the ship on lockdown. No one left from or arrived on the S’Harien the whole time, with the exception of Tamir, whom he had very quietly granted permission to visit her friends. There had been a few requests from Romulans aboard Assailant who wanted to come aboard to be back on Empire soil so to speak, but the Sub Commander had politely yet firmly refused citing security concerns. Given the events of the past week, he along with the rest of the crew, weren’t particularly open to welcoming outsiders at this time.

Though everything was up and running, there were still plenty of bugs to work out and modifications to make, but as far as Govan was concerned, those could be handled while they were enroute back to Romulan space and it fell solidly within their ‘new’ mission parameters anyway. Much to the Sub Commander’s utter dismay, his superiors had seen fit to simply reassign him the exact same mission as before, citing the numerous repairs made and a not too subtle comment about not having completed their mission or even having arrived at their destination in the first place. As insulted as Echal was, he could see their point, and flying a new, untested ship with a rebuilt-on-the-fly power system and hastily repaired damage was precarious to say the least. It only made sense, not that he would ever admit to thinking that.

With the umbilicals released and the S’Harien now under her own power, Govan was more than ready to get out of the system and out of Federation space. “Echal to Engine Room, we’re about to get underway, and I need a top speed the ship can maintain until we get back into Romulan space. Once we’re back across the Neutral Zone, we’ll begin conducting the tests just like before except from the beginning.”

<Tag Terrh>

Once the reply came through, Govan addressed the helm telling the pilot to set a course for the Romulan border at the speed provided and engage. As the starfield burst into the familiar rhythm of a ship at warp Echal felt himself beginning to relax just slightly. The sooner they got out of this forsaken place the better. Once they were underway, the Sub Commander moved to his ready room, not bothering to hand the bridge over. Dor’vel could handle that himself. Settling himself at his desk, he was surprised when a few minutes later the side door slid open and a cheerful nurse entered. “Tamir, you should not be up here. If anyone were to see you…”

Grinning at him, having grown accustomed to his forced display of gruffness, she replied, “Don’t worry...I took the back way and made sure no one saw me, and I’d checked with the sensors to make sure you were alone. I just wanted to thank you for allowing me back on the base. It was so good to see T’Val and Rayna again.”

“You’re welcome...” Govan mumbled. “And just because you did take precautions doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. I’m not a very popular person, and I have enemies. I’m only...” the Sub Commander paused, not wanting to show his concern for her.

“I know you’re only looking out for me, but really, it’s not like we’re doing anything wrong or that we’re...” Tamir paused, her face flushing slightly before changing the subject. “We’re just friends. It shouldn’t be too dangerous for us to just be friends.”

“We’re not...” Govan shot back almost automatically before hesitating. As much as he hated to admit it, that’s exactly what they were in spite of the fact that he didn’t want friends. Reluctantly refusing to deny it, he added. “It can be dangerous to be a friend to the wrong person, especially someone with so many enemies, which is why you need to be more careful. I know I said not to contact me, which leaves a record or go to my quarters which are…well let’s just say that could get you killed by accident, but that doesn’t mean it’s a better idea to come here because it’s not.”

Sighing, the nurse rolled her eyes. “Well then how am I supposed to talk to you?”

Considering the question for a moment, Echal finally glanced back up at her. “Well do you really have to talk to me at all?” he asked, and at the glare he received in return, the corner of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. “Alright...I have an idea.” Pulling open a desk drawer, Govan retrieved a small data device, which looked like any of the hundreds or thousands scattered around the ship. “This will allow us to communicate without leaving any record in the computer. It’s linked to mine and can send messages and even open a direct comm line, but don’t do that unless it’s pre-arranged or you know I’m alone…and awake,” he added, sending her a look reminding her of just how unhappy he was when she’d woken him up the last time.

Taking the device, Tamir sighed again. “Is all of this really that necessary, Govan?”

“Do you want to remain alive?” he snapped slightly irritated, instantly regretting it when she jumped at the tone in his voice before turning her big eyes onto him and nodding slowly. “Well then it’s necessary,” he added in a much softer tone. “When your enemies are the Tal Shiar, Tal Diann, and Navy all at once, you play it safe.”

“I guess you’re right,” the nurse replied, turning the device over in her hand. “Thank you again for letting me go see my friends. I’ll be more careful, and I promise not to use this too often and bother you,” Tamir added quietly before turning to leave.

Wanting to stop her and apologize but...not wanting to stop her apologize, Govan let her go, feeling guilty. She was so comfortable around him now it was sometimes easy to forget how quickly she could become scared if he wasn’t careful. As weird as it was, she was his friend, the only friend he’d had since he was a boy. In fact, Tamir was the closest thing he had to family, and that actually scared him. A family meant someone to care about, then someone to use against you, and then take away. He had done it often enough to people to know that’s what happened.

Quickly shaking these thoughts from his head, Govan focused instead on a random report on his desk. It was better to think about work. In a day or so, they would be back in Romulan space, and while conducting engine tests on the way, they would head to the asteroid field, fly the ship around the edges, run some drills, and blow up a bunch of rocks. As meaningless as it was, it almost sounded kind of like fun...

<Tag All>

[Deleted]

He was happy they were under way he didn't like to ask for help when it came to his ship. But there was no choice they needed major repairs. When docking clamps were released and the S'Harien was under her own power he smiled.

when he got the signal for best possible speed to Romulan space he didn't want to disappoint. Singal back to the Bridge

" Sub Commander you are clear through Warp 3 until system checks are complete. Even if I have to get out and push we will make it back to Romulan space under our own power" <Tag Echal>

[Deleted]

Sural was pleased that after the debacle that had been their first shakedown cruise they had been granted at least a little downtime docked to Starbase Assailant. Many of the crew had left the ship to explore but that was something he was not inclined to do himself. He dismissed most of his staff and spent his time closeted in his lab. He emerged from time to time to eat and sleep but otherwise he kept interactions with the crew to a minimum.

To Surals way of thinking he was here to do a job, medicine and that did not require him to involve himself with engineers or security officers. He could stomach Science Officers, they at least understood medicine and Jhu whilst somewhat a pariah to most hardly fazed him. When spread out on a morgue slab all people were just the same from Servant Slave right up to Praetor.

It was with some annoyance then that he learned that Star Command had reactivated their shakedown mission to some asteroid field. Jhu would undoubtedly be excited by its mineral content and the thugish Govan and Tevio would no doubt bring the full might of the Romulan Star Empire down upon them and play with their weapons. He just hoped he was left alone to do his job and work in his lab.

[Deleted]

The S'Harien's intelligence officer had made, what he had thought was, a good show of investigating how 'Talok' had left the ship. By what method he had done so, as well as assisting in tracking down the former Security chief and allowing him to be taken into custody by the Star Command.

It had all worked out quite elegantly in the end. Talok had not been captured by the S'Harien, but by other authorities. Govan was safe in the knowledge that the 'traitor' was being dealt with, and Talok's protestations of innocence would not reach his ears. Tevio doubted that the Subcommander was likely to listen to such claims anyway. One thing that was bothering the Legate though, was the mysterious Romulan who had been the true perpetrator of events the last mission. Tevio did know him of course, but he was mystified by the agent's methods. An intentionally failed, it had to be, attempt on the Subcommander's life. The crippling of all the ship's systems through a vessel-wide power surge. It did not quite make 'complete' sense, even for the Tal Diann.

