USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

ON:
<<USS Malinche, Outside Counseling Suite, Day 5, 1530>>

Britney (PNPC) had been making her rounds with the Senior Staff, gathering reports and updates to pass on to Aaron. Having been to Sickbay already and a brief attempt to track down someone from Engineering or Operations, Britney decided instead to stop and see the Counselor to get an update. Some might not think that Counseling was important, but Britney disagreed...counseling was sure to know what ship morale was like and what issues with mental state they might be dealing with.

After a brief exchange with counselor's mate, Britney entered Counselor Dallas' office. Luckily she had apparently come at a good time, at least it was according to Myrna (NPC). "Good afternoon, ma'am," Britney said, greeting the Counselor with a smile. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

Karyn placed her thumbprint against the last in a pile of PADDs, adding her digital signature to the report, and then she looked up at Britney and smiled. "I'd say your timing is perfect. I just finished with these." She gestured for the other to take a seat, eager for some pleasant conversation after quite some time lost in reports.

"Well, Counselor," the yeoman began as she took a seat, "I was hoping to get an update from you regarding the well-being of the crew so I could inform Lieutenant JG Masterson. In my travels through the ship this afternoon, I seemed to notice a kind of drop in morale... I think people are concerned that we'll be stuck here or are worried about the Romulans, not to mention our repairs."

Karyn nodded. "Your observations are on target. Time travel never sits well with people, and the Romulan situation, not to mention our damaged state, just reinforces their sense of vulnerability."

It wasn't the best thing to have confirmed, but it wasn't surprising considering their circumstances. Britney frowned slightly, "I can't say I've been involved with time travel before, so I'm not entirely sure what to say to those who express concerns about it. As a morale officer, I feel like I should be able to lift people's spirits, but I don't entirely know how...especially considering how busy everyone is with repairs and trying to get us back to our own time. Have you dealt with a situation like this before, ma'am?"

Karyn considered the question and was surprised to realize given all she had experienced in her fifteen years in the Fleet, time travel was not in her resume. "I haven't dealt with time travel specifically, no, but in my experience, the specific situation doesn't matter as much as the specific feelings they evoke. Vulnerability and uncertainty is certainly not a new experience for this crew, or to Starfleet officers generally. I imagine you're helping a lot just by reassuring the crew they're not alone in their feelings and that you're there to listen," Dallas added with a smile.

"Thank you, ma'am," Britney replied with a smile. "That certainly makes sense...I suppose I didn't think of it that way before. Is there anything in particular you'd like me to pass on to Lieutenant JG Masterson or any of the others? Or anything I can do for you?"

Dallas thought about it for a moment and shook her head. "Thank you so much, but I'm good for now. If anyone has questions, my door is always open."

Britney nodded, "Of course, ma'am. I'll update Mr. Masterson about the crew and pass on that your door is open. I don't want to hold you up and I have some more stops, so I'm going to see about those. Have a good day, Counselor." Giving her a smile, she stood and headed for the door. Time to check in with a few others.

OFF: JP brought to you by:

Counselor Karyn Dallas
Acting Chief Counselor
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and

Crewman Britney Liras
Captain's Yeoman/Morale Officer

played by:

ON:

<<USS Malinche, Main Bridge, Day 5, 2230>>

Ensign Razeldazzle was sitting underneath the flight console, staring at the open panel. Lieutenant Rabb had worked on the panel some time back, and even Lieutenant Flanders had taken a turn at fixing the issue that was continually creeping up. Not one of his superiors had asked Razeldazzle to take a look at the problem, which vexed him considerably. Razeldazzle replaced the panel and moved to the rear master situation display, bringing up the connectivity of the flight paths and navigation sensors to the Conn. He muttered to himself as he worked.

“I understand now why my father insisted I enter engineering. These flight officers cannot distinguish a hydrospanner from a golbstopper. Look at this; the connection between the navigation computers and the flight control console are all wrong. This will take some time to correct. I wonder how so many personnel could be working on this ship and not notice what a ten year old can see so clearly.”

Razeldazzle moved to the Engineering II station, which was unoccupied for the moment. After about ten minutes, his feverish work at the console seemed to pay off. The computer buzzed and whirred and a pie chart readout displayed the previous connectivity and the improved connectivity between the bridge and the navcomputer.

**Calculations and connectivity complete. Efficiency improved by eighteen percent. **

Razeldazzle harrumphed, “eighteen percent, is that all? This computer system must be outdated. When we return to our own time, I must contact the Chief Engineer to get the ship lined up for an update.”

Razeldazzle returned to the conn station, thinking about the advice his father had given him five years earlier, upon his entry into Starfleet Academy. He had excelled in Engineering and Diplomacy, his testing running high in those two areas. Razeldazzle went against his father’s choice and insisted in flight control. He wanted to be one of the first eventual Tellarite Captains in Starfleet, since only a handful had made it to that prestigious achievement. Now, he was having second thoughts.

ENS Razeldazzle, NPC
Flight Control Officer

ON:
<<IRW Jatrel, Service tube near Engineering, Day 5, 2240>>

It had taken hours for S'vol and Nevar to crawl through the service tubes and junctions cautiously enough to avoid being discovered. Truthfully they had had a few close calls on the way. The journey had given S'vol time to think and consider their options. Although a decent amount of the crew would be loyal to her, there were those who were...uneasy enough about Rasek to avoid crossing him. Beyond that, she had to be concerned with what his intentions were in the past; one never knew what changing the past would do to the future.

So, S'vol had come to an uneasy decision. They would attempt contact with the Federation vessel. It was risky, to be sure - for all she knew, the StarFleet officers would think it was a ruse. But there was little she could do on the planet and only so much she could accomplish even with her loyalists before Rasek found out. She turned to Nevar, "Uhlan, it's time we make a move."

Nevar paused as his commander spoke, their journey had been largely silent due to their need to avoid detection and the abrupt break in the silence startled him slightly. They were midway through the Jatrel's engineering section and in a sparsely populated region of the vessel so it was unlikely at that point that they would be discovered anyway he figured. As he was about to reply and inquire what the Commander had in mind she completed her thought.

"We need to contact the Federation vessel," she explained further, thoughtfully. Now that she said it, it only sounded slightly crazy. But, perhaps that was what they needed.

The Uhlan reflexively began to nod his agreement before suddenly stopping himself, "Wait, what?" he blurted with unintended insubordination.

Raising an eyebrow to seemingly new heights, S'vol looked at Nevar. Most would not tolerate being spoken to in such a manner, but he had helped get her out of the brig and this was no time for lectures. "I know I have other supporters here...and we could crawl all over the ship in an attempt to gather them...but we'd be risking being exposed. Plus, given the right persuasion, even the most loyal supporters could be turned - especially without D'urak here. There's a few I would trust, but a few wouldn't be enough to take over the vessel."

Nevar blushed a shade of green darker, he had made a fool of himself and crossed a line he had sworn to never cross but the mention of direct communication with a Federation vessel seemed somehow ridiculous to the young officer. The Commander's explanation made perfect sense of course and while the Uhlan appreciated it he also wished to stop the Commander after each word to let her know that he would follow her to death without any explanation. It was best he knew to keep his mouth shut and focus on repairing the damage done.

"However, one thing we can count on is that the Federation ship is most assuredly not pleased with the presence of a Romulan vessel near Earth, let alone in Earth's past. Undoubtedly they would have already engaged us if they had been able to find us. If we could contact them, we could assist them in finding us while coordinating with a few supporters here and take back the ship," S'vol told him.

"If I may Commander," Nevar said with respectful cautiousness. He could accept the Commander's logic when it came to the need to act but he couldn't fathom her plan working. "Do you really think that the commander of the Starfleet vessel would seek to aid you in your task rather than reducing us to Stardust as soon as they received our coordinates?"

"I do, Uhlan, if we approach them in the right way. StarFleet does not want the timeline disrupted and right now there are Romulan away teams on Earth's surface. We have a way of tracking the away teams from the ship, they do not. If they were to destroy our ship, it would not go unnoticed by those in this time period either. They also take pleasure in understanding motives...they'll want to capture our Tal Shiar friend for questioning. Not to mention that the Federation would be creating a political incident were they to destroy us; it would not look good for them to do so when the Federation has been sending aid to those affected by the Hobus Star incident," she explained further.

"I see," Nevar replied with an as yet confused tone. He respected S'vol not only for her integrity and ability as a leader but also because of her awareness. He knew so little of other species and beyond the traditional Empire political stance regarding the Federation he knew no other way to view his race's nemesis. S'vol obviously had a different view. She was a contracdiction; Loyal to the Empire but not of its mindset. With a shake of his head the Uhlan put the thoughts out of his mind, if his Commander believed the plan would work then he would do everything in his ability to help her. "If our objective is to communicate with the Starfleet ship then I believe I might have an idea. "

Though she sensed that Nevar was perhaps not entirely convinced, despite her explanation, she was glad that he was apparently willing to assist in the plan regardless. "What is your idea?" S'vol asked, curious.

"We aren't far from waste reclamation now," Nevar explained, drawing a hesitant gaze from the Commander. "What I mean to say is that reclamation is a low security area and its unlikely that the Colonel has assigned additional guards to its control station."

What he said was true, the Colonel wasn't likely to waste guards in the reclamation area. "Right, but how does that help us?"

"You see," Nevar continued a little more quickly. "Deflector control is on the other side of the aft wall in reclamation control and, while it's a tight fit I think you could fit into the wall void to access the deflector controls without being noticed."

S'vol pondered his suggestion, and nodded her head slowly, "That is true, Uhlan...It just might work. We could potentially send a communication signal to the Prometheus vessel through the deflector array from there and it is unlikely to be noticed by Rasek. We'll need to move quickly."

