S:5 E:12 - Dominion Rising

[Kina Nural]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian listened to the Discovery's First Officer, a Romulan of all things, with amazement. As he didn't know the man, he held his initial response in check. He instead replied in a cold tone rather than with the heat that initially crossed his mind.

"Are you seriously sayin' you have a plan that will increase our odds of success and we're nae doin' that? Given even the planned method is only half-baked, I am at a loss as ta why you wouldn't want ta improve our chances. Send this Lek's proposal ta me and if'n it's one dram less mad than the current plan, we're goin' ta do that. Galloway out."

[Bridge / USS Challenger]

Kina pondered for a good while what her father was talking about. It wasn't unheard of that the CIB would classify anything they wanted to. But what was strange was that him and another Legate were escorting a n important person to Deep Space Nine, right where they were going. Usually, that role was reserved for Guls, and now two legates were going? This was far above anything she knew that was normal.

She looked over at the captain and chose to tell him everything. It wouldn't be prudent if she kept it to herself. "œCaptain. I apologize for the disruption, however I came into possession of some information on where we are going. I"¦..I contacted my father on Cardassia. From what he was able to tell me, something significant is happening that it's classified by the Central Intelligence Bureau. He couldn't give me anything else, other than himself and Legate Sherem were going to be escorting a very important individual to Deep Space Nine in a few days."

[Ian Galloway]

[Bridge / USS Challenger]

Kina pondered for a good while what her father was talking about. It wasn't unheard of that the CIB would classify anything they wanted to. But what was strange was that him and another Legate were escorting a n important person to Deep Space Nine, right where they were going. Usually, that role was reserved for Guls, and now two legates were going? This was far above anything she knew that was normal.

She looked over at the captain and chose to tell him everything. It wouldn't be prudent if she kept it to herself. "œCaptain. I apologize for the disruption, however I came into possession of some information on where we are going. I"¦..I contacted my father on Cardassia. From what he was able to tell me, something significant is happening that it's classified by the Central Intelligence Bureau. He couldn't give me anything else, other than himself and Legate Sherem were going to be escorting a very important individual to Deep Space Nine in a few days."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian was irritated. The plan to piggyback slipstream capable ships with warp only ships was fraught with peril. The time constraint to make this plan work was absurd. And the reason any of this was even necessary was not clear. All he knew was the lives of thousands of Starfleet personnel were at stake and he didn't know why. So, unfortunately, when Kina spoke, his response wasn't in the friendly manner for which he was known.

"I will take that information under advisement Ensign. Assumin' we bloody survive for it ta be of any value."

It was at that moment the comm on the command chair beeped and he looked at the proposal the Discovery's engineer had suggested. Ian wasn't an engineer himself, but as a helmsman, he had a solid understanding of ship design and structure.

"Linkin' the crystal lattice structure of the ablative armor via the structural integrity field is next level engineerin'." He muttered. "This is one of those ideas that falls into the cliche of 'that's so crazy it could work'."

Ian hit the comm switch on the command chair harder than he meant to as he replied.

"Commander. This plan of your engineer is unorthodox enough ta be bloody heresy, but the combination of a physical connection of the ships reinforced with this 'polarized' ablative armor makes the a viable solution. Execute immediately as we are runnin' out of time."

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Bridge]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian listened to the Discovery's First Officer, a Romulan of all things, with amazement. As he didn't know the man, he held his initial response in check. He instead replied in a cold tone rather than with the heat that initially crossed his mind.

"Are you seriously sayin' you have a plan that will increase our odds of success and we're nae doin' that? Given even the planned method is only half-baked, I am at a loss as ta why you wouldn't want ta improve our chances. Send this Lek's proposal ta me and if'n it's one dram less mad than the current plan, we're goin' ta do that. Galloway out."

Rayek was about to reiterate and stress the operative word in his sentence that the Captain left out.  It 'MIGHT' improve their chances.  It was also as likely to ensure both ships destruction by tying them to one another,  but the impulsive and  Captain cut the comm before Rayek could speak.  The Romulan turned to look to Tekin.  Would Tekin take umbrage at having another Captain dictate how they would do the slipstream?

