S2 M7 - The Two Wolves

[Eydis]

[Katra Station - Turbo]

Zex did not nod or giggle when Eydis was talking about Vulcan's.  She showed no indication of agreeing or disagreeing with the Tholian.  But she commented on the next topic.

"I was surprised as well, but if cloaking technology is needed then including the Klingon's is a must.  Who knows, maybe you will even make friends among them.  Wouldn't that be great?" she replied.

"What is Tholia like?  So little is know about it.  But I would be honored to be among the first to walk on your planet" the Deltan said honestly.

Its beauty is something I think many would not see who are not tholian. The capital city rises out Terran much like Those in earth of the badlands of Arizona with red iron ore sand and white plains of salt. At night I would stand with my parents and watch the swarms of what I can only name as will-o-wisps rise up from the sand and into the heavens. Giant bioluminescent clouds that twist and turn in the wind at night. Storms of violent red lighting and swirling masses of dark clouds can cover the capital cities for weeks. Even with out technology to disperse the storms they lash at the capitals shields until their fury is spent. Droplets of pure carbon liquid would lash the cities shields in a light show of blue sparks as the droplets hit the shields.  Often a returning tholian will become engulfed in a cloud of the will-o-wisps swirling around inn rythmic manner. My favorite thing is when the light crystals are launched into the skies for celebration and they draw the will wisps to Them. As they flash all sorts of colors and hues altering the glow of the will o wisps   

Eydis would tilt hir a head Tell me off your homeworld zex the deltan. Are their animals on it ?

[Catherine Goodspeed]

[Katra - Deck 2]

Closing the com, first to Solluk, then actioning the instructions the Captain had just given him, and - rare for the current times - also agreeing with them, John was taken aback when the turbolift he had called revealed Catherine Goodspeed, complete with her gaggle of leashed voles (a small voice in his head wondered what was the correct collective noun for voles?) in tow and clutching what looked like something gift-wrapped. Precious picoseconds ticked past as Saxon and Goodspeed looked at each other in entangled bewilderment. Then Saxon raised his hand silently to suggest she stay put as he joined her in the car. Whatever plans she, and her entourage, had it could wait. But first, he needed more resources. "OCC". Then "Computer: locate Lt Rhade."

" Lt L'mar Camili Rhade is aboard USS Healy.  "

That stopped him dead. Tess had been adamant that no-one boarded the ship, for reasons that were now becoming only too apparent. If Rhade was aboard then he had to be complicit somehow; for surely if he had designs to contradict the orders of the Captain, he'd have wisely raised concerns with the Chief of Security first, especially if Saxon himself had supported the original suggestion to have one of the two senior engineers aboard. So while his actions didn't fit the pattern of Tess, Hrafn and undoubtably Rayek's, presumed compromised behaviour, there may well have been some ad hoc methodology to further recruit numbers; the Leyton debacle was certainly one such example of such artificial means, and whilstg that whole sorry saga was now definitively put to sleep, he couldn't rule out that a derivative of the technology wasn't at play here.

He looked at Goodspeed, who seemed have kept staring, a scowl on her face now approaching his own. In many ways, it was fortunate that it wasn't she that had been co-opted; her expertise of the New Orleans-class ship might have been all the more dangerous a boon for this undefined enemy. That was not to say she was completely in the clear - too many twists, turns and tangents had developed over the last few days to say with any certainty - but John took a gamble that too much 'recruiting' would have increased odds of detection. "I need you in the OCC with me." he said without preamble. From what he knew of Goodspeed, being to-the-point was a verbal shorthand that she was all-to familiar and comfortable with from her days as a civilian contractor.

He then tried not to think of the merry, energetic voles that would also accompany her to the professional and serious nerve centre of the station. But there was no time to arrange for a sitter.

OOC - I gave Saxon permission to move Cat up to deck 2 BTW.

Katra - Deck 2 - Turbolift

Cat was trying to de-tangle her colony of voles from around her feet when the Turbolift door opened and she glanced up and came face to face with Saxon.

Even though she was on her way to see the aged man seeing him eyeball to eyeball as he stopped suddenly from entering the lift due to her presence and that of her companions threw her off completely.

It was like being ambushed by a permanently cross looking granite rock face.

Seconds ticked slowly past until the Lieutenant raised his hand at her and entered the Turbolift. She shuffled aside slightly as to avoid his personal space.

Can glanced down and noticed with surprise and a hint of admiration that the voles had been watching Saxon and had sat down at the sight of his raised hand; a signal they had been trained to understand as "sit".  Normally they ignored most people except Cat when it came to hand signals. They may be sitting but each one was having a good sniff of Saxons current foot wear and fidgeting slightly.

Cat stood in the silence; each nanosecond stretching like an aeon.

"OCC". Then "Computer: locate Lt Rhade."

" Lt L'mar Camili Rhade is aboard USS Healy.  "

Cat stared into the side of the face of Saxon, trying to get her head round why she hadn't been allowed to leave the lift and now why he was wondering where Rhade was. And why was Rhade on The Healy?  They had been ordered not to go on board. What the hell was going on?!

He must of felt her stare and turned his head to face her and looked at her frown lined features.

"I need you in the OCC with me."

With a short sharp nod Cat replied "Of course Sir... "

[Kirok]

Its beauty is something I think many would not see who are not tholian. The capital city rises out Terran much like Those in earth of the badlands of Arizona with red iron ore sand and white plains of salt. At night I would stand with my parents and watch the swarms of what I can only name as will-o-wisps rise up from the sand and into the heavens. Giant bioluminescent clouds that twist and turn in the wind at night. Storms of violent red lighting and swirling masses of dark clouds can cover the capital cities for weeks. Even with out technology to disperse the storms they lash at the capitals shields until their fury is spent. Droplets of pure carbon liquid would lash the cities shields in a light show of blue sparks as the droplets hit the shields.  Often a returning tholian will become engulfed in a cloud of the will-o-wisps swirling around inn rythmic manner. My favorite thing is when the light crystals are launched into the skies for celebration and they draw the will wisps to Them. As they flash all sorts of colors and hues altering the glow of the will o wisps   

Eydis would tilt hir a head Tell me off your homeworld zex the deltan. Are their animals on it ?

