Mission 35: Sleepers

[Andae Blakus]

Jalkoth station

Making it away from the Klingons who'd been attacking them in the intersection and stowing the bodies of those they'd rendered unconscious, Milyanov and T'Seng came across a series of what appeared to be residential suites.

One thing they'd noticed from wandering round the place - from seeing how the various corridors wound in tight circles and viewing wall displays of maps with no given dimensions but plenty of other indicators - was that the fortress seemed much smaller than they'd believed it to be; so indeed it appeared the sensor ghosts of all those Klingons and various Federation species weren't the only deception, but some sort of projection tech was in use to adjust the fortress's external appearance. How much smaller the base was was difficult to say, but T'Seng agreed she'd stay on watch at one end of the passageway for the Klingons they'd encountered while the engineer checked each door.

Vaguely hoping he'd find the four persons of the away team behind one of the doors, instead Milyanov discovered K'voz in the third suite.

"How did you get here?" the KzirpA's captain asked stunned, standing up quickly from the metallic bench that served for his bed - not the bench of a prison cell, just standard Klingon furniture, "Didn't Talthor take you to the situation rooms off the reception area?"

"Myself and my colleague outside aren't from the away team. We've come looking for them, for our commanding officer, first officer, senior marine and mission advisor," Milyanov replied, looking about in confusion, "Weren't you to be returned from here to Qo'nos?"

"No, I've heard no word about repatriation proceedings. Such they would have to be, as this system and this place are no longer recognised as part of the Klingon Empire." K'voz walked through the scarlet-shaded gloom of his assigned quarters, musing to himself, "Missing you say... I assume they're not in the adjacent quarters... and there are no brig cells on this station..."

"What?" Milyanov tilted his head, wishing the Klingon captain would speak up.

Kv'oz turned to him, "If what you say is true, and I have no reason not to take you at your word, then your away team is likely being held in the station's holosuite, four or five levels above. Without a brig, the holosuite may have been put to such use, and it may serve a double purpose for Talthor..."

"What do you mean?" Milyanov enquired.

"He could well be using your people in his experiment. You may be wondering whether I, as one of the four sleepers, have been touched by Talthor and his fellow outcast warriors to access my interface. Well, I must level with you. The information I carry is of no use to myself, you, or virtually anyone, except as a decoy... There are no other sleepers; I and my ship were set up at the part of the border near to where your Starbase 47 found itself on its return, and Birds of Prey belonging to Talthor pretended to hunt for me."

"Well, after I asked you to explain all this earlier! But go on," Milyanov said.

Kv'oz bowed his head, "My crew jettisoned back into our space, hoping to return to the fold of the Empire and forsaking Talthor's operation; I wished to return home as well, but my and my son's escape pod jammed and my son was killed in that accident, those two things were for real. Your ship found us as designed - except all my crew were gone, not by design - and you've been led here. But know that my wayward brethren are running a simulation involving two fictional organisations, both of which it is pretended are threatening the existence of the Federation and relatedly the Klingon Empire, called respectively the Cabal and the Annex. It is a wargame on grand scale, or an experiment in theoretical diplomacy. I believe Talthor is playing at being an employee of the Annex faction - last time he worked with the Cabal and before that as the Klingon Chancellor - while the Cabal on this occasion are being represented by holograms only. If your away team is truly missing, that simulation is where they'll be."

"A holosuite," Milyanov nodded, "As we suspected. Then we need to get them out."

"I wish I could help. But I am trapped on this floor... Somehow you must've fought your way through the guards; there are two groups of them, each guarding an end of this section. The section's corridor runs in a sort of jagged loop, ending in checkpoints to turbolifts at each end and not quite making a circle. You encountered guards?"

"Yes, but we didn't get past them, we fell back, incapacitating some. We must've transported into the corridor loop itself."

Kv'oz considered the information and nodded, "Transport out then, and transport back in to the levels above. Only take me with you... Ah, wait..." he growled, "The station is presumably creating a holoprojection and deceiving your sensors! Your beam-in was blind, your next one would be equally so!" T'Seng made her way in and the three thought over options. "The only way as I see it is to break through one of the two units of guards by force, obviously the weakened unit," Kv'oz said, "Just by myself such a thing would've been impossible, especially as I was confined to this room..." he added drolly, "But with three of us, we could well achieve it, and hence continue the search for your people."

[Carl Torek]

Lysia wasn’t sure Kv’oz wasn’t acting purely on his own behalf, possibly hoping they could help him in some way, believing he would turn on them at the first opportunity, so as far as she was concerned: Helping the Klingon was the last thing on her ‘to do’ list ..... She pulled Milyanov to one side, glancing at Kv’oz before voicing her doubts.

He too aired his concern, mainly about how they would get back up to the holosuite level, but Lysia said they could use the vertical service ducts. It would be a hard climb but would keep them out of any further interaction with the Fortress’ current occupiers... Milyanov wasn’t sure, but he had long since come to trust T’Seng’s instincts in such things... He nodded his silent agreement and they returned to where the Klingon Captain was standing.

"We’re leaving..." Lysia said, holding up a hand when the Klingon made to follow them, "... No, I said we’re leaving, you’re staying put. We don’t trust you Kv’oz. So if you are being truthful you won’t mind a short wait, if you’re lying, we’ll no doubt find out soon enough ..... I want your word you will tell no one of our presence," her request was somewhat punctuated by the phaser pointing at his midriff.

The Klingon eyed them both for a long moment before giving his word. Nodding, Lysia and Milyanov left him to himself …..


Holosuite Level ::


With only an approximate location, they were relying on what they remembered of the layout Kv'oz had explained ..... They began moving 'clockwise' along the dank, rust-strewn corridor until they came upon the first holosuite, an active control panel, presumably the Klingon version of the Holosuite interface the Federation used, signifying a program was running.

As Lysia kept watching ahead and behind them, Milyanov looked at the interface all frowns.

"Can you tell what program is running?" the Tactical Security Chief asked.

"No ..... One, my Klingon is practically nonexistent, and two, it looks like the program designation is an alpha-numeric,"

"Great," Lysia said as the Raven's Chief Engineer tapped the door panel ..... the double doors creaked and complained as they sild aside and the two stepped over the threshold into the Klingon Senate council chamber!

They remained within the activation sensors for the doors to ensure they remained open as they looked around the room full of arguing fighting Klingons. An Officer walked past them hardly giving them a look as he dipped his goblet into a deep vat of Blood Wine before returning to his still arguing associates.

"Our people are obviously not here..." Lysia said, ducking as something hit the wall directly behind her, "... Let's go," she said, stepping back into the corridor, Milyanov following. The doors shuddered shut behind them and they continued along the corridor. Suddenly they heard voices ahead, quickly they ducked into a room off the corridor and moved into the shadows. A moment later the two voices approached - Two low-ranking Klingons, complaining at the conditions they were being forced to endure, the second commenting that they would shortly be returning to some 'actual' duty.

The two went out of earshot and Milyanov risked approaching the door. He stood with his back against the bulkhead peering to his right, then changed position to look in the opposite direction. Satisfied, he motioned for Lysia to follow him.

"This is going to take a lot longer than we first thought!" the Engineer said, striding off down the corridor. Approximately two hundred metres further on they came on the second holosuite, this too seemed to have a program running. This time they activated the doors, the atmosphere escaping the forcefield caused both Officers to cough and choke, Milyanove quickly pulled Lysia away from the doors allowing them to close on whatever hell-hole program the Klingons were running!

Twice more they were forced into hiding and surmised that they may be getting closer to a more populated section of the Fortress if indeed there was one.

The fourth holosuite interface was blank and despite Milyanov's efforts, refused to activate, with a shrug they continued on to the next one.

Again T'Seng kept watch while Milyanov approached the illuminated interface, again the program had no title other than an alpha-numeric designation. With no other options open to them, he activated the doors ..... The immediate interior was in darkness, so after double-checking their weapons were ready, they entered the holosuite ..... As the doors creaked shut, lighting brought their surroundings into focus:

Lysia looked to her left, where a panoramic window showed a view of the stars, while Milyanov took several steps into the room proper.

"Is it just me..." Lysia said, picking a vase off the glass table in the centre of the room before replacing it, "... Or does this room look suspiciously like the 'VIP' suites on the Raven?"

"Only one way to find out," Milyanov said, striding towards the door, but Lysia grabbed his leave before he broke the beam:

"We can't go out there!" she said, coaxing him further from the door.

"Why not?"

"Think about it ..... If our people are here, they must believe that 'this' is the real USS Raven and not a simulation..." she said, striding back and forth in front of the window as Milyanov sat where he could see the door, "... If we just go wandering around 'this' ship, we're bound to bump into ourselves at some point,"

"Good, so we march onto the Bridge and inform our Away Team that this isn't our Raven,"

"..... And just how would you go about proving that 'you' are the real you...?" Lysia asked, frowning as she tried to think, "... Don't forget, Torek, Blakus, Valente, and Burwell, might have been here for a substantial period, at least not long after we lost contact with them, so they have no reason to believe 'we' are the genuine article, so to speak,"

"Well, we'll need to make a decision at some point, someone's bound to walk in here and find us chatting,"

"No ..... If these are supposedly representations of the 'VIP' quarters, there would be no need to enter until they were occupied," T'Seng said, silently hoping she was right. She walked over to the desk and activated the monitor:

"Computer .. Current location of Lieutenant Commander T'Seng?"

'Lieutenant Commander T'Seng is currently on the Main Bridge'

"Location of Commander Milyanov?"

'Commander Milyanov is in Main Engineering Level Eleven'

"Location of Admiral Torek?" she asked.

'Fleet Admiral Torek is on the Main Bridge'

"Are you planning on going through the full ships' compliment, or is there an endpoint looming?" Milyanov asked with a grin.

"We need to get one of the Away Team alone. If we can at least partially convince them of their situation, it's less likely we'll be dismissed as imposters... I hope," she said, less sure than she had ever been before ..........

[Andae Blakus]

"There are no Annex ships on the way as far as we can tell. We would hazard that there is no such fleet at all; the Federation would've known about it," a Raven officer had earlier spoken over the intercom into Talthor's quarters.

"They're using Klingon vessels, so of course you wouldn't know. But if you don't believe me, then at least take action to secure your safety from... the Cabal," Talthor said suddenly, as if what he said couldn't be trusted(!) "The Annex will be here soon and destroy your ship and the fortress..." he paced back and forth, "but if they experience any delay, the Cabal will beat them to it. High Ambassador Wright has been trying to locate and destroy the Annex for a long time. She may finally have succeeded in finding us."

They hadn't responded to the Klingon commander at first, letting a few hours go by until Onishi's USS Tian Shi was very near. A voice emitted into Talthor's quarters once more, "You mentioned Edina Wright. How do you know she is once more at large; information putting her last at Delta Lionis is only known to Federation authorities and only for the last few hours."

"The Annex has its intelligence operatives!" Talthor said after a delay, getting impatient, "I assume you're already aware she heads the Cabal. If the Annex doesn't get here first, she will sweep you aside in the process of destroying the fortress, barely noticing you. At least with the Annex you'd have a fighting chance... Your Federation could even join and we could take on the Cabal together!"

Andae glanced at Valente and Svensson in the small room near Talthor's quarters, all three shook their heads. The Klingon commander really was clutching at straws now, the XO thought. He spoke into the comm again, "Talthor, why do I get the impression you're trying to deceive us?"

The laughter came quickly, slightly distorted by the intraship comm, "You fools, fools! Well... I am trying to make your situation plain. There is a Klingon fleet - populated wholly by members of the Annex - of over one hundred vessels on the way here and they will destroy you. If you won't listen to me, listen to Vur'ka."

Blakus made to return to the bridge with Talthor's suggestion, leaving the other two to further questioning, and entered a turbolift. The lights seemed to flicker as he entered, creating an impression of fuzziness in the visual field; his eyes adjusted and resolved the scene or the lighting was restored, and he was put in mind of those ideas about the universe being essentially virtual, only becoming manifest when one searched for new sense objects.

"Computer, is there something wrong with the lighting? Or any aspect of this turbolift's operation?"