"I will send the proposal to you as well.  As Captain of the Discovery, the decision should be yours not his." Rayek stated as he forwarded the proposal Lek had presented, to both Captains.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian was irritated. The plan to piggyback slipstream capable ships with warp only ships was fraught with peril. The time constraint to make this plan work was absurd. And the reason any of this was even necessary was not clear. All he knew was the lives of thousands of Starfleet personnel were at stake and he didn't know why. So, unfortunately, when Kina spoke, his response wasn't in the friendly manner for which he was known.

"I will take that information under advisement Ensign. Assumin' we bloody survive for it ta be of any value."

It was at that moment the comm on the command chair beeped and he looked at the proposal the Discovery's engineer had suggested. Ian wasn't an engineer himself, but as a helmsman, he had a solid understanding of ship design and structure.

"Linkin' the crystal lattice structure of the ablative armor via the structural integrity field is next level engineerin'." He muttered. "This is one of those ideas that falls into the cliche of 'that's so crazy it could work'."

Ian hit the comm switch on the command chair harder than he meant to as he replied.

"Commander. This plan of your engineer is unorthodox enough ta be bloody heresy, but the combination of a physical connection of the ships reinforced with this 'polarized' ablative armor makes the a viable solution. Execute immediately as we are runnin' out of time."

Rayek's expression twitched at the outright order from another ship's Captain... a tag-along to the Discovery's slipstream.  The Romulan looked to Tekin to see if HIS Captain would back Galloway or override the other's Captain order. 

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Bridge]

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

Nevir had a frown on his face listening to the call with the other officers of both ships.  It wasn't bad enough they were asked to do the improbable.. but they couldn't even agree on the method of execution.  He could feel the frustration from Ian as it matched his own... not to mention the fact that his computer in his ready room was still giving a countdown.

"I think Captain Galloway has the right idea.  We need to work together, but Lek has the experience and the expertise of working with a slipspace drive.  If he feels his idea is better than the Admiral's... I frankly will lean on him more." he stated, calmly.

"Especially because we do not have that much time."

With both Captain's in agreement on going forward with Lek's plan, Rayek nodded towards Tekin and finally acknowledged Galloway's order over the comm.  "Yes sir. I will inform the Department Heads."  No doubt they would not be pleased.  "tr'Lhoell out."

He cut comm and then opened a new comm to the previous Department Heads team.    "The Captains have looked over Lieutenant Commander Lek's plan and are overriding the previous plan.  Call in all off-duty engineers to assist in the build, we have forty minutes to connect the two ships. tr'Lhoell out."

Another comm switch and this time he contacted the Challenger's XO.  "Commander Said, the Captains have opted to forego the Admirals suggested method of 'guided slipstream using the Scott's specs to hold open the slipstream, and instead we will be connecting the two together via their ablative armor - making the two ships essentially one large ship.  I need you to have your helmsman position your ship directly behind Discovery so the engineers can begin building the physical connection.   I'm sending you Lieutenant Commander Lek's proposed plan."

As he spoke, his fingers were tapping at his PADD preparing the file and sending it.  "If you have questions regarding the plan, I direct you to contact Chief Lek."

With the orders amended, Rayek's part was done.  It was up to the Engineers, Operations and Science to make this plan happen.
.
.
.
[Forty minutes later]

Rayek had long since left his seat and instead was circling the bridge, glancing at each station's console on his tour, ensuring everything was in readiness for the upcoming slipstream jump.

Admiral Gillespie had called over to the two ships shortly after Challenger began maneuvering to dock behind Discovery.   His question of 'what the 'bloody hell' they were doing?', was heard throughout the bridge, before Torra hurriedly forwarded the call to the Captains' Ready Rooms.  It was an easy deduction to make that the Admiral was not pleased with them for not following his orders.

But in the end, they were permitted to continue and now as the hour deadline was running down, the work was nearly complete.

As Rayek completed his tour ending back at his seat, he looked over to Broadshire, who still observing the Bridge.

"Lieutenant, have both ships' stations report their readiness to us."

[Nira Said]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Bridge]

With both Captain's in agreement on going forward with Lek's plan, Rayek nodded towards Tekin and finally acknowledged Galloway's order over the comm.  "Yes sir. I will inform the Department Heads."  No doubt they would not be pleased.  "tr'Lhoell out."

He cut comm and then opened a new comm to the previous Department Heads team.    "The Captains have looked over Lieutenant Commander Lek's plan and are overriding the previous plan.  Call in all off-duty engineers to assist in the build, we have forty minutes to connect the two ships. tr'Lhoell out."

