Compile Summary Day 3 (Romulus - Capitol District, Senate Building, Praetor's Offices - Praetor Vrih & Senator Terrh - 0802) Day 5 (USS Hades, Deck One, Observation Lounge, ACSO Ensign (JG) Kenneth McKenzie,10:21 hours.) (USS Hades - Ten Forward - a/COPS - Lt Tom Jackson -1058) (USS Hades - Sickbay - ACMO- Doctor Wendy Kildare - 1115) (USS Hades - Deck 8, Temporary Quarters - Ambassadorial Aid Raizel Grem-1135) Day 6 (USS Hades - Deck 14, Main Engineering - ACEO Ensign Dana Travis - 0600) Day 8 (USS Hades - Main Engineering - CEO Norm Harper - 0559) (USS Hades - Deck 14, Main Engineering - CEO Norman Harper - 0602) (USS Hades, Deck One, Main Bridge, ACSO Ensign (JG) Kenneth McKenzie, 06:03 hours) (USS Hades - Deck 4, Torpedo Magazine- CSEC- Lt. Baylon Trinin- 0625) (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - FO Commander Lemar - 0630) (USS Hades - Deck I, Bridge - CCOUNS Ensign Jon Nayati (jg) - 0631) (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - CTAC Lt. Ammon Ranae - 0632) (USS Hades - Deck 1 Main Bridge - A/COPS - Lt Tom Jackson 0632) (USS Hades - Deck 6, Astrometrics - Lieutenant (jg) Ardena Carrow - 0635) (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - HO Lieutenant Finlay Guarastine - 0635) (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - FO Commander Jonas Lemar - 0637) (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - COPS Lt. Maraht - 0637) (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - A/COPS Lt. Tom Jackson - 0638) (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - CTAC Lt. Ammon Ranae - 0638) (USS Hades - Deck 4, Torpedo Magazine- CSEC- Lt. Baylon Trinin- 0639) (USS Hades - Deck 10, Gymnasium - SO Lieutenant Tarus Daban - 0640) (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - COPS Lt. Maraht - 0641) (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - CCOUNS Ensign Jon Nayati (jg) - 0644) (USS Hades - Deck 1 Main Bridge - FO Commander Jonas Lemar - 0645) (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - Lieutenant Ardena Carrow - 0650) (USS Hades - Ten Forward- Lt. Commander Banowsky- 07.00) (USS Hades - Deck 10, Ten Forward - SO Lieutenant Don Harrison - 0701) (USS Hades - Deck 10, Ten Forward - Lt. Cmdr Banowsky - 0703) (USS Hades - Deck 10, Ten Forward - SO Lieutenant Don Harrison - 0704) (USS Hades - Deck 10, Ten Forward - Lt. Cmdr Banowsky - 0705) (IWS Donatra - Bridge - CO- Commander Rhian - 0745) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Begin Compile --------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2408.01.03 (Romulus - Capitol District, Senate Building, Praetor's Offices - Praetor Vrih & Senator Terrh - 0802) The heavy doors opened with ease, and as they did so a Centurion entered and said, "Senator Terrh to see you, Praetor." As a sign of respect, the Centurion immediately bowed his head and awaited further instructions. With light footsteps, Terrh entered the chambers of the Praetor. With a pleasant smile on his face and doing his best to ooze charm, he walked toward the centre of the room and stopped. There he bowed his head slightly and said, "You sent for me Praetor. How can I be of assistance?" Vrih looked up from his data pad at the Senator. As anyone in an form of true authority can tell anyone, there's more to ruling an empire than spouting lofty orders and making truly large decisions. In fact, ruling an empire was done my making the smallest of decisions and then allowing other to realize that it wasn't as bad as they thought it was going to be, and leading them to make the decision that the next bigger step, the one that you wanted to make in the first place, was their idea. Enlisting the aid of others was the true power in a leadership. Even if the one's you are trying to enlist to your cause would rather see you cast into space in an empty torpedo shell, preferably while you were still alive. And so entered Senator Terrh. "Ah Terrh, come in," the Praetor said, non-commitally. It was too early in the conversation to let him know of any suspicions that Vrih had. "I have had word from the Donatra that they have met up with the Federation starship. It is one of their more illustrious Prometheus class ships. However, it appears that they have met up with a mishap." Looking up, Terrh raised an eyebrow with interest. "Ah yes, the Prometheus vessel. Quite an impressive vessel, for a Federation design." Terrh stepped closer as the Praetor spoke with interest and asked, "A mishap you say?" Trying his best to sound sincere he added, "I trust that they are fit to continue? I would hate to have to postpone our..." He smiled a little, but tried to avoid eye contact, "...negotiations." Vrih's eyes narrowed slightly, "Indeed, that would be tragic for you, I'm certain. Still, I believe the delay will be minimal, you be relieved to know." The truth was, Terrh had received a report on the Federation starship even before the Praetor. He was fully briefed on its capabilities and its crew compliment, something he planned to keep to himself at this stage. Unusually, he was not concerned that this type of ship had been chosen by the Federation to transport their diplomat. In fact, he was quite pleased that he might get to see it up close. "And the Donatra, she is capable of ensuring the Human's get here in one piece?" Vrih sat back in his seat and looked at Terrh. The more he watched the more he was certain that the senator knew more than he was letting on. In fact, he was fairly certain he knew something about the cause of the problems that the Federation ship faced. Still, suspicions were not enough for accusations of this sort. He would need more evidence, and he needed to wonder about the source of that evidence. "Oh yes, Commander Rhian is more than capable," Vrih sounded confident. "In fact, I'd say he has the situation completely under control now. His orders were quite clear and he is a very determined Romulan. I doubt that anything further will delay our meeting, unless there is something that you know that I should?" It was no secret that Terrh was opposed to the negotiations. In fact he had openly announced that opposition to the rest of the Continuing Committee. He had of course been overridden by the majority vote, so he was forced to go along with this as they were. "No Praetor" replied Terrh simply. "Do you want me to make the necessary amendments to the agenda for the negotiations?" Vrih nodded, "That would be acceptable." As Terrh turned to leave Vrih spoke again. "Senator Terrh, I know that your influence goes deep into the intelligence corp. I think it would be most unfortunate to find that there has been any . unauthorized attempts to sabotage these negotiations. I already have my people looking into this "Hades incident." I'd like you to have a look into it also so that we can find the responsible parties, if there are any, and deal with them appropriately." His voice was filled with unmasked danger, and he was certain that his implied threat was received by Terrh. With his back now to the Praetor, Senator Terrh froze. His expression was a mixture of shock and concern as the Praetor revealed what he truly knew about his past allegiances. Initially, he wanted to refute the claim, but then he would not wish to add insult to the ordeal. Blanking his expression and re-establishing his composure, he turned back to the Praetor with a non-committal look. "As you wish." He gave a half-bow, then swiftly made his way out of the chambers. As the stony doors closed behind him, he snatched back his robe from the waiting Centurion and marched off in the direction of his offices. Reaching inside the pocket of his robe, he found a small circular device and retrieved it. Pressing at a small indentation he said into the device, "Get me Chairman Vaebn." With that, he disappeared around the corner. (posted by Al Muir & Dave Cherrington) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate; 2408.01.03 (USS Hades, Deck One, Observation Lounge, ACSO Ensign (JG) Kenneth McKenzie,10:21 hours.) As Kenny sat listing to the meeting, the Commander at last turned to the Sciance Department, which consided of a white female humanoid Lietenant, an unsuale and unqite tree-like alien, and himself. Kenny had made a mental note to try and talk to the tree person at some point, but he also made a note to try and not seem to cuirous. He was interested in other life forms, but he didn't want to seem rude by asking too meany quistans. The last thing an alien wants to hear is "what's that thing poking outta you?" for the one hundred time. "Lieutenant Carrow; I take it you have a chance to get acquainted with your new ASCO?" Commander Lemar asked. "I'm afraid I didn't even know I had a new assistant, but don't worry; I can already think of half a dozen things I can put you to work at." replyed the woman, looking over at Kenny at the end and smiling. Kenny smiled back. "Well; My first task for my new assistant is going to be in organizing the repair of astrometrics. Everything else we can jury-rig or make-do. Standard sensors are working fine and we're getting our usual data input. We've a backlog still from before Astrometrics