He had had a few days, and did have a few days, to ponder it now. Tevio had spent the better part of the S'Harien's mooring at the Federation Starbase, in his office/quarters, mulling over the recent events, combining them with what he knew of the Romulan further back in his history, trying to piece everything together to form the bigger picture. While Ch'varak knew the general objective that the agent must have been working towards in doing this, he couldn't quite grasp the larger issue in its entirety. It ragged his mind for the remainder of the stay, and still mildly frustrated him as the S'Harien left, heading back to Romulan Space.

The ship was not an hour out of Assailant when Tevio had opened a subspace channel to Romulus. He waited patiently for the Senator to answer his call, likely the man was very busy. Eventually though, the black screen with the flashing blue and green graphic down the side, changed to show the image of a Senator's office, with a desk in the foreground and a middle-aged Senator sitting in the chair behind the desk.

"Tevio," the Senator acknowledged stonily, "What news do you have."

"The S'Harien has departed the Federation Starbase, Senator," Tevio replied. "We should be back in home territory in under two days."

"Excellent." The Senator said, his expression changing minisculely from neutral to infinitesimally slight anticipation. "You have received the mission orders?" Tevio nodded. "Good," said the Senator, "Understand that you are not to initiate the Tal Diann orders until the rest of the ship begins its mission-proper."

Ch'varak acknowledged and after a further few exchanges of information, he closed the channel. For a few minutes after, he stayed sitting there, watching the screen in its state of darkness, contemplating things.

[Deleted]

Looking at the latest reports on current repairs things seemed to be moving in the right direction. At least he didn't have people down in his engine room getting in the way. He had hand picked his team for a reason they were attention to detail no matter how small. It was the only reason they were at warp now instead of rushing repairs and causing futher damage.

Still the last mission had really been strange in deed he knew who hit him. Although from reading reports that individual was not named. He long ago learned not to mess with intelligence matters and best leave it alone for now. Somewhere down the line when he need something then he would bring it to Ch'varak.

Looking back down at his read outs he figured they were safe to increase to warp 4. Signaling the bridge they could increase spead and engage the cloak. The weapons were still under repair but would be ready by the time they reached romulan space. There wasn't awhole for him to do but start putting fail safes in to try prevent this from happening again. Although this time he would add a few little things for himself just in case ch'varak decided to stab another of his staff.

[Deleted]

For the first time in well over a year, Govan Echal was back within the borders of the Empire he served. It was a relief, but there were some mixed emotions. When he left, he’d been Major Govan Echal of the Tal Shiar, a highly decorated, revered, and respected interrogations expert. Now, although he was a Sub Commander of the Navy, he did have command of his own ship. It was most certainly bittersweet. Feeling a tiny bit of the stress and torment of his time in Federation space begin to fade, he sighed heavily. This was the beginning of his second chance. There was still hope he could prove himself to be a loyal, skilled servant of the Empire and of the Tal Shiar. If he worked very hard, he could regain his former glory and perhaps even exceed it. The Sub Commander was determined not to waste this opportunity.

Placing his hands on either armrest of the command chair, Govan rose slowly. “All stop,” he ordered, and a few moments latter felt the gentle nudge of the S’Harien dropping out of warp and coming to a halt. Closing his eyes briefly and savoring the knowledge of being ‘home,’ the Sub Commander quickly shook off his nostalgia and opened a channel to the Engine Room. “Run a complete series of tests on all engines and systems, Lieutenant. Leave nothing undone. I want this ship ready by the time we reach our destination. Coordinate with the helm in regards to speed.”

<Tag Terrh>

With that, Echal strode back to his ready room, which he tended to prefer when on duty. Since the attempt on his life, he had the room secured to an almost ridiculous level, along with his quarters. Anyone entering either room would be risking their life. Activating his primary console, Govan surveyed the map of the asteroid field. As much as he’d grown to detest being sent there, he had to admit that it was the perfect place to conduct tests. Most of the debris was scattered enough to allow a warbird plenty of room to maneuver at least on the outskirts, though it was by no means an easy course. The only thing the Sub Commander was unsure of was the composition of the rock, which would become very important for the weapons tests.

“Echal to i-Mhiessan, I know we’re still a day or so out, but I want you to being an analysis on the asteroid field using sensor records and previously collected data, as well as current long-range sensor readings. I need to know which areas of the field are best suited for munitions testing, and any danger they pose to the ship.”

<Tag Jhu>

Feeling rather pleased with himself for being so on top of things, Govan leaned back in his chair and contemplated whether he wanted to eat something when his console signaled an incoming message. Huffing slightly at the interruption of his thoughts, Echal retrieved it and discovered it was a somewhat haughty reminder from his superiors that a full medical and psychiatric evaluation was to be conducted as well. Groaning loudly and cursing under his breath, the Sub Commander slumped back into his seat moodily. Stupid doctors... Contemplating his next move, a grin spread across his face as he got an idea. “Echal to Taranek, while we’re enroute to our destination, begin to conduct medical and psychiatric evaluations of the crew.” His grin only widening, he maliciously added, “Start with Intelligence…Echal out.”

<Tag Sural/Tevio>

[Deleted]

“Run a complete series of tests on all engines and systems, Lieutenant. Leave nothing undone. I want this ship ready by the time we reach our destination. Coordinate with the helm in regards to speed.”

He was still a little shocked LT he had just been permoted which meant the Sub-Commander had to sign off on it. Still he didn't really trust there new Sub-Commander but it seemed like he was a fair Commander. Looking back down at the read outs his staff was already going through all the systems running checks and double checks.

Tapping the console " Understood Sub-Commander it will take a least one standard hour to double check systems we will try and have the S'Harien under way in 45 mins. We will keep you advise and report back in 30 mins with a status up date"

Looking around there wasn't really much he could do, his job was to over see everybody. He made it a point not to interfer with there work if possible. It was team building thing as most Romulans crave attention Engineering personal normaly just want to be left alone to there engines.

Getting up from his station he decided he wanted to head to the bridge and check things there. Walking out of engine room he headed for the lift stopping by his quarters first to change his rank. Thinking to himself this should get Ch'varak goat he out ranked him now but that didn't mean much when it came to the intelligence department. He knew it would only be a matter of time before he was permoted himself.

Still for the moment he would enjoy it but he needed to make sure the systems checked out. He make have risen in rank but it well known you could be demoted just as quickly. There was no doubt in his mind that the sub-commander would do that if he gave him the excuse.

Arriving on the bridge he head for the back up system for the engine room to check there progess. His staff was ahead of schedule. Which was a good thing for him at the moment, he started to check the status of the weapons system. They nearly had full power back to the system shield were working as well. He had borrowed a comple of things from the federation and had improved response time to the shield and decided to leave them installed.

