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CHAPTER 11
Supplemental
USS Independence, Main Engineering
H’Kan System
An alert from a nearby console sounded. Windlsow rolled his stool to it. His eyes burst wide. He hurriedly manipulated the controls. “Data, the sensors detected a chroniton field. Help me find the variance.”
The android assumed an adjacent station. “The chroniton field is located 85,000 kilometers away. Bearing 34 mark 186. There is a small pocket of hydrogen gas at that location.”
“Scan it quickly, before it disperses.”
“Scanning,” said Data as he tapped the panel.
A few rushed seconds later, Data reported, “I was not able to determine the phase variance of the chroniton field.”
The engineer pushed his stool away from the console in frustration, “Damn.” He ran his fingers through his hair. Almost as an afterthought, he said, “Windslow to Aurelia.”
“Aurelia here.”
“Captain, we picked up a chroniton field. There’s a phased ship out there.”
Supplemental
USS Independence, Deck Three
H’Kan System
Jonin Faltyne, the Andorian security chief, caught up to Kimula in for corridor. It was during shift change, so there were several people to maneuver passed.
“Counselor.”
She stopped for him.
He looked wound up. He clutched a padd in his hand. “What’s wrong, Jonin?” she asked.
“I double checked the messages we got concerning Mr. Easton’s past.” He held up the padd, “The messages themselves seem authentic, but they all were routed to a single relay station before being transmitted to us.”
Kimula was a communications officer, so she knew the significance. “That shouldn’t be. Not from those locations.” She took the padd and examined it. “This relay station shouldn’t have even been involved with these transmissions. It’s totally out of the way considering the sources.”
Faltyne took the next supposition, “Some one could have altered all these documents from all those diverse locations in one spot and then sent them on to us.”
She said just over a whisper, “By the gods.”
The security officer stated, “Something is very wrong about all this.”
Supplemental
USS Independence, Captain’s Ready Room
H’Kan System
The tension in the room was palatable. Aurelia had a foreboding feeling that this was the calm before the storm. If the Vuke didn’t attack, the cloaked ship might. She felt the wall at her back.
“Well,” observed Karim, “There’s no doubt now. Section 31 is out there.”
Sintina had her game face on. Karim had seen it before, during the war. She expected to be in a fight very soon. “I want to call red alert,” she said.
The Persian shook his head, “You do that and the Vuke will most likely respond.”
“I’m not so sure of that,” she rejoined, “It seems their bark is worse than their bite.”
“Don’t underestimate…”
“Captain,” came over the com,
“We’re receiving a hail…from Admiral Nechayev.”
Sintina tossed a padd, “Oh that’s perfect.” She shot an accusing glare at Karim for dragging in to all this. “Send it here.”
“Aye.”
Aurelia activated the desk monitor. “Admiral,” she said tongue in cheek, “how nice of you to call. What can I do for you?”
Nechayev was in her classic stoic mood today,
“I know you’re monitoring a ship using a phased cloaking device.”
The captain leaned in, “How do you know that?”
“Because I’m on that ship, Captain.”
Karim and Sintina shared a startled look.
Aurelia returned to the screen, “You’ve been trailing us all this time? Why?”
“Besides,” interrupted Karim as he joined his captain, “How did your organization get its hands on an interphasic cloak?”
She said evenly, “We invented it, Commander. Admiral Pressman stole it from us in the first place.”
“What?”
Aurelia baulked, “How noble of you. It’s so nice to know we’re taking the high ground in this conflict.”
“That’s enough, Captain,” snapped the admiral
. “We haven’t been trailing you. We’re here to help you. We believe there is a Section 31 ship nearby. They’re after Clayton Easton. He’s been a valuable asset to us over the years. If Section 31 got their hand on him, it could compromise our efforts. I’m going to decloak off your ventral side. When I do, I want you to transport Easton and Commander Data to my vessel.”
“Commander Data?” repeated Sintina.
“I’ve been working with Captain Picard. He’ll want his officer back.”
Karim asked, “But won’t the Vuke detect you when you decloak?”
“No Commander, even when we are not utilizing the phasing cloak, our ship has stealth technology. They won’t detect us.”
Sintina was hesitant. She didn’t like the situation. She didn’t like handing over her prisoner. She didn’t like the idea of the counter-31 group using cloaking or stealth technology. And she didn’t like the idea of a 31 ship around while she was surrounded by Vuke ships. Her gut told her to pack up and get out of Dodge. But she had been given an order by an admiral…even if it wasn’t an ‘official’ order. Finally, she said, “Alright. I’ll have Mister Data escort Easton to one of our transporter rooms.”
“I’ll decloak in a moment.”