had its slight structural problems, so everyone who isn't rebuilding is sorting, translating and figuring out." "Understood, Ma'm" Kenny said. After the meeting was over, sevral people stayed behind and spoke. Kenny didn't really know what to do right now, so he got up and walked over to a window, half expecting to see parts of the ship still floting out there. He looked over at the Lieutenant Carrow, she beckoned him over. "Have you two met yet?" she asked, indecating Kenny to the large tree-like alien, and vice-versa. "I do not believe we have met, Lt. Carrow. What with all the recent excitement." said the ensign. Hir turned to Kenny. "Clear waters and warm breezes to you Ensign Kenneth McKenzie. I hope we will work together very well here on the Hades." "Uh...Clear waters and warm breezes to you too, Ensign." Kenny was not sure what else to say. The fact that Shayhiloosh's voice seemed to come from hir's leaves was confusing, but fasinating. Kenny would have held out his hand, but he was not sure what to shake. He dind't just want to grab a branch, incase it might have been Shayhiloosh's reporductive organs. "I suppose I'm your new boss; I answer to Ardena. Are you comfortable overseeing the repairs and reorganization of astrometrics?" "Yeah, I guess. Umm, I mean; Yes, Ma'm. It's just I'm not much of an enginer, and I don't know how badly damaged the place is, so I may need a team of enginers to assise with damage beownd my knolege. I work with the consoles, I can't really fix them." He smiled, trying to bring some homuer to the situation. (Reply any) (Posted by Gavin Work) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Ten Forward - a/COPS - Lt tom Jackson -1058) Jon, Ranae and Tom were sitting in the lunge trying to relax before returning to duty. Tom had spoken out loud of his concern that maybe, just maybe the HADES was in a trap and the Romulans wanted any if no on the Federation's cloaking technology. Tom remembered he had read the cloaking mechanism had been removed but the information might still be in the central computer core. "Ranae, Jon, I think the explosion and Ambassador Nolan's demise is more than a coincidence" Jackson replied. (reply: Ranae or Jon) Jon noticed T.J. had gotten quiet and spoke to his friend. "TJ," Jon said. "You look distressed. Is there anything you'd like to talk about? It will be off the record here. If you want to talk to me in my office, whatever you have say will be strictly and professionally confidential." "I appreciate that Jon and when we get some time - I'd like to talk to you to be honest" Tom replied. (reply: Jon IYW) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Sickbay - ACMO- Doctor Wendy Kildare - 1115) Wendy shrugged her shoulders. "There's nothing really solid there to show anything wring, and I'd hate to start something over a "feeling." It's not like I'm being telepathic or anything. There are a number of reasons that the edges of that wound are neater than we would expect, including it being caused by a sharp piece of shrapnel. It's just seemed odd, and I wanted to voice that concern." (reply Angeni) (posted by Al Muir) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 8, Temporary Quarters - Ambassadorial Aid Raizel Grem-1135) "Really, your support is a greatly appreciated. Believe me, we will probably need all the help we can get." She paused long enough for Raizel to be seated before she continued, "I've called together another meeting, for 1400 hours. I've received some interesting information about the Romulan delegates." Raizel raised an eyebrow at the revelation of Frazier. She wondered what new information she could possibly have received. After all, Nolan, who was a thorough diplomat, had left few stones unturned before leaving for this mission, and she doubted that there was anything truly new to be gleaned. Although one could never tell. She sat and looked on, interested. "New information?" she didn't hide her surprise, as Frazier could, no doubt, read her feelings. "Apparently, we have some pretty big opposition in the Romulan Senate; none other than Chairman Vaebn of the Romulan Tal Shiar." Raizel nodded, "We thought that this might be the case," she said, "but I suppose to have it confirmed could be a bit nerve wracking. The Tal Shiar are well known to get their way, through one method or another." "Apparently, the Continuing Committee is also divided against us. That makes our job even harder." Frazier added with a playful raise of the eyebrows before settling into a smile. "I don't know about you, but I look forward to the challenge." Raizel smiled. She couldn't help bringing herself to like the spirit of this Frazier. Returning the woman's smile she said, "If you consider walking through a wall of fire while doused in a flammable substance merely a challenge. I will see what I can dig up on Chairman Vaebn in the mean time. Perhaps Ambassador Nolan had something in his personal journals. I'll look into it." (reply Frazier) (posted by Al Muir) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2408.01.06 (USS Hades - Deck 14, Main Engineering - ACEO Ensign Dana Travis - 0600) The past few days had been a challenge, but Dana Travis had been pleasantly surprised with the way the team had taken to her leadership. So far, nearly all of the things she had listed to complete had been done without question, and for the most part, without challenge. She was pleased to send her report to both the First Officer and Chief Engineer, and although she hadn't heard their comments yet, she was certain they would be as pleased as she. When she first arrived in Main Engineering, things were quiet. The Warp Engines were hot, but still functioning properly, and Travis had relieved the on duty Ensign without concern. She had just began to wonder about a morning cup of coffee when she noticed Lieutenant Harper hobble into the area. "Morning Lieutenant," said Travis as she approached Harper. She was pleased to see him on his feet and down here again. "How's the leg today?" She had seen him only once the previous day. He had seemed to be limping quite heavily, but Travis was sure that Harper wasn't the type to complain and no doubt he would not let it hamper his duties. (reply: Harper) "Well I've only been here for 5 minutes or so myself. I've just relieved Ensign Mahoni from Gamma shift. He says everything is running smoothly and we're due to arrive at Romulus in about an hour." She looked over to a nearby console and activated it. "I haven't checked yet, but I think we're about as ship shape as I think we're going to get." She brought up a general overview of the ships systems to confirm what she had just said. With a small nod she was satisfied with her assessment and she moved to find her own 'to-do' list to find out what was on the schedule for the day. (reply: Harper) "So boss," said Travis, turning from her console toward Harper, leaning on the console facia with her behind. "We've got a diagnostic on the injector ports, or a faulty manifold on the tertiary sensor assembly. Take your pick?" She smiled and made her way toward her tool belt that was hanging on a nearby bulkhead, "Unless you want to have a nice sit-down job and go over last night's reports?" Travis smiled to herself, and hoped that Harper didn't mind her taking a lead in the responsibilities. To him, she was probably just another engineer with a honorary title. If that was so, she hoped she could change his mind enough for her to be able to keep her title when the mission was done. (reply: Harper, any) (posted by Dave) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2408.01.06 (USS Hades - Main Engineering - CEO Norm Harper - 0559) Unable to sleep because of the insistent twinge of his knee, Norm had made his way toward the engines. Had he been several years younger, he might be marveling over the great scar that would be left once the flesh healed. He had many scars to show for his more violent days, and as he grew older, he grew less and less proud of them. He had been quite impressed the first time he had re-entered engineering and an orderly section stood where he remembered chaos. He had even let a small smile play at his lips as he limped about it. The bulkheads were intact, the replicators were functioning, the leaks had been sealed, the debris had been cleared away. He took note that some of the junk had been used to make the repairs, and that alone made him proud of the craftiness of his engineers. His words were still coming to him slowly these past three days, and his limp had increased greatly and was now obvious. Angeni had, however, done and excellent job repairing the mechanics of the joint and had mended the sinews and muscles that he had successfully torn up. He had to stop walking frequently to allow his leg time to rest and the slowness irritated him, but it was livable. As he walked about the engines today he often heard nervous murmurs about Romulan space. He stood beside his idea that the Romulans might actually be interested in peace, but he personally knew the difficulties of finding true resignation from hostilities. Things were bound to be