~ Negative ~ the computer responded after a moment. Strangely it sounded almost as perplexed as he was.

Putting it down to tiredness, he rode the lift to the bridge and informed Torek of Talthor's comments. The CO acknowledged but held off on contacting Vur'ka and instead asked for a renewed sensor sweep. Exactly as before, the only thing that showed was the fortress, its attendant vessels... and now the Nebula class Tian Shi fast approaching, but no sign of one hundred hostile ships of any type.

"Admiral, Captain Onishi is hailing us."

"On screen."

The bridge of the Nebula class appeared and the CO and XO of the Raven took serious alarm. "Admiral Torek, it's good to finally make your acquaintance. I have brought along a passenger, here at the insistence of the Federation Council," Onishi said. The passenger was Dalton Baskin of Utopia Planitia, a known Annex employee, a hologram of whom Burwell and Scott had encountered aboard the fortress; he was stood beside Onishi with a look of deep concern.

"Raven. I believe you're holding a citizen of the Klingon Empire," Baskin said. "Do you think this wise?"

"Captain Onishi, are you aware...?" Carl began.

"Perhaps if we could come aboard for a time, Admiral," Naoki said, "Myself, two members of my senior staff and honorary Commodore Baskin, for a conference. Starfleet Command wishes to take a personal hand in this matter. You see, the Federation has been conducting negotiations with the Klingon Jalkoth fortress and the Annex as a whole for a long time now, aiming to protect ourselves from the Cabal, of whom we've also been aware. Your orders from Starfleet Command are to allow my vessel and Administrator Baskin to take charge of the situation regarding Jalkoth fortress."

"The citizen we're holding is a member of the Annex, as you clearly know," Andae replied, "He tells us a fleet of Annex-owned Klingon warships is on its way here to destroy us all." The situation had become dire indeed, but had to be contemplated. He wondered how much control the Annex had taken of the Federation.

"They're bringing their main force to sign the agreement with us," Onishi said, confusing them all. "Our delegation is ready to transport aboard the Raven, Admiral. Please be ready to receive us."

[Carl Torek]

=^= The citizen we're holding is a member of the Annex .. As you clearly know .. .. He tells us a fleet of Annex-owned Klingon warships is on its way here to destroy us all =^= The situation had become dire indeed, but had to be contemplated. He wondered how much control the Annex had taken of the Federation.

=^= They are bringing their main force to sign the agreement with us .. .. Our delegation is ready to transport aboard the Raven .. Admiral .. Please be ready to receive us =^=

The comm snapped off before Carl could reply!

"Where is the Tian Shi now?" Carl asked, outwardly calm but knowing he was not about to hand over 'anything' to a subordinate, let alone a relatively new Captain in her first Command.

"She's is taking up position one thousand metres off our Starboard Aft quarter," T'Seng confirmed.

Nodding, he was about to ask Andae to greet their guests when the four materialised on the Bridge! ..... For a moment the Tian Shi's Captain looked around the Bridge then approached Torek:

"Admiral, it is good to meet you..." she said, "... My Executive Officer, Commander Williams, my Chief Tactical Security Officer, Lieutenant Commander Morris, and Commodore Baskin,"

"The 'rank' is honorary," Baskin said, feigning embarrassment as he stepped forward, holding out his hand. For a moment Carl considered refusing the handshake, but thought better of it, briefly taking the offered hand.

"Admiral, I know this is somewhat unautho ....."

"Captain, neither you nor 'Mister' Baskin is taking charge of anything while I'm ranking Officer," Torek interrupted. For a second Onishu remained silent:

"Perhaps if we could take this discussion into your Ready Room?" she asked, glancing at her Tactical Officer.

"We're taking it nowhere ..... I have spoken to Command, and Section Admiral Gheskori, neither of which instructed me to cede overall Command over to a, forgive my bluntness, a 'newly' promoted Captain, with zero Diplomatic experience. The Tian Shi was sent here as a backup to the Raven, not the other way around..." Captain Onishi began to interrupt but he held a hand up and continued, "... It is clear you are not in possession of the facts pertaining to this situation, and I am sure my Executive Officer will be able to set aside time to acquaint you with the minutia," it hadn't gone unnoticed that her Tactical Officer was in conversation with their via communicator, then Lysia spoke.

"Admiral, the Tian Shi is bringing weapons online and has raised her shields,"

"Seriously!" Carl said with an astonished laugh before turning to Onishu for an explanation, which she seemed more than happy to provide.

"Far from my not being totally conversant with the current situation, Admiral, I have been briefed thoroughly ..... My orders from Starfleet Command stand, as are my directives if you fail to comply," she said, raising an eyebrow.

"Admiral... Captain..." Baskin said, trying and failing to step between Torek and Onishi, "... I am sure we need not resort to threatening behaviour, we are all here for the same reason, so can we start afresh?" Carl still hadn't broken eye contact with the Captain of the Tian Shi until she herself broke contact to glance at the centre seat. For a fraction of a second, he wondered if she would have the unmitigated gall to actually take his seat. With a sigh, more to ensure he didn't laugh out loud again, he addressed Onishi:

"Captain ..... Instruct your ship to take weapons off-line and lower her shields ..... Now...!" he said outwardly calm as he saw Lysia making inputs to her Tactical console, "... Do it now, or I will relieve you of Command and send my own Officers over there to take control of your vessel," he waited, inwardly seething at the fact that Baskin, far from concerned at the turn of events, seemed now to actually be enjoying the confrontation. Still, Onishu didn't move.

"Commander T'Seng, lock phasers on the Tian Shi's Engineering Section and prepare to fire on my command," he said, watching his opposite number closely.

"Locked on Admiral," Lysia confirmed, watching Onishi's two Officers for any signs they might react.

"Admiral, please ....." Baskin said, with a wry smile.

"Captain, I am not in the habit of having to ask twice,"

"You are making a grave error, ADMIRAL, you are 'NOT' as you believe, in possession of the facts, relinquish overall command and I guaren ....!"

"SIR, the Tian Shi is preparing to fire!"

"Fire!" Torek said, watching the screen as two beams of 196,000 GigaJoules energy lanced across the gap between the two Starships, slamming into the Engineering Section of the Nebula Class vessel. They watched in shock as the Tian Shi began a slow roll to Starboard as lighting flickered throughout the ship. As this happened, Williams, Onishu's Exec' had drawn his phaser, but was already being covered by T'Seng and two of her Security Personnel. She instructed the visitors to be disarmed, including Captain Onishi, then waited as reports of the Tian Shi's difficulties came in.

"Commander T'Seng ..... Please have Captain Oishi escorted to the Conference Room and have someone watch her. Take these three to the Brig ..... Commander Wedlerson, please contact the Tian Shi and offer assistance, I'll be in my Ready Room,"

The Bridge was deathly quiet as Torek's instructions were carried out. He headed for his Ready Room, Andae and Calli a few paces behind him. On-screen Tian Shi continued her lazy roll.

~~~~~

Two Decks below the Bridge, Milyanov and T'Seng watched the event play out through the panoramic window of the 'VIP' quarters they were currently hiding in ..........

[Carl Torek]

From what Milyanov and T'Seng could establish, they were secreted in one of the 'VIP' suites Port and For'ard on Deck Three .....

Lysia sat on the long settee next to the full-length window of the living area. They were still discussing options to get one of the Away Team on their own when something outside caught her eye:

"There's a ship approaching..." she said, changing her position to watch the newcomer as it passed on their side, falling back behind the Raven, "... A Nebula Class, I couldn't read the Registry,"

"Not a 'real' starship, Lysia," Milyanov said, his frustration growing.

"This might be a chance to get one of our people alone..." she said, rising to sit at the desk, "... Wow... My access codes worked. Maybe it's a default access, given there's no way they could have any genuine codes," she said as she brought up Command Protocols on the desk terminal's screen and then set to work.

"What are you doing?"

"With luck, I might be able to tap into the Bridge comm systems..." she explained.

"To do what...?" the Engineer asked, "... This is essentially a 'fake' USS Raven Lysia, what good would access to the comms do us?"

"I know, but you have to consider that this simulation is so realistic our Away Team can't recognise they are not on their own ship... 'THAT' is a problem, so with luck, any tampering I do here 'should' have the same effect as if I'd ma ....."

"We're turning," Milyanov said. Suddenly the other ship came into view through the panoramic window, It was rolling slowly to Starboard, "... Looks like it's lost main power, the warp drive is likely off-line,"

"LOOK ..... There!" Lysia said, pointing at a scar running almost one hundred metres along the Port side of the Engineering Section.

"Bloody Hell,"

"Is it possib ....." she began to say before realising it wasn't a real attack, "... Forget it," she said, but it struck her that those on the Bridge, including the four of the Away Team, couldn't possibly know it was a simulation! ..........

[Andae Blakus]

"Damn it, ok the bridge comm systems aren't accessible from here, at least not the command override..."

Milyanov saw what she'd been attempting and indicated a part of the terminal's screen, "You may be able to activate the comm in another way, or at least the bridge's speaker systems. If you can have the internal sensors point to and detect us - where they normally wouldn't, as according to the program and holosuite systems we shouldn't exist - then a computer call-out should be audible on the bridge." He took over on the terminal, "I don't know what the sensors will give as our lifesigns - how can we be more real than real? - but it's a way to attract attention."

"But from whom?" Lysia asked.

"Well, I think intruders detected in a VIP suite would be sure to bring at least one of the real away team, and that will be all we'll need, in spite of whoever else comes along," the engineer said and worked the terminal, hoping he was right.


Blakus, Torek and Valente were in urgent discussion about the implications of Baskin being with the Tian Shi - how far did the rot go, or at least the influence that the Annex had with Starfleet via its various moles who had, presumably only until recently, been in place covertly within the Federation? Had they revealed their presence or had Starfleet learnt of their existence, and had that been at the same time as the discovery of the threat of the Cabal?

=/\=Admiral, Captain Onishi is requesting you speak with her,=/\= Wedlerson commed from the bridge.

=/\=Let her wait,=/\= Torek said, =/\=Actually, Commander. We will speak with her. It may prove enlightening.=/\= Even untrustworthy sources can sometimes be useful, Andae thought, At least to get an idea of what you're up against.

The three entered the conference room and sat with Onishi, Raven security guards at the portals on the stars behind her as well as either side of the room's doors. "Admiral," the Tian Shi captain pushed a PADD - to which she'd had information downloaded since arriving on the Sovereign class - across the table to Torek, "This contains my orders, as well as your own, from Starfleet. You are not surrending authority to a subordinate, Admiral, you are obeying Starfleet Command, as am I in taking on this assignment."

Receiving the PADD pushed along the table to him by Carl, after the latter had only had the barest of glances at its contents, Andae scrutinised the orders, he paid close attention to the date of departure from Sol and similar data, "Wait a minute..." He looked at Onishi, "Captain, according to this you were issued these orders on stardate 2408.0428. There's no way you could've got here from the core so quickly, you must've been given your directives en route. But fine, perhaps the orders came in late once you'd already been given the assignment to support us only, but then why is Dalton Baskin aboard your vessel...?"

"I..." the Tian Shi captain hesitated, "Allow me to speak with the starship you have fired upon, my own vessel."

He realised belatedly that there was no way Onishi could answer his question even if she wanted to; Baskin's presence aboard made no sense whatever, how could he have boarded the Tian Shi from Mars, with his Annex agenda, before Onishi was given the order to relieve the Raven and make arrangements to form an alliance with the Annex? He added it to the growing list of inexplicables.

Onishi, her first officer and security officer - the latter two now in the brig - had seemed strangely inert, he'd thought, when the admiral was warning her in targeting the Tian Shi's drive section - as if didn't matter to them at all. It was only at the last moment that Onishi had burst out somewhat mechanically that the Raven CO should think again, and her manner seemed the same at the present time...

~ Intruder alert, intruder alert, VIP quarters, deck 3. Intruder alert, intruder alert, VIP quart- ~

=/\=Commander T'Seng!=/\= Torek said, tapping his commbadge; the computer call-out would've been heard on the bridge, too. "Computer, identify."

~ Species, unknown. Manner of boarding... ~ the computer seemed to hang forever, finally returning the answer, ~ unknown. ~

Blakus received the order from Torek and he joined himself to T'Seng's forming security team, heading down to deck 3. En route, they joined Burwell and another marine and received an alert that Talthor was asking that he be given new quarters, specifically one of the VIP suites. Andae grunted, "Not right now."

Unknown biosignatures? What on earth? He nodded to Lysia as they reached the quarters in question; she raised her phaser, stepping somewhat out of view of whoever might be inside, and worked the panel to unlock the door.

The doors sliding aside - and nothing jumping out - T'Seng, Burwell, the other marine and one of the guards spun into the doorframe with phasers held before them. Andae requested they lower their phasers and they entered; then the room's desk came into view and the weapons were raised again. A curious sensation came over him, a feeling that he was coming into contact with something distinctly other, something uncanny. It wouldn't clarify anything to ask the computer anything about T'Seng, but a question about the other occupant may help, "Computer, locate Commander Milyanov..."

~ Commander Milyanov is in main engineering. ~ Then who is this? he thought, staring at the pensive chief engineer.

The two rescuing Raven officers realised they had two away team members to work with, but didn't know if the other T'Seng would prove a help or a hindrance...

[Carl Torek]

"Well, I think intruders detected in a 'VIP' suite would be sure to bring at least one of the real away team, and that will be all we'll need, in spite of whoever else comes along," the engineer said.

"I hope you're right," Lysia said, placing her phaser alongside Milyanov's in front of the terminal ..... The two Raven Officers stood quite still, knowing that almost whoever came through the doors first would undoubtedly get  one hell of a shock ......