Nevar nodded with a slight grin and began to crawl again, this time toward reclamation, "this way, Commander."

[OFF]

A JP brought to you by:

Commander S'Vol
Commanding Officer
IRW Jatrel
Played by: Captain Isabel Kersare

and

Uhlan Nevar
Security Officer
IRW Jatrel
Played by: Lieutenant (Prov) Setak

ON: <<Earth, San Francisco (of the past), Italian Restaurant, Day 5, 2040>>

Having followed Doctor Taylor (NPC) and Kirk (NPC) to an Italian restaurant, Isabel glanced around at the building. There were too many people around to discretely take out her tricorder for a reading on any potential Romulans, but she could still look for anyone out of place. The smell of pasta and pizza wafted from the entrance, reminding her how hungry she was. "Well, I'm not picking up on any of our...friends...so we should head inside. Maybe we can even get something to eat."

"I've not seen anything out of the...well, I guess it would be what passes as ordinary around here," Michael (PNPC) agreed, trying to ignore the growling feeling coming from his stomach at the very thought of food. His eyes swept the sidewalk in front of the restaurant as well as the neighboring buildings in case there was anything he might have missed. They'd been on the planet's surface for over six hours and most of that time had been spent following their two protectorates from the cetacean institute to here. "No sign of the Romulans, anyway," he continued, "though that could always change at any moment."

Peering in through the window at the crowded restaurant, Lorelei (NPC) smiled at the oddly familiar scene. While there were plenty of differences between Earth of the past and modern-day San Francisco, it seemed to the science officer that the restaurant scene sure hadn’t changed all that much. “I’m game to go inside,” she said, her smile brightening at the delicious aroma of garlic and herbs that she could smell even from the outside. “We might even have a better vantage point from the inside in case the Romulans did choose this moment to show up.”

"Alright, in we go," Isabel said, opening the door to lead the way. The restaurant was fairly busy, and Dr. Taylor and Kirk were only just being seated. A family of four headed their way to leave the restaurant, opening up a spot two tables away from Kirk's.

A hostess smiled as she approached, "Good evening; how many will be in your party this evening?"

Isabel offered the woman a smile, "Just the three of us...." Leaning in, she added, "If it's not too much trouble, we'd really love that table that just opened up...it has the most excellent view...Any way you can arrange that?"

Glancing back, the hostess found the aforementioned table and saw that it was already being cleaned up and set with fresh place settings. Turning back to her newest guests she said, "Absolutely, ma'am, right this way!"

Michael fell into step behind the captain as they followed the hostess through the main seating area of the restaurant toward the open table. The table was not the most ideal placement for them to keep an eye on Admiral Kirk as well as the entire room, but Michael could understand why the captain chose proximity over vantage point. They each took their seats with Michael intentionally choosing to sit such that he would have a clear view of where the admiral was sitting. He glanced over in the direction of the admiral's table once or twice while they were getting settled. While they had spent the better part of that afternoon wandering around twentieth century San Francisco, being this close to a Starfleet legend was perhaps the most surreal experience of the day.

Having taken a seat next to Michael, Isabel leaned over and said, "While I'm sure the Admiral is busy speaking with Dr. Taylor, you still might want to avoid staring at him. It could draw attention to them or to us...neither of which is desirable at this point. We need to keep our eyes out for the Romulans as well..."

"Right," Michael replied somewhat abashedly, "of course." He quickly turned his attention away from the admiral and proceeded to scan the remainder of the room before bringing his focus to their own table.

On the opposite end of the table, Lorelei’s view was not of the Admiral but rather the other side of the restaurant. Looking carefully at all the other diners seated around them, she had a hard time picturing any Romulans making an appearance. But they couldn’t be too careful, and she made it a point to keep a sharp eye from her own point of view.

A young man approached the table carrying a tray with three glasses of water with lemons. "Good evening, my name is Dante and I'll be your server tonight," the waiter said as he delivered the glasses and then tucked the tray under his arm. "I see that you have your menus...are you ready to order or would you like a few minutes?"

Isabel glanced at the menu on the table in front of her and picked it up. There certainly were a lot of choices, though most people seemed to be ordering pizza. Frowning, she looked back up at the waiter, "Do you have any recommendations, Dante?"

"Indeed I do. Many enjoy our Margherita pizza, which features tomato sauce from Napoli tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and some basil leaves. Others are inclined to the Barbecue Chicken pizza, which features grilled chicken and barbecue sauce rather than tomato sauce. There's also a stellar veggie pizza with fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, and black olives," Dante explained, ticking off his favorites on his fingers.

Pondering her options, Isabel said, "I think I'd like to try the margherita pizza, please." Truthfully all the options sounded good at this point...she was only just realizing that it had been quite a while since her last meal.

When Dante looked at her expectantly, Lorlei made up her mind on the spot. “The veggie pizza sounds amazing. I’ll have that,” she smiled. She doubted that the pizza of the past was very different from any of the pizza she’d eaten in her own time, but she was still terribly curious to see how it measured up. Judging by some of the amazing aromas floating around the restaurant, she imagined her meal would be tasty either way.

Truth be told, Michael probably would have been okay ordering any of the choices recommended by their waiter, although he had never been much of a vegetarian when it came to pizza. "Sounds like the Barbecue Chicken pizza might be interesting," Michael said, "I think I'll try one of those."

"Excellent choices! I'll put your order in now and it should be out shortly...if you need anything, just wave me over," Dante said with a big grin. With that, he left the table.

<15 minutes later>

"Aaand here we are!" Dante exclaimed, setting the plates out before each of them. "One magherita, one barbecue chicken, and one veggie! Is there anything else I can get you?" Seeing them shake their heads, he smiled, "Very well then, enjoy!"

Isabel picked up the first slice of her pizza, which practically left her mouth watering. The aroma was heavenly - the fresh ingredients were a harmony of smells. Sinking her teeth in, she took a moment to savor the first bite. "If this is any indication, it's not only their dough tossing abilities that are fantastic here," she said.

"Mmmhmm," Michael agreed as he chewed. He'd had his fair share of "interesting" pizza flavors before, but for some reason, barbecue chicken had never been among them. Aaron typically stuck to the more traditional toppings like sausage, pepperoni, canadian bacon, and the like. It was only when Michael wasn't sharing with anyone that he really had the opportunity to try more unusual combinations. "You'll get no argument from me," he continued once he'd had a chance to swallow, "I daresay they could give the repli...I mean...shipboard food a run for its money."

Just finishing her first bite of her own pizza, Lorelei nodded enthusiastically. She didn’t know if it was the way they had prepared it, or if she was so famished that anything would taste like manna from heaven, but her veggie pizza was easily one of the best things she’d ever had. “I could get used to this,” she murmured in between bites.

Out of the corner of her eye, Isabel noticed Kirk hunch over slightly and seemingly attempt to speak quietly...it must have been the communication letting him know that Chekov and Uhura were about to beam onto the Enterprise nuclear vessel. Hopefully Rabb's team was in place...

"Looks like they're about to leave," Isabel said quietly, so only Lorelei and Michael could hear. "We won't want to rush out necessarily, but we can't leave them for long. Perhaps one of us should follow them out briefly after they go, the other two will remain to not seem suspicious, but make an excuse to leave. Michael, why don't you follow them?"

Michael frowned at the half-finished slice of pizza on his plate. Despite having made considerable dent in his meal in such a short time, it hardly seemed enough to satisfy his hunger. There was also the matter of not knowing how much longer they would be tailing the admiral and the doctor or when they might find another opportunity for dinner. Still, he had managed to get something to eat and, right now, there was more important work to be done. "Right-o," Michael replied as he rose from his seat. Admiral Kirk and the doctor would have to exit the restaurant after they paid, so he began casually making his way back through the crowded tables toward the door where he could more easily pick up their trail as they left.

Lorelei just managed not to look over her shoulder at the pair. She didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to their table by staring at them so obviously. Hastily finishing her last few bites of pizza—she couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten something so quickly—she looked to the Captain for further instruction. “How long should we wait to follow, do you think?” she asked quietly.

"Well," Isabel began, glancing around discreetly, "it looks like Kirk and Taylor are getting their bill now...we should probably get the waiter's attention and request ours as well. Since Michael went on ahead we could probably just say that he's not feeling well and we need to go. We'll let him take the lead though, and around five minutes after they leave, we can follow."

<5 Minutes Later>

Having paid for their delicious, yet brief, dinner, Lorelei and Isabel had casually made their way to the door. Having already come up with a plan beforehand, Isabel led the way, chitchatting with Lorelei, "I can't believe we've not eaten here before... We'll definitely have to come back."

“Oh, absolutely,” Lorelei readily agreed, though it wasn’t all just for show. If there was any chance in the world that this restaurant or a distant relative still existed in the 24th century, the science officer planned on making a special return trip to San Francisco, provided that their mission was successful. Continuing to chitchat with the Captain, Lorelei followed her lead, discreetly keeping an eye on their surroundings as they moved to casually rejoin Michael.

Michael watched as the two women approached him. He'd taken up position across the street in order to have a better view of the whole area without arousing too much suspicion for loitering. In fact, from where he was now, he could still see the admiral and the doctor standing near her blue and white pick-up truck parked just down the street. "All quiet so far," he replied casually, "they definitely seem to be pretty earnest about something. You think one of the other away teams contacted Admiral Kirk?"

"Quiet is good," Isabel replied softly. "Based on the time, I would think that Chekov and Uhura are beaming onto the Enterprise vessel...or perhaps the Admiral just found out that Uhura returned without Chekov. Regardless, we need to keep Admiral Kirk safe. Our away teams will worry about the others."

