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Kevin Riley was really excited about the task at hand. Even though he was only a lieutenant, he was in charge of a group of officers most of whom outranked him. But, with the exception of Scotty, no one knew the shuttle engines better than he.
Standing back for a moment, Kevin put his hands on his hips and looked at the shuttles. They were fresh from the yards, unused except for tests and their delivery flight to the Enterprise. It was really a shame to sacrifice them. But if it meant getting safely away from the Romulans, it was worth it.
While the old Enterprise had six shuttles, the '01-B had eight and each one would be part of the deception. Hopefully, they would do the trick. He ticked them off in his mind as work was commenced on each one: Copernicus, Galileo, Ptolomy, Azophi, Brahe, Eratosthenes, Kepler and Hawking.
First priority was to get the engines to detonate simultaneously on all the shuttles. Kyle suggested internal timers and not one signaled by Enterprise in order to minimize the chances of discovery by the Romulans. Also, a heavier than normal shielding, coupled with false readings from tricorders would give the appearance of being occupied. That might prevent tipping their hand prematurely and alert the Romulans to the deception.
While Kyle, DeSalle and he worked on internal detonation timers, Lemli, M'ress and Demora Sulu busied themselves on the tricorders. Both groups were proceeding independently of Scotty.
Though he understood the necessity, the ship's chief engineer wasn't happy about the shuttles being destroyed and said so. Regardless, he was busy with the last of the damage control efforts. Sitting down for the first time in many hours, Montgomery tried to relax. At his age, the lack of rest caught up with him a lot quicker than it used to.
Picking up his tricorder, he checked the list of damages and what had been done to correct each item. The teams had all performed well and little remained to be done, with the exception of a few minor problems. The ship would be one hundred percent, functionally anyway. The exterior would still require some work, but he would get it done quickly and maybe even before the original scheduled launch date. Afterwards, he would be more than ready to settle down, then and there, with Nyota. Since she was determined to keep her posting at Epsilon Command, he would be the one to make the gesture. Once Enterprise was done, he would retire permanently and go to her.
Saavik was relieved to be cleared for duty. With just a brief period of rest, she was ready for the bridge. As she took the short ride on the turbolift, she smiled with confidence and anticipation. She had reviewed the plan for using the shuttles and thought it was excellent.
Upon arriving, she thought the doors snapped open a bit quicker than usual. When she walked out on the upper platform, several members of the bridge crew gave her smiles and a thumbs up.
"Commander Saavik reporting for duty, Admiral."
Sulu turned to face his science officer with a broad grin. "Good to see you on your feet again, Commander. Frankly, I'm glad to have you back at the science station. Bailey is so tired, I'm not really confident about his work." Sulu winked at Saavik. "Actually, I don't think he is working over there, just catching cat naps now and then."
Bailey turned away from the science station, to face Saavik and deadpanned, "It's actually his command technique and personality that puts me to sleep."
"All right, all right!" Sulu quit the friendly argument while he was ahead. "Saavik, station please and, Bailey, go to your quarters and get some much deserved sleep."
Hurrying off to the turbolift, David Bailey was glad to be off the double-shift schedule. At least, that's what he thought.
Returning his attention to the matters at hand, Sulu spoke in a more 'dignified' manner, "Another maneuver or two before we give Riley's plan a try. Bearing zero-seven-five, mark ten, increase speed to warp seven point eight."
Stiles and Leslie busied themselves with the new orders and were now awaiting their last maneuver which would mean going home.
After another period of anticipation, Sulu punched the intercom control on his command chair. "Kevin, are we about ready for your diversion, yet?"
"Yes, sir; just give the word," answered the Irishman.
"Give me a precise time to detonation once the shuttles have been launched, okay?" Sulu turned to Saavik, just as Riley answered.
"Admiral, we will have a detonation in fifty-five seconds. Just far enough away to be safe for us and yet, still effective against Romulan sensors. In fact, DeSalle thinks we may burn out quite a few Romulan sensors and screens as a bonus."
"Thanks, Riley," Sulu then addressed his 'new' science officer. "Saavik, can you track the explosions and their effects without damaging our own instruments?"
Saavik smiled, "Certainly. I can filter the radiation since I know in advance its type, intensity and when it's coming."
"Good!" Sulu was relaxed, at least as much as possible. "Uhura, will you be able to receive anything through all that radiation?"
The best communications officer in Starfleet shook her head slowly. "Sorry, Admiral, about all I'll be able to hear is tenth-power static."
"Just about what I figured, but give it your best. I would love to hear what the Romulans have to say about it." Sulu turned back to the viewer.
"Very well, people, let's give it a try." Sulu took a deep breath, "Saavik, put a filter on the main viewer, so we don't get a tan."
Sulu checked all of the stations for readiness one more time, finishing with the weapons' console. "Pavel, set the shields and screens to maximum."
