S:5 E:10 - The Galloway Gambit

[Nira Said]

[Airlock --> Outer Hull - USS Challenger - A]

T'Lara responded to Said's assignment in the usual way, a nod of acknowledgement as she left the lounge and completed the task of donning the EV suit. They should be able to get this job done efficiently, albeit rather slowly, and get the information they needed to finally conduct a complete investigation. The Vulcan listened to instructions and was soon following the rest of the team out of the airlock. She had done this sort of work before, and after a few minutes mastered the technique. She found that matching her breathing with moving her legs, one in front of the other, helped her develop a rhythm as she conducted a search of her designated area.

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Deck Nine - Airlock >>>  Outer Hull]

Lahr eyed up the form fitting EV suit worn by the Commander.  Yeah, not surprising she would have something like that.  Nira always looked good.  Well, not as appealing as a certain red-head who had a penchant for blue men, but still damn hot.

The dangerous thing about such thoughts was that the Commander was part Betazoid and could readily pick up thoughts like that.  Focus on the work, man! Focus on the work!

He tried doing exactly that as the Commander laid out the plan. "Yes, ma'am." he acknowledged his orders before securing his own helmet and activating his own magboots as he stepped out on the hull.  From his tool belt which the Andorian wore overtop his EV suit, Lahr pulled a telescoping rod with a magnet at the end, usually used for picking up fallen stembolts, but if held the other way, Lahr could use it to help him extend his search radius by 6 ft on either side.

Scanning devices would be next to useless in finding a cloaked launcher, it would all have to be done by feel.  This way Lahr had an advantage.  If he found the launcher, maybe the Commander might convince Chief Tharn to allow him back on the Bridge a few times a week.

Lahr started off his search sweeping the hull with the handle end of the rod (the magnet end being a bit problematic otherwise).  From side to side, he extended the rod out along the hull as far as it would reach before stepping forward a pace and repeating the sweep along the route the Commander had delegated him.

[Outer Hull - USS Challenger]

As the four members of Starfleet fanned out to try to find some clue as to how the Doval had been destroyed. It was a slow process in space suits and mag boots, especially as they didn't know what they were looking for.

Despite his use of his telescoping rod, the galaxy decided that his caution wasn't enough and as the rod was sweeping to the left, his right foot hit something hard enough to surprise the Andorian enough to cause his right mag boot to detach from the hull, off balance and failing, caused the left boot also to detach and Lahr found himself tumbling away from the hull and out into open space!

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Outer Hull]

Roohz! Lahr cussed silently as he tumbled head over heels away from the hull.  It wasn't that the Andorian was at all concerned about being lost in space.  The EV suits they wore had trackers to prevent such an occurrence.  He could easily be beamed back aboard.  It was more the razzing that he would have to endurance after this that concerned the engineer.

Given that the others had their attention down to the hull looking for the cloaked launcher, it was unlikely that his predicament had been noticed quite yet.   If only he'd thought to bring the thruster pack.  But he hadn't.  The task had been a hull walk... his magboots should have held!   Maybe he could use something on his toolbelt to get him back to the hull with none the wiser?

Lahr felt at his belt as he continued to drift further away.  But nothing he had seemed at all helpful for this.

Belatedly, he recalled that the EV suits did have an integrated tether line, but they were rather short. Only about 15 ft and Lahr was already beyond twice that with his hesitation.  With a sigh of resignation, Lahr tapped his comm.

"ch'Verret to Petty Officer Grelek."

"Grelek here."    Came the bland Vulcan response over Lahr's comm.

"You're working transporters currently aren't you?   I need a discreet favor"

[Airlock > Outer Hull | Deck Nine | USS Challenger]

Buck fastened his helmet, feeling as it locked into place with the rest of the EV suit and glanced around the airlock - comforted that he was surrounded by his crew members.

Spacewalking looking for something small.

Sounded like a fun challenge.

"Aye, commander." He nodded, ensuring that it was clear that he understood the assignment as he activated the magnetic boots, locking him to the ship's surface as they walked. Buck had underestimated the weightless and weight that came with being magnetised to the underside of the Challenger. "This, I have to admit, is one to tell the grandkids." He grinned underneath his helmet as he walked, his foot going in half circles before he placed it down as he tried to cover as much space as he possibly could as he fanned out and searched for the small invisible object.