~~~~~

The illumination in the room was up as Blakus instructed the Security Personnel to lower their weapons, he, T'Seng, and the Senior Marine took the lead entering the room first, phasers were again raised as they saw who had caused the intruder alert ..... It was immediately clear to Andae that something was wrong, but before voicing his concern he checked something:

"Computer .. Location of Commander Milyanov?" Blakus asked.


'Commander Milyanov is in Main Engineering'


Andae looked at the two, who thus far had remained silent. He instructed the Security Personnel and the Marine Officer to wait outside, then closed and locked the door once they had left. For a moment no one spoke:

"I'm guessing you are going to have questions...?" Milyanov asked as he sat down, Lysia following him, "... We don't really have time so if I were you I'd get to the most pertinent first,"

"Who the hell are you two?" Burwell asked, unable to play patience with the two.

"I am Commander Milyanov, this is Lieutenant Commander Lysia T'Seng, both of the 'GENUINE' USS Raven-C..." the Chief Engineer said, holding up a hand as Burwell was about to comment further, "... We know this is all going to sound, ludicrous, but 'this' Raven is a simulation. You, Commander Blakus here, Commander Valente, and Admiral Torek are as far as we can tell, are the only flesh and bone people here, along with us two, obviously," he didn't mention T'Seng.

"You're right there, I've never heard anything so ridiculous!" the Senior Marine Officer snapped.

"You need to lis ....." Lysia began standing while taking in the fact that Burwell's phaser had come up so it was aiming somewhere around her chest. Both she and Milyanov knew full well that Klingon holosuites didn't incorporate safeties, so being hit here would kill them just as quickly as anywhere else, "... Listen to us. All of this is fake, run by the Klingons,"

"Wouldn't it be more plausible that you two were sent here to replace members of the 'real' crew?" the holographic Security Tactical Officer asked.

"You transported aboard the Fortress at the invitation of Captain Talthor, right...?" Lysia asked, seeing Blakus nod reluctantly, "... Well you had the meeting, Admiral Torek, you Andae, You Colonel, and Commander Valente ..... Following the meeting, you were beamed back to the ship?"

"YES!" Burwell confirmed.

"NO! ..... You were transported into one of several holosuites..." Milyanov said, shaking his head, "... The Fortress is essentially a derelict, much smaller in reality than what the ship's sensors are telling you. Talthor has a handful of associates but nothing like the tens of thousands you believe is happy meandering around this Klingon centre of Commerce in the middle of nowhere."

"We should take them to Sickbay, it wouldn't be the first time the Klingons have used genetic manipulation to alter someone's features," the holographic T'Seng suggested, her eyes still on her doppelganger.

"If you don't listen to what we're telling you, it will be too late to do anything about it...." Lysia replied frustratedly, "... Everything, from the Away Team first transporting back to the Raven has been in here. The 'REAL' Raven is still holding station where we've taken Talthor. Whatever you got up to in here is moot,"

"You can't have Talthor, we have him," Burwell countered.

"For heavens' sake ..... You have a 'HOLOGRAPHIC' Talthor at best, nothing more," Milyanov shouted, his annoyance getting the better of him.

"But since leaving the Fortress, we've been to Betazed, and to the Cardassian Monitoring Station, you're saying all that was done in here?" Blakus asked, still on the proverbial fence as to the validity of what the intruders were saying.

"Yes ....." Lysia sighed, knowing it must be difficult to believe, but they were now counting on Blakus at least giving them the benefit of doubt, believing that her addressing the Away Team members so familiarly, might help persuade him somewhat, "... Andae ..... You need to ask Carl and Calli to come here. Make some excuse to the Security outside but tell them to keep their mouths shut. It wouldn't help to have everyone knowing what's happening, and it was can get the Away Team out of here and back to 'our' Raven, then these characters won't matter one way or the other given the Klingons will likely shut the program down once they don't have you," she said.

For a moment the Exec' looked at the intruders, then seemed to make up his mind, he tapped his commbadge:

=^= Blakus to Admiral Torek .. .. =^=

=^= Go ahead Commander =^=

=^= Sir .. I need you and Commander Valente to come to the 'VIP' suite where we had the intruder alert =^=

=^= .. .. Is there a problem? =^= Torek asked after a pause.

=^= .. .. No Sir .. But your presence would be useful =^=

=^= We're on our way =^= Carl replied, nodding to Calli, "Harry you have Conn," he said, rising from his seat before the two made their way to the turbolift.

In the 'VIP' suite, Milyanov and Lysia sat back down, the 'real' Blakus, the 'real' Burwell, and the holographic T'Seng watching them ..........

[Carl Torek]

Deck Three
VIP Suite Four
Section E ::

As Carl and Calli stepped off the turbolift, they were met by two Security Personnel and one of Colonel Burwells Marine contingent. As the two approached, the Marine contacted his Superior Officer. The door slid silently aside allowing ingress. Inside the room, Blakus, Burwell and T'Seng were standing off to one side, while seated were the ship's Chief Engineer and 'another' Lysia T'Seng .....

"Commander?" Torek asked as the Exec' raised his eyebrows.

"Admiral... I know this looks strange..." the Chief Engineer said, rising to his feet, "... I asked to speak directly to you so we could try to explain the current situation to you all ....." Milyanov went on to explain that they were in a simulation, and in fact 'he' was the genuine Raven Engineering Officer, as was the seated T'Seng, Commander Blakus, and Colonel Burwell,"

"So the original Away Team sent over to the Fortress?" Torek asked.

"Exactly," Milyanov confirmed.

"So I'm a hologram?" the standing T'Seng asked.

"I'm afraid so," Lysia replied.

"..... I'm going to assume there's no way you can confirm what you're telling us?"

"Without access to the holosuite's control panel, no..." Milyanov replied, pacing back and forth while Torek waited, seemingly open-minded at what he was being asked to believe, "... Given the fact that Klingon holo programs don't tend to use any safety protocols, I imagine that if you cut your hand you'll bleed just like anyone else. I also believe that dying in here isn't at all advised. Our problem, providing we convince your four of your situation, is going to be getting out of this holosuite and into a Section of the decrepit Fortress where 'our' Raven can transport us back to the ship,"

Carl looked at his Officers for a moment then spoke:

"Computer, delete T'Seng character," he instructed.

"Tried that," Lysia said with a shrug.

"Computer arch," again nothing happened.

"That too," Milyanov said.

"So let me get this straight, you're telling us that everyone apart from Lieutenant Commander T'Seng, this one..." Torek said, pointing to the T'Seng stood between Andae and Lew Burwell, "... Are the 'genuine' Raven Officers, and apart from you two, we have unknowingly been inside a running simulation for almost a WEEK!"

"Yes ....." Milyanov confirmed.

"..... And I suppose we've ruled out any possibility that 'you' are the holograms?" he asked, turning to Andae, who could only shrug noncommittally.

"Just out of curiosity here..." Torek asked, addressing Lysia, "... How did you two arrive here?"

"We entered several holo-programs which seem to be running continually, this was the third one we tried. As to turning up in one of the 'VIP' suites, I can't answer to that, other than the fact that the way we came in isn't the way out,"

"..... Betazed, the Cardassian Outpost?"

"All enacted within this simulation Admiral," Milyanov confirmed.

"So ..... Finding a means to exit this program would seem prudent," Carl said, still inwardly not one hundred percent convinced, but as no one seemed in immediate danger he was willing to give them the benefit, for the time being ..........

[Andae Blakus]

OOC: I think the Talthor we have aboard the holographic Raven is the real one, he has been trying to test us and see how we'd react to various things that the Annex or Cabal might try. He may have some control over the program from within, and Vur'ka and some other Klingons may be inside with us as well. The real Raven never brought Talthor aboard.

IC:
Blakus supposed he should be as calm and stoic in this situation as possible, maintain an openness to the possible truth of these claims. He was put in mind of fantastic stories - or one in particular - from a distant time in Earth's past, perhaps the 20th century: a man named Gosseyn had realised he wasn't what he'd thought himself to be, but far from rejecting or having trouble with his new knowledge, he'd instantly adapted and had assumed his reinvented history and the new state of affairs without a problem.

Of course, that attitude carried the assumption that the claims made by this new Milyanov and T'Seng were correct, and Andae wasn't fully willing to accept them...

Yes, as he explained to Carl and Calli, the 'unknown' lifesigns of Milyanov and T'Seng registered by the internal sensors - not human, humanoid or anything else - would be consistent with them being real people from outside a holoprogram, in which the holographic equipment would only detect as real lifesigns other holograms (or potentially actual people who the program had told been told to expect, in other words the away team and any other real people within the holosuite). But the 'unknown' result could be due to a number of other factors, and in any case might be falsified. Why should any of the Raven crew - let alone the four officers designated - believe the words of two individuals who'd walked in and without any evidence had told them all they'd assumed was real was an illusion?

"This could be an attempt by the Klingons and Annex to get us to release Talthor," he said eventually, seeing Milyanov's shoulders slump as he realised he hadn't convinced the XO. "The mysterious lifesign readout could be masking cosmetically altered Klingons, or any species affiliated with the Annex."

"The Annex..." Milyanov murmured, glancing at the real T'Seng, "That's an organisation Kv'oz mentioned. I can't remember what he said exactly, but it was something to do with them and one other group being part of this simulation, as a test for the Klingons should the Federation fall?" Lysia weighed his words and nodded, saying that sounded about right.

Andae and the others, except the Raven's own T'Seng who seemed befuddled by all this, looked from officer to officer. The reaction seems genuine enough, Andae thought... So the Cabal and Annex aren't real either? He raised his hands and rubbed at his temples, My word...

"Kv'oz? Where is he, you've had contact with him?" Burwell asked Milyanov and T'Seng.

"He's on the fortress, some levels below us - the real fortress, that is, the one that you're on right now," Milyanov said. "Andae, is there anything that's seemed out of place in the last few days? Anything odd... things that I might suggest are glitches in the program?"

"Yes, things consistent with that," Blakus said quickly, almost wanting to cover his ears. He thought it was about time he should accept it, or at least be alert to the real possibility. "It could still be the Annex trying to deceive us."

Lysia held up her hands, "We won't do anything except try to find an exit. If we can have you see an arch, that should convince you in short order."

"Start now," Torek said. "Are you aware of anyone else being in the program, if program it is?"

"From what Kv'oz told us and from what we overheard from a Klingon guard, it's likely that the Talthor within this program is the real one," Milyanov said, "so I should think it's quite possible that there are other Klingons inside."

