Chapter 9: Infringing Upon Destiny (Part 2)

Thran's Andorian senses were already heightened by the impending conflict so the Ambassador's charge was not a surprise to him and though a cadet to Starfleet he might be his time in the Andorian Home Fleet and warrior training gave him an edge over most typical cadets. As K'Vada moved Thran fired his weapon once and the aged Klingon stumbled back the way he had come but didn't fall. Thran was surprised that the high setting on his phaser didn't fell the ambassador but only for a moment. He fired again and a third time before two of the security officers behind him opened fire with their much more powerful compression phaser rifles. Despite the weaponry directed against him it took multiple phaser volleys before K'Vada staggered and finally fell to the deck in front of Thran.

The Andorian, mindful of the parasite fueling the angry Klingon moved toward him cautiously. His jaw nearly dropped to find K'Vada still breathing, albeit slowly and shallowly. Keeping his weapon trained on the man he waved toward Dr. Cyl.

Seeing the level of fire power leveled directly at the Klingon ambassador to bring him down was staggering by any normal standards. Doctor Cly witnessing this occurrence and then seeing Thran’s signal to approach them moved rather guardedly toward the fallen warrior.

Doctor Cyl’s medical tricorder was operating and scanning K’vada from a distance to ensure the ambassador’s apparent passive condition before he bent down to get a closer look at the Klingon.

After completing a thorough scan and a brief physical examination, Doctor Cyl glanced up and noted in a concerned tone to Sterling, Thran and the others that had now gathered around them.

“He’s still alive and yet despite the level of weaponry damage that his body just absorbed, this parasite has his metabolism operating at highly accelerated levels. I’ll need to bring him to sickbay immediately.”

Doctor Cyl then stood up and signaled two trauma specialists that just entered the hall rolling in a medical stretcher. As they arrived, it took two medical team members along with two security officers to carefully lift the barely conscious Klingon ambassador onto the stretcher and then lift it back up to its rolling position. As an added precaution, the techicians strapped K’vada down with a series of extremely sturdy body and extremity restraints.

As they began rolling the stretcher out toward the doorway, Doctor Cyl turned back toward Sterling and stated “I’ll let you know what I find and figure out as soon as possible Captain.”

Following that statement, Doctor Cyl and his medical team exited the hall and moved with the stretcher toward the turbolift.

As the doctor made his exit Thran turned to the security officers behind him.

"You two," he said "with them now."

The officers nodded and followed the medical team out of the room. Thran turned to Captain Sterling and offered his phaser to him.

"Sir, I surrender my weapon and relieve myself of duty pending an investigation of this incident per regulation."

Captain Sterling gazed momentarily at the proffered weapon and then appreciatively at the Andorian cadet. The captain was quite apprehensive when Than was added unannounced to their roster prior to their departure from Starbase 39. The last thing he wanted to contend with was a green rookie fresh from the academy on this already challenging mission. However, this unique cadet had demonstrated maturity and wisdom repeatedly on each of the tasks he had undertaken since the moment of his arrival. This confrontation with K’vada was no exception.

Sterling then held up his hand to gesture that this would not be the case.

“I appreciate your strict adherence to regulations and protocol cadet Thran, however there is no need for you to be relieved of duty. You coordinated your team effectively, and conducted yourself professionally. It was most impressive, especially considering your precarious position of handling security on your own. Lieutenant Commander Archer has come to trust your aptitude and competence and I can clearly see why.”

The captain looked around to see that the others had respectfully walked away to allow him to talk with the cadet alone, except for Pasqual who stood back a bit but stayed within earshot of their conversation. This would allow him to be up to par for any further conversations regarding the cadet with the captain.

Sterling then brought his attention back to the cadet.

“Plus,” he added with a slight grin “We’ll need you around here for a while longer… especially as we go over in a moment to begin what could be an interesting conversation with the Vulcan ambassador’s aide that both you and K’vada were having a bit of an altercation with.”

"Which should prove most interesting, Captain Sir," chimed in Pasqual with a dry smile, "as he is fully aware of everything that has transpired until now."

Sterling looked over to Pasqual and nodded affirmatively.

“Indeed Counselor, and given our recent… encounter with K’Vada, we’ll need our good doctor back here with us… equipped with his tricorder for when we are ready to approach him along with the Vulcan delegation that he is currently still standing with. I’m not taking any chances with this potential confrontation either. Inform Doctor Cyl to rejoin us here as soon as he gets K’vada set-up in sickbay. I know that he will want to stay and conduct all of the medical exams on the infected Klingon ambassador himself, but his fellow doctors and nurses can at least begin their preliminary examinations while he assists us here first.”

He then turned to Thran and stated “Call down an additional security team to join us as well.”

Then seeing Hartzer entering back into the VIP room and begin to walk toward them, Sterling glanced back at Pasqual and grinned.

“By the way… thank you for interpreting my hand gestures so proficiently Counselor… and also, that was quite an effective, although rather unorthodox improvisational work informing Commander Hartzer of the situation with K’vada. It not only perplexed the ambassador for a few moments, but also added the benefit of allowing the Commander an opportunity to then escape from the confrontation and send in the additional security team from the corridor just in the nick of time… as he charged toward Thran.”

The Orion grinned back.

"As you are well aware by now, Captain Sir, Unorthodox is my middle name."

His grin then froze as he glanced sideways.

"And speaking of unorthodox..."