Looking around the bridge he was grateful he didn't have to spend alot of time here. Some may crave the bridge life but with there sub-commander he had no desire to be on the bridge with the man.<Tag Anybody>

[Deleted]

It was not like he expected to be left completly alone but he had hoped to escape the mundanity of modern starship life just a little longer but that was not to be. Long over due Medical and Psych tests were required and Govan had made it prefectly clear that he wanted them done swiftly.

It was not that he had to do it that rankled him but the fact that the Commander had directed him to start with that oxymoron of a department - Intelligence. Sluggsihly and reluctantly he emerged from his lab blinking slightly in the brifghter light. Several hours bent over in dim light over a sub atomic magnifier had taken its toll on him, he wasn't as young as he had been, especially not compared the the senior staff of the S'Harien.

Sickbay was blissfully quiet but he knew it could last,

"You" he pointed at a man, why learn their names when pointing worked, "Get the Sickbay set up for examinations and physicals and then start calling in junior intelligence staff. Have Doctor Siliat do the rounds."

"Yes Sir."

"I shall be undertaking the more difficult task of assessing their senior officer. Find Tamir and get her to join me on the bridge tell her to bring a med kit."

The Lab Technician scurried away whilst Sural padded along the grey and green corridors to the bridge. Thankfully Govan did not appear to be present but teh Engineer Terrh was.

"Ah Lieutanant. Fair warning physical exams are due. I ll be calling in your staff over the next few days. Nothing serious just routine. Of course I ll call to arrange a suitable time for you."

TAG Terrh

"Perhaps you have seen our Intelligence Chief, I wish to conduct his exam?"

TAG ALL

[Deleted]

Looking up at there new CMO he smiled he had only met him once before and it was not the way to meet people. He was grateful for his help with t he nasty bump on his head but still, not the way a introduction should go.

" Taranek you may begin you exams after the weapons are fully operational, which should be in the next 4hrs. I will break some of my staff and have them report to you for the exam. Please if possible make it quick we still have alot of system checks to get through. I have no wish to get on the Sub-Commander other bad side if you know what I mean"

He smiled when found out he was looking for Ch'varak " I haven't seen him but if you could make his exam a little painful I would be greatful. He's the one responsable for the stabbing down in the engine room awhile back. I believe he was trying to prove a point which didn't quite win him any points with my staff. I dare say I hope he doesn't need anything fixed for awhile my staff my return the favor. The individaul stabbed was quite well liked and you know the saying revenge is a dish best served to intelligence officers"

[Deleted]

Tevio had heard word from the medical department that an 'evaluation' of his medical and psychiatric status was due. An officer by the name of Siliat had already been around to the intelligence centre, picking out Tevio's intelligence officers for examination.

More like putting animals to the slaughter in that pit that is sickbay, Tevio thought grimly. Whatever foul experiments Sural Taranek had in progress in that place, the Intelligence Chief hoped his staff were kept away from them. In, out. That was how rapidly these tests would be performed on Ch'varak's departmental staff, any longer and he would be forced to ask the.. customary, usual questions.

It was not that Tevio disliked the idea of these examinations, indeed, it was part of his duty to uphold their principle. Without them, who knew what people could disguise themselves as, mentally and physically, on the ship. What he did dislike was intelligence being the first to be analysed, it showed a lack of respect. One did not analyse first the department that upheld the idea. Surely Govan's idea, Tevio thought, the Tal Shiar scum and his crude designs were as transparent as space.

Ch'varak thought of all these things for the hundredth time as he made his way to the sickbay, and everytime, it angered him more and more. So much so that when he entered the place he was in a rather testy mood, and that was unusual for him, or at least, it was unusual for it to be displayed. The Legate strode around sickbay, searching for Doctor Sural and being frustrated at having to ask people, it was uncommon for him not to hold the answers. A nurse directed him to the bridge and the Legate departed sickbay.

Two minutes later Tevio had arrived (after having followed the 'back way' towards Govan Echal's ready room). Tevio did not wish to be seen on the bridge, and travelling this route meant he could catch Doctor Sural as he left the bridge.

Ch'varak waited outside until Sural eventually stepped out through the door and headed to the nearby turbolift, the Intelligence chief realised that Sural had not seen him so he shoved himself off the wall and approached the Doctor from behind. "Doctor Sural," Tevio said slowly, stepping into the turbolift after him. Sural glanced at Ch'varak, betraying no sign that he had been caught off guard.

"I understand that you wish to conduct my physical and mental exam," Tevio stated as the turbolift got underway, headed for sickbay.

<Tag Sural>

[Deleted]

With the medical department busy with exams and Lieutenant Virh and his staff hard at work on the systems diagnostics, Govan was looking forward to personally conducting the upcoming battle simulations. The Intelligent department could keep being annoying, the science department useless, and that left only the tactical and navigation departments to deal with, the ones he minded the least. Blowing up a bunch of asteroids actually sounded like the perfect thing to blow off some steam.

As the S’Harien approached their destination, a large, deserted asteroid field in an equally deserted sector, Sub Commander Echal decided to forget about the past year or so and try and have some fun. “All stop,” he ordered, rising to his feet in a single, smooth motion, as the ship shifted gently to a halt. “On screen.” The mass of rocks and debris appeared in a dizzying array, and even from their distance, it was easy to see the scarcity of objects on the outskirts gradually compacting further in, becoming rather densely packed in the center. “Science, conduct a full survey of the field while we’re here, but leave the majority of our power for other systems,” he ordered, not because he actually cared but more as a test of their capabilities.

<Tag Jhu>

Opening a ship-wide channel for what he believed was the first time as the ship’s Commander, Govan cleared his throat before beginning to speak. “All hands, this is Sub Commander Echal. Over the next few days, we are going to be conducting tests of all departments and their systems. This will include random battle drills as well as more specific coordinated diagnostics and maneuvers. When on alert, I want everyone at their stations just like it was a real emergency, and I expect all of you to perform at your absolute best, and that is far from a request, Echal out.”

<Tag All>

Settling back into his chair, Govan allowed a tight smile to cross his face. Turning to glance at Dor’vel, the grin widened. “Test all weapons on all settings, Centurion, and pick your own targets.” Still grinning, he added, “Let’s obliterate some rocks.”

[Deleted]

Looking back at the sub-commander from the spare station he was using he thought he almost saw him smile. Leave to a Sub-Commander to want to destroy something even if its a stupid Rock. He knew it was normal for a Romulan not to want to destroy and achieve glory.

But he had been a member of the change on Romulus he knew that with out the empire would fall. It didn't matter how long they had lived as a empire it was like the Great Captain Spock said all empires fall when based on conquest. He knew in his heart this was true but he also knew change was slow and sometime's you had to change at that pace.

Looking back down at his read outs weapons were cleared for all ranges. " Sub-Commander we are cleared on your order all avaible settings and power ready to drop cloak on your order" <Echal>

[Deleted]

Ch'varak waited outside until Sural eventually stepped out through the door and headed to the nearby turbolift, the Intelligence chief realised that Sural had not seen him so he shoved himself off the wall and approached the Doctor from behind. "Doctor Sural," Tevio said slowly, stepping into the turbolift after him. Sural glanced at Ch'varak, betraying no sign that he had been caught off guard.