"Perhaps Vur'ka," Andae asked, "She is an immediate subordinate of Talthor, at least within here." He remembered that while still on the fortress inside the holosuite, in the San Francisco simulation, Vur'ka had been able to delete the Berech character and call an arch... But then that would've been from within a program which was so to speak inside a larger program, if Milyanov and T'Seng's word could be trusted. There had been Vur'ka's odd almost evasive behaviour, as well as the craziness of Annex guards being armed with the same antique Romulan weapon as that used by N'Gral on Betazed, and there had been Tinsley's wife who he'd had trouble convincing had been in a simulation... presumably she too was holographic!

"You're suggesting we speak to Vur'ka, or Talthor, in case they're real?" Valente asked, "Surely that should be the last thing we do. If they realise that we know all this is artificial, they'll take action immediately. And they must have greater control over the program than us, considering we don't even know whether it is a program."

"I agree with Calli," Burwell said, "However we go about this, we can't just go walking up to Klingons and blurting out everything we know."

"Then we start familiarising ourselves with Klingon systems... in order to know how to deactivate something holographic," Andae said, "Even if any instructions we may read are holographic." Andae knew both he and Milyanov were not much good with Klingon technology; the XO knew a little more Klingon but the chief engineer had a slight edge over Blakus when it came to the tech itself; it would be a learning experience. But how was Milyanov - or T'Seng for that matter - going to be able to go about the ship? he wondered.

"Get to work," Torek nodded, looking at the two engineers, "In the meantime the rest of us can speak to Talthor, without letting anything on. Perhaps he will reveal something about our predicament on his own terms."

[Carl Torek]

OOC ::

Apologies for the errors, I'm struggling with the issues I informed you about more and more lately.

IC ::

"Then we start familiarizing ourselves with Klingon systems... In order to know how to deactivate something holographic..." Andae said, "... Even if any instructions we may read are holographic."

"Get to work..." Torek nodded, looking at the two engineers, "...In the meantime the rest of us can speak to Talthor, without letting anything on. Perhaps he will reveal something about our predicament on his own terms."

"Right, Milyanov said, starting for the door, only to be stopped by Carl getting in his way,"

"Where do you think you're going...?" the Admiral said, glancing at Andae before continuing, "... Neither you nor 'your' Commander T'Seng can go wandering around the ship. In case you've forgotten, you are already here!" Milyanov slammed a fist into the deck, his annoyance at how things seemed to be stalling at every turn clearly getting the better of him.

Milyanov was about to complain, given he wasn't actually speaking to his Commanding Officer when his comm badge crackled to life:

=^= .. .. eam .. Fo .. .. .. trying to get .. .. carrier was .. .. =^= he quickly tapped the badge and replied.

=^= Away Team to Raven .. Commander Milyanov .. Repeat your last =^=

=^= .. tification .. .. You nee .. .. .. signa .. .. =^= they heard before the comm snapped off.

"Our ship, presumably they are trying to get a comm signal into the holosuite. Commander Tinsley said there would be issues and we'd likely lose contact," Lysia explained.

"Commander..." Carl said, addressing the holographic T'Seng, "... I want this and the adjoining Sections restricted to ourselves only. Reposition your Security at the appropriate bulkheads, the last thing we need is someone seeing two T'Seng's ..... We're going to speak to Talthor and Vur'ka, though how exactly we'll get them to show us the holosuite control panels is beyond me," he said with a resigned shrug, turning to leave, Blakus, Burwell and 'their' T'Seng following him out of the suite. In the corridor, T'Seng issued her instructions and the Marine was dismissed. Carl turned to the others:

"You believe what they're telling us, that all this..." he said, waving a hand to encompasses the ship, "... Is an elaborate holo-program run by some, what, fanatical Klingons?"

The others remained silent as he looked at each in turn.

"Thank you for your input," he said, walking away ..........

[Carl Torek]

Holosuite ::

After leaving the 'VIP@ Suite, Carl instructed Andae to have Talthor and Vur'ka in the Conference Room in thirty minutes .....

USS Raven-C
Conference Room ::

Carl took his seat, waiting while Andae, Calli, and Colonel Burwell seated themselves. The two Klingons were waiting, unusually quiet. without delay, Carl told the two 'some' of what they had learned:

"..... I have to hand it to you Admiral, you obviously have an exceptional imagination," Vur'ka said, grinning, while Torek thought he saw a moment's hesitation in Talthor.

"Oh, I'm known for my imagination, Lieutenant..." he said, purposefully addressing Talthor's subordinate rather than him, "... But there are too many niggling inconsistencies occurring that lead us to our summation. We didn't just pluck the idea out of thin air. What I'd like to know is when, if at all, you were going to tell us?"

"Admiral ..... I don't have the first idea why you would believe that this isn't the Raven. After all, it was over a week ago when you left here, supposedly for Betazed if memory serves," Talthor replied.

"Who told you we had been to Betazed?" Blakus asked.

"Actually, you did, after informing us that you had managed to get hold of the two remaining pieces of data our two factions require. Otherwise, how would I know that what we have is next to useless without what you purported to have erased?"

I'm curious, Admiral..." Vur'ka began, standing to walk to the room length panoramic window to look at the Fortress hanging in the blackness beyond the ship, "... What was it exactly that makes you believe you are in some sort of, simulation. Surely you can't believe that the Klingon Empire has the technology to keep a program as sophisticated as you believe this to be, running indefinitely, why, the sheer proportions of a holosuite capable of maintaining such a simulation are beyond impractical, and even with Federation technology, I seriously doubt you could run a program allowing members of your crew to be in two places lightyears apart,"

"Meaning?" Burwell asked the Klingon woman.

"Meaning, your hypothesis is incorrect ..... A fascinating notion I have to admit, but impossible, the power requirement alone wou ..... " she began, but the Marine interrupted her:

"Now your fishing for excuses, pure and simple!"

"I don't suppose you can 'prove' your theory?" Talthor asked, seemingly confident they couldn't. Burwell was about to comment when Torek beat him to it.

"Alas ..... No, at least not at this point in time, but you can rest assured we're working on it,"

"Then while you are taking up time chasing your proverbial 'shadows' something you should consider: You are holding Lieutenant Vur'ka and myself on your ship. If, as you say, this is all a simulation, what would prevent us from simply leaving?"

The room fell silent as the two Klingons, believing they had got the best of the Federation Officers watched on.

"Leaving would only confirm what we already know," T'Seng answered. For a fraction of a second Carl wondered if she would admit to being a simulation within the holo-program, the 'real' Lysia being elsewhere in the holosuite, but she just looked at the two expressionlessly, as if stating the obvious was all that was needed. Talthor waved his hand, dismissing what had been put to them.

"No, your hypothesis is incorrect Admiral, this is 'your' USS Raven..." he paused for a moment before continuing, "... What is that saying you Humans have, ah yes, 'You are barking up the wrong tree' that is the one. Do yourself a favour Admiral, forget this whim you have about being in a simulation. It will do neither of our causes much good. Now, if someone could see us back to our, rooms?"

"I assume you would have something in place to placate the 'real' Raven ..... If, as we suspect, this were a simulation?" Burwell asked, forcing both Klingos to turn.

"Unlike you 'Humans' we don't have the flair for imagination you demonstrate," Talthor said, standing in front of the two Security Officers covering the door ..........

[Andae Blakus]

Andae's confidence that there was indeed something amiss was growing quickly. He wasn't ready to admit that the last couple weeks - right up to the present - had been spent in a holographic simulation, but he wouldn't discount it and it at least seemed clear they were being deceived, by at least one of these two Klingons, by the unlikely circumstances and events and by their senses at least in some way.

"Is she as real as you are?" he asked Talthor - who still stood toe-to-toe with the security guards in front of the conference room doors - about Vur'ka.

The Klingon commander looked at him and with barking laughter raised one of his gauntlets, "As real as this is, human."

"Andae, communicate with Milyanov and see about accessing information about Klingon holodecks," Torek said to Blakus while Talthor seemingly wasn't listening, having turned to the pair of security guards suggesting the three of them begin a headbutting competition, "Perhaps we can disable the simulation ourselves."

Andae nodded and made for his quarters, accessing his terminal and contacting Milyanov - not the one in engineering, but that one in the quarters on deck 3, he thought, unnerved. He was meant to think their own Milyanov had been holographic, from the moment he returned to the Raven having been held and given the run-around by Talthor on the fortress that first time? Of course, he'd worked with holographic versions of crewmembers before, in various scenarios to do with the engines or with crew performance, but never unwittingly, never having learnt that all he'd assumed to be real was illusion.

"Let's get to work," he nodded to the ostensible real Milyanov on his desk's console screen.


Commander Wedlerson was sitting somewhat at ease on the bridge, this scene only capable of being related because of the presence of a being with real thought processes, Calli Valente. The on-duty tactical officer - with Lysia still below investigating the unknown lifesigns in one of the VIP suites - alerted them to a change in status of the Tian Shi before the Raven,

"Commander, the Tian Shi is warming her dorsal phaser arrays... She's firing!"

"Raise shields!" Wedlerson sat up in his seat. A beam of golden light struck out from the Nebula class and landed squarely in the Raven's forward arc, slightly ventral. The vessel rocked but less violently than expected and the Tian Shi second officer's guns fell silent after only a couple more hits; several small explosions rippled across the Nebula's hull, "What happened?" Wedlerson asked.

"The beams were quite weak, sir, about 20% full output. They could be going easy on us, it would explain why -"

Wedlerson interrupted, responding in the negative having been wondering how the Tian Shi had effected repair to its power grid so quickly. Of course the Nebula class's second officer hadn't been able to mend his vessel all that much, seemingly only able to power three phaser arrays at a low output. "They burnt out their arrays. What are they trying to do?" the Ops officer said thoughtfully, "Ah! it seems that the Annex has infiltrated the Federation deep. We must find a way to strike back, leave the fortress if necessary and head into the heart of the Federation, if it means saving it."

"This makes no sense," was all Valente would say quietly, shaking her head, "A Federation starship doesn't just turn on another."

=/\=Admiral Torek to bridge. Onishi's second officer has attacked the Raven and disabled itself, sir,=/\= Wedlerson called.

<Tag Carl, Calli>


"You'll release us immediately," Baskin called out to the brig officer from within his cell and laughed, "Perhaps the Annex and Federation Council will excuse you and you won't end up in the New Zealand penal colony. The Annex will be here shortly to sign the treaty."

He touched his forehead, feeling the sickening bone structure and cold clammy sensation; the administrator from Utopia Planitia was an awful person for he, the Klingon lieutenant K'olr, to have to impersonate. But it was Commander Talthor's simulation, necessary for the defence of the Empire. He hoped next time he could return to playing the Klingon chancellor. He considered his allies in the adjoining cells, the Tian Shi first officer and security chief; they would be next to useless, being only light and projection, although within a holosuite he supposed they had some function. He removed a wall panel and worked on the revealed Klingon scarlet holosuite interface; the forcefields of the brig cells were lowered and the brig officer was deleted.

"Let's go and find your captain," he said to the two Tian Shi officers, materialising phasers for the three of them. Stunned but quite accepting, the Starfleet officers blurted their enthusiasm and taking the weapons joined Baskin, disappearing from internal sensors thanks to the disguised Klingon's holosuite manipulation.

[Carl Torek]

USS Raven-C ::

Harry knew that as acting Commanding Officer of the Raven, he was expected to remain on the Bridge and allow the ship's Officers to do their jobs, but with the partial success of Commander Tinsley's communication, he had left the Bridge and gone down to Main Engineering .....

"Where are we?" he queried.

"We think we might have a way to separate the photonic projections and our people's readings," Tinsley said.

"Oh?"

"It's not foolproof, but if you see a projection of say, yourself in any setting, you could be sitting, sleeping, running, fighting, any number of activities,"

"Yes?" Harry urged.