[NPC] PO2 Grelek
[Transporter Control - USS Challenger]

The Vulcan petty officer would have frowned if he hadn't heard the tone in which it had been given in, and the way the Ensign requested for a discreet favor.  "I am aware you're aware that I am working transporters at the present moment. What is it that you need me to do?"

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Outer Hull | Bottom of the Saucer | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Nira had to raise an eyebrow at Lahr's direction when she sensed some kind of...was that a slight arousal she just picked up? Or was it the suit? And she wondered if McNair was conveying sarcasm at her comment. Nonetheless, she was certain that if anybody on the team stepped on something invisible, they'll know.

Naturally, they had been going in a spread for a while now. Nira was having a pattern of looking at the hull, then back up at her fellow spacewalkers. Mostly she looked over at them because she was expecting that she'll see one of them walking on something invisible...like if they were walking on a mound in a way like they would be floating, and yet not floating away.

At one point, she looked around at the team still walking and then looked down again, expecting to walk on something. Then she looked up to check on the team and saw somebody floating away.

Instantly, she froze and called the rest of the team. "Said to away team, pause a moment. One of us is floating away!"

Then she called up the first transporter chief she could think of...and that was Petty Officer Grelek.

"Said to Transporter Chief Grelek, there's a spacewalker detached from the hull and floating away into space. Beam the person over at once."

Now that she could guarantee the safety of the poor person floating away, figuring that sooner or later, Grelek will bring him or her aboard, Nira paid close attention to the floating spacewalker and then looked back at the direction he or she had floated away from to the point at the hull, figuring out the trajectory to determine an area of a certain radius on the hull...somewhere in that radius, one of the team must've tripped against something or did something in a way to prevent the magnetic boots from sticking back onto the hull.

"Said to away team, sound off," said Nira, calling for a roll call, determining who of the team floated away...and will soon be beamed aboard. "Meantime...hold position, all still attached to the hull. I'm checking a certain point..."

Then she made her way over to that point, her eyes still keeping an eye on where the walker tripped and got detached. She had a rifle on her as a precaution, but in a precautionary move now, she depowered the rifle and stuck it forward like a blind person's walking stick.

"Said to Bridge," Nira called. "Stand by to commence a tachyon scan, I think we're getting close to finding something."

Granted, there were plenty of Romulan cloaks especially of Tal Shiar make that wouldn't give of residual tachyons, one thing indicative of a cloaked object, but Nira felt it would be foolish not to check for something like that, just in case.

She moved closer, tapping her depowered rifle in front of her, moving in an extremely cautious manner the closer she got. When she was at the edge of what she figured was the radius of where the footing was lost on Lahr, as she found out who it was momentarily when the team sounded off, she was moving so carefully and cautiously, a turtle could outpace her. But nonetheless, she was taking extreme care just in case.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - floating above (below?) the underside of the Outer Hull]

[Airlock > Outer Hull | Deck Nine | USS Challenger]

Buck fastened his helmet, feeling as it locked into place with the rest of the EV suit and glanced around the airlock - comforted that he was surrounded by his crew members.

Spacewalking looking for something small.

Sounded like a fun challenge.

"Aye, commander." He nodded, ensuring that it was clear that he understood the assignment as he activated the magnetic boots, locking him to the ship's surface as they walked. Buck had underestimated the weightless and weight that came with being magnetised to the underside of the Challenger. "This, I have to admit, is one to tell the grandkids." He grinned underneath his helmet as he walked, his foot going in half circles before he placed it down as he tried to cover as much space as he possibly could as he fanned out and searched for the small invisible object.

[NPC] PO2 Grelek
[Transporter Control - USS Challenger]

The Vulcan petty officer would have frowned if he hadn't heard the tone in which it had been given in, and the way the Ensign requested for a discreet favor.  "I am aware you're aware that I am working transporters at the present moment. What is it that you need me to do?"

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Outer Hull | Bottom of the Saucer | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Instantly, she froze and called the rest of the team. "Said to away team, pause a moment. One of us is floating away!"

Then she called up the first transporter chief she could think of...and that was Petty Officer Grelek.

