Taking Risks

[FredM 0]

ORIGIN: Task Force BSA QP0 Flagship Tjan

DATE: 11293 06 Yluj

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

TIME UNTIL ATTACK: 0 days, 22 hours, 12 Minutes, 43 Seconds

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 

It was a conundrum, there was simply no other way to describe it. It had been three and a half days since the Tjan had been sent a copy of the intercepted transmission Fleet Captain Tervain's DSB JM4/7 had picked up. Three and a half days since what some would call a cry for mercy had been transmitted by an pinkskin diplomat named Neptune Rex. In all that time, Fleet Admiral Werin had come no closer to answering the larger question.

 

Was it a last effort to create a diversion or an actual attempt to show the Terrans knew the Andoria were not involved in the destruction of the Vulcan heavy cruiser?

If it was the later, then a rift had been formed between the pinkskin and the Vulcan High Command...one which could be exploited. His initial concern regarding a sleuth showed no signs of being true, but if one was an expert in their field they could still be aboard. Yet, the question remained...was it real or an illusion?

 

The transmission many ships in his own Battle Attack Group QP0 had picked up the day before failed to give any clarity. Another transmission from this Terran diplomat, supposedly ordering the Vulcan ships to leave the Sol star group. The tone of the transmission had not been one of courtesy, but more of a threat. It was something Werin would later admit actually made him chuckle in the end, to realize that the Terrans would threaten the Vulcans knowing full well it would be almost impossible for their ships to actually forcibly remove the pointy eared creatures. Yet even with this, the order could easily be another attempt to further the diversion and as such the Vulcans had seemed to ignore the communique.

 

This lack of action had answered Fleet Admiral Werin's speculation and to a certain extent forced him to now fully commit himself mentally to the task ahead...the destruction of the Terran empire. Even that thought made him lower his antenna and shake his head. What empire was there to destroy? A single star group worth of systems? In the end it should be the Vulcans who should pay for forcing him to destroy the pinkskins...

 

Destroyer Sustainment Group SV/1 had arrived on long range sensors no more than an hour earlier and would be holding position just outside the system until the attack began. Their primary role would be to ensure the fleet was not flanked, something which was very doubtful at this stage though indeed still possible. All told, Fleet Admiral Werin had close to forty-five vessels at his disposal. It would be several years and against a far more sadistic enemy before a fleet of such a size would be seen again. Their estimates had shown the initial attack would last no more than two days, with the fourth planet in the system being secured within the third or fourth day and the Terran homeworld being silenced within the week's conclusion.

 

Yet even as these thoughts continued to fill the mind of the fifty year old Andorian who had not left the Tjan's nerve center for longer than twenty minutes for two days, they would vanish quicker than the conclusion to Deriv's seventieth musical production.

 

Werin later recounted that he was sipping a warm beverage, something one of the junior officers had introduced years earlier and the Admiral had been facsinated by for some time. He still didn't know what it was called and honestly didn't care, but midway thru his first cup several alarms on the Tjan bridge started to sound. The Fleet Admiral didn't need to ask what was happening, as he moved down the steps to the sensor display in the center of the room he could see for himself.

 

"Sir, tactical alert from Fleet Captain Tervain! Detecting orders being sent from the Vulcan command ship...energy signatures showing engine startup of the Vulcan fleet," one individual screamed. Her voice was almost immediately followed by a second who declared, "Sensors detecting movement of six, seven, no sir make that eight Vulcan ships. Course change seems to indiciate....standby..." By this stage, Werin had made it to the display and was peering over what he saw. The tall Andorian who was master of the bridge was leaning over the shoulder of a whispering communications alcove officer. His conversation was promptly concluded when a transcript of a transmission had been verified. The figure of six foot, nine inches, approached Werin and offered it to him.

 

Werin's initial response was...nothing. So unexpected was what he was seeing, it took almost two minutes of staring at the words for the Fleet Admiral to actually shift his antenna slightly in response. "This...is confirmed?," Werin asked cautiously. The taller figure nodded, "Fleet Captain Tervain has confirmed it and the status of all Vulcan ships within sensor range." Again, the response was nothing. While it was indeed possible he was losing his mind, Werin would rather not suggest such a thing. Yet, could this be another deception? Could the surrender be a false admission? They hadn't detected anything from the Vulcan High Command and while there were many communications channels Detailed Scout Battery Group JM4/7 couldn't intercept, more times than not they did. However, there was nothing....so it could easily be another deception.

 

"Admiral, Vulcan task force is changing course...heading for the blockade line, quadrant zero-six-six-seven. Intercept in one hundred seconds," a deep voice said from somewhere near the rear of the complex. Werin glanced at the sensor diagram and saw exactly what the Junior Lieutenant had announced. The Vulcans were heading for the Andorian line, but in a single ship formation...not one which was tactically sound or practical. The taller blue skinned figure glanced over his shoulder and back at the Fleet Admiral, "Your orders?"

 

Werin opened his mouth and closed it several times before words finally came out. In later years he would recount that he had mouthed a saying from a famous General he had learned at the Naval Academy, "Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash." Finally, the Fleet Admiral glanced back at the document in his hand and then at the sensor diagram one final time. "Target the Vulcan ships...but do not fire unless a weapon's lock is detected," he stated calmly. Within seconds, the entire deck of the Tjan had gone from almost complete silence to organized chaos.

 

Over a dozen transmissions were almost sent at the same time to numerous vessels within the fleet, all the while the Vulcan ship identified as the T'Pa edged ever closer to the Andorian line. Close to thirty-thousand blue skinned lifeforms collectively held their breaths for a period of two minutes, watching in amazement and growing pride as the Vulcans left the Sol star group.

 

Fleet Admiral Werin had gone nose to nose with the Vulcans and they had blinked. While he was certain they would develop a logical reason to save face with their local populus, that would be something for others to be concerned about. While not a complete certainty, it was clear something had transpired over the last several weeks which had caused a change in Vulcan and Terran relations. Were the pinkskins still a puppet of the Vulcan High Command? It would be hard to argue such a stance when one had been ready to begin a new war while the other had apparently grown tired of the logical double-talk.

 

The Andorian of fifty smirked for the first time in what seemed like decades. With his right had he motioned towards the communications alcove. By the time the senior officer there had come down to the Admiral's side, Werin had finished writing up what he wanted sent. "Transmit immediately, Lieutenant...," he said calmly, "and let's not worry about using any secure communications. We wouldn't want any errors in reception." The communications officer nodded and the tall Andorian grunted from his position to Werin's left. The Admiral chuckled, "Calm yourself...we won't be going anywhere just yet, but there's no need to obliterate one species on the eve of a Vulcan defeat."

 

Five minutes later, the Tjan transmitted only the following:

"Adamant Force Condition Zero. Repeat, Adamant Force Condition Zero. Set tactical alert three, security condition five. Repeat, set tactical alert three, security condition five."

 

Within an hour, the artificial circle which had enveloped the Sol star group started to crack. Within five hours, three large bodies of ships could once again be clearly distinguished from one another. Within twenty hours, Fleet Admiral Werin would find himself facing a new challenge.