Walking a Fine Line
Posted on Sat Nov 30th, 2024 @ 11:01pm by Lieutenant Alice Zuberg MD & Ed’Rah, Daughter of Khartan & Captain John Thomas "J.T" Carlson & Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Johnson Sr & Lieutenant JG Daphne Crenshaw & Lieutenant Shiki Ichiose & Lieutenant Kris McEntyre & Lieutenant JG Kas Th'shrytrir & Ensign Aneitrius Mexi
Edited on on Sun Dec 1st, 2024 @ 12:40am
2,566 words; about a 13 minute read
Mission:
Season 1, Episode 3: Trespassing
Location: Approximately 1000 Kilometers outside of the Phantohk System- Near the Klingon Border
Timeline: Stardate 1537.6
Captain’s Log Stardate 1537.6: Arriving at the last known location of the intelligence probe, we find ourselves in a very precarious position. Our location: just skirting the Klingon side of the border.
The mood on the bridge was tense. The air still. The probe, having drifted over the border was all that mattered. J.T enters the bridge, having cleaned up from his shuttle flight, and changed into a fresh uniform, the Captain’s green wraparound tunic with black undershirt. He took his place in the center chair, his legs crossed, still putting out an air of confidence even when the mood was this electric as he turned his command chair towards the science station where the brunette, Shiki Ichiose was seated.
"Science Officer Ichiose, do we have any indications of where the probe went, based on it's last known location?"
Nodding, Shiki stood up from her station and made her way over to the viewscreen.
"Sensors indicate there's no debris field present, so we have to assume the Dolphin is still out there in one piece," she went on to speculate. "However, as I'm also sure you can see, there's nothing out there- we're hoping to find something that may not even be within our current range. I suggest using a second probe, we could sync its sensors to track the Dolphin's original signature specifically- we determine its trajectory, send the new probe along the same path, and- provided it hasn't deviated from its original course- it should in theory lead us right to it."
Kas waited, the Andorian's antennae undulated betraying the tension he felt as the time ticked away.
He glanced to his left a moment as he saw the Navigation Officer get a tap on their shoulder to be replaced by their relief. Aneitrius Mexi slipped into their place, favouring Kas with a nod and a smile by way of greeting.
Eyes darting across her analogue console, she frowned a moment, then adjusted a coordinate, refining their pre-planned route out of here. The Deltan went through a breathing exercise to steady her own nerves as they waited for the the Captain to order the next course of action.
Breath catching mid-exercise, Mexi cried out, 'Klingon Dee-Five detected!' Attuning the sensors, she brought up the telemetry on the Main Viewer, focusing on the system's gas giant.
Sliding out from the shadows of one of the gas giant's many moons, the ungainly bulk of the Klingon vessel caught the light of the system's primary, glinting off the dull gunmetal of the hull. Ugly bloody ship, Mexi thought as she studied the Viewer, shoulders hunched and tense as she awaited her Captain's orders.
J.T quickly slammed his fist down on the Red Alert activation button on the right side of his command chair. The intership channels opened.
"Red Alert, Red Alert, Man your battlestations!"
Alarm kalxons blared as the crew rushed to man their stations. Various enlisted and junior officers moving to different posts as Security Officers came up from the Turbolifts to man their posts.
Kris was quick on her own panels, keying up electronic warfare and cyberwarfare suites.
Daphne looked over as security personnel manned took their posts. She simply nodded. They had drilled for this. They already knew where to be. She checked her console to make sure all security personnel were at station and then quietly armed herself. If the battle went well, they would have nothing to do. If not, if there were a boarding attempt, they would have to hold the ship.
Kas pulled a face as the Viewer focused on their adversary and he turned to his console to program a few evasive manouvres. She's a match for Lancaster, that's for sure, he thought grimly, antennae questing this way and that in nervousness. He set a hand on the impulse controls. Licking his lips, he looked over his shoulder, 'do you think they've seen us?'
"Keep calm, Mr. Kas, bring us about to face the enemy. Phaser and torpedo statuses?"
'Bringing us about, aye, bearing two-eight-three-mark-one-eight-nine,' Kas replied, long fingers flying across the console in front of him. The vista in the Viewer blurred and shifted as the Andorian brought the Lancaster-class vessel up and to the left to bring them closer to the Klingon vessel.
Mexi was silent, brow furrowing as she checked on the inventory of torpedoes and brought the phasers on-line. 'Torpedo room reports ready!' she barked as the ship maneuvered, 'phasers coming up to full strength, and shields coming to one-hundred per-cent.' She flashed a grin at Kas and said in her lilting voice, 'so much for sneaking around, eh?'
Kas managed a glower in return before returning to his console, wondering at the Deltan's bloodlust.
