Star Trek: Season 10

[Meds]

Legate Rayan stood in the cargo hold and watched the crew of the USS Arabella busy helping the injured and dealing with the confused and the odd hostile Romulan. "look at them, pathetic star fleet and their fantasy of a utopia." He smiled and walked around the room, he glanced at the two security guards at the door, "guarding the weak," He continued to walk around the room, his leather clothing creaked with every step, several Romulans looked up from their seated positions, he looked down at them and moved his hand over his black drawn back hair. "Weak".

[wraith1701]

In the shuttlebay, K'Tan stood outside the maintanance door, and gave it a rap-- gentle, but loud enough to be heard over the wail of the Romulan alarm siren.  "We're here to help," he said.  "Please come out, we're running out of time."

No answer.

I don't have time for this.  With a sigh, K'Tan unholstered his phaser and dialed it down to a weak, confined beam.  He pointed the weapon at the door's locking mechanism, took aim, and pulled the trigger.  The brief, red flash of coherent energy was accompanied by an abbreviated whine, then a muffled explosion as the panel erupted into sparks.  The door eased open a crack with a soft thunk as the lock disengaged.  The Ops officer holstered his phaser and heaved the door to the side, widening the gap, then reached his arm in.  He was rewarded by a sharp pain running up his arm.

"Dor-sho-gha!", he cursed, more in surprise than pain.  Drawing his arm back and rolling up the blood-dampned sleeve, he saw the twin crescent shape of teeth marks on his arm.  BaQa'!  That little ko'tal actually broke the skin!

Steeling himself for what he knew was to come, K'Tan once again stuck his arm into the darkened closet.  As teeth once more clamped down on his arm, he grimaced.  Reaching in with his other arm, he felt a tangled mop of hair; he moved his hand down until he could feel the cloth of a collar.  Grasping the fabric, K'Tan stepped back, reeling in a squirming, kicking bundle of gnashing teeth and pointed ears.

k'Tan lifted his arm, and the boy hung suspended by the back of his shirt, still clutched in the Ops officer's fist. "V'rhaen-ao'au, Hevamsu!" shouted the youth, still trying unsuccessfully to kick his perceived captor. 

As the child's feet continued to lash out, K'Tan raised his arm higher.  He nimbly pivoted his groin left and right to avoid the strikes. "I've got the last one, Commander," K'Tan yelled out.  "I think we should leave before the little targ-pup causes me permanent damage."

[Shelby D]

Standing against the wall in the corridor, awaiting the arrival of D'Callan, Shelby found herself thinking about the security chief; the concern he had displayed towards her....after all the clashing they had had in the past and recently...just threw her off. Questions began to prey on her mind, teasing her thoughts, but in the end she convinced herself that - with his odd sense of humor - he was playing her and a half smirk edged along her lips as she shook her head.

Moving her thoughts from whimsy to business, the young ensign straightened her uniform and walked back over to gazed impassively into the cell where the Romulan woman was. Nalah Jarok, an interesting catch to say the least, but what was her angle? Shelby wasn't shy about voicing her mistrust. Yet, the irony of their lives beckoned her; shouldn't they, at some point, be able to understand one another?

After all they were both, in theory, outcast.
 

[Feathers]

Galdar shifted in his seat for the fifth time in the last three minutes. The screen before them presented a static image of the Romulan ship but he knew that this would soon be replaced by a field of spinning debris and uncontrolled energy spikes of all types. Most concerning to him, however, was the effect that an unshielded artificial singularity would have both on the Arabella and on the space around her. It wasn't an effect he wanted to experience first hand.

Restlessly, he moved in the chair again and glanced towards the Captain.

"Ma'am?" he eventually asked quietly.

"Yes, Lieutenant." the Captain arched a brow.

The Ferengi took a deep breath. "Ma'am, I'm concerned that we're not allowing ourselves enough time to leave the system safely. Given that it took over two hours to navigate the debris field on the way in, we may expect a similar time to be required before it will be safe for us to go to warp on the way out." The helmsman stopped, unsure whether to continue. Informing a Captain of something they already knew was always potentially dangerous.

Sevryll said nothing and as the silence built, Galdar felt himself sucked into filling it, "My apologies, Ma'am, if I'm overstepping my authority, but with the time that we have remaining until that ship destroys itself, I would strongly recommend pulling everyone else out of the her and getting under way."

[X]

"Understood K'Tan," Aeric said and swiveled in his chair from one screen to another to enter additional commands. Without another word, the XO moved to the ejectable core and released it. "Computer, begin final transport sequence and set destruct at a twenty minute delay. Engage."