"Understood, sir." The Russian was just a bit on edge. Not really worried or distraught, but concerned about how the Romulans were able to track the Enterprise. Since he was in charge of security, he felt responsible for the implied security breach. No one had been able to figure out just how the Romulans could maintain a fix on the ship. He had tried every form of electronic scan and diagnostic to confirm the night stalker was, indeed, working. As far as Koord knew, the new cloaking system was totally undetectable. He also insisted that the Romulans had no idea that it existed; the crew of the K'Chor'da included.
The countdown to shuttle launchings brought Pavel back from his thoughts.
Saavik hovered over the science station viewer and finished the count, "-- five, four, three, two, one! Shuttles away at widest possible dispersal; all on course and at maximum speed! That should confuse them." The science officer studied the readouts and continued, "Matter-antimatter explosions in fifty seconds, sir."
Leaning forward in the command chair, Sulu directed his next command to the helm and navigator. "Let's make the most of this opportunity. At the moment of the detonation, we'll take a base course for the neutral zone at warp nine point seven five. Lead them on a merry chase with a zig-zag course back to Federation space; can do?"
"Absolutely, sir," replied Stiles.
"Aye, Admiral," added Leslie.
Saavik interrupted, "Twenty seconds, sir. With shields and screens, shock effect will be negligible at final distancing!"
"Nyota, any reaction from the Romulans?"
"Not yet, sir. Either they didn't notice the shuttles or they ignored them."
After a brief wait, Saavik counted down once again; "Five, four, three, two, one!"
The main viewer brightened as multiple points of light flared into a blinding brilliance. The entire bridge seemed to be covered in a white satin sheet. The brightness forced nearly everyone to cover their eyes in one manner or another or look away, even with the filter in place.
Sulu recovered first, "Now helm, maximum warp!"
Leslie responded in standard form. "Aye, sir, maximum warp, now!"
Uhura was busy trying to clear the board from static and overloads when she confirmed the expected to Sulu. "Communications useless, sir, radiation effect."
"We've out run the shock waves, sir." Saavik was still staring at her viewer, transfixed. "Admiral, just before the shuttle explosions, there was another detonation, within the Romulan fleet."
Sulu jumped to his feet, "What happened?"
"Confirmed, Admiral," cried Chekov. "It appears that one of their ships exploded in a manner similar to our shuttles."
The ship's C.O. rushed to Saavik's side. "Which ship Saavik, can you tell?"
"Too much interference to confirm it now, but the initial indication was the K'Chor'da." Saavik sounded puzzled.
"Kef and Dar," Sulu said quietly.
Chekov agreed, "They finally got vhat they vere looking for, a chance to fight the Romulans and an honorable death."
Uhura caught Sulu's eye. "Shall I inform General Koord, sir?"
Before answering, Sulu checked the ship's chrono. "Let's hold off until his rest period is up. He's been on his feet a long time."
Uhura smiled kindly, "I understand completely."
Excited, Saavik was reading from her console viewer. "Sir, I think our plan worked. The radiation is still interfering with my readouts, but so far, I get a null reading on ships. No reflections, no energy, no shields or screen displacements and no matter-antimatter fields; a total blank."
"Great news, Saavik, maybe our luck is finally changing for the better." Sulu was not about to relax completely. "Continue scans and let's keep up the zig-zag pattern for another hour, just to be sure."
Studying her console intently and making periodic adjustments, Uhura's brow became furrowed. She was determined to break through the cloud of static, interference and radiation. She put her many years of experience and all of her skills to the task, working feverishly. Slowly, she began to make progress. At first, the improvement was almost imperceptibly, but eventually she found a way through the communication wall. Then she applied her well-honed abilities at code breaking and worked towards a translation.
Finally, she turned towards Sulu, smiling. "Sir, I have a small surprise for you."
Anxious, the C.O. turned to face her, "What is it?"
"You said you wanted to know what the Romulans thought of our strategy...?"
Hikaru jumped up from his chair and moved quickly to Uhura's side. "You got through?"
Smiling triumphantly, she announced, "From what I can decipher, the Romulan Admiral has used an ancient and very uncomplimentary term to describe you, sir." She finished on a knowing look and mock embarrassment.
Sulu looked immensely satisfied, "Guess we really got to him!"
"I'd say so. By the way, he's pledged to the entire Romulan fleet to defeat you personally. Also, he split the fleet to do an end run around the radiation zone. The plan is to cut you off if you try to run in any direction other than Federation space, then rejoin before we can cross into the Neutral Zone."
Putting his hand on her shoulder, Sulu spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. "Nicely done, Nyota. Only you could have succeeded in getting through the interference. Now we have an idea of what we're up against; anything else?"
"Well, if you get captured he doesn't plan to put you in stasis... it's more like a month long execution, quite graphic and nauseating." She wrinkled her nose and made a face. "There is one troubling thing, sir. I'm not getting a response to our success signal. I've sent it twice and M'ress three times. Either something is blocking it or Starfleet chose not to acknowledge it."
"Duly noted!" Sulu returned to the command chair and sat, wondering what could be going on?
The bridge was now filled with the sounds of reports from a variety of stations. In a few hours, 'A' shift would go off duty and get a richly-deserved rest, they would need it.
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© 2024 Brad McDonald / U.S.S. Kitty Hawk
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