He was looking at the Vulcan delegation, most of all at the Ambassador's aide who was discreetly watching them very closely.

The tall Vulcan was doing a great job at hiding his interest in all that was transpiring on the other side of the room where Sterling and his officers stood; but it would take much more that that to fool an acute and experienced observer like a Starfleet ship counselor.

Captain Sterling was observing the Vulcan aide as well. It was as if despite his attempts at appearing calm, rational and detached, the Vulcan was also projecting sporadic waves of emotional intensity around him. It was rather an unusual occurrence, but this was also a sense that Sterling felt when he first entered the room, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint where this was emanating from. This could have also been something that triggered the initial conflict between himself and the infected K’vada. He needed the doctor back up here right away to help him with a medical prognosis and to share with him a rather far-fetched supposition.

Sterling reached up and activated his combadge.

“Doctor Cyl… Sterling here… what is your current status”

Cyl was running around sickbay in an exasperated attempt to have everything setup for the preliminary examination of K’vada when he received the call from the captain.

“Yes Captain…” he responded somewhat short of breath. “I’m just finishing up down here and I should be back up there in about four and a half minutes.”

“Thank you doctor, I’ll brief you upon your return… Sterling out.”

Sterling’s combadge activated just as he closed communication with Cyl.

“Captain, Lieutenant Phelix here at the Operations station. The Blackwing just detached from the Dominion ship. She certainly took quite a bit of damage at the impact points.”

Sterling responded subtly acerbic at first.

“As was expected Lieutenant. Now contact Mister Mitchell down in engineering and have his team ready to take the prepared shuttle over to assist the Blackwing with repairs. Then notify the assistant chief flight control officer Lieutenant Herek down on deck 10 who will be piloting the vessel that the engineering team will be arriving shortly. Once they launch, reinforce to Herek that he will need to communicate again with the Blackwing to determine where they are to dock and where they are most needed to begin the repairs along with Terrah’s team.”

Sitting attentively at his station, the Denobulan Ops officer Phelix replied “Understood Captain. I’ll get right on this.”

Hearing Sterling's conversation, Pasqual raised an eyebrow at his commanding officer.

"Sir, if I may... why a shuttle? Wouldn't it be much more safe and efficient to just beam the damage control team over there? It would also allow us to keep scanning them without raising undue suspicion. At this point, we should do so if there is an... infection spread among us."

With a parasitic mind-altering infestation already discovered on board the Icarus, most possibly two and probably more, Pasqual expected the same thing on each of the allied ships... if not all the way to Starfleet Command and the Imperial Romulan Navy... or farther and deeper still.

It would in fact finally explain this whole unbelievable chaotic mess and the utter failure of the Peace talks. But they had to make sure, if they were to try and do anything about it... before it was really too late for all of them.

Sterling responded to Pasquals inquiry.

“Since there will be teams working on the internal damage along with teams working on external breaches, several of the engineers want to use the shuttle to orbit the Blackwing to survey and inspect the repairs being done throughout the exterior of the damaged vessel. While this is occurring, our medical technician onboard the shuttle will be simultaneously conducting the medical scans. The shuttle that they will be taking has been enhanced with advanced medical scanning equipment that will be utilized to scan for parasitic infestations aboard the Blackwing. The data gathered during the scans will synchronize with the medical analysis equipment operating in our sickbay as they make their passes all around the exterior of the vessel. We’re not certain how effective this will be overall, but Doctor Pender seems confident that this process should be rather sufficient in gathering general medical data while searching for additional bio signatures emanating from this specific parasite.”

"Good thinking, Captain Sir," Ray answered.

And mighty fast too, he thought with a mix of surprise, wonder, suspicion and apprehension. Barely a minute after we discover the presence of the parasite, a team is launched already prepped up to discreetly scan for it... and with no such order openly given...

The counselor of the Icarus was now convinced by this simple fact that his earlier suspicion was proving to be true: his commanding officer knew things not revealed to the rest of his officers.

As to what this meant amidst all this utter chaos they were going through... that is where his apprehension began.

As he pondered these disturbing thoughts, Commander Hartzer then walked back into range of their conversation muttering.

“What da bleedin’ hell is going on here? It was like a sudden frikin’ mental meldown or somethin’ between those two!”

Sterling responded “Well Number One, as the counselor… er… informed you… the Ambassador seems to be under the influence of a neural parasite. Now in regards to the Vulcan ambassadore’s aide… we’re waiting for the good doctor to join us again from sickbay before we approach him as well.”

The captain’s combadge signaled again.

“Sterling here” he responded.

“Captain, Jeremy Mitchell here. We just launched our shuttle and are heading for the Blackwing now. The medical technician Lieutenant junior grade Marjorie Lynn is here with us preparing for a series of medical scans. She states that she is to conduct her bio scans in conjunction with the engineering scans. I just wanted to confirm these orders sir.”

The captain acknowledged.

“Affirmative Lieutenant Mitchell… However, I would appreciate discretion implemented throughout this process. I need medical verification to present to the commanding officer of the Blackwing should any signs of parasitic infections be found. If none are found… well then… that would be equally as helpful to know. Commander Terrah is for the moment not aware of the medical aspect of our survey and for now, I would like to keep it this way. Keep me informed of all milestones in your progress and also if any significant revelations are encountered throughout this process.”

“Understood Captain… Mitchell out.”