"Well, whatever the projection is doing, the 'signal' remains absolutely constant. So outwardly it could be doing any of the aforementioned activities, and internally would remain constant..." the Engineer said, changing the data on the screen before continuing, "... Whereas, if the 'real' you were to undergo the activities we've mentioned, scanning would show changes, rest, sleep, exertion, even fear changes the parameters of your readings, heart rate, perspiration, breathing,"

"So you could pick up and lock onto any biological signal within the holo-program?" Harry asked hopefully.

"We're still running tests, thus my use of Holosuite One, but it's looking promising," Christine Taylor said enthusiastically.

"..... Anything on the Comms?" Harry asked as he approached the Pool Table.

"I think we've cleared up 'some' of the comm issues..." Nate said, as he brought up more detailed information on one of the wall monitors, "... We initially tried piggybacking on one of the Fortress' communications frequencies, but that had problems, not least anyone finding the additional stream would have been able to listen in,"

"We've tried using their subspace carrier array to add a narrowband signal to..." Christine said, showing Harry on screen, "... Looks promising on paper but we've yet to try contacting the Away Team,"

"Well there's no time like the present," Wedlerson said, nodding to the Engineers to go ahead. The two Engineers looked at each other then turned to the console:

=^= .. .. Raven to Away Team .. .. .. =^=

=^= .. .. .. =^=

=^= Commander Tinsley to Commander Milyanov .. .. .. =^= for several seconds they heard static as Taylor adjusted the frequency fractionally, then they received a reply:

=^= Raven .. .. Milya .. .. Milyanov =^=

=^= Commander .. Have you made contact with our people? =^= Harry asked.

=^= Yes .. .. But they are having trouble believing our story .. Despite Lysia meeting her doppelganger .. They are willing to allow us time to confirm what we've told them =^=

=^= We're working on a means to differentiate between the holographic components of the program and yourselves .. You should update Torek and the others in case they can be of any help =^=

=^= Understood =^=

=^= We'll get back to you Commander .. Raven out =^= Nate closed the Comm, and grinned.

"At least we're making headway," he said.

"Keep at it, I'll get back to the Bridge," Wedlerson said, tapping Nate on the shoulder as he passed .....

Fortress ::

Carl was still speaking to Talthor when the ship shook and his Commbadge chirped to life.

=^= Admiral Torek to bridge .. Onishi's Second Officer has attacked the Raven and disabled itself =^= Wedlerson called. Eyes still on the Klingon Commander, Carl tapped the commbadge:

=^= We're on our way Commander =^=

On the Bridge, Calli repeated her comment.

"Admiral, something is seriously wrong here... A Federation starship doesn't just turn on another." Carl hadn't taken Calli to the 'VIP' suite, so she was still unaware of their possible situation, so he had to go on the pretext that what they were seeing was real. He dropped into the centre seat, watching the Tian Shi.

"Lieutenant, contact the Tien Shi and ask if they need any assistance..." Torek instructed before turning to T'Seng, "... Lysia, lock phasers on their shield and weapons generators. If they look like they are making 'ANY' kind of offensive move disable them. Calli, can I see you and Andae in my ready room?"

"..... And you believe them!" Valente asked, wondering if they had lost their minds ..........

[Andae Blakus]

Having learnt from internal comm logs that Talthor had for now been returned to his quarters where Vur'ka had now been sequestered, Baskin/K'olr and his two Tian Shi officer cohorts entered the deck of his commander's prison. Not having been led to find Onishi he hoped the holographic Starfleeters wouldn't turn on him. He imagined if they were told Talthor was their commanding officer they'd incorporate the information and defend Talthor just as strongly as they would've had Onishi.

Incapacitating the guards and suffering the loss of the Tian Shi's security chief in the process - hologram for hologram - the two remaining brig escapees accessed Talthor's quarters, "Commander. We have to get you out of here. There's a good chance of winning the program for the Annex if we're on the holographic fortress itself. Over here, you and Vur'ka have been rendered impotent," Baskin/K'olr said to the rising Talthor.

"You fool!" Vur'ka grinned toothily from the small side room in the spartan quarters.

"K'olr, we think Torek and his compatriots have discovered our ruse," Talthor said, "I don't know how, but two of their real crew have accessed the program and will surely have informed the four of their trouble." He glanced at the Tian Shi's XO who wore a deep frown, "Leave the hologram outside," he directed the apparent Baskin who obliged.

"Then we must end the program. Immediately!" Baskin/K'olr said, turning back from the door.

"No... At the moment, the Raven officers may still be uncertain of their predicament. Why should we destroy the illusion if it is keeping them trapped and deluded? Nor can I leave, or you or Vur'ka. If we were to suddenly disappear it would surely confirm the matter for Torek and his denizens."

"I, Dalton Baskin, will claim I disintegrated you! No, better yet... nlqHom!" he alerted the Klingon computer and issued a string of commands; eventually a hologram with an identical appearance to Talthor materialised next to the real commander. "I and Vur'ka will handle matters here, led by this simulation of yourself," Baskin/K'olr announced.

"You have served your commander well, K'olr," Vur'ka said and laughed, "Only beware of the cunning of your Romulan heart!"

Talthor nodded appreciatively and called in Klingon for an arch which appeared next to one of the portals looking out to the stars, through which he promptly walked out into the real much smaller fortress to contact the true Raven. To the Starfleet commander Wedlerson he threatened to flood the base's main holosuite with a lethal toxin that would kill all real people inside, Starfleet officers and Klingons, if the Ops officer didn't withdraw his two officers immediately.

<Tag Wedlerson>


Called back to the bridge for a time and with Calli informed (though unfortunately highly dubious, even if the artificial nature of their surroundings went a long way to explaining the unlikely events), Blakus glared at the viewscreen. Despite the Tian Shi being holographic, the lack of safeties in Klingon holosuites meant the Nebula class would cause them very real injury if she was able to repair her damage and land decent blows.

An alert on his chair's armpanel sounded and he took his seat; it was Milyanov, the seemingly real one. About to route the channel through his commbadge, he altered his sequence of commands and headed to the conference room; now alone he tapped his badge, =/\=Blakus.=/\=

=/\=Andae, I have a set of instructions for configuring the computer and calling an arch, duly translated from the Klingon. I'm sending them to your terminal now.=/\=

Andae nodded to himself and collected a PADD from the conference room table, linking with the seeming holographic ship's ODN network to create a downlink from his quarter's terminal to the PADD. An orange and scarlet interface appeared and he perused the Klingon instructions. He nodded and tapped his commbadge again, =/\=Admiral Torek, Commander Valente and Colonel Burwell, would you please join me in the conference room?=/\=

[Carl Torek]

USS Raven-C ::

Milyanov had again gone down to Engineering, leaving Lieutenant Svensson to oversee the Bridge .....

"So you're close to being able to lock onto our people? he asked as Christine finished her update.

"We're close but not there yet..." Nate Tinsley said, changing the data on one of the large screens around the Pool Table, "... At this point we're confident we could lock onto one person at a time, providing they are not too close to any hologram in the simulation, It's going to take considerable time to get through their shields with enough power to take everyone in one go,"

"Can you differentiate between who's who in there?" Harry asked, not holding out any hope. He wasn't disappointed as Nate replied:

"Not a chance,"

One of the Engineering Staff approached them, informing Wedlerson that someone was trying to contact him, from the Fortress! ..... Moving into Milyanov's office Harry opened the comm that had been rerouted from the Bridge:

=^= Commander Wedlerson .. I am informing you that if you do not remove the two Officers you sent into our simulation immediately .. I will flood the holosuite with a toxin which will kill 'ALL' biological life within =^=

For a second Harry looked at the man, trying in vain to decide if he were being threatened by a hologram or the real thing. Finally, he gave a short laugh and then replied.

=^= I would like nothing more than to remove 'ALL' our Officers from your simulation .. Unfortunately .. With the dampening field your Facility is generating and the fact your shields are up .. We're finding it impossible to comply .. Of course if you are willing to deactivate all systems preventing us from getting a transporter lock then I'm more than happy to oblige =^=

=^= You think me and my associates FOOLS! =^= Talthor demanded.

=^= You are more than welcome to check .. .. .. =^= Harry said with a shrug. Basically, he wasn't lying, nor was he trying to gain time by deceiving the Klingon. Yes, they were very close to being able to do precisely what the man was demanding, but he wasn't about to tell 'him' that.

=^= You think my threat is without substance? =^=

=^= I can't say one way or the other .. What I can tell you is I can't remove anyone unless you lower shields and deactivate whatever dampening field you are emitting .. Unless of course you are willing to lead our Officers out of the holosuite to a location where transport is possible? =^=

=^= You have thirty minutes .. Then the holosuite will be flooded =^= Talthor said, snapping the comm closed. Harry looked at Nate and Christine before frowning.

"Can you be ready in thirty minutes?" he asked.

"Not a chance, but we'll have a damn-good try, I suppose!" Tinsley said, turning to leave the office, Christine and Harry a pace behind .....

Holographic USS Raven-C ::


"So that's it?" Lysia asked, looking at the Klingon text as if it were a mark left by some demented spider.

"Looks like it," Milyanov said with a shrug.

"Go on then," the Security Tactical Officer said, turning to face the panoramic window of the holographic 'VIP' suite. Clearing his throat, Milyanov spoke the text:

"Ql'yah!" both of them looked crestfallen as exactly nothing happened. The Chief Engineer turned to the screen and re-read before again turning to the window:

"De'wI... Ql'yah!" he said more forcibly. This time a grey-gunmetal arch approximately two-metre wide appeared, replacing part of the window and the stars beyond. For a moment both looked at the seemingly rust-strewn arch then Milyanov tried again:

"De'wI' So' ... Ql'yah!" he spat in his best Klingon, grinning when the arch disappeared allowing the window and stats to return. Quickly he assessed a file and stored the data:

"It seems Klingon instructions don't work unless you 'BARK' them out," Milyanov said, shaking his head as he opened a comm to the 'Real' Raven. In the Conference Room, Andae replied:

=^= Blakus .. .. =^=

=^= Andae .. We have a set of instructions for configuring the computer and calling an arch .. Duly translated from the Klingon .. I'm sending them to your terminal now =^=

=^= Received .. .. So you can leave the holosuite .. Any signs that activating the Arch would be monitored? =^=

=^= I don't see why given only a handful of people know how to access it at all =^=

=^= I'm going to brief the Raven Officer .. Stand by we'll get back to you =^= the comm shut off, leaving Milyanov and Lysia looking bemused. Finally, Lysia spoke:

"We should go take a look around. You said yourself that activating the Arch wouldn't attract attention. Maybe we can find a way of taking 'ALL' their holosuites offline?"

"Agreed," the Chief Engineer said, again barking out the command for the Arch, grinning when it dutifully appeared ..........

[Andae Blakus]

Blakus told the other three effective captives about how Milyanov had found a way to exit the program. The XO believed his subordinate might already have done so, having told Andae he didn't think he would be detected in his efforts to call an arch as it was likely very few others aside from Talthor would have access to the controls.

"Should we depart ourselves then?" Burwell asked the command trio.

"As long as we can do so safely without bringing suspicion on ourselves..." Andae offered, "I say yes, we should. Though it may be that there are real people - presumably Klingons - amongst the holographic crew, or at least Klingons aboard in some way or another."

"Then we shouldn't tell anyone about where we're going and disguise the fact that it's the four of us who are going, even if anyone who asks seems to be only a hologram of a Raven officer," Carl said.

One by one they made their way down two decks to the relevant VIP suite of deck 3. Entering they found the arch still visible, the heavy metallic door clanking open as its motion sensor detected Torek's proximity.

Having brought his phaser, Andae tossed it away as he remembered it would be holographic and not exactly functional outside the program... He hesitated, wondering if they had better wait for a report from Milyanov and T'Seng or call the two themselves, in case - assuming they'd both left the program through the arch - they were able to report back that it was safe for the four of them to leave, that no alarms had been sounded and that it wasn't more dangerous outside the suite than inside.

"Come on, Commander," Burwell said, having stepped through the arch and turning back to Blakus with the XO the last to leave the suite.

