YE/D01 - Bridge

[Paul]

==

[Peter Jensen]

Peter was on the bridge, taking in status reports and summarizing them for the Captain's review once she came back out. The Captain was in her ready room, waiting for the new transfers to present themselves; one of the duties of command. The rituals had to be observed.

He couldn't help but smile a little at the trepidation with which he'd reported for command that first time on his first assignment out of the Academy. The Chin'toka.

What a shit-show that first assignment was, he thought. He still remembered being made to fight the enlisted as a "team building exercise". If he didn't think that statutes of limitations would be in effect, he'd definitely try to make a legal matter out of it now that he was a Commander. But...as things stood, perhaps the past was best left in the past.

He sighed, and quickly sized up the new Midshipmen as they arrived on the bridge to head for the ready room. He had of course read their files, and was definitely hopeful. Both showed great potential. Midshipman Turner was apparently a child of two worlds - which was not all that uncommon. What interested Peter far, far more was the fact that the man seemed to be an engineering wizard. He didn't know much about engineering apart from the crash course in the basics that he took at the Academy, but the fact that the man had managed to design a calibration tool that was even more effective than the current type in use, while not even out of the Academy yet spoke volumes about the promise he showed.
And as for Midshipman West,  Peter saw a lot of himself in her. She seemed the martial type of security officer, rather than the Sherlock Holmesian-type, which was something that resonated with Peter a lot. And he'd be lying to himself if he didn't admit that he saw a bit of a diamond in the rough. Only time would tell if he was right, though.

== Welcome middies!   We're happy to have you join us! ==

[Arwen Qi]

Qi had always preferred to spend time in his lab. The strict protocol of the bridge was stifling, like trying to paint while wearing oven mitts. Today, though, he was happy to take his station on the bridge. He couldn’t afford to hide away while most of the Yeager’s senior staff already knew each other.

As the turbolift doors slid open, Qi scanned the room to find his station. It was quiet, as he’d expected. Jensen seemed to be waiting for something or someone.

“Good to see you again, Commander,” Qi said. “Just getting my station set up. How are you finding the new ship so far?”

== Tag Jensen ==

[T'Lari]

[Try it now.]

Ensign Setthik's frustrated voice came across the weapon station's speaker. T'Lari had found him to be a rather skilled chess player in the little time off she'd had since arriving on the new Yeager. He was also quite the skilled engineer, specializing in weapons system, but even he was having difficulty with the software running the panel. The display continues to make a 'fritz' sound as the system keys appeared, dissolved into static, and reappeared in a different spot on the display.

"Nothing, Ensign," the Tactical officer replied calmly. "AE Fault 344 at Junction GR-522-2. That is a new message."

[Believe it or not that actually gives me something to work with. Hold on.]

The panel had worked fine for her first three days aboard, and then a new software patch had caused it to give the half-Vulcan nothing but trouble ever since. She'd basically monopolized the Saurian engineer's time for days, but it was necessary. The ship couldn't launch without weapons access... and even switching controls to a different station hadn't solved the problem. The code to operate the ship's weapons was more than a bit jury-rigged... but then so was so much else on the Yeager. Software development was standardized for new starships, developed specifically for their classes, but this ship wasn't a standard model. At least Stafleet had anticipated the problem and had put people aboard to handle such problems.

[Found it! I'm going to do a code rewrite on the junction software at that section. Give me an hour and a half and I'll have you up and running, guaranteed. Setthik out.]

T'Lari stood and stretched. 90 minutes. Fine. She needed to get some food anyway. As she did so the Chief Science Officer entered and went to address Commander Jensen. She needed to report her station's status, so she approached the two of them, patiently waiting as Qi spoke.

== Tag Jensen and Qi ==

[Peter Jensen]

Peter was still compiling reports when he heard LCdr Qi's voice. He looked up and gave the man a courteous smile.

"New", he said with a bit of laconic wit, then went on. "Honestly, it's a good ship. She packs a decent punch, and has decent speed. We can get a lot of good done with her.", he answered the question, then continued:

"The Captain is welcoming the new Midshipmen", he said, looking at the door to the ready room.

"Have you met your own department? Anything of note to report?", he asked, genuinely interested. Might as well get the report from the horse's mouth

[Jennifer Braggins]

==Following the Ready Room thread==

Coffee mug in hand, Jenny strode from her Ready Room onto the Bridge of the new-and-improved USS Yeager; it was a different layout than what she'd been used to, and she knew it would take time for her to acclimate to the positions of some of the consoles, but it was what it was; for a ship that had allegedly slipped through the cracks at the Bureau of Shipbuilding and made it to a construction slip before anyone realised their mistake, having slightly odd Bridge layouts was hardly the worst thing that could happen.

Atypical Bridge for an Atypical Ship with an Atypical Crew.

Jensen and Qi were talking and T'Lari appeared to be waiting in the wings for her chance to speak; likely they were discussing the usual last-minute minutiae that often needed addressing before the ship was able to launch; missing personnel, alterations to room assignments, and the like. Unless it was going to interfere with the launch of the ship, it was the First Officer's purview, while Jenny was left free to deal with getting the ship out of dock.

Rather than interrupt Jensen, Qi and T'Lari, Jenny simply moved toward her seat and dropped into it; the seat was more comfortable than some she had sat in, and would be beneficial during long and boring patrols to which the Yeager was likely to find itself assigned. They didn't have official orders yet, but scuttlebutt said they'd be updating starmaps along the Talarian border, a standard mission for a ship on shakedown but a criminal misuse of her crew's talents.

A waste of not, orders were orders, and their departure time was swiftly approaching. With a soft sigh, Jenny settled deeper into her chair and pushed the button on her armrest that activated the internal communications system.

"This is the Captain. All hands report to departure stations."

[Kal-Geal Beinn]

The readiness light for Sickbay would change to green, indicating that Sickbay was ready for launch.

However, each bridge officer's PADD would have a message delivered to it, with an appointment range for their Star Fleet-mandated physicals on it. The location however, was not in Sickbay, and was instead on the holodeck, with a note that added their physical's difficulty would be tailored to their capabilities. Even Captain Braggins was assigned one, though that same note added that the officer in question could request a traditional physical to be administered by sickbay if they did not want to utilize the holodeck physical.

Commander Jensen however, received a message from Kal-Geal, asking if the Commander would prefer him to remain in sickbay, or report to the bridge for the departure sequence.

==tag Jensen==

[Peter Jensen]

== This is after the conversation with Qi. A short post to get things wrapped up ==

Peter had received and acknowledged each departments status report. Luckily there was no hindrances in their path

For now

But he was still missing two: Beinn and T'Lari.

He quickly sent a message to Beinn that for now he should remain in Sickbay - he'd be summoned if needed. Which Peter fervently hoped wouldn't be the case.
Finally, he reached out to T'Lari first, turning to her and giving her an encouraging smile.

"Yes, Leftenant?", he encouraged her.

When all was said and done, Peter turned to Braggins.

"All stations and departments reporting green, Captain. We are ready to depart on your command", he announced before taking his own seat just in time to hear her give the order.

[Theresa Black]

>> Crew Mess >>


The short hop from the mess on the deck below to the bridge took about a minute, and coffee cup still in hand. Black entered the bridge. The Captain was sat in the centre seat already.

Damn it... She thought, noting that the Commander was in the forward footwell seated at the Ops station, while T'Lari and Qi were also already present at the rear stations.

“Sorry I'm late.” She said instinctually even though she wasn't.

Stepping down, and taking the helm position next to the Commander. She logged into the station. “Helm ready, Ma'am.” she said after a couple of seconds preparing to input the Captains course heading once given, while glancing sideways at the Commander.

This is going to be be rather uncomfortable. She thought with the First officer sitting right next to her. She didn't want to think about what he thought about the seating plan.


== Where did I put that gold tin of travel sweets covered in white powder? ==

[T'Lari]

"Yes, Leftenant," Commander Jensen addressed T'Lari. The Captain entered the Bridge as she spoke, sitting down in the center chair

The half-Vulcan nodded respectfully to the First Officer and gave her report. "The software problems with the weapons controls will be resolved within 87 minutes, Commander. The difficulty with the recent patch downloaded from Starfleet has been located and Ensign Setthik is performing a code rewrite on the faulty system. Weapons are otherwise fully operational, but as they have never been fired I would recommend that we perform a test as we travel out-system. Perhaps on a local asteroid or comet." Chain of command dictated that she inform the FO of the status, but Captain Braggins was of course easily able to hear as well.

As the Klingons say, 'No blade can be trusted until it has drawn blood.' A bit colorful, but accurate. Given the patched-together nature of the ship and the software that runs the systems it would be best to discover if the weapons will work before they are needed.

== Tags Jensen and Braggins ==

[Arwen Qi]

Qi shook his head. “The labs have been out of commission. I tried to connect a data module that I built on board the Geronimo, and it knocked out power to half the deck. Apparently, the power signatures were incompatible. I didn’t want to have my first department meeting by candlelight, but things should be in working order shortly. I just came up here to finish some last minute calibrations before we head out.”

The bridge became more crowded. A Vulcan (or possibly Romulan) woman approached Jensen with further updates on ship status. The captain entered from the Ready Room, followed shortly by Black from the Turbolift. Qi gave them both a courteous nod before returning to his work. He needed to make a strong first impression on his new crew. Glitches were a fact of life, but they weren’t an excuse for being unprepared.

A notification appeared on Qi’s console, alerting him to his mandated physical. Oddly enough, it seemed to be located on the Holodeck. Qi wondered if Sickbay was experiencing similar technical issues. He decided to pick the earliest possible option. These little distractions tended to pile up, stopping him from completing his actual work.

>>>> Holodeck >>>>

[Jennifer Braggins]

Departments all ready. Systems all green. Aside from a few calibration tweaks, the new-and-improved Yeager was ready to depart, as was her crew. Her Captain, on the other hand, wasn't so sure any more; she looked between her officers, going about their duties and daily lives as if her actions hadn't threatened to ruin them, and in some cases probably had. She'd never apologise for what she did, she'd had the moral high ground and had been right in the end, but the way things had gone down on the Philadelphia was regrettable - she should have trusted Jensen, he should have trusted her. Or she would have been better off casually deleting the message, any log of its receipt, and then ordered the ship to turn around anyway. By giving the crew an out, she'd put them in a terrible position, one she knew she might be called upon to put them in again.

Is it worth it?

Not for the first time, Jenny's malaise clouded her appreciation of the big picture; she did what she did to protect people, not the vocal minority who lambasted her every choice, but the silent majority who would never know her name or the acts she'd been forced to commit in the name of their safety. It wasn't fair to say that the young Captain had become jaded, her viewpoint had always been that the Federation was a bloated bureaucracy with too many people in the top ranks and too little interest in the little people, but recent events had shown that despite everything, the rot at the top still existed. Maybe not in the CinC or Presidential Offices, but certainly in the upper echelons that reported to them. 

Maybe it's time to force the issue of retirement; I can't be that vital that I can't be replaced...

Pushing such thoughts from her mind, Jenny sat back in her chair and let out a calming breath that she almost succeeded in preventing coming out as a defeated sigh; here she was on a brand new starship about to take her on her maiden voyage, and all she could think about was how it was time to move on. That did a disservice to her crew, who deserved the best she could do while she occupied the centre chair.

"Theresa, ahead one quarter Impulse until we clear the docking slip, then set course one eight zero mark zero five and go to full Impulse."

She didn't know their orders, all she knew was that they were going "south" down towards what had once been the Talarian Republic and was now the most recent addition to the Cardassian Union, despite bitter resistance from the Talarian military and several enterprising "private forces" made up of mercenaries and adrenaline junkies looking for adventure. The Federation had, allegedly, been providing discrete assistance to the Talarian Resistance, but that was based on unsubstantiated rumours; more likely she was going to be tasked with preventing smugglers entering the warzone and thus protect the peace the Federation had with Cardassia.

Peace that the Cardassians had broken. Repeatedly.

"When we leave the system's gravity well, set course for Starbase 214, Warp Six. We'll give the engines time to warm up before we really push them. T'Lari, keep an eye on your sensors; if you find anything you'd like to blow up to calibrate your weapons, let me know."

[T'Lari]

"When we leave the system's gravity well, set course for Starbase 214, Warp Six. We'll give the engines time to warm up before we really push them. T'Lari, keep an eye on your sensors; if you find anything you'd like to blow up to calibrate your weapons, let me know."

She nodded. "Understood, Captain. We're approaching the system's asteroid belt. I'll attempt to locate a target that will make for a suitable test."

Truth was she wanted something that would allow her to really push the weapons. It was one thing to fire a few phaser shots and launch a couple torpedoes, quite another to get a true idea of what the systems could do when stressed. The last thing they needed was for a fault to appear when battle started. T'Lari wasn't sure what the Captain would think of that. Braggins had a reputation as a 'cowboy,' well deserved... but reducing an asteroid to pebbles just to test the weapons might seem excessive.

== Tag ==

[Theresa Black]

Seat set, and helm configured, Black only had to wait a moment for the Captain to give her orders.

"Theresa, ahead one quarter Impulse until we clear the docking slip, then set course one eight zero mark zero five and go to full Impulse."

“Aye aye, Ma'am.” He replied. Then over the comm to the station CnC; “Antares control. This is Yeager. Disengaging docking clamps and preparing to move off.”

[Copy that Yeager.] Came the reply. [Good luck and fair weather.]

“Thank you control.” She replied closing the channel. The yard had done a better job on this ship than her predecessor she mused. The delay between engaging the impulse drive and the ship moving was imperceptible unlike the old Yeager where you could engage the engines, walk to the replicator. Consult the menu and return before the ship moved.

"When we leave the system's gravity well,” Continued the Captain, “set course for Starbase 214, Warp Six. We'll give the engines time to warm up before we really push them.”