As Michael and the Captain talked, Lorelei watched in silent bemusement as Admiral Kirk and Dr. Taylor climbed into their vehicle. Even though it was from a distance, it was still strange to see a Starfleet legend in the flesh, and under such strange circumstances. Once the truck started to pull away, Lorelei’s bemused look turned into a troubled frown. On the far side of the street, not far from where the truck had been parked, two silent figures stepped out from the shadows. “Captain, Michael,” she said earnestly. “Look, across the street—are those…?”

Nodding, Isabel replied, "Yes, they're Romulans. I doubt they'll be able to keep up with the Admiral and Dr. Taylor, but we should probably keep an eye on them anyway. Come on."

OFF: JP brought to you by:

Ensign Michael Kepler (PNPC)
Security Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A
Played by: Lt Masterson

and

Lieutenant JG Lorelei Cartwright (NPC)
Science Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A
Played by: Lt Cmdr Zeral

and

ON: [[Main Bridge, USS Malinche, Mission Day 06, 0024]]

Partway into what Petra (NPC) had been sure would be a rather boring bridge shift, a...surprise had appeared. She had double and triple checked to be sure that the communique was genuine and when those had failed to prove otherwise, the young communications officer had contacted Aaron. Though Petra hadn't wanted to disturb him when he was finally off duty, she felt it best to bring the information directly to his attention.

The doors to the turbolift opened. Aaron hesitated a moment to gather his composure before emerging onto the relatively quiet bridge. Most of the night watch seemed to be going about their business as usual and, when he glanced toward the main viewscreen, all he could see was the familiar blue-green orb that was twentieth century Earth as it continued to rotate slowly below them. There was no sign of the Romulan warbird or anything else that might have necessitated the call which had woken him from his brief sleep.

It took him a moment to realize the officer-of-the-watch had turned slightly in the center chair and seemed somewhat surprised to see him standing there. Aaron nodded once to acknowledge the woman and motioned with one hand for her to remain seated. Afterall, he wasn't there to take over her watch, just to look into whatever it was that Ensign Volakis had thought he needed to see. He turned and began making his way toward one of the auxiliary bridge consoles where the ensign seemed to be intensely focused on whatever information was on the screen in front of her.

"Good...morning, I guess," Aaron said as he came up alongside her.

Startled, Petra nearly jumped out of her chair before turning to see Aaron. Regaining composure, she replied, "You guess, sir?"

"You called me at ten past midnight," Aaron pointed out with a wry smile, "I should hope whatever it was couldn't wait." His face fell somewhat when he realized that his attempt at a little humor had probably come across as more of a reprimand. "Sorry...that wasn't supposed to be...I'm not quite awake yet," he mumbled apologetically, "What have you got?"

The young woman nodded, "Sir, in the past half hour I picked up on something I couldn't identify at first. It seemed to be some kind of weak signal or communication. I ran it through..." Remembering that he was still waking up, Petra decided to get to the point, "Anyway, sir, I was able to determine the message...and before you ask, I've triple checked it for authenticity." She glanced around worriedly at the other bridge crew before bringing the message up on her screen and leaning slightly out of the way so he could see it.

Aaron peered over the woman's shoulder at the eight words visible on her screen. Rubbing his face with one hand, he looked at the message again, wondering if perhaps his mind was still playing tricks on him, but there it was...clear as crystal. He could already feel the adrenaline starting to flow through his veins, chasing away any remaining vestiges of sleep from his system. "You said this just came through," he asked.

"Well, sir, I just picked up on it in the past half hour, but it is possible that it has been repeating for some time or that it only came through the once...or something in between," Petra replied. "I've had continual scans going to see if I can pick it up again."

Aaron continued to study the message before him. It was both plain and simple, certainly something one might expect from someone who was trying to convey as much information as possible without being detected. Despite Volakis' best efforts to verify the authenticity of the message, however, they still had very little other information to work with. Aaron imagined the captain would want to hear something a little more substantial than 'it sounded like the right thing to do' when it came time to explain his actions. "Has anyone else seen this," he asked, glancing over his shoulder toward the officer-of-the-watch.

"No sir," Petra said quickly, shaking her head. "I thought it would be best to bring it to you, considering its contents."

"Understandable," Aaron assured her, knowing he probably would have done the same thing had their roles been reversed, "No need getting everyone riled up over it until we know more about what we're dealing with."

Petra nodded, "Of course, sir." While she was still rather uneasy about the message to begin with, she did feel better that Aaron was aware of it. He would surely know what to do.

"I have a hunch," Aaron said, "Excuse me..." He reached around the woman's right shoulder and lightly tapped the station's intercom switch. "Masterson to Schulz..." he called.

Several seconds ticked by in silence as they waited for a response from the Acting Chief Engineer. =^= Schulz here =^= a groggy voice replied after a moment =^= You do know it's half past midnight... =^=

Aaron exchanged a small smile with Volakis before returning his attention to the conversation at hand. "Sorry to wake you so...early, lieutenant, but we have a situation and I'd like to get your opinion on it," he explained, "I'm afraid it can't wait."

Listening quietly, Petra snuck a casual glance around the bridge. A few of the others would occasionally glance over in their vicinity, undoubtedly curious as to what could be so important that she had gone directly to the man who had been left in charge of the ship. She was curious as to what Will might have to say, but wasn't sure if she'd be privy to that information.

[[Fifteen Minutes Later]]

A few of the night watch glanced over at the sound of the turbolift opening once more just as Schulz emerged onto the bridge, Aaron among them. "Over here, Will," he called out to the engineer. The fact that this was now the second member of the senior staff to have been summoned to the bridge in less than an hour was not lost on those present and Aaron had a feeling the officer-of-the-watch was starting to take notice.

As Petra watched Will, she noticed the woman in the command chair staring at her. Offering her an apologetic smile, she turned back to the two men who were standing at her console. "Morning, sir," she greeted Will.

"Mornin'," Will replied. It was no secret things had been more than a little hectic in Main Engineering lately. Being Acting Chief Engineer meant that Will was responsible for making sure everything was running ship-shape by the time they were ready to make their attempt at a time-warp back to the twenty-fourth century. In short, he was exhausted and had just managed to get himself to sleep when they'd gone and summoned him to the bridge.

"Might I ask what the two of you found that was so..." Will began, but his voice trailed away as soon as he laid eyes on the workstation's viewscreen.

Petra had been watching Will's expression as he saw her screen and took the opportunity to speak up, "Sir, I first discovered this within the last hour. I'm not sure if it was present before and we simply didn't pick up on it or if that was the first time. I did pick up the same message again while you were in route, however."

"You've seen something like this before," Aaron asked, noticing Will's reaction to what was on the screen.

"Yeah," Will answered slowly, "well...at least the theory behind it. Five years ago, when I was serving aboard the Sirion, we were overrun by Borg and I ended up trapped inside my quarters for days. I had thought about using something like this to get a message off...or a warning...but there was no way I was going to do it without alerting the Borg."

Petra considered what the engineer was saying. The Borg were certainly advanced...it would likely be difficult to get much of anything past them, at least for long. "But what about this case? Would someone on the Romulan ship be able to get message off without being detected?"

"I would say it's definitely possible," Will replied, "The Romulans certainly aren't as intimately aware of starship operations as the Borg might be. If we're still receiving this message, it's a pretty sure bet no one over there has even noticed it's being transmitted."

"Or they haven't found where it's being transmitted from, yet," Petra mused, frowning. "From the tests I've run, I was able to verify authenticity, but what if it's all a trick? Maybe the Romulans are letting it be transmitted to lure us into danger?"

Aaron frowned. The possibility of this message being the bait in an elaborate trap was certainly something they needed to consider. At the same time, however, one could not simply ignore the possibility that what they were seeing was a genuine call for assistance. "The Tal Shiar have been known to commandeer vessels for their own purposes, with or without the cooperation of the Commanding Officer," he mused aloud, "assuming that is the case here, it's possible this entire mission...traveling back in time to stop Admiral Kirk...might very well be part of some Tal Shiar plot."

Nodding, Petra remained quiet as she thought about Aaron's suggestion. She hadn't had much experience with Romulans, really, but the Tal Shiar were bad news. Any of their ideas could be possible. Part of her was relieved to not have to make a decision as to what to do based on the information they had.

"You've confirmed the source on this, right," Will asked Volakis.

"Absolutely, sir," Petra responded. "I triple checked to be sure."

"...then I think we should take this as legitimate," Will said, glancing at Masterson, "the theory behind the method of communication is sound and she's already confirmed it came from the warbird."

Aaron let out a small sigh and glanced over his shoulder toward the center of the room where he knew the officer-of-the-watch was starting to keep a closer eye on their little gathering. "She's not going to like this," he muttered to himself, looking once more at the information on the workstation's display, "but I don't see that we have much of a choice."

"Will...I know it's just barely oh-one-hundred hours, but I want you to start working with Volakis on a way to respond to this message," Aaron said, "we have to let them know we've received it without alerting whoever is actually in control over there."

"I suppose I don't really need to sleep," Will grumbled, though it was clear from the look on his face that the acting Chief Engineer wasn't being entirely serious in his complaint, "we'll see what we can't come up with."

Petra nodded, "Absolutely, sir." Partly she felt bad for the engineer...he obviously wasn't going to be getting much sleep. But, finding the Romulans was important. "I'm ready when you are, Lieutenant."