"Said to Transporter Chief Grelek, there's a spacewalker detached from the hull and floating away into space. Beam the person over at once."

Now that she could guarantee the safety of the poor person floating away, figuring that sooner or later, Grelek will bring him or her aboard, Nira paid close attention to the floating spacewalker and then looked back at the direction he or she had floated away from to the point at the hull, figuring out the trajectory to determine an area of a certain radius on the hull...somewhere in that radius, one of the team must've tripped against something or did something in a way to prevent the magnetic boots from sticking back onto the hull.

"Said to away team, sound off," said Nira, calling for a roll call, determining who of the team floated away...and will soon be beamed aboard. "Meantime...hold position, all still attached to the hull. I'm checking a certain point..."

Then she made her way over to that point, her eyes still keeping an eye on where the walker tripped and got detached. She had a rifle on her as a precaution, but in a precautionary move now, she depowered the rifle and stuck it forward like a blind person's walking stick.

"Said to Bridge," Nira called. "Stand by to commence a tachyon scan, I think we're getting close to finding something."

Granted, there were plenty of Romulan cloaks especially of Tal Shiar make that wouldn't give of residual tachyons, one thing indicative of a cloaked object, but Nira felt it would be foolish not to check for something like that, just in case.

She moved closer, tapping her depowered rifle in front of her, moving in an extremely cautious manner the closer she got. When she was at the edge of what she figured was the radius of where the footing was lost on Lahr, as she found out who it was momentarily when the team sounded off, she was moving so carefully and cautiously, a turtle could outpace her. But nonetheless, she was taking extreme care just in case.

Nira's call for the team to halt came just a second after Grelek confirmed he was working transport.  Roohz! He'd been spotted by the Commander no less!

He saw the others begin looking about and eventually spotting him. Inside his helmet his antennae drooped.

The former Ops officer recognized the 'dead space' of his comm being put on pause.  No doubt the commander calling for his beam in.  When he heard the click of his call connect once more, Lahr tried mitigate the damage.

"Grelek? She probably called about me.   My magboots detached... so I'm about 35 ft under the hull.  I was calling to see if you could transport me back down to the hull? One sec..."

He then switched comm lines to sound off as ordered.

"ch'Verret here. Call me "˜Floaty Blue'.  Don't mind me while I take in the view from here."

Afterwhich, the comedic Andorian tucked himself and did an aerial somersault to maybe make it seem like he'd planned this all along.  He'd rather that - be thought of as joker - than inept when hull walking.

As he rotated, Lahr switched comms back to the Vulcan on hold, and quickly searched the hull from his spinning view for a landmark he could use.  Lahr knew what he was asking for was a bit tricky since the whole reason they were hull walking was because there was cloaked tech somewhere on the hull... that if he got beamed down into that spot... the outcome would be rather gruesome.

With a grimace, he noted the Commander alone was making her way towards where he had last been walking... even though T'Lara had been closer to his last position.

Still on comms to the transporter room Lahr gave the Vulcan his best possible beam down point. "I personally cleared the space 2 meters left of the rear phaser array.  Drop me there."

It was close enough that he could meet up with the Commander - assuming the Vulcan was willing to beam him where he directed and not back to transporter room.

He double tapped to switch comms again.  "Commander, it's more to your left.  I was on a direct line from the rear phaser array to the third hull light from the end."

The Andorian tried to guide her as best as possible. 

[Buehler]

[Lounge]

The command team, as well as a few other notable members of the crew, had already vanished by the time the line of people waiting to get out finally dissipated. Nodding her head with subdued approval, the chief medical officer turned to Evan. "œWrap things up here with the stragglers, Buehler," she decided. "œI'm going to head back to sickbay to evaluate the more serious cases and start to document all the notes."

"œAye, Chief," he replied as she was snapping her medkit shut. All power to her; Evan didn't relish the idea of having to sit down to fill out all that paperwork. Once she was gone, Evan turned to the science ensign who had relievedly stepped aside from treating patients once the cavalry had arrived, serving instead as a screener of sorts. "œYou can go now, if you wish, Miss Windsor. Your help was invaluable." She bobbed her head and wiped her brow before disappearing out the door, leaving Evan to gather the tools and put them back where they needed to go.

