S:5 E:14 - Conflict of Interest

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 10 - Phaser Range]

Kyan tapped his own com badge. Heya Chief. That thing's been busted fer a whole week so it has. The targets dinnae register when ye hit em, or they disappear before they're meant to. I dinnae ken what's wrong with it. Lemme ken if ye cannae get it going again, because if ye cannae, then me an' Chief Blackfeather will  hafta take that sorry lot of newbies down there into the holodeck tae get em trained up.

After hearing the Lieutenant Commander's explanation, Lahr watched the targets more closely at the far end of the range.  Heh, the Only was right.  Lahr scratched his head wondering how he'd missed seeing that.

"A field trip to the holodeck won't be needed.  I see the issue now.  I'll get the targets working proper.  No worries about that.  Sorry to bother. ch'Verret out."

He then turned back to the assembled security personnel.  "Weapons on safety and holstered, please.  The phaser range is now closed.    Those on away-team standby are still welcome to stage here but weapons practice is put on hold until after I'm done my repairs."

There were a few unhappy grumbles but one by one the security personnel secured and holstered their assigned weapons.  Only once all phasers were secured, did Lahr make his way down to the target end of the range.   He began his scan of the equipment, looking for where the problem was.

Unfortunately, before he could do so.  The ship's yellow alert klaxon sounded.  Lahr put away his scanner and then hurried his way back to the entrance.  He and DCT1 were assigned to their usual staging area on Deck Two, the Observation Lounge.

[Abas Th'vyrrol]

[Sickbay - USS Challenger] - [Dr. Jessica Fellows]

Jess was just getting comfortable in her own skin again after the last mission and being in her own sickbay went a long way towards feeling normal again. Having the long quiet trip to the Romulan border had reinforced the idea of normality. So when the new crewman entered, Jess met him with her best radiant megawatt smile.

"Welcome to Challenger Crewman. I'm Dr. Fellows the CMO. We're currently in a lull..."

It was at that moment the yellow alert sounded.

"Well, guess the lull is over. Report to Chief T'ealc our charge nurse for further instructions. Glad to have you on the team Crewman."

[Sickbay]

"Doctor," he said, nodding slightly in greeting before receiving his orders. It seemed the crew was in the eternal struggle of "hurry up and wait", unsure of what was to come but on edge for the possibilities. Whatever it was, Abas was sure that the crew would be ready. For his part, he knew he'd be ready. You didn't spend time in the Imperial Guard without being attentive and ready at any given time. It was always interesting to see how various crews handled situations, and how each person reacted according to their nature to stress. It reminded him of his time in the Guard, a very different environment to Starfleet. While the Guard had a history that predated Starfleet, the Federation, or even the Coalition of Planets, the Guard had evolved. No longer the primary fighting force of Andoria, it served more these days as the planetary guard and to keep traditions and culture of their people alive. That didn't mean it was any less of the warrior culture of old, a martial philosophy that Abas found difficult to integrate into. He'd had to adjust and fight metaphorically to earn respect, leveraging his skills as a healer where he couldn't earn through fighting prowess.

But, those issues were far from here. For now, he had other worries to focus on. Breaking away from the CMO and seeking out the indicated Chief wasn't too difficult. Isolating the Vulcans around was simple enough, and then simply finding the one who carried themselves like they were in charge. From there he received his orders, assigned a workstation, and told to stand by for further orders until the nature of the threat was known. So, what better to do than to study up on the potential people who found themselves the unlucky recipient of an additional hole in them. "Computer," he said softly, speaking to the PADD by his new working area, "Display medical records of the crew, starting with those with any atypical medical requirements"

It would take him quite a while to get through all 550 crew onboard the ship, but at least for now, it was a good a place as any to start.

[Neva Cordon]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 10 - Phaser Range]

After hearing the Lieutenant Commander's explanation, Lahr watched the targets more closely at the far end of the range.  Heh, the Only was right.  Lahr scratched his head wondering how he'd missed seeing that.

"A field trip to the holodeck won't be needed.  I see the issue now.  I'll get the targets working proper.  No worries about that.  Sorry to bother. ch'Verret out."

He then turned back to the assembled security personnel.  "Weapons on safety and holstered, please.  The phaser range is now closed.    Those on away-team standby are still welcome to stage here but weapons practice is put on hold until after I'm done my repairs."

There were a few unhappy grumbles but one by one the security personnel secured and holstered their assigned weapons.  Only once all phasers were secured, did Lahr make his way down to the target end of the range.   He began his scan of the equipment, looking for where the problem was.

Unfortunately, before he could do so.  The ship's yellow alert klaxon sounded.  Lahr put away his scanner and then hurried his way back to the entrance.  He and DCT1 were assigned to their usual staging area on Deck Two, the Observation Lounge.

