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With less than ten minutes until comm point, M'ress picked up a signal from the loyalist battle fleet commander, directed to each of the ships orbiting Romulus. It wasn't totally decipherable but the gist of the communique was that the fleet was to hold their ground no matter what the cost. It was a clear sign that the two camps of Romulan combatants would soon be engaged in a deadly battle once again.
Kirk, Sulu, DeSalle, Garrovick, Koord and Chekov had discussed the merits of various strategies, but Sulu would have the ultimate decision. His choices, while many, all fell short of being ideal. In fact, they all were short of even being good. It would simply be a case of the lesser of evils.
Ultimately, it was agreed that letting the unit fail on its own was the best course of action. After that, they would, as Kirk had said, play the cards that were dealt to them as best as they could.
Sulu had a number of options in place and began with several standing orders. First, Uhura and M'ress would act independently of Sulu. If the two picked up a signal to transport, then they would do so without awaiting orders. No time lost and no chances of failure. In order to ensure command continuity, though, Sulu would be notified of the action.
Second order, from this point on, the shields would be at maximum. In addition, the shields would have priority over all systems including weapons, and to a certain degree, life support. Unused decks and sections would be shut down and thereby minimize power and life support needs. The only exception to this axiom was sickbay. But Garrovick pointed out that even sickbay could function well on back-up power for short periods of time, if the need arose.
The third order, and perhaps the most difficult to accept, this would absolutely be the last try. When the cloaking device failed, the Romulan fleet would not rest until the Enterprise was destroyed. The only chance for the survival of the ship and its crew was to get 'the hell out of Dodge.' At least that was how Kirk had put it.
The fourth order, engineering division was on its own. From the moment the cloaking device failed, the engineers would work at best possible speed, informing the bridge only of their progress and not their actions. Sulu had promised not to call unless it was absolutely necessary. Scotty would make all the decisions. He had carte blanche, after all, as Admiral of Engineering and the Chief of Starfleet Construction. Who was better qualified than him?
Last, if anyone had an idea during a moment of crisis, share it without observing protocol. Sulu was confident that, with all the experience on board, failure was totally unnecessary.
With just about eight minutes to go before comm point, the two warring factions of the Romulan fleet clashed for the second time.
M'ress had also picked up a very troubling bit of news, the preator had been assassinated by revisionists and it appeared that the situation planet side was going to get worse, a lot worse.
The C.O. found himself looking at the ship's chrono over and over. He noticed that, unconsciously, he had crossed his fingers for good luck once more.
Down in sickbay, in a complete contrast to the bridge, things were looking up. The three doctors had completed a considerable amount of surgery in a relatively short amount of time.
McCoy was pleased with the work, but Tavar still had reservations about the outcome considering the long term stasis effect. It might begin to show up in all sorts of places.
Because of Tavar's concerns, McCoy had made a hard decision. Regardless of circumstances on Romulus or onboard the Enterprise, McCoy would take James Kirk out of action immediately.
Tavar's predictions on the post-hibernation effects were beginning to come true and McCoy didn't like what he saw. The Romulan doctor didn't press his points hard. He just stated the facts and the theories and let McCoy draw his own conclusions. McCoy had almost wished for a more demanding or belligerent coworker. Maybe then, the decision on Kirk would have been made a lot sooner.
Chapel came into the medical lounge with two duty nurses in tow. Evidently Christine had discovered some discrepancy in their procedures and the Enterprise had left Earth without a head nurse. 'Once a nurse always a nurse,' thought McCoy. Chapel would handle it.
Looking at Tavar, seated alone across the room, McCoy came back to his original thoughts. 'No time like the present,' he said to himself. He stood up and carried his dinner tray to the sickbay lounge recycler and headed out to the lift. First a quick clean up in the showers, then Jim. It would prove to be a critical decision, and costly as well.
On Romulus, Spock's internal chronometer told him that time was short. He was now satisfied that he had made the correct decision to stay put. In just a few minutes, the special program he had entered into the palace shield computers would reactivate one last time. The shield would drop exactly fifteen seconds prior to the comm point. It would remain out for exactly one minute, just enough time. After that, he and Saavik would either be safe aboard the Enterprise or forever trapped on Romulus.
Spock firmly believed they would be rescued until two things happened. First, there had been an announcement that the preator had been assassinated and second, resumption of heavy fighting within the palace. Within a very short time, the guards assigned to their protection had left and the small group of Romulan diplomats and bureaucrats were on their own.
Not really a life threatening situation, but one made difficult by the fact that Spock was considered the 'senior statesman' and was looked upon by the others as a leader. They asked him to find a safer place or to lead them out of the palace and into the open city.
He could do neither. To move out of the palace might eliminate the need to drop the shield, but it could also mean moving further away from the comm point. He had no way of knowing what the consequences of changing the plan again would be and could not risk the last chance for rescue. He knew the infinite variables of moving were reduced to a handful by remaining in the room.
At this point, most of the other Romulans in protective custody decided to leave for 'safer ground.'
With further inquiries by the remaining Romulans, it finally reached the point where Spock had to feign another cardiac problem to escape repeated interruptions. However, even that did not save him.
A loud commotion came from one of the adjacent rooms. Suddenly a very mean looking group of uniformed personnel charged towards Spock and Saavik, as if they knew exactly who they were. Two Romulans had remained with Spock and Saavik out of concern for the health of 'their ambassador.' Now those two were regretting that decision.
The squad was uniformed in a manner that was unfamiliar to Spock, but he suspected Tal Shiar. He was sure of one thing, he did not care for their methods of operation. Spock, Saavik and the two other Romulan statesmen were hauled to their feet in a very rough manner. Then the group was lined up against the back wall of the room and held there at the point of a rather large array of disrupters and burn phasers.
A senior officer pushed his way through the group of surly soldiers, and took up a position within inches of Spock. Now Spock was beginning to worry. If Enterprise attempted a wide scan emergency transport, they would pick up a half dozen of these soldiers in the process. Since that scenario was not acceptable, Spock felt he had to act to change the situation, but how?
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© 2024 Brad McDonald / U.S.S. Kitty Hawk
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