The shuttle was then carefully guided toward the damaged D’Deridex-class Romulan vessel. At just over a thousand meters long, this 4.32 million metric ton vessel had self-inflicted major damage to the bow of their ship when they rammed, and then through effort and assistance, separated from the IRW Sienae. The majority of this damage impacted the bridge and the entire deflector system housed below the main bridge; about seven decks worth as it appeared to Mitchell while they surveyed the fore area of the IRM Akhiy’ae from the shuttle. Meanwhile, medical technician Marjorie Lynn began her covert medical scans of the personnel within this region. So far, no neural parasitic signatures were found, but this first scan only covered a small portion of the vessel.

As they continued their voyage around the Romulan vessel, they took meticulous notes and captured images of all of the areas of damage that they could detect from the outside of the heavy cruiser and then began to create a priority list of intended repairs. They knew that they would need to have this Romulan warbird fully operational by the time the away team had returned from the surface. The only way this could possibly occur without a full repair facility was for them to coordinate their team along with the Blackwing’s team and divide up the tasks.

Along their journey, they spotted the main shuttle bay entryway on the dorsal center of the ship. This would most likely be where they would land once they had completed their scanning and surveying of the exterior of the vessel.

Meanwhile aboard the Icarus, Doctor Cyl exited the turbolift and headed back into the VIP hall. With his medkit swishing to and fro by his side, he strolled briskly toward the commanding officer and his small entourage of essential crew members.

Arriving, Cyl inquired with a harried smirk “So… how can I be of service to you Captain?”

Sterling glanced from the remaining Federation diplomats over to the Doctor.

“Well Doc… I need you to conduct a full bioscan of our Vulcan delegates assembled over there and see if you detect any signs of neural parasitic infections… or anything else out of the ordinary for prototypical Vulcan physiology.”

The captain then added “Focus additional analysis on the Ambassador’s aide that was involved with the altercation with K’vada prior to our arrival here in the VIP hall. I can’t quite put my finger on it Doctor, but I am getting some peculiar vibes from that one.”

"I can do it for you, Captain Sir; he's emotional," slid Pasqual between his teeth in a low tone while turning his back to the rest of the crowd, apparently more aware than the others that Vulcan hearing was far superior to that of Humans. "I heard that there are some very few medical disorders that can have a Vulcan loose control over his deeply buried feelings, usually in their old age... but even Cyl here can quickly diagnose if this is the case here... or something more insidious like he luckily found on K'Vada. I suggest you keep good Mister Thran and his people at the ready."

Turning toward Pasqual the captain nodded affirmatively.

“Indeed Counselor… and yet he also seems to somehow be projecting this aberration those within the radius of this vicinity, or at least himself. Somehow it seemed to have triggered the intense reactions of the parasite hidden in K’vada.”

Doctor Cyl interrupted their dialogue.

“Well… you two can continue with your own observations and diagnoses but excuse me while I work to gather some actual empirical medical results.”

Doctor Cyl then stepped away from the captain and his crew as he activated his medical tricorder.

He began walking slowly but nonchalantly toward the Vulcan ambassadors and the aide in question.

Sterling immediately gestured Thran and his team to take their security positions in proximity to the ambassadors.

As he moved closer to the Vulcans, the doctor then immediately stopped.

“I’ll be damned” he muttered to himself as he turned back toward Sterling and his team as Thran and his team continued to take their security positions around the Vulcans.

Arriving back to their position, he held his tricorder out to the captain.

There was a readout display of the Vulcan Ambassador’s aide:

Level II: Vulcan Bendii Syndrome

With a cynical expression shed across his face, Sterling began to inquire.

“How could this be Doctor? He appears much too young to have this disease associated solely with elderly Vulcans.”

“Yes, I am aware of this Captain… and I am just as puzzled as you are. But this at least explains the vibes and emotions you and Pasqual were referring to.”

Sterling gazed at the Vulcan aide in the distance as he continued his conversation with the doctor.

“Since this is a preliminary diagnosis, how will you know for certain?”

Doctor closed the tricorder and addressed the Captain.

“Well… the only reliable diagnosis that could be made would be by culturing tissue samples taken directly from the Vulcan's metathalamus. Now are you going to be the one explaining to these Vulcans that you want me to conduct this examination and procure a brain tissue sample from this aide Captain?"

Sterling looked back at the doctor and at first responded with a hint of tartness.

“Perhaps Doctor Cyl we will begin by establishing an initial dialogue with the Vulcan ambassadors before we get to that point. Let’s see if they are aware of or even acknowledge any symptoms exhibited by the aide. Then be prepared to share your preliminary findings and diagnosis with them.”

With a somewhat begrudging acknowledgement, the doctor mumbled an agreement as they all began to stroll toward the dignitaries and their aide.

The Vulcans were clearly aware of the approaching group as their conversations ceased while they each turned to face the Icarus team drawing near.

With a raised hand and pairs of fingers parted in the middle, Ambassador T'Sarzek offered the first gesture and accompanying greeting.

“Captain Sterling. How may we be of service to you and your crew?”

Given their current circumstances, Sterling opted for a direct approach.

“Well, as you are aware ambassador, there was a vebal altercation between K’vada and your accompanying aide which ultimately led to the recent confrontation between the Klingon and my security team. In addition this event, have you or your team noticed any other peculiar behaviors exhibited by this aide?”

Before any of the three Vulcan ambassadors could respond, the aide stepped forward and decried in apparent exasperation.

