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Ever since leaving the Romulan home world, the Enterprise had had trouble with communications either to or from Federation space. M'Ress, now on duty, fought to break through the intense interference. First it was jamming by Romulans, then the matter-antimatter explosions. Now it was anybody's guess. It still appeared like jamming, but it was coming from ahead.
Still, M'Ress searched for a hole. If one existed she would find it. It was imperative that the Enterprise make positive contact and confirm the rescue had occurred and of their impending return. But each attempt met with an equal failure.
Bailey, who was busy with scanning for pursuers, leaned back in his chair to give his eyes and back a rest. "I'd like to give my post away to anybody who wants it." The statement was simply a means of expressing his general frustration and fatigue. A general mix of snickering, chuckles and laughter filled the bridge momentarily then subsided, followed by an offer from M'Ress. "I'll trade you, Dave."
The two quickly exchanged positions and settled down to business.
"M'Ress, what type of signal are we using, a high level squirt?"
She purred gently, "Yes, David. Starfleet Channel six, max gain and at a minimum pulse of three seconds --"
"-- every twenty seconds; yes 'mommy', I know, standard Starfleet procedure." Bailey was smiling and gesturing wildly in mock theatrics. "I will assume you know standard scanning procedures."
The Caitian laughed and acknowledged with a crisp, "Aye, aye!"
Garrovick turned around in the command chair, smiling. "Are you two about finished? I'd like to see some work done now, if that's possible." He turned his attention to the navigator and helmsman. "Are we still on our zig-zag pattern, DiFalco?"
The dark-haired Terran female checked her status board, even though she already knew the answer, "Aye, sir; next 'zig' is in two minutes, thirty-five seconds."
"Speed holding at warp six point five," Demora volunteered.
Robert Garrovick kept his eyes focused ahead. "How about our engines, Lemli, are they holding up?"
"Just fine, ever since we reduced from maximum speed, sir. I just did another check on them. All systems are one hundred percent, except for one, auxiliary power, specifically the battery back-ups. They're operational but only fifty percent. That area took a direct hit from a photon torpedo while the shields were down. It will take the dockyard a week or so to repair, or four weeks if we do it ourselves."
"Understood; not bad though, considering the pounding we took. Very well, note ship's status in the log and inform Scotty and Palmer when they return to their duty shift and add a well done."
"Don't forget Mister Riley," Angela Martine was giving him a mild disapproving look. "I don't think he'd appreciate being forgotten so easily, especially by someone who's supposed to be a friend."
The remark was meant as a friendly dig and Garrovick took it that way. "Okay, I'll mention him, but only if he doesn't do anything wrong in the meantime," he finished on a smile.
'B' shift passed slowly and without incident for most of the night until Bailey noticed something. "Mister Garrovick, I'm picking up a mix of signals. It's the Romulans, sir, and they sound fairly close."
The acting C.O. jumped out of the command chair and went to Bailey's side. "Can you pinpoint direction or distance?"
"No, sir. In fact, it almost reads like the signals are in front and behind us."
"Great, just great." The ship's second officer returned to the command chair as quickly as he had left it. "Keep on it, Bailey, increase intensity and get me specifics as soon as possible!"
"Yes, sir," Bailey lit into the comm board with gusto. At least it beat the monotony of deep space scans.
Garrovick had just got comfortable in his seat when M'Ress became excited.
"Sir, I've got something on forward scans."
"I'm picking it up too, sir." Demora was excited, "Looks like ships ahead!"
"Make that definite, sir, with shields up!" Angela Martine was glued to the weapon's console checking and rechecking her findings.
"Viewer forward, maximum magnification," shouted Garrovick. "Let's have a better look!"
As the main viewer readjusted, the picture that it painted was not encouraging.
"What the devil -- ?" Angela Martine was unable to finish her expression of shock.
Demora was the first to recover. "How did they do it?"
The screen revealed what looked like the entire Romulan fleet spread out before the Enterprise, on the Romulan side of the Neutral Zone. The obvious question was how the Romulans had managed to get around, and ahead of, the Enterprise.
"Beats me! Full stop!" Garrovick sighed heavily. "Angela, better get the rest of our defenses up. Vittoria?"
"Aye, sir?"
"Red alert. I guess 'A' shift will have to start their work day a little earlier than expected."
"Screens and shields at maximum, sir!" Martine was already busy with the various operations on the weapons console, consistent with a red alert status. "All weapons at the ready; shall I set phasers and torpedoes for any particular pattern?"
Garrovick waved off the inquiry, "Not just yet. Let's see what Admiral Sulu wants to do. It's his call now."