rocky, and the tension of the whole crew mirrored the feeling. He took a moment to lean against the wall. At least he had an ACEO, at this point, who could jump in where physical strain prevented Norm. It would change soon, he swore to himself, but for now he would take it easy - er. (reply any) (posted by Justine) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 14, Main Engineering - CEO Norman Harper - 0602) Norm continued to study the room, and was mildly shocked when Dana Travis' voice cut into his thoughts. He hadn't noticed her arrival, but he managed to mask his surprise. "Morning Lieutenant," She said, "How's the leg today?" Norm smiled at her in response, "It's a pain in the you-know-what, but it's been worse." He shrugged, "It's in one piece again, though. Thank God for small favours, eh?" He looked up and made a quick sweep on the engines with his eyes. "Well, I just got down here, but I have to say, you guys have done an excellent job getting this place back into shape!" "Well I've only been here for 5 minutes or so myself." Travis anwered, "I've just relieved Ensign Mahoni from Gamma shift. He says everything is running smoothly and we're due to arrive at Romulus in about an hour." Norm made a small grunting noise in response, and continued to look out over his 'domain.' "I haven't checked yet, but I think we're about as ship shape as I think we're going to get." She continued before bringing up an overview to confirm her statement. Norm smiled down at her, "A bit of a reality check, really," he started, "the universe can, indeed, survive without me." He nodded, "You've done beautifully, if I do say so myself. And, trust me, I do." "So boss," said Travis, turning from her console toward Norm, "We've got a diagnostic on the injector ports, or a faulty manifold on the tertiary sensor assembly. Take your pick?" She smiled and made her way toward her tool belt that was hanging on a nearby bulkhead, "Unless you want to have a nice sit-down job and go over last night's reports?" "I have been sitting too much, lately. I was told I needed to keep the weight off my knee every now and then, but this is not a now-and-then moment, is it?" He pushed himself off the bulkhead on which he had been leaning. "So, you're tryin' out a new title as ACEO, are ya? How's it fit so far?" He asked, nodding in the direction of his office in idication that she should follow. (reply Dana Travis) His office was a mess, as per usual, but it made no difference. All he needed to do was pick up his work belt and then exit again. He turned to leave, "Unless you want to grab something from the replicator?" He asked. (reply Dana) "So, I'm up for whatever you want to do first." (reply Dana) (posted by Justine) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades, Deck One, Main Bridge, ACSO Ensign (JG) Kenneth McKenzie, 06:03hours) Kenny left the turbo lift and walked onto the Bridge. He was feeling refreshed. After a good night out in the holodeck in a French-style bar, then a good sleep last night. He had found the bar while serching through the Hades' holodeck files. It was a small file than the rest. A small French farming town during the 1920s. Kenny found that it was the perfict time for such a lovly place; After the horrors of the First World War, but before the Second World War. Stone buildings covered in ivy, farms being farmed by conventinal tools. And not a modern tool to be found in site. Paradise. A simple life. Kenny walked over to Sciance Station One to relive the man on Night Shift; A young Vulcan by the name of Hal. Over the past few days, he had gotten to know Hal. He was a typical Valcan; Logical, polite and willing to do his job. "Mornin', Hal." Kenny said while patting the Ensign on the sholder. "Sir. We are on duty. It is agiest regulations to refert to my name souly." "Yes. Your right." Kenny admited and sighed. "Are you here to relve me, Sir?" "Aye, that I am, Ensgin." He prolonged the word 'Ensign'. Hal rasied his eyebrow, but said nothing. He got up and offered his seat to Kenny. He nodded and accpcted. "Before you go to sleep, I'd reqoment the holodeck. There is a lovly French style town there for you to try. Nice feel of old Earth." "No do not require entertainment, nor sleep at this time." "What will you do?" "Kal-toh," he reliped. "Fair enough. Have fun!" "Kal-toh is no fun. It is a game of logic, used to challege the mind." "Yes, I know." "Then why did you wish me to have entertainment?" "It was... a Human expretion." Hal rasied his eyebrow again. "Most curious." Hal walked to the turbo lift. Kenny smiled and accssed the console and signed on. Reseltly; He had been getting used to the Hades systems. He had found it most interesting, unlike anything that he had used in the Academy. The Hades was an advanced ship, indeed. As part of his morning routne, he cheacked to see if all systems were working, and they were. However, he could not help thinking that, since they were in Romulan Space, that somthing was going to go wrong... (Reply any who wish) (Posted by Gavin Work) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 4, Torpedo Magazine- CSEC- Lt. Baylon Trinin- 0625) Baylon paused at the end of the line of officers and crewmen. He had decided to inspect all the critical high-security areas of the ship prior to their arrival in the Romulus home system. The task was three-fold. One the one hand it let the crew know that they were expected to maintain the normal high standards that the Hades command crew had come to expect from them. It let the security men and specialists know that he was doing more than just sitting in his office reading reports. Lastly, it allowed Baylon to personally inspect the security conditions of every secured critical department on the ship. It had given him a perfectly legitimate reason to check power relay busses, EPS conduit housings, torpedo loader assemblies and anything else that a saboteur might find worthy of their attentions. The beauty of it all was that by having an inspection, he might not tip off the saboteur any more than they might already be. Baylon had his suspicions about whom might be to blame, but he was unable to put them into solid form. There was nothing except circumstantial evidence, and by increasing the security detail on the delegation and the patrols through the secured areas, he hoped he had discouraged the saboteur further. There were suspicions without evidence, although if he had not adhered to the Moral Telepathy Laws, he would know the truth by now. And while he desperately wanted to have his suspicions proven correct, he could not bring himself to become that sort of person. At least not yet. Baylon would not have put it past the Tal'Shair to place a deep sleeper agent inside the delegation. Any such agent would be indoctrinated beyond any reason of logical argument. They were expendable and before the mission was over, Trinin felt that they would most likely be sacrificed either to bring about the fiery end of the mission or expended in a vain attempt to do so. Since Grem was his primary suspect, Baylon had ordered his best computer security officers to take a good look at the computer core. The very fact that he had almost missed the tiny little detail concerning where Grem had been eventually located had caused him a great deal of concern. Baylon had the system swept for malicious programs, for hardware alterations or aberrations, for explosives, chemicals, surveillance devices, and for the proverbial kitchen sink. To his disappointment, his security teams had turned up nothing. Not a single indication as to why Grem had been there in the first place. Certainly Baylon could ask her, but truthfully, he wouldn't be able to gain anything from it. If she WAS a Romulan spy, she would certainly have training that would prevent her from inadvertently revealing anything under empathic scan. His thoughts napped back to the present and the long line of crew and equipment that he had just inspected. "Ensign Hilbert have your people stand down from inspection." "Aye, sir." With a quick practiced about-face Hilbert spun around and faced his crew. "Company, fall out and return to normal duties. Dismissed." Baylon smiled and headed for the door. It was time for him to head to the bridge. (USS Hades - Bridge- CSEC- Lt. Baylon Trinin- 0634) The doors to the turbolift slid open in an almost complete silence. The bridge crew was already in motion, the yellow alert lamp was shining, despite the fact that no siren had sounded. As he stepped onto the bridge he caught a snippet of conversation. "...more war birds just decloaked, Sir. . .They have us hemmed in on all sides. An honor guard perhaps?" Ranae reported. "Commander if we hail the Romulans, I might be able to see their true intentions via their auras. That way we'd have some idea of what's actually facing us.." Jon added. (reply Lemar) Baylon took his position at the Bridge Security station and quickly confirmed that everything was exactly as it should be. "Security is in full force and all personnel are standing by to repel potential boarders, commander. Security fields are standing by and all