“Starbase 214. Warp six, aye”

[Peter Jensen]

Truth be told, Peter was no more comfortable with the seating arrangement than Black was. He couldn't forget what he had seen in her eyes during the "bridge incident", as he had now compartmentalized the standoff. But he was also a professional and forced the feeling back down.
He didn't precisely like the arrangement of seats, and not just because of Black. While he could definitely see the reason for it, seeing as one unlucky - or lucky depending on whose perspective - shot would not longer be able to kill both the CO and XO at the same time, and thus cut off the heads of the chain of command, it also meant that he had no ready access to the Captain without having to go over there and talk to her.

He wouldn't be able to lean in and whisper in her ear without the crew noticing, let alone hearing. The possibility of a "private word" or discreet bit of advice or warning was completely and irrecoverably gone. The entire bridge would now notice if there was a disagreement between the two heads of leadership. And that was something Peter was not a fan of.
The value of CO and XO being able to have a "quiet conference" without drawing too much attention to themselves was gone. Now, he would have to ask Braggins for a private meeting in the ready room if he had something to say he didn't think the crew should hear.

Which idiot designer thought this layout was a good idea? Someone who's never served one minute, is who!, he thought angrily, but made his best effort to push the thought down and away so he could focus. And then realized that, if needed, he could use the console in front of him to send Braggins a messasge. It was not ideal, but it was the second-best thing he could think of.

He then heard Braggins give the order:

"Theresa, ahead one quarter Impulse until we clear the docking slip, then set course one eight zero mark zero five and go to full Impulse", and Black's acknowlegement of the order. He nodded. They were heading towards what used to be Talarian territory. He hoped it would only be a patrol mission. Just another routine mission.
But realized as soon as he'd thought it that he could very well have just jinxed that notion.

[GM-01]

==Timeskip - 5 Weeks Later==

After four weeks at Warp Six, the Yeager arrived at its assigned starting point between Deep Space Nine and Starbase 214, which also happened to coincide with the official and galactically-recognised border between the Cardassian Union and the Talarian Republic. It spent the next week moving system to system, taking detailed scans and running drills to keep the crew sharp and maintain an element of routine and structure among the monotony of stellar surveys and cartography. The occasional mechanical hiccough had not managed to delay the mission, but they had made for some entertaining and butt-clenching moments.

It was almost five weeks to the hour following the Yeager's departure from the shipyard, during a routine sensor sweep of the system while the computer compiled information to generate new star charts, that an odd blip appeared on the lateral sensor array. For a moment it looked like a sensor ghost, or maybe just a glitch, but it appeared again in a different location as the array completed a follow-up sweep.

Though the computer could not immediately identify the object, two things would be obvious to the sensor crews; 1) it was very hard to see, and 2) it was moving on a straight course to the Talarian border.

[Theresa Black]

New ships are a wonderful way to try out new technologies. And to try the patience of the crew along the way also.

Given that the primary mission of the Yeager was to map the boarder systems along the Cardassian /Talarian  DMZ, Black was all too ready to lynch whichever of the Antares shipyard team had not only failed to update over forty tera-quads of off the shelf navigation charts prior to launch, but had managed to install both the secondary AND tertiary quantum-astrolabes upside down.

That had taken over half a day to discover and repair when they'd found something was up by chance, when someone looking out the window noticed a planet on the wrong side of the ship.

Five weeks into the mission, may as well have been five months.

The shifts had swapped over about half an hour ago. Chertstone had been been on helm duty. He'd reported that there had been an anomalous reading from the lateral sensor sweeps during the last mapping pass, but the computer had classified it as a sensor ghost as it hadn't reoccurred.

Black accepted this as this region was quite heavy in gaseous interstellar matter, and had caused several other false positives.

However this time, when the computer flagged it again. It red flagged it as it was miniscule, but identical to the previous one.

Coincidences are never a coincidence. And if there's any doubt, there is no doubt. She turned back to address T'Lari who was seated at the aft tactical station.

“Contact bearing...” She gave a heading and inclination. “Identical to previous ghost contact half an hour ago. Can you confirm contact and heading?”


== Tag T'Lari and anyone else wanting to sound like they know what they're doing? ==

[T'Lari]

== I totally know what I'm doing. Fully 28% of the time. ==

T'Lari gave the slightest of frowns as the sensor ghost reappeared again. “Contact bearing...” She gave a heading and inclination. “Identical to previous ghost contact half an hour ago. Can you confirm contact and heading?” Lieutenant Black had turned to her, having seen the same notification on her console.

"Confirmed, Lieutenant," T'Lari responded. "Contact is moving toward the Talarian border. Attempting to pin it down." The half-Vulcan quickly tapped in a series of commands into her station bringing a course into view on the holographic display, then sent it to Black with a tag for the Captain's chair as well. She gave the Lieutenant an estimated speed and time to reach the border based on the results of the two contacts.

It wasn't a cloaked ship, most likely, because they wouldn't have been able to pin down anything.

I am making an assumption, one that might not be correct. A cloaked ship of one of the major powers would be undetectable, but an older ship or an obsolete cloak might show up on the sensors as a 'ghost.' Smugglers, perhaps? Or a race like the Ferengi who often dealt with older technology?

She could, of course, 'light' the mysterious ship up with sensors and try and pin them down, but that would give away the game and let them know they'd been spotted. Ultimately that decision would be up to the Captain. The new Yeager did need a proper sensor test, but this was perhaps not the best time.

"I will attempt to determine the contact's origin point."

== GM Input puh-leaze: What is the contact's distance, speed and time to the border? And can T'Lari figure an approximate course back from the contact (with the obvious assumption that it traveled in a straight line) to determine a general area it came from? ==

[Artemis d'Tor'an]

==Temp Security NPC Tabitha Rotterdam (Human)==


Tabby was bored. Oh so bored. Every other rotation, a Security crewmember was to sit on the Bridge - or rather, stand, since there wasn’t a Security station. There were auxiliary stations, sure, but Captain Braggins wasn’t big on Chief d’Tor’an keeping an extra eye on her. At least, that’s what the rumor mill said. The two women still weren’t exactly friendly after d’Tor’an had tried to kick Braggins out of the Captain’s chair last mission. Was it mutiny, or miscommunication? No one seemed to fully know the answer except those that had been on the Bridge at the time in question - and no one was telling the Lower Deckers.

Twirling a strand of hair, Tabs let out a loud sigh. No one seemed to care that she was bored, and so likewise, no one seemed to care about her sighing. The Bridge hummed with busywork, and Tabby wondered if life would have been more exciting had she gone for that position on Starbase 27.

“Contact bearing identical to previous ghost contact half an hour ago. Can you confirm contact and heading?”

The Chief Tactical Officer was speaking, and Tabby tilted her head like a Golden Retriever. It seemed that a stray speck of dust had gotten the attention of the Bridge crew, and therefore, the officer tasked with watching them.

“Confirmed, Lieutenant. Contact is moving toward the Talarian border. Attempting to pin it down.” The Tactical team sure seemed like they were having fun! Tabby smiled ironically as she watched them chase down the sensor blip. She scratched the back of her head; the itch kept moving, and Tabby planned to take a shower after this shift.

[Theresa Black]

Even out here on the boarders, subspace messages travelled to and from the ship. Mostly data packets were relayed through Starfleet's communications systems that gave Command real time locations and statuses of ships and facilities. But other more conventional messages travelled too.

Black while at the helm noted that the small PADD she kept in her thigh pocket buzzed letting her know that it had received a communication from someone. The tactical team often sent notes and messages internally between themselves via text, so that it didn't interrupt meetings or other situations while on duty, just to let each other know tasks had been completed or as memos for meetings and such later.

Taking a moment while T'Lari was consulting the ships main computer, she called up the message which had pinged in a side window on the helm console. The second she saw who it was from, she froze. It wasn't an internal message.

They were five weeks out, and it had taken half of that time to reach them though it's journey through the network. It was flagged as a personal message that had been sent to her private account on the ships server for reading later off duty, but it had still pinged her while on duty. She knew the sender. She read the message regardless.

She read the message again.

“Commander.” She said after a beat. As calmly as she could. “Can I speak to you please?” It was only then that she tapped the screen to close the message and turned to face the First officer. “In private.”

== Tag Jensen (Assuming you're on the bridge) – Can we borrow the ready room? ==

[Jennifer Braggins]

To say Jenny was brooding as she sat on the Bridge overseeing yet another day of monotony was an exaggeration, but only a small one. Communications with the few contacts she had left at Starfleet Command over the last few weeks had done little to reaffirm her faith in Starfleet; Ben Elias had confessed to illegally installing a Klingon cloaking device in the Liberty Bell, and his career was over because of it. Tyra's would have been too if he allegedly hadn't taken full responsibility, but the Artemis crew would be lucky if they did anything other than haul garbage for the next year or so. Not that either of them had aspired to flag rank, but there were rumours that Tyra and Jenny had both been removed from consideration for promotion to Commodore any time in the next few decades.

Hell, it only took them what? Twenty years to rehabilitate Erika Benteen? And now she's Admiral Janeway's right-hand woman.

Drumming her fingers on her armrest, Jenny considered once again retreating into her Ready Room where she could actually get some worthwhile work done; her paper on Operation Return and the relative benefits and drawbacks of the command styles and tactics of both Sisko and Dukat during the battle was nearly complete, and she'd been asked to write a third-party assessment on Starfleet's proposed construction budgets for the 2405-6 fiscal year; Starfleet Command might not appreciate her or her antics, there were still a few people in civilian government and academia who valued her opinion. Though she hated to admit it, having been in Starfleet for most of her existence, but life as a civilian was starting to look more appealing, and certainly more lucrative.

“Contact. Identical to previous ghost contact half an hour ago. Can you confirm contact and heading?”

“Confirmed, Lieutenant. Contact is moving toward the Talarian border. Attempting to pin it down. I will attempt to determine the contact's origin point.”

Jenny suppressed a sigh; this wasn't the first random sensor contact they'd come across since entering the area, and it likely wouldn't be the last. Unlike the previous few, however, Jenny sincerely hoped this one wasn't a misaligned sensor or dirt working its way into the terminals. On the other hand, if this was a smuggler or someone attempting to sneak across the border, it would be on her head if she failed to stop them, and all of those lucrative positions she'd just been thinking about would dry up in the face of a dishonorable discharge.

"Science, run a diagnostic on the sensors and confirm the sensor contact. Then give me a scan of the other side of the border, I want to make sure there's nobody waiting to pounce if we try to intercept. Theresa, plot an intercept course but do not engage until Science gives you the all clear. T'Lari, if that's a genuine contact I'm going to want a warning shot prepared."

Though the sensor contact had given the crew a break from the monotony and a chance to prove they were capable of doing something useful, it did little to break Jenny's malaise. This would probably be another dead-end lead that simply wasted their time, energy, and would need to be logged in great detail anyway so the bureaucrats running Starfleet could pick over her every command decision.

"Peter, if this contact is genuine I'm going to want a boarding party standing by. Standard customs procedure, and see if we have anyone on the crew who might have experience in...hiding things they didn't want found during inspections."

[GM-01]

==T'Lari==

The sensor contact was extremely weak, so the computer could only estimate a range; somewhere between ten and fifteen million kilometers from the Yeager's current position. Velocity was again, an estimate, of just below .25c. The computer also estimated that it would be between five and ten minutes before it reached the Talarian border.

Plotting a course using just two reference points, and estimated reference points at that, wasn't a perfect solution. The heading the vessel appeared to be on, assuming it was travelling in a straight line course, had it entering the system from interstellar space well away from any trade routes or inhabited planets.

[Peter Jensen]

The weeks that followed were...tedious, to say the least. Peter was bored, and that was putting it mildly. A more accurate description would be that he was bored out of his skull, often maintaining only as much presence of mind as was needed to do his job, and otherwise disappearing into his happy place.
So when something finally did happen after weeks, he was suddenly alert and attentive.

The Captain as well, it seemed, as she sprang into action. Peter's mind had done the same, and he'd already started thinking about boarding party members before she'd ordered him to stand by.

"Understood", he acknowledged her order, and got out of his seat, and was about to tap his badge when Black interrupted. He was definitely surprised, but the tone in her voice told him that it was serious, serious enough to warrant something as unusual as this request. Asking to speak to the XO privately rather than include the Captain was definitely out of the ordinary. He looked at her, and nodded seriously. "Certainly", he said, then thought for a second. It might be a bit much to ask the Captain to use the Ready Room for a conversation she wasn't going to be partty to. "Let's go to the briefing room", he said, and headed for the door", then tapped his badge.

"Jensen to Turner, West and Shadowhunt", he began, "Report to transporter room 1. Customs inspection, so be prepared to do a thorough sweep when we arrive. Please bring a sidearm but have it to stun", he said as he grabbed one himself from the bridge locker. He definitely sympathized with the Talarian resistance, but that didn't mean that he'd want to board a ship under their control or working for them without being able to protect himself.

"And bring any and all carryable equipment needed for a through search for contraband. I'll meet you there shortly", he finished the order as the doors opened and he exited.

== Time for a field trip? Oh, and a little nervous about what that message contained  Next post: Briefing room ==

[Theresa Black]

"Certainly", Replied Jensen to Blacks request. "Let's go to the briefing room." Gesturing toward the door while he simultaneously organised his away team to assemble.

>> Briefing Room >>

[T'Lari]

Curiously Lt. Black requested a private discussion with the First Officer. The Captain had decided to take the possible contact seriously. Or rather had decided it was at least worth a look.

"Science, run a diagnostic on the sensors and confirm the sensor contact. Then give me a scan of the other side of the border, I want to make sure there's nobody waiting to pounce if we try to intercept. Theresa, plot an intercept course but do not engage until Science gives you the all clear. T'Lari, if that's a genuine contact I'm going to want a warning shot prepared."

T'Lari responded "Yes, Captain," then reported her rather limited findings. It could be anything. It was most likely nothing at all worth paying attention to. She brought the phasers to standby, ready to go without causing an energy spike. "Phasers ready." T'Lari had to admit it was at least giving the crew a chance to test the ship's systems.