Another comm switch and this time he contacted the Challenger's XO.  "Commander Said, the Captains have opted to forego the Admirals suggested method of 'guided slipstream using the Scott's specs to hold open the slipstream, and instead we will be connecting the two together via their ablative armor - making the two ships essentially one large ship.  I need you to have your helmsman position your ship directly behind Discovery so the engineers can begin building the physical connection.   I'm sending you Lieutenant Commander Lek's proposed plan."

As he spoke, his fingers were tapping at his PADD preparing the file and sending it.  "If you have questions regarding the plan, I direct you to contact Chief Lek."

With the orders amended, Rayek's part was done.  It was up to the Engineers, Operations and Science to make this plan happen.
.
.
.
[Forty minutes later]

Rayek had long since left his seat and instead was circling the bridge, glancing at each station's console on his tour, ensuring everything was in readiness for the upcoming slipstream jump.

Admiral Gillespie had called over to the two ships shortly after Challenger began maneuvering to dock behind Discovery.   His question of 'what the 'bloody hell' they were doing?', was heard throughout the bridge, before Torra hurriedly forwarded the call to the Captains' Ready Rooms.  It was an easy deduction to make that the Admiral was not pleased with them for not following his orders.

But in the end, they were permitted to continue and now as the hour deadline was running down, the work was nearly complete.

As Rayek completed his tour ending back at his seat, he looked over to Broadshire, who still observing the Bridge.

"Lieutenant, have both ships' stations report their readiness to us."

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Nira got Commander tr'Lhoell's call and heard him out. She had to admit, he had an interesting-sounding older voice that made her think she was hearing Savar well into his 70s, as Vulcans go (thirties or forties for humans). What she heard brought a sense of relief.

"That's an excellent idea," said Nira. "Lek must've come up with that...Sorry, Commander, I served on Discovery...this is certainly Lek's style, he's a genius. Very well, I'll notify my helmsman to move Challenger to position and arrange for our Engineering to get ready."

Once the comm was off, Nira looked up at Lieutenant Litt, who was positioned at the helm, and said, "Lieutenant Litt, move the Challenger to behind the Discovery. Directly behind, and then hold position."

Meanwhile, T'Kel at Tactical was at work. "Commander T'Kel to Lieutenant Mrekrerhas, I need you to assemble the current Security shift for running drills.

"Commander T'Kel to Mister Blackfeather, I need you to run an inspection of the main phaser array..."

[Lieutenant Commander Dashlish Tharn | Main Engineering | Deck Thirteen | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Tharn was seething. It was apparent that they were moving on with this madness after all. Oh. Well. May as well get it over with; it was like removing a primitive bandage: the faster it came off the less it will hurt.

"Alright, All Engineers, we have work to do to perform a miracle of sorts," she said. "I'll need some officers in EV suits to get some cables connected from the Discovery. Yes, cables, like in the days of the NX-01, before the invention of tractor beams. We have less than an hour to get ready. And that means you, too, Mister ch'Verret!"

[Admiral Hamish Gillespie | Bridge | Deck One | USS Legacy NCC-75001-B]

Forty Minutes Later...

Gillespie scowled at the Discovery and the Challenger looking like they were preparing to play leapfrog behind each other. The other ships were all ready for the jump, and especially the Intrepid and the Eagle - a necessity, given the Eagle was the smallest ship in their immediate fleet - positioned behind them...but the Challenger and the Discovery looked like they were behaving like gormless eagles hovering around each other. Finally, he ordered a call in to both ships.

"Hailing frequency open, Admiral," came the reply.

"Oi! You two! What the bloody hell arre yeh doing?!?"

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge >- Captain's Ready Room | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Nira flinched at the sound of Admiral Gillespie bellowing at them. She looked at Mister McNair and said, "Commander T'Kel, you have the bridge. Mister McNair, transfer to the Captain's Ready Room."

Inside the ready room, Nira gestured placatingly at Admiral Gillespie next to Captain Galloway, and she noticed Captain Tekin and Commander tr'Lhoell were watching, both captain and first officer connected.

"Admiral, our deepest apologies. We're arranging for Discovery's ablative armor to spread to Challenger so we go through slipstream together."

