Phasers and torpedoes converged near the Vulcan's coppery hull creating a brilliant concentrated bubble of unadulterated energy which rapidly expanded in clouds of red and orange. A second volley of torpedoes followed behind the first adding to the violent, yet somehow magnificent display of raw energy. The growing wave of matter/anti-matter reactions escalated filling the screen in a final blinding crescendo. And then there was nothing. To the eye and for the moment the sensor - the Temep'Shar was gone; cloaked behind a makeshift holographic starfield and a general dampening field which obscured its presence.
Pulling forcefully on his uniform, Lamont's lips had swung slightly upwards into a cocky smile. It was not arrogance, but showmanship. Subtle actions, even as trivial as facial expressions or movement, all added to the effect he was attempting to illicit from his counterparts. Angering the Romulans would keep them talking for a time...
"Communications", Lamont said with an even tone. "Hail the Romulans again quickly. I suspect now they will be much more interested in talking."
Seated in the XO's chair with careless elegance, the young Vulcan only had to see the exasperated shake of a head and knew they were still being treated like an insignificant nuisance.
"No reply."
Lamont turned to Commander Eithne his eyes exuding confidence yet the look remained stern. "Commander I recommend contacting the away team and asking them to hurry. This charade will not last long and once it ends there will be little to stop the Romulans from taking what they will." His voice held an ominous tone. The situation was grave and it would be up to him to keep the Romulans talking for as long as possible. Lamont drummed his fingers against the captain's chair waiting for some response from his mission objective. They were no doubt reeling in shock from the spectacle of seeing the Vulcan ship explode before them however, it would not take them long to figure out Lamont's clever gambit. He guessed he had at best a few minutes before they saw through the deception. If he could just get them talking then perhaps he could buy precious time for the away team to safely beam back aboard so as to destroy the Vulcan's technological terror and rid the galaxy of the threat it posed to peace.
Eithne nodded towards Lamont, "Aye Sir." She would do so in the Ready Room as there she would be out of sight from any Romulan who could respond to the hail. This was a very delicate dance of deception, one step in the wrong direction and the entire show will be a bust.
"Commander Katris to Away Team, it is recommended that you complete your tasks and return with haste, as we are not sure exactly how long the Romulans will tolerate the facade."
It did not take long for her to return and give another nod to Lamont to inform him that the deed had been done. Now they waited for the reply, she hoped the away team was almost finished over on the Temep Shar. There are surely not much more time before the Romulans grow weary and bear down on them.
The Galae ships had not stopped, but the ambassador's ruse had at least succeeded in one aspect – they were scanning the area with everything their sensor arrays had to offer. One vital clue the Sundered were not at all convinced Charon had destroyed their prize under their proverbial noses was that the interference from the frigate hanging menacingly off their port bow had not ceased.
"Operations." Sakarra's voice fell into the tense silence like raindrops on velvet "Computer access for Temep`Shar had been established." All it had taken was another V'Shar code and another item on the long list of treason. And it had gained them precious little, with the Vulcan ship apparently running on its last dying sparks of power. No wonder they had not initiated self-destruct. They did not have the means.
"Would it be possible to re-establish our lock on the away team by accessing internal sensors and Temep`Shar's own transporter systems?" It was what humans would refer to as a 'long shot'. But Vulcan transporter systems were operating with narrower confinement beams by design, not to mention were easily manipulated to adapt to unfavorable conditions – a logical approach in exploration and science ships, or so the designers had argued to defend the considerable amount of work hours and material required.
The hologram at Operations replied in a pleasant purr, "Don't you worry about them, Sir. Leave the details to me. You worry about getting my isolinear behind out of this mess. You're all capable of ejecting out in the lifeboats. *I'm* not."
Aerv worked quickly as the torpedo explosions bloomed. This illusion would not last long and when the Warbird's crews saw through it, it seemed unlikely that their indifference to the Charon would persist. She set all three of the ship's torpedo arrays cycling to a full load of ten quantum torpedoes each. There was no such thing as 'excessive force' in this situation, not on Charon's part. The phaser banks, having done almost nothing, were already recharged.