== Tag Jenny ==

[Theresa Black]

>> Briefing Room >>

Stepping back onto the bridge, Black glance over at the chronometer under the main viewscreen. She hadn't been gone long, but bridge time and ship time were almost relative.

When she'd left, one of the NCO's had taken over the helm until she returned. She just caught the end of T'Lari speaking as she moved forward feeling the eyes of everyone present on the back of her head.

Tapping the NCO on the shoulder, she received a brief report on what she'd missed. The course change toward the contact in particular. And relieving them, she retook her seat.

“Sorry about that, Captain.” She said, not wanting to cause any further disruption or share any details, for now. But in the back of her head, she repeated the mantra. Just do the job in front of you...

== Let the paranoia begin ==

[Jennifer Braggins]

Jenny frowned as Black returned to the Bridge with a mumbled apology, but said nothing. As per Starfleet regulations she had been forwarded official notice of Lilith Black's passing, as it was her duty as Captain to inform the officer of their recent bereavement, and she'd received a quick message from Lieutenant Sharp implying that a personal message had been routed to Black's Bridge station. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together, and part of Jenny wanted to relieve the older woman for her lapse in professionalism, and because nobody who lost a parent could seriously hope to perform their duties to expected levels.

Unfortunately, with timings so tight, she didn't have that luxury unless she wanted to take the helm herself.  While that would have been her first preference, indeed she wondered if she should have ever accepted promotion out of the pilot's seat, she had to remain in her "rightful" position and give the orders, while her crew enjoyed the privilege of making those orders a reality.

"Helm, plot an intercept course. If that is a ship, I want it stopped before it can make a break for the border."

As the Yeager moved on to her new course, Jenny drummed her fingers on the armrests of her chair. She was torn between ordering the ship, if it was a ship, to heave to, or to wait until they were closer and there was no hope of the ship escaping. The Yeager's lack of forward-mounted torpedo launchers meant she couldn't use shock and awe tactics to force the probably smuggler off their course, she'd have to wait until she was closer and had a better weapons solution.

He may not even know we're here, if he's running silent.

Jenny's lips quirked into a smile that wasn't quite wicked, but was very close.

"T'Lari, when I say go, I want you to hit that sensor ghost with every active fire control sensor you have. Take whatever discretionary power you need, but I want him to know we're here."

Standing, Jenny tugged on the hem of her uniform jacket in a manner which reminded her of the historic logs she'd seen of Jean-Luc Picard, and nodded to the Ops Officer to open a channel.

"Unknown vessel, this is Captain Jennifer Braggins of the Starship Yeager. You are approaching restricted space controlled by the Cardassian Union. Heave to and prepare for boarding, or you will be fired upon. You have sixty seconds to comply. This is your only warning."

With the message sent and the channel closed, Jenny waited five heartbeats as she returned to her seat, then crossed her legs and leaned forward in the chair with a predatory smile on her face.

"T'Lari...go!"

==GM Input please: Does the sensor ghost respond, or is Jenny yelling into the void like a raving lunatic?==

[Altairi Hydish]

An agitated-sounding commbadge transmission came in through intraship comms. [Hydish to Bridge, do you read? Power's been cut in Engineering. Emergencies are offline too. Is something going on up there?]

== Tag whoever's in charge of the intercoms ==

[Arwen Qi]

Qi didn’t mind the five weeks of scanning. The Yeager’s equipment was powerful, but idiosyncratic, to the point where they’d lost several hours of data due to a calibration issue. Luckily, his team had been watching the data closely, or they would have had to redo several days of sweeps.

Finally, a strange shadow on the sensors broke the monotony of their work. It was moving at sub-light speed, approximately .25c, and headed straight for the Talarian border.

“Science, run a diagnostic on the sensors and confirm the sensor contact. Then give me a scan of the other side of the border, I want to make sure there's nobody waiting to pounce if we try to intercept,” The captain said.

“It wouldn’t be the first time the sensors played a trick on us,” Qi replied. “Let’s scan behind them for a residual warp trail. If we’re fast, it won’t have dissipated yet.”

Qi tapped quickly at his console, finally getting used to the Yeager’s controls.

== Tag Bridge

GM Input:
- Are sensors functioning properly?
Any signs of residual warp trail?
Any activity on the other side of the border? ==

[Theresa Black]

"Helm, plot an intercept course. If that is a ship, I want it stopped before it can make a break for the border."

“Aye aye, Captain.” Replied Black a little too animatedly. “Would you like me to prepare the tractor beam too?” She asked.

== Tag back for el Capetino ==

[T'Lari]

"T'Lari, when I say go, I want you to hit that sensor ghost with every active fire control sensor you have. Take whatever discretionary power you need, but I want him to know we're here."

That was fine with T'Lari. It was the perfect opportunity to see how the system performed, even if the order was unusual. "Aye, Captain. Awaiting the order."

"Unknown vessel, this is Captain Jennifer Braggins of the Starship Yeager. You are approaching restricted space controlled by the Cardassian Union. Heave to and prepare for boarding, or you will be fired upon. You have sixty seconds to comply. This is your only warning."

We may be threatening a piece of space junk.

""T'Lari...go!""

With that the half-Vulcan keyed in the command to bring the Yeager's powerful targeting sensors online. She didn't lock weapons, but that was merely a formality and would take almost no time.

== GM Input: So does it actually work? ==

[GM-01]

==Qi==

Sensors were functioning perfectly for once. There was no residual warp trail in the immediate area; if this was a ship, it had dropped from warp and crept into the system under Impulse power. For a moment, there was nothing on the other side of the border. Then there was. A Cardassian Galor-class warship, matching the Yeager's speed, had materialised seemingly out of nowhere.

==T'Lari==

Active sensors were wonderful things, especially on a ship as advanced as the Yeager. Lashing the sensor contact with navigational, scientific and fire control sensors stripped away the effects of whatever stealth systems the small ship was using, and probably didn't do much good to the other ship's passive sensor array. 

Identified as a Greer-class light freighter, essentially an old Oberth class sans the secondary hull outrigger, at first the smaller ship went to full Impulse and vectored away from the Yeager, accelerating extraordinarily quickly for a craft of its tonnage. Then the Captain obviously realized he wasn't getting away, and shut down his engines.

Oddly, the engine signature seemed familiar. As though T'Lari had seen it before.

==Braggins==

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, once the ship had shut down its engines and resumed its ballistic coasting through the system, the comm. system came back to life.

[I guess you got me. Come alongside, I won't give you any trouble.]

The other ship's Captain sounded far calmer than the ship's initial reaction to being scanned would suggest. Almost bored or annoyed, even. Possibly more interesting than the tone of the voice, was that Braggins and T'Lari would recognise it; they'd dealt with this individual before, on the old Yeager.

[Theresa Black]

It felt like to took mere seconds to bring the Yeager to a distance of less than thirty thousand kilometres from the target. Well within weapons range.

Data began to come in Maz could see from the shared display between stations. Each primary station had its full analysis, while a GIST of that information made the rounds to keep everyone up to date.

With Braggins giving the word, it seemed to take seconds again for the errant contact to become fully real and, surrender?

A buzz from her PADD distracted her a moment again. She pulled it out and briefly she froze on seeing the subject header from her last message before she forced herself to open the new message. From Gellot working photon loader this shift. An energy surge had just caused the targeting compensator to reinitialise.

[Get it up and online.] She typed back. Having seen a reference in the GIST she didn't like.

[Jennifer Braggins]

==The following has been posted with GM knowledge and permission.==

The Yeager closed on the unknown sensor contact quickly, thanks to its frankly ridiculous engines; where the old Yeager had maneuvered like a small moon at impulse power, courtesy of a pair of engines "borrowed" from a ship half its mass, the new Yeager liked to go fast. Black still seemed preoccupied by whatever was going on in her head, but T'Lari and Qi both went to work quickly to bring her the results she had desired. No sooner had the contact been lashed with enough energy to peel the paint from the hull, a brief engine flare on the viewscreen showed that something, someone was trying to run. Then the flare disappeared, and a voice drawled through the speakers as the other ship shut down its engines.

[I guess you got me. Come alongside, I won't give you any trouble.]

With a quirked eyebrow, Jenny turned briefly to T'Lari to make sure she, too, recognised that voice from their previous service patrolling the Romulan border. If she was correct, the person they were dealing with was a very clever man, who understood Starfleet operations better than most, and who was always very careful not to get caught hauling contraband. That he did was beyond doubt, but the elder Yeager had stopped him twice during Jenny's six weeks in command, and both times she'd only been able to cite him for crossing the border without a permit. Now, Mister Obadiah Heathridge, Gentleman of the Spaceways, had been caught dead to rights.

Or had he.

A former Greer-class Corvette, he Disreputable Damsel had been designed from the outset as a corsair and raider; by cutting the outrigger pod from the Oberth-class Scout and installing heavy weaponry, the small ship was perfect for convoy interdiction during time of war. With a cargo capacity of two thousand tons, it could also be used as a small blockade runner. Though the ship was over a century old, it held tricks up its sleeves that Jenny only wished she knew, and hoped she wouldn't have to face.

"T'Lari, keep a tractor lock, hold him down if he tries to run. If he breaks the tractor, shoot out his engines. Braggins to Jensen, you're cleared to board; our friend isn't a big fan of Starfleet, so mind your manners." 

With a deep breath, Jenny rose and brushed her uniform jacket flat.

"Captain Heathridge, you're a long way from your usual haunt. Stand by to receive my inspection team, and then we shall talk about what best to do with you."

==GM Input on the reply, please: Does Heathridge reply or is he giving us the silent treatment?==

[GM-01]

The reply to Braggins' message was spoken in a flat Scottish accent, carrying weariness and irritation with it.

[Let's not try and make nice, Captain. Let's get this over with so we can both be on our way.]

The communication link went dead almost immediately after the other person had finished speaking.

[T'Lari]

I know that energy signature.

Confirmation came a few moments later.

The Captain turned to T'Lari, giving her a rather Vulcan-like quirked eyebrow which the Tactical officer returned. Obadiah Heathridge. Again. She felt a brief flash of irritation which she suppressed. Humans would call him a 'rogue,' but as far as she was concerned he was just a criminal, and she'd never understood the fascination with lawbreakers that some races held.

Braggins was cautious. "T'Lari, keep a tractor lock, hold him down if he tries to run. If he breaks the tractor, shoot out his engines. Braggins to Jensen, you're cleared to board; our friend isn't a big fan of Starfleet, so mind your manners."

[i]Good. She expects trouble and tricks. Deception as a best-case scenario. No doubt he will pretend to be smuggling food or medicine or adorable fluffy animals.[/i]

T'Lari activated the tractor beam and locked it on the smuggler's ship. For her part, after the incident with the Cardassian "freighter" the half-Vulcan was a bit more wary. That didn't mean she thought that Heathridge was going to lash out with phased polaron beams and start cutting into the hull, but she was ready at a moment's notice to separate his ship's engines from the rest of it. She didn't target the Yeager's weapons... yet. This was still just an inspection, and she intended to remain professional no matter how much Heathridge grated on her emotional control.

"Captain Heathridge," the Captain continued, "you're a long way from your usual haunt. Stand by to receive my inspection team, and then we shall talk about what best to do with you."

The no-nonsense Jensen would be the best to deal with this 'gentleman,' as far as the Tactical officer was concerned.

[Let's not try and make nice, Captain. Let's get this over with so we can both be on our way.]

[i]It's never that easy with him.[/i]

== GM input: Any problems with the tractors? ==

[Arwen Qi]

Qi gathered that Braggins was familiar with the captain of this freighter ship, though they didn’t seem to be on particularly friendly terms.

Good, at least she knows not to let her guard down.

“I’m scanning his ship for life signs,” Qi said, tapping away at his console. “Last time I came across a smuggler, I ended up with this symbiont.”

Qi kept his eyes fixed on the console, focusing on his work. He still remembered the days after the emergency joining procedure. He was sick for weeks. The dying symbiont felt like a cold rock in his stomach. Somehow, they’d both survived. In some ways, he’d gotten everything he wanted, but it came at the cost of his relationship with his family.

He read the scan data as it populated his screen, hoping that this freighter captain was less dangerous than the previous one he’d encountered.

== Tag Bridge

GM Input: Any life signs besides the freighter captain? ==

[Theresa Black]

From behind her, it seemed clear that the Captain knew the Captain of ship. A ship that was so small by today's standards that it had barely registered fully until they'd made the point of hunting it down.

Its course had been on a direct beeline it seemed with the boarder, over which their sensors now showed a Galor class vessel holding position.

After their last couple of missions, Cardassians were certainly not Maz's favourite peoples currently. If she'd had any cause to mistrust them before the Omarion mission, now her distrust was becoming almost pathological.

Following standard procedure, while both vessels were stationary, she manoeuvred the Yeager so that it wasn't exactly blocking the smaller craft from running if it foolishly made that decision, but blocking the direct line of sight between the two. Just in case some bright spark had the idea of sending some kind of narrow band transmission between the two.

Tactical wasn't just seat of the pants fancy flying and shooting. It was anticipating and countering what an enemy would do before they thought of doing it. If anything, it gave her something to focus on for now.

Tying into the passive sensors to not alert the Cardassian that they had been seen and actively scanned until it was necessary as T'Lari had already used such a tactic to bring the smaller craft to a halt, Black took the opportunity to see if she could glean what the Cardassian was up to while it waited.

== GM – Can we tell what the Cardassian is currently doing? Are there any stray or miscellaneous signals or contacts floating about that would be of interest maybe? ==

[GM-01]

==T'Lari==

The tractor beams were primed and ready for use, no issues reported.

==Qi==

The only lifesigns besides the Disreputable Damsel's Captain were the lifesigns of the Away Team.

==Black==

The Cardassian ship was holding station parallel to the Yeager, matching its distance from the border almost to the centimeter. Though there were no other extraneous sensor contacts, the computer did match the Galor's engine emissions with a contact that had, intermittently, appeared on the Yeager's long-range sensors since it had started its patrol. 

Further investigation of the logs would show the Cardassian ship always maintained the same distance from the border as the Yeager, and always seemed to be moving at the same velocity.

