Divided We Fall

[Ian Galloway]

USS Courser / Bridge

Lieutenant Lonic

Lonic squinted as he could hear the Doctor's message being relayed by the security chief's communicator.
Not the sort of news he had been hoping for, but in an emergency situation, no one had the chance to be picky.
He leaned onto his terminal and hoped that sickbay would be able to dispatch someone soon, but until then, the more prominent question was that of how the intruders managed to make their way so fast. He barely registered any phaser fire aboard, indicating a one-sided attempt here. He could not even pinpoint whether the intruders were armed to begin with. The only thing he could gather were humanoid life signs in what seemed to be some redundant armour"¦.

Lonic internally sighed.
Her enthusiastic nature was predictable; she was willing to help, and Lonic respected that.
But he could"¦ Would"¦ Have needed the input of an actual scientist to decipher what was happening to the ship.
With a quiet exhale he tapped his comm badge.
"œLonic to Ensign T'Soni, please report to the bridge as soon as you can."
"œUnderstood. I am on my way, Lieutenant."

It felt like long minutes of waiting time and uncomfortable silence.
With both Commander Willow and Lieutenant Sugiyama gone, Lonic had little input to bounce back the situation.
The Captain appeared injured, supposedly requiring medical assistance just as much as Lonic did.
Lonic lowered the light a little so as to not put a strain on the injured skipper's head, before he then hunched over his console again.
Once Ensign T'Soni arrived, Lonic briefed her on the situation, hoping that she would be equally intuitive and fast with her conclusions and analysis as Sugiyama had been.

_______________________________________

USS Courser / Amidships / Corridor 12

Far away from the tranquillity of the bridge, Retrieval Squad 4 was about to retreat back to the Ijii, yet were intercepted by two of the locals, with surprising efficiency, speed and brute force:

The one Kivaa tried to grab for a scan instantly flung him over her shoulder with some sort of move utilising momentum and his own body weight.
Like old stories of Dathuu-monks easily defeating a grown mountain Beroi"¦
Forcing himself back to his legs he waddled towards the stranger, down to attempt a second try as - all of a sudden a second one attacked.
A true alien, easily taking him down with speed and brute force.
He tried to free himself; get rid of the other, yet the next thing he registered was his head hitting a solid surface and him slowly beginning to fade out in a state of absolute panic and terror: The visor of his helmet!
What had hit his head had also hit the protective bubble encasing his face!
The bloody space monster had broken his visor!
Who could tell what odd sort of mutated space version of the curse could crawl into his metabolism so far out here, and he had no means of protection; no means of keeping it far away"¦
He would breathe in some potentially deadly alien version of the curse"¦

"œFUCK YOU!!!"
He yelled in a mix of anger and absolute panic as he began to sink onto the ground, followed by vague impressions of the space monster kicking him into his baby reservoir...

From a safe distance the medic of Retrieval Squad 4 had taken cover and frantically activated her handheld, clunky communication device.
"œGanjiu to Ijii, Code I, Lieutenant Kivaa has fallen victim to the aliens. They popped his helmet. He might be contaminated; awaiting orders"¦"
"œIjii here, proceed without him, the gathering has pecidency. Success!"
She quietly nodded, then gave her commander a last look before she scampered off, taking an alternate route back to the Ijii.

_______________________________________

USS Courser / Bridge

Lieutenant Lonic

As the Commander eventually returned, Lonic looked up to her and slowly nodded.
"œBoarding party is retreating; they are preparing their ship to leave.
Detaching from the Courser in 4"¦ 3"¦ 2"¦ 1..."

Lonic internally frowned at the many unknowns of their current situation, yet looked at the Commander and answered calmly as usual.
"œWe need to find what is keeping us in position before we lose track of the intruders' ship. Which"¦ Might be the case exceptionally fast in this sector's environmental conditions"¦
The Courser is perfectly capable of both, impulse and warp"¦ So there has to be some sort of external force keeping us here, and we need to find and identify it. A force field perhaps? Some sort of physical barrier? Nothing seems to register, but I beg to differ..."

After a second of delay the voice of C8 Red could be heard over the communicator. In the background, multiple voices and noises from the rest of the engineering staff, as well as other people, safely kept in the locked area could be heard mumbling.
"œC8 Red here, Captain. We are currently in lockdown. We had an intruder alert a few minutes ago. The attackers tried to get in here, but we could hold them back"¦  Then they"¦ Began to leave"¦ They might regroup or have picked a different target elsewhere. We're maintaining the lockdown until we have word from Golshani or you to lift it."
"œThe intruders have left..." sh'Sael's voice could be heard alongside C8. "œMy readings show they have boarded their ship. All but one"¦ Near the ten forward..."
"œCowards..."