In less than three minutes, 'A' shift was either headed for their assigned posts or already there. The ship was ready for action, but what action?
As Sulu and the others arrived on the bridge, most 'B' shift crewpersons gave up their posts, but remained with their counterparts, relaying their station's status.
The ship's command center was unusually quiet as first Spock, then General Koord walked onto the bridge. The pair seemed mesmerized by the view on the large screen and the activity surrounding them.
Even though both shifts remained, thanks to the relatively large bridge, there was plenty of room.
"Status, Mister Garrovick?" Sulu moved to take the center chair as Garrovick rose to give the Admiral a synopsis.
"We picked up strong Romulan signals in the area and just as a precaution, increased scans. Soon afterwards we detected their fleet. Screens and shields are up. Communications and scans have been halted."
Sulu smiled, "Good work, Garrovick." He turned to M'Ress, "How many ships are out there?"
"Seventy-five that I found, so far, sir. I assume about another thirty or so are cloaked, but I may be underestimating." The report sounded just a bit depressing but M'Ress purred in a cheerful manner none the less. After reporting, M'Ress rose and stood to one side and let Saavik take over.
Saavik set about checking and rechecking the various readings and was soon 'ready for action.'
Admiral Sulu was still evaluating the situation and was surprised to see McCoy exit the turbolift with James Kirk in tow. "I thought our former captain was 'confined to sickbay' by your orders, Doctor."
Kirk sounded as if he was arriving at the prom with his mother. "I told him I was going to respond to the red alert, regardless of his orders, so he insisted on coming along and keeping an eye on me, just in case." He studied the main viewer and regretted it.
"Any chance of getting around them, Chekov?" Sulu was trying to check all the possibilities.
"Not likely; if they track us even vhen ve're cloaked, it's just a matter of time before they discover us."
"Why haven't they discovered us now?" Leslie sounded genuinely puzzled.
"Maybe limited range or just bad luck," offered Stiles.
"If they know we've been zig-zagging, they may assume we haven't arrived yet. Still the question remains, how did they get in front of us? Even with our zig-zag pattern, we should have been able to stay out in front all the way into Federation space." Kyle looked at the main viewer in awe.
"I agree with Kyle," said Stiles, "But how can they track us while we are cloaked?"
Koord shrugged, "They shouldn't be able to."
"They can't," Kyle said matter-of-factly, "At least it is not the fault of the cloaking unit. Mister Scott and I have checked the device thoroughly."
"Then obviously they can track us another way," said Kirk.
Spock never looked away from the main viewer. "Obviously."
DeSalle took the lead, "Okay, the cloaking unit was working while we were orbiting Romulus. What has changed since then?"
Sulu nodded enthusiastically. "Let's think about that. What has changed?"
"Battle damage."
"Time has elapsed."
"Kef and Dar left the ship."
"We recovered the captives."
"Three people were wounded in the transporter room."
"The rescue teams visited Romulus."
In the end, over two dozen possibilities were offered. One by one, they were discussed quickly and dismissed as the cause of the their being tracked.
Just as the possibilities were exhausted, Saavik interrupted. "Admiral Sulu, more bad news, sir. I'm picking up multiple readings. It looks like more ships, from aft."
"View aft, maximum magnification," DeSalle yelled.
The grim forward view was replaced by an equally depressing aft view. The screen was filled with a variety of Romulan ships heading straight for the Enterprise!
Sulu slumped in his command chair, "It would appear that Starfleet's assessments of Romulan front line and reserve fleet strengths were way off."
Spock's eyebrow jumped to one of its highest levels ever. "The Diplomatic Corps as well, Admiral."
Kirk took a quick glance in Koord's direction and noted the general's surprise. "I take it the Klingons didn't know about this either."
"Absolutely. I believe our new alliance will be tested in the near future, Kirk. They must have begun a massive building program as soon as we initiated peace negotiations. What really bothers me, is that our normally reliable information network failed so completely." Koord looked absolutely devastated.
"Don't feel bad, General. The Federation didn't do much better in that department." Kirk then smiled at his old friend.
Uhura suddenly let out a sigh of exasperation. "Admiral Sulu, I'm getting multiple signals from fore and aft. The Neutral Zone fleet is to begin closing in on us as soon as the home fleet gets into weapons range. All units are ordered to attempt capture. This is by order of the Romulan Senate and the acting Preator."
"Wonderful, you suppose I could get Scotty to let me have some of his special scotch?" Sulu asked, half joking.
"I'll see to it if you want," Nyota said with a twinkle in her eye.