[Ian Galloway]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - floating above (below?) the underside of the Outer Hull]

Nira's call for the team to halt came just a second after Grelek confirmed he was working transport.  Roohz! He'd been spotted by the Commander no less!

He saw the others begin looking about and eventually spotting him. Inside his helmet his antennae drooped.

The former Ops officer recognized the 'dead space' of his comm being put on pause.  No doubt the commander calling for his beam in.  When he heard the click of his call connect once more, Lahr tried mitigate the damage.

"Grelek? She probably called about me.   My magboots detached... so I'm about 35 ft under the hull.  I was calling to see if you could transport me back down to the hull? One sec..."

He then switched comm lines to sound off as ordered.

"ch'Verret here. Call me "˜Floaty Blue'.  Don't mind me while I take in the view from here."

Afterwhich, the comedic Andorian tucked himself and did an aerial somersault to maybe make it seem like he'd planned this all along.  He'd rather that - be thought of as joker - than inept when hull walking.

As he rotated, Lahr switched comms back to the Vulcan on hold, and quickly searched the hull from his spinning view for a landmark he could use.  Lahr knew what he was asking for was a bit tricky since the whole reason they were hull walking was because there was cloaked tech somewhere on the hull... that if he got beamed down into that spot... the outcome would be rather gruesome.

With a grimace, he noted the Commander alone was making her way towards where he had last been walking... even though T'Lara had been closer to his last position.

Still on comms to the transporter room Lahr gave the Vulcan his best possible beam down point. "I personally cleared the space 2 meters left of the rear phaser array.  Drop me there."

It was close enough that he could meet up with the Commander - assuming the Vulcan was willing to beam him where he directed and not back to transporter room.

He double tapped to switch comms again.  "Commander, it's more to your left.  I was on a direct line from the rear phaser array to the third hull light from the end."

The Andorian tried to guide her as best as possible.

[Outer Hull - [USS Challenger]

The transporter annular confinement beam enveloped Lahr and he found himself in transporter room four facing the stoic Vulcan Grelek.

"There was excessive interference and this required I beam you aboard rather than returning you to the hull."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buck turned out to be the closest to where Lahr became detached from the hull and it was he who's foot thunked against something that couldn't be seen. On making this discovery he notified the rest of the team of what he had found

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Deck 4 - Transporter room 4 >>> Deck Nine - Airlock]

[Outer Hull - [USS Challenger]

The transporter annular confinement beam enveloped Lahr and he found himself in transporter room four facing the stoic Vulcan Grelek.

"There was excessive interference and this required I beam you aboard rather than returning you to the hull."

Lahr acknowledged the Vulcan's attempt with a nod as he removed his helmet.  "Thanks for trying."

The Andorian gave his white hair a shake and then stepped off the transporter pad. "Guess I'd best get back out there." he commented as he made his way towards the exit.

Lahr gave the Vulcan slight wave goodbye then headed off towards the turbolift.   Holding the opening of his helmet to his ear, Lahr listened in to any banter or orders coming from the Commander or the others as he rode down to Deck Nine and hurried his way back towards the airlock. 

[Nira Said]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - floating above (below?) the underside of the Outer Hull]

Nira's call for the team to halt came just a second after Grelek confirmed he was working transport.  Roohz! He'd been spotted by the Commander no less!

He saw the others begin looking about and eventually spotting him. Inside his helmet his antennae drooped.

The former Ops officer recognized the 'dead space' of his comm being put on pause.  No doubt the commander calling for his beam in.  When he heard the click of his call connect once more, Lahr tried mitigate the damage.

"Grelek? She probably called about me.   My magboots detached... so I'm about 35 ft under the hull.  I was calling to see if you could transport me back down to the hull? One sec..."

He then switched comm lines to sound off as ordered.

"ch'Verret here. Call me "˜Floaty Blue'.  Don't mind me while I take in the view from here."

Afterwhich, the comedic Andorian tucked himself and did an aerial somersault to maybe make it seem like he'd planned this all along.  He'd rather that - be thought of as joker - than inept when hull walking.

As he rotated, Lahr switched comms back to the Vulcan on hold, and quickly searched the hull from his spinning view for a landmark he could use.  Lahr knew what he was asking for was a bit tricky since the whole reason they were hull walking was because there was cloaked tech somewhere on the hull... that if he got beamed down into that spot... the outcome would be rather gruesome.