“This is outrageous! You dare to question my competency as if I am not standing here? On what do you base such claims? The interactions emanating as a result of the words and actions of a clearly deranged Klingon elder?”

They were all speechless as the aide Suvik unleashed his outburst and then stepped back slightly and simmered; as if in anticipation of an impending verbal justification or perhaps banter from the Federation captain.

Sterling then shifted his gaze from the aide directly back to the ambassador as if to imply yeah… something like that.

Ambassador T'Sarzek, looking squarely at Sterling in response, addressed the Vulcan aide tactfully.

“Suvik, please return to our seat over at the table with our set of materials for the summit. I need you to check over the agreement amendments on document 147 subsection 29 regarding phrasing discrepancies of implied rights and responsibilities of visiting dignities to each planetary embassy.”

Suvik was not fooled by the sudden assignment presented to him nor its intention of removing him from proximity of their conversation. But he had neither the authority nor the inclination to countermand the order presented by the ambassador. Without receiving the response he wanted from the captain, he shifted his position in subdued vexation and marched back over to the diplomatic table.

Seeing the aide take his place at the diplomatic table and begin to scroll through the documents, Ambassador T'Sarzek turned his attention back to the commander of the ship.

“Captain Sterling, based on the illogical and emotional outburst that Suvik just displayed, there would seem to be sufficient concern for his rational competence. Do you have a prognosis of his condition?”

Sterling then turned to Doctor Cyl and signaled to him that this was his cue to present his findings.

Doctor Cyl then stepped forward and gave Sterling a glance conveying his appreciation for allowing him to be the bearer of bad news; even though the doctor recognized that this was indeed his responsibility as the ship’s chief medical officer to present his initial findings.

Cyl presented his medical tricorder to the Ambassador.

“As you can see on the display Ambassador, our preliminary diagnosis is that Suvik is somehow displaying stage two symptoms of Bendii Syndrome. I know that this is atypical for a Vulcan of his youthful physiology, but this is what our initial analysis has shown. To ascertain a more definitive diagnosis, I would need to conduct an elaborate examination and possibly an exploratory procedure on him in our sickbay.”

Ambassador T'Sarzek studied Cyl and the tricorder very closely.

“Do you have experience performing such a potentially invasive procedure on a Vulcan Doctor?”

Cyl fidgeted a bit uncomfortably before responding. He knew that the Ambassador was merely making a logical inquiry, but it also felt a bit like he was questioning his aptitude.

“Well ambassador… due to the rarity of this aliment, especially off of your home world, I have not conducted this type of surgical procedure on a Vulcan. However, I have a top-rated staff in a state of the art facility aboard the Icarus. I am confident that we could adeptly conduct the next phase of diagnostic investigation and if need be, harmlessly conduct the surgery.”

Looking up from the tricorder, the ambassador continued to deliberate the Doctor’s proposal.

A few reflective moments later the Ambassador responded.

“Doctor Cyl, my colleagues and I will have to confer on this matter first. After which, we will discuss this issue with Suvik. Once we have reached a consensus, we will share our decision with you.”

The doctor nodded affirmatively.

“This is your prerogative Ambassador. However as the ship’s chief medical officer, I must insist that Suvik be confined to his quarters as a safety precaution until a decision is made. The affects of his emotional projections are a potential risk to the crew; especially under these circumstances. He could still participate in his role in whatever capacity you see fit; provided that he does so from his quarters.”

Ambassador T'Sarzek careful gaze shifted from doctor Cyl to Sterling who stood steadfast behind Cyl before the Vulcan returned his attention back to the doctor.

“This seems like a reasonable precaution Doctor. We’ll escort Suvik to his quarters at once.”

Signaling to the two other Vulcan ambassadors, they traveled together directly over to the aide sitting at the diplomatic table. After a brief conversation, Suvik stood up with several documents clutched tightly in his grasp and began to walk silently toward the exit with the three ambassadors trailing closely behind him.

Sterling turned to Cyl who was still taking readings of the ambassador’s aide as they headed toward the exit.

“Doctor Cyl, I would agree that confining Suvik to his quarters was a necessary precaution, but it would certainly be beneficial to conduct further tests on him as well in an attempt to discern what is causing or triggering theses unusual symptoms.”

Staying focused on the tricorder readings, he responded back.

“Exactly what I am doing now Captain… not as detailed as a full medical scan in sickbay… but it will have to do for the moment.”

As the Vulcans moved out of range, the doctor concluded his medical readings, disengaged the tricorder and addressed his commanding officer again.

“I’ve sent the additional scans to sickbay where I’ll now head down to follow up on their analysis. If you gentleman will now excuse me.”

Doctor Cyl then turned and strolled toward the exit himself while whistling a familiar tune.

Sterling turned toward Thran and Pasqual as they observed in curiosity the doctor’s departure.

“Well… it would seem our work here is done for the moment. Mister Thran, keep guards posted outside of Suvick’s quarters and sickbay, in addition to maintaining sentries outside of this room.”

Standing at full attention the Andorian cadet acknowledged the order and moved to follow through with his duties.

Turning to seeing D’Tan now sitting alone at the diplomatic table accessing and addressing information in printed documents as well as on a diplomatic PADD, the captain gazed at Pasqual only a few meters away.

“Counselor, I suppose at this point that we should head back to the bridge.”

"And miss all the fun?" mumbled the Orion as he glanced around the now disorganized but nevertheless more quiet conference room.

But nevertheless, he followed out his commanding officer.