Lonic looked up from his readings and towards the Captain and the XO.
"œThat is"¦ Correct"¦ And potentially useful"¦ They have left one of their crewmembers behind..."

T'Soni raised one of her painted-on eyebrows.
"œMaybe an interrogation might help us understand their motives"¦ And the Location of our missing crew members..."

[Corridor 12 - Amidships - USS Courser]

Arafe was still breathing hard, but he could see that Kimi, despite holding her own in the fight, was not a warrior and, while he wasn't one either, he did have more brawling experience, so he decided to make the report as she examined the prisoners. He tapped his combadge.

"Um... Arafe Corass to the bridge. We've encountered and captured a couple of the boarders. We could really use some security to take them to the brig."

[Don Damien Addams]

USS Courser / Bridge

Lieutenant Lonic

Lonic squinted as he could hear the Doctor's message being relayed by the security chief's communicator.
Not the sort of news he had been hoping for, but in an emergency situation, no one had the chance to be picky.
He leaned onto his terminal and hoped that sickbay would be able to dispatch someone soon, but until then, the more prominent question was that of how the intruders managed to make their way so fast. He barely registered any phaser fire aboard, indicating a one-sided attempt here. He could not even pinpoint whether the intruders were armed to begin with. The only thing he could gather were humanoid life signs in what seemed to be some redundant armour"¦.

Lonic internally sighed.
Her enthusiastic nature was predictable; she was willing to help, and Lonic respected that.
But he could"¦ Would"¦ Have needed the input of an actual scientist to decipher what was happening to the ship.
With a quiet exhale he tapped his comm badge.
"œLonic to Ensign T'Soni, please report to the bridge as soon as you can."
"œUnderstood. I am on my way, Lieutenant."

It felt like long minutes of waiting time and uncomfortable silence.
With both Commander Willow and Lieutenant Sugiyama gone, Lonic had little input to bounce back the situation.
The Captain appeared injured, supposedly requiring medical assistance just as much as Lonic did.
Lonic lowered the light a little so as to not put a strain on the injured skipper's head, before he then hunched over his console again.
Once Ensign T'Soni arrived, Lonic briefed her on the situation, hoping that she would be equally intuitive and fast with her conclusions and analysis as Sugiyama had been.

_______________________________________

USS Courser / Amidships / Corridor 12

Far away from the tranquillity of the bridge, Retrieval Squad 4 was about to retreat back to the Ijii, yet were intercepted by two of the locals, with surprising efficiency, speed and brute force:

The one Kivaa tried to grab for a scan instantly flung him over her shoulder with some sort of move utilising momentum and his own body weight.
Like old stories of Dathuu-monks easily defeating a grown mountain Beroi"¦
Forcing himself back to his legs he waddled towards the stranger, down to attempt a second try as - all of a sudden a second one attacked.
A true alien, easily taking him down with speed and brute force.
He tried to free himself; get rid of the other, yet the next thing he registered was his head hitting a solid surface and him slowly beginning to fade out in a state of absolute panic and terror: The visor of his helmet!
What had hit his head had also hit the protective bubble encasing his face!
The bloody space monster had broken his visor!
Who could tell what odd sort of mutated space version of the curse could crawl into his metabolism so far out here, and he had no means of protection; no means of keeping it far away"¦
He would breathe in some potentially deadly alien version of the curse"¦

"œFUCK YOU!!!"
He yelled in a mix of anger and absolute panic as he began to sink onto the ground, followed by vague impressions of the space monster kicking him into his baby reservoir...

From a safe distance the medic of Retrieval Squad 4 had taken cover and frantically activated her handheld, clunky communication device.
"œGanjiu to Ijii, Code I, Lieutenant Kivaa has fallen victim to the aliens. They popped his helmet. He might be contaminated; awaiting orders"¦"
"œIjii here, proceed without him, the gathering has pecidency. Success!"
She quietly nodded, then gave her commander a last look before she scampered off, taking an alternate route back to the Ijii.