With a grimace, he noted the Commander alone was making her way towards where he had last been walking... even though T'Lara had been closer to his last position.

Still on comms to the transporter room Lahr gave the Vulcan his best possible beam down point. "I personally cleared the space 2 meters left of the rear phaser array.  Drop me there."

It was close enough that he could meet up with the Commander - assuming the Vulcan was willing to beam him where he directed and not back to transporter room.

He double tapped to switch comms again.  "Commander, it's more to your left.  I was on a direct line from the rear phaser array to the third hull light from the end."

The Andorian tried to guide her as best as possible.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Outer Hull | Bottom of the Saucer | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

"Well, I'd be more inclined to refer you as a floating jinn," said Nira in a humorous reply. "Thanks for the heads-up, Lahr. See if you can get back out here as fast as possible when you're beamed aboard."

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Deck 4 - Transporter room 4 >>> Deck Nine - Airlock]

Lahr acknowledged the Vulcan's attempt with a nod as he removed his helmet.  "Thanks for trying."

The Andorian gave his white hair a shake and then stepped off the transporter pad. "Guess I'd best get back out there." he commented as he made his way towards the exit.

Lahr gave the Vulcan slight wave goodbye then headed off towards the turbolift.   Holding the opening of his helmet to his ear, Lahr listened in to any banter or orders coming from the Commander or the others as he rode down to Deck Nine and hurried his way back towards the airlock.

[Outer Hull - [USS Challenger]

The transporter annular confinement beam enveloped Lahr and he found himself in transporter room four facing the stoic Vulcan Grelek.

"There was excessive interference and this required I beam you aboard rather than returning you to the hull."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buck turned out to be the closest to where Lahr became detached from the hull and it was he who's foot thunked against something that couldn't be seen. On making this discovery he notified the rest of the team of what he had found

Nira took Lahr's further directions, remembering that the spot indicated was the phaser array. As she got closer, she could see she was coming close to McNair, especially within the moment he notified the rest of the team. She was rightly within the radius and she was sure, at any moment, she'll nudge her foot, at least, against the cloaked object.

"Noted, McNair," she replied to him. "Said to Away Team, move in to where we are. We have our object."

Looking back at McNair, she said, "Mister McNair, begin scanning for tachyon particles, let's see if a close tricorder scan will be able to confirm that there's a cloaked object here."

Then, contacting the bridge, she said, "Bridge, stand by for a tachyon scan, we'll see if we can get something on a more up-close and personal way."

[T'Lara]

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Outer Hull | Bottom of the Saucer | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Nira had to raise an eyebrow at Lahr's direction when she sensed some kind of...was that a slight arousal she just picked up? Or was it the suit? And she wondered if McNair was conveying sarcasm at her comment. Nonetheless, she was certain that if anybody on the team stepped on something invisible, they'll know.

Naturally, they had been going in a spread for a while now. Nira was having a pattern of looking at the hull, then back up at her fellow spacewalkers. Mostly she looked over at them because she was expecting that she'll see one of them walking on something invisible...like if they were walking on a mound in a way like they would be floating, and yet not floating away.

At one point, she looked around at the team still walking and then looked down again, expecting to walk on something. Then she looked up to check on the team and saw somebody floating away.

Instantly, she froze and called the rest of the team. "Said to away team, pause a moment. One of us is floating away!"

Then she called up the first transporter chief she could think of...and that was Petty Officer Grelek.

"Said to Transporter Chief Grelek, there's a spacewalker detached from the hull and floating away into space. Beam the person over at once."

Now that she could guarantee the safety of the poor person floating away, figuring that sooner or later, Grelek will bring him or her aboard, Nira paid close attention to the floating spacewalker and then looked back at the direction he or she had floated away from to the point at the hull, figuring out the trajectory to determine an area of a certain radius on the hull...somewhere in that radius, one of the team must've tripped against something or did something in a way to prevent the magnetic boots from sticking back onto the hull.

"Said to away team, sound off," said Nira, calling for a roll call, determining who of the team floated away...and will soon be beamed aboard. "Meantime...hold position, all still attached to the hull. I'm checking a certain point..."