Andae walked through and emerged in a dank, rust-ridden corridor. There were lights to the left, up ahead in what appeared to be an observation area. The quartet entered and found Milyanov, who turned to them against the backdrop of a panoramic window cut into and dominating one crudely curving bulkhead beyond which was vacuum. The Sovereign class Raven was visible hanging in the blackness a few hundred kilometres away.

"Where's T'Seng?" Andae asked, somehow amazed that the two Raven officers had been correct about the simulation despite having become convinced already. They'd departed the simulation in which they'd been trapped for more than a week, where they'd visited a simulated Cardassian station, an artificial Betazed, where they'd been roundly deceived.

The chief engineer's expression was full of sorrow. He shook his head, his features ashen pale as he told them that Klingons had come shortly after he'd left the suite and had dragged T'Seng away. "Guards were on hand as we stepped out. They took Lysia and left me here in this room, saying I'd soon be witness to the destruction of the Raven. What took you so long?" he added.

"What?" Andae blinked, "We followed not long after your call. About half an hour at most."

Milyanov frowned and shook his head, "I've been here for about half a day, I think. I'd begun to believe that you'd dismissed myself and Lysia as impostors, that you'd decided to stay in the program."

Andae turned to Torek, Valente and Burwell. What had happened? Had they been incapacitated for 12 hours and then set free to do whatever they wished? Leave the program or otherwise? And by whom, the Klingons presumably, and for what reason? It turned out - although of course they remained unaware - that Baskin/K'olr and Vur'ka had filled the conference room with holographic anaesthezine gas - working normally due to the lack of safeties - and incapacitated the four Raven officers, enough for the two Klingons to be able to exit the program safely and not remain trapped by the Raven officers who'd become conscious of their surroundings.

"T'Seng must be found," the XO made the obvious reply.

"Well, I would think that the Raven is working on a way of getting us back, so hopefully we won't need to track her down," Milyanov responded, "There's a difficulty in trying to get a lock as the station is giving false sensor readings. Contrary to what we thought, there aren't many thousands of visiting merchants and other guests... That's all a deception, but our sensors have had an impossible time trying to see through it to what's actually here. The crew should find us eventually, but..." he turned to the Raven.

"The Klingons told you the Raven would be destroyed?" Burwell asked.

Milyanov nodded, "Now that you've escaped Talthor's holoprogram, they will turn the station's guns on the ship."


USS Raven

"Commander Wedlerson, I'm detecting an incoming vessel," the deputy Ops officer stated and leaned into the console, "A Klingon cruiser. Looks as if it's inbound from the Klingon homeworld Qo'nos."

"Sir, the fortress is charging disruptor cannon and photon torpedoes," Delik Gerelo said before Wedlerson could respond to Ops.

"Shields raised?" he asked and Delik confirmed it. The old D7 class cruiser dropped from warp and approached the Raven and the small fortress starbase.

[Carl Torek]

Klingon Fortress ::


"Well, I would think that the Raven is working on a way of getting us back, so hopefully we won't need to track her down...!" Milyanov responded, "...There's a difficulty in trying to get a lock as the station is giving false sensor readings. Contrary to what we thought, there aren't many thousands of visiting merchants and other guests... That's all a deception, but our sensors have had an impossible time trying to see through it to what's actually here. The crew should find us eventually, but..." he turned to the Raven.

"The Klingons told you the Raven would be destroyed?" Burwell asked.

Milyanov nodded, "Now that you've escaped Talthor's holo-program, they will likely turn the station's guns on the ship."


USS Raven-C ::


"Sir... The fortress is charging disruptor cannon and photon torpedoes," Delik Gerelo said before Wedlerson could respond to Ops.

"Shields raised...?" the Operations Chief asked, receiving confirmation from Gerilo before quickly changing his mind, "... NO, wait ..... Do we still have a possible lock on the Away Team?" he asked, eyes pocked on the viewscreen.

"Three confirmed, one seems to be moving, possibly between shielded and unshielded areas," the Tactical Officer replied.

"OK..." Harry said, second-guessing himself for a second before continuing, "... Lieutenant Gerilo, transport the three you have locks on, now. As soon as you have them, lock phasers on two targets simultaneously: the Fortress, and the approaching D7 Class ..... Helm, take us out to ten thousand metres from the Fortress, maintaining for'ard aspect on both targets as best you can!"

"Commander..." Gerilo commented, "... Admiral Torek, Commander Valente, and Colonel Burwell are safely aboard, they are en route to the Bridge," he informed Harry, who gave a silent 'thank you' as the turbolift doors opened.

"Status...?" Torek asked, dropping into the recently vacated centre seat. Harry updated him and the others quickly before asking about Lysia, "... She's still aboard the Fortress, presumably held by Talthor,"

Wedlerson frowned, clearly missing something, but returned to Opps as the Admiral asked Comms to open a channel to both the oncoming vessel, and the Fortress.

"Still no lock on Commander T'Seng?" he asked Gerilo, who shook his head. Then, as he was informed the channels were open, he spoke, first to the ship:

=^= Approaching Klingon vessel .. Disengage your drive systems and come to a complete stop immediately .. Failure to comply will force us to fire on you .. .. .. Commander .. Klingon Fortress .. You have sixty seconds to return my Officer and power down 'ALL' your holosuites or I will disable them myself .. I will not give you any further leeway Commander Talthor .. Do as instructed or face the consequences! =^= Carl said, wiping a finger across his throat to signify cutting the comm.

It was clear to everyone on the Bridge that their Commanding Officer had taken all he could from the situation and was now taking action. Everyone was completely silent as they waited for any reaction ..........

[Andae Blakus]

Watching the screens of the pool table in engineering, Andae nearly missed the new sensor data on the fortress. The Klingon facility had flickered, its holoprojection failing for just a moment as it shunted an incredible amount of power to its disruptors and torpedo launchers.

The XO replayed the footage of an external camera on a wall display, gesturing to Milyanov and Tinsley and having them watch for the critical moment. For about half a second, the illusion of the much greater torus-shaped base had dissipated, and seen in its place was a smaller version of the torus perched on an asteroid which was itself about half the size of the holoprojected fortress.

"Put a comm through to the bridge," he instructed and explained the situation via audiovisual comm for the benefit of Torek et al, then went on to both the bridge and those around him, reading the data beside the frozen image on engineering's main wall display, "The sensors indicate that the fortress is more lightly armed than we had reason to believe, but still deadly enough to destroy a Sovereign class before taking serious damage itself. Aside from it being an asteroid base the main difference is crew. Instead of tens of thousands of several different species, there are only about 150 Klingons and one human aboard." The human was of course Lysia T'Seng.

"So Kv'oz was lying to us when he gave us a history of the fortresses?" someone said from the bridge.

"Not necessarily. He could well have been referring to something like the fortress as you see it here," Andae signalled the display, "A torus-shaped base on a small asteroid. Perhaps the other fortresses were similarly situated before their decommissioning. But there's another possibility... Perhaps he didn't know better himself, what we once believed about the fortress might have been what he believed."

On the small screen beside the display Torek nodded, "All well and good, Andae... We need to find a way to beam Lysia back aboard. Shields are a problem, both the fortress's and our own."

"Perhaps we can lower our shields for a brief moment once we have a good enough lock on her," Andae said, "We would only need a fraction of a second. If we can time it in such a way that we're out of both the fortress and D7's weapons arcs there shouldn't be a problem, unless we're tracked by photon torpedoes..."

Tinsley was indicating something on the recorded image of the revealed fortress. Unsure at first what he was referring to, Andae wathced Tinsley point frantically at something at the outer edge of the torus and realised he was gesturing to the asteroid itself. Of course... the XO shook his head and spoke over the comm with the bridge again, "I suggest we position ourselves on the opposite side of the asteroid to the fortress's location. We'll still have to watch for torpedoes though, sir."

The rock was rotating so they would have to periodically reposition themselves to keep away from the Klingon base. There was the complication that the asteroid wasn't actually visible but given the time since the holoprojection had flickered Andae thought they should be able to get a good idea of the rock's current position.

"What about Lieutenant Commander T'Seng?" Valente asked from the bridge.

"According to the sensors she's now in a heavily shielded part of the base. There's no way we can transport her through that," Andae said definitively.

"Then we have to take those shields offline. Lieutenant Gerelo, is there any way you can specifically target the shield generators for that part of the fortress?" Carl asked. He asked Wedlerson for a status report on the fortress and D7 class.

The Ops officer frowned as he studied his console, "The fortress has locked weapons on us. The D7 class is at readiness, shields are raised but weapons not primed. It seems they're in communication with the fortress.


Talthor had stamped through the cramped compartments of the fortress's nerve centre. He studied the scratched screens with their grainy images of the fortress's exterior: a view of the surface of the asteroid with a couple Klingons bounding about in EVA exoskeletons looking for water resources, a shot of the crenallations atop the torus showing the torpedo launchers and main disruptor arrays, and a combined image of the Federation starship hanging pathetically out in space.

"Lieutenant K'olr, you escaped from the simulation!" he nodded at the Klingon who'd been playing Dalton Baskin in the holosuite and who'd now assumed the weapons console.

"The Starfleet commander has been secured in her cell," Vur'ka said as she strode into the nerve centre, "Are you sure you won't consider releasing her? In exchange, the Federation may well leave us alone."

"Never. The Federation will pay in their own blood. Has the USS Raven been targeted?" the commander asked of K'olr who confirmed it. "Then prepare to fire!" They were hailed by the D7 class. Overcome with frustration, Talthor ordered a splitscreen of the main viewer between the image of the Raven and the D7's bridge.

"Commander Talthor, are you out of your senses?" the D7's captain barked, "If you fire on that starship you will be in violation of our treaty with the Federation. To break such an oath is to disgrace yourself! You may be alone here in the halo, outside Klingon space, but as the commander of the forces in the adjoining Klingon sector I hold jurisdiction. I don't want your cowardice as a stain upon my record!"

[Carl Torek]

"..... What about making the Fortress holo-emitters visible?" Carl asked the hurriedly convened meeting in the Raven's Conference Room.

"Well... we 'could' use the deflector dish to emit a burst of tachyon particles..." Nate Tinsley said, having been instructed to attend the meeting by Milyanov, "... Their holo-emitters are hiding within the very simulation they are projecting. So, tachyons would disrupt the projection, effectively lighting the emitters up like proverbial Christmas trees,"

"But wouldn't we need to lower our shields, then wait for the tachyon field to disperse naturally before we could raise them again?" Colonel Burwell asked.

"How long would shields be down?" Carl interjected.

"Yes, we would need to wait..." Tinsley replied to the Marine, before turning back to Torek, "... Approximately forty-five seconds, give or take," he concluded with a shrug.

"The other problem would be the emitters on the opposite side to us, to fire on, and disable them, we would need line-of-sight, which would leave us vulnerable to attack from both the Fortress 'AND' the oncoming 'D7' vessel," Tinsley added.

"The 'D7' shouldn't be too much of an issue unless its weapons systems have been upgraded..." Milyanov said with a frown, "... We could disable it easily. As for the weapons array's on the Fortress, we'd be a sitting duck until we could get the shields back up. In which time I imagine Talthor will have ordered everything including the proverbial 'kitchen sink' thrown at us!"

The Comm chirped to life and Carl tapped the small pad built into the long curved table:

=^= Admiral .. The Commander of the Klingon vessel wishes to speak to you .. .. =^= Carl looked at the others around the table then replied.

=^= Stand by =^= he ordered, closing the comm as he stood, everyone else following suit as he returned to the Bridge .....

"On screen," he ordered, seeing the image of the approaching Cruiser change to a view i=of their Bridge. A woman sat patiently waiting for his reply:

=^= Admiral Torek .. I am General Qo'mAh .. Klingon Defence Force .. .. I have been .. Dispatched .. To apprehend the Klingon you may know as .. Talthor .. .. .. =^=

=^= Apprehend? =^= Carl said, admittedly confused, but also wary of any possible deception on the woman's part.

=^= Commander Talthor has long been .. Out of favour .. With the Klingon high council .. He was relieved of Command over two years ago and has since been occupying himself on this failed monstrosity .. Now he must answer for his actions =^=

=^= You've spoken to him? =^= Carl asked, expressionless.

