Vorta Strategies

[Sorehl 0]

Mere meters above the skin of the Excalibur, the shuttlecraft Columbia advanced like an insect crawling up the underbelly of some great beast. At the controls, Captain Christopher J’cin kept the craft close to the hull, trying to remain within both the starship’s warp field and the tenuous envelope of the active cloaking device.

 

“No emissions on the sensors, sirs,” Lieutenant Commander Alex Deveraux reported from the co-pilot chair, “but we should be clear enough for a visual.”

 

“Confirmed,” came the steady baritone of Captain Sorehl standing behind him. “There is indeed an object affixed to the hull.” The Vulcan extended two fingers in the direction of his attention.

 

“I’ll be damned,” J’cin affirmed. He adjusted the controls, bringing them closer.

 

Deveraux consulted the three-dimensional graphic already spinning on his console. “86% configuration match with the Dominion tracking device encountered during the war by the Romulan warbird Sionex.”

 

Sorehl nodded. “Quite capable of revealing our position, despite the cloak.”

 

“Well,” Deveraux surmised, “it seems Vorta strategy is nothing if not consistent.”

 

“Relentless,” Sorehl added.

 

The operations officer glanced toward the standing figure. Was there an edge to be detected in the Vulcan’s admission, he wondered.

 

J’cin was looking at the scorch marks and buckling near their location. “The damage from the torpedo was probably just to mask this device,” he concluded. “They rattled us without penetrating the hull.”

 

“Still,” Deveraux noted,” it was an impressive piece of marksmanship. Does that mean the cloak we're using is obsolete?”

 

“I’ve been considering that,” the Vulcan observed. “It is possible that we were backlit by the verteron and neutrino burst of the unfolding wormhole. The Dominion warship may have simply fired at an emerging sensor ghost.”

 

J’cin shifted in his seat, leaning back. “You think they were expecting us?” Dominion intelligence was infamous during the war.

 

“Uncertain,” came the response. “They may simply be taking measures against the entry of undeclared vessels. The Founder Treaty cedes Allied access to the Quadrant for colonization and exploration, but cloaked ships could be construed as a violation of that spirit.”

 

Deveraux cleared his throat, adjusting his controls.

 

“It is clear,” Sorehl continued, “they had no intention of destroying us. An unshielded impact of 35 isotons would have done that most effectively. And… we would be at war. No doubt they mean merely to track us surreptitiously.”

 

J’cin slid forward in his seat. “Well, we can’t allow that now, can we? Commander, we need to consider the best way of lancing this boil.”

Edited May 7, 2004 by Sorehl