[Arwen Qi]

Qi breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever crimes this freighter captain may have been guilty of, trafficking sentient life didn’t seem to be among them.

I doubt it’s a coincidence that a freighter ship would show up in an area where resistance fighters are using scavenged Federation tech, but whose side is he on?

“Qi to Science Labs, let’s send a probe to ‘update our star charts’. Keep a special eye out for signs of dilithium processing and alloys specific to Federation technology, especially anything that went missing in the mid-fifties. Feel free to throw in anything else that may be of scientific interest. If we happen to identify any possible Talarian resistance bases, please send that data to the Bridge.”

Qi bit his lip. There were no safe moves this close to the Cardassian border. If they could figure out where scavenged tech was being taken, they might have more insight into the freighter captain’s allegiances.

== Tag Bridge ==

[Theresa Black]

== NRC – PO Srent – Vulcan – Science ==

The response to Qi's request came back within seconds.

[Petty Officer Srent to the Bridge. I am launching a class three probe, now.]



== Black ==

While the others were dealing with the Greer class vessel, Black focused on the Cardassian vessel across the border.

Now the Yeager had come to a full stop, the other vessel had done so also. And, now she could scan it, it matched another sensor contact that they had detected on several occasions, but until now, it had remained in the edge of their sensor range.

Now it sat across the border, most likely scanning the Yeager and the Greer, just as the Yeager was scanning them.

Whoever was piloting it seemed to have matched, and mirrored Yeager's distance from the border. One hundred and forty six (million) yards was all that separated the two vessels.

The one advantage they possibly had right now was Yeager was a new vessel. Unless the Obsidian order had full access to the Antares yards records, they would have very little data on them. But there was a high possibility that other Starfleet ships had met with this much older Galor.

“Computer. Identify Cardassian Galor Vessel.”


== GM – Can the computer identify the Cardassian specifically? And if so, what information do we have on it? Previous engagements with SF vessels, known weaknesses or peculiarities. That kind of thing. ==

[T'Lari]

For a moment T'Lari had expected the tractor beams not to work but they had activated without issue. She considered for a moment as they engaged... was she really this cynical? For that matter, did cynicism count as an emotion? The 23rd-century philosopher T'Prea had argued that it was, that logic dictated that each situation must be judged according to circumstances and that becoming cynical interfered with that. Still, there were others who disagreed.

The thought didn't distract her as she kept a careful eye on sensor readings. She was ready to disable the ship if there was the slightest indication that it would run or otherwise prove a threat.

In the meantime Black was attempting to gather more information on the Cardassian ship a mere half light-second from their position. It was making no attempt to cross. Was it waiting for Heathridge? Most likely, though the circumstances were still unknown. Had the Cardassians detected him? Unlikely, but possible. Was he smuggling something to them? More likely. Too many questions.

[Jennifer Braggins]

Jenny sat, pensively considering the situation as her crew utilized their considerable initiative to further break down the situation that was evolving around them. On one hand, they had a potential smuggler making a run for the border who had only reluctantly stopped when he realised he couldn't outrun the Yeager or hide from her. On the other, there was a Cardassian Galor shadowing them, likely the one that had appeared on their sensors a few times over the previous weeks. On top of all of that, they still had their survey and mapping work to do, and an under-manned crew with which to do it. While she agreed with most of what her crew were up to, the probe launch could be considered a hostile act by the Cardassians, but she made no move to prevent its launch; so long as the probe never crossed the border or turned its sensors actively upon the Cardassians, the rule of interstellar law was on Jenny's side.

For once.

Heathridge wouldn't be selling to the Cardassians, I know that for certain. He might be helping out the Talarians, I suppose. This could also be a huge misunderstanding, but I doubt it.

Ultimately Heathridge wasn't the largest issue right now, the Cardassian Galor hovering just on the other side of the border was. On a scale familiar to most humanoids, the two ships were a vast difference apart, but on a galactic scale they were basically sitting in each others' laps; that was close enough for any wrong move to spark an interstellar incident, especially when the Captain of one ship was wanted for piracy by the government that owned the other ship.

So long as we stay on-mission, and on our side of the border, we should be good. I know the Federation doesn't recognise the Cardassian occupation as legal, but it's probably best not to push it.

"Open a channel to the Cardassian ship."

Taking a deep breath to compose herself, and letting it out slowly, Jenny sat up in her chair and tried to portray a confidence she wasn't sure she felt. What had been meant as a simple mapping and patrol mission was rapidly degenerating into another political powder keg. Someone out there hated Jenny, she knew it.

"Cardassian vessel, this is Captain Braggins of the starship Yeager; I notice we've been on similar courses for a while now, we are conducting stellar surveys and updating our navigational charts; perhaps we could pool our resources?"

It wasn't quite a bluff, but it had the benefit of calling the Cardassian out for shadowing her without actually doing it. Whether or not it worked would remain to be seen...

==GM Input please: Does the Cardassian ship respond?==

[GM-01]

==Black==

The energy signature was in the Starfleet database: the CDS Os'rusa was an older ship, having been seen combat during the Klingon-Cardassian and Dominion Wars. Interestingly, and for reasons known only to the computer, one additional data point was added to the request.

During 'Operation Return', the Os'rusa had attacked, and then been disabled by, the original Yeager-class Yeager. A link to the tactical report, authored by one Commander zh'Alla, was appended.

==Braggins==

For a moment, it seemed like the Cardassian ship would not reply. Then the screen flickered to life, revealing a tall and extraordinarily well-built Cardassian. Slicked back hair framed a powerful face, set in a deep scowl.

[I am Gul Hanar of the Fifth Order; state your real business here on the border, Starfleet. I see you've apprehended a civilian freighter; tell me, Captain, does piracy suit your temperament better than following the orders of your betters? I hear you're making a career out of it.]

Hanar's scowl deepened into an amused sneer as he spoke, deliberately trying to get a rise out of Braggins. A soft sound from the viewscreen drew Hanar's attention, and from the left hand side of the screen entered an athletic and attractive-looking Cardassian woman approached. The two conversed in hushed whispers for a moment, Hanar's scowl returning, before the viewscreen went to the default "Hold Screen" of the Cardassian Central Command insignia as the communication was paused.

A minute went by before the screen reactivated; the woman was moving away from Hanar, who now had an expression of sheer disgust on his face.

[Continue your "mapping mission", but remain on your side of the border. It would be a shame if you got lost and something unfortunate were to happen to you, Captain.]

The screen went blank. Sensors would indicate that the Cardassian ship was moving away, though her sensors were still locked on the Yeager.

[Theresa Black]

== Black ==

The Computer returned its results on the Cardassian after a couple of seconds.

[There is one match in the Federation Database.] It offered [CDS Os'rusa.]

It then went on to display basic statistics of the class along with a few other engagements with other  Starfleet vessels over the preceding years. One that it specifically flagged was headed 'Operation Return', submitted by a Commander zh'Alla.

It was an account of the retaking of Deep Space Nine during the Dominion war. The most interesting part being that the Os'rusa had been there that day, and had been disabled by the Yeager's former incarnation during that push.

Black was reading this while the Captain was now making contact with the Os'rusa. Looking up at the Gul on the screen. He seemed somewhat riled like all Spoonheads with a chip on both of their padded shoulders.

When the screen went blank and then returned moments later, maybe it was his officer informing him, that it was a ship called Yeager that had previously handed his ship its butt last time they'd met. Maybe that old rust buckets reputation would have some use after all, she thought.




== NRC – PO Srent – Vulcan – Science ==

It was several minutes after the probe had been launched when Srent once again made contact with Qi on the bridge.

[Srent to the Bridge. Commander Qi, we have begun receiving data from the probe. I am forwarding you our findings so far, which also includes what possibly appears to be a late twenty-first, early twenty-second century United Earth energy signature and distress signal.]

== Tag Qi ==

[Arwen Qi]

[Srent to the Bridge. Commander Qi, we have begun receiving data from the probe. I am forwarding you our findings so far, which also includes what possibly appears to be a late twenty-first, early twenty-second century United Earth energy signature and distress signal.]

Qi grinned to himself as the information began to display on his console. He hadn’t spent much time with his science department yet, but it was good to see that they seemed to be up to the task.

“Captain, our probe is picking up a distress signal from an old United Earth vessel. I’m not sure if it has anything to do with the Talarians, but it’s worth investigating. The technology on board would be antique. We’d better get there before your smuggler friend finds it.”

Qi pored over the probe’s sensor data for any more details that may be useful.

== Tag Bridge

GM Input: Any info on the vessel’s registry/when it was lost? Can we tell if it’s on our side of the border? ==

[GM-01]

The signal was weak and contained only the SOS signal; no name or registry. Whether due to range or weakness or the energy signature, the probe could not isolate the signature enough to get a comparison for record; all it had determined that it was a pulse fusion signature, which dated it as a design put in place between Cochrane's 2063 flight and the development of the Matter/Antimatter drive in the mid-22nd century.

Unfortunately, the signal was coming from a system several light years on the Talarian side of the border.

[Jennifer Braggins]

Jenny's eyes narrowed as the Cardassian, in true Cardassian style, turned what could have been a perfectly pleasant discussion between two ship commanders into a personal attack. Though her anger bubbled below the surface, well aware of her trial and conviction in-absentia for piracy by the Cardassian Central Command, but she somehow managed to keep it in check as the swarthy Gul continued his vitriolic diatribe. One eyebrow rose, however, as the Gul was silenced by a trim and not-unattractive Cardassian woman in civilian clothes. The two conversed off-screen for a moment before Hanar closed the channel and his ship began to move away.

"What a charming individual..."

Though she was now "off the hook" with the Cardassian ship, she reminded herself that she would have to tread very carefully, at least until the ship passed beyond sensor range. With a deep breath that exhaled as a sigh, part relief that they'd managed to avoid a firefight, part frustration that such a confrontation had happened in the first place.

"T'Lari, get me everything Intelligence has on Gul Hanar. Run that woman's face through facial recognition, too; I think she told Hanar to knock it off, and Cardassian Guls don't listen to just anyone."

Before she had time to settle down, however, the voice of her new Chief Science Officer carried across the Bridge. She'd learned he was a man of few words, probably due to his new-ness to the crew, but when he spoke he was generally worth listening to.

“Captain, our probe is picking up a distress signal from an old United Earth vessel. I’m not sure if it has anything to do with the Talarians, but it’s worth investigating. The technology on board would be antique. We’d better get there before your smuggler friend finds it.”

Great, first Cardassian shadows now a distress call. Who said this would be a simple survey mission?

Jenny considered Qi's words for a moment, especially her comments about Heathridge. The temptation to correct his choice of words was dampened by the ramifications of the discovery; if it was a United Earth vessel, it was two centuries out of date at least, but it was also a distress call that she was mandated by Starfleet regulation and interstellar law to respond to. The fact it was on the wrong side of a border, in space that was contested by a government hostile to the Federation, were inconsequential. 

This isn't something we can ignore. Not only do we have a duty to respond, it's our moral responsibility and this time, nobody is getting a choice in the matter.

Decision made in Jenny's mind, she knew that Jensen and certain other conservatives in her crew might disagree, but this was not Parhelia. The legality of what she had done there had not depended on whether or not Parhelia was Cardassian space, as the Federation had not recognised the Cardassian occupation as legal, but whether she had disobeyed lawful orders. This time, she was morally and legally mandated to investigate so long as she didn't put her crew at risk, and interstellar law would agree with her decision for crossing a border of a Federation ally, even if that ally was under military occupation.

Not that the Cardassians will see it that way, but since when have they obeyed interstellar law when it didn't suit them?

"Mister Qi, I want a range and bearing on that distress call. Theresa, T'Lari, I want you ready for a possible border crossing; it'll piss the Cardassians off, but we should be able to outrun them; we'll be weapons-safe unless they fire on us, but I want their sensors and communications scrambled if necessary."

Crossing the border was going to require speed, which meant they were going to have to open the taps; the Yeager hadn't been properly tested at full power, and effecting a rescue in hostile territory wasn't something they could afford to dawdle on. They were going to need their best people on-deck, monitoring the systems with eagle-eyes, and more than a few hopes and prayers that the entire ship didn't decide to spread itself over a few light years on a whim.

"Bridge to Hydish. Once you've got your glitch locked down, I want you to start prepping the engines for a full-power sprint. Bring the Slipstream online as well."

Jenny figured it would take Hydish a few minutes to get things set up, which was all the time she was prepared to give Heathridge to prove his innocence. If Jensen couldn't prove he wasn't smuggling contraband by the time the Yeager was ready to depart, she'd officially impound the ship and put a prize crew aboard her; Heathridge would have to sort the rest out with the admiralty courts when he and his ship were delivered to the nearest starbase.

"Yeager to Jensen: Expedite your search, we have a change of mission. If you cannot complete your search, you will detain Captain Heathridge and pilot the Damsel to Starbase 214."

[Peter Jensen]

Peter's response was immediate:

[Copy, Yeager. We'll speed it up]

[Theresa Black]

There was a momentary lull on the bridge as the Cardassian vessel moved off. The Captain asked T'Lari to look up the Gul and this friend to see what she could find. Then Qi spoke up, and the whole energy of the room changed.

A distress signal? Black began a wide sensor sweep to get a lock on the weak signal

Orders began flowing. And a heading was forwarded to Maz's terminal to better aid her finding the target. It was very weak.

“...Theresa, T'Lari, I want you ready for a possible border crossing; it'll piss the Cardassians off,”

Why change the habit of a lifetime?...

“...but we should be able to outrun them; we'll be weapons-safe unless they fire on us, but I want their sensors and communications scrambled if necessary."

That should be simple enough “Heading set...” She called out awaiting the command to engage.

"Bridge to Hydish. Once you've got your glitch locked down, I want you to start prepping the engines for a full-power sprint. Bring the Slipstream online as well."