[Katra Station - Turbo]

Zex listened closely to Eydis' description of Tholia.  "In many ways, it does remind me of Vulcan.  It is a dessert like planet.  But they don't have the will-o-wisps or the light crystal.  It must be beautiful to watch" she relied.

"Delta IV is a special place.  It is lush and green.  There is vegetation everywhere and water a plenty" she said.  "I had a big lake outside my house.  There was a lot of fish, and birds, and four legged animals" she added.

"I have a hologram in my office.  It looks like you are looking out of a window at my home there.  Would you like to see it?" she asked.

[Solluk]

Katra Station - Captain's Quarters

Solluk carefully removed his bowl of soup from the replicator alcove and carried it to the small dining table in his quarters.  It was one of his more common repasts: A bowl of plomeek soup.  As he set it down, he reflected on recent events.  He couldn't help but feel that he had terribly mismanaged things of late, and that fact was weighing heavily upon his mind.

But he was also bothered by the fact that he still had no ready explanation for all of the oddities that surrounded the past couple of days.

He knew he was going to feel ludicrous later, when he explained to Tess everything that had transpired and confessed his fears.  She would have logical explanations for everything.  He would have only the confession of rampant paranoia.

At least events with the Tholians had started on the right foot.

As he dipped his spoon into the soup, his com-badge vibrated.  It was indicative of a clandestine mode, often used to avoid disturbances at diplomatic events.  The low volume of the voice which emanated from the device only supported the fact that someone was sending him a 'quiet' comminque.

Lt Saxon to Captain Solluk, on discreet. Sir, I believe we have a serious problem...

Solluk's heart felt like it seized.  Though, in fact, it had picked up its pace.  He released the spoon, and it slid completely into the liquid contents of the bowl.

A dreadful feeling gripped him as he tapped his acknowledgement and spoke softly in reply, though his voice gratefully reflected none of his turmoil.

Go ahead, Lieutenant.

He knew this was it.

This was the thing.

This was what he'd been looking for:  Something to tie everything together.  Saxon had found it, after all.

And Solluk already knew he wasn't going to like it.

Not one bit.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell - replicant
[Katra Station - corridors >>> Saucer 1 Customs >>> Docking service room - Day 3 - 3 pm]

Lt. Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant)
[Katra Station - OCC >>> USS Healy - Day 3 - 3 pm]

The announcement that the Healy had been identified as the ship approaching the station had triggered something in Tess. It felt as if a re-written program had been activated and fulfilling the tasks set up there was her only concern right now.

Picking up her PADD, Tess activated a couple of signals to alarm her 'accomplices' and also to activate the sabotaging she'd been set up in sickbay. As of now, all the hyposprays Tess had been able to sabotage would deliver an overdose with their next use. Tess didn't exactly know who had set up these programs, or why she knew where she would find them hidden in her PADD, but she did. She also activated that incoming calls would be transferred in writing to her PADD instead of being audible for everyone around her to hear.

Promptly, Rayek's message came through. She rose from her seat and found all eyes on her - the Ops crew was baffled how there could be two Healys. "Please check once more if there wasn't a malfunction in the sensor readings, Ensign", she addressed Shotar while she started to head to the exit. "Continue your duty", she ordered everyone else and then glanced to Ricci. "You have the bridge til I'm back, Ensign." Without waiting for confirmation Tess left the OCC.

Once in the turbolift, she tapped her commbadge.  "t'Lhoell to tr'Lhoell and Falleg. On my way as well. Will reach Healy in about three minutes. Sabotage activated."

[Corridors > Turbolift > Bridge of Healy]Day 3 - 3 pm][/b][/color]

Hrafn got the message and tapped her commbadge  Be there about that time myself, all the best people get this gig! Falleg out

Upon reaching the Healy she got onto the Bridge and slipped into the Science Officer's position and then sat and waited.

The replicant known as Rayek strode through the service corridors of Katra, taking the quickest route to the Healy while avoiding known security points.  The fact that he had been activated early meant that some situation had occurred to put their plans awry.  He didn't know how long it would take for station security to become aware, so he needed to take precautions.

At two-minute thirty, Rayek reached Saucer 1 Customs which was currently vacant since there were no ships other than the station's own vessel that would be docked there. Saucer 1 was reserved for Starfleet assets.

The original plan had anticipated that the Station's shields and those anti-boarding protocols and programs would be compromised - yet Rayek hadn't gotten that far in his sabotage.    The station's immediate defenses, since they were integral, were checked several times a day.  A rewrite of the code there days ahead of time would have been noticed.  So his orders had been to wait for the day of the action before subverting that system.  Unfortunately that meant unless they were quick, whatever prompt the activation could alert the station to raise shields before they were released.

Also in a bit of lack of foresight the Healy was still docked.  This would hamper their escape unless Rayek did something about the umbilical and docking clamps.   But before he could tackle the clamps, Rayek had to deal with a pair of Katra security who were assigned to keep watch over Customs.

Since the alarms had yet to be raised, there was no reason for the two guards watching over Customs not to greet Rayek with a smile. A moment later he had both knocked out and unconscious.  He wasn't too concerned over the video surveillance, the live feed was rarely ever observed until Security was already at alert status.

With the guards down, Rayek hurried to the docking service room where the manual controls for the umbilical and the clamps were.  Because the Healy was being kept at readiness to go.. the room was occupied - just for an eventuality like this where there was an emergency.

"Crewman, uncouple the clamps and release the umbilical." he ordered.

The crewman, one of those who had been around for a while and remembered the time when Rayek was a Commander, looked to Rayek uncertainly.  "Um, sorry sir, release of docking clamps and umbilical can only be issued by Command Staff or one of the senior officers during an alert."

Rayek missed when he had the authority to just get these thing done himself.  While Rayek could have contacted Tess and had her given the crewman the order it was easier to just  knock out the engineer like he did the guards who were unconscious not far away.  The Romulan took over the console, which was already unlocked thanks to the Ops crewman playing.. Minesweeper..  and Sudoku..  on the console out of complete boredom.

tr'Lhoell to t'Lhoell and Falleg.  Are you both aboard?   I'm about to blow the clamps and umbilical.   I'll need a beam up afterwards."