"I'll take a rain check. We've more serious business for right now, thanks. Chekov, can you estimate the time it will take the Romulan home fleet to get within firing range."
Chekov answered immediately, having anticipated the obvious question moments ago, "Two hours, twelve minutes at current speeds."
Adopting a determined look, Sulu motioned his senior officers by his side. "Mister Chekov, Mister DeSalle, down here!"
The two officers moved quickly next to the center seat, not exactly sure why they had been summoned, but fearing the worse.
The C.O. tapped the computer access circuit on his command chair.
"Computer, auto destruct access code: zero, one, one. Sulu, Hikaru, Admiral, commanding U.S.S. Enterprise; coding destruct sequence one A, one A, one A. Sulu then nodded to Chekov.
Pavel swallowed hard, "Computer, access code zero, zero one. Chekov, Pavel, security and weapons officer, U.S.S. Enterprise. Coding destruct sequence two A two A two B.
DeSalle raced through his part as if it would be less painful. "Computer access code zero, zero, zero. DeSalle, Vincent, first officer, U.S.S. Enterprise. Coding destruct sequence three A, three A, three C."
Sulu continued stone faced, "Computer, final sequencing --"
"Wait!" McCoy was red-in-the-face mad. "Are you just going to quit right here and now? You can't be serious! We've got to try something!"
"Relax, Bones, the Admiral knows what he's doing." Kirk patted his on friend on the back. "He has to prepare for the worst, just in case, right, Hikaru?"
"Right!" Sulu continued with the procedure. "Computer, final sequencing, destruct zero, zero, destruct zero D. Hold at sixty second count."
"Acknowledged, holding at sixty seconds," The ships computer confirmed.
"Computer, amend final sequencing." Sulu continued, "Any officer above the rank of Lieutenant may activate the sequence by verbal command in the event of command officers being killed or incapacitated."
"Acknowledged, holding final sequence at sixty seconds. Final activation will be possible by any Starfleet officer above the rank of lieutenant by verbal command."
As soon as the computer finished the acknowledgement, Sulu reached back down to the console and punched in the intercom all-call. "Attention all hands, this is Admiral Sulu. We have a Romulan reception committee waiting for us at the Neutral Zone and the Romulan home fleet will be joining us in just over two hours.
"It is my intention that this ship will not fall into Romulan hands. Therefore, the self-destruct sequence has been activated and is currently on a hold for the final sixty second sequence. Any officer above the rank of Lieutenant will be able to initiate that by using a simple verbal command. Should the bridge crew and senior officers be lost, you'll know what to do.
"However, that is only a failsafe. We have some of the brightest people aboard this ship and I'm sure we can come up with something, bridge out!"
Looking at the gathering on the bridge, Sulu explained his thought process. "My current plan calls for an end run at maximum warp and laying down a full spread of photon torpedoes fore and aft, to momentarily blind Romulan sensors."
Chekov and DeSalle nodded their approvals and then went back to their posts.
"Feel better now, Bones?" Kirk whispered to the doctor. "Hikaru won't give up easily, but he has a responsibility to Starfleet and the Federation, which must come first."
McCoy said something that Kirk could not make out, but at least the man was calm.
"Engineering to bridge, we're ready for anything you might need. Warp nine point nine whenever ye want it." Scott sounded proud of his team and with good reason. They had all performed admirably.
"Thanks, Scotty." Sulu turned to face his team. "I'm waiting for suggestions. We have the finest collection of Starfleet officers ever assembled on a single ship. Certainly someone has an alternative to my plan."
"Your hand is good," commented Kirk. "You just need an ace to give you an edge."
"A diversion," Koord said.
"The Romulans are not going to fall for exploding shuttles again, that's for sure." Saavik was deep in thought and was just as surprised at her verbalized thoughts as everyone else. "Sorry, sir, just thinking out loud."
"No problem, Saavik, you're probably right." Sulu smiled weakly.
"Torpedoes won't work by themselves, but how about something else?" Uhura then offered a real surprise, "How about another ship?"
"What?" Stiles was almost laughing, "Where do we get another ship?"
"Right here," said Kirk. "Our own primary hull."
"Yes!" Chekov almost leapt out of his chair, with a great deal of enthusiasm. "If ve separate, it vill give them two targets and increase our chances for survival."
"Put everyone in the secondary hull. That way we still have warp drive and a bank of phasers and photon torpedoes." Kyle was already working on the plans when he made the comment.