Aeric felt the shiver of the transporter as they finally vacated the vessel. He nodded to K'Tan and the child before picking up the compact computer core. With a quick tap of his badge, he opened a channel, "James to bridge. We're all aboard. Self destruct has been given a twenty minute delay."

Lifting the small memory core, Aeric glanced to K'tan and the young child. "K'Tan, see if you can get out little friend checked out by medical. I'm going to personally drop this core off with engineering. With all the other parts I sent over from the Presidio, it might be a little messy down there."

[Bryancd]

Dunn had been on station in the Arabella's main hanger deck when word came down they were being transported to the cargo bay. They were a mixed lot of politicians and wealthy individuals juxtaposed with a large group that had clearly lived hard lives. They all had two things in common, however. They were all homeless and they were all very dirty. Clearly the well to do attempted to maintain an air of aloof detachment, but that facade was marred by dust and grime.
His security detail had escorted them to the larger space of Shuttle Bay 2 where they could be held temporarily and processed. Medics moved among them, providing any aid, nutrition, and food where needed. The Romulan's didn't seem very appreciative but at least they were not openly hostile. He had hear that Ensign Daelen had seen some action and he looked forward to hearing her tale.
As much as he wanted to interact with some of the Romulan's, he was tasked with a very specific job down here. His eye's stayed glued to the Caredasian in the far corner.

[Jen]

Sevryll 's eyes moved slowly to the Ferengi seated at the helm. The Captain ordered him to lay in a course to rendezvous with the fleet, prior to the departure of the runabout. Only after the last of the away team, and their quarry, were safely aboard the Arabella, would they leave the transport behind. She trusted that he was aware of this fact, but he was also an eager young officer. By his manner Sevryll concluded that he was uncertain of her experience in such matters.  She thought the same could be said for many of the personnel serving aboard her ship. Sevryll was a newly minted Captain and despite her veteran status it was likely some of the new officers wondered what sort of leader she would make.  While the likelihood was not a pleasant one, it did not easily perturbed the Vulcan... not yet.  The helmsman briskly moved his gaze back to the viewer as Commander James' voice came over the comm, "James to bridge. We're all aboard. Self destruct has been given a twenty minute delay."

"Understood, Mr. James," replied the captain.

She then turned to the Andorian manning the Science Station," deploy a beacon to warn any ships that may investigate the transport after our departure. Keep the derelict ship on our sensors until it has detonated and continue to scan for signs of cloaked vessels."

"Mr. Galdar, engage at best possible speed."

[Feathers]

"Aye, Captain", the Ferengi snapped, sounding respectful more than relieved...he hoped.

As the shields reverted to their normal configuration and Lieutenant Commander Zremm announced the launch of the beacon, Galdar's hands moved to the helm controls. With a surge of power the impulse engines engaged, the damaged Romulan vessel wheeling off to one side of the screen as the Arabella started to turn.

It was obvious that he'd pushed his luck a little with the captain but her Vulcan stoicism seemed to draw things out of him that an honest emotional reaction would not have. He'd have to watch out for that in the future. Still, as a bridge crew they were all feeling their way around one another to a degree. Understanding the way each officer worked was crucial to successful bridge operations and that included the captain. Out here in Romulan space, Galdar was keen to ensure that all bridge operations would be as successful as possible. If that meant things got a little uncomfortable as he settled in then so be it. It was better to be effective than liked. Popularity could come later.

Galdar smiled slightly as he thought of the nervous young Ferengi who'd entered the academy. Maybe all that education has done more for him than he'd realised!

Bringing the nose of the Arabella round, Galdar also lifted it, the light of the star washing across the side then the rear and top of the secondary hull as she pivoted and tilted in space. Stabilising on course, he guided her out of the star's orbital plane, the quicker to reach warp navigable space. It wasn't the most direct route of intercept with the fleet but it should be the quickest, the floating junk this system was full of thinning noticeably as she rose higher.

At the back of his mind, the pilot also hoped that the slightly unconventional course would throw off any cloaked Romulans that might be lurking nearby.

[Feathers]

Engineering was in chaos.

From the moment runabout components and armaments had started to appear around the warp core, the crew had been in turmoil. Seeing the photon torpedoes appear, one had even considered it as an attack on the Arabella and had started to arm herself accordingly.

Tolok, returning in the middle of the materialisations, stood unnoticed just inside the door and watched the reactions of his crew. Chaos was how it appeared on the surface...but the experienced engineer could see past the motion and the noise, could see the training and the ability of the people under his command as the materiel was quickly catalogued, tagged and slowly transported to more appropriate storage locations. Outside of the cargo and shuttle bays, now compromised by the influx of refugees, engineering presented the biggest target for the rapid transport and evacuation of sensitive material. It was logical that the away team had beamed the ordnance here...but he would have appreciated the courtesy of a little forwarning.