"I understand that you wish to conduct my physical and mental exam," Tevio stated as the turbolift got underway, headed for sickbay.

"Wish is perhaps the wrong word" Sural replied dryly, "Examining you is not high on my list of desirable actions. Still it must be done"

Tevio nodded as the doors opened,
"After you" he said allowing Sural to exit first a faint smile tweaked the doctors face. Never turn your back on anyone - Passage 1 in the Intelligence officers handbook no doubt. Tevio need not fear Sural was no threat.

"I believe your psych exam would be pointless" he noted as they entered sickbay "You are no doubt trained in resisting interrogation techniques and I think I could tick of your character traits from here."

"Try me"

"Arrogant, self-assured, astute, paranoid, dedicated, ruthless, calculating, driven." Sural stopped a moment and looked directly at Tevio "and of course ambitious. But then who in the Romulan Navy isn't"

Tevio shrugged,
"You it would seem, still an Uhlan at your age"

Now it was Surals turn to shrug,
"Rank has its priveleges yes but so does its lack and for my purposes it suits me fine"

"And what proposes would they be or are you masking a career of failure"

"Did I mention direct" Sural replied ignoring him and beckoning for Tevio to lie on a biobed.

"I ll begin with a full body scan" Sural said as he tapped at the console, "I ll also draw some blood."

The biobed whirred gently as the sensors ran through it taking discrete records of his organs and systems.

"You appear physically healthy..." his voice trailed off, he went around the bio bed and looked at the main console. He frowned a moment and then grabbed an extractor. He moved swiftly to teh bedside and in a quick single movement pulled up the sleeve and began to extract some blood."

"Something wrong?"

Sural seemed not to hear he went straight over to a mircoscope and loaded up the blood sample.
"Amazing" he muttered to himself and then as if aware that Tevio was still present he looked back at him,

"Oh your fine. Be off with you. On second thoughts make an appointment to see me later this week I may need to take some more blood."

TAG Tevio

[Deleted]

Uhlan Sural's overall manner was familiar, but there was something else about him that Tevio was unable to place. An unusual thing for the Intelligence chief, considering how much experience he had garnered over the years. Character analysis was one his 'favourite' activities, and of course, it was an integral part of his role.

In fact, he was still caught up in studying Sural when the Doctor believed he had found something.. curious, about Tevio's blood. "Something wrong?" Tevio had asked, near absent-mindedly. It was a dangerous mindset to have in this place above all others, Tevio reminded himself urgently. Especially for an Intelligence officer, he needed to be alert at all times, regardless of the location or circumstances.

"Oh your fine. Be off with you. On second thoughts make an appointment to see me later this week I may need to take some more blood."

At last, Tevio had snapped back to giving full attention to his surroundings. "What do you mean?" he asked Sural, trying to keep the hardness out of his expression. Sural paid him no attention, instead he removed the sample of green blood from the microscope and walked with it to the wall, where it seemed he had many other, similar specimens stored. Tevio got up from the biobed, he moved over until he was standing a few feet behind Sural. He said nothing, just stood there. Finally, Sural stopped with the sorting of his specimens, he slowly turned his head, making a show of looking over his shoulder at Tevio.

"I want to know why you need more of my blood." Tevio said coldly. This was important to the Legate, he did not appreciate information being kept from him in any situation, let alone information about himself.

<Tag Sural>

Eventually Tevio left sickbay. Sural had given scarce reason for his actions, the Legate would be returning later. He told himself he did not feel angry at Sural for his behaviour, although he was probably lying to himself. If this was something to do with his membership in the Tal Diann, something about his blood in that sense, then rather he was angry with his own organisation. All genetic modification to the agents of the Tal Diann was supposed to be masked to the highest levels. So either there was an error with that masking, or the issue was something else altogether...

[Deleted]

Looking at the targets the weapons officer was choosing and how close the ship was, he decided to increase the power to shields. He hadn't spent all this time working on repairs for rock to put a hole in the ship. Leave it to a weapons officer to pick the biggest and closet rocks to the ship.

Things seemed to be moving along quite nicely for the moment they might get a real mission soon one could always hope. So far the systems seemed to be back on line and working they way they should even with the federation parts installed which seemed to handle the job better then the orginal parts did.

He wasn't a big fan of the federation but he could admire there engineering at times. He wondered how well the empire technology would work if they weren't geared to war and conquest. These were not thoughts he should be having on the bridge and went to work monitoring the systems and switching to backs ups to make sure things worked.

He opened his personal log and started studying ways to the ship to fire while cloaked. It was a age old problem that could not be solved because of the power requirements. So far he had worked on a idea to get the ship to do it once. The only problem was every time he ran the program in simulation it blew have the sytems and destroyed the cloak. If he could get it to work it would be a ticket to command one day. Not that he wanted it he just liked trying to solve the impossible problems. That was his greatest joy solving problems that nobody else could.

[Deleted]

Fighting to keep a boyish grin from his face, Govan watched as several torpedoes obliterated a large asteroid on the viewscreen. This may have been pointless, but his mood was certainly improving. Glancing around the bridge, he found the mood of his fellow officers improved as well overall, with the exception of Lieutenant Virh, who kept chiming in with his diagnostics of systems and ruining the fun. True, he was doing his job, but every time he spoke up, Echal just wanted to tell him to just lighten up and enjoy the wanton destruction. They were Romulans after all. Dor’vel complied with all the engineer’s requests, tweaking power levels and recalibrating frequencies, but the Sub Commander simply enjoyed the spectacles of exploding rocks and plasma detonations lighting up the darkness of space. With every rock that lost its license to drift undisturbed through the vast vacuum of the universe, he felt just a little bit better. He even began to name the targets after certain enemies, which added an additional thrill as he would watch “Tedak” or “Tyr” be vaporized.

Dozens and dozens of asteroids were destroyed in their wake, several of which were beamed to one science lab or the other for further analysis. He thought he’d overheard one of the science officers on the bridge say something about a unique composition or something frivolous like that. Either way, Lieutenant i-Mhiessan was not on the bridge, probably playing with one of the fragments now, which suited the Sub Commander just fine. Everything was going well, and it seemed that with a few adjustments the weapon’s systems were in good shape, which was always good news. If they concluded testing within two days, maybe they’d get a real mission...

Unfortunately, fun never seemed to last long and in far too short a time, weapon’s testing was done, and they had to move on to the less exciting navigational tests. Watching the sensors as the helmsman maneuvered the S’Harien around, over, and under the numerous obstacles and challenges provided by the extremities of the field wasn’t exactly boring or miserable, but following the joy of destruction, it was lacking. The navigational officer was sweating of course, and there were a few close calls that were a little exciting, but overall it was a downgrade. There was a steady dialogue between helmsman and engineer, as they tracked response time and other such things, but otherwise, the bridge’s energy level dropped significantly.

The calm was interrupted with a shudder and a series of alarms that jarred him out of his tedium lulled senses, and unfortunately, he hadn’t been paying attention, so he had no idea what had happened. “Did we hit something?” he demanded as he jumped from his seat and approached the exhausted and frazzled looking navigator.