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 12:30 pm](enroute to Katra Statio)

[USS Healy - en route to Katra][USS Healy - Bridge - Day 3 - Noon+20]

"Well I'm glad that I didn't sound mad, or least more mad than normal!" Hrafn said with a chuckle.  She popped in the information that Rayek got her and waited.

"And now... we wait...  We make a good team because we're adaptable I think, and possibly a level of craziness and a 'can do' attitude.  We're not defeatists."  she offered a smile.

"Besides, I don't fancy playing midwife so got to get you back!  I'm not good with blood, that's why I did Science not Medical.  Though I will tell you one thing, doctor or not... when it's your kids that are hurt, you don't care about the fact that if you give yourself a paper cut... old thing but tiny but painful...and bleed you're practically fainting... your child can be spurting blood and you have it all over you, you don't care about that just getting someone to superglue that arm back onto your child...or stitching it back on yourself!  Any amount of blood, poop and other bodily fluids you don't care, you get on with it if you're Mom, Dad and it's one of your kids, any other time... pass the barf bag!"

Rayek glanced over to Hrafn at her exaggerated explanation, though he thought he knew what she meant.  But as she was talking to Tess and not him, Rayek chose wisely to not get himself roped into that conversation.

A half hour after the message was sent.. and there was still no reply back.  It seemed that it hadn't worked.  This worried Rayek, what trouble might be occurring on the station as the Healy hurried back.

Rayek continued to work on somehow scanning ahead to the station.  Since he knew exactly where he wanted to look, so Rayek figured there had to be someway he could use strengthen the scan signal back.   He was researching ways to improve or increase subspace communication and scanning when he came upon a DS9 log entry from a while back, noting that subspace communications had been made possible without having to open the wormbhole completely because of a material called Silithium.

The material was rather familiar to Rayek as many of the original science excursions to the Oort cloud showed that it had quite a large concentration of the substance.  Was there a way to use that information?

Adjusting his scanners from long range to short, Rayek scanned for Silithium and was surprised to find not only was the Healy trailing silithium likely from having picking it up going through the Oort cloud, but their were two trails, in their vicinity.  A check showed that the decaying ionization matched with the Healy.

They were headed back very close to the same route as they had come out.  Not surprising since Ensign Jessica both was had been attempting to follow the shortest route.

If the material conducted subspace communications... could it also not be a carrier for the sensor signals.   Then the idea came to him.

Maybe they didn't need to use their own sensors to get a look at the station.  Maybe if he could send a signal back along the silithium trail towards the station, one of the Firechain sensor might pick up the instruction to alter its transmission path back along the silithium trail.  It was long shot but Rayek suggested to Tess and asked Hrafn if the science sounded viable.

"Captain, it would require sending your encrypted command authorization along with the new instructions along the silithium trail.  Are you okay with this?"

[John Saxon]

[Saxon's Office - Deck 2 - some moments prior]

Forcing himself to do so as calmly, but as swiftly, as possible, John layed out his supposition of the situation: the mysteriously vanishing distress signal that the Healy had responded to. The brief loss of contact with the Healy. The curious subspace snare that had apparently been tripped well before the, apparently amateurish, would-be trappers had been ready.  The omission of Healy's retrograde modifications in the after mission report. Tess's almost pathological reluctance for anyone to board, or disembark, the Healy even to the detriment of safety during alert. The infuriating delayed results of the neural scans showing almost a year's worth of engramatic discrepancies.  The notion that only those on the aforementioned mission were showing such signs. That Rayek had not yet been checked but had been on the same mission.

" Captain, with your permission, I'd like to mobilise DICE and instigate a silent Intruder Alert to apprehend these individuals. We don't know what their endgame is, and I have to admit I am concerned what they've already achieved.  "

[Operational Control Centre - Deck 1]

John was grateful for the lack of explanation he had to make in co-opting Goodspeed's assistance; whether it was his no-nonsense tone, that had sometimes got under the skin of others, or whether she had perceptively read between the lines that something was critical enough to follow his lead without taking up valuable time for debate, she fell into step easily. As the doors swished open to the OCC, John strode out, his hand ready to reach out behind him to grab the secluded phaser under his tunic and his eyes searching for what was masquerading as Commander Tess t'Lhoell, who was meant to be in the OCC as part of her shift.

Nothing.

"Where is Commander t'Lhoell?" he virtually barked to the chamber.

Ensign Ricci smiled from her post and replied warmly. "She's just popped away sir; I'm holding as duty officer until she returns. Do you want me to-"

That was it, then. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen soon. Without waiting for the rest of Ricci's reply, he looked at Goodspeed, his eyes carrying an urgent instruction of great import. "Take engineering" he nodded to the station over yonder, "and run a log for any systems that have been modified in any way in the last two days". He appreciated that may be like looking for a needle in a pile of pins, but he hoped something odd would show up. "Prioritise and flag any that have been authorised by Rhade or t'Lhoell in that time, then widen the search to any access to Tactical or power management systems, but if anything looks unusual, or out of place, let me know immediately". Ordinarily, these could be done by Operations, but they had their own immediate jobs. He turned to Ricci, who's friendly smile was ebbing somewhat. "Ensign, I want you to-"

Science Ensign Shotar interrupted him, clearly not as amenable as Ricci. "Um, Lt Saxon, sir. I don't know what's happening, but you should know we're currently decoding a signal that looks to be from the USS Healy beyond the system. Commander t'Lhoell thinks it could be a fault in the sensors so I don't know if-"

He almost smiled. Perhaps this was perfect timing, and certainly fitted neatly into the assumption he and Solluk were working on.  But that mystery could wait for the immediate future. "As of now, and until Captain Solluk directly countermands, all instructs from Commander t'Lhoell are rescinded.

"Mr Shotah, I want you to focus all your attention in penetrating that damn subspace storm interference; I want to see what's out there.

"Ensign Ricci, I want you to over-ride any requests for Healy's departure. Suspend all transporter activity unless authorised by myself or Captain Solluk. Pull up any combadge logs in the last hour for Leftentant Commander t'Lhoel, Leftentant Falleg, Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell and Acting Leftenant Rhade, transcribed and sent to my PADD."