Then she made her way over to that point, her eyes still keeping an eye on where the walker tripped and got detached. She had a rifle on her as a precaution, but in a precautionary move now, she depowered the rifle and stuck it forward like a blind person's walking stick.

"Said to Bridge," Nira called. "Stand by to commence a tachyon scan, I think we're getting close to finding something."

Granted, there were plenty of Romulan cloaks especially of Tal Shiar make that wouldn't give of residual tachyons, one thing indicative of a cloaked object, but Nira felt it would be foolish not to check for something like that, just in case.

She moved closer, tapping her depowered rifle in front of her, moving in an extremely cautious manner the closer she got. When she was at the edge of what she figured was the radius of where the footing was lost on Lahr, as she found out who it was momentarily when the team sounded off, she was moving so carefully and cautiously, a turtle could outpace her. But nonetheless, she was taking extreme care just in case.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Outer Hull | Bottom of the Saucer | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

"Well, I'd be more inclined to refer you as a floating jinn," said Nira in a humorous reply. "Thanks for the heads-up, Lahr. See if you can get back out here as fast as possible when you're beamed aboard."Nira took Lahr's further directions, remembering that the spot indicated was the phaser array. As she got closer, she could see she was coming close to McNair, especially within the moment he notified the rest of the team. She was rightly within the radius and she was sure, at any moment, she'll nudge her foot, at least, against the cloaked object.

"Noted, McNair," she replied to him. "Said to Away Team, move in to where we are. We have our object."

Looking back at McNair, she said, "Mister McNair, begin scanning for tachyon particles, let's see if a close tricorder scan will be able to confirm that there's a cloaked object here."

Then, contacting the bridge, she said, "Bridge, stand by for a tachyon scan, we'll see if we can get something on a more up-close and personal way."

[Outer Hull, bottom of the saucer - USS Challenger - A]

T'Lara was so concentrated on her task that the request for a sound off was answered almost as an afterthought.

"T'Lara here. Sixty five percent of my designated perimeter has been searched, nothing detected yet. Will keep advised."

After a fragment of time closely calculated in the subconscious by the Vulcan officer, it seemed that their goal had been potentially reached. Her return to the group required an about face, which was impossible in the EV suit. Instead, she made a slow, roundabout trek back.

"Understood. Returning now."

She came up next to McNair and stood ready for the next orders.

[Ian Galloway]

[Outer Hull - USS Challenger]

With the area of the hidden object refined, it didn't take long to find its exact location. A burst of anti-protons deactivated the device's cloak and revealed a single-shot torpedo launcher 3 meters long attached close to the Challenger's own launcher.

The device was made entirely of components common in the Federation and thus didn't directly link to the remnants of the Romulan Empire, Thelal, and Nirreen's presence and the attack by the Khranu certainly provided all the circumstantial evidence needed. It took Nira, Buck, Lahr, and T'Lara a half an hour to get the launcher detached from the hull and beamed into the cargo bay. Thus answering the final question in the destruction of the science vessel Doval.

Aboard the Challenger, once the ice had been broken, the scientists' natural connection by science itself was more than enough to overcome the attempted sabotage of the conference. This allowed for the two peoples to make connections and reach understandings that might never have occurred.

After three days, the conference had to be considered a success, much to Ian's relief as it had looked pretty grim for awhile. Another Free State ship arrived and picked up the Romulan scientists to take them home. After many new friendships and promises of collaborations were made, the Challenger wheeled about to head for Starbase 153 to drop of the Federation contingent of scientists and for an extensive debriefing by Admiral Gillespie.

While Ian found the success of the conference to be useful, the one aspect of the whole mission was the satisfaction that Thelal and Nirreen were safely secured in the Challenger's brig under more security than was reasonable.

"Those bloody gits will nae be escapin' on my watch."

He chuckled as he viewed the feed from the cells in his ready room before switching the image to something decidedly less interesting, the mound of datawork that was the never ending burden of a starship captain.

[Nira Said]

[Outer Hull, bottom of the saucer - USS Challenger - A]

T'Lara was so concentrated on her task that the request for a sound off was answered almost as an afterthought.

"T'Lara here. Sixty five percent of my designated perimeter has been searched, nothing detected yet. Will keep advised."