_______________________________________

USS Courser / Bridge

Lieutenant Lonic

As the Commander eventually returned, Lonic looked up to her and slowly nodded.
"œBoarding party is retreating; they are preparing their ship to leave.
Detaching from the Courser in 4"¦ 3"¦ 2"¦ 1..."

Damn those bastards are going to pay for what they had had done to my crew, thought to himself.

Lonic internally frowned at the many unknowns of their current situation, yet looked at the Commander and answered calmly as usual.
"œWe need to find what is keeping us in position before we lose track of the intruders' ship. Which"¦ Might be the case exceptionally fast in this sector's environmental conditions"¦
The Courser is perfectly capable of both, impulse and warp"¦ So there has to be some sort of external force keeping us here, and we need to find and identify it. A force field perhaps? Some sort of physical barrier? Nothing seems to register, but I beg to differ..."

After a second of delay the voice of C8 Red could be heard over the communicator. In the background, multiple voices and noises from the rest of the engineering staff, as well as other people, safely kept in the locked area could be heard mumbling.
"œC8 Red here, Captain. We are currently in lockdown. We had an intruder alert a few minutes ago. The attackers tried to get in here, but we could hold them back"¦  Then they"¦ Began to leave"¦ They might regroup or have picked a different target elsewhere. We're maintaining the lockdown until we have word from Golshani or you to lift it."
"œThe intruders have left..." sh'Sael's voice could be heard alongside C8. "œMy readings show they have boarded their ship. All but one"¦ Near the ten forward..."
"œCowards..."

"œWhat now?" Don splurted out.

Lonic looked up from his readings and towards the Captain and the XO.
"œThat is"¦ Correct"¦ And potentially useful"¦ They have left one of their crewmembers behind..."

T'Soni raised one of her painted-on eyebrows.
"œMaybe an interrogation might help us understand their motives"¦ And the Location of our missing crew members..."

[/quote]

"œWe will interrogate the individuals.  I want to know if there are similar of the crew members like same DNA or genes for example," he said turning to number one and science station. "œSecurity if there is a second round. Try to put blockades shields in the area and corridors if they you feel it slow them down or from moving around the ship."

"œAnd find the damn thing that is holding us," he ordered. He was trying to think what else the enemy had done or what they could. They needed to think out of the box or try thinK.

Then he switched to communication to the whole ship

This is the Captain. We are fully aware of the attack by group who snatch our people. Stay calm. Please report damage and missing people. You have my word that we going to resolve this and get our people back..everyone has a important job from young to elder. Help each other much as you can. And we will stay strong. And we will be united and be courageous.

There was no way he was not ignore the ship.

[Xasik]

[USS Courser - Bridge]

Lieutenant Commander Willow Fletcher

[USS Courser]

Then Don had stood up and felt the room spinning. He had to fight for his crew. "œHow deep is the assault ships in the hull?" he asked.

"œTen meters, sir," the second operator replied.

"œDo sensors read any other ships by us?" he asked. "œWe are not going to let them get away, got my promise!"

Don had waited to see what other bridge crew members had to say. As he was waiting he called Engineering.

Engineering report...

He had wanted to see if they got communication with Engineering. After all they are the spine of the Curser

Willow listened to the Captain asking questions and eagerly listened to the responses given. She stood at attention at his side as he conversed with the crew. It gave her mind something to do, something to focus on other than her anger and the munchies she was currently experiencing. She was used to controlling her anger like a good Romulan Soldier and taking orders, something in the adhesive grenades was affecting her more than she liked to admit. She did not make a habit of showing her stronger emotions or snacking on the job. It was unprofessional but damn did she want some shrimp jello with chocolate whipped cream and diced pickles. The thought of such a combination would usually turn her stomach, but right now it sounded delicious.

She also had the urge to fidget. She suddenly had so much energy that she had to vent it somehow and ended up taking a pen from her pocket and clicking it repeatedly.

USS Courser / Bridge
Lieutenant Lonic

As the Commander eventually returned, Lonic looked up to her and slowly nodded.
"œBoarding party is retreating; they are preparing their ship to leave.
Detaching from the Courser in 4"¦ 3"¦ 2"¦ 1..."

Lonic internally frowned at the many unknowns of their current situation, yet looked at the Commander and answered calmly as usual.
"œWe need to find what is keeping us in position before we lose track of the intruders' ship. Which"¦ Might be the case exceptionally fast in this sector's environmental conditions"¦
The Courser is perfectly capable of both, impulse and warp"¦ So there has to be some sort of external force keeping us here, and we need to find and identify it. A force field perhaps? Some sort of physical barrier? Nothing seems to register, but I beg to differ..."