He turned to Tactical, acknowledging a nervous-looking Bolian crewman. "Steady, lad. Standby to lock tractor beams onto the Healy. And prepare phaser emitters but do not energise them yet."

He would have also suggested to raise shields, but with the Healy docked, the graviton bubble would encompass both structures, making the act pointless. He only hoped the quietly deployed Directed Intrusion Countermeasures Element (DICE) would reach and breach before one of two things happened: that the Healy broke free...

Or detonated.

[Tess tLhoell]

Lt. Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant)
[USS Healy - Bridge - Day 3 - Noon]

[USS Healy - en route to Katra][USS Healy - Bridge - Day 3 - Noon+20]

"Well I'm glad that I didn't sound mad, or least more mad than normal!" Hrafn said with a chuckle.  She popped in the information that Rayek got her and waited.

"And now... we wait...  We make a good team because we're adaptable I think, and possibly a level of craziness and a 'can do' attitude.  We're not defeatists."  she offered a smile.

"Besides, I don't fancy playing midwife so got to get you back!  I'm not good with blood, that's why I did Science not Medical.  Though I will tell you one thing, doctor or not... when it's your kids that are hurt, you don't care about the fact that if you give yourself a paper cut... old thing but tiny but painful...and bleed you're practically fainting... your child can be spurting blood and you have it all over you, you don't care about that just getting someone to superglue that arm back onto your child...or stitching it back on yourself!  Any amount of blood, poop and other bodily fluids you don't care, you get on with it if you're Mom, Dad and it's one of your kids, any other time... pass the barf bag!"

Tess smiled at Hrafn and her trying to cheer them up with positive thoughts. At the topic of parents doing anything to protect or help their child no matter if they have to do something they would shy away from normally, Tess chuckled. "As a doctor you shouldn't be afraid of blood, poop or other bodily fluids in general, there is a high chance you will have to deal with it sooner or later and more or less frequently." In fact, Tess had never been really squeamish in regards to things other people might find disgusting. As a kid she never have had a problem to deal with the big blue worms on Ba'ku when she was fishing with her brother Rahul. That you got superpowers if the lives of your children or the person you loved were at stake was believable.

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 12:30 pm](enroute to Katra Statio)

Rayek glanced over to Hrafn at her exaggerated explanation, though he thought he knew what she meant.  But as she was talking to Tess and not him, Rayek chose wisely to not get himself roped into that conversation.

A half hour after the message was sent.. and there was still no reply back.  It seemed that it hadn't worked.  This worried Rayek, what trouble might be occurring on the station as the Healy hurried back.

Rayek continued to work on somehow scanning ahead to the station.  Since he knew exactly where he wanted to look, so Rayek figured there had to be someway he could use strengthen the scan signal back.   He was researching ways to improve or increase subspace communication and scanning when he came upon a DS9 log entry from a while back, noting that subspace communications had been made possible without having to open the wormbhole completely because of a material called Silithium.

The material was rather familiar to Rayek as many of the original science excursions to the Oort cloud showed that it had quite a large concentration of the substance.  Was there a way to use that information?

Adjusting his scanners from long range to short, Rayek scanned for Silithium and was surprised to find not only was the Healy trailing silithium likely from having picking it up going through the Oort cloud, but their were two trails, in their vicinity.  A check showed that the decaying ionization matched with the Healy.

They were headed back very close to the same route as they had come out.  Not surprising since Ensign Jessica both was had been attempting to follow the shortest route.

If the material conducted subspace communications... could it also not be a carrier for the sensor signals.   Then the idea came to him.

Maybe they didn't need to use their own sensors to get a look at the station.  Maybe if he could send a signal back along the silithium trail towards the station, one of the Firechain sensor might pick up the instruction to alter its transmission path back along the silithium trail.  It was long shot but Rayek suggested to Tess and asked Hrafn if the science sounded viable.

"Captain, it would require sending your encrypted command authorization along with the new instructions along the silithium trail.  Are you okay with this?"

Tess looked to Rayek and was rather impressed by the idea. She glanced back to Hrafn to hear her opinion on it.

"We can definitely try it." When Hrafn and Rayek were indicating they had found a silithium trail that would suit their purposes and set up the sensor to send a signal along that path, Tess gave her authorization code so the firechain wouldn't block the new instruction. "Authorization Dr. t'Lhoell, Delta-3-7-4-Echo-1." She looked to Rayek, nodding her head as indication that he could now send the signal.

Replicant - Lt. Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant)
[Katra Station - Turbolift >>> Customs Saucer 1 - Day 3 - 3 pm]

Delicate fingers curled around the combadge at her chest and took tore it off the uniform just as the turbolift came to a halt. The piece of crystalline composite of gold, microfilament, silicon, beryllium and carbon-70 dropped to the floor of the tubolift with a quiet clonk as rTess addressed the computer. "Deck 22", she ordered as she stepped out and let the lift descend with her badge being the only 'occupant'.

Glancing around the vacant customs area rTess noticed two unconscious security officers. Her lips curled into a small grin - so Rayek had been here already. It was then that her PADD vibrated with a message that her badge had forwarded once more in writing.

tr'Lhoell to t'Lhoell and Falleg.  Are you both aboard?   I'm about to blow the clamps and umbilical.   I'll need a beam up afterwards."

Looking up, rTess bent down and grabbed the phaser one of the security officers wore to attach it to her own belt before she strode to the docking area. Unlike the real Tess, rTess had not yet had the privilege to be trained in aiming and shooting by John 'Century' Saxon. The basic knowledge she had would have to suffice. She was not sure if anyone had become suspicious yet, but she better assumed it.

Reaching the docking control room her hand felt for the phaser but the next second she realized it was rRayek. Slipping inside to him she noticed the unconscious crewman. "Falleg is on board." She nodded to rRayek's combadge. "Protocols are in place, transport on board should already be standing by." Since rTess had gotten rid of her combadge they'd have to call for two to beam up. rTess glanced about to see if there was any sign of security forces. "We better hurry."

NPCs Ensigns Ricci (Ops) and Shotar (Science)
[Katra Station - OCC - Day 3 - 3 pm]

If the junior officers were surprised by Saxon's orders they didn't show it. Their instructions were acknowledged with a sharp 'Yes, Sir', before they set to work.