[USS-Challenger-A Hallway]
Neva was just heading to a turbolift when the klaxons sounded. She jumped in surprise, putting a hand to her heart and leaning against a nearby wall to calm herself. When the Chief gave her new orders, Neva vaulted away from the wall and resumed her course to the turbolift. "Aye, Sir! On my way!.
Once on her way in the turbolift, the realization of what the Chief had ordered sank in. 'I'm LEADING the team? Again?!? It felt weird, considering she'd thought Lahr was in charge of his team already. Orders were orders, though. She technically outranked him, soo...

[USS Challenger-A Observation Lounge]

As the doors slid open, Neva looked around for "her" crew. Seeing them loosely gathered, she jogged over and smirked. "Hey all. Chief wants me to Mother Hen you again. You think you're up for it?"

[Ian Galloway]

[ USS Challenger - Bridge - Science One ]

Jettis inwardly groaned as the mood of the bridge suddenly and swiftly changed with Catalan's announcement. Things always went wrong precisely on time.

"Aye, sir." Quickly he did as asked, switching over to active scans to look for... well, he still wasn't precisely sure what he was looking for, aside from a ship. So, he settled with simply looking for everything. Anything that could be a factor or danger, that is. What kind of weapons they were looking at, if there was any significant photon or plasma presence that could give them an idea what they were up against. The fact the communication was disrupted might prove to be clue, he hoped. It would certainly make his job significantly easier.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

When Jettis cranked the ship's sensors up to their maximum power, the amount of data coming in would have been overwhelming if not for being filtered to find only anomalies and artificial objects. Once of the first things he discovered was that all the noise that was making any scans complicated was, in fact, deliberate jamming.

Knowing the interference was not a natural phenomenon allowed Jettis to refine the scans enough to pick one, then a second ship through all the jamming. The first ship, clearly fleeing from the second was small, just 35 x 12 x 8 meters and showing signs of significant damage with failing hull integrity. The second ship was...was... Klingon! An older bird of prey. Not a large ship, but certainly more than a match for the fleeing ship.

It was at that time that CatalÁ¡n at Ops spoke up again.

"Another transmission, not the Burke... audio only."

"œThis.... Satra. We are .... attack ...... My ..... severely injured and primary systems are ..... Request immediate ..... Repeating..."

"The signal is less than a quarter lightyear from us and moving perpendicular port to starboard from our current course."

Ian took in this information and began building a mental image of the locations of the ships in the 3D of space.

"Mister Shepard. Make your headin' 49 mark 122 take us ta full emergency speed of warp 9.88 we can cut the corner on them. Hopefully before the smaller ship is destroyed. Mister MacKenzie, red alert, bring the photons ta ready. Ops, can you identify this Satra?"

"Checking registry of ships...yes Satra. Listed as Jyn Faisha Sir."

"Well, looks like we're ta be meetin' the Jyn a wee bit sooner than planned."

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

[Sickbay]

"Doctor," he said, nodding slightly in greeting before receiving his orders. It seemed the crew was in the eternal struggle of "hurry up and wait", unsure of what was to come but on edge for the possibilities. Whatever it was, Abas was sure that the crew would be ready. For his part, he knew he'd be ready. You didn't spend time in the Imperial Guard without being attentive and ready at any given time. It was always interesting to see how various crews handled situations, and how each person reacted according to their nature to stress. It reminded him of his time in the Guard, a very different environment to Starfleet. While the Guard had a history that predated Starfleet, the Federation, or even the Coalition of Planets, the Guard had evolved. No longer the primary fighting force of Andoria, it served more these days as the planetary guard and to keep traditions and culture of their people alive. That didn't mean it was any less of the warrior culture of old, a martial philosophy that Abas found difficult to integrate into. He'd had to adjust and fight metaphorically to earn respect, leveraging his skills as a healer where he couldn't earn through fighting prowess.

But, those issues were far from here. For now, he had other worries to focus on. Breaking away from the CMO and seeking out the indicated Chief wasn't too difficult. Isolating the Vulcans around was simple enough, and then simply finding the one who carried themselves like they were in charge. From there he received his orders, assigned a workstation, and told to stand by for further orders until the nature of the threat was known. So, what better to do than to study up on the potential people who found themselves the unlucky recipient of an additional hole in them. "Computer," he said softly, speaking to the PADD by his new working area, "Display medical records of the crew, starting with those with any atypical medical requirements"

It would take him quite a while to get through all 550 crew onboard the ship, but at least for now, it was a good a place as any to start.

[Sickbay - USS Challenger] - [Dr. Jessica Fellows]

The sickbay was ready to receive casualties as it could be. The team knew there jobs and fortunately, had too much experience recently to need much direction. All they could do was wait.

Jess received an update from the bridge and began to issue instructions.

"Okay, casualties reported on a small ship under attack by Klingons. I'm going to have to have an away team ready. Ensign Rashar, Petty Officer Heesou, and Crewman Th'vyrrol. Prep emergency treatment and triage gear."

