Sitting Tight

[STSF Precip 0]

Mitar sat in Manticore's Captain's chair turning his gaze to the viewscreen displaying basically a polar view of a barren moon.

 

Once Dr. Stone and Nurse Nancy had healed Precip to the point of bridge duty he immediately ordered Manticore to be repositioned above the moon's pole, to provide magnetic interference for any vessel looking for a cloaked vessel. He also thought it would be a better position to recover the awayteam's shuttle for a quick get away.

 

If they returned. During the last 24 hours a Romulan Warbird passed too close for comfort, her scanners seemingly irradiating space in just about everything but visual EM bands. Manticore's cloak held..but tactical reported other faint EM spikes; sensor beams from other Romulan craft. Clearly they were looking for someone. That someone Mitar knew had to be the awayteam's shuttle or mothership..Manticore herself.

 

The team still had time, for Sovak had given a two week time limit for the awayteam's return. ..and Dr. Stone conveyed optimism that the team could pull of the operation, a fully dedicated medical team from Starfleet was orginally sent to do.

 

Mitar dreaded the potential scenario of the deadline's passage. It would mean he would have to abandon the dozen or so crewmembers of the awayteam...to get the 230 remaining crewmen of the Manticore back to Federation space. Blast..Sovak didn't give any margin for extra time, nor any means for Mitar to manuever..closer to Romulus to detect that shuttle.

 

Precip reclined briefly in the chair. Going to Romulus to find the away team? Was he nuts or being compassionate. Sovak would say the later, Mitar concluded; and he was right. Of course it would be suicide to navigate the now stirring Romulan defense fleet to get to Romulus.

 

So all Mitar and Manticore's enlisted crew could do was hunker down, hide and wait...run silent run deep...as several humans had told him they were doing. Odd he thought the phrase was...for they weren't running. Just hiding..and hoping against hope the Awayteam came back on time.