=^= He has been ordered to power down all systems on the Fortress and ready himself and his allies for return to Qo'noS .. Where he and his .. Associates .. Will answer to the High Council =^=

=^= He is holding one of my Offi .. .. .. =^=

=^= I am aware of your Officers' presence .. He has been instructed to release her immediately .. .. He has much to answer for .. Admiral .. I am saying much that should remain private out of respect for our alliance with the Federation =^=

Suddenly, someone out of view spoke urgently to Qo'mAh:

=^= .. Sa'.. naHjej tlhInganpu' luja'bogh .. ! =^=

=^= botjan .. ! =^= the General replied. The Raven Bridge saw the General bark before the comm was severed. A second later two beams lanced from the Fortress slamming into the D7 Class Battle Cruiser's shields!

"HELM, move us to extreme transporter range and scan for Commander T'Seng ... NOW!" Carl ordered as the Cruiser returned fire with what was quite obviously upgraded weapons systems ..........

[Carl Torek]

.......... Having been dragged along several dank, disused corridors, Lysia was thrown into a small room. Devoid of any furniture, she lowered herself to the floor her back against the bulkhead as she eyed the two Klingons in the doorway. Grinning, one reached forward and activated a forcefield covering the door, with one last glare the two left her alone. rising to her feet she tentatively reached forward, receiving a shock as she came into contact with the 'field which threw her back towards the opposite wall, twitching as the discharge ran through her body. Waiting for her nervous system to stabilise she lay on the dusty floor .....


~~~~~~~~~~


She estimated she had been alone for around two hours when she realised someone was watching her. Turning, she looked at the door and saw one of her jailors eyeing her.

"It has been some time since I had the pleasure of disposing of a Human..." the Klingon said, deactivating the forcefield and stepping into the room, "... It seems our leader has, what is the phrase, 'Washed his hands of you' ....." he approached her, anticipating the enjoyment to come. As he reached out to turn her over onto her back she kicked out with her left foot, the toe of her boot crushing the Klingon's trachea. His hands went to his throat as she rolled out of reach as he turned to put himself in the doorway. Now on her feet, she landed a second kick, this time to the man's temple, dropping him to the deck already semiconscious as the last of the oxygen in his lungs ran out!

Quickly she approached the door, seeing the Klingon's companion standing at the far end of the corridor. She returned to take the dead man's disruptor and returned to the door. The distance between them was roughly thirty metres, she believed that shooting the Klingon would be detected, bringing more to recapture her, so she had little option but to disable the Klingon silently. She looked at the dirt and garbage-strewn corridor, not holding out too much hope that she would be able to reach him, so she returned to the room, placed a hand over her mouth, and shouted in Klingonese for help.

She could hear the second Klingon approaching, making some comment she couldn't, and likely didn't want, to understand ..... As he entered the room he saw the body and began to turn ..... Lysia slammed a fist into his jugular. The Klingon dropped to his knees but didn't lose consciousness, not wanting to risk his grasping her if she hit him a second time, she ran from the room.

She had gone less than twenty metres when she heard the second Klingon goading her to run while she could, and what he was going to do once he caught her.

The corridor arced to the left continually, but the curve was more acute than had she been at or close to the outer bulkhead of the Fortress, so she assumed she was in one of the internal corridors, but why were they in such disarray? ..... Several times she turned off the corridor, left and right to check the ones that she assumed led further into the interior of the structure, all the while hearing the pursuing Klingon laughing, almost enjoying the hunt. As she stepped back into the corridor she saw the Klingon. Rather than running towards her, he stood still, as if waiting for her to continue running, as he turn his Dk'tahg over and over in his hand. It was clear he was savouring the chase, and the outcome was more than evident. She remembered the disruptor tucked into the back of her trousers and resolved that alarm or not, she would kill him before he could kill her!

"Run ..... Human ..... Run..." the Klingon said grinning, then frowning as his prey remained motionless, "... You prefer to die here, now, a dishonourable death, rather than fighting to save yourself?" Lysia weighed his comments up and then ran.

She could hear her pursuer laughing, a deep guttural laugh, as he began to follow her. It suddenly occurred to her that he 'knew' she wouldn't find a means of escape, he was toying with her, enjoying her last minutes. He didn't know or didn't care, about her weapon, so that was her only advantage, for now at least.

"..... RUN ..... HUMAN ..... RUN FAST!" she heard the Klingon shouting as again she turned off the main corridor hoping to find one last escape route, but again it was a dead-end.

She spun, ready to retrace her steps, but this time her exit was blocked by the knife-weilding Klingon! ..........

[Andae Blakus]

"The D7 class is presenting its ventral surface to the fortress, Admiral," Wedlerson reported. Andae looked on as Carl acknowledged, the XO aware that the ventral side held three torpedo launchers one of which usually carried torpedoes of particularly high yield. A series of yellow-green bolts shot out from the D7 and crossed the distance to the fortress at a significant fraction of the speed of light.

Andae was surprised at first to see the torpedoes slice straight through the apparent hull of the fortress without even an explosion. They must've struck home at a point where a holofield was in place. The barest licks of flame were seen from the actual impact and explosion, rising just above the level of the holoprojected hull.

"Wait, what's going on with the battlecruiser?" Andae said suddenly. The vessel had come under increasing attack, its shield grid lighting up before a part of it - the aft-starboard side facing - had flickered and shorted out.

"Unknown, Commander," Delik Gerelo was saying from tactical but Andae could already see what was happening. At first he thought the cruiser had suffered a serious hull breach but something was taking place that was a little more by design. To his astonishment, he witnessed the forward bulb and neck of the D7 pushing forward while the aft engine section propelled itself slightly backward - she was undergoing a manoeuvre, not a saucer separation, the XO supposed, but a bulb separation!

"Weapons aren't the only upgrades the General has had installed..." Delik said, watching the screen.

"That's no ordinary D7 class," Harry Wedlerson agreed, "Wait... Admiral, the engine section is moving quickly... It's on a collision course with the fortress!"

"What the...? Are we far enough away?" Torek asked.

"Yes, I believe so," Andae volunteered, studying the interface on his chair's arm panel, "And we're still just about in transporter range, theoretically. If we're going to try to grab Lysia I suggest we try it now, sir."

The transporter chief couldn't get a lock and there wasn't enough time. The almost unmanned engine section - all its personnel having evacuated to the bulb and neck of the D7 cruiser where the crew quarters were located, all personnel except the chief engineer - careened towards the fortress and again, like the torpedoes before it, passing harmlessly through the holoprojection of the fortress's imaginary hull.

From the bridge of the Raven the true impact was seen but of course not heard; Andae ordered the viewscreen's illumination be dimmed, the white light that entered the Raven's bridge filtered significantly as it washed over the officers who squinted or looked away. A matter-antimatter explosion had rocked the fortress. As the illumination from the centre of the mad lightshow decreased and ended there became visible in its place a tumbling asteroid with a torus-shaped base upon it, just as had been seen briefly when its holoprojection had flickered; the only difference was that half the torus fortress was now aflame.

Despite its holoemitters having been blasted to oblivion, to Blakus's amazement the fortress was able to continue firing, though its aim was wild and the pattern of fire was no longer of anything like the saturation level it had been when it first attacked the D7. Most of the disruptors seemed to be offline, as were the disruptors' targeting systems evidently. "Sir, we have incoming from the fortress," Gerelo said.

A volley of high-yield torpedoes was streaming on-target towards the Raven which hovered at a few hundred thousand kilometres from the mauled fortress, which meanwhile was still under attack by the bulb-and-neck of the D7 class. "Redistribute energy to forward shields," Andae ordered as Carl nodded his way.

"Forward facings now at 180%," Delik confirmed, "Those torpedoes are powerful, we should brace for a heavy impact. Admiral Torek, just to inform you, the fortress's shields are down in critical sections. They're struggling with power failures and serious damage to over half their sections however they seem able to keep some things running. If we can find T'Seng and beam her back, we really should do so now before the fortress recovers some shields."

Andae knew the Raven crew would have to take their own shields down briefly to beam T'Seng aboard but at least they'd have greater opportunity to do safely, the fortress wasn't able to fire anything like as rapidly as before.

"Very well. Scan for lifesigns," Torek said.

Andae studied his armpanel, "Detecting 53 biosignatures with 32 more intermittent signals, Admiral. It seems T'Seng is amongst the former."

The fortress's high-yield torpedo volley struck the Raven's forward shields.

[Carl Torek]

USS Raven-C
Close Proximity to Jalkoth fortress ::

Calli watched the viewscreen as the D7 Class Cruiser separated, presumably by design, given they all saw what appeared to be impulse engines directly behind the 'Bulb' ..... As it turned away, the main section, including the artificial singularity the Klingons used to achieve warp, continued on its headlong fall towards the Fortress.

"Well I wasn't expecting that!" she said with a shrug.

The D7 drive section seemed to pass through the projected outer skin of the phantom Fortress then impacted with the asteroid the 'real' facility was perched upon. The artificial singularity exploded in a matter/antimatter cascade, destroying one-third of the asteroid and approximately one-third of the Fortress. Yet, to everyone's astonishment, it continued to fire, albeit sporadically, and targeting was off, but despite that, the Fortress was still dangerous!

"Where are we on locating T'Seng?" Carl asked as he was informed the Raven was again under attack from the Fortress' ordinance. Andae checked his panel before replying:

"Detecting fifty-three biosignatures with thirty-two more intermittent signals, Admiral. It seems T'Seng is amongst the forme...." Everyone was thrown off their feet as the torpedoes slammed against the ships for'ard shields.

"Sir, we're picking up a sporadic signal..." Derik Gerilo informed Carl from Tactical, "... It 'could' be Lysia's subdermal transponder but we're too far away to confirm,"

"If we drop beneath the Fortress and come up on the far side, I might have enough time to get a lock before we're targetted again," Gerelo suggested. Carl looked at Andae, who could only say it was as good a suggestion as any thus far.

"Helm ..... Zee minus one hundred thousand metres... Drop us under the Asteroid, take us out to one million kilometres, then come to a full stop..." Carl ordered, watching as they began to approach the half-destroyed rock disappeared from view as the Raven passed well beneath it. For a full minute they continued to head away, and then Lieutenant Fields at Helm rotated the massive Raven before holding position, Carl looked at Gerilo, who confirmed he was as ready as he was going to be, nodding, Torek turned to the viewscreen, "... Lieutenant, Bring us back to the Galactic Plane and begin your approach to the Fortress. Lieutenant, shields and transporters are at your call,"

"Aye, Sir..." the Duty Tactical Officer said as the Raven began her climb. The second the destroyed section of the Fortress came into view, Gerilo began scanning, "... The Fortress is targeting us!" he said, shocked.

"How long do you need?" Andae asked, rising from his seat to move over to stand behind Tactical.

"Scanning now..." Gerelo said, eyes locked on his screens, he made several rapid adjustments until he found what he was looking for, "... I've got her transponder, but she stood very close to someone, a Klingon bio-sign!"

Transport them both as soon as you have a lock...!" Carl ordered as the Raven began to pass above the Fortress, "... Security and Medical to Transporter Room Two!" he ordered .....

Klingon Fortress ::

Lysia raised the disruptor as the Klingon took a step forward, his D'k tahg held loosely in one hand.

"Go on Human ..... Fire..." he said, grinning toothily, "... It is well known that you cannot fight. Lower the weapon and I shall make your death a quick one," he said, taking a second, then a third.

"I don't need to kill you Klingon, even you must realise that you and your leaders are defeated..." Lysia replied as the Fortress shook again, almost knocking both combatants off their feet, "... You can live, leave the corridor and allow me to pass and you might yet meet an honourable death, joining your brethren in Sto'Vo'Kor!"

"Maybe I will enjoy decapitating you first. I have plenty of time to earn my place among our glorious dead, alas, but you will meet your maker now!" the Klingon replied, taking another step. Now only two metres separated the two, and Lysia began to apply pressure on the firing tab of the disruptor. Without warning there was an explosion, so close that debris filled the corridor, the deck beneath their feet moved again, throwing the Klingon almost into her arms as both crashed to the deck.