As they arrived on the bridge, Sterling focused his attention to ensign filling in at the communications station.

“Ensign Burke, any luck decrypting the intercepted message transmitted over the Ferenginaar diplomatic channel?”

The youthful crew member looked up with a barely concealed expression of exasperation as she reported to her commanding officer.

“No Sir, I haven’t had any success.”

Then with a slight blush she added “It’s not really my area of expertise Sir… I’m just not sure that I can do this.”

Sterling gazed over to Pasqual standing nearby sporting a mischievous grin.

“Care to give it a shot counselor? Sterling asked.

"Well Sir, if I were to make an educated guess..." answered Ray as he relieved his junior comm officer to start fingering the comm controls with one hand as he put an earpiece into his right ear with the other.

"A few seconds later, he turned his head partly back to his commanding officer.

"As I thought... this is in Rihansuu... It's a Romulan encryption code, Captain. The computer should eventually be able to decypher it, now that we know the base language and what the message might be about... But I can already tell you that it was not aimed towards Rator III, the new Imperial capital, but somewhere else near there; either a colony... or a ship."

Sterling concurred with the counselor’s assessment.

“This would seem to imply that their contact is not operating under official sanctions of the Romulan government, but perhaps with similar or related dissidents involved in our attacks and the group holding the hostages below. But at this point, who really knows for sure?”

"Well, we do, Captain Sir," answered Ray. "We only need a few facts and a little logic to do so."

He turned to look at his commanding officer with a dry smile.

"What would the Romulan Empire gain in agreeing to a peace talk and then derail it? Just to kill a few diplomats? And in doing so, get into a war with the Federation, possibly also the Klingon Empire, which in their current post-catastrophy state they simply can't hope to win against either one alone, even less both at their throats? The Romulans never hesitate to kill themselves to avoid capture out of duty, but they are not that insanely suicidal."

His smile faded.

"On the other hand, any subversive faction would gain a lot with such a galactic-scale conflict; be it a local one from within the Empire... or an external force, as we have just discovered at play among all of us."

Sterling nodded. “However we look at this situation, the consequences are not encouraging.”

"That's putting it quite mildly, Captain Sir."

Looking at the counselor and the ensign still standing in proximity to his post, the captain questioned “Were we successful in preventing the message from reaching its intended target?”

"Negative," flatly answered the Orion. "By the time we detected it, it was well on its way."

A message then came in from the shuttle launched to assist in the repairs of the Blackwing.

“Shuttle Sagan to Icarus.” A deep voice came over the com.

The counselor engaged communications with the shuttle.

“Contact acknowledged Sagan. Proceed with your message.”

A few seconds later a softer voice responded.

“This is Lieutenant Marjorie Lynn, the medical tech… I just wanted to inform you that we completed our exterior medical scan of the Blackwing and did not find any traces of the parasite from out here. Lieutenant Mitchell also wanted me to inform you that engineering has mapped out all of the exterior damage to the Blackwing as well. We are now planning to land in their shuttle bay in a few moments and will be continuing our work from the inside of the ship. I will be helping to attend to the wounded there while also continuing to covertly scan for any signs of the neural parasite among the crew while Mitchell and his team work to affect repairs with our Romulan allies on their ship.”

The captain sat down at the center seat and engaged his com.

“Sterling here. Keep me posted on your progress Lieutenant Lynn and have Mitchell send me an estimate of the repair time for his crew on their ship. Know that we need to be ready to immediately move out if… that is when the away team arrives with the hostages from the surface.”

“Understood Sir. Mitchell heard your message and is nodding that he will comply.”

“Carry on then, Sterling out.” The captain noted as he disengaged his communication with the shuttle and then turned his attention back to Pasqual.

“Well then Counselor… with that message already sent, we should focus on decrypting it to at least have some idea of what is going on down there… based on whatever content we garner from it. From that brief glimpse of Archer’s possible position it appeared that he was barely beyond the entrance to the capital city itself.”

"The computer is already working on it, following the parameters we deduced," confirmed the Orion with a glance at his board. "We should know soon enough. As for our bold security chief, it is understood that a covert approach takes time, while a direct one, in our case, is not advisable; else we would have done so from orbit already."

He sighed and crossed his arms.

"In both instances, we can only wait."

Hurry up and wait… once again Sterling thought to himself. Not an idea situation, but at least this interlude provided time to get the Blackwing repaired and back to fully operational capacity. There was one team focus solely on the replacement of their deflector system; vital for space travel alone. They could see another team in space suits and small worker bee-like vessels now beginning to repair and replace the exterior plates of the damaged Romulan ship. Ideally, a repair of this magnitude this would all be executed in spacedock, but they did not have this luxury at the moment. With multiple crews assisting in this procedure however, they seemed to be compensating for this inconvenience quite effectively.

Sterling then turned to the Pasqual once again.

“While we are waiting Counselor, see if you can raise Starbase 39 from our current position.”

An inordinate amount of time passed in silence before Ray finally reported to his commanding officer with a somber tone and an even more somber expression.

"Sir, I can't raise Starbase 39 on any channel. It's not because of any interference; we took care of that when we entered this system and the current jamming is planetbound only. I can even get the Starbase's transponder beacon quite clearly. They simply are not answering our hails."

Listening to the counselor’s report, a new line of concern furrowed across the forehead of the commanding officer.

“So then they are able to communicate but are unwilling to do so.”