After a second of delay the voice of C8 Red could be heard over the communicator. In the background, multiple voices and noises from the rest of the engineering staff, as well as other people, safely kept in the locked area could be heard mumbling.
"œC8 Red here, Captain. We are currently in lockdown. We had an intruder alert a few minutes ago. The attackers tried to get in here, but we could hold them back"¦  Then they"¦ Began to leave"¦ They might regroup or have picked a different target elsewhere. We're maintaining the lockdown until we have word from Golshani or you to lift it."
"œThe intruders have left..." sh'Sael's voice could be heard alongside C8. "œMy readings show they have boarded their ship. All but one"¦ Near the ten forward..."
"œCowards..."

Lonic looked up from his readings and towards the Captain and the XO.
"œThat is"¦ Correct"¦ And potentially useful"¦ They have left one of their crewmembers behind..."

T'Soni raised one of her painted-on eyebrows.
"œMaybe an interrogation might help us understand their motives"¦ And the Location of our missing crew members..."

Willow nodded as Lonic addressed her. She was furious that the intruders were running and denying her a good fight but she had to suppress that thought for now. There were other uses for her energy right now. She eyed Dr T'Soni for a moment before looking away and back at the screen.

"œYes, we need to get ourselves moving and find our missing people. I have a little score to settle with our "˜friends'. So we need to think, what could be holding us in place? A tractor beam perhaps? No"¦..We would be able to locate that" She paused to think about the problem. Her mind wandered to events that she had experienced in the past, things she had trained for as a Romulan soldier.
"œGravity mines?" She questioned out loud to anyone that could hear her. It wasn't a pleasant thought but it was a logical one, and with the garbled languages she had heard on the distress call earlier, it was possible that the intruders could have access to tech from outside of their own culture.

Willow paused her line of thinking as C8 Red's voice came over the communicator. Her stomach dropped as Golshani's name was mentioned.

"œGolshani was taken," Willow responded to both C8 Red and the Captain. "œI saw them take him and someone else. There was nothing I could do to stop it. They tased me and stuck my team with their adhesive grenades. I failed to protect them." There was shame in her voice, and deep remorse that briefly covered her anger.

"œCowards indeed," Willow agreed as she began to pace again.

[Corridor 12 - Amidships - USS Courser]

"Um... Arafe Corass to the bridge. We've encountered and captured a couple of the boarders. We could really use some security to take them to the brig."

Willow tapped her comm badge to respond to Arafe Corass.  "œAcknowledged. I'll send a team to collect them. Are they secure? Sit tight Arafe."

Pacing the Bridge, Willow tapped her comm badge again.  "œFletcher to Vakarian, take Williams with you and meet with Arafe in Corridor 12. He's got some uninvited guests that need to be shown to the brig."

"œAcknowledged Lieutenant Commander," Vakarian responded immediately.

"œCaptain, I'm sending a team to collect our guests and show them to the guest rooms in the brig." Willow stated. More than anything she wanted to be there to apprehend their guests, but her place was on the Bridge currently and unless ordered by the Captain, she would remain here and help however she could.

"œWhat now?" Don splurted out.

"œWe will interrogate the individuals.  I want to know if there are similar of the crew members like same DNA or genes for example," he said turning to number one and science station. "œSecurity if there is a second round. Try to put blockades shields in the area and corridors if they you feel it slow them down or from moving around the ship."

"œAnd find the damn thing that is holding us," he ordered. He was trying to think what else the enemy had done or what they could. They needed to think out of the box or try thinK.

Then he switched to communication to the whole ship

This is the Captain. We are fully aware of the attack by group who snatch our people. Stay calm. Please report damage and missing people. You have my word that we going to resolve this and get our people back..everyone has a important job from young to elder. Help each other much as you can. And we will stay strong. And we will be united and be courageous.

There was no way he was not ignore the ship.

"œYes Captain," the Romulan nodded before relaying his order to her security teams. "œSecurity teams, if our "˜friends' decide to return, Captain wants us to put up blockade shields in the areas where they are, as well as in the corridors so we can slow them down."

"œYes, Lieutenant Commander," came the reply from the security teams.