That made Maz pause and take in a breath. She knew they had slipstream, but she hated it every time they used it. There was always a lurch to her stomach that made her feel unwell whenever they used any form of faster that warp drive. Slipstream, jump gate or even wormhole.

"Yeager to Jensen: Expedite your search, we have a change of mission. If you cannot complete your search, you will detain Captain Heathridge and pilot the Damsel to Starbase 214."

That last line made her stop completely and almost turn back. Will they need a pilot?

The reply almost as quickly put stop to the thought. [Copy, Yeager. We'll speed it up]

That's when she realised that she'd stopped moving and was just looking at her hands hovering above the console. Not meeting the eye of the day. Shocked and locked and bubbled in grief and tired. So tired.

Swallowing, she blinked back the sudden welling she could feel building inside, and forced herself to focus again. Breath. Do your job.

Course is set... She checked the glovebox under the console. Tin of travel sweets and barf bags, check...

She hoped no one had noticed her brief zoning out.

"Helm ready at your command." She said double checking her data once again.

[T'Lari]

[Continue your "mapping mission", but remain on your side of the border. It would be a shame if you got lost and something unfortunate were to happen to you, Captain.]

The conversation on the Cardassian bridge was telling, and T'Lari watched the Gul's sour reaction with interest. He was suddenly more diplomatic.

Interesting. A Gul being given orders on the bridge of his own ship? It is possible that woman is Obsidian Order.

The Captain seemed to be just as interested in the exchange. "T'Lari, get me everything Intelligence has on Gul Hanar. Run that woman's face through facial recognition, too; I think she told Hanar to knock it off, and Cardassian Guls don't listen to just anyone."

"Aye, Captain," the Tactical officer responded, pulling up the Starfleet Intelligence system access and keying in the searches. T'Lari was as interested as Braggins was. This mission was turning into more than a shakedown.

But then another wrinkle from Lt. Commander Qi. “Captain, our probe is picking up a distress signal from an old United Earth vessel. I’m not sure if it has anything to do with the Talarians, but it’s worth investigating. The technology on board would be antique. We’d better get there before your smuggler friend finds it.”

The half-Vulcan thought that it was very convenient that they were suddenly receiving an old distress call. The old Kobayashi Maru test came to mind immediately. Was this a setup? Caution was definitely justified, but regulations were clear. They had to help. Braggins thought it over, and then came to an expected decision.

"Mister Qi, I want a range and bearing on that distress call. Theresa, T'Lari, I want you ready for a possible border crossing; it'll piss the Cardassians off, but we should be able to outrun them; we'll be weapons-safe unless they fire on us, but I want their sensors and communications scrambled if necessary."

Her fingers flew over the console, readying the sensor scramblers and communication jamming systems but not activating them yet. When it came to the Cardassians it was best to expect the unexpected, and the last time they'd encountered the Federation's old enemy the Philadelphia had nearly been destroyed... by something that looked like a freighter.

"Yes, Captain. Ready on your order."

Still, the young Lieutenant was perhaps a little too eager to test the ship's systems in an active situation. This new Yeager's sensors were massively more powerful than anything she'd ever used. As the humans joked they could 'peel the paint' off the Cardassian ship. That was good, because she was determined not to be taken by surprise again. Her people might consider her a poor example of what it was to be a Vulcan, but there were times that suspicion and a bit of paranoia could save lives. She keyed in a familiar protocol, the shield rotation she had used during the Philly's encounter with the 'freighter.' If that ship turned out to have phased polaron beams or any other such Dominion tricks she intended to be ready.

"Bridge to Hydish. Once you've got your glitch locked down, I want you to start prepping the engines for a full-power sprint. Bring the Slipstream online as well."

That will certainly get the Cardassian's attention considering how eager they've been to get their hands on one.

The half-Vulcan awaited the Captain's orders, systems at the ready.

== GM Input: What does the Intelligence file show about Gul Hanas? And what, if anything turns up on the mysterious woman on the Cardassian bridge? And are we good to go on weapons and sensors? ==

[GM-01]

The computer took a moment or three to process T'Lari's request as it verified her security clearance. Hanar's rather brutish face was displayed on the screen along with everything currently known about him.

[Name: Hanar
Age: 55
Rank: Gul
Assignment: CDS Os'rusa, Fifth Order
Service Record: 2368-2370: Gil; 2370-2373: Glinn; 2373-2374: Dalin; 2375-Pres: Gul.
Notable Service: Bajoran Occupation. Klingon-Cardassian War. Dominion War.]

There was no data on the woman provided in the datafile; either she wasn't in the database, or T'Lari had insufficient clearance to see what they had.

[Arwen Qi]

The discovery of the distress signal had launched the bridge into a flurry of overlapping chatter. The ship was old. Based on the limited sensor data available, it had likely been stranded for decades or longer. They were unlikely to find any survivors aboard. Still, it was their duty to respond.

And yet, something still wasn’t right. If this ship had been broadcasting a distress signal for that long, why hadn’t someone noticed it before now? This region of space was remote by Federation standards, but the Cardassians weren’t known for their lax border security. A stranded ship was perfect bait, daring the Federation to cross the line.

He shook his head. He would figure out the strategy later, once he knew what game they were playing.

“Sending the heading to the nav console now. Also scanning for anomalies in this region of space. I’d hate to scratch the paint on the Yeager’s first mission,” Qi replied to the captain. He queried the probe for any additional data, looking for radiation, subspace disturbances, and other hazards.

Our ship should be sturdier than an antique, but we should still make sure we don’t get ourselves stranded as well.

== Tag Bridge
GM Input: Any environmental hazards in the direction of the distress signal? ==

[Peter Jensen]

Quite quickly, Peter's voice came back:

[Jensen to Yeager. We found nothing of enough importance to justify staying here. We're ready to go back]

[Altairi Hydish]

A commbadge signal from Engineering patched itself in to Qi's console.

[Hydish to Commander Qi, we're getting ready to spool up the Slipstream Drive. If you or your people can offer any data or processing time to keep our calculations in line, we'd appreciate it.]

[Jennifer Braggins]

==Gonna add an element of CO-GM on this post to keep us moving!==

With the away team returning and the Disreputable Damsel cut loose with what sounded like a stern talking-to, Jenny was free to put the next steps into action. What had started as a simple charting mission had already been complicated by the shadowing Cardassian, but the distress call had added yet another spanner in the works, and she was not looking forward to her debrief once they finally arrived at Starbase 214. Crossing the border without permission would have been an act of war against the Talarians, but that was a fight the Yeager could have easily won; it was the Cardassian occupying force that still concerned her.

It's not like they'll need an excuse to come in guns blazing, even if they weren't dealing with a convicted pirate...

The biggest issue they were going to have was that the Os'rusa was still actively pinging them with its sensors; that worked both ways, as it meant the Yeager also knew where the Cardassians were, but it also meant they couldn't do anything sneaky. With the probe deployed, they could carry on with their legitimate charting mission while also effecting the rescue, so long as they were outside of sensor range of the Os'rusa.

Or we could use the probe as a dupe, but there's no telling how long that'll hold up...

An urgent chirping signal sounded from the Tactical and Science consoles; Jenny's own repeater confirmed what the two other officers were being told, the Os'rusa had disengaged her sensors and seemingly just vanished. No signs of power surges or other phenomena that might indicate a ship in distress were detected, leading Jenny to believe they had simply "gone silent" to surreptitiously observe the Yeager. It would be a shame if they didn't have anything to look at.

"Mister Qi, I need you to reprogram that probe to mimic our energy signature. T'Lari, shut down our transponder and all running lights. Theresa, just in case they don't buy our probe, I want you to take us to Warp Seven on any heading you want for one minute. Then drop us out of warp, turn us around, and activate the Slipstream Drive to get us to that distress signal."

As her crew went about their duties, Jenny once again needed to address her Chief Engineer.

"Bridge to Engineering; Altairi, I need you to disguise or mask our energy signature. It doesn't have to be a perfect, just make us look like anything but a Federation starship."

==Qi: the system was safe to enter, with no major environmental hazards.==

[GM-Braggins]

==Five Minute Timeskip==

The Yeager had punched it into high warp the moment the Away Team were retrieved, travelling 11.6 billion kilometers in a minute before dropping out of warp. Under Black's expert but possibly slightly anxious piloting, the Yeager swung about and fired up its Slipstream Drive.

Three minutes and thirty seconds later, having jumped a staggering distance in mere moments.

Upon arriving in the outer edges of the system, the distress call could be narrowed down. An ancient DY-150 transport was in orbit of an uninhabited Class M world, but the orbit was decaying. Given the automated nature of the call, it was likely the shift in orbit had triggered the system.

Scans of the ship would indicate the main fusion reactor had long since gone offline, power to the ship supplied only by a pair of tattered solar sails. There were faint life signs aboard, indicating humanoids kept within old-style cryogenic chambers.

She was not broadcasting a transponder signal.

[Peter Jensen]

Peter had taken his seat immediately upon arriving back on the bridge, and told the rest of the away team to report back to whatever duties they had, effectively disbanding the motley crew for the time being.

He gave Black a slightly apologetic look as he did, realizing that it would be a while before he could make good on the promise he'd given her, because it seemed that they'd have their hands full for the foreseeable future.

Exactly how true that was, Peter found out a few moments later when they emerged from slipstream and realized what they were after.

Son of a borg.....

An old style colony ship in orbit around a Cardassian-controlled planet. He closed his eyes and prepared himself for what he had sought to avoid all this time, and the reason he'd mutinied: A fight with the Cardassians.
He'd prefer to avoid it - though something deep within him that he didn't want to acknowledge also stirred in eagerness  at the thought - but there was no way he was going to let the colonists die when their ship entered the atmosphere. And there was even less of a way that he was going to allow the Cardassians to take them.

He felt that it was his duty to be the one to call Braggins to the point of decision.

"That orbit isn't going to hold for long, and even if it does, eventually the Cardassians will find them", he pointed out the obvious and looked back at Braggins.

"Orders, Captain?"

[Theresa Black]

Within a few minutes of the Cardassian moving off, it had either moved off out of sensor range, or they had simply gone dark. Either way, and with the return of the awayteam, it was go time.

“I want you to take us to Warp Seven on any heading you want for one minute. Then drop us out of warp, turn us around, and activate the Slipstream Drive to get us to that distress signal."

“Aye aye” Replied Black tapping the final command into the console.

From zero to warp seven was seamless. Not even a slight vibration through the decking. The Antares yards had certainly put the ship together well. But that first minute was short lived.

Three and a half minutes of slipstream later Maz had no idea how everyone else was, but as with all FTW trips she'd experienced, she felt the ubiquitous dull ache as if she'd been punched in the gut that only gradually ended when they dropped back to normal space.

The payoff however was the sight on screen as they entered the system of a DY-150 in orbit of the M-Class planet.

'I've always wanted to fly one of those.' was what Black intended to say, but her settling stomach decided that was the time to instead release some trapped air resulting in her quickly covering her mouth and an even quicker; “oh, Pardon me!”

All the while, she was scanning the system for anything else that may have been of interest.


== GM – Is there anything else other than the DY-150 in or around the system? Life signs anywhere, et-al? ==

[T'Lari]

T'Lari sent the data on the Cardassian captain to Braggins' chair. "There is no information on the woman on the Cardassian bridge, at least that I can access. I've sent the rest to you. There is nothing noteworthy in Hanar's record." It was a run of the mill career, but at least there was no note of war crimes and the like.

The signal from the First Officer stated that there were no concerns and that the freighter was free to go. T'lari was a bit suspicious, but dismissed it; they had much more important matters to be concerned about than a smuggler.

The Cardassians has moved off and were seemingly not tracking the Yeager... which meant nothing at all. They most certainly still were.

The Captain was ready. They were going after the distress call.

"Mister Qi, I need you to reprogram that probe to mimic our energy signature. T'Lari, shut down our transponder and all running lights. Theresa, just in case they don't buy our probe, I want you to take us to Warp Seven on any heading you want for one minute. Then drop us out of warp, turn us around, and activate the Slipstream Drive to get us to that distress signal."

"Aye, Captain." The Vulcan opened the transponder menu and keyed the command. The running lights shut off, leaving the hull dark. The transponder system was a bit more stubborn.

[Warning: Transponder deactivation is not recommended and will be logged in flight data. Confirm?]

No wonder the emotional races sometimes yell at machines.

She stabbed the 'yes' icon with her thumb. "Transponder and running lights deactivated, Captain. Weapons and shields ready on your order."

Hopefully it wouldn't come to a fight. They needed to get in and out as quickly as possible. But if it did the Tactical officer intended to be ready.

T'Lari found her first slipstream jump... interesting. She didn't feel discomfort as some others did, but rather a slight 'buzz' in her head, the same she felt when she had first trained to use her now-neglected psionic abilities. Nothing worth noting, really. Scans indicated an old DY-150, a ship from Earth's original colonial phase. Numerous colony worlds had been founded with those old relics... but the most (in)famous one had carried refugees of a different sort.

== Tags =

[Jennifer Braggins]

Unlike some on the Bridge, Jenny was a veteran slipstream traveler and had more than a few jumps in her pilot's log; this meant that she'd been prepared for the odd and slightly-unnerving sensations that travelling in a slipstream corridor caused. Her eyes had been glued to the engineering repeater display on her armrest for the entirety of the minutes-long jump, looking for any sign that the driver or corridor were becoming unstable. They made it through, however, and Jenny made a mental note to congratulate whichever engineer had installed and initially calibrated the drive and deflectors for such a smooth ride.

Though maybe we should see whether we're captured and charged with piracy again before we do that...

As the Yeager entered the system, Jenny shifted in her seat; excitement and anxiety competed for her attention as she balanced the nature of their mission, the historical importance of this ship, and the likelihood of discovery. The DY-150 didn't look to be in the best shape, her orbit was decaying, her reactors were offline, and her solar sails were shredded. Though they didn't have any concrete data on the orbit yet, Jenny could tell just from the results she'd seen so far, that the crippled ship had hours at most before she burned up.

"That orbit isn't going to hold for long, and even if it does, eventually the Cardassians will find them. Orders, Captain?"