"That would be one possibility," admitted Ray; "but that's the one that would best fit the current facts."

Sterling leaned back in his chair and pondered the ramifications of this possible deliberate decision.

Then as if merely thinking out loud the captain subtly stated “This is a rather troublesome turn of events.”

He then turned toward Pascal again.

“Counselor, contact Captain Doyle on the Caucasus and request that they attempt to contact Starbase 39. Then let’s see if they are… ignored as well.”

Again, some time went by before Ray turned again to his captain with a frown of his own.

"Sir, they have already been contacted by Starbase 39... with orders to leave the area and resume their previous duties at once."

Sterling was stunned. The Caucasus was sent here to assist them with this mission and now they are being sent away before the hostages were even rescued and while they were still in hostile territory? This whole situation was now getting very suspicious.

The captain then immediately stood up from the center seat and turned toward the counselor.

“I’ll be in my Ready Room. Make arrangements to have a probe prepared to send a message directly to Starfleet HQ… as soon as I have everything ready.”

"It will be ready by the time you get back, Captain Sir," assured Pasqual with a deadly seriousness in his tone.

All his deepest suspicions were being confirmed; and it did not bode well for any of them. But, like his commanding officer, he did not intend to let things go downhill without a fight...

Even if it would be against Starfleet itself.

Sterling entered into his Ready Room and replicated a tall, chilled glass of tea before he sat down on his padded leather chair. As he was taking the first few few sips of the cool beverage, he began to ponder these recent events that had just transpired regarding Starfleet.

What the hell were they up too?

The captain then began composing a message to the Federation Council President himself; even though he knew Admiral Kelek would not approve of his leaping the chain of command in this manner. However, Admiral Kelek nor anyone else involved with communications on Starbase 39 was willing to accept their hails. If nothing else, Sterling wanted to inform the Federation Council of their current status outside of the planet Khii, the rescue attempt occurring within the capital city, the neural parasite detected in K’vada, the Bendii Syndrome suspected from the Vulcan ambassador’s aide, the repairs occurring on the Blackwing, and an ongoing list of details, information, data, and concerns of this mission itself. It was also an opportunity to officially inform the President that he was intentionally being cut off by Admiral Kelek himself… with no forewarning or reason given, and then to also express concern that the Caucasus who was sent to assist them was being sent away prematurely.

As he continued to compose his message, he began attaching the correspondences that transpired along with a summation of reports gathered and compliled throughout this mission as well. It was nearly two and a half hours later that he emerged from the Ready Room with a comprehensive package ready for delivery.

Entering the main bridge, Sterling walked over to Pasqual manning the communications console and handed him a small digital storage device.

“I’ve included a detailed update of our mission up to this point Counselor; including our apparent communication issues with Starbase 39. After you encrypt and upload the files, launch the probe immediately.”

Sterling then inquired “This probe is one with low observatory coatings and hull materials to help avoid detection and therefore hopefully interception Counselor?”

The Orion seemed surprised by the question.

"Well, usually no, Sir. The only probe we have with such anti-detection coating is the class VII for remote observation of pre-warp cultures; but its top speed is warp 1.5... It would take almost 20 years to get across from the neutral Zone and through sector 001 all the way to Starfleet Headquarters. A class IX probe would be the only one able to reach HQ in about seven days at a sustained warp 8 velocity... but it does not have any anti-detection capabilities."

Ray saw the look on his captain's face and then added:

"However, a non-emitting probe is a mightily small object to detect in the vastness of space. Even more so at high warp, not to mention that it's warp trail is small and thus very faint. Not much chance either that anyone would simply stumble upon it. Fact is, the only way to effectively intercept it would be to detect its launch and from there calculate its trajectory; and that would imply someone covertly observing us within this system, captain Sir."

The implications were clear; if their probe was intercepted, it would betray any spying ship lying nearby... and simply confirm their worst fears.

Sterling acknowledged the counselor’s assessment.

“Well then Mister Pasqual, all things considered, the class IX probe it shall be. Considering the time it will take to reach its destination, let’s get this probe launched quickly.”

Sterling then resumed his position onto the center seat. Given the time factor for the probe to reach Starfleet Headquarters, it would serve primarily as a record of events up to this date. At this point no one knew what would transpire with this mission during its long journey to Earth and any advice or orders that would be offered by anyone there would become inconsequential by the time it reached them. It was clear that at this moment they were on their own.

"Probe loaded and ready to launch, Captain,"reported the counselor from his communication station after a confirming nod from chief of science Meleena Richards and a yellow light flashed on the tactical board.

Looking straight ahead at the main viewscreen, Sterling nodded as he gave the command.

“Initiate launch.”

"Message probe away," came the report from tactical as a small star sped away from them on the viewing screen.

As Sterling watched the last diminutive trails of the probe slip beyond view a call came in from sickbay.

“Cyl here … it was a hell of a biological battle down here Captain, but I believe we were able to safely remove all traces of the neural parasite from K’vada. This Klingon was heavily damaged by both the phaser fire during the VIP hall confrontation and this parasite literally ripping his insides out in an attempt to maintain its hold and prevent its extraction, but something in this Klingon just refused to give up. He’s going to need some time and attention to fully recuperate… if this is even possible…but I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite like this.”

Sterling nodded in approval.

“Excellent work Doctor, keep me inform of his recovery and let me know of your prognosis of Suvik’s condition when you have the chance.”