After a fragment of time closely calculated in the subconscious by the Vulcan officer, it seemed that their goal had been potentially reached. Her return to the group required an about face, which was impossible in the EV suit. Instead, she made a slow, roundabout trek back.

"Understood. Returning now."

She came up next to McNair and stood ready for the next orders.

[Outer Hull - USS Challenger]

With the area of the hidden object refined, it didn't take long to find its exact location. A burst of anti-protons deactivated the device's cloak and revealed a single-shot torpedo launcher 3 meters long attached close to the Challenger's own launcher.

The device was made entirely of components common in the Federation and thus didn't directly link to the remnants of the Romulan Empire, Thelal, and Nirreen's presence and the attack by the Khranu certainly provided all the circumstantial evidence needed. It took Nira, Buck, Lahr, and T'Lara a half an hour to get the launcher detached from the hull and beamed into the cargo bay. Thus answering the final question in the destruction of the science vessel Doval.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Outer Hull | Bottom of the Saucer | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Once the team were all assembled - Lahr a moment later - the radius closed and they found it. They found the cloaked device merely by nudging and stepping on it so that they definitely looked like they levitated close to the hull. A tachyon scan had confirmed it, although it was amazingly small.

"We're going to send a burst of anti-protons your way, Commander. Brace yourselves."

"Acknowledged, Bridge," said Nira. And with that burst of antiprotons...there it was.

It was a torpedo launcher, compiled by Federation parts. Nira was amazed at how small it was, three meters long as it was. She looked more at the cloaking device on it and was amazed at how small it was...

"Well...somehow, I'm not surprised at how small the cloaking device is," said Nira. "It's designed only to keep this small."

"But a three-meter torpedo launcher?" asked T'Kel. "It doesn't make sense, it'll only be able to launch one torpedo."

"But one torpedo was all it needed to launch," said Nira. "And whoever was controlling it...and I have a good idea who it was...they needed to aim at the right place on the Doval and we had a brief little nova go off."

"Little indeed," retorted T'Kel.

"And because it's of Federation-make, naturally, they won't be able to link ties to any Romulan faction," said Nira. "Unfortunately, the proof that there is Romulan involvement lies with Thelal and Nirreen. Plus, a small ship would be able attach this thing on the hull, both cloaked, and it would have to be small enough to attach it to the hull without us realizing..."

She paused a moment, having a suspicious inkling. What if the Khranu wasn't the only Romulan ship with a cloak around?

Shaking her head, Nira said, "First things first: Let's get this thing off the hull. Lahr, McNair, you're up."

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Brig | Deck Twelve | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

An hour later, once the launcher was detached from the hull and beamed to the cargo bay, Nira, with T'Kel at her side, back out of her armored EV suit, was at the brig and had woken Thelal.

"Well, well," he said. "And where's Captain Galloway?"

"The Captain is too busy to see you," said Nira. "And thus too busy to be provoked by your insults. You have to deal with us."

"We found your device, Thelal," said T'Kel.

"Congratulations, madam," said Thelal sarcastically. His expression and body language said otherwise; Nira could tell he didn't expect them to find it so soon, if at all.

"The only mystery remaining is how the torpedo was launched," said Nira. "And we're very sure it was launched remotely. And there's quite a few suspects."

"And yet you're talking to me," Thelal sneered. "Why not bother Nirreen?" But then, suddenly, he became aware of how close Nira was to the force field. As he backed off, he also suddenly became aware, for the first time, now Nira looked disturbingly like Nirreen...or rather, the other way around. The expression on Nira's face suddenly look very much like Nirreen when her expression was contorted with anticipation for twisted satisfaction. The only difference, aside from lack of pointed ears and slight differences in skin tone, were the eyes, and those black Betazoid eyes coupled with that expression sent a sudden chill down his back.

"Better you than Nirreen," said Nira with a smile. At that, she nodded at T'Kel, who shut off the force field, setting on a moment later as Nira stepped through.

Next thing Thelal knew, distracted as he was by Nira's semblance, he was pinned to the opposite wall by Nira, her hand pressed to the wall as her arm pressed to his neck while she began searching around with the other hand...finally finding something on one of his elbows.

"Well, well," said Nira. "So this was how you were able to control the launcher. I suppose you make the adjustments to aim in the right spot where one torpedo will count."