"And just how in name of God, Allah and Kristaros, The Prophets and the Elements," he said, addressing the respective deities from each of the Command Staffs' cultures of origin - double for Nira, being a Betazoid and raised an Arab, "are yeh going t' do that? Yeh look more like two twitter-pated turtle-doves ready for a literal piggyback and one's out for a snog."

"Please, Admiral, hear us out," said Nira placatingly. "Considering the danger of multiple ships going through slipstream, we had to come up with a safe solution."

She stepped a little back and allowed the Captains to explain. When they were done, Gillespie kept up his scowl, but Nira could tell he was seeing the sense of it.

"Alright, I understand yehr reasoning," he said. "But you better not be late. I've seen orbiting dwarf planets move faster than the both o'yeh. Yeh have roughly eight minutes to work your magic. Assuming I'm generous, I could let yeh with a grace period, but don't try me."

He disconnected, and Nira looked at the Captains and Commander tr'Lhoell - whom she hasn't gotten a good look at owing the distance and size of the ready room's viewscreen - and said, "Well, Captains...I have worked with Admiral Gillespie before, and I've never seen him in a bad mood like this."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 2 - Observation Lounge]

Lahr had been relaxing in the observation lounge, watching the swamp planet of Ferenginar rotate below them from a window on the right.  While from the window on the left, he watched the assembled ships begin pairing off.    He wondered what that was all about.  He could wait to find out until he was relieving Lt Jg Fisk, who she was sitting second engineer on the Bridge;  or he risk using Ruth's old Command codes to access the bridge's security cameras.   It was something he'd done a few times in the past... usually when Ruth was on board.

The Andorian knew that it was possible Ruth's code had been removed the computer, moment she left the ship and his use of the code now could get both him and her into a lot of trouble.   So, he shouldn't use it ... still, he was tempted.

Before that temptation had opportunity to wear him down, he received a departmental ping on his commbadge.  He tapped to acknowledge the call and listened in, not really expecting for it to involve him until his shift later.

[Lieutenant Commander Dashlish Tharn | Main Engineering | Deck Thirteen | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Tharn was seething. It was apparent that they were moving on with this madness after all. Oh. Well. May as well get it over with; it was like removing a primitive bandage: the faster it came off the less it will hurt.

"Alright, All Engineers, we have work to do to perform a miracle of sorts," she said. "I'll need some officers in EV suits to get some cables connected from the Discovery. Yes, cables, like in the days of the NX-01, before the invention of tractor beams. We have less than an hour to get ready. And that means you, too, Mister ch'Verret!"

EV suits?!  Cables?!  What were they trying to do?!  Lahr felt sorry for the poor souls who had been selected to do such a task.

His mouth nearly dropped when he heard Lieutenant Commander Tharn single him out.  Roozh! This had been a bad day to decide to go out drinking.

"Aye sir, am on my way."   the Andorian answered, rising from his seat and making his way out of the lounge to head for the turbolift.

Crud! This was bad.   While Lahr knew he wasn't falling down drunk, doing any sort of engineering work inebriated was not smart.

Given the extremely short deadline to get this done, Lahr didn't have time to head down to Sickbay before suiting up to get his anti-intoxicant shot.  Dammit!  Well, here's hoping one of the medical staff would be willing to do a house call.

Tapping his badge, he open a comm line.  "ch'Verret to Medical.  I've been called to duty ahead of schedule, and am in need of an anti-intoxicant shot before I take a space walk.  Any chance I can get one of you to bring it to me by Airlock on Deck 5."  That was where his EV suit was located.

[USS Challenger - Deck 5 - Airlock - 5 minutes later] (35 minutes to deadline)

Lahr was brought up to speed on the details of the plan.  He was dressed from neck to hands and feet in his EV suit.  Now he was just waiting on the medical personnel to arrive with his shot.

[USS Challenger - hull - 10 minutes later] (25 minutes to deadline)

Challenger was docked - front airlock to Discovery's rear airlock.  Unfortunately, that was insulated and didn't count as a contact point for in this instance.  Instead, every engineer on both ships were working together to weld several tie points at specific locations on the hulls of both ships on which to attach the cables that were to be strung between them.    Lahr was assigned the far, left tie-point and was working to quickly weld it securely in place so that the cable, which was being replicated by an industrial replicator on one of the two ships, could be attached.