To one side, Ensign Barton was talking quietly to the armed crewman, no doubt reminding her of her duty and responsibilities, the Vulcan thought.

Stepping into the middle of the room, Tolok intercepted a crewman moving towards the runabout warp core that had just appeared, starting to organise the work into a more logical pattern. A rapid clearance of the equipment was commendable but they needed to ensure that sufficient personnel remained at their stations to guarantee a safe transition to warp should the Captain require it.

"Lieutenant Garriss." he stated calmly as his fellow officer rounded the corner, "Status report please."      

[Dangelus]

"Lieutenant Garriss. Status report please."

Lester heard the order before he even saw that the Chief Engineer had entered engineering. The influx of extra personell to deal with the components being transported into the area made it difficult to make anyone out.

"Welcome to Picadilly Circus Commander!" Lester joked.

Tolok's expression failed to change which was no surprise since he was a Vulcan so probably didn't appreciate the joke or the reference. Lester made a mental note to try to keep his humor for more appropriate occasions.

"Sir, we are making excellent progress cataloging and storing the components." he quickly added.

"I have everybody on it Sir. We may look like we are a disorganised mess down here but trust me, everybody knows their role and system efficiency is well within acceptable parameters, we are ready for anything." Lester assured him.

He didn't expect to be put in this situation but he thought he had done a good job. He handed Commander Tolok his PADD to inspect.

"Thank you Lieutenant" Tolok replied.

Lester could swear that the Commander seemed a little on edge or displeased with he situation as he toured Main Engineering to see what was happening.

Leaving him to it Lester carried on with his duties, gesturing to Ensign Barton to come over to his station.

"Ensign, let me know if they accidentally send over any Romulan parts won't you?" he winked.

[Meds]

JOINT POST BY CRYSTAL, JEN, BRYANCD, JUSTX & MEDS

Joseph stopped dead in his tracks after hearing Ensign Daelen's message. "D'Callan to Commander James, our Romulan guest of Ensign Daelen's has awoken from her slumber. I'm on my way to question her. Thoughts?"

The recently returned XO replied as he worked to tie up the final lose ends from the mission, "Until I see Daelen's report, I'll reserve my final recommendations. For now, I am for keeping her in the brig until we get to some place to drop her off, but check with the captain for further instructions. We are almost done over here and will be returning soon. Joe, make sure your reports are detailed. We're going to be held accountable for everything that happens out here, James out."

Joseph turned and began to walk back to the brig "D'Callan to Captain Sevryll. The Romulan who attacked Ensign Daelen is currently in the brig, Nurse Caine has checked her out she is fine but I'm just after clearance to question her regarding her actions."

"I will speak to her," she said in a smooth, unaffected tone.

Joseph smiled "Understood ma'am".

Walking into the brig, Joseph noticed Shelby leaning against the wall "Attention Ensign".

Ensign Daelen immediately stood ramrod straight, "Sir."

Joseph turned his eye from the young officer, then to the cell and he smiled at the Romulan woman glaring back at him.

"Good morning to you. My name is Lt Commander D'Callan, I am Chief of Security here aboard the USS Arabella. My Captain will be joining us in a moment, so please do feel free to relax. You are quite safe here." Joseph turned to Shelby, "With me Ensign." The two walked to the side of the Brig and checked on the sensor readings from the control panel.

Nalah sat on the sparse bunk and took a deep, calming breath. She was unsure as to the intentions of the Federation in this matter but she knew she could accomplish nothing cooling her heels in the brig. She cleared her mind in a technique Pardek had taught her to help give her focus. It helped her create an almost Vulcan like calm.

[Shelby D]

JOINT POST BY CRYSTAL, JEN, BRYANCD, JUSTX & MEDS

Checking the security panel, Shelby found everything in order as it should be then she glanced over at D'Callan and whispered, "Any chance I can amp up the field a little?" A playful smirk toyed at the edges of her lips, "Might calm her down."

Joseph looked at Shelby with a coy smile. "Behave yourself, Ensign. We've got a delicate situation here. The boss is coming down, which means she's concerned. I've known our captain since I was a child so I know when she's focused and you know what Vulcans are like when focus is on an agenda." He winked at her and looked back at the Romulan— she sat quite calm and reserved. He could sense Shelby looking at him suspiciously, "What?"

"You've known the Captain since you were small, Sir?" There was confusion in her expression and skepticism in her tone.