"Lieutenant Ichiose, analysis of Klingon Vessel?" J.T asked of Shiki, not taking his eyes off of the viewscreen.
"Well, it's definitely a D5," Shiki confirmed. "Going off of what little information we have about the class on file, we know that they come packing two standard-grade dirsuptor canons, one heavy disruptor canon, and two "Medlar" missile launchers. Depending on which source you choose to go off of, they've also been clocked at warp factors in and around 6.2, which means- in theory- we could potentially outrun them... but then again, were we to leave any witnesses, then the House Khartan would eventually gain wind of the fact that we're trespassing in their space... and who knows what would happen after that?"
"Barely, being the optimal word. We're still on our side but not by much, but yes, If they find our tech on their side, it could mean general Interspace War."
J.T turns his head towards the Communications Station.
"Lieutentant McEnytre, get on the scrambler to K-9. Alert Command Authority that we've been engaged by a D-5 Battleship. Send our logs and position up to this point."
"Aye, Sir. Encoding now." Kris replied as she works to code the signal.
J.T turns his chair back to face the viewscreen.
"Options people?"
"We could attempt subterfuge, sir," Daphne suggested.
J.T turns in his chair.
"Miss Crenshaw? Define your interpretation of Subterfuge?"
"There are a few possibilities I can imagine, sir," Daphne answered. "The simplest is likely the best. We are simply patrolling out side of the border. We are close because we are the ones who fear trespass. We haven't crossed. That puts the decision on whether or not to create an incident back on the Klingons."
"Miss Crenshaw, would you say that the D5 is on our side or theirs? Given the...Situation?"
He would ask, pondering several options based on her next answer.
"I think theirs for now," she said but tentatively, "but the Navigator could confirm, sir." Or not.
J.T turns back to face the Viewscreen.
"Navigator: system plot on screen and overlay our and the Klingon's positions."
Ben interjected. "I think her idea has merit, Captain," he said. "I think we can at least talk while we figure something out."
The Deltan ran a hand over her head before settling to her task. In a Rigellian second she had the relative positions of both the Klingon vessel and the Tigerfish plotted on a chart of the system. It still had not slunk far from the moon behind which it had slid out.
The Tigerfish was further out from the moon and its gas giant primary, in interplanetary base. Calculating the current agreed border between the two powers, a curved line bisecting the space between.
'We're in the Neutral Zone,' Mexi added unnecessarily, 'the Klingons remain on their side of the border.' The Deltan blinked her eyes, and her voice quavered slightly, 'the Dolphin ... she's about a thousand kilometers across the border into Klingon space.'
"So that would place it well within the Phantohk System," Shiki was quick to point out. "And now that the Klingons know we're snooping around their space, I reckon they're going to be guarding that thing like the Ark of the Covenant."
J.T turns his head.
“Does that make us Dr. Jones then, Ms. Ichiose?”
"Mmm... pretty much," Shiki smirked.
“Bridge, sickbay is reporting ready,” came Dr. Zuberg’s voice over bridge comms.
"Understood Doctor. We'll hope to not to have need of your services," J.T. replied sharply.
***
“They power their weapons systems!” called out the weapons officer.
“Of course they do,” Ed’Rah replied. “And they call us aggressors. Arming themselves on our very doorstep.” She spat on the floor in front of her command chair. “What do we know of that ship class?”
“It is an old design,” said the man at the engineering station. “Older even than ours. On previous encounters they stood their own against D3 and D4 class vessels, but they are no threat to us.”
Ed’Rah kept her eyes on the screen and grinned, teeth sharp and on display. But how accurate was the reporting? She was learning to trust her crew, who were loyalty to her House was never in doubt, but the reporting of other Captains which made it into the libraries was always in question. She could imagine some unqualified petaQ of a Captain reporting the failures of his peers and escaping certain death.
She picked up a discarded Krada leg bone from the plate she had been eating from, snapped it so one end was sharp, and used it to pick her teeth. She sat back down and looked at the screen. “Open hailing frequencies. Let us see how these Federations will talk their way out of this.”
***
“Sir, the Klingons are hailing.” Kris reported from the communications station. The beeping of the incoming hail filling the bridge.
J.T. Furrowed his brow.
“Probably trying to figure out our intent. Let's see if we can try and talk our way out of this. On main viewer, Lieutenant.”
Kris nods flipping several switches and opening the channel.
A Klingon woman, with broad shoulders, thick arms, and hair so light that it contrasted sharply from her dark skin, appeared before the crew.