The young half-Bajoran science officer was positive he'd be able to get Saxon the results he wanted given that he had been able to pinpoint another ship beyond the Oort cloud that had identified as the USS Healy. So he thought he should be able to find out more.

The hopefulness left him when the signal that had belonged to the Healy was nowhere to be seen. He frowned, the small creases that formed between his eyebrows building a unison with a ridges on his nose as he worked his console. He cleared the sensors, re-set them to once more get a hold on something out there, but he had no luck. "Sir", he spoke up as he glanced briefly up to see if he got John's attention, "we have lost the signal the sensors had been picking up before. The distortions have increased again, however, it seems they have done so around a selective area. There is no way our sensors can penetrate that." His fingers flew over the console as he made some computations.

Meanwhile, Ensign Ricci had executed her orders. As yet, no request for departure of the Healy had been made, but she had activated a protocol that would block any undocking procedures if they wouldn't be made from the OCC. She then issued the instructions to suspend transporter activity on the station while she let the computer gather the combadge activity and protocols of the names individuals. She also used the opportunity to locate them.

"Commander t'Lhoell is on deck 22, Ensign tr'Lhoell in the docking control room, Lt. Falleg and Lt. Rhade are aboard the Healy, Sir. Combadge logs have been transferred to your PADD."

[Eydis]

[Katra Station - Turbo]

Zex listened closely to Eydis' description of Tholia.  "In many ways, it does remind me of Vulcan.  It is a dessert like planet.  But they don't have the will-o-wisps or the light crystal.  It must be beautiful to watch" she relied.

"Delta IV is a special place.  It is lush and green.  There is vegetation everywhere and water a plenty" she said.  "I had a big lake outside my house.  There was a lot of fish, and birds, and four legged animals" she added.

"I have a hologram in my office.  It looks like you are looking out of a window at my home there.  Would you like to see it?" she asked.

"Yes it would be a unique honor to behold the beauty of tour world." Eydis would pause mid stride Zex friend of Eydis and deltan my crew has detected some odd sensors readings from the federation vessel. If you would please don  your evo suit and  join me on the acrux. Please inquiry of your commander solluk if they are aware of the odd sensor reading. Eydis would wait for zex at the docking ring to the cruiser and for hir to suit up. Hand going to the hilt of  crystalline dagger. Shi was already in contact with hir crew left in the embassy and abroad hir ship. While nothing too alarming had transpired to indicate anything more then just some odd sensor readings. Eydis wanted to be off the station as soon as possible. As soon as shi got abroad the acrux and entered the command deck heading for the ceiling console

I'm commander Eydis of the tholian cruiser acrux to the Klingon Empire 'Diplomatic Cruiser' - 'IKS LoD Qan'. Scans of the federation vessel are off we are detecting a Silithium This was sent over a secure channel to the Klingon Iks Lod wan . Eydis would turn to look at zex seeing what she had found out

[Solluk]

Katra Station - Captain's Quarters  --> Ready Room --> OCC

Solluk listened to Saxon as he laid out the evidence so far, capping it with the recent medical reports.  They had been looking for something specific, and so they'd almost missed a completely unrelated neural anomaly.  The Captain chastised himself for not giving more general instructions to begin with.  They might have caught the situation sooner.

Captain, with your permission, I'd like to mobilise DICE and instigate a silent Intruder Alert to apprehend these individuals. We don't know what their endgame is, and I have to admit I am concerned what they've already achieved. 

Solluk nodded unnecessarily and responded, Do it.  I'll be at the Operational Control Center shortly, via the private turbolift in my ready room.

He stood and moved to a desk by his bedside, opening a drawer.  Inside was a copy of 'The Teachings of Surak - Amended and Updated 2164' bound in paper- more an heirloom than honest reading material, though he had sometimes paged through it on sleepless nights.  Beside the book was a holstered Type II phaser.  It had remained here, charged and ready, since the Dosi attack.

He picked it up, checked its setting, and then attached it to his waist.  As he did so, he wondered what, exactly, they were dealing with.   Some kind of subspace entities, living in a subspace domain, who'd taken control of his people?  That would not explain the year of memory loss.  Something more nefarious?

What had been happening a year ago?  Think.  Think...

...Thinkers.

A cold chill crawled up his spine.

It had been days since the Healy had returned.  Days for high-level officers like Tess and Hrafn to wreak havoc.  Saxon's words echoed in his mind:  I am concerned what they've already achieved.

He had to anticipate.  He had to prepare countermeasures for whatever they had accomplished.

He returned to the dining table to collect his personal PADD.  He quickly used it to access the noncombat shuttle assets in the station's shuttle bays.  Then he isolated their on-board computers from main computer control.  He continued working as he left his room, navigating his way to the turbolift on autopilot as his fingers danced with surprising speed on the interface.

Once the shuttle computers were isolated, he also isolated his PADD from interfacing with the main computer, instead creating an ad-hoc network of shuttle computers slaved to his personal PADD.  The shuttles had rudimentary control software aboard that could be used to control the station if the main computer went offline.  Tactical software, Operations software, Science software.  None of it ideal, but all of it potentially useful in an emergency.  With their on-board computers networked, they'd have enough computing power to minimize lag if they needed to take control of station functions.

As the turbolift deposited him in his Ready Room, he went to the replicator alcove there and opened a panel.  He pulled the ODN that connected the replicator to the main computer and manually connected the unit to his PADDs auxiliary dataport.  Then he used the ad-hoc network to perform its first command:  Replicate a dozen additional PADDs.

It was a comfort to know, as he prepared this contingency, that Saxon was on the bridge, taking control and securing the station.  While Solluk had been telling himself not to be paranoid, half-measuring everything, Saxon had diligently continued his investigation and uncovered this plot.

Once the PADDs materialized, Solluk disconnected the ODN line, picked them up, and carried them into the OCC.

"Report."

He walked to the center holotable in the room, which was surrounded by control interfaces.  Setting the stack of PADDs down, he then picked them up one at a time and cut them off from main computer control, slaving them to his new network.  He assigned each of them a new network name.  Or more accurately, a number.