Willow listened as the Captain went to a ship-wide communication and nodded in agreement. The best thing they could do now was to find out what was holding them in place, pursue the intruders and get their people back, but in the meantime an inspirational speech was a good way to help calm down those that remained.
She was determined to get their people back.

-------------------------

[USS Courser - Corridor 12]

Ensign Vakarian and Lieutenant Williams

Walking with Williams, Vakarian said very little to his companion as they approached the location they had been ordered to go to. He was still recovering from an encounter with the intruders and was a little anxious about being sent to detain some. Williams seemed to be calm, but then again, she had been on the Bridge during the incident so she hadn't seen the worst of the assault.

"œArafe! Kimiko!" He called as they approached. "œI see you've been busy. I'm impressed. These guys are not easy to take down!"

Williams snorted in amusement at the ensign's enthusiasm. "œEasy now," she reminded him. "œLet's not jump the gun. We still have to get them to the brig. They're not secure until they've been secured there."

"œAhh, yeah," he nodded as he reached for the restraints he had on him to secure the captives before Williams spoke up.

"Computer, transport these two captives to the brig."

Vakarian watched as the two captives were transported away before he tapped his badge to report back to the Captain and Lieutenant Commander.
"œVakarian to Captain Addams and Lieutenant Commander Fletcher. Captives have been secured and are now in the brig."

[Kimiko Sugiyama]

Kimiko Sugiyama
Corridor 12 - USS Courser

With their captives safely transported away, Kimi turned to Arafe and offered a rather awkward handshake.

"Well, thanks again. I guess we did good... I'll see you in Ten Forward sometime soon."

She saluted the two security officers then hurried back to the bridge. Something told her she ought to get back, to help the rescue effort for the rest of their crewmates, and perhaps face the wrath of a certain Romulan...

[Ian Galloway]

Willow tapped her comm badge to respond to Arafe Corass.  "œAcknowledged. I'll send a team to collect them. Are they secure? Sit tight Arafe."

Pacing the Bridge, Willow tapped her comm badge again.  "œFletcher to Vakarian, take Williams with you and meet with Arafe in Corridor 12. He's got some uninvited guests that need to be shown to the brig."

"œAcknowledged Lieutenant Commander," Vakarian responded immediately.

"œCaptain, I'm sending a team to collect our guests and show them to the guest rooms in the brig." Willow stated. More than anything she wanted to be there to apprehend their guests, but her place was on the Bridge currently and unless ordered by the Captain, she would remain here and help however she could.

"œYes Captain," the Romulan nodded before relaying his order to her security teams. "œSecurity teams, if our "˜friends' decide to return, Captain wants us to put up blockade shields in the areas where they are, as well as in the corridors so we can slow them down."

"œYes, Lieutenant Commander," came the reply from the security teams.

Willow listened as the Captain went to a ship-wide communication and nodded in agreement. The best thing they could do now was to find out what was holding them in place, pursue the intruders and get their people back, but in the meantime an inspirational speech was a good way to help calm down those that remained.
She was determined to get their people back.

-------------------------

[USS Courser - Corridor 12]

Ensign Vakarian and Lieutenant Williams

Walking with Williams, Vakarian said very little to his companion as they approached the location they had been ordered to go to. He was still recovering from an encounter with the intruders and was a little anxious about being sent to detain some. Williams seemed to be calm, but then again, she had been on the Bridge during the incident so she hadn't seen the worst of the assault.

"œArafe! Kimiko!" He called as they approached. "œI see you've been busy. I'm impressed. These guys are not easy to take down!"

Williams snorted in amusement at the ensign's enthusiasm. "œEasy now," she reminded him. "œLet's not jump the gun. We still have to get them to the brig. They're not secure until they've been secured there."

"œAhh, yeah," he nodded as he reached for the restraints he had on him to secure the captives before Williams spoke up.

"Computer, transport these two captives to the brig."

Vakarian watched as the two captives were transported away before he tapped his badge to report back to the Captain and Lieutenant Commander.
"œVakarian to Captain Addams and Lieutenant Commander Fletcher. Captives have been secured and are now in the brig."

[Corridor 12 - Amidships - USS Courser]

Arafe kept a close eye on the two intruders until they were beamed to the brig and he could finally relax. When Vakarian complimented him and Kimiko, he replied with a laugh.

"You can thank Kimi... er Lieutenant Sugiyama. She's the one that heard them coming and pushed my lumbering blue butt out of the way or we'd be among those that got pinched. I hope there is a plan to get those people back. Nothing worse than slavers, so if you need someone to help crack some skulls, you call on Ol' Arafe. I know how to treat people like that."

