The Search Begins

[Saylek 0]

CAPTAIN'S LOG

Excelsior-class starship USS Columbia

Saylek, commanding

 

With the assistance of late-arriving loyalist Klingon forces, attack on the convoy was thwarted with minimal overall damage to escorts and freighters. The threat force, a K'Vort-class bird of prey with augmented cloaking capability, was destroyed during its final run against the starship Challenger. Our science department continues to analyze sensor records of the battle, to determine an effective countermeasure against this latest improvement. Despite this engagement, transit of materiel to the Klingon homeworld has been accomplished. Columbia engineers were dispatched to make hull repairs on the more heavily damaged freighters.

 

Challenger has docked at one of the many orbital Z-4 Klingon facilities (Outpost 35) for repairs. Damage to the Columbia was less severe, localized in our aft shield generator. Swapout of the fused components is nearly complete.

 

Captain Seiben has given us leave to commence a search for those freighters previously dispatched by Starfleet Command. Our own encounter with hostile forces suggests we look for locations where they might have been diverted by force. Or debris.

 

Saylek tapped the shiny black surface on his left armrest, ending the official log. He had yet to fathom the logic of attacking a mercy convoy, much less taking that assault to the death. General Tar'mok had no doubt spoken the official position of the Azetbur government that these were trivial, rogue elements. The advanced nature of their cloaking, however, suggested these elements were nevertheless well-connected. Was there willingness to die evidence of useless Klingon honor, he wondered, or could this technology have revealed their origin?

 

Saylek considered the possibilities.

 

He swivelled the center chair toward navigation. "Mr. Mennen," the Vulcan addressed him, "you have already determined a search pattern?"

 

The dark-skinned human gestured toward the central stellar display. "Plotted and laid in, sir, once we reach the location of their last known transmission," the navigator answered. He looked over to his comrade, Lieutenant Nolan Kramer, who manned the other side of the shared console and wore a similar grey turtleneck under his burgundy uniform jacket. Kramer nodded, to confirm they were on course.

 

"Very well," Saylek nodded. "I want you to detail all stellar phenomena within that pattern that are large enough to conceal our missing freighters, but unobtrusive enough to serve as a base for these rogues." His intention was to let the support ships confine their search to open space. Columbia was better suited to deal with any hostile forces that might be stumbled on up close. "I want summaries available on the main viewer." He wondered if it would be necessary to request access to the Klingon database.

 

"Aye, sir," Mennen acknowledged.

 

Saylek allowed the chair to spin further, until the science station came into view. Marx and Kal'don were hunched over the display. His Caitan chief of security was aiding in attempts to understand the battle they'd just survived.

 

"Status?" he prompted.

 

Kal'don flattened the fur behind one ear. "We tried things that would've worked against the prototype at Khitomer," he offered as a prelude, "so we're trying to figure out what was different about this one." He stepped closer to the railing. "Their first hits on us were with beam weapons. Disruptors. We should've been able to track them back using plain old line-of-sight." But there had been no tell-tale orange surges of energy to give away the enemy position.

 

"And yet, we saw nothing," Saylek noted. "Tactical sensors didn't lock in on a source." Once again, he found himself wishing Malcolm Jansen were there to help them. Marx was his former science chief's best protégé, but no one seemed to match his missing friend's ability to think through the convoluted game of subterfuge and detection.

 

Marx turned from his read-outs. "The shield output shows the hits we took were short duration and not as tightly focused. They were concentrated in less-energetic, non-visible wavelengths and at lower power than a full disruptor bolt."

 

No doubt one reason they had taken less damage, Saylek reasoned. It might have been an adaptation the Klingon ship was testing. Being invisible was useless if one carried a flashlight. It could also explain why the ship had changed tactics, moving off to fire torpedoes from longer range. Perhaps the modified disruptors hadn't proven effective enough. Unless there had simply been a second ship… So many possibilities.

 

"Excellent work," he commended. "Pass this along to the Challenger science department. And make certain our scans include evidence of flourine permeation. If there were any other ships operating in our convoy's smoke screen, there should be some lingering sign." He swivelled toward the front as Mennen's first database entries appeared onscreen. Back on the outpost, Captain Seiben would be soon received by the formal Klingon welcoming committee. He hoped they would be forthcoming with any countermeasures or intelligence they had on this new technology. Until then, Columbia would run with shields up, at the mercy of non-deterministic events. Logic would help him little.

Edited June 29, 2008 by Saylek