“Federation starship,” she began, “I am Ed’Rah of the House of Khartan, Captain of the Klingon Battlecruiser Rop’a. You are far from Federation space. Indeed you approach within a few hundred kellicams of the border of the Klingon Empire, weapons at the ready. What armed incursion have I just interrupted? Identify and explain yourselves now.”
"I'm J.T. Carlson, Commanding Tigerfish. We're on a mapping expedition and well within the boundaries of neutral space as defined by current treaties." J.T greeted the Klingon commander.
"Explain why you were hiding behind a rock, like a sli'vak Yintagh?" J.T. hoped to catch the Klingon off guard with his use of the Klingon Language.
Kas and Mexi threw glances at one another. Basic Klingon was a must at the Academy, and though they were rusty, both understood the gist of their captain's phrasing.
The turn of phrase had indeed caught the Klingon Captain off-guard, though she kept a neutral expression, right up until she threw her head back and laughed. “I was not expecting a human to have the DaynguHDu’ to challenge me so.” She came back to a neutral expression, a slight smirk the only sign of any amusement. “We will be watching you, Tigerfish. Keep to your side of the border. You will be fired upon otherwise.” She signaled to a man off screen to cut the transmission.
J.T merely tilted his head as the transmission was ended by the Klingons. He had succeeded in keeping the Klingons at bay. What more, even he was surprised by Ed’rah’s reaction to his little turn of phrase.
“Navigator, lay in a course for the system edge, Warp Factor One, and let’s be casual about our leaving.”
'Warp one to the edge of the system, aye,' Mexi repeated as she worked the console to lay in the course, avoiding several planetary garavity wells as she did so. When it was keyed in, she nodded in Kas' direction.
The Andorian made a deliberately slow and ponderous turn, obviously turning the 'Fish away from the invisible border between them and the Klingons, and eased them to Warp Speed for the short hop to the edge of the system.
J.T got up and walked over to the science station.
“Ms. Ichiose, were you able to take scans of the Klingon Vessel?” He asks curiously, looking over her shoulder and at her console readout screens.
"Indeedieo," the ever-bizarre Chief of Sciences confirmed. "And lookie what we have here! Our sensors indicate some faint traces of Rodinium in between the fourth and fifth planets of the Kusogh System- and mind you, Rodinium isn't typically utilized in Klingon ship design. Over on our side of the fence, however..."
Ben nodded. "We use it a lot in hull reinforcement," he said, finishing her sentence.
"Then X marks the spot, XO." J.T nods, turning his head.
"Navigator lay in a new course for those coordinates. Mr. Kas, engage at Warp Factor Two, and let's take the scenic route, we don't want to tip our hand if the Klingons are still watching."
J.T turns back to the plucky, and energetic science officer.
"I want continuous passive scans of that region, let me know if anything changes or if we get uninvited guests."
J.T turns to look at Ben.
"Ben, rig the ship for silent running."
"Silent running, aye," he replied, and set his console buttons. A moment later, the ship's dampeners were initiated and, to any passersby (flyers by?), they were undetectable.
Mexi laid in a course that took them far out of the known range of a D5's sensor suite and passed the information to Kas. The Andorian nodded in gratitude and moved the ship to Warp Two, keeping a ready eye on his console, conferring with his fellow CONN to any micro-changes to their path.
***
“They are falling back, like the cowards they are,” the Klingon weapons officer reported. “Leaving sensor range.”
“Never mistake a tactical retreat for cowardice,” Ed’Rah said, chastising him. “They will not go far. Not without at least one or two attempts at retrieving their prize.”
“Yes, Captain,” the weaponeer said, subdued.
“Continue monitoring the system,” she ordered. “Implement a patrol route that maximizes sensor coverage. Deploy short range probes as necessary. Report to me with anything you find, no matter how trivial.” Then she looked to a junior officer. “And you! Find out most knowledgeable officer on human culture. I wish to understand why he thinks a sli’vak hides behind rocks.” She smirked. “Federation sexuality must be very strange indeed.”
-----
Captain J.T Carlson
Commanding Officer, U.S.S. Tigerfish
Commander Ben Johnson
USS Tigerfish Executive Officer/Chief Engineer
Lieutenant Kris McEntyre
Chief Communications Officer/Intelligence Officer
U.S.S. Tigerfish
Lieutenant Kas Th'shrytrir
USS Tigerfish Chief Helm Officer
Lieutenant Shiki Ichiose
USS Tigerfish Chief Science Officer
Lieutenant Alice Zuberg
USS Tigerfish Chief Medical Officer
Lieutenant JG Daphne Crenshaw
USS Tigerfish Chief Security Officer
Ensign Aneitrius Mexi
USS Tigerfish Chief Navigator
Captain Ed’Rah, Daughter of Khartan
Commanding Officer, Klingon Battlecruiser Rop’a
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