secured sections reporting that they are under full lockdown. All delegates are accounted for." he added to the reports and suggestions headed towards Commander Lemar. (reply Any) (posted by Daniel Greene) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - FO Commander Lemar - 0630) For Jonas, the past few days had been better than he had expected. The crew had pulled together to get the ship to nearly 98% of full operational capacity. It seems that some things just need a Spacedock to be fixed properly, although Dana Travis was adamant that she'd be able to have a team EVA once they dropped out of warp, so they could repair the outer-hull, Jonas had denied the request on the grounds of their current location. The previous night had been a restless one for Jonas, not being able to get past the sense of anticipation and trepidation. They had been deep in Romulan space for days now, and they were about to enter the very heart. It would be interesting, to see what sort of military assets the Romulans held close to their dual homeworlds. Did they have something similar to the Defence Perimeter at Mars? Jonas doubted very much that if they did, they would get a chance to see it. He figured such things might be covered by cloaking technology. "We're approaching the designated coordinates sir," reported Finlay Guarastine from the HELM console. Jonas sat comfortably in the command chair. He had called all senior officers to their duty stations early than usual that morning. He wants the best of his people at beckons call should anything occur. He glanced over at the Tactical station to see Lieutenant Ammon at her usual position. Panning around to the opposite side, he could see an engineer and a science officer, both ready and able at their stations. "Very well, drop to impulse speed and continue our approach toward Romulus." Jonas looked over at his status display in the arm of the command chair, the image of the Romulan warbird still spinning on an axis. ~Still with us my friend?~ he thought to himself, wondering what they were really up to. Speaking to Lieutenant Ammon Jonas ordered, "Go to yellow alert and silence klaxon. Let's be prepared for anything." He couldn't help the feeling that he was walking into something he wouldn't be able to get out of easily. This would be the perfect time for him to confide in another command officer, but alas there was no Second Officer onboard so his thoughts were let to him alone. "This is it people. Eyes and ears open." (reply: Everyone, any) (posted by Dave) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck I, Bridge - CCOUNS Ensign Jon Nayati (jg) - 0631) Having been informed earlier of the ETA of the Hades at Romulus, Jon sat down in the counselor's seat on the bridge and waited with nervous anticipation. "We're approaching the designated coordinates sir," reported Finlay Guarastine from the helm. Looking around the bridge, Jon's true sight read the bridge crews; bright auras. The spectrum of the bridge crews' emotions ran from excitement, to agitations, courage and tightly harnessed fear. Jon marveled at the Hades personnel's professionalism under so extreme distress. ~This a true moment in interstellar history, and everyone on the bridge knew it. Great Spirit, ~ Jon prayed, ~let this event be a shining moment, rather than a dark and deadly moment. Dark, deadly moments like Jon had experienced on NCRII so many, many times in his own bloody and tragic past past. Like sleeping predator ready to strike, Jon felt his danger sense waking up inside his brain and belly. FO Lamar proceeded to give clear, precise orders to his crew. "Very well, drop to impulse speed and continue our approach toward Romulus. . .: To Lt, Renae FO Lamar said, "Go to yellow alert and silence klaxon. Let's be prepared for anything" Jon noticed FO Lamar's aura suddenly spike with trapped anticipation as he said; "this is it people. Eyes and ears open." No sooner than FO Lamar had issued his last instruction than CTAC Renae piped up. "Reading six more war birds just decloaked, Sir. . .They have us hemmed in on all sides. An honor guard perhaps?" Though CTAC Renae waited for Commander Lamar's orders, Jon noted that one of her fingers was hovering dangerously close to the THIS activation button. Jon's danger sense was much to the surface now but it was trapped and conflicted. Outnumbered and flanked on all sides by a superior number of aggressor ships was in deed a danger provoking situation. But if the Romulan ships where an honor guard, then they were only potentially dangerous and those kinds of situation didn't trigger his NCRII danger sense. What Jon needed now was more sensory input to see whether or not he and the Hades were truly in danger from the Romulans. Knowing full well that he was going to jump the normal chain of command, Jon made a quiet, definitely apologetic suggestion. "Commander if we hail the Romulans, I might be able to see their true intentions via their auras. That way we'd have some idea of what's actually facing us.." (Reply Commander Lamar, CTAC Ammon Renae, Any) (Posted by Jim McCrary) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - CTAC Lt. Ammon Ranae - 0632) At last the day they'd all been waiting for had finally arrived and they were drawing close to the Romulan's home world. Ranae had arrived early to relieve the gamma shift tactical officer, she'd planned to do so even before the FO had called her while she was in her quarters getting ready to come to the Bridge, and she'd smiled when she'd seen the others arriving who'd apparently had the same call. When she'd run a quick diagnostic of the weapons systems she was thrilled to see that everything was back to normal, including the TIH System. The engineers had done a fantastic job. After the diagnostic she quickly made sure her personal settings were set and did a double check on weapons inventory. Everything was good to go but she prayed to the Prophets that she wouldn't have to use them. The CONN officer advised Cdr. Lemar that the sip was approaching the designated coordinates and was ordered to drop to impulse speed and continue the approach toward Romulus. "Go to yellow alert and silence klaxon. Let's be prepared for anything." He told Ranae. Almost instantly silent yellow alert began. "This is it people. Eyes and ears open." The FO added. Ranae nodded, whatever happened she would be ready and then her heart leaped into her throat as at least six more warbirds shimmered onto her scans. "Reading six more warbirds just decloaked, Sir." She informed Lemar. "They have us hemmed in on all sides. An honor guard perhaps." However, her fingers hovered over the TIHS activation key. (reply: Everyone, any) (posted by Sal) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 1 Main Bridge - A/COPS - Lt Tom Jackson 0632) It had been a while since Tom pulled a bridge shift -he'd been playing Engineer and a thousand other things. With injuries, staffing all across the board was tight. Lt Maraht, who never seemed to get tired, had filled the gaps in their department's duty roster. This allowed Tom to be 'floater' and help where help was needed. Right now he was once again serving as an Engineer. The console was almost as familiar to him as the OPS Console was. While conditions had improved, they were still not 100 percent. Being deep in Romulan territory without the full capability of the Hades made him nervous The Rommie's had 'decided' to provide a six warbird escort - at least T.J. hoped that was case! Given their depleted condition - there was no known way to beat the 6 to 1 odds they would face in a battle. Tom silently waited for events to unfold. (reply: None) (posted by: Bill West) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 6, Astrometrics - Lieutenant (jg) Ardena Carrow - 0635) Ardena hid a yawn behind her hand as she admired the repaired and fixed up Astrometrics. She wouldn't have put it past some of her scientists to have snuck in some upgrades and changes into the mix. "Since you're fixing it anyway.." Some of her staff could really wheedle. "Squee!" Ardena turned with no little amusement to look at Lieutenant Granger. "Did you just squee?" she asked, trying not to laugh. The middle-aged mother of three wasn't really the type you expected to let out squeals of delight, but then she'd been studying gravitational influences of planetary structures for most of her life. The generation and degeneration of orbits was just the touch stone of the field. How gravitational strengths effected life, planet types, planet birth.. all sorts of things that Ardena only knew the generalities of. "Absolutely not!" Margerate Granger told her, eyes dancing. "Why, that would make me sound just like my teenager daughter when she got a comminque from some musician." She couldn't hold it in any longer "Oh, but LOOK at this data!" Ardena did laugh, "Oh, trust me, I have plans on spending a good chunk of my time drooling over it. I am hoping we get permission for probes in the oceans.. or at least, copies of their existing data." Scans from orbit would only do so much, but somehow she didn't think it would be anyone's priority