"I'm surprised the Talarians hadn't found them before now, but maybe they had something to do with this. They wouldn't have been able to board the ship, but it would have made an excellent target for their recruits to practice on..."

Absentmindedly scratching her chin, Jenny frowned as she weighed her options. The simplest solution would be to tractor the ship out of the gravity well, but that risked tearing the other ship apart through opposing forces. Even if it wasn't ripped apart, the tractor beam would certainly shred the remaining solar sails, which would doom the inhabitants unless they could hook up a new power source before whatever battery backups, if any, failed.

"Put us in an orbit five hundred kilometers above the derelict; it'll be close enough to grab her with a tractor beam if needed, and shield her from prying eyes. We're going to have to go aboard to see what we can do for these people; Commander Qi, Lieutenant Hydish and I will beam across and try and stabilise their orbit."

Pausing for a moment to continue to weigh the pros against the cons, Jenny nodded to herself as she decided.

"If we're successful, we will bring a medical team aboard to determine whether it is safe to revive the passengers. If not, we will have to prepare for a mass beam-out; I want Cargo Bay One converted into a temporary cryogenic facility to maintain any pods until we can safely revive them. Then I want a plan for towing the ship back to Federation space, and a plan for scuttling her if we're detected and need to make a fast getaway."

Drumming her fingers on her armrests, Jenny mentally searched for anything she might have missed. It wasn't easy, even for her "superior" brain, as her anxieties and the excitement and anticipation of the situation both fought for her full attention. Deciding that she, in fact, hadn't missed anything, she nodded again to herself.

"Questions?"

[Theresa Black]

"That orbit isn't going to hold for long...” The Captain was saying as the bridge crew set about their work.

A combination of many things was making Black nervous. The DY-150 was effectively dead in the water in a decaying orbit, but these things didn't just go from orbiting a planet to plummeting into the atmosphere without a reason.

She'd been scanning for anything from the second they'd entered the system, but there didn't seem to be anything. The Captains assessment that the ship had simply lost power and was now in its final moments seemed obvious. But at two hundred years old, why had it chosen now to do it?

"Put us in an orbit five hundred kilometres above the derelict; it'll be close enough to grab her with a tractor beam if needed, and shield her from prying eyes.”

“Aye-aye” Black replied moving the ship in to the higher synchronous orbit.

“We're going to have to go aboard to see what we can do for these people; Commander Qi, Lieutenant Hydish and I will beam across and try and stabilise their orbit."

That made Black stop and turn back. Why are you going?

"If we're successful, we will bring a medical team aboard to determine whether it is safe to revive the passengers.”

How do we know there are passengers? Black now wondered.

Sure 150's were usually cryosleepers, but none of the initial scans had returned anything. Yet. And there was still the possibility that this could be an ambush. After all, what were the odds that they would detect it hours before it was due to crash on an unknown planet in an unknown system.

Tactical 101. If there's any doubt, there is no doubt.

More orders were disseminated and then the Captain threw open the room; "Questions?"

She wasn't sure if it was still the effect of their slipstream jump, or something else, but the knot in her stomach tightened a little more as she said, “Captain, are you sure you should be going over there yourself? What if this is an elaborate ambush? Initial sensor scans aren't showing anything specifically out of the ordinary, but something feels a bit... I don't know.” she seemed to falter a little and look away, then she looked back fixing her gaze. “Something feels off, and I, don't really want to loose anyone else today."


== Tag el Capitan ==

== And GM – Still waiting on earlier initial scans of everything ==

[GM-01]

The DY-150 was the only object of note in the system. None of the planets was inhabited, though the planet it currently orbited could with some terraforming.

A more thorough scan would indicate there were close to one hundred life-signs aboard the derelict, all showing indication of being in a state of suspended animation.

As the ship closed to visual range, the visual sensors picked up the ship's name on the hull: S.S. Lord Franklin. Students of early Starfleet history would know the name as a ship that had disappeared from a shipyard on Luna in mid-2155, and the myriad conspiracy theories that the disappearance had inspired.

[Arwen Qi]

Qi stood up at his station. Scans revealed almost one hundred crewmen, locked in suspended animation for more than a century. He’d spent many late nights reading about early starships, out of morbid interest as much as anything else. Spacefaring meant something different before the modern convenience of warp drive and artificial gravity. Aboard modern ships, it was almost possible to forget about the dark abyss of space pressed up against the transparent aluminum windows. For early pioneers, that darkness must have been a constant companion.

I’m worried that the crew didn’t automatically wake up when the distress signal activated. The ship’s critical systems might be on their way out. Early stasis devices were touchy pieces of technology.

“Put us in an orbit five hundred kilometers above the derelict; it'll be close enough to grab her with a tractor beam if needed, and shield her from prying eyes. We're going to have to go aboard to see what we can do for these people; Commander Qi, Lieutenant Hydish and I will beam across and try and stabilise their orbit."

“Ready when you are captain,” Qi said, ready to spring for the turbolift at a moment’s notice, “I said this ship was an antique, but I didn’t realize it was legendary. Historians have debated for years about what happened to the Lord Franklin.”

As the crew prepared to board the derelict ship, Black voiced her concerns for the captain’s safety. Ordinarily, he would have agreed, but this mission was different.

“Stay behind and miss out on an opportunity to solve one of the oldest mysteries in Federation history? I wouldn’t take that deal,” Qi said through a wide grin. He didn’t know the captain well, but she didn’t seem like the type to stay on the sidelines.

== Tag Bridge ==

[Jennifer Braggins]

Jenny had expected there to be an issue with her going aboard the derelict, but she hadn't expected it to come from Black; the Chief Tactical Officer herself had a reputation for taking the occasional risk, and wasn't known as a stickler for the rules and regulations, so it had been a genuine surprise when she'd been the one to speak up. Her justification was sound, it was a risk, but the entire situation was balanced on a knife-edge that teetered between success and disaster. Though she was touched by Black's concern, Jenny had a finite tolerance for sending others into danger without being able to go herself, and that tolerance had finally worn thin.

Fortunately, the new Chief Science Officer, in an excited manner she'd not seen from him since he'd reported aboard, seemed to answer Jenny's question for her. She managed, barely, to conceal an amused smile at his schoolboy enthusiasm. As a student of history, having recently rewritten her PhD thesis on Starfleet's early development into a fairly successful nonfiction text (under a pseudonym of course), Jenny was well-aware of the Lord Franklin's disappearance; it had been a minor footnote in early Starfleet history, and she'd referenced it anecdotally in her thesis as an example of how lax system security had been even following the Suliban and Xindi crises and the emergence of the Romulan threat.

“Stay behind and miss out on an opportunity to solve one of the oldest mysteries in Federation history? I wouldn’t take that deal.”

"I have no intention on missing this opportunity. Worst case scenario, the Cardassians show up and we have to make a quick getaway. Best case scenario, we solve a centuries-old mystery, save a hundred or so people, and I get to write another book and maybe retire on the proceeds."

Gathering herself and trying to contain her excitement, both professional and personal, Jenny turned to Jensen and continued giving directions to her crew.

"You have the Bridge, Commander. Keep an eye out for Cardassian patrols; if one enters sensor range you're to play possum, but if it approaches your orders are to get the ship and crew back across the border immediately. T'Lari, Theresa, I want you to try and figure out how the Lord Franklin got out here. Wormhole, alien abduction, runaway warp reaction, there are no silly theories; try and link the Yeager to the Franklin's computers, we'll be doing the same from the other end."

With that done, Jenny nodded to Jensen with a small smile, before moving towards the back of the Bridge and into the Turbolift, accompanied by Qi.

==Next Post: Transporter Room==

[Peter Jensen]

Peter hadn't liked the idea of the Captain going off ship for this one, but he knew when to pick his battles. It was, after all, the Captain's prerogative to join away missions if she wanted. The practise of some to have both Captain and the First Officer joining in was one he found to be a lot more problematic by a long shot. 
And while the Captain could be brass, this was quite similar to a first contact mission albeit one in hostile circumstances. It was fitting that the Captain was there for it. 

"Understood", he said as she announced her decision to join in. "We'll get right on clearing bay one.", he repated the order to indicate understanding, having already triaged the orders in..well...order of priority: First, cargo bay cleared to use as cryo storage. Second, a plan to tow the ship if needed. He didn't need to think long about a plan for scuttling the ship, honestly. Once everyone was off it, a single well-placed torpedo should scatter its atoms easily enough. Or, if all else failed, a slight push should get it sent into the planet's atmosphere to incinerate nicely. 
He saw its destruction if necessary as more of a point of pride, honestly. The idea of the Cardassians recovering the Lord Franklin was distasteful. Not because it'd represent a threat. The technology was centuries out of date. But it'd be a prestige loss for the Cardassians to recover an old Earth ship for themselves.

Her last instructions made him raise an eyebrow, though. 

"I have the bridge, aye", he acknowledged, but didn't have time to voice the rest of what was on his mind before she gave him a smile, and headed for the exit. He wasn't about to shout after her. That'd be unseemly, even though he had no intention of letting them get stuck and captured. He hoped it wouldn't come to that. Instead, he sighed a bit as he sat down in the center chair and took a deep breath. 

"Jensen to Science and Engineering", he called out. "I need cargo bay one cleared and made suitable for the maintenence of a hundred active cryo pods. Feel free to stack if needed, just no playing Jenga if it can be avoided", he pointed out. 

He then looked to Black.

"Regarding the need to tow the ship....could we lower the intensity of the tractor beam down enough that it won't be like a toddler ripping paper, but strong enough to actually tow it?", he asked. 

== Tag all!  ==

[Theresa Black]

The replies from Commander Qi and the Captain didn't exactly make Black feel any better. The pair of them sounded like giddy school kids as they began to head over to the derelict.

She glanced sideways at the Commander. He didn't look too pleased either.

But before she had the opportunity to protest further, more orders were given, "T'Lari, Theresa, I want you to try and figure out how the Lord Franklin got out here. Wormhole, alien abduction, runaway warp reaction, there are no silly theories; try and link the Yeager to the Franklin's computers, we'll be doing the same from the other end."

She'd never heard of the Lord Franklin. A quick searches first hits were to an 19th Century explorer, she assumed that was who it was named for. Historical research wasn't exactly her strong point right now.

“T'Lari, you look into the history of the ship. I'll try connecting to the computer.” She called over to the younger woman at the rear.

"Regarding the need to tow the ship.” The Commander asked, “Could we lower the intensity of the tractor beam down enough that it won't be like a toddler ripping paper, but strong enough to actually tow it?"

Black turned to face him. She thought for a moment before she answered. “From this orbit, the strain would be far too much for it. However, if we dropped down into the same orbit and used the Franklin's own momentum to pull it out, it would significantly reduce the stress.”

[T'Lari]

"You have the Bridge, Commander. Keep an eye out for Cardassian patrols; if one enters sensor range you're to play possum, but if it approaches your orders are to get the ship and crew back across the border immediately. T'Lari, Theresa, I want you to try and figure out how the Lord Franklin got out here. Wormhole, alien abduction, runaway warp reaction, there are no silly theories; try and link the Yeager to the Franklin's computers, we'll be doing the same from the other end."

There are always silly theories. I'll attempt to work out probabilities and work backwards from there. Given the lack of information though, it will be difficult to make anything more than a guess.

Black called to her. “T'Lari, you look into the history of the ship. I'll try connecting to the computer.”

"Yes, Lieutenant."

The half-Vulcan opened the ship's library on her console and pulled up the history of the relic. She rapidly read through it, looking for anything that might be useful.

"Regarding the need to tow the ship....could we lower the intensity of the tractor beam down enough that it won't be like a toddler ripping paper, but strong enough to actually tow it?" Commander Jensen asked.

An idea occurred to her. "Commander, Lieutenant," she called back to her superior officers. "Could we perhaps use the trick that was used with Deep Space Nine when the crew needed to move it to the mouth of the Bajoran wormhole? Modify the subspace field output of the deflector generators to create a low-level field around the derelict? Lower its inertial mass? Then the tractor beam could be used on a much lower setting and still move the ship."

= GM Input: What does the library say about the derelict? Is there anything solid besides conspiracy theories? L'Lari will also look for information on local anomalies... wormholes and the like. ==
== Tags Jensen and Black ==

[Peter Jensen]

Peter asked for ideas, and T'Lari didn't disappoint. He smiled approvingly. He did, however, want Black's imprimatur on the idea before authorizing it. Two heads, after all, were better than one. And he was outside of his element at the moment.

"Not a bad idea", he said encouragingly, pretending that he understood the techno-babble much more than he actually did.
Then looked at Black. "What do you think? Can it be done? They had the resources and systems of a space station at their disposal. We....do not", he said diplomatically as a way of calling attention to the fact that they were much more limited in the equipment at their disposal than DS9 had been.

[Theresa Black]

“I don't honestly know.” Black replied trying to recall the information T'Lari was talking about. “I think I know what T'Lari means, but to lower the inertial mass, wouldn't the field generators need to be on the Franklin itself?”

She let the question hang for a second before she continued. It wasn't something she was overly familiar with, and given her day so far, her concentration was starting to wane on her. “If we try projecting that kind of field from here, wouldn't it still lead to uneven stresses? I really think we need to consult with engineering on this one.”

== Tags back ==

[Peter Jensen]

Peter nodded. He also didn't know, honestly. But they needed to know before they attempted it. Calling in an expert might be a good idea.

He tapped his badge:

"Jensen to Engineering", he said. "A question: Could we pull a DS9-stunt to get the Franklin back on the right side of the border?", he asked. "I mean reduce its mass, so the tractor beam doesn't pull it into a trillion pieces?", he asked, hoping he'd managed to explain what he meant in a way that both made sense, but also was clear enough for he himself to understand both the question and therefore also the subsequent answer.
He was by no means stupid, but something else he was not, was anything resembling a decent engineer. He could work a tricorder, no problem. He knew that a warp drive bent space-time around it and that's what allowed everyone to travel the galaxy. Sure. But beyond that, engineers might as well be speaking Klingon. And not only standard Klingon, but the most obscure dialect imaginable, spoken only by a cave hermit living in the most remote an inaccessable of the Hamar Mountains.

