Several days prior…
[USS Quantum Fury]
"The faint signal detected six hours ago appears to be a distress signal Commander." T'Ern's never changing visage looked at her Captain from the operations station. Her shoulder length raven hair was neatly trimmed but it's shaped reminded Khiy of the old Romulan military unisexual look. Even though he found her appearance rather cumbersome he valued his Operation officer's keen insight. She, like most Vulcans, was prone to unnatural correctness in both calculation and manner.
It took him a moment to digest the depth of the information. So far from Federation space Khiy had to wonder if it was their responsibility to answer this distress signal. The Romulans certainly would have noticed it- but would they care? And if they didn't should he involve the Quantum Fury? "How far away is it and how long will it take us to get there?"
This time, Alia, the fair skinned Deltan helmsman spun her seat around to face Khiy "I have looked at the signal's origin as calculated by Lieutenant T'Ern" she glanced at T'Ern to emphasize the credit "and I believe we can reach the signal's source in less than two days at maximum warp." T'Ern looked at Alia and nodded in confirmation at the final piece of information.
"Will the engines be able to handle it?" Kaen said. The Cardassian was wearing his normal unnaturally dapper expression as he sat next to Khiy. His eyes seemed to glimmer in the bright lighting of the Quantum Fury's bridge. He wants to investigate this. Khiy thought. Even though they had only served together for a few months he had become accustomed to the look in the Cardassians eyes whenever his curiosity was piqued.
"I believe so." Alia said, her neutral expression was almost Vulcan but she was confident. She was a great pilot so Khiy trusted her and the lack of T'Ern interjecting a correction into the Deltan's assessment solidified his opinion. Not that it made things any easier for him.
"What do you think Commander?" Khiy turned his head to look at his Cardassian executive officer. It seemed as though Onarin was expecting the question. His smile shifted into a grin and he leaned forward looking at the view screen. He looked almost smug- and annoyingly like the Cardassian Guls Khiy had encountered- full bluster and little else.
"I think we should go Captain. At worse it's a four day detour and I'm sure Admiral Cerywyn will understand. We are Starfleet vessel. It's not in our nature to ignore a distress signal."
Would she understand? Khiy wondered. He had specific orders. Deliver relief personnel to the USS Charon, make an assessment of the situation, and return with injured personnel and the marooned Marines. The latter of which was impossible since the Marines were missing and probably dead. However, he knew Onarin was right. Starfleet officers didn't just ignore distress signals and shrug them off. Cerywyn might have a fit but they should at least investigate to ensure that help did indeed arrive to those people. He nodded "set a course for the origin of the signal and engage at maximum warp."
Alia spun around to face her console "yes sir!" The entire mood on the bridge seemed to change with the order. Energy. Khiy thought. They are excited to do something other than play chauffeur. Even the normally subdued T'Ern seemed subtly enthusiastic about the change in pace.
Present…
[USS Quantum Fury]
"Arrival in one minute Captain." Alia announced.
Khiy sat up; his eyes focused on the moving star field displayed on the view screen "do scanners detect any Romulan fleet activity in the area?" He asked. T'Ern had discovered six hours previous that the distress signal stopped. All efforts to locate any information about the source of the signal from local comm. traffic proved negligible. Since the source of the signal emanated from a planet located outside of the official boundary of the Star Empire he decided to keep course and see if aid had been rendered but now he felt slightly concerned about the situation.
"Nothing on sensors or scanners Captain." Nik Nok said. The reptilian's long black tongue slipped rapidly in and out of his mouth like that of a serpent. Khiy could see he wasn't the only one with reservations. Either aid had been rendered or something much worse had happened. There were plenty of stories he remembered; all about Romulan commanders simply torching worlds to absolve themselves of irritating issues.
"I don't like this." Khiy said. Onarin nodded slightly in agreement. "Bring us to yellow alert. When we drop from warp keep the cloaking system on-line until we have a chance to assess the situation." His 'gut' was screaming at him that something was not right.
"Ten seconds." Alia said "nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one- arrival now!" The passing stars on the view screen immediately stopped and the long streaks turned into dim specks obscured by a bright glowing nebula. The Quantum Fury twisted and pulled up, from the edge of the view screen moving towards the center was a bright green and blue planet. Slowly it grew from a tiny dot to encompass the entire view screen.
"Detecting a Romulan ship- it's to starboard" Nik Nok's translator whirled the words out violently. A large shadow seemed to encompass the section of cloud cover the Quantum Fury hovered near. The view screen image switched and like a massive beast an old D'Deridex loomed behind them eclipsing the light of the local sun.
"Have they seen us?" Khiy asked. His eyes watch the ship now looming on his view screen with the utmost concern. While the D'Deridex was an old Romulan warhorse it still had more than enough bite to crush the Quantum Fury.
[To be continued…]