“No, Sir,” the Sub Lieutenant replied, rapidly checking his sensors. “We cleared the last asteroid easily, but we’re registering a hull breach, deck four, section nine.”

“How can there be a hull breach if we didn’t hit anything?” Govan shot back angrily.

“Unknown,” Dor’vel replied in defense of the helmsman. “But the sensors did not detect an impact before the breach. Forcefields are holding, but I am also reading multiple microfractures throughout the hull that were not there when we arrived.”

“What?” Govan exclaimed. “This is a brand new ship. They don’t just self-destruct!” No one seemed to have an answer for him, so the Sub Commander sighed. “Take us out of the asteroid field at one-quarter impulse and then all stop,” Echal ordered.

“Virh, get a crew on repairing the damage to the hull and check the shields. I don’t know how this happened, but I know I don’t want it to happen again,” he snapped. “Run a full diagnostic on structural integrity as well, and check the hull composition to make sure there wasn’t some sort of mix-up. I don’t want the ship disintegrating out from under us,” Govan added, hating feeling like someone was out to get him.

<Tag Terrh>

~

Standing in one of the science laboratories, watching a single geological fragment morph from one to two and back to one again, Uhlan Rahdik swayed slightly on his feet. His primary task had been to collect the fragments as they were transported aboard and then extract smaller samples for scientific use. At first, he thought he was merely tired, but the longer he continued to work, the sicker he began to feel. ‘I must have caught that virus that’s been going around...’ he mused to himself as the room continued to dip and spin around him. Finally unable to take anymore, he approached his superior. “Lieutenant, I am unwell, permission to be dismissed.”

<Tag Jhu>

Barely hearing her reply, the Uhlan stumbled slightly as he headed for the exit. As much as he would rather have avoided that particular area of the ship, as any self-respecting officer would, Rahdik needed to get to the medical bay. The whole way there, he felt worse and worse, the lights became painful, and the deck seemed to move beneath him making it incredibly difficult to walk. By the time he arrived at his destination, he was practically delirious, nearly bowled over by the hasty escape of Legate Ch’varak. Grasping the Intelligence Officer’s arm in desperation, he barely managed to gasp ‘help me’ before losing consciousness and slumping to the deck.

<Tag Tevio and Sural>

[Deleted]

The alarms going off and the Sub-Commander snapping at him were not helping. The Helmsmen was right they didn't hit anything so he couldn't blame him. Not like he would if he could he had his own sense of honor and owned up to his mistakes. In the past it had served him well didn't stop his punishment but kept him alive. He had found out Command officer do value honesty even if they dont admit it.


Tapping his controls he notifyed a repair team to head to the damage area. He did a quick scan and decided to have a science team there to take readings. " Jhu when you get a moment can you stop by the damage area of the ship. I would be grateful for any insight your able to come up with."

Unlike the rest of the crew he had a personal attachment to the ship he had help build it. Not to mention he had spent a lot of time repairing the systems and getting the ship back on its own power again. So recent events were driving him crazy what was going on now why was his ship having so many problems completeing its shake down. This would not reflect good on his abilitys and that was making him mad, He knew he was a good engineer with out any doubts but this was getting old.

[Deleted]

Once he had left sickbay, Tevio found himself standing still in the middle of the corridor, just taking a while longer to think about what the Doctor's curiosity at his blood could mean. The Legate knew he could not linger with in his own head like this for long, he had to return to the intelligence department, to check that Sural's staff had not been overzealous in their pursuit of physical and psychiatric information from his staff.

Tevio was beginning to feel the weight of such responsibility, and he was finally reminded of this loathsome part of the Tal Diann's duty on a vessel such as this. He missed his intel assignment on Remus, it had been so peaceful there. Sitting in his dark, handsomely sized chamber, contemplating matters of the Romulan psyche, and how best to manipulate it to certain ends... Those days would come again, Tevio thought, he would make sure of it.

In the end, it was not the Legate that succeeded in shaking himself out of his reverie. Approaching learily from his right, a junior Romulan officer from the science department grabbed hold of Ch'varak's arm. "Help me!" he managed.

Tevio gave the obviously not well Uhlan a grim look, and roughly pulled his arm away from the Uhlan's clinging hands. The Uhlan fell backwards to the floor. "You're here at sickbay, obviously you want Doctor Sural. Not me." Tevio told him in no uncertain terms, he would not be assaulted by a junior officer of the science division. There was no response from the now motionless Uhlan. Tevio who had just started left down the corridor looked back, he saw that the Uhlan was unconscious. Taking cursory glances down both ends of the corridor to check no one was approaching, Tevio reluctantly went up to the inert Romulan and after a small sigh, lifted him from the floor and took him through the doors of sickbay.

"Sural," he called, as he carried the fairly heavy Romulan through the sickbay, ignoring the bemused glances thrown his way. "You have a patient."

The Doctor came out of his private lab and, after looking at Tevio, approached the Uhlan whom Tevio had lowered on to the nearest biobed. Sural asked the Legate what had happened as he grabbed a medical scanner. "I don't know," Tevio replied, "I encountered him outside of this sickbay, he collapsed unconscious in front of me."

This was a turn of events, but it was one Tevio was not too interested in, he needed to return to his quarters.

<Tag Sural>

[Deleted]

While repairs crew were working he stopped by the shuttle bay a idea had occured to him but he needed to check on some things first. Walking over to one of the fighters he opened the cockpit and sat down. He started to power up the systems it was so simple he kept thing but it if it worked the ship would be with out fighter and shuttles. Still it would mean a very big advantge for the ship and it Commander.

Checking the powere out put and doing the math in his head a idea started to form one with many possible results. Still he was going to need Command authorization to try it and it did have its risk.

Exiting the Cockpit he checked on the repair teams they were making good progress. He was a little excited by his idea but he need to get it approved first and he would only risk on fighter for the moment. Heading back to the bridge he found there newly permoted Commander " Sir I have a possible idea for a improvement for the ship one that might allow us to fire while cloaked. It comes with some risk and we would only have a couple of shots maybe 2 at best. It would give you a element that has been looked for quite awhile by know means is it the best option but a option none the less. If you permitt me to explain because I need your approval to begin a test on one of the fighters which could put it out of commission for a long while" <Tag Echal>

[Deleted]

Frustration couldn’t even begin to describe what Govan was feeling. Once again, his brand new, top of the line ship was falling apart from under him. That made two missions in a row, and already he was fed up with it. The sabotage and explosions had been bad enough, but this was so much worse. The hull seemed to be literally disintegrating around them, and no one knew why. The repair crews were barely able to keep up with the microfractures as they formed, and on top of it all, several science officers were mysteriously ill. Echal just couldn’t seem to catch a break…

With everyone scrambling to find answers and Govan as the angry, shouting ring-leader, the bridge was a madhouse, a confusing cacophony of sound and movement. When the chief engineer exited the lift heading straight for him, the Sub Commander hoped that perhaps he was about to get some relief. "Sir, I have a possible idea for an improvement for the ship, one that might allow us to fire while cloaked. It comes with some risk, and we’d only have a couple of shots, maybe two at best. It would give you an element that has been looked at for quite awhile. By no means is it the best option, but an option nonetheless. If you permit me to explain because I need your approval to begin a test on one of the fighters, which could put it well out of commission for a long while," the obviously excited engineer rattled off breathlessly.