His tie-point, which looked like a large, man-sized loop had to be maneuvered in place by a shuttle since the workbee and the sphinx maintenance pod were both already in use at one of the other 4 tie-point sites.

"ch'Verret to the Onizuka. You are directly over the spot.  You can begin to lower your cargo.  Gently....lower.. lower.... 1 meter... 0.5 meters..  "

It was at this moment, when the tie-point was less than a half meter from the hull, that Lahr called out a warning,  "Stand Clear" to the other engineering personnel assisting him, then activated the magnetic at the bottom of the tie-point.

The metal tie-point, and the shuttle that was tractoring it was suddenly drawn the half meter, until the tie-point connected to the hull and stuck onto it with a CLUNK!

"Contact!  ch'Verret to Onizuka.  You can release your cargo. We have it now."

Though the tie-point was magnetic, it was deemed safer to weld it in place since the charging of the ablative armor could potentially diminish the magnet's overall strength.

Lahr set about welding the tie point in place.

[USS Challenger - hull - 15 minutes later] (10 minutes to deadline)
Lahr's task was done, the tie-point was welded securely with no incidents having occurred. Now they just needed the cable.

"ch'Verret to Challenger...  tie-point five is welded securely in place and is ready to receive its' cable."

He hoped it was ready to go.  Time was running short.

[USS Challenger - Deck 5 Airlock -  on the 1 hr deadline]

Tie-points were all welded with cables all attached.  To Lahr, it seemed like the everything had gone smoothly.   The Andorian was one of 5 engineers on Challenger that had been asked to remain in their EV suits, ready to deploy at a moment's notice back out onto the hull, if something were needed to be fixed. 

[Dem Broadshire]

[Bridge | USS Discovery (sent transmission)]

Under the precise orders of the first officer, Dem Broadshire (Second officer in training) sent a simple an concise message to any on duty engineer on the challenger who could provide the most information.

Under the advisement of USS Discovery executive staff, we are inquiring an estimated time of completion for the modifications.

Dem sat back in his chair after completing his task, grinning at the stoic, commanding, but approachable tone he used during the message.

[Ian Galloway]

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Nira got Commander tr'Lhoell's call and heard him out. She had to admit, he had an interesting-sounding older voice that made her think she was hearing Savar well into his 70s, as Vulcans go (thirties or forties for humans). What she heard brought a sense of relief.

"That's an excellent idea," said Nira. "Lek must've come up with that...Sorry, Commander, I served on Discovery...this is certainly Lek's style, he's a genius. Very well, I'll notify my helmsman to move Challenger to position and arrange for our Engineering to get ready."

Once the comm was off, Nira looked up at Lieutenant Litt, who was positioned at the helm, and said, "Lieutenant Litt, move the Challenger to behind the Discovery. Directly behind, and then hold position."

Meanwhile, T'Kel at Tactical was at work. "Commander T'Kel to Lieutenant Mrekrerhas, I need you to assemble the current Security shift for running drills.

"Commander T'Kel to Mister Blackfeather, I need you to run an inspection of the main phaser array..."

[Lieutenant Commander Dashlish Tharn | Main Engineering | Deck Thirteen | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Tharn was seething. It was apparent that they were moving on with this madness after all. Oh. Well. May as well get it over with; it was like removing a primitive bandage: the faster it came off the less it will hurt.

"Alright, All Engineers, we have work to do to perform a miracle of sorts," she said. "I'll need some officers in EV suits to get some cables connected from the Discovery. Yes, cables, like in the days of the NX-01, before the invention of tractor beams. We have less than an hour to get ready. And that means you, too, Mister ch'Verret!"

[Admiral Hamish Gillespie | Bridge | Deck One | USS Legacy NCC-75001-B]

Forty Minutes Later...

Gillespie scowled at the Discovery and the Challenger looking like they were preparing to play leapfrog behind each other. The other ships were all ready for the jump, and especially the Intrepid and the Eagle - a necessity, given the Eagle was the smallest ship in their immediate fleet - positioned behind them...but the Challenger and the Discovery looked like they were behaving like gormless eagles hovering around each other. Finally, he ordered a call in to both ships.

"Hailing frequency open, Admiral," came the reply.

"Oi! You two! What the bloody hell arre yeh doing?!?"