Leaning against the control panel, Joseph gazed at the ensign. "Yes, both she and Commander James went to the Academy with my father. He thinks an awful lot of them, as do I." Just as D'Callan finished and Daelen was about to ask another question, the Captain entered the Brig.

Moving to one side, the ensign stood at attention, "Captain." Shelby addressed the Vulcan with a nod.

The tall, svelte woman nodded in acknowledgment. Sevryll's impassive gaze then came to rest on the prisoner seated within the small cell. She took in the Romulan's own placid expression and determined an underlying acidity existed just below the surface.

The Seventh Fleet's mission was one of peace and keeping a Romulan in the Brig did not further that cause. "Release the field, Mr. D'Callan."

Joseph walked to the panel and pressed his hand against the screen, the force field made a small faint noise and disappeared. "Ma'am"

[Jen]

JOINT POST BY CRYSTAL, JEN, BRYANCD, JUSTX & MEDS

"I am Captain Sevryll. May I have your name?" The Vulcan queried with steady calm.

"Nalah Jarok," she replied in as impassive and neutral tone as she could muster. The Captain, although not a large woman, had a great deal of presence and it made Nalah nervous.

"You may not be aware of this, but our rescue team was granted permission to board the vessel in order to render aid." She studied the Romulan's face a moment and decided that her statement had failed to penetrate.

The captain arched her brow,"I do not desire to keep you here, but you will remain until I am satisfied that you no longer pose a threat to my crew or your fellow passengers..." The prisoner's aloof manner was typical of the Romulans Sevryll knew. She was well acquainted with a number of them—having fought along side many during the Dominion War. If she expected answers from the hesitant woman, it would be necessary to trigger her sense of honor...if she had one.

Sevryll stepped into the cell as the prisoner straightened. "I was informed that you attacked Ensign Daelen in an attempt to take control of the runabout. The team's mission was to evacuate your people from a transport who's engines were about to go critical." She watched as the Romulan shift slightly, but no verbal response was given. Unaffected, the captain continued at an easy pace, "It is common knowledge that the Romulans value honor. If this is true, why would one, such as yourself, risk the lives of her people to save only herself? Had you succeeded in that endeavor, your actions would have condemned those remaining aboard; a flagrant exploit, to be sure. Was it your intent to doom them all? Or were you concerned only with preserving your own life?"

Nalah lost her composure and a laugh erupted from her."Ha! Vulcans and their Federation and their misguided sense of duty!" Nalah stood quickly, but Sevryll was a smooth pond that refused the ripple—she kept her position just inside the cell.

D'Callan shifted somewhat and Shelby's hand went directly to her phaser's hilt.

"A ship filled with the weak and the corrupt," she spat. "The Senators FAILED MY PEOPLE! If MY culture is to endure," she said, glancing venomously at Shelby,"it will be built upon the bodies of those that failed us. You can take comfort and solace in your 'humanitarian' efforts, Vulcan, but you are simply delaying the inevitable." She looked into Sevryll's eyes. "Now you and I are both without our homes." She said and sat heavily back on the bed.

Joseph turned to Shelby and shook his head with a smile. He walked slowly towards the brig entrance but not too close, just so the Captain knew he was there. The Romulan couldn't see him anymore — Joseph just nodded to the Captain.

The Romulan wasn't shaking the ensign, in fact her behavior was adding to her distrust. There was enough here to be concerned about and as soon as she could Shelby was going to start researching her background. If there was even the slightest reason to toss her off this boat she would be the first going.

Nalah's dark gaze chastised Sevryll like a whip, but the captain held the Romulan's eye with the strength of her calm. The questions Sevryll put to Nalah Jarok were designed to bring the woman out of her quiet and it seemed she had achieved a measure of success with regards to breaking the silence. The room still seemed to vibrate with the volume of the young woman's reply, and that reply had confirmed Sevryll's supposition— her attempt to steal the runnabout had only scratched the surface of her dark intentions.