Kimiko Sugiyama
Corridor 12 - USS Courser

With their captives safely transported away, Kimi turned to Arafe and offered a rather awkward handshake.

"Well, thanks again. I guess we did good... I'll see you in Ten Forward sometime soon."

She saluted the two security officers then hurried back to the bridge. Something told her she ought to get back, to help the rescue effort for the rest of their crewmates, and perhaps face the wrath of a certain Romulan...

[Corridor 12 - Amidships - USS Courser]

As Kimi turned to leave, Arafe gave her a huge smile.

"Any time Lieutenant. I owe you a drink next time you come to Ten Forward."

He watched the young woman leave with some admiration and thought.

"Pretty little thing, too bad she's like most human women, hopelessly too skinny."

[Xasik]

USS Courser - Bridge

Lieutenant Commander Willow Fletcher

Looking up as Lieutenant Sugiyama arrived back on the bridge, Willow gave her an acknowledging nod.
"œWelcome back to the Bridge, Lieutenant," she said in her usual, unreadable tone. She was still furious, but had decided that now was not the time for such discussions. After they were out of danger and had their people back then she could address her insubordination.
"œI hope your excursion was fruitful," the Romulan offered as she walked over to a terminal to help in the efforts to get their ship moving again.

"œLieutenant Lonic, I want to scan for warp signatures, let's see if we can trace them back to where they came from," Willow spoke as she looked over towards Lonic. She then looked around the bridge to the rest of the Bridge crew.
"œAny word yet on what's keeping us in place, Lieutenant Sugiyama?" She looked to Kimiko to see if she was at her terminal. "I still suspect that we might be stuck in place with gravity mines. Can you see if you can find out what's holding us?"

Willow then turned to the Captain. "œCaptain, requesting your permission to go and debrief Arafe. He might have some insight for us on how to combat our new friends. After that I'll report to the brig and have a nice little chat with our new friends to see what I can learn."
The Romulan gave a polite bow to the Captain before exiting the bridge and making her way to Ten Forward.

Stepping out of the turbolift, Willow made her way to the bar. As she entered, she raised one hand in greeting to Arafe and walked over to him.

"œI heard you had a tussle with our uninvited guests and came out on top. How are you holding up?" The Romulan looked around the bar, it wasn't one of her usual hangouts so she indulged her curiosity a little before turning back to face the Bolian. "œWhat can you tell me about their strength? Did you learn anything about them that we may find useful? We need every piece of information we can get, whether it seems useful or not. We need to get our people back. Every little piece of information helps. I'm going to see our new friends after this."

After speaking with Arafe, Willow bid the Bolian goodbye and promised to visit Ten Forward more often. With Arafe's debriefing concluded, the Romulan made her way to the brig. With her head held high, back straight and her shoulders squared she entered the brig and openly observed the captives, allowing them to observe her in return. She gave a nod to the officer on duty in the brig before focusing her attention completely on the captives.

"œGreetings." She spoke slowly and clearly. "œWe have a lot to talk about so why don't we get started? No harm will come to you if you cooperate. Now, tell me, who are you? What do you want and why were our people taken?"

Willow didn't expect her questions to be answered so easily. She didn't know if their guests would even understand her, but she was prepared for the struggle to get them talking. She would get answers from them.

"œDhroi. Dhroi ahefvi. Answer me truthfully. Hveolhaonn am ehdhihss of a idh large bird tagor hvaedroalh ortaim."

[Kimiko Sugiyama]

Kimi Sugiyama
Bridge

Kimi dashed back to the bridge and skidded through the doors, then winced as she realised the Romulan had made it back before her.

Looking up as Lieutenant Sugiyama arrived back on the bridge, Willow gave her an acknowledging nod.
"œWelcome back to the Bridge, Lieutenant," ... "œI hope your excursion was fruitful,"

"Lieutenant Commander," began Kimi, breathlessly. "I know what you said, but the situation was changing rapidly... Arafe needed to get to Ten Forward... You weren't here... So, I cleared it with Captain Addams, and..." Kimi chose her words carefully. "He did not object."

She shifted from one foot to the other.

"And it was just as well. Arafe and I encountered two of the invaders! It was very lucky I was there to protect the civilian." Kimi looked away, avoiding eye contact at this moment. "We, errr, managed to take them alive."