Blinking in open shock and confusion at Terrh for a moment, Govan’s expression finally darkened. “You mean to tell me that while my ship has been falling apart, my chief engineer has been playing around with fighters attempting to manage a feat that the best minds in the Empire have yet to accomplish in many decades!? Well no wonder this ship is such a disaster!” he bellowed, feeling his temper flare once more. “I want every engineer available working on repairing the hull and figuring out what is causing the fractures, and that includes you, Lieutenant. I don’t wa...”

His tired was interrupted by proximity alarms and the slight shudder of an impact. “What is it now?!” Govan snapped, spinning around to face Dor’vel in exasperation.

“Unknown,” Dor’vel replied as his fingers flew across the console. “But the hull is registering multiple hits across its entire length, but we’re not detecting anything.”

I thought I told you to take us out of the asteroid field and then all stop!” Echal shot at the helmsman. “How can we be hit by debris when we aren’t even moving?”

“We are out of the field and at all stop, Sir,” the anxious navigator replied carefully.

“Confirmed,” Dor’vel replied, trying to be helpful as the vessel continued to shake minutely with what sounded and felt like several thousand tiny impacts ship-wide.

“Contact the repair crews on the hull,” the Sub Commander shot towards the Ops station. “They can’t be out there and obviously to whatever it is that’s happening.”

After a moment pause, the Sub Lieutenant at Ops replied, “I can’t raise them, Sir. There’s some sort of interference that’s blocking our signals from reaching them.”

Growling, Echal shot to his feet. “Find one of the teams and put their location up on the screen. If they can’t tell us what is going on, maybe instead we can see for...”

The Sub Commander was cut off by the spectacle that greeted them on the screen. The teams were being bombarded by swarms of...something. It almost looked like little rocks and pieces of fragmented asteroids, but on closer inspection, the things were moving under their own power, slamming up against the hull and pelting the scrambling men, who were practically sitting ducks in their slow moving protection suits. Several groups were huddled together, fending off the attacks with torches and tools, but there were so many of the things, it didn’t look like they could survive for long, as several officers floating off by themselves gave testament to their fates.

“Get them out of there,” Echal ordered, stunned by the sudden attack and frustrated that there wasn’t any warning given. This was turning into an absolute nightmare.

“We can’t get a lock,” the frustrated Ops officer reported. “The same interference that is blocking our comm signals is also preventing us from getting a solid lock.”

“Organize tactical teams,” Govan ordered turning to Dor’vel. “Get those engineers out of there and repel whatever those things are from the hull. Virh, go with him.”

<Tag Terrh>

As the tactical officer and engineer left, the Sub Commander opened a channel. “Echal to Sural, prepare the medical bay for incoming casualties and report to the airlocks with a medical team to treat the engineers trapped out there, Echal out.”

<Tag Sural>

Beginning to wish he could go with the teams, Govan decided that he might as well send as many as he could to help. “Echal to i-Mhiessan and Ch’varak, report to the airlocks and join the rescue teams. I-Mhiessan, I also want you to collect samples of whatever is attacking for further analysis, but your main priority is to rescue the engineers and repel the attackers, whoever or whatever they may be, Echal out.”

<Tag Jhu and Tevio>

~

At the airlock, Dor’vel quickly split up the two dozen tactical and security officers into four teams of six and waited for the arrival of the medical staff and the other senior officers. They had all already gotten into their protection gear, and he was already dreading trying to maneuver and fight in the clumsy suits. It didn’t help that due to the sensors being ineffective because of the same interference they really had no idea what they were up against. As soon as everyone had arrived, he took charge of the situation and began giving orders. “Alright, I want a medical officer in every group to assist any injured we encounter. Our first priority is to protect the engineers and keep them and the medical officers safe. Our second is to fight off the attackers and protect the ship. Everyone is to be armed, no exceptions,” he added, glancing pointedly at Doctor Sural and his staff. “Lieutenant Virh, Sub Lieutenants Ch’varak and i-Mhiessan, and Doctor Taranek, you are with me. Now move out.”

<Tag All>

[Deleted]

=== DURING THE WEAPONS TESTING ===

Suppressing a yawn, Jhu glanced around her small quarters. She'd only just come off duty and yet already she felt like she would be able to sleep the night through. She wouldn't of course; she never did anymore. Not without a good deal of rum anyway; and that kind of sleep was never very restful. Finally her gaze dropped on the small bottle that she'd started last night; she only ever drank from small bottles to avoid ever accidentally drinking too much of it. Last night she'd just drank the minimum that would secure her a decent sleep, just one medium glassful.

Absently she checked through the personal section of the computer, running quickly through her preferred news feeds; none of which had anything too much of interest, and then an inquisitive check of her messages. As usual she had nothing other than the standard advertising sales. Without thinking about the likely result, she thumbed back up through the old messages until she found the most recent personal one. It was from her youngest brother, and had been sent over 8 months ago. She'd never replied.

Her mind now thoroughly dunked into a dull state of emotion, she flicked the lid off the rum and poured herself a healthy glassful. With a deep sup of it, she picked up a logic game that she'd been working on for the past few weeks. It kept eluding her, taunting her by being seemingly solved and then the last few pieces simply refused to slot into place. She sighed at it, and took it all apart, working on the premise that probably she'd got her foundations wrong, meaning that with all of the will in the world she wouldn't be able to solve it from where she was.

With it all laid out on the table before her, she took another sup of the rum and was about to piece two of them together when her door chime sounded. Before she had a chance to open it, it slid open and Govan strode in, his face an ugly contortion of anger.

“You're just sitting in here playing your vulcan games while the ship gets attacked by unknown substances that your sensors can't identify? You're worse than a harlot, you're useless!” He jabbed his finger towards her, and looked as though he would rather have her neck in his hands. “Do you even know whats going on outside this small poxy room Lieutenant?”

Jhu's gaze dropped to the floor. “It's set to only alert me if you call battle stations.”

“Well then, get your [word deleted] into the science lab and tell me what the hell is killing my ship!” He growled at her, almost chasing her out of the room; giving her no opportunity to change out of the thin kimono she had been wearing.

=== NOW ===

“Echal to i-Mhiessan and Ch’varak, report to the airlocks and join the rescue teams. I-Mhiessan, I also want you to collect samples of whatever is attacking for further analysis, but your main priority is to rescue the engineers and repel the attackers, whoever or whatever they may be, Echal out.”

With a quiet glance down at the kimono that she was still wearing, she rolled her eyes and sent back an affirmative reply. She'd gotten enough lewd comments off her own science staff about the dress, and they'd come to almost respect her, or at least show some semblance of it. Ch'varak and the engineering and security oafs would never be so forgiving.