[T'Lari]

"Not a bad idea." The First Officer addressed Black. "What do you think? Can it be done? They had the resources and systems of a space station at their disposal. We....do not."

“I don't honestly know.” Black replied. "I think I know what T'Lari means, but to lower the inertial mass, wouldn't the field generators need to be on the Franklin itself?”

"Not necessarily," the young Vulcan-Romulan stated. "We should be able to extend our field around the other ship since it is so small. An orbital adjustment would not require more than a 'nudge.'"

Jensen wisely called Engineering to ask about the feasibility of doing so. T'Lari was no engineer. She was well-read about history, but this would require skilled specialists. On Deep Space 9 the operation had been coordinated by Chief O'Brian, one of the best in Starfleet. But they had managed to move a huge space station out of orbit and much further out in the Bajoran System with six thrusters. It was theoretically possible. Whether that translated to a practical plan was another matter.

"Commander, even if it is possible I'd still recommend we only use this idea as a last resort, if there is no other way to adjust the orbit of the Lord Franklin... and not if our team is aboard."

== Tags ==

[Theresa Black]

The idea was simple. Reduce the mass, reduce the sheer forces on the structure. And she was glad that the Commander had contacted engineering.

With the ship now in a parking orbit above the Frankin, she could concentrate on trying to interface the two computer systems. Structural engineering was too much. T'Lari definitely seemed to know what she was talking about at least.

She's going to go far, that girl.

Yeager had the latest version of LCARS installed, and it like almost every previous version was adaptive enough to be able to talk to almost any OS it could find.

“Computer. Can you interface with the S.S. Lord Frankin?”


== GM – Can we just connect via wifi, or is this thing air gapped? ==

[GM-01]

==T'Lari==

The library did not contain much about the Lord Franklin itself, that information had mostly been lost to history. There were some well-documented and, in some case wild, theories about what had happened. Some included Human dissidents unhappy with Earth joining the interstellar community, others a secret Augment tribe seeking freedom among the stars, while some of the wilder theories had the Franklin used in a Starfleet Intelligence "black flag" operation to prompt the start of the Earth-Romulan War. The only solid data was that it had put in for refit in mid-2155, and had been stolen from the shipyard before work could begin.

Given the Franklin was "only" one hundred forty light-years from Earth, the ship wouldn't have needed a wormhole or spatial anomaly to make it this far out with the technology of the time (and there were none detected in the vicinity), it could have made it under its own power. 140 Light Years in 249 years meant the ship would have averaged .56c across its entire journey, somehow missing every gravity well along the way, or it had travelled somewhat faster and then spent a more significant amount of time in its now-decaying orbit.

Given the state of the ship, either option was possible.

==Black==

The computer was unable to connect with the Franklin. Whether her communications array was damaged, or her computers were just so old that the Yeager's computer couldn't identify any commonalities.

==Sorry for the delay, I had to Pythagoras the distance between your location and Earth and, well, there's a reason I didn't do Math in college!==

[Theresa Black]

Tapping in commands, Black asked;  “Computer. Can you interface with the S.S. Lord Frankin?” Hoping that the superior operating system of this state of the art ship would achieve the task in seconds.

She was however, those same seconds later informed by the computer that, [Unable to interface with S.S Lord Franklin. No external interface detected.]

Given this new setback, combined with the other somewhat pressing frustrations that had developed throughout the day, Black kicked back from the helm and in a very out of character outburst swore loudly at the console. It took her a couple of seconds to realise that the whole bridge had turned to look at her.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. Half her mind wanted to just respond with 'What?!?' but her rational, professional side, while she turned red with embarrassment said; “Sorry.”

Especially when she caught the look on the Commanders face. Half of her wanted the pit where the helm was situated to just open up and let her vanish into its depths, while the other half of her considered turning round and just walking out. Neither were really an option.

It was then that a blinking light on the helm came to her rescue. “The uh... The Franklin. We just got very lightly scanned.” She said zooming in on a section of the main viewscreen.

“It looks like some kind of optical viewer? Rudimentary with a few adaptations. System shows it just rotated and... 'looked' at us.”


== Tags to the other stay at home kids on the bridge. ==

[T'Lari]

As expected.

"Commander, there is very little solid information about the Lord Franklin. Almost everything available is rumor and speculation. What's known is that it was stolen when it went in for refit. The work was never begun. The ship could have gotten to this system using only slower-than-light travel. Without further information it is impossible to determine anything more."

That raised further questions, of course, but nothing that T'Lari would be able to solve. Was this system the destination? It seemed likely given the requirements of slower-than-light travel... long acceleration and deceleration. The ancient spaceframe was built long before structural integrity fields were a thing, which meant that acceleration would have to be done with great care. The solar sails could provide that without turning the crew to pulp, but could the technology of the time have navigated it here? And why here? The planet was class M, but needed some terraforming to be useful, which made it an unlikely target for a ship from that era. The half-Vulcan doubted that the Lord Franklin could possibly be carrying enough equipment to terraform a world.

A brief flash of irritation passed through her mind and she suppressed it.

Do not be irritated. This is a mystery to be solved, nothing more.

But that wasn't it. Something about the situation felt... wrong. Felt.

Such feelings are not Vulcan. Intuition is not logical. Respond only to facts, but maintain awareness.

T'Lari checked sensor data, trying to make sure there were no lurking Cardassians or others nearby. She kept shields at standby, ready to be fired up at a moment's notice. With the Slipstream jump they would have blasted past any of them, and it would take quite a while to catch up... but if this was a trap she intended to be ready.

== Tags ==

[Peter Jensen]

Peter couldn't entirely blame Black for her outburst. She'd had one heck of a bad day, after all. But right now he also needed everyone to stay focused. If the Cardassians showed up, things were going to get...messy. And he needed their helmswoman focused.

"Apology accepted" he said calmly and without hesitation. "Stay focused, please." he went on in the same tone of very mild reproach. Not because he actually blamed her, but he kinda needed to be the one to maintain order right now. He listened to the explanation about the Franklin.

"Frankly", he said, and didn't notice the pun until much later, "it amazes me that this ship is still intact after all these years." he mused before Black explained about the scan. He wasn't actually worried, but did furrow his brow slightly. He didn't konw that ships this ancient had any kind of active scanning capability. Then again, he wasn't much of a history of science-buff.

"As long as it didn't implant a Trojan in us, let it look", he said with a vry smile, then looked at T'Lari who'd spoken up about the Franklin's history. He nodded.

"Understood. Keep a lookout for Cardassians", he pointed out. "And shut down non-essential systems. That means whatever we don't need to be able to defend ourselves if necessary, run away if it comes to that, and maintain the cryo pods. Everything else can wait. We want our particular candle in the dark to be as small as possible", he pointed out again, referencing their energy signature, and hoping that the less energy they used, the more difficult they'd be to spot, and the less risk there was of being detected.

Then a thought occurred to him.

"However", he said, "I also want to know: If it became necessary....could we extend our shields to cover the Franklin as well? If the Cardassians show up and are not in a talking mood, I don't want them to beam out anyone from the Franklin under our noses and leave us here holding our unmentionable while they have hostages."

[Theresa Black]

Jensen allowed her outburst, but she knew he wouldn't a second time. Thankfully he changed the subject back to the job in hand.

"Stay focused, please." he Said. “Frankly, it amazes me that this ship is still intact after all these years. As long as it didn't implant a Trojan in us, let it look", he then said in relation to Blacks seeing the turret like appendage move.

T'Lari then confirmed from her research that everything they had available to them from the ships computers was mostly speculation and rumour, with almost no solid information about the vessel..

The Commander was taking in all this information, and after a short pause he began issuing more orders. Mostly reducing their energy profile to avoid long range detection. It seemed obvious. They had barely detected the signature of the Franklin, and by comparison the Yeager was virtually a lighthouse beaming out signals in all directions for parsecs.

With that being implemented, the bridge returned to a quieter level of general monitoring of itself and the local space.

The he spoke again. "I also want to know: If it became necessary....could we extend our shields to cover the Franklin as well? If the Cardassians show up and are not in a talking mood, I don't want them to beam out anyone from the Franklin under our noses and leave us here holding our unmentionable while they have hostages."

Black blinked as she processed the question. They'd run basic tests on the systems since they'd been given the ship, but that like the earlier questions about creating a subspace field around the other ship was more of an engineering based issue.

“We can do it. It's not something that hasn't been done before, but it is more of a multi-department manoeuvrer, and as I said earlier, we would probably have to move into a nearer, lower orbit which could potentially put both ships in danger and maybe take us down with it if it reaches its atmospheric entry window.”

Glancing back to T'Lari to see if she had anything she could add.


== Tag one, Tag all, Taggart ==

[GM-01]

While there were no Cardassians in the immediate vicinity, long-range sensors did pick up a Cardassian energy signature several dozen Light Years away in an uninhabited part of the former Talarian Republic. At this range, for it to be detected, the power output must have been enormous.

The computer could not match it to any known class of ship.

[Theresa Black]

With everyone on the bridge now going about their work. Scanning, researching, monitoring, and waiting. What happened next wasn't unexpected, but was surprising.

Now operating in a low power mode to lessen the chances of the Yeager being detected from afar, it couldn't exactly run any active long range scans, but they still had the class three probe roaming the sector they had originally been patrolling. It was far distant to them now after their slipstream jump, but it was smart enough to know where its base ship was still.

It had sent back a couple more packets of data since its initial launch, which was how they had found the power signature that had lead them to this location. And now it sent back something new.

At the touch of a control, the incoming data was thrown up on the main viewscreen, splitting the screen in two. The other half still showing the external visual of the Franking in its decaying orbit.

It showed a Cardassian energy signature. A large large signature that wasn't recognised by the computers database for anything the Cardassians had on record.

“Well, that's not good.” Said Black looking over at Jensen.


== Tag team... ==

[T'Lari]

Jensen asked if the Yeager could extend its shields around the small derelict. Lt. Black answered.

“We can do it. It's not something that hasn't been done before, but it is more of a multi-department manoeuvrer, and as I said earlier, we would probably have to move into a nearer, lower orbit which could potentially put both ships in danger and maybe take us down with it if it reaches its atmospheric entry window.” She turned to T'Lari.

"Lieutenant Black is correct, Sir. We would have to move in next to the Lord Franklin to do so, but it is possible. It would limit our maneuverability to virtually nothing and we would have to take great care while doing so as our shields could accidentally tear that ship to shreds if it even touched them."

Black saw the energy signature register on long range sensors just as T'Lari did.

Curious. An energy signature at that range would have to be beyond anything the Cardassians are known to have.

== GM Input: Is the energy signature moving? ==

[Peter Jensen]

Peter nodded at the explanation. It made sense.

"I want the option if we need it", he said, then met Black's eyes as she looked at him because of the Cardassian signature. The signature which did mildly concern him as well. "Coordinate what you need. I leave the technical details in hands I trust to get it right", he said with a confident smile, as T'Lari pointed out the obvious, then went on to the matter of the Cardassians.

"And yes, I see it too", he said calmly, in response to Black's notification, though he did not feel entirely calm. Something that big was hopefully a huge station, immovable. Because if it was, they couldn't throw it at the Yeager. They wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in Gre'thor against something like that.

"Prepare a message to Starfleet that we were forced to cross into Talarian space to save the occupants of the S. S. Lord Franklin, have taken no hostile action, but have been attacked by the Cardassians. Don't send it yet, but be prepared to be able to do so at a single push of a button", he said. "If they get here and try to intimidate us I want to to be able to tell them that even though they can wipe us out, the price of doing so is going to be higher than they'll want to pay. Be prepared for them having jammers of some kind, so see if you can find a way they can't block.", he said, banking on the Cardassians not being willing to risk a full-scale war with the Federation over an old colony ship.

Situations like this was the reason Peter thought it wildly irresponsible that many Starfleet ships had families on them. If he had children, he would be much more effective knowing they were safe on a planet or starbase somewhere, than stuck in harms way like the rest of them. The irony of this fact, given his background, was not lost on him.

[GM-01]

The energy signature was, in fact, moving. Albeit at sublight speeds and seemed to be contained within the confines of a solar system. Though no specifics could be determined at this range without launching a probe, the energy signature seemed to be moving fairly quickly for something of its size.

[Theresa Black]

"Prepare a message to Starfleet” The Commander said detailing the information he wanted including.

Another bleep from the screen informed them that the new contact was actually moving.

What the hell is it? Black pondered as the signature for whatever it was, was just too large to be anything but as station as Jenson had postulated, but moving?

Standing up and moving over to T'Lari's station, Black said; “At this range, we're not going to get much more data than this. I've got an idea, we've already got the one type three out there. How about we launch another type three. Send it out on a parallel course so that the pair of them can scan the target system from opposite sides. Kind of like an old doppler style radar?

Neither probe will have the quality of sensors that the ship has, but at that distance, their combined suits should be enough to better triangulate and map whatever that thing is and what the Cardassians are likely up to. What do you think?”

[Peter Jensen]

Peter had a decision to make. Send another probe and risk detection but gain more precise knowledge, or refrain, and risk being caught with their pants down.
He thought about it for a few moments before he nodded. More knowledge was always best.

"Launch it", he said. "I don't know if the probes can be made to look like asteroids to deflect suspicion, but we need more information in any case", he pointed out and sighed.

[Theresa Black]

Black had barely finished relaying her idea to T'Lari, when Jensen just said; "Launch it.”

Black turned back toward him and blinked for a moment before she turned back to T'Lari. “Do what the man says.”

"I don't know if the probes can be made to look like asteroids to deflect suspicion, but we need more information in any case" Jensen continued almost as an afterthought.

“Class 3's are the nearest thing we have to a stealth probe currently. It'll either work or it won't.” Black replied with a shrug.