to ask, and even if it was, she couldn't see the reclusive, narcissistic Romulan people allowing their half-bred cousin access to their databanks and intimate planetary details. "Think the Commander will miss us?" Mused Sandron, as he was mapping energy patterns. "I think he'll be grateful for a few days without little scientists running under foot." Ardena said, eyes continuing to twinkle. "And speaking of command, I suppose I better get my tail up to the senior meeting." She didn't quite scuff the floor and say 'poo, I don't wanna go!' but it was fairly obvious by how long it took her to get past the various stations, staff and out the door. She wondered if Romulans had sentient or sapient aquatic life.. (Reply any/all) (Posted by Lorna) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - HO Lieutenant Finlay Guarastine - 0635) In a matter of moments, everything changed. One minute they were flying at warp speed, autopilot engaged, the next they were down to impulse power and Finlay was using her piloting skills once more. Making some minor adjustments to pitch and yaw, she opened the impulse exhaust valves fully and set the engines to maximum. Even before the Tactical officer had announced it, Finlay saw the appearance of 6 more Romulan warship. He hands flinched instinctively toward the emergency turn controls, prepared to dive into emergency manoeuvres should they be necessary, but as the 6 ships seemed to move into a tight formation with them, she relaxed a little and continued to monitor her own course more carefully. Clipping the wing of a Romulan warbird would not be the best of notes to go on her record. After some brief conversation that Finlay wasn't really listening to, the commander once again addressed her. "Lieutenant Guarastine, time until we reach the inner planets?" As she reached to the right and pressed a few buttons on her console she asked the computer to quickly calculate the answer to the question. "Providing the Romulans don't have us take anymore detours, we should be there in around 20 minutes." She glanced over to the OPS officer and smiled. She wondered if everyone else was as uncertain about this as she was. If there was any sign of trouble, it would be her fancy flying that everyone would be relying on. She had no doubt in her own skills, but the situation could be a little more favourable. ~How close do they need to get~ she thought to herself, noticing that one of the Romulan ships was drifting closer than 10km from the port-side nacelles. It was a fair enough distance, but at speeds like this it was far from Federation safety limits. ~Clearly they do things differently in this part of town~ she thought. What annoyed her more was the fact that she had nowhere to go, given that there were ships on all four sides, as well as above and below them. "I think these Romulans love a good game of chicken..." said Finlay with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. As she glanced at the OPS officer she wondered if they would even know what a game of chicken was. So instead she flashed her brilliant white smile and flickered her hair as she looked back to her console. (reply: Maraht IYW, any other OPS) (posted by Dave) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - FO Commander Jonas Lemar - 0637) As Jonas issued the order to drop to impulse, he physically felt the ship jolt a little. ~Something more for our engineers to work on~ he thought, a little disappointed that they were still finding problems in the aftermath of the explosion. "Reading six more warbirds just decloaked, Sir" came a report from Lieutenant Ammon at the Tactical console. "They have us hemmed in on all sides. An honour guard perhaps." "Let's hope..." commented Jonas as he continued to look at the viewscreen. The view had already adjusted to show the approach of the other warbirds. There were two other Valdore class vessels, but the other four were of an unfamiliar configuration to Jonas. He had no doubt that Ammon would be performing any passive scans of their capabilities, but they had just lost their advantage, should things turn sour. "Commander if we hail the Romulans," started a concerned Jon Nayati, "I might be able to see their true intentions via their auras. That way we'd have some idea of what's actually facing us..." Jonas looked to his side to where the Counsellor was sitting. "I don't think that will be necessary Counsellor." Jonas understood the need to know what was going on, but right now they were in no position to do anything but trust the Romulan intentions. ~Trust~ he repeated over and over to himself. "They've stayed true to their word so far. We're here to offer that olive branch, so let's give them the benefit of the doubt for now." Jonas returned his gaze to the viewscreen. The warbirds were now in formation, and had this been any other time and place, the sight might have been quite impressive, but the thought that they were surrounded on all sides by potential enemy vessels left a lump in his throat that he couldn't shift no matter how he tried. Almost as if he sensed the commander's trepidation, Lieutenant Trinin gave a report on his teams. "Security is in full force and all personnel are standing by to repel potential boarders, commander. Security fields are standing by and all secured sections reporting that they are under full lockdown. All delegates are accounted for." With a nod, Jonas thanked the Lieutenant for his reassurances. "Lieutenant Guarastine, time until we reach the inner planets?" The blonde haired helmsman made a few button presses on her console and replied, "Providing the Romulans don't have us take anymore detours, we should be there in around 20 minutes." Jonas glanced across to Lieutenant Trinin, who seemed to be as tense as he was. "Then steady as she goes, Lieutenant." Remaining seat, Jonas directed his next comments toward the security Lieutenant, "Mister Trinin, can you please have your men inform Ambassador Frazier of our imminent arrival. No doubt the Romulans will be contacting us soon and I would rather she was present when they did so." (reply: Trinin) Taking a glance at the readouts on his command interface he could see they were indeed hemmed in as Lieutenant Ammon had suggested. "Anything out of the ordinary with those ships Lieutenant Ammon?" Jonas wasn't a fan of surprises. If he could get advanced warning of anything, he would prefer it. He was all for trusting the Romulans, but it just wasn't that easy to do when you were flying blind. (reply: Ammon) "Lieutenant Jackson," started Jonas, glancing away from his interface and toward the engineering station to the fore-starboard side of the bridge. "Keep an eye on our power reserve. If I give the word I want full power to the shields, understood?" Jonas saw a few startled glances toward him at that remark, and commented "Better to be safe than sorry." (reply: Jackson) Sitting back, Jonas tried to relax a little and wondered who would be the first one to contact them. ~Will it be the Praetor? Or will it be that Commander Rhian?~ Jonas remembered the condescending tone the Romulan commander had used when they had last spoken. That was one conversation he was not looking forward to having again. Turning briefly to counsellor he said quietly, "How are things?" He hoped the counsellor would know that he was referring to the state of the crew and not just himself personally. (reply: Nayati, Jackson, Ammon, Trinin, any) (posted by Dave) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - COPS Lt. Maraht - 0637) Maraht had already readied the shields and was trying to quell his own nervousness, especially after he saw the six Romulan Warbirds decloak. "Lt. Guarastine, time until we reach the inner planets?" asked Cmdr Lemar. Lt. Guarastine appeared to be checking her console. "Providing the Romulans don't have us take anymore detours, we should be there in around 20 minutes." She glanced over to the OPS officer and smiled. "I think these Romulans love a good game of chicken..." said Finlay with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She flashed her brilliant white smile and brushed back her long light colored hair which looked to Maraht like the finest softest phalangi he had ever seen. He wanted to touch it but knew this was neither the time not the place to satisfy his curiosity. "Isn't the chicken an animal which has crossed the road too many times?" said Maraht from his OPS console near Lt. Gurastine. He gave a brief wave from his main phalange to acknowledge the humor. "My fellow Academy Cadets were always telling jokes about chickens. One would think that evolution would encourage more intelligence and the species would develop a learning curve after so many bad things have happened to it." (Reply Finlay Guarastine, Any) Maraht suddenly realized the senior officers had not discussed a contingency plan of assigning crew to each part of the Hades should they need to go to Tri-Vector Assault Mode, but he figured now might not be the time to bring that up. He made a mental note to say something very soon however. "Power levels are holding steady throughout the ship, Sir," said Maraht. (Reply Jonas Lemar, Tom Jackson IYW) ~I hope we have not made a big mistake.