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge >- Captain's Ready Room | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Nira flinched at the sound of Admiral Gillespie bellowing at them. She looked at Mister McNair and said, "Commander T'Kel, you have the bridge. Mister McNair, transfer to the Captain's Ready Room."

Inside the ready room, Nira gestured placatingly at Admiral Gillespie next to Captain Galloway, and she noticed Captain Tekin and Commander tr'Lhoell were watching, both captain and first officer connected.

"Admiral, our deepest apologies. We're arranging for Discovery's ablative armor to spread to Challenger so we go through slipstream together."

"And just how in name of God, Allah and Kristaros, The Prophets and the Elements," he said, addressing the respective deities from each of the Command Staffs' cultures of origin - double for Nira, being a Betazoid and raised an Arab, "are yeh going t' do that? Yeh look more like two twitter-pated turtle-doves ready for a literal piggyback and one's out for a snog."

"Please, Admiral, hear us out," said Nira placatingly. "Considering the danger of multiple ships going through slipstream, we had to come up with a safe solution."

She stepped a little back and allowed the Captains to explain. When they were done, Gillespie kept up his scowl, but Nira could tell he was seeing the sense of it.

"Alright, I understand yehr reasoning," he said. "But you better not be late. I've seen orbiting dwarf planets move faster than the both o'yeh. Yeh have roughly eight minutes to work your magic. Assuming I'm generous, I could let yeh with a grace period, but don't try me."

He disconnected, and Nira looked at the Captains and Commander tr'Lhoell - whom she hasn't gotten a good look at owing the distance and size of the ready room's viewscreen - and said, "Well, Captains...I have worked with Admiral Gillespie before, and I've never seen him in a bad mood like this."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian winced as Gillespie berated them, but was relieved he hadn't countermanded his order. In response to Nira's comment, he replied.

"I think he let us continue because there isn't time ta disconnect and reconfigure ta the Scott protocols. If'n this works the way it's supposed ta, then all will be forgiven as a crazy scheme that works isn't crazy anymore."

Ian could hear when Discovery's engineer reported to Tekin that they were ready, he had to admit, he was relieved. The 'Lek Maneuver' was either going to be a success or a 'don't let this happen to you' moment in Starfleet history. In either case, as the wagon, the Challenger was completely dependent on the Discovery as the horse from this moment on.

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Armory | Deck 9 | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Nira got Commander tr'Lhoell's call and heard him out. She had to admit, he had an interesting-sounding older voice that made her think she was hearing Savar well into his 70s, as Vulcans go (thirties or forties for humans). What she heard brought a sense of relief.

"That's an excellent idea," said Nira. "Lek must've come up with that...Sorry, Commander, I served on Discovery...this is certainly Lek's style, he's a genius. Very well, I'll notify my helmsman to move Challenger to position and arrange for our Engineering to get ready."

Once the comm was off, Nira looked up at Lieutenant Litt, who was positioned at the helm, and said, "Lieutenant Litt, move the Challenger to behind the Discovery. Directly behind, and then hold position."

Meanwhile, T'Kel at Tactical was at work. "Commander T'Kel to Lieutenant Mrekrerhas, I need you to assemble the current Security shift for running drills.

"Commander T'Kel to Mister Blackfeather, I need you to run an inspection of the main phaser array..."

Zhukdra'shar heeded the call of T'Kel to head over to assemble the current Security shift. Gladly, he answered, touching on his comm-badge,
"Acknowledged. I shalt head prepare the Security personnel."

"All Security personnel within their current shift, Lieutenant Junior Grade Mrekrerhas speaking. Would you kindly head over to the Armory in preparation for some drills to begin?"
He indeed was not too tardy to arrive to the Armory, after his call, making sure to make a headcount before he explained what would happen once more, repeating himself. He reassured everyone that they needed to do the best job they could with the workout that they were about to undertake, as it was most likely vital if such an emergency happened in a few hours. He made sure to tell them that he had full confidence on their abilities, however, and that there will be most likely nothing to worry about if all went well.

With this, he waited for Lieutenant Commander T'Kel's confirmation for the drills to begin.

[Buck McNair]

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge >- Captain's Ready Room | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Nira flinched at the sound of Admiral Gillespie bellowing at them. She looked at Mister McNair and said, "Commander T'Kel, you have the bridge. Mister McNair, transfer to the Captain's Ready Room."