== So, GM. We have one type 3 already floating about out there. And now we launch a second. How long will it take to reach destination, and what do we get out of it except heartache and pain? ==

[T'Lari]

T'Lari was about to tell Theresa that she believed that the probes would at least give them a more accurate read when Jensen gave the order. “Do what the man says," Black said.

The Vulcan tapped the command into her console. "Second probe launched. It will reach optimum position in five minutes thirty three seconds, but we can at least begin gathering data now." She linked the probe sensors to those of the Yeager.

Let's see if we can discover anything interesting.

In the meantime T'Lari pulled up what data she could about the area. They were missing something, she was sure. In any event they needed to get the crew of the Lord Franklin aboard and retreat as quickly as possible.

== GM Input: What does Starfleet have on the area the mysterious ship is in? Is it a system or deep space? ==

[GM-01]

==Black==

It would take several hours for the newly-launched probe to attain sufficient velocity to travel to the sensor contact in a time frame measured in anything shorter than days. They would start receiving limited telemetry from that probe in an hour at the very earliest. The second probe was several dozen Light Years in the opposite direction, and would take days to reach its target at its current velocity.

==T'Lari==

The contact was in a system that, thanks to the xenophobia of the Talarians, had not been explored or even thoroughly scanned by Starfleet. What was known was that it was rich in minerals useful for starship production thanks to its extensive asteroid belt, and the mineral-rich moons of the multiple gas giants that made up the majority of the planetary bodies in the area.

[Theresa Black]

As T'Lari launched the probe, Black glanced down at the screen and saw the countdown clock to when the probe would reach its destination and how soon it would start sending back data at the earliest.

If her head was screwed on and she'd been focused, she would have worked that out long ago, but as it sunk in, she felt like a complete idiot as she realised her miscalculation and how long it was going to take.

She cursed herself internally and seriously considered just thumping her forehead against the nearest bulkhead.

Turning back to face Jensen, with a look on her face that was setting into a masque of regret and self hatred she said; “That's going to take at least an hour. Or Three.”

If the pitch of her voice wasn't so naturally high, the comment might have sounded like a dry joke.

Letting her own disappointment in herself hang in the air for a moment longer, she then just said. “Coffee. I need, coffee. Anyone else what one?”

In reality, she just wanted to walk away for a few moments to try to put herself back together before she had a full on meltdown. As if anyone would notice the difference.

[Peter Jensen]

Peter waited patiently for information...until he got some information he did not like. He closed his eyes and his fists, but his annoyance was not with Black, but with the situation.
She, after all, was not a Q who could change the laws of reality at a whim.

"Alright", he said after a moment. "Looks like we're not going to be able to use that. Because we're not saying here for three hours unless we absolutely have to.
He didn't blame her for the news given. He did, however, not appreciate her attempt at using humor to salvage the "mood", which was how he interpreted the coffee-remark.

"No distractions until we're back on the right side of the border with the colonists and our crew safely on board", he said sharply, though not angrily. There was no need to further rile up anyone, but he kinda had to press the  "No lollygagging" point home. In spite of the quite honestly completely messed up day that Black had had, and that she could definitely use a break - he also hadn't forgotten his promise to do his best to get her a secure line to Earth afterwards -, he the last thing he wanted right now was attempts at humor in the middle of a situation that could end up very badly.

"Jensen to Cargo Bay", he tapped his badge, wanting to get a status. "Progress update?", he asked laconically

[GM-01]

An alert from the first probe the Yeager had launched flashed on the Science and Tactical consoles. The Os'rusa had reappeared on sensors, and was heading in the Yeager's direction at velocities in excess of Warp 9. That was significantly faster than the previously-known maximum velocity of the Galor-class.

It would arrive in less than half an hour.

[T'Lari]

T'Lari turned to Jensen and Black, her voice as calm as if she was telling them the weather forecast. "Sensors show that the Os'rusa is on an intercept course, and showing speeds well in excess of Warp 9. That is well beyond the known specifications of a Galor class ship. It will reach our position in 27 minutes 32 seconds."

Given what we've been encountering lately it would seem that Starfleet has seriously underestimated Cardassian technological growth in recent years. This is now the second time one of their vessels has taken us by surprise with its capabilities.

Before their slipstream jump the half-Vulcan officer had loaded her shield rotation program. She now brought it up again, keyed in to an icon and ready to be activated at a moment's notice. T'Lari didn't intend to be caught unaware if the Cardassian ship had phased polaron wearpons or other nasty tricks.

== Tags ==

[Peter Jensen]

Before he could get an answer from the Cargo Bay, Peter heard the words he'd been fearing.

"Sensors show that the Os'rusa is on an intercept course, and showing speeds well in excess of Warp 9. That is well beyond the known specifications of a Galor class ship. It will reach our position in 27 minutes 32 seconds.", T'Lari said, as calmly as if she'd just read the weather report.

Pis! he swore to himself in Danish, using his inner monologue. This was exactly what he'd wanted to avoid. Now time was of the essence.
He then took a deep breath.

"Alright. Here's what we're gonna do. Black, make sure you're ready to send that message to Starfleet I asked you to prepare, if needed.", he instructed, then tapped his badge:

"Jensen to Cargo Bay. We're gonna have unwanted company in 27 minutes. You need to be ready in 25", he pointed out, before moving on:

"Jensen to away team. Captain, we're going to be getting unwanted company in 27 minutes. Allow me to strongly advise that you're back here with the colonists in 26? I'm hounding Cargo Bay to get ready for you", he went on, then tapped his badge one last time.

"Jensen to Brele. Please report to the bridge."

And finally he looked at Black again.
"I'm hoping everyone's back aboard by the time the Cardassians arrive, but just in case they're not, I want us to be able to go to Red Alert as soon as the Os'rusa drops out of warp. Please bring power levels back to normal so we can go to Red Alert instantly", he finished. Then he looked at T'Lari:

"And we have now been discovered. There's no need to pretend otherwise. If it can be done safely, I want us to get close enough to the Franklin to be able to extend our shields around it, so we can get the colonists back while I talk the Gul's ear off for long enough to get the job done", he said, then leaned back in his chair. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He knew very well that if it came to a fight, there would be no fight. They were so outclassed it wasn't even funny. All he'd have to go on would be his words, which was a situation he didn't like at all. This was why he had called Brele to the Bridge. He intended to rattle the Cardassian commander by the sight of one of his own aboard a Federation ship, and not as a prisoner, but as a crewmember. Whether this would be succesful in throwing the Cardassian commander off, he did not know. He did know that he himself would be rattled if he saw a Human wearing a Cardassian uniform on a Cardassian ship. And hoped the reverse would also be true.

[Theresa Black]

As she suspected, the Commander was not happy with the time it was going to take for the probes to reach their destinations and report. As if internally chiding herself wasn't penance enough.

He also remained quiet about her asking if anyone wanted coffee. The sideways glance she received from him felt like a rebuke all on its own.

It was then that a beep registered on several station at once. T'Lari quickly assessed the information and imparted it to Black and Jensen.

"Sensors show that the Os'rusa is on an intercept course, and showing speeds well in excess of Warp 9. That is well beyond the known specifications of a Galor class ship. It will reach our position in 27 minutes 32 seconds."

“Ah Shit!” Exclaimed Black quietly under her breath as she instantly returned to the helm to confirm the information and begin running through several scenarios based on previous encounters.

"Alright. Here's what we're gonna do.” Said Jensen. “Black, make sure you're ready to send that message to Starfleet I asked you to prepare, if needed."

“On it.” She replied as the Commander began contacting other departments on the ship along with the awayteam to keep them up to speed on this latest of SNAFU.

How the hell are they moving so fast? Black began to wonder as her brain caught up with her fingers as she input information into her station. Did they manage to get a working slipstream from the Callisto after all?

There were so many questions and issues left over from that debacle, that they would probably be suffering the aftermath of that cock-up for years to come she suspected.

The displays showed that T'Lari had also initiated her shield modification subroutine.

I swear that girl is going to make one hell of a Chief if we get out of this...

It was then Jensen addressed her again. "I'm hoping everyone's back aboard by the time the Cardassians arrive, but just in case they're not, I want us to be able to go to Red Alert as soon as the Os'rusa drops out of warp. Please bring power levels back to normal so we can go to Red Alert instantly"

Three taps later, there was a audible rise in the ships power output and the lights brightened ever so slightly in unison. “Full power.”

"And we have now been discovered. There's no need to pretend otherwise. If it can be done safely, I want us to get close enough to the Franklin to be able to extend our shields around it, so we can get the colonists back while I talk the Gul's ear off for long enough to get the job done".

“Descending a couple of hundred meters shouldn't be a problem.” Said Black. “as long as we don't need to enter the atmosphere.”

She glanced again at T'Lari's shield mods. “I know you were talking about this being set up to handle polaron dispersion, but how sure are you it can handle atmospheric dissipation at the same time?”

== Tag one, tag all. Your GM-ship. Does our descent toward the Franklin go well? ==

[GM-01]

There were no problems with the descent. The computer did warn about the dangers of a decaying orbit, but the Yeager was capable of atmospheric flight and, technically, landing.

It just hadn’t been tested.

[Jennifer Braggins]

[Braggins to Yeager; I want the Slipstream Drive fired up ASAP. I know we haven’t let it cool down and recalibrated it, but we’re going to be neck deep in Cardassians soon and I’d rather not get our ship shot up on her maiden voyage.]

Jenny paused, then continued.

[Better go to Red Alert and arm the weapons, anyway…]

[Peter Jensen]

Peter leaned back in his seat and trusted T'Lari and Black to do what he'd asked them. He did not feel the need to micromanage - first of all because he didn't know anywhere near as much as them about the matter at hand, and secondly because it was poor leadership. He'd never forgotten that lesson from the Academy, and could almost still hear the instructor's voice:

Give the order, and trust your people to have the skills to get it done or to tell you if it can't be done.

So he was keeping an ever more nervous eye on the ever closing Cardassians when Braggins' voice came through:

[Braggins to Yeager; I want the Slipstream Drive fired up ASAP. I know we haven’t let it cool down and recalibrated it, but we’re going to be neck deep in Cardassians soon and I’d rather not get our ship shot up on her maiden voyage. ... Better go to Red Alert and arm the weapons, anyway…]

He tapped his badge immediately.

"Acknowledged. Red Alert. Weapons at the ready. What's the status on the pods?", he acknowledged the order, knowing - just as he knew that Braggins knew - that it wouldn't even be a contest for the Cardassians if it came to a fight.
Still, the mechanism observed in smaller animals showing aggression sometimes intimidating larger animals was not lost on him, and he accessed the ship's intercom. After Braggins' reply, of course:

"All hands this is Jensen. Red Alert. Red Alert. Man battle stations. I say again, man battle stations"

and finally tapped and adressed Engineering:

"Jensen to Engineering. I'm going to need you to power up the Slipstream Drive ASAP, Captain's orders. Your priority is that, and the Cargo Bay pod storage. Shut down what you need to. If necessary, evacuate decks and concentrate people on other decks to save on life support." he pointed out, then looked at Black again:

"As soon as you have the power to the Slipstream, be ready to engage on the Captain's orders, or mine", he instructed and felt himself tense up. Things were coming to a head. As if on cue, Brele appeared on the bridge, and Peter smiled gratefully and nodded towards an area that would be clearly in view if the Cardassians wanted to talk. He did feel slightly bad about using Brele like this, but whatever would give them any kind of edge was what he needed right now.

[T'Lari]

“I know you were talking about this being set up to handle polaron dispersion," Lt. Black said, "but how sure are you it can handle atmospheric dissipation at the same time?”

"Theoretically they will work, but modifications like this have never been tested in such a manner, not even during the Dominion War. At the very least they will require 27% additional power in order to maintain. I can decrease that by keeping the shields at maximum between us and the Cardassian vessel and reducing power in other parts of the grid."

The Yeager will have next to no maneuverability while it is shielding the Lord Franklin. If the Cardassians open fire our only choice will be to endure it. However, the Cardassians are unlikely to enter the atmosphere, which will make their firing arcs much more predictable. And Cardassian tactics generally rely on brute force and not maneuver.

T'Lari considered for a moment. How confident was she that she could keep the shields up and focused during atmospheric maneuvers? She found herself mildly surprised that the answer was 'very confident.' As with the battle with the Cardassians and the Philadelphia, the half-Vulcan thrived during periods of stress. She looked at the Tactical chief, meeting her gaze.

"I will make it work, Lieutenant."

== Tags ==

[Theresa Black]

Given the situation of the inbound Cardassians, things were flowing well. All models showed that the Yeager was easily capable of descending to a lower orbit in order to better protect the Franklin, and T'Lari was more than confident when asked about her modification to the shields would easily protect them against any potential incoming polaron based fire as well as atmospheric turbulence.

It took only two seconds for the communication from the Captain to throw this already plan C into the air and the new plan D to be implemented.

Each time they used the slipstream drive, even for short hops, it needed a reset period and recalibration. It was still new technology, and was constantly being improved all the time. And either way, just the mention of it had the undesirable stomach turning feeling appear on queue for Black. But it was her job to fly the ship regardless how it made her feel. But hw much worse could this day get she mused.

Take the ship into low orbit. Wrap their shields round an ancient ship that they could crush into debris with the smallest miscalculation. Protect themselves and that ship from a potential attack from the least friendly people currently in the sector. All while finding a way to evacuate the ancient ship without killing the crew or themselves, and also be ready to use a highly unstable, temperamental faster than faster than light drive to escape by not following the sanctioned instructions or procedures... Simples.

"As soon as you have the power to the Slipstream, be ready to engage on the Captain's orders, or mine"

Maybe I should have upgraded my coffee request for something harder?

“Adjusting altitude.” She said. “Bringing us to... One Hundred meters to the Franklin. Initiating Slipstream pre-checks...”

[GM-01]

As the Yeager descended into the same orbit as the Franklin, the sensors beeped again. The large energy signature appeared to have gone to warp, and the Os'rusa had increased velocity once again.

It would now arrive in less than ten minutes.