Now you and I are both without our homes.  With that remark, the fires of Nalah's furry lept from her to scourge Sevryll. The heat of her words succeeded in causing an imperceptible pain...one that flickered a moment but could not hold. Sevryll's voice held a note of astounding serenity when she finally replied, "My home, Nalah, is this vessel; the planet you have referred to, was the world my parents called 'home'." She paused for emphasis,  "Vulcan was a planet destroyed by a member of your species, yet I have come to offer aid to his people— an effort you no doubt believe to be foolish. With your thoughts so obviously bent on revenge, it would be equally injudicious of me to release you from this cell."Nalah's smoldering gaze swung away as Sevryll turned to leave. On her way out of brig Captain Sevryll gestured for D'Callan to follow her into an empty corridor.  "Let our guest remain in her cell for a two hours. After that time, release Ms. Jarok— she will be assigned her own quarters, which I want under guard. Do not allow Ms. Jarok to leave her quarters unaccompanied, she should have an armed escort. I want them to monitor her activities throughout her stay aboard this ship. Though the evacuees were disarmed during the transport, they are still capable of exacting revenge, as you are no doubt aware. If she so much as glances in the direction of the senators, inform me. I want them discretely observed as well, but do not allow our personnel to harass the Romulans. Observation and protection is one thing, badgering to the point of distrust is quite another. We are still on a mission of peace, Mr. D'Callan."

"Understood, ma'am," said the Chief Of Security as Sevryll made her way to Shuttle Bay 2 to begin welcoming the passengers aboard the Arabella.

[Meds]

JOINT POST BY DINGHEAD AND MEDS

Joseph walked in the opposite direction to the Captain and Ensign Shane ran up to him, he looked at him aS they carried on walking.

"Report Ensign?"

"I was setting up in Bay Two when Dunn took over. All sensitive areas of the ship have at least one or two discreet guards. Everyone's been told to be nice, but not to take a disruptor blast for diplomacy's sake."

Joseph and Darius stopped in front of the turbo lift. "There will be no disruptor blasts, stuns, or any kind of violence Mr Shane. this is the situation. We have Ensign Daelen guarding a guest at the moment, she is going to be fairly busy with this task and I don't want her compromised. We need to keep an eye on the senators. Darius watch them, discreetly. I DO NOT want any problems. Further instructions will follow once i receive them. This is a peace mission, the Captain has made herself VERY clear, Understand?"

"You got it Boss. I don't suppose the Captain would let us maybe pump a bit of Anesthizine into the bay? Make everybody real peaceful?" he asked in obvious humor.

Joseph faced him and he did not look amused. "Darius, I do hope you are taking this job seriously, Lt Commander Tolok informs me he has a vacnacy for a WASTE tube cleaner down in engineering would you like me to put your name forward?"

Darius straightened "Sorry Boss"

"On your way Ensign, keep the reports coming in, no matter how small keep me informed"

Darius turned and headed back down the corridor, Joseph called after him "Oh and Ensign Shane, I would have used Neurozine" He winked and entered the open turbo lift.

[Shelby D]

After the Captain took D'Callan down another corridor in the brig, to speak with him, Shelby glanced at the 'currently' calm Romulan through the security field which was on again; Nalah wasn't going anywhere. This gave Daelen an opportunity to slip out. The officer headed down to deck 14, upon arriving, she walked into the sparsely populated offices. Most of the staff was out on assignments related to the Romulan's or they were stationed at key locations to keep prying eyes away. 

Finding a out-of-the-way monitor Shelby first checked to make sure she was alone, then she logged on and started accessing information on Nalah Jarok and then her Father Alidar Jarok. If you were Romulan it was fairly common knowledge to know of Admiral Jarok and the 'shame' he had brought upon his family. There was something though, that upon spinning what she knew of the incident around in her mind, that bothered her.

Understandably, the facts of the story she was aware of had always been vague and undefined or over-glorified, depending on the person talking about it, which wasn't totally without precidence. Such behavior was to be expected from rumor or word of mouth. Oddly enough though as she researched the matter, in the Starfleet database, Shelby was surprised to find a similar sterile thread surrounding the entire incident.

This confused her, why would Starfleet be so 'general' about a matter like this? First the USS Enterprise, the Federation's flagship, was involved. It would be expected that a complete explanation of the events would be available, they weren't, at least not readily.  Secondly, the most she could gather from the logs was that a man, who presented himself as a low level clerk in the Romulan military, who was later discovered to be Admiral Jarok, attempted to defect by asking for asylum. The reason for it was listed as, political. That could be anything. Also there was little on what the Enterprise did to confirm or debunk the man's request. Simply put the end result of the mission was listed that the man in custody died of natural causes.

So the question begged, why would someone leave everything they knew, go elsewhere, ask for asylum and then die unexpectedly from a natural death within such a short period of time? Sitting back and running her finger along her chin, Shelby ran over the information once more, this just was too simple. Surely someone had questioned this before. Something was here and when she had some time she was going to find out what.

At the moment though the ship and Shelby had bigger problems. If D'Callan had orders for her he was probably was looking for her by now, if not then she was fine, but no sense pushing the envelope.

The young ensign finished her work and secured her search under a password. Logging off she headed out of security and in search of the Chief.