After a momentary distractive pause Cyl responded “That is my next endeavor Captain… that is once I get things cleaned up here a bit. I’ll keep you posted on whatever I find. Cyl out”

“Thank you Doctor Cyl” the captain responded as he closed the channel to Sickbay and engaged communication with the engineer leading the repair mission on the Blackwing.

Hearing the chirp of the communicator, the Lieutenant engaged the device as he declared “Mitchell here.”

“Lieutenant,” Sterling inquired “What is your current status?”

Slowing his stride as he spoke, Mitchell continued to scan and assess the immediate area of the damaged Romulan Warbird as he began to provide a basic synopsis of the situation.

“I’m here with a combined team inside the Blackwing now working on deflector system replacement in the bow of the ship. This entire deflector area was virtually destroyed by the impact. The exterior repair teams are continuing to work on replacing and reinforcing the layers of hull surrounding this section of the ship while teams inside have removed all of the debris. They are in the process of replicating and replacing components and consoles throughout this system and have requested assistance in assembling and installing a new deflector once the walls are fully stabilized. It might be helpful Sir if we could have the engineers aboard the Icarus replicate and then assemble the dish itself while we are affecting repairs here. The Commander has reluctantly agreed to provide a schematic for our team since it would cut down on our overall repair time significantly.”

“Understood Lieutenant. Contact chief engineer Hanson and let him know specifically what your team requires to have this deflector system completed. That ship must be ready to travel soon after Archer and his team arrives from the surface with the hostages. If you need more men to get this done, let him know this as well. As it now stands Lieutenant, you and those teams have approximately four and three quarter hours remaining to have that ship ready.”

Gesturing to a team member about several newly replicated components arriving for placement, Mitchell simultaneously responded “Understood Captain. We’ll do whatever needs to be done to have this warbird ready to travel at your command.”

With a slight grin of reassurance the captain replied “I’m holding you to that promise Lieutenant… Sterling out.”

Mitchell and his team continued to work swiftly and efficiently side-by-side with the Romulan repair teams over the next three and a half hours; despite several spats that flared up from time-to-time. Somehow they smoothed these confrontations out just as they resolved, repaired or replaced all of the damaged parts within the deflector room; with sheer determination and at times begrudging cooperation.

The time finally arrived for them to activate and test the new deflector system.

After several adjustments and recalibrations, they were able to get their deflector system operation above functional standards. The Blackwing would now once again be able to engage their warp drive and travel without interference of space debris and such in their path.

Almost an hour later the repair team of the Icarus was back within the shuttle Sagan; although a bit more crammed with a few extra members that were beamed over at different times throughout the repairs. They didn’t mind. They were exhausted, hungry and basically satisfied just to be leaving the Romulan warbird and heading back to their own ship. A good meal and time to rest would improve their outlook and disposition dramatically.

Several moments later, the Denobulan officer manning the Ops station turned back to face the captain.

“Sir, the Sagan just launched from the Blackwing and is heading back toward us.”

“Acknowledged Mister Phelix” Sterling affirmed as he then addressed the counselor.

“Mister Pasqual, notify Lieutenant Rondeck to prepare the shuttle bay for the arrival of the Sagan. It looks like she’ll be arriving within 5 minutes.”

"Aye, Sir," the Orion aknowledged.

Just then a signal was received from the shuttle. Sterling gestured to Pasqual to activate it.

“Mitchell here Captain… we’re on our way back.”

“Yes Lieutenant… we have you on screen. So what is the status of the Blackwing?”

“Well Sir, she ain’t so pretty on the outside anymore, but the exterior plating, shields, sensors and the majority of its systems inside are back functioning again. The new deflector and its components are now operating within acceptable standards. In fact, once we got the deflector system fully operational again their commanding officer seemed like he was going to literally throw us off of the ship… even though they still have other areas in need of repair.”

Sterling grinned. “I guess that this was simply their way to indicate that they could finish the rest of the work without our assistance Lieutenant. Just as well too, since the away team is just about running out of time before daylight arrives in Kalabam. Send me a briefing as soon as you arrive and get settled.”

As the engineer confirmed, the voice of the medical technician then piped in.

“Sir, Lieutenant Marjorie Lynn here. Combined from both the exterior and interior procedures, we were able the effectively scan about 87% of the occupied areas of the Blackwing. We found no signatures of the parasite… but unfortunately Sir, there were some areas we just weren’t able to reach.”

Sterling sighed. As a necessary precaution he would have no choice now but to notify Commander Terrah of the parasitic infection found on the Icarus. This certainly wasn’t going to help matters any… especially with this neural parasite being found on the Klingon K’vada.

“Thank you Lieutenant Lynn. You did what you could under those awkward circumstances. Send me your report along with the detailed areas of where you did manage to complete your scans upon your arrival.”

“Yes Sir,” she replied just before communication was cut off.

Sterling sat in the center seat for a moment. Checking the reading on the chronometer, he realized that Archer's team now had less than 45 minutes to safely procure the Romulan delegates being held hostage, make their way back to the shuttle and somehow escape the surface of the planet before sunrise without being discovered and destroyed. Time was literally running out. He decided that he had better compose a message to send to his nearby allies notifying them of K’vada’s condition and the implications related to this discovery, along with the still yet to be fully diagnosed condition of the Vulcan aide before the away team arrived.

After confirming everyone and everything was in place and secure on the bridge, Sterling darted back to the ready room and began composing the message to his remaining tentative allies in proximity to the Icarus. This information would only be more bad news for both Duron and Terrah and add more strain to an already tenuous situation among them all.