Having lost the disruptor in the fall, she punched and clawed at the Klingon's face, he grinned, holding her down with one hand while raising the D'k tahg above his head.

"Meet your maker ..... Huuuu ....." Accepting her fate, she suddenly felt the tell-tale caress of a transporter beam envelop her, and she and her attacker dematerialised. They materialised, and almost before transport was complete she felt the Klingon being lifted off her and disarmed. A hand reached out, helping her to her feet. The Klingon was being restrained as she was led off the pad before being checked over by one of the Marine Medics.

"Take him to the Brig!" the Marine Captain ordered.

"No ....." Lysia said, looking at the Klingon for a moment, "... Send him back,"

"Commander?" Issac Brown asked, confused.

"Transport him back to the Fortress," she ordered, leaving the Transporter Room ..........

[Andae Blakus]

"Admiral, the Klingon bulb is hailing," Gerelo reported, the man still at tactical in place of Lysia who was in sickbay undergoing treatment for minor injuries sustained during her ordeal with the rabid Klingon.

Blakus watched as Torek ordered on screen and the bridge of the D7 bulb appeared, General Qo'mAh looking frazzled but triumphant, "We sacrificed one brave warrior, someone who could make thruster adjustments to keep our engine section on course, in the interests of the Empire, and look at the magnificent result!" she grinned.

The fortress was indeed mostly on fire now and growing increasingly uninhabitable. The intermittent systems failures and secondary explosions had abated at first, power being restored to the asteroid base, but they had picked up again and now the remaining rogue Klingons were losing control over their ailing torus.

"Have you recovered your officer? Did Talthor release him or her in the end?" Qo'mAh asked them.

"Yes we have, and no Talthor didn't," Andae replied having been given leave by Torek, "We were able to beam our tactical/security officer aboard once the base's shields had failed. If we may say, General, there is or was a Klingon aboard the fortress who was the first of your people we encountered in this affair: Captain Kv'oz whose vessel the KzirpA may have been under your purview. After his assistance we'd like to see him repatriated, he lost his son and wished to return home."

"Leave us here with the fortress," Qo'mAh nodded, "If Kv'oz is still alive, we will see to it that he is reunited with his House. He will receive a commendation for defence of the Empire and a prestigious command once again after all these years. No longer will he have to run a patrol craft if I have anything to say about it! As for Talthor, if he too is still alive, he will be taken into custody..."

"We'll leave you to it," Torek said.

"You confronted the Jalkoth fortress bravely, Starfleet, if you should ever pass by Qo'nos and are entertained by my House you'll be granted a seat at my table. We'll have a great feast. The USS Raven is forever more a friend of the House of JruTka!"

Andae would remember that, he rarely passed up an offer of food even if it was gagh. The transmission ended and Blakus found himself wondering vaguely how Qo'mAh was actually going to return to Klingon space proper without her D7's engine section. He supposed that she'd send out a distress beacon and a warp-capable ship would arrive that could tractor the bulb-and-neck back into the core of the Empire.

He resumed the XO's seat and thought briefly about Kv'oz and the other - nonexistent - sleepers. Their only reality had been as part of Talthor's holoprogram, along with the Cabal and Annex who'd sought to use them for their own ends although those organisations too had only been an idea, imagined enemies that might bring down the Federation and pose a threat to the Klingon Empire.

By now Andae had readjusted to reality back on the ship and was no longer troubled by the sudden rupture between what he'd thought to be real and what he'd then had to accept, but part of him was still incredulous that all those events, on the fortress in the bar with Kalta and the other Annex employees, back on the ship, going to Cardassian space and then to Betazed and back to the fortress now with Tsr and N'Gral, all of it had been a projection of photons inside a holosuite. Who had been the real Sleepers? Kv'oz, Fens, N'Gral and Tsr, or those who'd been trapped in the suite completely unaware of their situation, Torek, Valente, Burwell and Blakus?

As he thought on the matter, more loose fire from the fortress in the form of disruptors and torpedoes came their way, but now he supposed - with everyone brought off the fortress - there wasn't any reason for the Raven to stay within the base's weapons range.

[Carl Torek]

=^= .. .. We'll leave you to it =^= Torek replied distractedly.

=^= You confronted the Jalkoth fortress bravely .. Starfleet .. If you should ever pass by Qo'nos and are entertained by my House you'll be granted a seat at my table .. We will have a great feast. The Raven is forevermore a friend of the House of JruTka! =^= the Klingon General snapped before closing the comm. For a moment, Carl sat in silence then stood.

"Helm, set course for Starbase Forty-Seven, warp one... Andae you have the conn... Mission debrief in one hour in the Conference Room," he said, leaving the Bridge .....

Debriefing ...
Conference Room
USS Raven-C ::

Each of the Department Heads had given their reports in turn ..... Lysia had asked Lieutenant Gerelo to be present given he was covering Tactical during the mission. They had been forced to repeat a sentence several times as Torek seemed almost distracted, deep in thought. But as Gerelo continued his report Carl turned:

"Sorry, Lieutenant, can you repeat that?"

"Erm..." the Deputy Tactical Chief muttered before finding what he was looking for on the PADD, "... Yes, Sir... During our final scans of the Fortress, the sensors inadvertently picked up the Bulb Section of the D7, and for a fraction of a second it showed what could have been three 'Human' life signs, I apologise, Admiral, I should have been more thorough and spotted them before we departed,"

"You're sure they were Human life signs?" Calli asked.

"..... No..." Demik said, clearly embarrassed, "... To be honest, I initially believed it was a 'glitch' on the sensor readout, the scan wasn't directed at the Bulb, the life signs appeared for less than a second, and when I tried to confirm, the reading was inconclusive. I widened the last scan to include the Bulb but the reading didn't reappear,"

"Can you scan the Fortress and the Bulb again?" Carl asked.

"Long-range sensors wouldn't be able to distinguish individual life signs from this distance..." T'Seng confirmed, checking the PADD in front of her, "... We would need to go back, at least partway,"

"General Qo'mAh might be suspicious of our unexpected return," Andae said, seeing Carl and several others around the curved table nod in agreement. Carl tapped the comlink pad embedded in the desk in front of him and asked Tactical to scan for Klingon vessels in their Sector. Everyone was surprised when the Lieutenant confirmed there were none.

"I thought the General said she had arranged for pick up?" Calli commented.

"Unless she's being picked up by someone else?" Andae asked.

"Well if they are it won't be for a while, given we're the only Starship in the Quadrant..." Lysia said, which in itself was unusual. Then she saw a notice on the screen of her PADD, relayed by the Duty Tactical Officer on the Bridge. She transferred the message to the large wall-mounted screen so everyone could read it, "... Why has she declared a no-fly zone around the fortress, given the condition of the place you would think she'd want to leave it to rot?"

"Harry, go back to the Bridge, check Federation Records for the current location of the three Cabal Leaders: Edina Wright, Frank Winter, and Robert Grange!" Carl ordered, reading the names on his own screen.

"I thought they were fictitious, part of the Klingon simulation?" Colonel Burwell said, frowning as the Operations Chief left the Conference Room.

"They were based on 'real' people...!" Calli said suddenly, "... They 'HAD' to be to force us to investigate. If they had simply made up three Ambassadors we'd have never given their ploy a second thought,"

"What are you thinking?" Lysia asked.

"What if all this had been just as we witnessed, simulations designed to see what outcomes would arise from numerous scenarios..." Carl began, a deep frown forming, "... But what if those three had some hidden agenda?"

"Like what?" the Senior Marine asked.

"I don't know, maybe I'm giving this too much credence, we got everyone back and found that any threat to the Federation was purely fictitious," Torek said, clearly tired as Harry returned.

"Records show all three took leave in the last three days, their whereabouts are unknown,"

"Maybe Commander Talthor or General Qo'mAh invited them to see the simulations firsthand...?" Burwell suggested, seeing others' looks of concern, "... We know that events played out on the Fortress were primarily holographic, save for a small group of people presumably leading each scenario in a particular direction. So far from being a prelude to the possible fall of the Federation, their efforts were to ascertain the possible outcomes of such a venture. Granted, the Klingons went into a lot of trouble. The scenarios 'could' have been run on computers if enough variables were entered to allow a realistic outcome or outcomes?"

"There's always the possibility that the three former Ambassadors cooked up the initial idea, finding a conveniently disgruntled Klingon to lead the simulations..." Calli commented as she accessed data on her PADD.

"Go on Commander," Carl urged.

"..... Well ..... We know that Wright, Winter, and Grange, all took time away from their home lives for three days some time ago, their location was finally confirmed as Kolaris XII - an uninhabited Moon in the Kolarin System close to the Romulan Neutral Zone ..... Even enjoying retirement, their Ambassadorial Status remains, so no-one could question where they went, or why. Their movements seemed unusual, and apparently, Command agreed, but highlighted the fact that while they are first and foremost, former decorated Ambassadors, and as such beyond reproach, they are also Federation Citizens, and free to go where they please without having to report their whereabouts to authorities," she finished.

The room was completely silent, everyone deep in thought ..........

[Andae Blakus]

"We think then that the three human lifesigns possibly detected on the bulb were Wright, Grange and Winter?" Andae asked, thinking the names sounded like an ancient solicitors' firm. Carl nodded, saying that was the thought. "Are they really called the Cabal though?"

"Perhaps it's as good a name as any, considering we don't know how they refer to themselves, if they're even to be considered an actual unit," Lysia put in.

"I suppose if they are or were involved in the setting up of the simulation, or simulations on the fortress, they may well have attributed their own name - the Cabal - to the represented holographic faction," Burwell said.

"I don't understand why Qo'mAh would be in allegiance with Talthor though," Andae said, "We saw her separate her ship and launch the engine section towards Jalkoth fortress and definitely saw the resultant damage... We don't even know that Talthor survived that, he could easily be amongst the dead. Well..." he mused, "Perhaps it was the direct threat to us from Talthor that made up her mind; despite both being Klingons and despite whatever personal agreement they had, she couldn't accept that Talthor would fire on a vessel of Starfleet with whom their people has a treaty."

They were commed by the bridge, the duty tactical officer telling Torek that a ship was being detected on extreme sensor range, well off to port. "Identification?" Andae asked over the intercom.

"A moment please, sensors are attempting to resolve... It's Klingon, sir."

Andae rose with the others around the conference table and returned to the bridge; Carl ordered yellow alert as they all took their seats, T'Seng replacing the duty officer at the tactical pedestal as her deputy Gerelo headed below to take charge of matters in the security office. Andae listened as the CO declared he didn't care whether Qo'mAh grew suspicious and ordered that the Raven come to all stop and raise shields, the latter of which was wise as it was evident the Klingon warship had also raised shields. The Raven might've jumped to a much higher warp factor in its steady return to SB47, but the presumably hostile craft - of a new and nimble design phased into the Klingon Defence Force over the last couple years - would easily be able to out-accelerate them if it so wished.

"Range to vessel, one million kilometres, Admiral," T'Seng reported, "She's communicating with us... A standardised message warning us to leave this sector." As far as Andae was aware, despite the absence of Federation star systems the Raven was now technically in its own space, having entered some half hour ago, thus it should be them directing the Klingons to leave, or at least state their business. "They're priming weapons, sir," T'Seng continued after a few seconds.

"So much for keeping commitments under treaty," Andae murmured.

Not firing on Federation starships couldn't be the reason for the sudden hostility between Talthor and Qo'mAh then, hostility which had devastated the fortress, unless the two Klingons had hardly been aligned in the first place. And who of these numerous groups of Klingons represented the will of the High Council? Surely it couldn't be Qo'mAh despite what she'd told them, if she had three former Federation ambassadors in her D7 bulb.

"The Klingon ship is approaching, disruptors armed," T'Seng said, "Wait... they're changing course, heading for the Jalkoth system."

"They're going to tow General Qo'mAh's vessel," Andae observed, "Do we reverse course and try to stop them, Admiral, or keep ourselves out of it? If there are three Federation citizens on that bulb any intervention we make would be legal."