Spock moved to Sulu's side, "We also have a distinct psychological advantage, Admiral. It is known by most alien races, that Federation ships use their primary hulls as escape vessels in an emergency situation. By using the secondary hull instead, we gain another advantage. As Captain Chekov has previously indicated, it, too, would increase our chances for survival. Is that not correct, General?"
Koord was nodding vigorously. "He is correct, Sulu. My people and the Roms know of this. It could be a great advantage!"
"Okay," Sulu said, "now it sounds like we're making progress."
"Don't forget, sir, we still maintain cloaking capacity as well by using the secondary hull." DeSalle stood next to Saavik with his arms folded across his chest.
"A lot of good that does us, we still haven't figure out how they can track us while cloaked." Kelowitz was still standing next to Chekov and made the comment to his supervisor, but in the silence it carried a lot further than he thought it would.
"We never did figure that one out," said Leslie. "It would be a great help to know how the Romulans do it."
"Amen to that," said Stiles.
"If I may suggest, sir?"
"What is it, Kyle?" Sulu was still frustrated by the Romulans ability to track them an inadvertently snapped at Reginald.
"If we are going to separate, we better start now."
Sulu was puzzled, "Why the rush. Separation only takes --"
"-- if we use the automatics, sir. But that might give our intentions away."
"Of course," said Bailey, "They would pick it up on sensors. A manual separation would take time, but it would give us another advantage."
"And we need all we can get. Scotty, you been listening to this? How long will it take for a manual separation?"
"Manual, sir, abou' two hours, but Mister Riley and I can do it for ye in an hour."
"Get started, Scotty. Can you foresee any problems?"
"It's not just the separation, but making th' explosive bolts and squibs safe. Without it, th' static electricity generated by th' separation will set them off regardless." Scott seemed overwhelmed and explained. "I'm goin' to need everyone that's not already busy, Admiral."
Without speaking, Sulu looked around the bridge as M'Ress, Bailey, DiFalco, Lemli, Garrovick and Martine all made a rush for the two turbolifts.
"They're on the way, Engineer. Put them to work in whatever way you see fit, bridge out!"
Sulu was now beginning to feel optimistic. "Now if we can just figure out how they track us."
"It's almost like they're following a homing signal," Leslie said absently.
"That's it precisely! I should have thought of it before!" McCoy was beaming and looked at the others who were all confused. "Don't you see? It's the viridium implants! The Romulans are tracking Jim and Miguel!"
"Bones! It's absolutely brilliant! If they had us for eight years, they probably discovered those damned implants."
"And that's how they could recapture you so quickly after your escape attempts, Jim." McCoy was beaming from ear to ear, very proud of his important contribution.
"Sure, and it also explains why the cloaking unit was effective before the rescue, but not after," Sulu added.
"Then it would appear we have another pair of 'aces,' Admiral," Spock offered.
"In what way, Spock?" asked McCoy.
"Not only can we eliminate the Romulans ability to track us, we can remove the devices and place them on the primary hull. The Romulans will be forced to believe we are using the primary hull as a means of escape." Spock concluded his explanation with a poker face to end all poker faces.
"Absolutely brilliant!" McCoy's compliment was genuinely emotional.
"Thank you, Doctor. I believe, for once, your emotional outburst is entirely appropriate, at least for a human."
Kirk laughed out loud and nearly everyone joined in.
Uhura interrupted, reluctant to spoil the moment. "Sir, I'm receiving Romulan signals, not everything, but it seems Kef and Dar had been discovered."
"Evidently, after they had accomplished their sabotage work," Chekov said dryly.
"Well, they probably know who they're after since we rescued the captives." McCoy's sarcasm cut through the earlier jubilation.
"Not necessarily, Doctor. May I offer a further suggestion, Admiral Sulu?"
Sulu looked at Koord and smiled, "Of course, General."
"I may be able to restore honor to the Klingon Empire after all and help the mission as well. Plus give you another ace."
"What is it you have in mind, sir?" DeSalle was truly intrigued.
"Let's give the Roms a taste of genuine Klingon cunning."
McCoy moved towards the turbolift with Kirk in tow. "Meanwhile, I better start removing all the viridium transponders on the command officers,"
"Of course, the Romulans may start scanning for more of them now that they know what to look for." Sulu was really feeling confident about their chances for success. "Can you do that on the fly, Doctor?"
"Absolutely, I'll send Chapel to the bridge and Tavar to Engineering. Then I'll get up with the team doing the separation work. Afterwards, we'll place all the units throughout the primary hull.
Now Sulu was really beaming and turned to Koord. "General, would you care to explain your idea of Klingon cunning?"
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© 2024 Brad McDonald / U.S.S. Kitty Hawk
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