Both reports from the medic Lynn and engineer Mitchell arrived as he was rearranging the information he has written, so he merely integrated key components from these into his message. As he completed the message, he forwarded it to Pasqual so that he could transmit it via the secure lasercom link that he had established. He checked the chronometer on his monitor: 27 minutes until daylight in the capital city on the surface of Khii below their orbiting ship.

Arriving back to the center seat on the main bridge moments later, Sterling gazed intently at the view of the nearby Romulan planet. With time running out they needed to figure out a way to support Archer and his team in case they ran into overwhelming resistance on their return.

“Helm, establish a geosynchronous orbit directly above the capital city.” The captain commanded before turning his attention to the tactical officer.

“Ensign Bradbury, as soon as we come in range, increase main viewscreen to full magnification. Let’s see if we can find some of their exterior defenses… in case we need to intervene in some capacity with our away team’s escape. Prepare phaser arrays for scalpel-like precision in case we need to slice out a few of their defenses within the city from above.”

The captain then signaled down to the main shuttle bay hanger.

“Lieutenant Rondeck, send a team of five fighter shuttles between us and the surface as quickly as possible. Have them prepared to engage any resistance initiated once the S’Talon and the away team is on the move.”

“Understood Sir. They are already here awaiting the word.”

“Well Lieutenant… the word is given. Patch me through to Lieutenant Herek.”

A few seconds later the connection was established.

“Herek here Sir”

Sterling leaned in slightly as he spoke with crisp articulation.

“Lieutenant Herek, the role of your shuttle squad is to provide air support and perhaps if needed, to create a distraction to the ground forces… but do not initiate any offensive actions prior to this. Maintain your orbit above the city until further orders. Understood?”

“Yes Sir” the assistant flight chief replied before communication channel was closed.

Sterling leaned back in the chair and within two minutes saw the fighter ships launch into formation well above the outer atmosphere of the planet Khii. They were now all poised and positioned for whatever transpired as the rays on the surface from the planets nearby star moved closer toward the capital city. He could imagine that the first subtle signs of daybreak were now less than twenty minutes away.

Pasqual looked at the fighter squadron on the viewing screen with a bitter expression,. He stood from his console to get right beside the captain and lean close to him so that only he could hear him.

"Well, Captain Sir, we have again conceded one point to the enemy in this disruptive game he was playing with us. We have just proven again to everyone that Starfleet sent into the Neutral Zone a fully armed battleship for a so-called peace mission; a clear violation of trust as much as of the Treaty itself... if not indubitable proof that the Federation never considered these peace efforts seriously... if at all."

With a telling stare, he smiled thinly at his commanding officer.

"Three guesses who they will blame for this dismal failure."

Sterling sighed silently again.

“Yes I know Counselor” he whispered back “but if we can get those Romulan delegates out of that hostage situation safely, it will at least demonstrate our sincere efforts alone toward this goal. Besides, the Romulans themselves would not enter into a potentially hostile region without offensive and defensive capabilities. Just look at the welcoming committee we faced before we could even reach planet side. As we have seen firsthand, even on a mission of peace such as this was intended, we needed to be prepared for the retaliatory actions of those who oppose such an effort.”

"Agreed... but then again, it might also be seen by the Romulans as some staged situation to paint them in a bad light and justify further military presence from Starfleet in the zone. They certainly could typically have done so, thus they might beleive that we could have as well. You yourself are just now suggesting with your words that the Empire is behind all this... when we know there are other forces at work; forces which still remains to be clarified if being with them, or with us, both or neither..."

Then reflecting for a moment that captain leaned in and added “Besides, it was not us who prepared and equipped this ship or her offensive capabilities. This is what was handed to us on Starbase 39. Yet I have to admit coming into to this region… merely waving a white flag would have seen our demise back at this systems perimeter.”

"Aye... and ain't that most... peculiar, Captain Sir?"

The smile on the green-skinned face was as dry as his voice.

“Indeed it is Counselor” Sterling nodded. “Especially considering that those on Starbase 39 continue to ignore our hails. Things just don’t seem to be adding up in our favor… in our precarious position here between a rock and a hard place.”

"Not exactly the colloquialism I had in mind..."

Turning a keen eye toward the counselor, the captain queried “Which would be…”

"We're in deep doodoo."

Despite the seriousness of their circumstance this unexpected response from the counselor caused the captain to burst out in hearty laugher. Since no one else on the bridge was privy to the private exchange between him and Pasqual, the remaining bridge officers turned an immediate puzzled gaze to their commanding officer. As he struggled to regain his composure, Sterling attempted to wave their stares off with a gesture implying that they should ignore his curious outburst and get back to work. After wiping a few uncontrollable tears of laughter away, the captain leaned back toward Pasqual again.

“You know Ray… you really surprise me sometimes. Nevertheless, thank you for your… technical assessment of our situation. It was... enlightening.”

"Only sometimes? I must be getting way too much Starfleet in my old. age..."

And with a shared smile, he returned to the comm station, but not without one last serious word.

"But nevertheless... we are deep in it, Captain Sir."

Looking back at counselor, he noted more somberly “Indeed we are Mister Pasqual.”

He then gazed at his chronometer and then swept his view around the bridge as he questioned “Any signs of Archer, or his team?”

((out of writing space here... moved on to Chapter 9 Part 2b))