Certain that both Will and Petra could sufficiently handle the task set before them, Aaron turned his attention once more toward the center of the bridge where he could see the officer-of-the-watch was now looking directly at him. He could only imagine what the woman was thinking behind the stoic Vulcan expression on her face. There was no doubt in his mind that she knew something was going on, something that had necessitated summoning two of the seniormost officers who remained aboard the Malinche to the bridge at such an early hour. Aaron let out another sigh and reached down to adjust the jacket of his uniform before starting for the center chair. "Good morning, Mister S'Ren," he said with what he hoped was a decent smile as he approached, "Looks like I'm going to be needing that chair afterall..."

OFF

A Joint Mission Post by:

Lieutenant William Schulz (PNPC)
Acting Chief Engineering Officer
USS Malinche
Played by: LtJG Masterson

Lieutenant JG Aaron Masterson
Chief Security/Tactical Officer & Second Officer
USS Malinche

and

Ensign Petra Volakis (NPC)
Communications Officer
Played by: Capt Kersare

ON:
<<USS Malinche, Aux Deflector Control, Day 5, 1908>>

Caleb (NPC) and James had quickly gone to deflector control upon leaving Will (PNPC) in Engineering. It seemed that the issues were cropping up in the Deck 5 Auxiliary Deflector Control. Setting down his kit, Caleb pulled out a PADD which had the last known readings regarding the induction stabilizers. "Well, sir, I'm not sure what your opinion is, but I believe I would suggest that we run a diagnostic from here and review the report we have now against the diagnostic to get a better feel for what we're dealing with."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," James said with a nod of agreement. James, himself, was beginning to wonder why there would be an issue with one of the auxiliary deflectors. Casting away any notion that a saboteur did this, unlike before with the Romulan, it most likely had to be a malfunction. "Would you be kind in sending me the same report? Just in case we wind up working on this thing, but in different areas."

"Of course, sir," Caleb replied. Entering in a few commands, he sent the report to James before turning to the console. Time for more diagnostics... "Alright, it'll take a little longer, but let's do a Level 3 diagnostic. We'll have to verify a few things along the way, but for the most part it's automated." His fingers tapped at the screen, starting up the diagnostic.

"Sometimes, if diagnostics take longer than it should, then you just have to deal with the extended time," James replied. "It could also mean that a more thorough report can be done once the diagnostic is done."

James looked over the report Caleb sent him. Pacing around a little as he read, he hummed to himself. His humming consisted of sounds of agreement as nothing on this report looked anything out of the ordinary. That was until he reached the middle of the report. An "Uh, oh" escaped his lips. "Caleb, when the diagnosis is done, see if there are any issues with the relays and the electrical contacts. I think I found an issue."

"I can start checking them now, sir," Caleb replied. "So far the diagnostic is running as expected for a Level 3...if we wanted a quick and dirty diagnostic I could've run a different level diagnostic, but I felt this would be more thorough." Kneeling down, he rummaged through his kit and pulled out his hyperspanner. Moving over a little, he pulled off a panel and began scanning.

"The current level of diagnostics is great. Any quicker and we could miss a lot," James said. "The reason I suggested to check the relays and such is because it looks as if there have been some hiccups in the relays, at least according to what I read in the report. Hopefully nothing shorted or completely burned out." James knew dealing with a short or a series of shorts would be a piece of cake. But he also knew that burn outs would be more complicated. "Anything out of the ordinary, yet?"

Nodding, Caleb replied, "Agreed, sir." He certainly didn't disagree that other items should be checked either...James brought up good points and the diagnostic was likely to prompt him for an answer about those items anyway. "So far, it seems like everything's....hmm, hold on," Caleb began, as he continued testing, "it looks we do have a series of shorts here...and a different one will need completely replaced."

James shook his head in disbelief. He was afraid of something like this happening. "This is going to delay us more. We'll have to find the source of each short and find out the cause of the one burnout," James said as he rubbed his face. "The burnout might take the longest to fix. I'm also going to throw this out in the open... Those series of shorts may have been the cause for said burnout." It was a hunch that just came to James. He wanted to try to give every scenario that he could.

"I don't think it'll take that long, sir. Replacing the one is really the easiest once we have the part - just pull it out and replace it. The shorts will take a bit longer, but that's because we have to repair each one. There only seem to be three or four, though," Caleb replied. He looked over the analysis again before replying, "From what I'm seeing, sir, it looks like there was a power overload that went through here - most likely from our trip to this century."

Breathing a sigh of relief, he gave a small smile. That was good news to him. "The power overload may have been my fault. I had thought that I had the right amount of power and resources to make this trip as smooth as possible. Apparently, I think I had too much power going into the deflectors.... when I could have swore I didn't! Dang it, I hate it when that happens." James was upset. He rarely made mistakes and when ever he did, even the smallest mistake, it upset him.

Caleb shook his head, "Don't be too hard on yourself, sir. Under the circumstances you did what you thought was best. None of us have travelled back in time before...at least, not to my knowledge. It's difficult to predict what might happen or what the adjustments should be made. It really won't take long to fix this and now you have some more data for when we make the trip back." The engineer could see where James was coming from - it was never fun to make a mistake, but he also knew that when in a new situation, one just has to do their best and learn from it.

James took a deep breath and sighed. "Yeah, you're right, Caleb. Mistakes are bound to happen and you're right about travelling through time. I highly doubt more than a few have travelled the streams of time," James said as he looked over his PADD and began to think of a plan. "As for the new data I'll have acquired, this will definitely come in handy for the ride home." After thinking a few minutes, James had a good plan set. "I think if we use the old strategy, "Divide and Conquer," and tackle these shorts together, we can get these repairs done in a nice timely manner. What do you think?"

"Sounds like a plan to me, sir. I'll start on this one," Caleb answered, pointing to the one furthest to the right. "Perhaps you can start on the other end and we can work our way towards the center. I think we'll have it done in no time. By then, the rest of the diagnostic should be set and we can make sure there aren't any other surprises."

"Sounds good to me," James replied, anxious to start the repairs. He felt at ease with Caleb's confidence and had a feeling that the repairs would go more smoothly than he first predicted. He began to whistle the tune "Whistle While You Work" from the old Disney movie "Snow White" as he made his way over to the shorted section opposite of the engineer.

A JP brought to you by:

Warrant Officer 2nd Class Caleb Corrin (NPC)
Warp Systems Officer
USS Malinche
played by: Captain Kersare

and

ON:
<<Earth, Alameda (of the past), near the Enterprise naval vessel, Day 5, 2100>>

It was dark now, and the Malinche away team was in position. They hadn't been able to think of a way to actually get on the ship, but with that many crew aboard, hoped that any Romulans would be stopped before getting aboard or at least before doing major damage to Chekov or Uhura. So, the women were situated at the vantage point found earlier, keeping an eye out for any Romulans who might still be approaching - or who might interfere when Chekov escaped.

Stacy didn't like waiting around, but agreed there was no better option. She was fidgeting with her pants, now wishing she'd put on something that was just a little bit warmer.

"How long do you think it's going to take them to get in and out? I haven't seen anything on the tricorder so at least the Romulans aren't around."

Rachel frowned, "I don't know....they have to collect what they need and then we know that Uhura gets beamed out and Chekov is left behind. Of course, Chekov isn't necessarily critical, overall, as Uhura takes the collector with her. But the Romulans may not realize that or care. And we're not exactly sure what time Chekov escapes."

Stacy's attention was caught by something at the main gates. There seemed to be a disturbance brewing. There were several people yelling and holding large signs that read "END NUCLEAR DEATH" and others read "REAGAN KILLS WITH NUCLEAR WASTE". Stacy tapped Rachel on the shoulder, and pointed towards the main gate.

"What do you make of that Rachel?" asked Stacy.

Rachel paused, looking at the people yelling near the Enterprise. "I believe these are protestors...they're exercising their various rights to assemble, freedom of speech and the like. They should be peaceful, but with all the yelling it's hard to tell. Nuclear technology is still relatively new at this time and there have been dangerous accidents."

"Well, with all this trash around and from what I've seen, it's a great wonder we made it out of this century at all. Still, I'll feel a lot better if someone finds the Romulans."

Pulling out her tricorder, Rachel took more in depth scans, "I'm not picking up on any Romulans, but the nuclear technology could be interfering...there is a chance they could try to use the crowd to their advantage." She looked at Stacy and Jenni (NPC), "It might not be a bad idea to check it out. So far we've not seen anything else."

"You may be right Rachel. Maybe we should close in to get a better look at the situation." said Stacy.

Jenni was watching the crowd, trying to notice anything or anyone suspicious, someone who might stand out from the crowd. The Romulans would have a hard time blending in, even with protestors.

Nodding, Rachel started heading towards the crowd. She wasn't entirely sure what she would say, so she tried not to get too close, at least at first. The crowd was certainly riled up, but nobody seemed particularly out of place. Glancing over at her crewmates, Rachel moved in closer.

The protesting group was chanting and yelling. Jenni got close enough to hear one of the women yelling at the naval security officer standing at the gate.

"Hell no, we won't go, hell no we won't go, hell no we won't go!" She was waving a large paper sign in his face with the words, Navy Kills Sea Life!.

Their approach didn't seem to go unnoticed by the protestors, so Rachel slowed near the edge of the group. Gaining the attention of one of them, she flashed a smile and asked, "Wow, quite the crowd here....what's going on?"

Janelle looked at the strangely dressed but somewhat gorgeous woman and sneered. "What the hell do you want idiot? Are you deaf or just dumb?"

Jenni looked at Rachel and back at the woman with the large name tag 'Janelle' on the middle of the shirt. It was a white shirt, with a large sticky note in the middle. This Janelle character was also wearing bright pink short shorts and her hair matched the shorts. She might have been an attractive woman if one could get past the two dozen or so piercings on and around her face.