With swift and economical gestures, she rotated the holo-sphere before her this way and that, jabbing way-points with her finger. Marking a fast charge into the Galae formation, with violent turns to confuse sensors and make them hesitate for fear of hitting each other with their fire. All the while unleashing as much EM sensor clutter as possible in the form of quantum torpedo detonations. This was her best solution for a course of escape and evasion, and she relayed it to both helm and the command position. Her mind raced on multiple tracks: If the Galae ships lowered shields for boarding parties, could Charon use transporter bombs? Or were the crew not trained in that old technique? She had not been in post long enough to know. Would there be time to recover the fighters? A Galae Captain would abandon them, for the sake of the ship, but she did not believe these lloann'na would do so, even if it put the ship in more danger. Kholairlh-a! [Elements!] A Galae Captain would not be in this mess! subordinates would have been sent aboard the Temep`Shar, if anyone had been sent at all. And with the Warbird's arrival would have prompted the real destruction of the Vulcan ship, not this show! The risks being run would appall her if she gave herself time to...
An alarm yelped from her console. "Rekkhai! Intruder alert!"
Klaxxons wailed as the intruder alert was sounded; the Red Alert siren was joined by a deeper, complimentary one. Security details were briefed and automated algorithms began their machinations. Savant set off that cascade with a push of thoughts and then left it to the Security team as her thoughts turned outward. Charon's massive sensory arrays stabbed into the hearts of the Romulan warbirds and the crippled Vulcan frigate alike, dissecting their workings with the aide of the ships' helpful indigenous flora and fauna. Holographic images of Temep Shar splayed out in the air like vivisectioned frogs pinned in place, her workings spread out diagrammatically. Lights and icons flickered throughout as Savant tore through the workings and status of the distant systems.
And then Savant smiled. One of those distant workings was friendly, and rather unexpected - a little piece of her, or a derivative at least. One of her children had scuttled aboard the Vulcan ship at the earliest opportunity and was giving her access to what remained of the computers there. The ground had been prepared. Savant announced to the acting Captain, "You have access to the Temep Shar, Captain. I have reworked her transport emitters to reception mode." As she announced the fact, Valit did as it was commanded by its deity - the transport waveguides on Temep Shar were reconfigured quickly by the clever program. She made sure to keep a tight and strong communication signal, so that it could escape easily if needs be.
"May I suggest, Captain, a full yield torpedo spread at 212 mark 43 by fifty K? Hydrox density is sufficient at that location to sustain a wide-scale low-yield explosion which ought to confuse Romulan longwave and visual sensors."
Lamont's teeth gnashed together as a bubble of intense frustration welled up inside him. The Romulans were denying him any chance of salvaging the situation. Their stubborn refusal to talk was negating all of his careful planning. He had no contingency for their refusal to speak. No amount of guile or wit could force them to do so much to his consternation. Thus a chain events was now in motion that was beyond his capacity to predict. It was inevitable that the Romulans would soon see past his deception and once they did they would swarm the Temep'Shar with troops. The Charon would be unable to stem the tide yet if they could recover the away team it might be possible to deny the Romulans their prize.
However, that too led to another conundrum which at present Lamont had no answer to. Assuming they recovered the away team in time and destroyed the Vulcan ship the Charon would be in possession of presumably some of the men and women who had knowledge of the Temep`Shar's secrets. Thus the hunter would become the hunted. The Romulans would not allow the Charon to escape with her Vulcan cargo. They would take what they wanted and indeed had the means to do just that.
[To be continued …]
Cmdr Eithne Kathris
Executive Officer
Capt Savant
Chief Operations Officer
Ambassador Ian Lamont
Diplomatic Advisor
LtCmdr Sakarra Tyrax
Chief Helm Officer
Farein Aerv ir-Rhynne t'Jaihen
Chief Tactical Officer
USS Charon
