He who hath bent him o'er the dead
Ere the first day of death is fled,—
The first dark day of nothingness,
The last of danger and distress,
Before decay's effacing fingers
Have swept the lines where beauty lingers.
(Lord Byron)
[USS Charon, Bridge]
After Commander Marcus had left, Sakarra stared at the viewscreen for a long second, trying to determine where in those indigo swirls a tiny speck of red might be … drifting? Traveling at sublight speeds into the endless night?
Illogical, she chided herself. They were nowhere near close enough to see the ship, even if they had a concrete fix on the location. But there were probabilities to be calculated. No warp trail within a five lightyear radius of the neutrinos made it a near certainty the Temep`Shar had taken damage and was traveling under impulse, if at all.
Charon's powerful sensors were focusing on the area where they had detected the particles, slowly expanding the radius of their search. But even a Luna Class had to bow to the power of a star being born, this one in magnificent hues of deep blue and turquoise, a nebula that obscured readings and therefore made it the logical path the wounded Vulcan ship would have taken.
Sakarra downloaded whatever information she had available and relinquished the center chair to return to her own. Safe to assume the Captain had received Savant's message by now, but she added a priority call with the latest scans and course corrections.
Though it might have little to do with cold reason, the young Vulcan knew with the senses of the ancient hunter that their quarry was close.
With a smooth, elegant motion, Charon's silver nose tipped upward and impulse engines lit the eternal dark with their fierce glow.
For awhile the thought was simply speculation. Did it survive? Will we find it? Contingencies had to be made- but there was still uncertainly, but now, that uncertainty was gone. When she stepped onto the bridge Shiarrael looked confident, composed, and slightly angry. She was always angry it seemed. Her violet eyes traced the images on the viewscreen to the center chair which Eithne smoothly vacated to her own seat to the right of the throne. The ship vibrated; outside of the Charon the universe was undergoing labor pains- a stellar nursery is what they called this place. How fitting, Shiarrael thought, that the place of their possible death was the birthplace of stars? She casually strolled past the tactical console and in front of the command chair. They were being followed- everyone knew that much. "Shall we lead the pack of thrai to the Vulcan's nest?" Shiarrael spoke finally, her voice carrying a tinge of humor in it "what a predicament we are in." She looked over towards Sakarra as she sat down in the command chair and crossed her legs. Sheathed against her right hip the handle of her honor blade jutted upwards. She unclamped the clumsy thing and laid it across her uneven lap "have we determined the location of the source?"
"So we have, Captain. Neutrino residue at bearing 090 mark 10, search radius expanding."
The young Vulcan could not help but find the CO's metaphor rather … apt. The question was how to keep said thrai from claiming their prey.
"They are obviously not broadcasting ID and detecting their hull signature will be difficult at this range due to massive interference. To borrow a terran phrase – we will have to 'go in'."
On the other hand … same interference might just buy them the time they needed.
[Main Engineering, Temep Shar – coordinates unknown]
2nd Day in the month of re`T'Khutai, YS 9022
"Fascinating."
"Elaborate."
S'Kel pointed at the screen where a signal blinked rapidly, for all intents and purposes a flare bright enough to drown out even the noise of the stars being born around them. Any Vulcan ship within four lightyears radius would have to pick it up, lest their sensors were utterly and completely destroyed. But only a Vulcan ship would recognize the carrier wave for what it was – a code, designed to transmit a single message. We are here.
"You have confirmed this vessel is Yel-Halitra."
"Affirmative."
Sajel stared at the display, a hard expression on his aquiline features. Logic suggested they were precisely who they seemed to be, a Starfleet vessel carrying Vulcans, searching for their lost people. Only their own kind would have known how to modify the deflector to emit this signal, background noise to everyone but a Yel-hal'ay who would know it the instant it was received. But the instincts screaming at the back of his mind told him it was … too simple. Too obvious.
And he saw the same doubt in the eyes of his V'Ket though the scientists and engineers appeared uncertain what prompted Sajel's hesitation.
Behind the forcefield protecting engineering from the harsh jaws of space, indigo clouds swirled and shimmered.
"Dator'uh, t'naehlar."
They did not answer, they did not need to. Curt bows acknowledged the order and with a low hum, the ship's impulse engines came to life. It would take the last bit of power from their life support systems to meet this silver speck of light in the distance, but however this would turn out, they would not need air for much longer.
Quietly, sword hilts were adjusted and sidearms checked.
[USS Charon, Bridge]
They had barely entered the outer rims of the nebula, the thin fringes caressing Charon's silver hull beginning to obscure the view of the stars behind, when a most familiar signature appeared on Sakarra's console. Heading …
Two velvety black brows climbed in unison before the young Vulcan looked over her shoulder at the woman occupying the center chair with her usual grace, unmarred by the obvious aggravation emanating from her.