Rachel raised her hands, palms facing Janelle, "I don't mean any harm...Janelle. We were just wandering around and saw a big crowd, so we thought we'd come over and see what's going on. I take it you're protesting the Navy... How exactly do they kill sea life?" She hoped that by showing interest in the cause, it would help calm the woman down a little bit at least.

Janelle snickered at Rachel and flashed her large sign towards Rachel. "Where the hell have you been, living under a rock or something? Judging from what you're wearing, I'd say Rodeo Boulevard more likely. Navy ships release toxic waste from their so called safe nuclear powered engines. Baby dolphins are born with two heads and sea lions are born with no back flippers. It was on the news, and the news don't lie."

Deciding not to point out that even if her claims were true, it didn't mean that sea life was being killed, Rachel paused as she tried to come up with a viable response. She was rather certain that the news did, in fact, lie....both in this time period and to some extent in her own, but that wouldn't help her cause either. "I'm sorry, ma'am...I'm just a simple girl visiting from Montana...I'm afraid we don't get much in the way of news about nuclear ships..and well, I didn't know what the locals here wore, so I just went in a store and bought some clothes... This is the first protest I've really seen, ma'am, unless you count the time when all the neighbors got riled up when a wolf got one of Farmer Dan's calves."

Janelle stared at Rachel. "Ma'am? You are from the farm aren't you. You won't last very long out here, that's for sure. You'll either get picked up by one of the high class pimps or you'll end up face down in back alley. What're you doing this far from the milk barn?"

Jenni tried to keep from laughing at this exchange between Rachel and Janelle. "Excuse me missy, but we're just new in town. We heard the circus was in town. Have you seen any of their funky people?"

"Yes, the circus!" Rachel exlaimed, glad to be rescued from the whole farm scenario she'd created. "I heard they have a mermaid...and a bearded lady....and some people with odd pointed ears! I mean, I suppose the bearded lady isn't all that surprising, but pointed ears?? And a mermaid? I want to see if they're just yanking our chain."

Janelle arched her head back and laughed at the pair of strange women. "WOW..oh my god...the circus? Seriously? Here? In San Francisco? Honey, there is a circus goin' on at every street corner. But if it's the ole' Barnum and Bailey thing you're lookin' for, no not here. Though, I did see some strange looking dudes a few blocks away. In fact, they looked like maybe they were drunk or something, couldn't hold their liquor. Faces were funny shades."

If even Janelle thought the "dudes" looked strange, they must have been quite strange indeed, Rachel guessed. She exchanged a subtle glance with Jenni. "Maybe they're performers too? Which way were they headed? We'll probably want to avoid them...."

Jenni pipped in. "Yeah, I don't know about carnies, you know I've heard stories about them and women."

Rachel raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Janelle pointed down the block, north of the front gate to the naval base. "They were over there, kinda staring at the aircraft carrier, actually."

"Well thank you, ma'am. We should probably get going... We appreciate the information and...good luck with your cause," Rachel told her, giving her something of a smile.

TBC…………
Joint Post by:
WO2 Rachel Tilden (NPC)
Infiltration Officer
Played by CPT Kersare

ENS Jenni Thornton (NPC)
Shuttle Pilot
Played by LT Rabb

ON:

[[Deck 4, WO Robin Lockerbey's Quarters, USS Malinche, Mission Day 06, 0030]]

Robin Lockerbey was half sitting, half leaning in his lounge chair. He was still trying to get used to the larger quarters. This was his first deep space assignment and it figured they would have been sent back in time. Robin had spent the last fifteen years as an enlisted man, working his way up through the ranks to Senior Chief Petty Officer before entering the Warrant Officer program. Having spent the last several weeks at Starfleet Academy, Robin was glad to finally be away from shuttles and away from instructors. Having only received his WO pip three weeks ago, Robin was still getting used to the idea of men calling him sir.

Robin sat up and removed his red duty tunic, threw it on the bed across the room and stood up to stretch. He'd just come off shift and was extremely tired. He walked over to the replicator and put his hands against the wall, leaning his head on the console.

"Whiskey, neat with ice."

An eight ounce glass of replicated whiskey with ice appeared. Of course, it wasn't real, but only synthahol. But, it would have to do. Robin grabbed the glass and headed back to his lounger. The room was still small by some standards, but it was his own. No longer did he have to share a room with another senior enlisted person. Robin sat back down on the lounger and leaned back, taking a sip now and again. His thoughts drifted to home, Earth; and his dear dear woman.

Robin reached over to the table on his right and picked up the photograph of his love, Jennifer. Jennifer had light blue eyes and shoulder length blonde hair. He could see the sparkle of her eyes, even in the photo. She was wearing a long white summer dress and laying on the ground with an oak tree and wheat fields in the background. Her smile lit up the picture and the way she had her head cocked to one side made his face flush with love and anger at the same time.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he pulled the picture from the table and sat it down on against his chest. Robin thought back to that day, the day when Jennifer left him for deep space. They had argued about her decision to accept the assignment, each telling the other things they never meant. Robin wanted Jennifer to stay with him on Earth, but Jennifer had other plans. He could still hear her words.

"Robin, I love you so much. But...we aren't getting any younger. We both can still make good careers with Starfleet. I don't want to look across the table at you one day and think 'I could have done something'. I want to get out of here, to see more than just what the world has to offer."

"Jennifer, I love you too. I don't understand why you can't just stay here. We've got a good thing going, you and I. We've spent the last four years together and they have been the best years of my life. I don't care about working up the ladder in Starfleet. I couldn't care less if I continue to fly shuttles and runabouts between the Academy and Starfleet Orbital for the rest of my career. I love you and to me, that's what is more important. How can we have children and a career at the same time?"

Jennifer moved her hand onto his. "It's time Robin. This doesn't mean I don't love you, I do love you with all my heart. But I have to do what is best for me. I'm taking that deep space assignment. I'm going aboard the USS Gorkon. I wish you would could come with me, but there weren't any openings in helm and flight control; only for operations staff."

Robin's thoughts came back to the present, or the past as it were. It was only one week after Jennifer left that Robin submitted his application to the Warrant Officer program. With one hand Robin gripped the picture of Jennifer and with the other he gulped down the rest of the drink. Sitting the glass down on his lap, he slammed the picture on the table and wiped away the tears as they flowed and fell on his cheeks. Robin leaned forward, knocking the glass onto the floor. Tears flowed form his eyes, dripping onto his duty pants and the floor. He held his head in his hands, sobbing and rocking back and forth. Robin thought he could keep himself busy and push Jennifer to the back of his mind, and it had worked as long as he kept his mind on his work.

After several minutes of sobbing, Robin leaned back and wiped his face off with his undershirt. He bent over and picked up the glass, walked to the recycle bin and put the glass inside. It would be recycled and broken down into matter to be used again as something else. He slowly made his way back to the bed, picked up his tunic and walked back to the closet to hang it up. Removing his duty pants and boots, he walked back to the bed in his socked feet and fell face first onto the bed, his head barely hitting the pillows.

OFF:

WO Robin Lockerbey, NPC
Flight Control Officer

Played by:

ON:

[[USS Malinche, Deck 4, Beta Bridge, Mission Day 06, 0455 hours]]

Lieutenant, jg Austin Flanders (NPC) walked onto the Beta Bridge, scanning to see if anyone else had arrived for the exercise. This was only the second one they’d had, but Austin felt it important to keep to the schedule Lieutenant Rabb had established on her arrival. There had to be some semblance of normality, especially during this mission. Austin thought Rabb’s idea to cross train her department with other important bridge systems was superb. Not that the personnel wasn’t already cross trained – that was part of standard operation protocol. Austin secretly admired Rabb for her determination to make this Flight Ops crew the best in the fleet.

The Beta bridge was empty and at minimal power. “Computer, lights, one hundred percent.”

The lights came on over the entire small bridge. Austin walked the bridge, looking at each station and remembering their specific operation. A couple of minutes later he found himself in the center seat. The chair was stiff, uncomfortable. It was clear the chair was new, hardly ever used if at all. Austin recalled Lieutenant Rabb’s statement about being ready to take command on the bridge.

=Rabb’s voice (Austin, we have to go be ready for the uncertain. When the shit hits the fan, with smoke and fire all around, the captain and exec may go down on the bridge. You may find yourself the senior officer in an emergency situation. You’ve got to know what you’re going to do. You can’t sit and wait for orders because you’ll be the one everyone looks to for those orders).

[[0500 hours]]

The first to show up on the Beta bridge after Austin was Ensign Joshua Sychorski (NPC) followed by Ensign Krakatow (NPC) and Warrant Officer Lockerbey. A minute later, even Warrant Officer Topher (NPC) and Ensign Razeldazzle (NPC) showed up. Austin had specifically ordered Topher to appear to assist with the drill.

Austin stood. “Hello everyone and thank you for joining me this morning. Mister Topher, take Ops, Mister Lockerbey take the Conn, Razeldazzle take the Engineering console and Sychorski take the Sciences console, Krakatow take the Tactical station.”

Austin waited for everyone to take their positions, noting they did a fine job of following orders and not arguing. ‘This might go better than I thought’ he said to himself. “I know this is only the second drill we’ve done under Lieutenant Rabb’s leadership, and even though she’s planet side on mission, it is important to continue this operation for the good of our department and the ship.”

Austin left the command station and began walking around the bridge as he spoke. “I know many of you have been cross trained in the particular positions you are sitting at this morning. In the future, you will be positioned in other locations on the bridge to help you acclimate to other assignments should you find yourself on the bridge during an emergency.”

Austin stopped in front of the tactical station, directly behind the command chair. He looked over his shoulder and nodded to the Tellarite who was manning the engineering console behind him then looked forward again.

“Lieutenant, if I may sir?” asked Lockerbey.