Then he began ordering the shuttle network to perform site-to-site transports.  PADD 3 to Engineering.  PADD 4 to Phaser Control.  PADD 5 to Environmental Control.  PADD 6 to the Deflector Subsystems Annex. PADD 7 to the internal bay's Shuttle Control Room.  PADD 8 to Torpedo Control.  PADDs 9 through 13, he manually handed out to stations around the OCC: Operations, Tactical, Science, Flight, and Auxiliary.  He did this nonstop as he listened to the situation report.

PADD 2 went to Saxon.

In the event of the loss of main computer control, they could manually isolate subsystems and control them with these PADDs via the shuttle network.  The station would not be taken from them.

"If we are working on the theory that there are two Healy's, and that the one here is not actually ours, I suppose there is no reason to hope that the Prefix codes will work.  But it can't hurt to try."

[Catherine Goodspeed]

Katra Station Operational Control Centre - Deck 1

There was a time and a place to ask questions.

And this was neither the time nor the place.

The look on Lt Saxons face and the urgency in his voice meant one thing to Catherine Goodspeed.

Do what you are told and do it right.  She'd seen that look on the faces of her Father and Grandfather when there was something so wrong no explanation was needed at the time.

As her Father was fond of saying at such times "Something was rotten in the State of Denmark".

Cat ran to the Engineering station, dropping the contents of her dinner and gift from one hand and the leashes of the voles in her other to the floor.

She needed worry about the voles, they were trained to stay where their leashes lay and not move.  Any contents of her dinner that may now be leaking from the containers and soaking into the flooring could be cleaned up later.

Cat leaned over the consule and accessed the system and began pulling up the data Saxon had requested.  There was no time for errors and no time for mis reading entries.  Anything out of the ordinary.. Anything wrong... Anything from the 4 people she considered colleagues... Even friends. Not that she had many of the latter but that wouldn't stop Cat from digging deep to locate anything that could be of help in this situation.

But the sheer task of what she was being asked to do could not be done in the limited and tight deadline she needed to work on!

The unmitigated amount of data entry she was being asked to look at could take days to find the mere HINT of an issue. And she didn't have days!! How the hell was she meant to find a micron of a needle in a ton of tiny hay particles?

Cat began mumbling to herself more loudly than she intended "I mean... For the gods sake... You'd think Starfleet in all it's infinite wisdom would have created ruddy shortcuts and alerts for these situations.  I mean what do the eggheads do there all day?  Ohh lets create a more efficient Warpcore to save cash on fuel consumption but will blow the side out of our finest ships or create some algorithms to save staff time and energy to locate possible anomalies in staff activity in case brain controlling slugs have eaten into their brains... OH! I know! Exploding Warpcores are easier.. Lets do that"  Cat exhaled loudly "it's not like bloody shapeshifters haven't wormed their way into the elite blooming core of Starfleet is it??  Not like THEY acted normally..."

Cat suddenly shut herself up, pulled herself straight and began running another check. After a few moments she found what she was looking for. AHA!  Found you.

Cat turned round and sought out the Chief of Security.

"Sir!!"  Cats voice sounded louder and several octaves higher than she would have liked.

" I was checking the combadge activities for them.  Found something odd.... Ensign Rayeks combadge showed he was in OCC at 0915 this morning.  He was there for 15 minutes but yet no activity log is listed.  Its like he just sat there doing... well... nothing!  Was he even meant to be in OCC?"

Suddenly Cat's attention was directed to the sight of the Captain striding into the room clutching a handful of PADDs.

[L'mar Camili Rhade]

[ Provisional Junior Lieutenant L'mar Rhade ] | [ Deck 12 - Main Engineering | DOCKED USS Healy ] - [ DAY 3. AFTERNOON. ]

The thing that hit him first was that the Healy�s interior didn�t smell like he remembered it as the Felinoid appeared behind the Warp core. Rhade sniffed a few times and quickly logged that observation away as he had work to do. He made a few adjustments to his tricorder to engage silent mode then opened it.

He began scanning the area and it showed the crew working around Main Engineering, none had noticed him yet, nor did the intruder alert. Considering Commander t�Lhoell�s orders to stay away, he was lucky she�d not made precautions to ensure those orders were followed.

That smell that Rhade had picked up from Tess went up his nose a moment later and a lot stronger and it nearly made him cough but he put his unoccupied hand over his mouth to muffle the sound, should it come out against his will.

Rhade slowly made his way around the Warp core, thankfully no one was looking in that direction, so he crawled to put the core�s sectional walls between him and the consoles. There were only a few engineers around and one was Romulan according to his tricorder. Ensign Darek tr�Hava.

He thought it best to remain hidden and so slowly peeked around the wall to see if he could get to any of the exits. Rhade noticed no one was armed though so he could pounce them down and dash to the closest exit. The tricorder vibrated as the first round of sweeps were completed and one result was intriguing: the age of the hull was only 12 months old. Rhade blinked a few times. What?

Rhade�s combadge made a soft chirp. Oh no, its location subroutine was recently pinged, they know I am here, he thought and peeked around the wall again. No one had heard it, thank the elements! Rhade thought as he realised that they all seemed to be engrossed in working.

He closed the tricorder after programming it to take continuous scans and put it back onto his belt, he pulled out his type 1 phaser, slowly positioned himself so he could look out through the wall windows to see if anyone was working at the consoles next to the ladder. He didn�t see anyone when his eyes could see through the window, though he quickly looked in the opposite direction for anyone working there could now spot him. There were two working but their backs to him.

Taking the opportunity he silently slipped around the wall and consoles, he held his phaser in the direction of the middle of the room. Though the operations table was in a lowered section so it would take an extra moment or two for Darek to get to him once he knew he was here.

Rhade had to figure out a plan, clearly this was not the Healy. But why is it not the real Healy? He thought and at the end console next to the ladder began tapping away while occasionally looking back into the main area for anyone looking his way. It seemed that logs only date back to 12 months ago as well and none included the refit that Junior Lieutenant Goodspeed did.

That meant that this Healy was prone to EPS overloads like the real one was. Rhade noticed that the ship�s systems were now being prepared for departure, he had to stop them. A spike he caught in the transporters, engines, shields and weapons systems.

