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Table of Contents
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The ship was beginning to settle into a regular routine. The crew had been on stand-by yellow alert since entering the neutral zone. All systems had been tested repeatedly and given an enthusiastic approval. Now, the brief lull was a welcomed change from the constant preparations and shakedown efforts.
Scotty was true to his word. All systems showed no signs of defect or failure -- a fact he took major delight in. Sulu suffered from that, whenever the engineer reminded him of the bet.
The last shift, prior to arrival at Romulus, was spent talking about old times and renewing friendships. More than a few of the crew wished that the entire cruise could have been devoted to that particular activity.
Many of the recent Academy graduates became engrossed, listening to the 'tall tales' of Kirk and the old Enterprise. Hearing it first hand was much better than reading about it. They were also surprised as to how many of those old stories were actually true!
Just as the 'B' shift was about to go off duty, they received a message from Kensington, which was totally unexpected. The 'intermittent' problem with communications had been ignored temporarily, and the message was received just prior to going on full alert before reaching the home worlds of the Romulan Empire. It was received as a short burst and, at first, M'Ress wasn't sure just what she had. Then she broke it down and decoded it with the help of David Bailey.
Garrovick was the ship's CO on 'B' shift. He was watching the two work on the decoding, when M'Ress reacted visibly. If he could read M'Ress that easily, then something was indeed wrong. "What is it?"
Bailey transferred a copy of the message to a tricorder and gave it to Garrovick in record time. After scanning it quickly, the second shift captain sank visibly in the command chair.
The younger Sulu and Vittoria DiFalco, turned to see what was going on. Even Doug Lemli turned from his auxiliary engineering station, to find out why everyone became so quiet all of a sudden.
Garrovick looked up, and shaking his head slowly, spoke. "Informed sources have confirmed that the Romulans are now engaged in a full scale civil war." He swallowed hard and continued, "Diplomatic Corps leaves the fate of the mission up to Ambassador Spock, but recommends a scrub."
The shift bridge crew was stunned.
After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Garrovik handed the tricorder back to Bailey. "Very well, M'Ress, inform Sulu and Spock, in person please. Take them a copy of the message, in case they wish to study it and include the original encoded text as well. If I know Spock, he'll want to decode it personally."
M'Ress nodded and purred quietly, in agreement, "Yes, sir."
The 'B' shift captain cursed to himself, but evidently a little too loudly.
"My sentiments exactly, sir," said DiFalco.
"Me, too," added Demora.
Bailey offered a ray of hope. "It could mean we have a better chance to succeed. After all, if the planet is in turmoil, who's going to notice a few extra people?"
DiFalco wasn't as optimistic. "It could also mean that the Preator has been kicked out or, more likely, killed. If that's the case, his 'trophies' may have shared a similar fate." The navigator's words were spoken with bitterness and anger. "If only we had left a little earlier."
"Without Starfleet and Federation Council approval?" Angela Martine sounded surprised and her comment got to Demora.
"It's never stopped Mister Scott or my father before." Demora was smiling at Martine, so the security officer knew it was some form of a joke and let the matter drop.
"I'm afraid it's out of our hands anyway," commented Garrovick, "DiFalco, better plot a return course, just in case."
M'Ress left the bridge in silence to deliver the messages as instructed.
Garrovick turned to Bailey, "Take the comm board for a while, just in case there are any more updates."
Bailey responded in a voice that was barely audible, "Aye, sir."
The bridge crew remained quiet for the balance of their shift. When M'Ress returned, she gave no indication of comments from either Spock or Sulu. Regardless, Garrovick continued to have the return course updated periodically.
For her part, DiFalco was happy to do it, just to keep her mind off what she was really thinking; mutiny. If Spock did call for a mission scrub, she was sure that the rest of the crew would have the same reaction. Question was, would they act on it, or for that matter, would she?
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© 2024 Brad McDonald / U.S.S. Kitty Hawk
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