“Mister Lockerbey, go ahead.”

“Sir, what kinds of drills are we going to be running here? I mean are we going to do a wide array of situations or just standard ones?”

“Well, I think you would agree there is no such thing as standard when it comes to emergency situations Mister Lockerbey. However, we’re going to start simply.”

“Aye, aye sir.” Replied Lockerbey.

“We’ll begin with Lieutenant Rabb’s first simulation. Computer, begin battle simulation Rabb Alpha One.”

Austin moved quickly to the command chair, feeling the hair stand on the back of his neck. He wondered how this simulation would go, whether or not they would manage to damage the Beta bridge this time or not.

OFF:

Flight Control Department NPC’s

Lieutenant, jg Austin Flanders
Ensign Kendall Krakatow
Ensign Razeldazzle
Ensign Joshua Sychorski
Warrant Officer Christopher Topher
Warrant Officer Robin Lockerbey

ON:

<<Earth, Alameda (of the past), Day 5, 2300>>

Rachel (NPC) was getting tired at this point, but since they had gotten a lead on potential Romulans, she didn't want to risk losing them. Glancing over at Jenni (PNPC), she said, "We must be just missing them everywhere we go. Either that, or they've gone inside. Since we've not seen Chekov, though, I don't think that's the case..."

"Agreed. Romulans are like old earth elephants; they never forget. They won't be too far from where the old crew should be. However, things being the way they are..."

"Wait...check your two o'clock...I think I see them!" Rachel said in a hushed, yet excited tone. Hopefully she was right.

Jenni strained to see what Rachel was looking at. "Yes", in a hushed tone, "I see them too. That's got to be them, no doubt about it."

Rachel nodded, "Alright, we need a plan of attack. I don't think that identifying ourselves as StarFleet officers will really help our cause. We need to come up with a ruse to get close to them and make sure we're all out of sight of the people of this century, and then take them down."

Jenni got a wild hair up her ass. "Oh hey, how you Romulans doing? Seen any good movies lately? Yeah don't think that will work." She grabbed her Type I phaser out of its hiding place and made sure it was set for heavy stun. "You rush them from the front and I'll rush them from behind and we'll surround them. How's that?" Jenni said with a wry smile.

Glancing around, Rachel didn't see anyone else, "Sounds like as good a plan as any...the area of the dock they're on looks deserted, and right now they're between rows of cargo. We should be able to subdue them and secure them for transport pretty easily; just transport all of us back to the shuttle, perhaps?"

"Yes, agreed. I think that's probably the best and quickest way to handle it...least amount of possible trouble and no people around."

Rachel quietly slipped her phaser out as well and checked the settings. "I think I can slip between the cargo containers and get in front of them...I'll head there now and once I've got them, you rush from behind."

"Ah, ok. I was teasing about the whole rushing them thing but hey, whatever works; this is the twentieth century right? Who was it...John Wayne? I'll go from behind...ah...pilgrim?"

Nodding to her crewmate, Rachel hurried off, slowing as she entered the row next to the Romulans. She moved forward carefully, looking between the containers for her opening. Spotting them ahead, she moved faster and positioned herself two cargo containers in front of them. Carefully she peeked around the edge, heart racing. They were coming...5...4...3...2...1

Rachel decided to put up a little bit of a ruse as she walked out about fifteen feet in front of the Romulans. "So, that's container 14341A...and this one here is 14341B, which makes," Rachel paused as she turned to look at the Romulans. "I don't think you belong here..."

"What you think does not matter, Terran," the Romulan who seemed to be in charge answered. "Out of the way!" He started to move forward along with a female Romulan.

Pointing her phaser at them, Rachel gave a sly smile, "Not a chance. Your time terrorizing Earth is over, Romulan. You're coming with me." She could tell they were at least momentarily surprised, but it wouldn't last long, she was sure. Instead, the expressions on their faces darkened.

Jenni came up behind them just as the female Romulan was reaching for something behind her back. It looked like a weapon so she pulled the trigger, stunning the Romulan and dropping her like a ton of gold pressed latinum. She pointed her phaser at the male as he turned around to face his companion's attacker.

"You cannot stop us, Terran," the Romulan replied, a sinister smile spreading across his face. "Even if you capture us, you will still fail here. Besides, I do not intend to be.." In the middle of his sentence, he quickly drew his weapon as he turned so he could see both StarFleet officers and began backing towards the other side of the containers.

Rachel, seeing the move, shook her head. He should've fired when he had the chance, if he had wanted to. She fired at him, but he ducked and fired at her. Luckily, her reflexes were good and she was able to spin out of the way just in time. As Rachel completed her spin, she fired at the Romulan and stunned him.

Jenni thought she was quick but could only duck and dodge as the Romulan and Rachel engaged. No wonder Rachel was an infiltration specialist.

Jogging over to the fallen Romulan, Rachel shook her head. "He really should've had better aim if he was going to try that. Well, I suppose we should let Stacy know that we've captured these Romulans and go ahead and transport them to the shuttle. We'll want to bind them too and make sure they don't have any other weapons."

Jenni bent down to help Rachel tie up the Romulans and search them. Once they had accomplished their aim, Jenni hit the transponder that would transport them to the shuttle.

OFF:

Joint Post by:

WO2 Rachel Tilden, (NPC)
Infiltration Specialist
(played by Cpt. Kersare)

and

Ensign Jenni Thornton (NPC)
Shuttle Pilot
(played by LT Rabb)

ON:
<<Earth, San Francisco (of the past), Wrassle Castle, Day 6, 0400>>

“Malinche to away team. Lieutenant-Commander Zeral, do you read?”

It took a moment for the words to permeate Nora’s sleep-shrouded mind. After a mostly restless night, she’d finally fallen asleep not long ago and, since that time, had been sleeping rather like the dead. Although stiff and disoriented, she was finally jarred awake by the awareness that the Malinche was contacting them after hours and hours of necessary silence. The Betazoid all but fell over the side of the bed in her haste to reach the semi-hidden comm badge on the nightstand beside her, accidentally kicking Dana (NPC) in the process. “This is Zeral. Go ahead, Malinche.”

Dana (NPC) was quickly awakened by pain. Groggily she looked up to see Nora moving around. Wincing slightly, she blinked and sat up. At the word 'Malinche', she perked up and was more alert than before.

“There have been some new developments, sir," the unidentified crewmember continued. "We have the coordinates for one of the Romulan away teams.”

That was news indeed. As she sat up on the side of the bed, Nora batted away a chunk of product-filled hair to process it. Feeling that they were going to need a little more information than that, she asked, “How were they located?”

Listening to the conversation, Dana was more and more intrigued. Apparently the shortened version was that the Romulan vessel had been unsurprisingly hijacked by Tal Shiar and the real Commanding Officer, S'vol (NPC) had gotten a message to the Malinche. Somehow, they worked together and S'vol was able to retake the ship and gave the Malinche the last Romulan away team's coordinates. To avoid corrupting the timeline any further, Nora's team was to go to their location and secure the Romulans for transport.

Setak opened his eyes but lay still as he listened to the report intently, he felt well rested all things considered and was more than ready to conclude the away mission as soon as possible. His time on 'Earth of the past' had been interesting but he had experienced enough Human 'culture' for one Vulcan lifetime. With some real intel at hand a quick wrap up was indeed possible, this pleased the doctor to no end.

"Sounds like things are looking up, to some extent," Dana commented as she got out of bed and looked over her outfit. With her hands, she smoothed the wrinkles out as much as possible. "How shall we proceed, ma'am?" Dana asked as she looked over at Nora.

As Nora observed her own disheveled appearance, she considered their best options. “First, we need to very quickly make ourselves look as presentable as possible, I think. We don’t want to draw any more attention than necessary when find the Romulans.” Her hair was an absolute disaster. Although she didn’t want to be vain at a time like this, she couldn’t help but wish that Intel had given her a more practical style for her disguise. “After that, we’re heading straight for those coordinates. If they somehow discover that their mission has been compromised, they might find a way to conveniently disappear. I don’t want to give them that chance.”

Setak propped himself up on his elbows at that point and winced, he had slept in plenty of uncomfortable places in his lifetime but it had been a long while since he had endured any sort of floor. "As gentlemanly as I wish to be, next time ladies, you get the floor."

Raising an eyebrow, Dana rolled her head to either side to stretch her neck muscles and rolled her shoulders back to loosen up slightly. Feeling a bit better, she headed to the room's bathroom and said, "Computer, lights." Shaking her head as she quickly remembered she wasn't on the ship anymore, her fingers felt around on the wall until they found the switch. Dana blinked in the sudden light and, looking in the mirror, noted t hat the harsh lights of this century did absolutely nothing for her appearance. Shaking her head, she set to work making herself somewhat presentable.

“Whoever designed this hideous dress should be killed,” Nora muttered under her breath, far past playing nice with the awful material that composed her outfit. Getting a firm grip on one of the tulle layers of the puffy skirt, she pulled hard until it tore away with a satisfying rip. A few more rips later found the Betazoid in the same dress, but with much less…poof. “Better,” she sighed in relief. “At least now the Romulans won’t hear my dress rustling as we approach.”

"A shame," Setak said with a grin as he finally sat up and in one quick once over tucked his shirt back into his pants and fluffed his mullet. "I was growing accustomed to seeing you in that style Commander, it suits you."

<Fifteen Minutes later>

With all three now looking somewhat decent and having slipped out of the Wrassle Castle as quickly as possible, they were now on their way to find the Romulans. The streets were less crowded than before, but those who were still out seemed less...approachable, to say the least. Glancing around as her unease with the characters around them grew, Dana looked over at Nora, "Which way?"