Then the Romulan moved on.

"œLieutenant Lonic, I want to scan for warp signatures, let's see if we can trace them back to where they came from," Willow spoke as she looked over towards Lonic. She then looked around the bridge to the rest of the Bridge crew.
"œAny word yet on what's keeping us in place, Lieutenant Sugiyama?" She looked to Kimiko to see if she was at her terminal. "I still suspect that we might be stuck in place with gravity mines. Can you see if you can find out what's holding us?"

"Yessir!" Kimi dashed to her station and looked across to Lonic. "What have you got?"

This was probably more his specialty; there was bound to be a mechanical answer to this issue rather than a biological one, but it was true she was there to analyse any new scientific phenomena.

Once Vetath had stepped out of the bridge, Kimi scooted over to Lonic's station to look at the data with him.

"Gravity mines need an anchor, unless it is something we have not seen before. They didn't look that advanced to me, by their suits. I wonder if it is some kind of inertia beam... but how could they target us through the interference of the nebula?"

She stood up straight, abruptly. "Or a torpedo - maybe a missile that acts as a gravity mine upon impact! We might need to get outside on the hull to take a proper look..."

[Don Damien Addams]

Kimi Sugiyama
Bridge

Kimi dashed back to the bridge and skidded through the doors, then winced as she realised the Romulan had made it back before her.

"Lieutenant Commander," began Kimi, breathlessly. "I know what you said, but the situation was changing rapidly... Arafe needed to get to Ten Forward... You weren't here... So, I cleared it with Captain Addams, and..." Kimi chose her words carefully. "He did not object."

Don quickly sat up and spun his head at the young Asian Science person. The stone angry look at her should be felt like a father staring at a child doing wrong. "œYou did. But I did not say you could leave. We will have brief meeting on that later," he said as he turned his head back to the main screen monitor. Throwing your Captain under the bus was a fatal choice.

She shifted from one foot to the other.

"And it was just as well. Arafe and I encountered two of the invaders! It was very lucky I was there to protect the civilian." Kimi looked away, avoiding eye contact at this moment. "We, errr, managed to take them alive."

Then the Romulan moved on.

"Yessir!" Kimi dashed to her station and looked across to Lonic. "What have you got?"

This was probably more his specialty; there was bound to be a mechanical answer to this issue rather than a biological one, but it was true she was there to analyse any new scientific phenomena.

Once Vetath had stepped out of the bridge, Kimi scooted over to Lonic's station to look at the data with him.

"Gravity mines need an anchor, unless it is something we have not seen before. They didn't look that advanced to me, by their suits. I wonder if it is some kind of inertia beam... but how could they target us through the interference of the nebula?"

"œWould a Torp-"œ the Kim interrupted him. That was one of the good things he allowed.

She stood up straight, abruptly. "Or a torpedo - maybe a missile that acts as a gravity mine upon impact! We might need to get outside on the hull to take a proper look..."

He allowed Number One to go see Bola Arafe and get information.

"œWe need to be sure the damage of the explosion won't bring any more harm to Curser. Tactical work with Science on that," he ordered.

[Kimiko Sugiyama]

Lieutenant Lonic

Lieutenant Lonic worked through the diagnostic scenarios presented by his operations station.

"A gravity mine or torpedo is still logically the most likely explanation. We cannot move and there is no beam trace on any frequency.

Kimi bit her lip, deep in thought. "Yeah, Vetath said that... but unless they have something with the density of a star, or a singularity, how is it anchored in space?"

Lonic looked at her with those piercing eyes. "Do you have the list of anomalies I asked you to audit this morning?"

Kimi scowled. "Oh that was so boring. Yes, what for?"

"I have all these anomalies but cannot determine which might indicate a foreign device acting on the Courser."

Kimi got the idea quickly. "And mine can be discounted! Good idea, Lonic!"

She skipped to her station and sent back the file, then scrambled back next to the Betan. His long, artificial-looking fingers tapped at his console.

"Hmmm... I can't narrow it down to just one..."

Kimi smacked her hand to her forehead. "Of course!"

Lonic looked up at this exclamation. She continued, "Because it is more than one. That's how they are anchoring - against each other. Like magnets of opposite polarity creating a field between them, or the way nacelles generate the warp field. We are in a gravity net! Look at these fours points - outer hull - exactly opposed, like points of the compass. You are brilliant Lonic!"