On her arrival, Dorvel did nothing more than raise his eyebrows disapprovingly, but Ch'varak sidled up to her and hissed quietly into her ear; “I'm sure you'd be more comfortable in the suit without that flapping about you pretty little fvanna'lo, I'm sure my lads would give you a hand.” She narrowed her eyes and gave him a piercing glare; but no hint of a reply.

Unfortunately it turned out that he was right, once she had her whole suit on, the flimsy dress still flapped about inside, irritating her with every movement. She doubted it would survive the trip, and hoped that it wouldn't be long before they returned to Romulus so that she could pick up another.

“Alright, I want a medical officer in every group to assist any injured we encounter. Our first priority is to protect the engineers and keep them and the medical officers safe. Our second is to fight off the attackers and protect the ship. Everyone is to be armed, no exceptions,” Dor'vel added, glancing pointedly at Doctor Sural and his staff. “Lieutenant Virh, Sub Lieutenants Ch’varak and i-Mhiessan, and Doctor Taranek, you are with me. Now move out.”

Relunctantly Jhu picked up her disruptor, slipping it into the holster provided with the suit and followed the string of officers into the airlock. Once they were all in, the door rolled closed with a loud hiss and the air removal stage began. Two of the security officers had forgotten to activate the magnetic lock on their boots and for a few seconds were pulled up to the vents until they managed to turn them back on. Once the room achieved a perfect vacuum, the room was bathed in a green glow, and the second door slid open; baring them to the depths of space.

<tag all>

[Deleted]

He was caught off guard by the Commander reaction until he saw why. He didnt' understand it himself what was causing this. He was getting mad he had spent alot of time putting the ship back together just to have it ripped apart again. Who or what ever was doing this would not have to worry about meeting Ch'avark he would take care of it himself. The ship was his life and he wouldn't let anybody or anything tear it apart.

After putting on the gear and seeing everybody show up he was not shocked to see Ch'avark reacting to Jhu. He thought it was pretty normal and it made him sick the ship was being torn apart and he was making nasty comments. Walking over to Jhu while they were exploring the section of the ship He held her up for a moment. He didn't say much and he was by no means putting the moves on her. Not while his ship was being torn apart he wanted her focused and he could tell her clothes underneath the suite were making that hard.

Carefuly he adjusted the gravity inside her suited it would stop the her choice of atire from distracting her. When finished he looked in her in the eye's and showed her he was not making any moves on her and gave her a little respect. " I need you focused Jhu I'm not saying you weren't but right now I need to make sure there are no distractions for you. I"m a engineer I can fix what ever is broken but I need to know whats causing and thats your department. Tell me whats going on and I can fix it I'm sorry about Ch'avark comments they were not called for. So " it was hard for him but his ship needed him " So please tell me whats going on and what's causing it. I promise to help you get even with Ch'avark later no strings attached think of as payement for helping me figure out whats happening to the ship nothing else" <Tag Jhu>

[Deleted]

I want to know why you need more of my blood." Tevio said coldly. This was important to the Legate, he did not appreciate information being kept from him in any situation, let alone information about himself.

"Don't worry its just a precaution you know we Doctors can be over dramatical. You have quite a physiology, worthy of greater study. You are in no danger" he smiled insincerely

Eventually Tevio left sickbay. Sural had given scarce reason for his actions, the Legate would be returning later. He told himself he did not feel angry at Sural for his behaviour, although he was probably lying to himself. If this was something to do with his membership in the Tal Diann, something about his blood in that sense, then rather he was angry with his own organisation. All genetic modification to the agents of the Tal Diann was supposed to be masked to the highest levels. So either there was an error with that masking, or the issue was something else altogether...

After Tevio left Sural quickly picked up the sample and dashed into his lab.

"Remarkable" he muttered to himself as he pored through the mitochondrial DNA strands within the chlorocytes of the Intelligence Officers blood.

Barely hearing her reply, the Uhlan stumbled slightly as he headed for the exit. As much as he would rather have avoided that particular area of the ship, as any self-respecting officer would, Rahdik needed to get to the medical bay. The whole way there, he felt worse and worse, the lights became painful, and the deck seemed to move beneath him making it incredibly difficult to walk. By the time he arrived at his destination, he was practically delirious, nearly bowled over by the hasty escape of Legate Ch’varak. Grasping the Intelligence Officer’s arm in desperation, he barely managed to gasp ‘help me’ before losing consciousness and slumping to the deck.
"Sural," he called, as he carried the fairly heavy Romulan through the sickbay, ignoring the bemused glances thrown his way. "You have a patient."

The Doctor came out of his private lab and, after looking at Tevio, approached the Uhlan whom Tevio had lowered on to the nearest biobed. Sural asked the Legate what had happened as he grabbed a medical scanner. "I don't know," Tevio replied, "I encountered him outside of this sickbay, he collapsed unconscious in front of me."

This was a turn of events, but it was one Tevio was not too interested in, he needed to return to his quarters.

Sural emerged from his lab and moved swiftly to the Uhlans side. He grabbed a tricorder and began a series of scans. Rahdik groaned and shielded his eyes. Sural looked up at the lights.
"Computer lower illumination by 50%"
That seemed to calm Rahdik but it was still evident something was very wrong.

"Tamir erect a bio forcefield around this biobed and take a blood culture. Screen for micro-organisms"

"What is it doctor?"

"Nothing I ve seen before. Its not a disease I m familiar with but the aches, dizziness and light aversion suggest a form of encephalitis see here" he showed Tamir the tricorder readout " His cerebral membranes are enflamed. I suspect a pathogen but nothing is registering yet."

As the tactical officer and engineer left, the Sub Commander opened a channel. “Echal to Sural, prepare the medical bay for incoming casualties and report to the airlocks with a medical team to treat the engineers trapped out there, Echal out.”

"Prepared" Sural scoffed back into the comm system. Med Bay is always prepared and I m needed here"

Although he was arguing with Echal he knew he couldnt disobey, "Tamir keep a close eye on the Uhlan and quarantine anyone else coming in with these symptoms. Try and keep him alive"

Grabbing his medical bag he went to the primary hull airlock where the rest of the away team were waiting.

"So?" he asked impatiently

“Alright, I want a medical officer in every group to assist any injured we encounter. Our first priority is to protect the engineers and keep them and the medical officers safe. Our second is to fight off the attackers and protect the ship. Everyone is to be armed, no exceptions,” he added, glancing pointedly at Doctor Sural and his staff. “Lieutenant Virh, Sub Lieutenants Ch’varak and i-Mhiessan, and Doctor Taranek, you are with me. Now move out"

Sural struggled in to his EVA suit, he wasn't a supple as he had once been and then followed the small party out into the inky darkness of space. Had he had time or even inclination Sural may have paused to absorb the wonder of the universe displayed in all its nakedness before him. He was however fully aware of the universes true capricious nature. The evil that pervaded every civilization from Algol to the Perseus nebula. He did stop a moment and looked at the vast number of stars. Just one, just one needed to be snuffed out and its star systems inhabited nullified and consigned to history.

he was broken from his reverie by a shot from Jhu

"look out"

Sural looked up and clumsily dodged as a rock like particle struck the hull where he had stood. It struck with an oddly organic sound and Sural bent to take a close look. It was essentially rock, latticed crystals of an igneous nature he surmised but there seemed to be a shape to the way they radiated from a central point. We recognized the sequence, it was a fibonacci series.