He quickly activated a forcefield around the section of consoles he was working and that gained the attention of Darek and the others, Rhade had to work fast. Darek came to the forcefield and called out a demand for Rhade to identify himself. He doesn�t remember me? Well I�ve only been here under a year. He thought, he quickly linked the console with his tricorder and began downloading the ship�s logs.

He pulled off his combadge and knew he was going to be punished but this was vital information that his superiors needed but at the first sign that this fake Healy crew somehow got past his forcefield to use transporters he could drop his combadge. Rhade figured to contact Saxon first, as undoubtedly if he connected with the Captain he�d have to answer questions first. �Rrhade to Saxon, securre channel Camili-Omega,� a chirp from the combadge informed him that the channel was now secure. �Sirr, I�m on the Healy, yes I am awarre, howeverr I�ve discoverred that this Healy is only 12 months old and--�

Darek�s voice could be heard through the channel. He was demanding that Rhade surrender or die before they got to him.

He gave the Romulan a �whatever� look before continuing. �And the ship has neverr rreceived the rrefit imprrovements Lieutenant Goodspeed did. I have been discoverred and will attempt to cause as much damage as I can but they are prreparring to rrun.� L�mar said and left the channel open as he placed the combadge as well as his phaser down and took his jacket off, placed it on the console next to him. Rhade replaced his combadge onto the jacket and picked up the phaser again, he aimed it at the forcefield.

While he awaited a reply Rhade got to work causing EPS overloads in other areas of the fake Healy, all the while entering his command codes to lock what he has done down. He looked up at the ladder as he heard the forcefield hiss loudly.

Engineers from the second level were walking on the field surface, and stamping on it. Rhade blinked with surprise and made a note to try that one day but quickly triggered an electrical surge through the field. The engineers would be knocked out for a day or so.

Now he was actually trapped, he quickly added a second field just around the consoles and him should the outer field fall. �Sirr, I may need a beam out at a moments notice!� L�mar called as he worked though he quickly accessed the transporters on the Healy and encrypted a program to send him back to Katra Station using a voice codeword.

The overload program he was writing of some EPS hubs not directly connected to the Warp core was still in progress as he waited for Saxon and those around him. Elements please keep me safe! L�mar prayed as he glanced at Darek, and at the ladder every couple of seconds. Darek had started shooting the forcefield by the 3rd glance.

[Kirok]

"Yes it would be a unique honor to behold the beauty of tour world." Eydis would pause mid stride Zex friend of Eydis and deltan my crew has detected some odd sensors readings from the federation vessel. If you would please don  your evo suit and  join me on the acrux. Please inquiry of your commander solluk if they are aware of the odd sensor reading. Eydis would wait for zex at the docking ring to the cruiser and for hir to suit up. Hand going to the hilt of  crystalline dagger. Shi was already in contact with hir crew left in the embassy and abroad hir ship. While nothing too alarming had transpired to indicate anything more then just some odd sensor readings. Eydis wanted to be off the station as soon as possible. As soon as shi got abroad the acrux and entered the command deck heading for the ceiling console

I'm commander Eydis of the tholian cruiser acrux to the Klingon Empire 'Diplomatic Cruiser' - 'IKS LoD Qan'. Scans of the federation vessel are off we are detecting a Silithium This was sent over a secure channel to the Klingon Iks Lod wan . Eydis would turn to look at zex seeing what she had found out

[Katra Station - Turbo - Day 3 - around 3 pm]

"The hologram is in my office.  We can go there now if you like.  And who knows, maybe we can go there together sometime.  The planet, I mean, just to be clear" Zex said.

"An alert?" she asked.  Her com badge had been quiet.  So this was news to her.

"Let me report it.  And check in with my superiors.  I don't want to get into trouble" she said.

Then she tapped her com badge.  =/\-Zex to Operational Control Centre.  I'm with Eydis who is reporting that they are picking up some weird signals.  They want to investigate.  And Eydis invite me to board their ship while they do so.  Can you clear that for me-/\= she said.

[John Saxon]

[Katra Station - Operational Control Centre]

John stood at the centre of the OCC, stroking his beard in frantic contemplation as he studied the main viewer as both Shotah and Ricci reported their findings. Neither surprised him. "Cancel tracking the combadge of Commander t'Lhoell." Deck 22 was a feint; she had dumped her combadge - with 'Rayek' at docking control, time for 'her' was now of the essence - there was none to spare for her to make a detour to the medical deck.

The large flat display was often the junior of the two information interfaces - the other being the far more versatile holo-imager that he stood beside - but there was something pleasingly old-school about the viewscreen, the mainstay of external visuals for almost 250 years. Upon it, an external sensor had been tasked to display the Healy as it sat docked. Almost innocently. John's eyes scoured for any sign of the ship's readiness to depart, or warp core overload. Either would mean the tractor beam would come into play, to either shove or secure. Either would also, however, require a minimum operational distance of 30 meters.

"Sir!! I was checking the combadge activities for them.  Found something odd.... Ensign Rayeks combadge showed he was in OCC at 0915 this morning.  He was there for 15 minutes but yet no activity log is listed.  Its like he just sat there doing... well... nothing!  Was he even meant to be in OCC?"

His deliberations were interrupted by Goodspeed's almost triumphant yell. He frowned worryingly at what she had uncovered, and in a surprisingly short amount of time. 'Rayek' - or someone posing as him - had been here in the OCC... He hurried over and checked her findings. The positional representation tagged him at the Aux Station. "Why did he not just use a main station...?" he asked himself aloud. The answer seemed obvious enough: to hide your objective with a generic and easily reconfigurable panel. Which meant he didn't want to be found messing with something. Reactor? Life support? No..too one-dimensional. Had to be something to do with Tactical; an almost flawless 'Rayek' facsimile (was that it? A Founder? No, the neural disparity was almost too sloppy for the Dominion) with a missing year's worth of personal life experience was still a highly-trained, competent ex-Tal'Shiar operative. And while 'he' was certainly capable of working with a variety of disciplines, Tactical/Security was his current Department and therefore was afforded a little more access than, say, Engineering. Less access than before his demotion, obviously, but still enough for day to day duties.

A gamble for sure, but Saxon had some feeling he was on the right path.