~ Maraht watched the Romulan Warbirds swing into a tight formation nearby. He began praying to the Great Mother of All that the situation would turn out favorable to everyone. The Hades was as ready as he could make it. He hoped her crew felt less nervous than he did right now. (Reply Finlay Guarastine, Tom Jackson, Jonas Lemar, Any) (Posted by Sheila Mayer) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - CTAC Lt. Ammon Ranae - 0638) Ranae informed the aCO that six more warbirds had decloaked and had the Hades hemmed in. She hoped it was an honour guard to escort them to the Romulan home world. Two were of the Valdore class and the other four were not recognized by the scanners. ~Probably a new class.~ Ranae thought, keeping her passive scans continually scanning them for any sign of prospective aggression, and also gathering data on their capabilities, data that she sent to Cdr. Lemar's command chair terminal. Counselor Nayati suggested that the Romulans be hailed so he could ascertain their true intentions utilizing his ability to read auras but the aCO decided it wouldn't be necessary. "They've stayed true to their word so far. We're here to offer that olive branch, so let's give them the benefit of the doubt for now." Lemar explained his decision and stared at the viewscreen. Ranae glanced up. It was a magnificent sight and she was impressed with the warbirds. ~I'd love to check out their Tactical station.~ She thought, her eyes returning to her continual scanning and her heart skipping a beat when she heard her lover's voice reporting on his department's readiness to repel potential boarders, "...Security fields are standing by and all secured sections reporting that they are under full lockdown. All delegates are accounted for." Baylon concluded. The Commander inquired how long it would take to reach the inner planets. He was told it would take approximately 20 minutes then he The aCO asked Baylon to have Ambassador Frazier notified and shortly after was informed that the Ambassador was on her way. "Anything out of the ordinary with those ships Lieutenant Ammon?" Lemar then asked Ranae. "I am just reading a slight variance to their shield harmonics, Sir. I am sending the readouts to your terminal. I don't believe it is a cause for concern." She replied, her eyes not leaving her console. Cdr. Lemar told Tom Jackson to keep an eye on the power reserves. ".....If I give the word I want full power to the shields, understood?.....Better to be safe than sorry." Ranae nodded in agreement, they might be expected to trust the Rommies, but there was no way she would, not until they earned it and that could take a long, long time. (reply any) (posted by Sal) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - A/COPS Lt. Tom Jackson - 0638) The atmosphere on the Hades bridge was a mixture of tenseness and excitement. Tom Jackson was glad he had decided to man a station on the bridge during this historic moment. T.J. looked at his crew mates and felt, well a mixture of emotions. First , he finally, at long last, felt a part of the Hades family. He remembered his first weeks on the Hades after the NIMITZ had been destroyed. Secondly, the family feeling gave his a feeling or more properly a 'premonition' that was not to last in his case. Tom knew there was no logical reason for the premonition but it was strong. He made a note to talk to Jon Nayati about this. Lt. Guarastine told Jonas Lamar they'd be where they were supposed to be in twenty minutes. The bridge staff tensed as the moment of truth was not long in coming. Maraht, let the FO know power levels were being maintained. Tom looked down at his console and confirmed Maraht's readings. "Sir, Lt Maraht is mostly correct. The emergency force fields containing the multiple hull breaches are stable for now. The jury rigged circuits are stable but any hard jostles of the ship or hits by weapons - all bets are off" Tom stated. (reply: Jonas, Maraht or any other bridge crew) The sight of the Romulan vessels neatly hemming in the Hades made all of them very, very nervous. (reply: any/none) (posted by: Bill West) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 4, Torpedo Magazine- CSEC- Lt. Baylon Trinin- 0639) "Mister Trinin, can you please have your men inform Ambassador Frazier of our imminent arrival. No doubt the Romulans will be contacting us soon and I would rather she was present when they did so." "Aye Sir." Baylon replied then immediately tapped his commbadge. "Trinin to Tarus." (reply Tarus) "Lieutenant please have Ambassador Frazier escorted directly up to the bridge. We are roughly twenty minutes from the inner system and may be hailed by Romulans at any moment. Commander Lemar would like her present before that happens." (reply Tarus) There was a pause on the bridge as Nayati answered the commander's question and so Baylon took that moment to interject. "Commander, Lieutenant Tarus will have Ambassador Frazier here shortly. They are on their way presently, sir." Baylon reported. (reply Tarus, Lemar, any) (posted by Daniel Greene) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 10, Gymnasium - SO Lieutenant Tarus Daban - 0640) The past couple of days had been interesting ones for the Bajoran security lieutenant. He was still in the role of a team leader for a small group of men intended to be a tactical retrieval team should anything go sour during the negotiations. It also appeared that he had become responsible for organising the security detail for the diplomatic team as a whole. It wasn't the first time that Tarus had been given special tasks to perform. Back on the Nimitz during the war, Tarus Daban had been assigned, by the then acting Security Chief Jonathan Janeway, to be the Captain's personal body guard and protection. It was during a team where strikes from the Doenitz regime were on the rise, and security was tightened up all over the fleet. Of course, Sash had always maintained that a body guard was unnecessary, but Daban performed his role all the same. Since their transfer to the USS Hades, Tarus Daban had returned to regular security detail, that is until this mission. He was relishing the extra responsibility, and although this was the first time he had been responsible for any number of men other than himself, he felt he was coping well. Right now, he was in the gymnasium with his team of eight recruits. He had been planning to run them through another round of simulations this morning in preparation for their arrival, but before they begun he was putting them through their paces on the treadmills to keep an eye on their stamina. "Computer," he started, looking across the two sets of four exercise devices. "Increase running speed to level 15." There was an audible groan from two of the officers who were already struggling to keep up with the pace. Of course, Tarus ignored them. He determined to push them to their boundaries and beyond. =^= Trinin to Tarus =^= The comm. signal sounded and Tarus turned away from the sweating panting officers for a moment. "Tarus here," he said after a short sharp tap of his comm. badge, which was fixed to his light grey tee-shirt. =^= Lieutenant, please have Ambassador Frazier escorted directly up to the bridge. We are roughly twenty minutes from the inner system and may be hailed by Romulans at any moment. Commander Lemar would like her present before that happens =^= ~Twenty minutes??~ thought Tarus, surprised that they were so close to their destination. He had expected to have at least another hour or so before his presence might be necessary. "Very well. I'll have Ambassador Frazier escorted to the bridge shortly. Tarus out." With a final tap of the badge, Tarus turned back toward his men. "Looks like you guys just got lucky." The men didn't respond. They didn't even look at him. They were concentrating too hard on keeping the pace. "Computer, decrease to half current speed. Five minute cool-down, then slow to stop." Tarus walked across to the space in front of the relieved faces of his men. The computer complied instantly and already the tread-mills had slowed to half their speed. The men before Tarus was all red faced now, and seemed to be glad of the chance to catch their breath. "Right then you lot," Tarus started, speaking loudly to be heard over the noise of the machines. "Hit the showers, then suit up. Our ETA is 20 minutes and I want to be ready to escort the Ambassador if necessary." With that, Tarus turned and headed out of the gymnasium. (reply: none, any) (posted by Dave) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - COPS Lt. Maraht - 0641) Maraht hear his assistant Lt. Tom Jackson report in to Cmdr Lemar as well. "Sir, Lt Maraht is mostly correct. The emergency force fields containing the multiple hull breaches are stable for now. The jury rigged circuits are stable but any hard jostles of the ship or hits by weapons, all bets are off," Mr. Jackson said. Maraht had two repair crews standing by on those decks in the nearby sections, just in case something happened. The bridge