Rock Throwing

[Saylek 0]

As Challenger heads into Elasian space for their diplomatic rendezvous, fallout from their previous encounter unfolds along the Neutral Zone...

 

The bridge of the starship Columbia was dark, illuminated by spare, stark spotlights as onboard systems continued at minimal power. It was their second day of silent running. Silent floating, Commander shiKaan Raumuk corrected himself, since they weren't exactly running anywhere. Columbia remained adrift inside the Algeron cluster, trying to blend into the background asteroids, rubble, and dust that straddled the Romulan Neutral Zone.

 

Days earlier, Columbia had been diverted from support missions near Klingon space in response to an alert from her sister ship Challenger. Somewhere in the Lantaru Sector, they had encountered a Romulan-operated D7 cruiser - a full two sectors inside Federation space. The Romulans had evaded, cloaked, and purportedly high-tailed it toward their own space. Columbia and other starships had been ordered to assume patrol runs along the Neutral Zone. Ostensibly, such deployments were a show of force to demonstrate Federation resolve and protect their borders. But with little explanation, Captain Saylek had eventually ordered them to hold position here, waiting. He wished he knew why.

 

"Huh," came the voice of a the young human at the science console.

 

Raumuk looked toward the starboard station. "Something, Mr. Marx?"

 

The ensign scratched the light blue collar of the turtleneck under his jacket, as he turned around. "You know how the captain told us to watch the drift vector of objects in the cluster?" he asked. Seeing a nod from the Andorian first officer, he continued. "Well, one of the asteroids just... well, picked up speed."

 

Raumuk considered the report. "That may not be unusual," he noted. "It could just be passing close to another object, picking up some gravitational pull."

 

Marx shook his head a little. "I filtered out normal slingshot effects and collision projections," he answered. "This one is moving in a different vector, like something nudged it..." He turned his attention back toward the display as a sensor warbled. "Hmm, definite graviton concentration," he added, adjusting his board. "It's gotta be spillover from a tractor beam, but from where?" His fingers danced over more controls.

 

Raumuk had already pressed the toggle on his armrest. "Captain Saylek to the bridge."

 

* * * * *

 

The first officer was leaning over the science console as Marx quickly explained his readings to the captain. "So I engaged the Jansen protocols and there's no question - exactly the kind of energy surge that would cover a cloaked ship."

 

Saylek turned to Raumuk. "Advise Mr. Albrecht we'll be bringing the mains back online." With a nod, the Andorian moved to execute the Vulcan's order.

 

Behind them, the Caitan security officer leaned against the railing. "I don't get it," Kal'don admitted, his tail thrashing visibly. "If you're thinking that's our Romulan friends, why would they stop here and start skipping stones. Why not just cross into the Zone?"

 

Saylek turned. It was a trick he had observed more than fifteen years earlier, during his two-year stint on the Patton. Captain Schwab had actually used it against the Romulans during one of their own incursions. "Both sides monitor the Zone discreetly, attempting to prevent just these kinds of crossings," the captain explained. "Space is vast, but it's always possible that detection methods are employed that cannot be observed. It is often wise to employ a distraction, but one that can be easily dismissed as background noise."

 

The Caitan looked at the tactical display on the Main Viewer, clearly reasoning out his response. "You throw a rock to distract the guard's attention," Kal'don mused.

 

"Colloquial, but apt," Saylek confirmed.

 

"So we've been sitting on the rock pile," he added.

 

"Analogies shouldn't be extended too far," the Vulcan cautioned, stepping down to the inner center of the bridge. "Keep a lock on that energy surge, Mr. Marx," he ordered.

 

Kal'don had lifted his feet and spun around on the railing to face him. "But how did you know? I thought Starfleet Intelligence assumed they came around through Klingon space."

 

"And Excelsior is covering that route," Saylek confirmed. "But Saratoga intercepted the Romulan message buoy three light years from here." He stuck his chin toward the Main Viewer. "And the segment from Tomed to Galorndon Core is notoriously difficult to monitor. I simply made a logical deduction for an alternate crossing point."

 

Kal'don set his footpads down on the blue carpeting. "Playing a hunch," he mused aloud. "Commodore Harrison would be proud." He took another glance at the Main Viewer and retreated to the security console at aft.

 

Saylek also looked at the screen, thinking. If this was Firewing, Commander Raekal must be a skilled tactician to have outplayed a Mk-II Excelsior-class ship like Challenger. It was also clear he'd taken a less violent option, a course which earned him respect under Saylek's value system. He hoped similar options were available to him.

 

During the failed Transwarp Project, Saylek had been exposed to the true origins of the Lantaru anomaly. This knowledge, and the Omega Directive which accompanied it, required his interdiction to prevent knowledge of that destructive experiment from reaching foreign hands. It was secret enough that he wasn't allowed to tell his our crew the importance of engaging the Romulan ship. Secrecy was the goal, but it was becoming obvious that Starfleet needed to extend the directive to all starship captains. Seiben would never had let them escape if he'd been briefed on what he was supposed to protect at Lantaru.

 

"Ms. London, standby on communications," he ordered. "Engineering, bring us to full power. Mr. Kramer, it's time to let the Romulans understand that both sides of the Zone are to be protected..."

Edited May 4, 2009 by Saylek