Inside the ready room, Nira gestured placatingly at Admiral Gillespie next to Captain Galloway, and she noticed Captain Tekin and Commander tr'Lhoell were watching, both captain and first officer connected.

"Admiral, our deepest apologies. We're arranging for Discovery's ablative armor to spread to Challenger so we go through slipstream together."

"And just how in name of God, Allah and Kristaros, The Prophets and the Elements," he said, addressing the respective deities from each of the Command Staffs' cultures of origin - double for Nira, being a Betazoid and raised an Arab, "are yeh going t' do that? Yeh look more like two twitter-pated turtle-doves ready for a literal piggyback and one's out for a snog."

"Please, Admiral, hear us out," said Nira placatingly. "Considering the danger of multiple ships going through slipstream, we had to come up with a safe solution."

She stepped a little back and allowed the Captains to explain. When they were done, Gillespie kept up his scowl, but Nira could tell he was seeing the sense of it.

"Alright, I understand yehr reasoning," he said. "But you better not be late. I've seen orbiting dwarf planets move faster than the both o'yeh. Yeh have roughly eight minutes to work your magic. Assuming I'm generous, I could let yeh with a grace period, but don't try me."

He disconnected, and Nira looked at the Captains and Commander tr'Lhoell - whom she hasn't gotten a good look at owing the distance and size of the ready room's viewscreen - and said, "Well, Captains...I have worked with Admiral Gillespie before, and I've never seen him in a bad mood like this."

[Bridge > Captain's Ready Room | USS Challenger]

Buck had glanced up at his name being called out by Commander Said, looking back towards Commander Catalan in wonder what he had been summoned for. Once inside, he felt the pang of himself feeling out of place among the high ranked pips on their uniforms as he found himself faced with Admiral Gillespie and the other Captains all present through screens. Buck adjusted his position, his back bracing a little as he stood at parade rest, blue eyes glancing between them all as he listened to the Admiral berate the Captains on their idea to spread out the ablative armor between the two ships.

Eight minutes?

Surely that was not possible.

Maybe it was.

Engineering was not his department but he certainly could relay the message to them whenever he had been dismissed. He watched as the screen went blank for the Admiral and turned to look at the other captains. He had to hold his tongue before allowing another moment to pass by. "Excuse me, cap'ns. Am I needed to relay the eight minutes to engineering?"

[Tekin Nevir]

A hail from the Discovery... on screen to show the bridge of the Prometheus class and Captain Nevir in the big chair...

"Captain Galloway, Discovery is standing by for transwarp.  Just waiting on you."

[Kina Nural]

[Sickbay / USS Challenger]

Kina returned to sickbay not long after the captain dismissed her. She could clearly tell he was upset, but couldn't pinpoint the exact cause of it. He might be worried about the ship, this journey, or both. Kina was a doctor, not a scientist or engineer. She didn't know or fully understand the complexity of what was happening right now. She knew that Cardassia did not have this transwarp technology, but not all the ships in Starfleet had it either.

Perhaps that was why the captain was upset  Something of this magnitude had never been done before. Too many things could go wrong and the mission was critical. She hoped to see her father again, and if this worked, she would indeed. But right now, she was a doctor, and medical welfare of her crew was her top priority. She got together a trauma kit with a medical tricorder and kept it close by. If any kind of medical emergency came up because of this, she would be ready for it.

[Danjar-Torra Addams]

NPC Lieutenant Danjar-Torra Addams
[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Bridge] (40 minutes to deadline)

The Grazerite had passively listened to the Department Chief as they worked out their plan to physically connect the two ships.   Part of that connection was not just the ablative hull, but also their computer cores.  This required running optic cables between the two cores and syncing them.  Whereas the hull connection was the purview of the Engineering department, the computer cores was the responsibility of Ops.  And Lt Banan assigned Torra the task of getting done on Discovery's side.

First, she requisitioned the industrial replication of optic cable long enough to reach from the Discovery's aft most directline dataport to Challenger's fore most directline dataport into order to connect the two cores. A directline dataport was a exact that a direct connection to the computer core allowing for upgrades to added while docked at a Starbase.  Fortunately, the Discovery's unique three hull design meant that she had a directline access not just at her front airlock (which was typical) but also at her mid and aft airlocks.  This meant that the cable could be easily laid out along the docking tunnel between the two ships.