About to move over to Tactical, Captain Solluk entered the OCC, with a stack of PADDs who them began to arrange and distribute. John updated him on the current situation as he did so. His PADD seemed to be a master control interface for the station's entire operating function. Smart. "DICE proceeding to Saucer 1 to secure. Tractor beams ready for dual-mode operation. Goodspeed has identified 'Ensign tr'Lhoell'" his tone indicated the dubious inflection, "was here this morning but no activity was logged. I'm just about to-"

" Rrhade to Saxon, securre channel Camili-Omega,Sirr, I'm on the Healy, yes I am awarre, howeverr I've discoverred that this Healy is only 12 months old and--And the ship has neverr rreceived the rrefit imprrovements Lieutenant Goodspeed did. I have been discoverred and will attempt to cause as much damage as I can but they are prreparring to rrun. Sirr, I may need a beam out at a moments notice! "

John shot a furious 'you have to be kidding me' glance to Solluk, before wheeling around to Ricci. "Get. Him. Out. Of. There. Now." he seethed. Rhade mysteriously aboard the Healy, only now requesting an imminent extraction while imparting information that was already now coming to light through other means? Quite aside from the fact this could simply be a distraction, a sacrificial decoy thrown to the wolves so that the Healy could make her literal move, if this was the real Rhade, he had not only gone against Solluk's orders but had squandered a golden opportunity to do so with a Security escort to back him up. The former transgression was bad enough, but John found the latter almost unforgivable in its untidiness. It didn't matter if the young Engineer thought he could do some good over there - John had the responsibility to ensure his safety.

Just so he could see to it he faced repercussions. And/or questioning.

"Sir, I can't get a lock on him - there's something scattering the ACB" Ricci called out, looking as frustrated as he had ever seen her.

Watching Solluk as the Captain put in motion his own actions, John replied at pace. "Suspend the helmic regulator and try again."

She looked up. "But without the helmic-"

John turned to look at her, forcing himself to show a calm, controlled, senior officer rather than a fire and fury soldier. Perhaps later he'd explain how something similar saved him from the slicing psycho-swords of Saslion VII. "Trust me. Do it." he said, encouragingly.

"Aye sir."

Aboard the Healy, the first outer edges of the transporter effect began to tingle around Rhade.

"And then redirect the matter stream to the Brig. Any cell of your choice" continued John coldly, while hurrying to the Tactical station to review any changes to the tactical functionality of Katra.

"I- Aye sir..."

[Solluk]

IKS Lod Qan - Holding position 1 kilometer from Katra Station

"Sogh Cha'Ditch!" Vilka shouted.  The Tactical officer of the Klingon 'Diplomatic Cruiser' was clearly excited to finally have something to do.  Her loud voice was the first sound heard on the bridge in the past two hours.   "Incoming message... from the Tholians."

Though he would never admit it, Tolec had been half asleep when she called out, and he found himself inwardly startled for a moment.  He and Vilka were the only two officers on the bridge.  Most of the ship had been released for shore leave, or were inhabiting quarters on the station.  Reassuming control of his faculties, he turned to her.  "The Tholians?"

Vilka nodded enthusiastically, "Yes, Sir!  Ambassador Eydis hails us!  The Ambassador says..."  She frowned momentarily, "... the Acrux is detecting, 'A Silithium.'"

"They are detecting 'A Silithium?'"   He stood, walking over to the Science Station.

Vilka nodded again, "Yes, Sir...  What is a Silithium?"

Tolec pulled up sensor scans on his console, "Silithium is an element that is known to interact with verteron particles, and has been known to spontaneously create subspace effects under the right conditions.  There is a quantity of it found in the Oort cloud of this system.  Detecting it is not unusual here."

Vilka frowned, "How should I respond?"

Tolec sighed as he sent out a powerful active sensor pulse and read the figures coming across his display.  "There is some subspace activity over a Silithium trail close to the station.  Possibly this is what they are..."

He stabbed a finger at the display, "Do you see that ship on approach?"

Vilka shrugged, "Ships are always on approach.  This is a space station."

"This ship is reading as a Starfleet vessel," he said, "New Orleans class.  It is sending an encrypted signal along a Silithium particle trail."

Vilka stared at him, clearly not gleaning the significance of this.

"And?"

Tolec shook his head, "And... I don't know.  But there is only one New Orleans Class starship operating in this Quadrant.  And it is already here, at Katra Station."

Vilka's frown deepened, "What is the significance of this?  Did the Federation develop a cloak?  Bring in a ship secretly?  Does it use Silithium in its mechanism?"

"I do not know the significance of this.  I think the Tholians are asking if we know, because they are probably unsure, themselves.  Put me on screen."  He walked back to the center of the bridge, though he did not sit.

Vilka touched a control, and then nodded in his direction.

-= This is Sogh cha'Ditch Tolec, Chief Science Officer of the Lod Qan, currently in Command.  We have received your message about 'a Silithium.'  The Lod Qan has also detected subspace energy activity along a Silithium particle trail, which I believe to contain an encoded message.   The source of this message seems to be a New Orleans class vessel on approach to this station.  I was able to direct a return sensor pulse up the same Silithium trail.  This has allowed our sensors to filter out some of the lingering distortions of the waning subspace storm that erupted in this Sector yesterday.  I am quite sure it is a Starfleet ship on approach, and not likely anything of concern. =-

He paused, not sure exactly what the Tholians wanted from them.

-= In the interests of... friendship... I am sending you a copy of our readings. =-

He nodded to Vilka, feeling somewhat awkward as he spoke of friendship to a race of living crystals who had never been especially friendly towards the Klingons in the past.

But this was a diplomatic cruiser.

He supposed he should try to be diplomatic.

[Eydis]

[Tholian cruiser Acrux docking ring ] 10am After the meeting Eydis was warrior caste member of extremely distrustful species. Perhaps it was nothing and could be easily explain away. After the response from the Klingons. Eydis would take a few seconds. It does not seem to be cause for concern Zex the deltan. If you have other things to attend to. I thank you for escorting me to my ship. I do look forward to seeing your homeworld. I still have to update my crew on having non tholians abroad my ship.

Thank you cruise Iks lod qan for confirming sensor reading . This sector and station remain relatively new to us.