tension was so thick it was becoming nearly visible. Maraht hoped that there would not be a battle. He wasn't sure the ship could tolerate another hit on deck 5 or 6 due to the damage from the explosion. He knew Jackson was right, but all he could do was to have the force fields watched like closely and repair crews ready. If only they could have repaired the hull or if the explosion hadn't happened after they entered the Romulan Neutral Zone. His own mind was still unsettled that it was only the faulty chips. It was too much of a coincidence that the explosion should happen after they had entered the Zone and at such an inopportune time. But he could do little about it just now. Maraht forced himself to concentrate on the viewscreen and his console. Thank the Great Lava their power levels were holding steady. Right now the ship seemed stable. He prayed it would remain that way. He watched the Romulan ships in their tight formation and checked his board again, looking for anything. (Reply Any on the Bridge) (Posted by Sheila Mayer) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - CCOUNS Ensign Jon Nayati (jg) - 0644) Everything tensed up quite dramatically as the six Romulan war birds had decloacked around the Hades in various flanking positions. on had watched and listened as the Hades bridge crew geared up for whatever aggressive, or defensive, action the now visible Romulan war birds would initiate next. After FO Lamar had instructed Lt. TJ Jackson to raise the ship's defense shields on command, Jon heard Jonas requests Ambassador Frazier's presence on the Bridge. ~That's why Commander Lamar didn't hail the Romulans Great Spirit earlier, he wants the ambassador to present in hopes of beginning the negotiating process now,~ Jon thought to himself.. ~Hopefully, Great Spirit, his optimism will be gratefully rewarded.. Hopefully our brave mission of peace will be a resounding success, Great Spirit.~ Jon prayed that the war birds were on an escort rather an attack and capture mission. Having heard the various officers from engineering report on the exposed sections around the earlier Deck 5 explosion, Jon was well aware how vulnerable Hades was to attack in those areas. Reading the arias of the command staff around him, Jon saw their feelings of concern as well. But Jon also saw the crew's feelings of resolution and emotional discipline as well. ~They are very professional, Great Spirit. Help us achieve victory today, despite the terrible odds seemingly now set against us.~ It was at this point that FO Lamar turned to him and asked, "How are things?" "Your crew appears resolute, fit and ready for whatever happens next. You and I could not be serving with a better group of officers, Sir." (Reply FO Jonas Lamar, Lt. TJ Jackson, Lt Trinin, Lt, Marath, IYW) (Posted by Jim McCrary) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - FO Commander Jonas Lemar - 0645) As Jonas gathered the information from his senior officers, he was glad that so far things appeared to be going to plan. He had first asked Lieutenant Ammon about the many warbirds. She had told him there was something interesting but the shield harmonics, but that was about all really. Apparently it was nothing to be concerned about, and for that Jonas was happy. He ordered the shields be ready, but there did not seem to be much of a response from either Jackson or Maraht in that respect. It wasn't a bad thing, although Jonas made a mental note. It was common courtesy to at least respond in some fashion when a command officer addressed one of his subordinates. Then again, these were times of high tension and stress, but should that be a time to be lapse, or was there all the more need to play by the rules? All said and done, the two officers did decide to contribute by telling him how power levels were steady. Jackson added a comment about how he was not confident about the repairs that had been made to the damaged areas. "...The jury rigged circuits are stable but any hard jostles of the ship or hits by weapons - all bets are off." "Well that's not what engineering reported to me this morning, Mister Jackson. It might have been pertinent to let me know that little piece of information earlier, if that is your assessment." Jonas turned away from Jackson and tried not to allow too much annoyance into his voice. ~I hope Harper is a little more confident of our condition that Jackson is~ he contemplated, knowing that battle - although not ideal in these circumstances - was a very real possibility. The fact that they might be crippled if such a thing should happen was not something he was willing to entertain. Finally, Jonas had turned to Counsellor Nayati. "How are things?" he had asked. "Your crew appears resolute, fit and ready for whatever happens next." The Counsellors voice sounded both reassuring and confident - qualities Jonas was grateful for. "You and I could not be serving with a better group of officers, Sir." "Commander, Lieutenant Tarus will have Ambassador Frazier here shortly. They are on their way presently, sir." Lieutenant Trinin had stepped forward, and it appeared that he had communicated with his officers while Jonas had been speaking with the rest of the bridge officers. "Very well Lieutenant. I think all we need to do now is wait." Jonas smiled, then looked over at the Counsellor. He was sure the man was as eager to start negotiations as the Ambassador was. It was a new adventure, and a chance to use the 'gifts' granted to him at birth. To Jonas, it was all a simple matter of genetic mutations and neural cell development - but if Nayati wasn't to call it a gift, Jonas was happy to allow it. Sometimes, science takes away the fantasy of it all. (reply: none, any) (posted by Dave) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 1, Main Bridge - Lieutenant Ardena Carrow - 0650) Ardena came onto the bridge, not terribly surprised to see Kenneth at the science station. If she had her way, she'd never be at that station.. ever. She liked being hands on with her staff and coworkers, she didn't like being stuck out like a thumb watching and never doing. Well, okay, bridge duty was important and during 'exciting times' very important, but frankly, ninety-nine percent of it was boring as crap and she was more than happy to let little eager assistants do the task. Doing gamma shift command watches were enough excitement for her. She gave a smile to her assistant and made her way to the auxillary security panel. She was curious about the Romulan ships and their latest batch of upgrades. The Federation had sent the best of their best, would the Romulans do any less? (Reply any/all) (Posted by Lorna) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Ten Forward- Lt. Commander Banowsky- 07.00) Will sat quietly eating his breakfast. Ever since the events that happened with the death of Ambassador Nolan and the injuries to Captain Sash will has been followed daily be security personnel. Will didn't mind it at first, but he was getting tired of being followed by security almost all day. Of course at the same time, he probably would have ordered the same thing if he was still in a position to do so. Besides it made him feel a little bit more important than normal, and Will didn't mind a little ego boost now and then. He was all caught up with paper work, and had done research on a lot of the legal precedents and history of Federation treaties with the Romulans and other planets in general. Enjoying his chocolate chip pancakes, the breakfast of champions, Will then turned to his security escort, and with a smile he made a small attempt at small talk. "So, how long have you been on the hades?" (reply any security personnel) (posted by Will Banowsky) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 10, Ten Forward - SO Lieutenant Don Harrison - 0701) Don Harrison stood in Ten Forward, staring out of the large bay windows the adorned the forward bulkheads. He had been on duty since before 0500 and already he was bored with the task. Under the instructions of Lieutenant Tarus, Don had been told to escort Will Banowsky whenever and wherever he wanted to go. Baby sitting wasn't his favourite of duty roles, but he didn't have the guts to complain to the boss. Just as he was starting to lose focus and pondering if anyone would notice if he closed his eyes while standing, his charge spoke to him. "So, how long have you been on the Hades?" Don looked down at the man, who appeared to be part-way through a meal of what chocolate chip pancakes. Harrison's stomach growled noisily at the thought of such a sweet breakfast. ~Man, sure beats my eggs~ he thought, thinking back to his own bland breakfast. "Um..." he started, setting his mind back to the task at hand, "...about a year or so...I guess." Relaxing a little with this new distraction, Don Harrison added, "I signed up for security about six months ago, and here I am." ~Professional babysitter~ he thought with a smile. (reply: Banowsky IYW) "So what about you," Don asked, deciding to keep the small talk going for a little longer. "You used to be a Lieutenant Commander right, and now you're some hot shot