"You're a dangerous woman," Thelal said through grit teeth. "But Nirreen is worse."

"Well, you're going to have a lot to talk about when we get to the starbase," spat Nira.

"I think you need to search him more thoroughly," called Nirreen from the next cell. She had also awoke and watched with amused interest at what Nira did to Thelal. "I think he may have a few more concealed in his."

"Shut up, Nirreen!" Nira and Thelal said simultaneously.

There was a good reason Nira had preferred to frisk Thelal for the remote device than Nirreen: Thelal was less dangerous than Nirreen. She wouldn't stand a chance with Nirreen, especially not in such close quarters.

Nira then turned to Thelal as she let him go and stepped out of his cell backward when T'Kel lowered the force field.

"Enjoy your flight on the 'antique,'" Thelal," said Nira. "You're going to enjoy your time as we continue the conference without your interference and when we drop you off to the proper authorities. Both of you," she added, turning to Nirreen, who only smiled back at her in greeting.

THREE DAYS LATER...

First Officer's Log, Supplemental. The conference is a success. Despite the attempt to sabotage it and provoke a deterioration between the Federation and the Free State, we have cleared our names once again and came out making new friends. Another Free State ship has come to pick up the Reomulan delegation and we are on our way back to Starbase 153 to drop of our own delegation.

In spite of the fact that we have thwarted whatever designs Thelal and Nirreen had in mind, and that we have them imprisoned, I still feel uneasy. Interestingly, I'd probably feel a lot better if we had just Thelal imprisoned, but having Nirreen aboard, whether or not she's in the brig, it disturbs me. I sometimes see her in nightmares, and I can't tell whether or not she's reaching out with her thoughts, intruding in my dreams...maybe I'm being more paranoid with her aboard. In any case, I feel anticipation that we're leaving her at Starbase 153, where she will be out of our hands.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Brig | Deck Twelve | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Nira had brought T'Lara to the brig to see Nirreen up close and personal. She was very sure T'Lara remembered the footage of a woman bearing resemblance to Nira and wanted to show her. She gestured to T'Lara at Nirreen.

"That's her, T'Lara," she said. "Tryka...the formation of the Free State..."

"Brought a friend from Tryka, have you?" asked Nirreen. "For a moment, I thought you came back to gloat."

"My interrogations weren't opportunities to gloat," said Nira.

Nirreen only sniffed in disdain, a body language way of saying, "Yeah, right." "She's from the Discovery, isn't she?" she asked. "Why else did you bring her?"

"I wanted T'Lara to get a good look at you before we get to the starbase. I hope you'll enjoy a more permanent view of a brig," said Nira.

Nirreen only pursed her lips. But Nira didn't like her body language, the way she seemed to be sitting patiently.

In point of fact, Nirreen had finally decided she'd stand a better chance of escape on Starbase 153 than on the Challenger. True, a starbase may pose a bit more of a challenge than a starship, but Nirreen, after some thorough thinking, felt that as long as Nira and Galloway were on such an extreme guard, the chances of trying an escape with people who don't know her were better, especially without Nira or Galloway around with such warning voices. As such, she had her own hidden comm device order the crew of her own T'varo-class Bird of Prey, via drone control, to Starbase 153 and wait for her under cloak. For now, all she had to do was wait. And as a long-lived Romulan, Nirreen was a patient woman.

[Ian Galloway]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

As the Challenger pulled away from Starbase 153, Ian sat in the command chair observing how the crew worked. He was proud of their skill and efficiency and as he wasn't needed at the moment, he figured he might as well update his log.

"Captain's Log. Stardate 78059.1. We have just departed from Starbase 153 after droppin' off the Federation contingent of scientists that were part of the conference with the Romulan Free State boffins.

"Admiral Gillespie is pleased with how the conference went despite the interference by the Romulan Empire element. Speakin' of which, we turned over Thelal and Nirreen ta Starfleet Intelligence before departin' the starbase and I cannae say I've ever felt more smug than ta see that git Thelal in cuffs and bein' frog marched into a cell on the starbase.

"For now, our orders are ta continue patrol on the border of the Neutral Zone ta show the flag and keep the peace until summat drops in the pot and we get a call ta save the day like we do. End log."