The mild mannered Betan was rather startled by this pronouncement. "Just an application of logical process..."

But Kimi had already turned to Captain Addams.

"Sir, Ops has identified the impact sites of potential gravity torpedoes. They are projecting a kind of gravity field around us. You will need joint security-engineering teams to destroy each one. I suggest you set them to coordinate an exactly timed sequence, or we might start spinning out of control..."

[Xasik]

[USS Courser | Brig â†' Bridge]

Lieutenant Commander Willow Fletcher

Willow's time in the brig had not gone as smoothly as she had hoped. Restricted by Starfleet's "˜ethics', she had been limited to simply talking to them once they had regained consciousness. Of course they hadn't taken her seriously and had given her nothing at all to work with. She had even threatened to crack their visors if they didn't cooperate. She had been bluffing of course, but she had hoped that they wouldn't figure that out. Apparently they did though as even to that threat they said nothing.

It had occurred to her that perhaps they may not have understood Federation Standard so she conducted the interrogation in both Federation Standard and in Romulan. It was logical to assume that they may understand Romulan as it was one of the languages that was broadcast over the distress call, but since they hadn't spoken a word it was impossible to determine what language they spoke. The Universal Translator was useless in this situation, still, she had it translate her words into several languages, just in case they understood at least one of them.

"œOne way or another, I will get the answers I seek," she spoke in a calm, even voice. Her tone was sharp and dangerous, leaving no room for misunderstandings.
"œHveolhaonn htaodt'ia'rhoinnie tae etreimnai tae ehdhihss concealed truth lyrr-t'ddreen."

With one last pointed glare over her left shoulder, the Romulan walked left the room. She looked at the officers who had been stationed in the brig to keep their guests secure.
"œIf they start talking I want to be notified immediately. We need to figure out what language they speak so we can communicate. We need answers."

"œYes Lieutenant Commander!" Both officers stood at attention as she walked away. "œI'll be on the bridge." She spoke to them before departing and making her way back to the turbolift and to the bridge.

Stepping back onto the bridge, Willow scanned the room. "œAny progress?" She asked as she took her usual position.
"œI had no luck with our prisoners. Not a word from them." As much as she tried to hide it, Willow's frustration could be heard in her words.

"œHave we made any progress here?" Willow walked over to an empty station and started working at the terminal. She couldn't bear to be idle in such a situation and decided to make herself useful without stepping on anyone's toes.
"œWe need this ship up and moving," she commented. "œWe can't lose track of our attackers if we want to get our people back."

The Romulan began a scan to see if she could detect the warp signatures of their attackers. Much to her satisfaction she was able to pick up on them, but they would fade fast and would be lost if they didn't get The Courser moving soon.
"œI've got their warp signatures but not for long."

But Kimi had already turned to Captain Addams.

"Sir, Ops has identified the impact sites of potential gravity torpedoes. They are projecting a kind of gravity field around us. You will need joint security-engineering teams to destroy each one. I suggest you set them to coordinate an exactly timed sequence, or we might start spinning out of control..."

Overhearing Sugiyama addressing the Captain, Willow nodded. "œCaptain, with your permission I'll organize the effort to free the ship."

Without Golshani in Engineering, it was more difficult to get the rescue effort organized than Willow had hoped. The ship was still in a state of chaos and disorder but eventually four teams consisting of engineers and security were dispatched.
Targeted scans of the objects holding them in place revealed the exact locations and frequencies of them. Four probes were altered to emit an EMP wave at the precise frequency of the objects holding the ship to disable them without affecting The Courser. The operation would have to be coordinated carefully, with all four probes sent out and activated in sync. This would give The Courser a window of opportunity to get clear of the area of effect and pursue the other ships to get their people back.

When all teams were in position, Willow looked to the Captain before taking a deep breath.
"œOn my mark," she spoke clearly through her comm badge.

"œEngage."

There was a moment of heavy silence as the probes launched towards their destinations before activating and disabling the gravity net. It was a huge relief when The Courser was able to break free and clear the danger area with a slingshot style maneuver using the failing gravity net's energy to propel it forward.
The Romulan resisted the urge to whoop and cheer but she did allow herself to show a genuinely happy smile.

"œExcellent work," she spoke to everyone on the Bridge and over her comm badge. "œBut our work isn't finished yet. We can still detect their warp signatures, and now we can pursue them. Captain, with your permission I believe we should give chase. It's the best chance we have of getting our people back."