With Setak’s modified tricorder held discreetly in her hand, Nora oriented herself on the poorly lit city street. “This way,” she nodded, stepping forward with more confidence than she actually felt. She too had noticed that questionable humans that seemed to stick to the shadows nearby, and she had no desire to have any dealings with them. “They’re less than a kilometer away, as luck would have it. Perhaps they did stay close to the park after all.”

"Romulans are a tenacious people," Setak added with a hint of irony. "Clever but at the same time stubborn, I have no doubt that they have been chasing their own shadows around the park all night since they came into the situation with assumed certainty. We should be cautious at any rate, they likely have the area 'staked out' and may see us coming."

“So long as they don’t recognize us as Starfleet right away, I’m not overly concerned if they do see us coming,” Nora commented. “But it would certainly be preferable if we could manage to sneak up on them first. The real question is, do we approach the location as a group, or do we split up in an attempt to corner them?” On the one hand, if they approached as a determined trio, they might immediately draw suspicion. On the other hand, separating from one another was not without its dangers. Either way, they were fast approaching their destination, and they needed at least some semblance of a plan in place before they arrived.

Dana pondered their situation for a few moments before responding, "I think we should approach them as a group, but we need to not appear as a 'determined trio' as you put it. We need to appear just like some of the humans from this time period. It might seem silly, but we could act as though we've been out partying, maybe approach them to supposedly ask for the time and by then we'd be close enough to take them down if needed. If they're isolated enough, we can simply confirm that it's alright to go ahead and transport them back to the ship."

Setak grimaced at the idea of acting like a drunkard but he had to admit that the plan had some merit; it might work. On the other hand, if the Romulans were of the indiscriminate variety the plan could also get the trio killed. "It could work, possibly," Setak said with a sigh. "What do you think Commander?"

Nora was inclined to trust Dana's instincts as a security officer. “I think it could work too, so long as we don’t take the charade too far. We obviously don’t want to give ourselves away as Starfleet, but we don’t want to stumble all over ourselves in a poor simulation of these past humans either.” Glancing down at the tricorder once again, the Betazoid realized that they were getting rather close now. “Around the corner of that building there, I think,” she said, coming to a stop. “Perhaps I should ask before we commit to this plan—how are your acting skills?”

"Well, I wasn't a theater major, but being in Security you have to be able to improvise and adjust to the situation presented," Dana replied, shrugging. "As long as we don't go too over the top, I think we'll be fine. Maybe a couple of stumbles, not walking an entirely straight line...bubbly talking, perhaps."

Nora was no theater major herself, but she had actually participated in a fair amount of amateur theater at the Academy. Not only that, but she’d done her fair share of, well, drinking in the past as well. It wasn’t something she was especially proud of, but it at least gave her an idea of where to take the scene, so to speak. “Somehow, I don’t see Setak as the ‘bubbly talking’ type,” she said with a slow smile. “But all right. Dana and I can take the lion’s share of that, anyway. If we’re decided, then I think we’d best proceed.”

Setak was categorically opposed the not so elaborate deception, he had no intention of participating in the ruse. It was a preposterous idea and he wanted no part of it. With a stern expression and unwavering Vulcan stubbornness he began to protest, "I really don't think..."

“And remember,” Nora added before they started off. “If anything goes wrong, we can rely on telepathy to communicate.” They’d agreed in the Transporter Room before beaming to Earth that, should the occasion call for it, the use of telepathy was acceptable between one another. As a Vulcan, Setak could at least hear the projected thoughts the two Betazoids, if all else failed. "With luck it won't come to that, but it's something worth keeping in mind. Now then... Shall we?" Looping her arm through Dana’s, the tricorder tucked securely away, Nora led the way.

Setak balked at the duo, they had obviously not been interested in his opinion on the subject. With little choice but to follow his superior he chose to fall in line behind the pair and suppress his grumbling. An actor he was not but perhaps the visage of an idle, non responsive loaf would suffice, he figured.

Nodding, Dana replied, "I agree, though hopefully it won't come to that. Let's go ahead; the sooner we get started, the sooner we can get them off this planet." Quietly she moved to the corner of the building and peeked around the side to verify that the Romulans were there. They didn't disappoint; the three Romulans were a little further down the block in front of a store that happened to be across from the park.

Dana turned back to the others and held up three fingers, then gestured in their general direction. The Betazoid then motioned Nora closer and slung her arm over the Executive Officer's shoulder before moving out from the side of the building. Giggling she said, "D'you believe tha' place? Wooow. That one dude was like....waaay tall!"

Nora quickly fell into character beside Dana, leaving Setak to presumably trail behind them. “He was sooo tall!” she giggled in return. “But his friend was cuuuute! He’s… he’s gonna call you, I jus’ know it. He’s gonna call you.” Covertly looking up through her eyelashes as she slightly stumbled alongside Dana, she saw that the Romulans had taken notice of their approach. They didn’t look particularly hostile, at least not yet. Perhaps Dana’s plan was going to work.

Setak trailed behind his colleagues and attempted to look as inconspicuous as possible, it occurred to the Vulcan however that in his current company a sane man might seem entirely out of place. His mind raced with possible ways to contribute to the scene but after nothing came to him he realized just how bad at improvisation he really was. With the Romulan's gazes finally resting on him Setak knew that he had to act, it just so happened that his nerves coupled with the revolting grease filled lunch he had consumed earlier had begun to conspire. "Oh," he said as he staggered slightly and bumped into the brick store front for support. He wouldn't have to act after all, "I think I'm going to be sick..."

Turning around slightly, Nora still in tow, Dana glanced over at Setak, "I bet tha's what that red head girl said when she saw the guy hitting on her!" She laughed as she turned back around and continued stumbling forwards, "Look, Nor, more men! And I don't think these ones are drunk!" Nearly upon the Romulans now, the Betazoid could tell they were either annoyed or perplexed by the show...

Following Dana’s lead, Nora openly looked at the trio of Romulans, her gaze appropriately speculative, before glancing back to Dana. “Ooooh, I bet I can get one of their numbers…” She said in a sing-song voice. “And then you won’t win our bet, so there.” Tossing her hair over her shoulder in a move that would have been graceful, had she not been pretending to be drunk, she addressed the Romulans directly. “Well, hello, gentlemen. You boys from out of town?”

As they cast glances at one another, the Romulans’ posture stiffened even further, if that was possible. Interestingly enough, one of them actually seemed intrigued. The other two, however, did not appear amused in the least. “I suggest that you move on,” the tallest of them said, his voice hard and threatening. “We do not have time for your…sort.”

"Wha...what sort do you mean?" Dana asked, straightening up as she closed the rest of the distance between them and looked him in the eye. From her peripheral vision, she tried to see if Nora and Setak had joined her yet. Three Romulans against her wasn't what she had in mind. "And who are you to tell me to move on?" Dana said a little louder as she poked him in the chest with her index finger.

Since the ruse wasn’t over just yet, Nora assumed an affronted look as she joined Dana in a move of ostensible solidarity. Hopefully her fellow Betazoid knew what she was doing. “You don’t own the sidewalk, y’know,” she said belligerently, matching Dana’s tone. “B’sides, I only wanted your number. You coulda jus’ said no,” she pouted.

"I already indicated that you should move on, before we move you," the apparent lead Romulan growled at them, frowning. "Take your nonsense elsewhere, puny Terrans!"

Setak had finished being sick and after a couple quick droughts of air he stumbled up behind his companions to survey the Romulans. "Terrans or not, they really are quite personable." The doctor chimed in without thinking about it. "Eh, uh, well. There it is... Try and show a little respect will you?"

The Romulan in front of Nora looked sharply first at Setak and then at the two women, his nostrils flaring as if he had suddenly smelled something unpleasant. Nora’s eyes widened as she sensed the Romulan’s sudden realization. Setak had inadvertently given them away by acknowledging the very existence of their modern term for humans, and now their ruse was officially over. “Starfleet,” the Romulan growled, reaching out suddenly to grasp Nora’s upper arm in a bruising grip.

There was no choice for it anymore. Weaponless as she was, Nora did the first thing that came to her mind, pulling her arm back and forming her hand into a loose fist just as her brothers had taught her long ago. Before the Romulan could even guess her intent, she threw her fist with all her might directly into his nose. The satisfying crunch that accompanied the move almost made the resulting white-hot pain in her hand worth it.

Seeing Nora punch the Romulan in the face made Dana pause, her eyes widening. Before she could shake out of it, a second Romulan had grabbed her around the waist. Dana moved her free arm in front of her, then whipped it back, feeling her elbow connect with his jaw. Quickly she stomped on his foot and wrenched free of his grip. Taking a few steps backwards, she pulled out her phaser and pointed it at the Romulan.

Setak was taken by surprise by the sudden ferocity with which the melee had begun, but his astonishment quickly segued into bristling urgency as the largest of the three Romulans approached with a sadistic grin. Why he didn't reach for his disruptor Setak did not know but as the lumbering Romulan began throwing powerful calculated punches all the Vulcan could do was stumble backward and hope that his path was clear. Setak found himself backing into a narrow alley way after a few moments and quickly losing ground, a couple more seconds and he would have no room left to retreat.

The pain in Nora’s hand wasn’t going away, and the Betazoid was fairly certain that she’d broken something. Romulans weren’t known for their delicate bone structure, after all. Holding her throbbing hand close to her body, Nora stumbled back a step as the Romulan before her lunged forward, his face awash in green blood from his injured nose. Out of instinct she darted out of his path, and her relative swift-footedness paid off. Luckily for her, the Romulan miscalculated his step and somehow managed to trip over his own feet, landing in a heap on the sidewalk. Looking over at Dana, Nora anxiously queried, “Everything under control?”