She sent message to the Challenger's Ops Chief informing Lt Commander Catalan of her plan on to how to connect the cores.  She received back the barest of acknowledgements.

Once receiving word, twenty minutes later, that her cable was nearly ready (there was a bit of a wait due to the fact that the industrial replicators were being used to replicate the tie-points and cables connecting the two ships), Torra handed the Ops console over to a junior officer as she left the Bridge to go pick up the cable.  After that all she had to do was connect the cable to the two directline dataports and then sync the two cores.

With Challenger actually docked to the Discovery's emergency aft airlock, there was no need for Torra to get into her uniquely designed EV suit.  No, Torra was able to simply connect the cables to the dataport in the airlock and then make her way through the pressurized docking tunnel over to the USS Challenger and connect it to their airlock's directline dataport.  Simple.  Easy.  Done.

Torra was back at her console 10 minutes later... with 10 minutes to the deadline.   She started the sync, but for some reason was running into authorization problems.  It was like Challenger hadn't authorized her to do the sync.

She called over to Challengers' Ops department.

"Lt Addams to Challenger Operations.   Requesting check and fix on my clearance to run the sync between our two cores.  Lt Commander Catalan had approved this earlier, yet I am unable to complete the sync due to clearance issues.."

Getting clearance to do the core sync was relatively easy but with the deadline looming under 10 minutes away, Torra felt a sense of urgency.

[1 hr deadline]
Torra sat attentively at her Ops console.  The sync had been done... not so much by her but by the Operations personnel on Challenger... but that was fine, as long as it got done.  Now the entire bridge of the Discovery was waiting on pins and needles for Challenger to state they were good to go.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Saucer Hull] (20 minutes to deadline)

With that Gohun was assigned to team welding. He had never used the welding suit before he adjusted really fast.  After putting on the space suit Gohun remembered the time that he made everyone angry and he had to walk on the hull hitting it with a hammer. Now he is welding cables to the ship. Was he in trouble again?

While the mixed engineering crews worked on their welds there was time and opportunity to socialize a little, which the Andorian took advantage of.  He was partnered with an ensign from Discovery.  The name on the man's EV suit read Gohun.

Lahr tried to engage the human looking officer in conversation, but the guy didn't say much.  The Andorian on the other hand was a font of verbosity.

"So there I was surrounded by the quadrants most fiercest bounty-hunters...all gathered in anticipation of an illegally run weapons auction... hosted by none-other than yours truly.   I was undercover.  But man was it ever a thrill!  You ever do anything reckless and foolhardy?"

[10 minutes to deadline]

His call to the bridge was answered with orders for the Discovery crew to return to their ship and Challenger crew to remain to attach the cable.

"Aye sir."

The Andorian looked over to Gohun.   "Was nice chattin' with you.  We should get a drink sometime.  Once this high priority mission biz is done."  He gave the man a wave sending him on his way before turning his attention to the incoming comms regarding the cable.

[5 minutes to deadline]

With that the order to return to ship came in. Gohun was curious about the probability of success. With that he entered the ship and noticed that he was on the Challenger now.

It didn't take long to attach the cable and make his way back to the Deck 5 airlock he exited out of initially.  Surprisingly he found Gohun there as well.

"Dude, wrong ship!"

He activated his suit's comm "ch'Verret to Transporter Room One we have a security breach"   The Andorian was laughing as he called this out.  It was funny... but serious at the same time.

Grelek, the Vulcan Ops petty officer who was manning the transporter, answered blandly.  "That is the jurisdiction of Security, not Operations.  Why call the Transporter Room?"

Being the man's former bunkmate, Lahr could picture the Vulcan's neutral expression, shifting slightly to raise an eyebrow in annoyance and curiosity.  It made Lahr want to chuckle all the more.

"We have a Discovery stowaway.  An ensign Gohun.  Any chance you can beam him back to his ship.  There ain't time enough for him to walk back before we have to make our jump."

There was momentary pause then Grelek's voice spoke again  "Have him stand by"¦  Energizing now."

[Ian Galloway]

A hail from the Discovery... on screen to show the bridge of the Prometheus class and Captain Nevir in the big chair...

"Captain Galloway, Discovery is standing by for transwarp.  Just waiting on you."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian replied immediately to the call from Captain Tekin.

"Given you're the engine and we're just the bloody caboose in this affair, we're ready for the ride whenever you are Captain."