lawyer." He laughed a little and shook his head, "What gives? Why the change of pace?" Lowering his voice and leaning closer he added, "You were busted down and out of Starfleet, right?" (reply: Banowsky, any) (posted by Dave) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 10, Ten Forward - Lt. Cmdr Banowsky - 0703) "Um..." he started, setting his mind back to the task at hand, "...about a year or so...I guess.I signed up for security about six months ago, and here I am. So what about you? You used to be a Lieutenant Commander right, and now you're some hot shot lawyer." He laughed a little and shook his head, "What gives? Why the change of pace?" Lowering his voice and leaning closer he added, "You were busted down and out of Starfleet, right?" Will laughed, "Be careful Lieutenant, I still am a Lieutenant Commander, and I am still in Starfleet, so be careful with the way you address me." Will than laughed,"Just kidding lieutenant, I wasn't busted down and out of Starfleet, I just took a transfer to the JAG corp. I needed the change of pace, being a first officer was good and all, but I'm still young, and hopefully have a lot of career to go, so I thought now was a good time to try something a little new." (reply Harrison) "So what did you do before security, OPS, Conn, Science, Engineering?" (reply Harrison) "I see, good times," Will then paused and with somewhat of a smirk said, "now then, what can you tell me about the command staff aboard the Hades?" (reply Harrison) (posted by Will Banowsky) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 10, Ten Forward - SO Lieutenant Don Harrison - 0704) As Don dropped his guard and allowed himself to get a little familiar with the lawyer, he was a little surprised by the response. "Be careful Lieutenant, I still am a Lieutenant Commander, and I am still in Starfleet, so be careful with the way you address me." Don's expression dropped and a look of regret flashed across his face. Then Banowsky just laughed, "Just kidding lieutenant, I wasn't busted down and out of Starfleet, I just took a transfer to the JAG corp. I needed the change of pace, being a first officer was good and all, but I'm still young, and hopefully have a lot of career to go, so I thought now was a good time to try something a little new." Harrison relaxed again, realising that the man was just having him on. "Well, sounds like a pretty wild change of pace to me. I guess it takes all sorts eh?" As Harrison started to feel at ease again, he watched the Lt. Commander continue to eat his breakfast. "So what did you do before security, OPS, Conn, Science, Engineering?" asked Banowsky between mouthfuls of his pancakes. Harrison frowned a little. ~He's very interested in me...~ He was not used to the feeling. Normally, the lads in security weren't too bothered about his history, and that's how he liked it. "I've always been in security. I was freelance when I was younger, but that was way before Starfleet." ~Hey, he better not be investigating me or owt~ he continued to eye Banowsky sceptically. "I see, good times," Will then paused and with somewhat of a smirk said, "now then, what can you tell me about the command staff aboard the Hades?" ~And there it is...~ Harrison put his rifle to one side and grabbed the empty chair in front of Banowsky's table. Flipping it around and sitting on it back to front, with his arms folded on the back of the chair, he leaned a little closer and said, "So this is why you've been getting so friendly ay?" Harrison smiled, clearly relaxed and feeling free to speak his mind - despite the fact he was officially on duty. "Well, the Captain is a bit of hard-ass. Don't get me wrong, he's an honourable man - allegedly, but don't ever cross Sash. I heard once that back on his home planet he strangled men to death with just his thumb and index finger." (reply: Banowsky) Giving a shrug he replied, "Hey, I don't know how true it is. I'm just telling you what they say. Oh, and he doesn't like rabbits either." Harrison gave a nod toward Banowsky, drew a finger across his on throat making a croaky sound as he did so. "Just so you know." He raised his eyebrows and smiled. He was sure Banowsky would be glad of that bit of information in the future. "Lemar is different," continued Harrison, finding himself a little more vocal than he had initially intended. "He's a bit of a soft one, being a Doctor and all. I think he'd rather give the Romulan's a check up rather than fire a phaser at them." Nodding constantly as he spoke he added, "It's all those medical ethics you see. Gets in the way of what really needs to be done." Harrison returned to his feet, satisfied that he had just successfully clued up his new friend on the CO and FO. (reply: Banowsky, any) (posted by Dave) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades - Deck 10, Ten Forward - Lt. Cmdr Banowsky - 0705) "So this is why you've been getting so friendly ay?" Harrison smiled, clearly relaxed and feeling free to speak his mind - despite the fact he was officially on duty. "Well, the Captain is a bit of hard-ass. Don't get me wrong, he's an honourable man - allegedly, but don't ever cross Sash. I heard once that back on his home planet he strangled men to death with just his thumb and index finger." "I see, interesting." Will replied, ~So like any respected captain, Captain Sash has is own myths associated with him. A regular Davey Crocket, I wonder if he killed him a bear when he was only three~ Giving a shrug he replied, "Hey, I don't know how true it is. I'm just telling you what they say. Oh, and he doesn't like rabbits either." Harrison gave a nod toward Banowsky, drew a finger across his on throat making a croaky sound as he did so. "Just so you know." He raised his eyebrows and smiled. He was sure ~Don't trust the rabbits, they look cute, but they'll stab you in the back when your not looking, thats why I'm a dog person~ Will thought to himself and laughing at the joke he said in his mind, though in reality he didn't mean rabbits, but he was a dog person. "Lemar is different," continued Harrison, finding himself a little more vocal than he had initially intended. "He's a bit of a soft one, being a Doctor and all. I think he'd rather give the Romulan's a check up rather than fire a phaser at them." Nodding constantly as he spoke he added, "It's all those medical ethics you see. Gets in the way of what really needs to be done." ~Doctors, you can't live with them, and you can't live without them~ Will thought reminiscing on all the doctors he had met over his career. "Well then Lieutenant, what do you say we have some fun?" (reply Harrison) "Not getting to trouble or anything like that, but I'd like to go meet with some of the senior staff, see what they are all about. Maybe play stump the chump. You know, you tell me some stuff, then we go find them, and then I pretend to be psychic, what do you say?" Will asked, he was kinda hyped up on chocolate chip pancakes, plus it would serve as a good icebreaker for him to meet some of the other crew in a context other then big bad lawyer man. (posted by Will Banowsky) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (IWS Donatra - Bridge - CO- Commander Rhian - 0745) The sight of his homeworld filled Rhian with a swell of pride. Romulus was something to behold. Rhian had spent his entire life in defense of his world. First against the common enemies such as the Federation, then against the Klingons, then there was the Borg attempt, and finally the last attempt at a civil strife, that he had been instrumental in bringing to a swift conclusion. Romulan history was full of such efforts, but Rhian has a knack for chosing the right side to back. It was as much a sense of honor and personal judgement as luck. He was a bit of a fatalist, and believed that the right side would overcome in the end. The trick was to stick to one's principals. When offers of fame and power could be made to sway a man, it often became more difficult to maintain those convictions. But Rhian was, if nothing else, true to himself. He woke up every morning, able to look at himself in a mirror, and be proud of what he saw. He was, by far, not the most successful soldier in the fleet. But his internal success was far more important to the Commander than any monetary rewards. "Sir, we are being hailed by the Vanguard," reported the centurion at the communications station. "Transmit the security codes and inform them that we have the Federation ship under protective custody. Then send a message to the senate informing them that the Federation Ambassador has arrived, and we await their orders." "As you command," the centurion replied and turned back to his console. Once that business was taken care he continued. "Hail the Hades. I want to talk to Command Lemar. I'll be in my office when that connection is made." With that Rhian stood and left the bridge to the salutes of the security detail that guarded the entrance to his sanctum. (posted by Al Muir) --------------------------------------------------------------------- End Compile ---------------------------------------------------------------------