Taking a few deep breaths, Dana glanced quickly over at Nora, "I believe so, yes, unless someone here wants to cause trouble..." Eyeing the Romulan, she moved forward and took the disruptor from him. As her eyes looked around again though, she noticed their missing teammate; with her phaser, Dana motioned towards the alley and followed the Romulan as he moved rather slowly in the proper direction.

Setak's back hit a wall just as the bulky Romulan came in with yet another jab; reflexively Setak jerked his head to the side and instead of his face the Romulan's fist impacted with solid brick. A loud crack could be heard as bones gave way and the startled Romulan's face flushed green with blood. Sensing his moment to act Setak pushed himself off the wall and tackled the injured Romulan to the ground. After a few moments' struggle Setak managed to gain the upper hand and, while straddling the Romulan's chest, began delivering blows of his own, quickly incapacitating the Romulan. The doctor had passed the line of no return, however, and fueled by a rage more powerful than anything he had felt recently his fist continued to descend on the Romulan in quick succession.

While striving to keep an eye on the still prone Romulan, Nora cautiously followed Dana. With any real luck, they’d soon have all three Romulans neatly rounded up. At the hallmark sounds of an altercation, Nora’s attention was drawn to the scene at the end of the alleyway, and her eyes widened as she watched Setak continue his devastating assault. “Doctor, that’s enough!” she shouted, truly afraid that the Vulcan would do real harm to the Romulan.

Dana's eyes widened as she closed the gap to the alleyway. The Romulan currently being beaten by Setak was not moving and appeared to be unconscious. Sensing that the Romulan she had control of was getting rather upset, she nudge him in the back towards a wall in the alleyway. Her eyes turned back to the Vulcan in disbelief. It was surprising to see a crewmember act so violently...and the fact that was Vulcan made it all the more shocking. Unsure what to say, she stood silently, awaiting further instructions.

Setak's blows slowed before ceasing completely and his hands hovered over the chest of the unconscious Romulan. His vision cleared and he stared down in disbelief and his quivering fingers and the green blood that stained them. Satisfied that he had not killed the injured man beneath him, Setak slowly rolled off the Romulan to prop his back against the nearby wall and he lowered his head, unable to bring himself to witness the undoubtedly shocked expressions on his colleagues faces. He had finally gone over the line and for once in his life he was truly afraid of what consequences might follow.

In the awful silence that followed, Nora looked on helplessly for a long moment, unsure of how best to proceed. She’d never seen Setak like that before, but she knew without a doubt that he already felt remorse over his loss of control. As his friend, she wanted to comfort him. As his commanding officer, though… Compassion finally overrode everything else, and the Betazoid hurried forward. After ensuring that the Romulan’s injuries weren’t life threatening, Nora carefully approached Setak, crouching before him in an attempt to meet his lowered gaze. “Setak? It’s all right. The Romulan’s going to be all right, but we have to return to the ship now. He does need medical attention.”

Setak nodded slowly but said nothing and averted his gaze farther; he focused on a single brick among the thousands that made up the nearest wall and retreated into its complexity of texture. He would have to answer for what he had done but he would face that moment when it came.

"I think we better get going," Dana said urgently. The longer they stayed, the more likely it was that someone would stumble across them. "Let's get the other one and request transport."

“Right,” Nora nodded, but her eyes never left Setak. “Setak, we need your help,” she said gently, hoping to draw him out of his continued silence. “The thing is, I think I may have broken every bone in my hand when I hit that Romulan, so I don’t know how much help I can be to Dana in collecting our final Romulan friend.” Rising to her feet, Nora extended her uninjured hand to the Vulcan. “Ready?"

"Your hand is fine Commander," Setak said with an absent voice having lifted his eyes only high enough to examine the appendage. "I'm afraid I cant help you though, I can't even help myself right now... Leave me."

The last thing that Nora wanted to do was to leave him, but the situation was beginning to grow desperate. They couldn’t leave the third Romulan alone for much longer, and it really was dire that they returned to the Malinche soon with all of their prisoners accounted for. Reluctantly turning away, Nora nodded firmly to Dana. “Let’s go get the last Romulan and get back to the ship. Setak just needs a moment to compose himself.” The Betazoid knew that it wasn’t nearly as simple as that, but it was neither the time nor the place to speculate on his mental and emotional state. They needed to complete their mission, and they needed to complete it now.

Nodding, Dana replied, "Why don't you keep an eye on this one while I drag the last one over? He's not that far from here, afterall, and you do need to get your hand looked at." Before heading over to Nora, she growled, "Don't move," to the Romulan. She handed the Executive Officer her phaser before leaving the alley. Thankfully, there was still nobody around, which allowed her to slowly drag the last Romulan towards the alley. It took her awhile, and she imagined that the Romulan would have a rather sore shoulder, but she did it.

“Thank the Four Deities,” Nora sighed once Dana reappeared in the mouth of the alley with the Romulan in tow. In the few minutes that she was away, Setak hadn’t said so much as a word, and Nora’s worry over the Vulcan was growing every moment. Now, though, they could finally all return to the Malinche, leaving the dirty alleyway far behind. “Zeral to Malinche,” she stated clearly after retrieving her comm badge. “We have the Romulans in our custody. Six to beam up; please have Security stand by.” Looking first to Setak, then to Dana, Nora exhaled wearily. “Let’s go home.”

OFF: JP brought to you by:

Lieutenant Commander Nora Zeral
Executive Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and

Provisional Lieutenant Setak
Chief Medical Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and

Ensign Dana Toril (NPC)
Security Officer
Played by:

ON:
<<USS Malinche, Ready Room, Day 6, 0600>>

Isabel and her away team had returned to the Malinche hours ago, Romulans in tow. After following them around for what seemed like hours, her team had been able to trap them and contact the Malinche for transport. For the time being, the Romulans had been secured in the brig.

Stacy's team returned next, with their shuttle and a group of Romulans. Overall, the team hadn't seemed to be in bad shape.

What had taken the longest was the third group of Romulans. When Isabel had returned, Aaron had filled her in on what had transpired. The Malinche had found the Romulan vessel - the IRW Jatrel, as it turned out, after receiving a sort of distress signal. The Federation ship was able to locate the Jatrel and created a distraction that had given the Romulan Commander a chance to retake her ship.

Just before 0400 hours, Commander S'Vol (NPC) hailed the Malinche and gave Aaron the coordinates for the last Romulan away team. When Nora's team returned, it was quite obvious that their encounter with the Romulans had gone...less well, to put it mildly. Nora had a broken hand, Setak was covered in blood, and all had a number of cuts and bruises...the Romulans, or at least one, had fared worse. It had been a shocking sight and Isabel sent the entire away team as well as two of the three Romulans to sickbay.

It was now time for her to meet S'Vol. Isabel wasn't sure if she should be relieved or dreading the conversation. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Isabel brought up the Communications menu on her console and sent a message to the Jatrel, requesting to speak with Commander S'Vol.

A minute later, the Romulan appeared, a grim look on her face. "Captain," S'Vol greeted her, giving a brief nod.

"Commander S'Vol," Isabel replied, maintaining a straight expression. "I'm sorry that we have to meet under these circumstances.... My Second Officer has brought me up-to-date on what has happened. I take it you have command of your ship back?"

S'Vol nodded, frowning, "Yes, Captain; thanks to the assistance of your crew, I was able to regain command. The Tal Shiar agent who took over is currently in the brig; he will answer for his crimes, I assure you. I do not believe he was acting under the Tal Shiar's instructions."

Isabel raised an eyebrow. A Tal Shiar agent taking over a ship wasn't unheard of, but S'Vol spoke with such certainty that Isabel had to wonder who had told him to take command and go to the twentieth century. Perhaps another temporal agent, though Romulan... "As I believe you're aware, we have nine of your Romulan crewmembers who were on Earth. Most are in our brig, but two are in sickbay. One was more injured than the other, but they don't have life-threatening injuries. When you're ready to receive them, we'll transport them over to you."

"That would be much appreciated, Captain. Were any of your crew injured during the traitors' apprehension?" S'vol asked, curious.

"A few were, but they didn't suffer any permanent injuries," Isabel assured the Romulan. Actually she wasn't entirely sure about that either, as she hadn't gotten a full report from Nora, and Setak seemed withdrawn upon his return. However, they were alive. "I'm not sure what kind of preparations your crew might have made for a return trip, but my Science department has made calculations for time warp. Given some more time, they should be able to adjust the calculations for use on your ship, if you would like."

"Unnecessary, Captain Kersare," S'Vol answered quickly. "We have our own calculations ready and plan to leave as soon as the traitors are returned."

Isabel nodded slowly, "I understand, Commander. To be honest, I would like to have the chance to interrogate them, considering the acts they were trying to commit against the Federation. However, in the interest of Federation-Romulan relations, I'd like us to part on good terms...as much as possible. I can't guarantee what will happen when we return, but I will alert my superiors to the situation so they know the Jatrel is not hostile."

"Of course," the Romulan responded. There was little more she could ask of the Starfleet Captain at this point. Being as close to Earth as they would be, not to mention unannounced, was not ideal. "If you'll excuse me, Captain, I have preparations to make. We will contact you again when we're ready to accept the traitors."

"We'll be sure they're ready," Isabel assured S'Vol. "If I don't speak to you before, have a safe journey back to our century." Before she could say anything else, she saw the Romulan nod and the channel closed.

Leaning back in her chair, Isabel exhaled loudly. Well, that was over. She hadn't realized just how tired she was until now, when it finally hit her. With all her official duties taken care of for now, her entire crew back, and Aaron finishing preparations, Isabel could finally relax a little. Perhaps there was time for a brief nap before they headed back to their future.