"I don't think this rock is rock at all. I suspect its organic" he noted beckoning for Jhu to come over and take a sample.

"Doctor. Over here" Dorvel called "We have a casualty."

Sural approached a prone engineer still held to the hull by his grav boots. He could tell the man was dead even before he reached to check vitals. There was a gash in his eva suit along the sleeve.
"Hes dead" he confirmed and then began to arrange for the corpses transfer to the Mortuary.

As the body of the engineer materialized in the mortuary the corpse spasmed. A crystalline spot on his arm left by the rock that had grazed him, began to radiate out. spreading rapidly up the arm and over the body just before it covered the face the eyelids flicked open and the dull glazed eye faded life of a sort had returned.

[Deleted]

Tevio had been on the way back to the Intelligence department, to check on his staff. However, when he was half-way there he was turned around by the voice of the S'Harien's Commander. Not for a long time had Tevio felt so at the mercy of a ship's staff. It was not a position he was accustomed to and it was beginning to grate. He had considered disobeying the order, not verbally of course, just by not doing anything at all.

He had decided against it. The Legate was not entirely sure what was happening outside the ship, or what the atmosphere was like on the bridge, but it was clear to him that the ship was experiencing serious problems. The Warbird shook and shuddered with many tiny hull impacts, making Tevio nearly lose his balance several times, on route to the airlock where the summoned parties were congregating.

It took several minutes for all the appropriate ship staff to arrive, the last of which was Lieutenant Jhu i-Mhiessan. Tevio had not had the pleasure of meeting her on this tour of duty thus far, not personally anyway. With the lack of that convenience, Tevio had only the standard, stereotyped prejudices to draw from; and of course the detailed personal biography, but that story did the female no favours. Prejudices were confirmed when the science department's dubious leader did enter the airlock embarkation area. Tevio gazed in her direction and although he did not show it, he was laughing inside. He knew there had to be a reason for the science officer's attire, a perfectly logical one that would excuse her. He could not imagine that she would be dressed as such on duty, on purpose. But it did not stop him indulging in the stereotype. He whispered a few snide remarks in her ear, feigning misognystic ignorance at her predicament.

Finally, once the Naval vessel had been bombarded enough by whatever was impacting its hull, the head of the group, the tactical officer Dor'vel, addressed them.

"...Lieutenant Virh, Sub Lieutenants Ch'varak and i-Mhiessan, and Doctor Taranek, you are with me. Now move out."

"Do you think that's wise, Centurion?" Tevio asked immediately over his suit's intercom. The assembled crew shifted uncomfortably in their vacuum protection suits to look at Ch'varak. "All the department heads in one team? That is ludicrous."

"Subcommander's orders," was Dor'vel's simple reply. "Let's go." He turned in his suit to face the airlock that promptly rolled open with a hiss of escaping air particles.

A moment later, the team of five were standing on the grey-green hull of the S'Harien's exterior. Ahead of them, over a ridge in the hull, they could see a team of three engineers, their welding tools and other equipment being unwieldly swung about in the vacuum around them. The reason for their seemingly bizarre behaviour became apparent as the five officers ponderously edged their way closer to the ridge. There were countless numbers of small objects impacting around the group, and gradually, the same objects began to pelt off the hull around the feet of Dor'vel, Tevio, Terrh, Jhu and Sural.

Why is it I who was chosen for this? Tevio thought darkly, as he watched one of the team dodge away from a rock that struck the hull. The Romulan who it was knelt down beside the rock, it had mysteriously stuck on the surface. The kneeling form, who turned out to be Doctor Sural, ascertained that the objects were in fact not rocks at all.

"What is this?" muttered the Legate. He gazed upwards, arcing his field of vision from the swarm of 'things' pelting down around them, along the central line of the sleek ship and to the thing that the S'Harien's nosetip pointed to, the asteroid field beyond. All was silent in space.

"Err.." one of the group started. The team had reached the group of three engineers, one they had found dead already. They began moving towards the other two, whom were separated by roughly twenty metres, but were stopped in their tracks. The 'maybe organic' objects were falling towards them in denser and denser packets now, and a sudden tumultous rush of them caused some damage. Tevio watched as one of the engineers began floating away from the hull, his magnetic booting had been damaged by the sudden storm. He was twisting helplessly in the vacuum, and the rotation brought Tevio and the others into his vision. The engineer waved, calling for help. The Legate saw Terrh stepping forward, obviously out of concern for his staff member. Even more troubling, for the beleaguered engineer at least, the organic objects pelting down around them began to attract to him instead. His arms waved more and more furiously as the objects obscured his body from the team, and still he drifted further and further from the hull.

<Tag Rescue Team>

[Deleted]

Virtuous Virh had once again valiantly vaulted himself into a position to try and protect Jhu’s honour, and yet again she coldly turned her back on his offer. The titillation that the rest of the crew must garner from her was the least of her concern, and was not something that someone else should be tarred for trying to turn back. She realised that her isolation from society these days was as much her own doing as, well, her own doing. She smiled sadly at the incongruity of it.

"I don't think this rock is rock at all. I suspect it’s organic." He noted; beckoning for Jhu to come over and take a sample.

The young science officer knelt uncomfortably beside him, and in spite of her frosty response to Terrh, she was immensely glad for the adjustments that he had made.

“I agree, it does appear so.” She frowned for a short time and was about to ask something of him when he was called away. In stead of his knowledge, she was forced to refer to the computer’s records to verify her own memory. In a matter of seconds, she had what she had requested on the small padd she had with her. Scanning rapidly through it, she frowned once more, deeper this time.

As she looked up to see who may be able to sound out her ideas, she saw one of the engineering crew floating away from the hull, attracting the rock like organisms as he did so. In one small way that would provide no solace to the stricken man, he was acting in the best interests of the ship. Unfortunately, it would only be a short term solution, and more pressingly for him, it was not going to leave him caring much about anything.

Sighing quietly to herself, she looked about at the rest of the crew. “Are we planning on rescuing him by just watching to see what happens then? Or maybe someone who knows his name could suggest that he be transported back on board? Or maybe someone should do something…” She kicked off from the hull with both feet and flew powerfully toward him. “…Stupid.”

Now they were both floating away from the ship. But at least the rocks were spreading their attentions slightly, giving the engineer a little more time. Jhu relished this for the few seconds it took before they coalesced about her too, and it seemed like they were taking millions of tiny bites out of her. And yet. They weren’t.

In spite of the danger and the pain, her mind was frantically trying to work out what was happening. The rocks seemed to be gravitationally drawn toward her, and were bouncing softly against the edge of her suit. The suit itself seemed to be taking very little damage at all, if any, and yet her skin was burning with what felt like bites. If it wasn’t so perilious, she would be enjoying the mental challenge. Instead she hoped that one of the clots on the hull would use the time she had bought the engineer to do something useful, otherwise she had merely sacrificed herself. And, she quietly reflected, she was someone that a good deal of the crew wouldn’t mind seeing gone.