"Captain, it appears … it is us who have been found after all."
"So, that is the ship? The vaunted Temep-Shar?" Shiarrael eyes narrowed- it didn't look impressive. The passive design, like all Vulcans ships, had the grace of a desert rodent. Standing up she walked forward, stopping just between and slightly behind the helm and operations stations. "Tactical" her neck craned around as she looked at the young Romulan woman that had replaced Ch'Tan "move us to red alert, power weapons." Her eyes returned to the viewscreen- they could destroy it right now and be done, the order graced the tip of her tongue but she withheld the urge to utter it "hail them."
The hail went unanswered, and Sakarra could have told her Captain that from the moment the wounded ship had begun to take shape before them. Where the bridge should have been, only a large gash remained, where primary sensors and communications array should have been there was blackness open to space, and where lights should have indicated life, there were none. And still, someone was flying this shimmering ghost of a ship, amaranth red against the nebula's fluorescent backdrop.
"Even if they hear us … it is doubtful they can answer." Near spellbound by the sight, the young Vulcan just so managed to keep her main focus on her console and still exhaled sharply when at last the devastated engineering section came into view. Darkness there as well, but it would have been the one area … yes.
Nearly imperceptible, the shimmer of a forcefield holding off the deep blue gases showed on the viewscreen as the ship before them turned and positioned itself …
"It would appear we have been invited, Captain."
Not quite the most cordial gesture as such silent messages went, but a cautious welcome nonetheless. Bringing Charon to a full stop, she gazed up at the CO, face as impassive as mountains under the desert sun. "They are uncertain of our intentions. And if I interpret their behavior correctly," the probability of which was above ninety-nine point nine eight percent "there are indeed V'Ket still on board. If you do intend to rescue them … I advise beaming an away team in EVA suits into the corridor outside main engineering. There is no atmosphere anywhere on the ship, however engineering is shielded and cannot be scanned. Logic suggests it is where the survivors found shelter."
And make damn sure to identify yourselves as Starfleet as soon as possible.
She could tell the CO was considering … another option and could hardly blame her for it. Ironically, the Vulcans on the doomed ship would most likely agree. Starfleet however would not. There was sufficient evidence that they had indeed found survivors and although Sakarra wanted nothing more than get them to safety, the price for their lives might end up being one none of them would have been prepared to pay if given the choice.
Shiarrael fingers tapped relentlessly on the armrest as she stared at the view screen pondering the situation. She could order them to destroy the Temep-Shar right now, a few simple words and she could have it reduced to space dust. Her tapping stopped. Sentencing the Vulcan crew to death- no matter how much she just wanted the ordeal over with, was not a very Starfleet thing to do. Letting out a heavy exasperated sigh Shiarrael stood up and slipped her honor blade back into its place "I will be leading a boarding party. This is not up for debate so save your breaths." Shiarrael looked at Eithne "commander you have the bridge. Have the fighters launch, Colonel Thorten will be among them."
Eithne looked over to the Captain and was indeed about to say something before she was told to save her breath. "Aye Sir... I will have them launch immediately." She stood from her chair, preparing herself for the moments that were to come.
"Good." Shiarrael tapped her commbadge "First Lieutenant Warren I want you to gather your men in transporter room one. EVA suits and heavy weapons ready." She tapped it again "Commander King, Commander Marcus, and Commander Calhoun, join me in transporter room one, EVA suits ready." She turned and looked at Sakarra and Eithne "if the Romulans arrive- destroy the ship before they can take it." With a smirk Shiarrael slapped her honor blade and headed into the turbo lift.
Her gaze was widened when she was told to destroy the ship before the Romulans could take it. Her eyes slowly moving over to Sakarra before moving back to rest on the Captain where she would nod. She would follow the Captain's orders, but there was no way she was going to destroy that ship if the Captain and away team were still on it.
The young Vulcan refrained from pointing out that she would have been a logical choice to accompany the away team and focused her gaze back onto the viewscreen instead. Silently, she sought out the most vulnerable areas of the lethally wounded shape floating before them, noting with a heavy heart it would take at least five torpedoes to reduce her to rubble. Unless they found a way to destroy her from within, the pride of Temep`Shar's designer in her sturdy construction might well prove her undoing in the end.
[End Log]
Captain Shiarrael t'Rehu
Commanding Officer
Commander Eithne Kathris
First Officer
Lieutenant Commander Sakarra Tyrax
Chief Helm
USS Charon
Sajel & S'Kel
V'Ket
Temep`Shar