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

[USS-Challenger-A Hallway]
Neva was just heading to a turbolift when the klaxons sounded. She jumped in surprise, putting a hand to her heart and leaning against a nearby wall to calm herself. When the Chief gave her new orders, Neva vaulted away from the wall and resumed her course to the turbolift. "Aye, Sir! On my way!.
Once on her way in the turbolift, the realization of what the Chief had ordered sank in. 'I'm LEADING the team? Again?!? It felt weird, considering she'd thought Lahr was in charge of his team already. Orders were orders, though. She technically outranked him, soo...

[USS Challenger-A Observation Lounge]

As the doors slid open, Neva looked around for "her" crew. Seeing them loosely gathered, she jogged over and smirked. "Hey all. Chief wants me to Mother Hen you again. You think you're up for it?"

[Aft Crew Lounge -  USS Challenger]

Neva arrived to find the five members of Damage Control Team Six waiting for her with tool boxes in hand. PO1 Skor lorin Vovraarra, a Tellerite; PO3 T'roth, a Vulcan; Crewman Hylax, a Benzite, Crewman Phillip Nuyen, a Human; and Crewman Sheila Danvers also a Human.

"I think we should draw weapons Ensign."

Skor said in a blunt tone.

"If Klingons are involved, I don't want to be unarmed when we face them."

[Abas Th'vyrrol]

[Sickbay - USS Challenger] - [Dr. Jessica Fellows]

The sickbay was ready to receive casualties as it could be. The team knew there jobs and fortunately, had too much experience recently to need much direction. All they could do was wait.

Jess received an update from the bridge and began to issue instructions.

"Okay, casualties reported on a small ship under attack by Klingons. I'm going to have to have an away team ready. Ensign Rashar, Petty Officer Heesou, and Crewman Th'vyrrol. Prep emergency treatment and triage gear."

[Sickbay]

Abas nodded as the orders were disseminated. He didn't particularly like Klingons - but he knew to respect them. The warrior ethos and culture was one he'd become all too familiar with during the last years, in some ways by other Andorians. Even during the Klingon-Federation wars of years ago, there were recorded instances of Andorians holding their own... at least for a little while. Abas had no such desire. He was a pacifist - he'd joined Starfleet to save life, not take it. Regardless of the circumstances in which he found himself, though, he had a duty and he would perform it. Peace did not mean Pacivity, after all.

He grabbed his medical kit, remembering the Klingon's particular love for close-quarters combat. They much preferred their knives and Bat'leths in close combat, so in case of boarding actions he could expect lots of severe lacerations, broken bones, blunt force trauma, and fewer disruptor blasts. Not that a full hit from a charged disruptor left much behind to heal, anyways.

The bag landed on the bio-bed with a thud, as he filled the remaining empty space with packing bandages and plasma hyposprays. One could never be too ready, after all. When he was completed, and the bag as full as he could make it, he turned around, facing in the general direction of the door. "Ready, sir," he said, preparing to follow the Ensign in charge to wherever it was they were going.

[Nira Said]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

When Jettis cranked the ship's sensors up to their maximum power, the amount of data coming in would have been overwhelming if not for being filtered to find only anomalies and artificial objects. Once of the first things he discovered was that all the noise that was making any scans complicated was, in fact, deliberate jamming.

Knowing the interference was not a natural phenomenon allowed Jettis to refine the scans enough to pick one, then a second ship through all the jamming. The first ship, clearly fleeing from the second was small, just 35 x 12 x 8 meters and showing signs of significant damage with failing hull integrity. The second ship was...was... Klingon! An older bird of prey. Not a large ship, but certainly more than a match for the fleeing ship.

It was at that time that CatalÁ¡n at Ops spoke up again.

"Another transmission, not the Burke... audio only."

"œThis.... Satra. We are .... attack ...... My ..... severely injured and primary systems are ..... Request immediate ..... Repeating..."

"The signal is less than a quarter lightyear from us and moving perpendicular port to starboard from our current course."

Ian took in this information and began building a mental image of the locations of the ships in the 3D of space.

"Mister Shepard. Make your headin' 49 mark 122 take us ta full emergency speed of warp 9.88 we can cut the corner on them. Hopefully before the smaller ship is destroyed. Mister MacKenzie, red alert, bring the photons ta ready. Ops, can you identify this Satra?"

"Checking registry of ships...yes Satra. Listed as Jyn Faisha Sir."

"Well, looks like we're ta be meetin' the Jyn a wee bit sooner than planned."

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

Nira pretty much whirled around at hearing the news from Commander Catalan. Klingons?!? She had certainly hoped that it wasn't crewed by the friends she had made when she went on her exchange program. Well. Unless it was a ship from House I'Prgho, whether or not the Battlemasters Kergh or Shas were involved in that crew. She remembered that House I'Prgho was more motivated by greed than honor. She never forgot that Kergh and Shas were very much opposed to her as much as with most of the rest of her crew, who were all a part of a feuding house against them, House Korath.

"Can you identify who the Klingons are?" Nira asked. "I served on an exchange program with Klingons for a bit, I would like to know who they are."

She raised an eyebrow with interest at the identification of the ship being Jyn. "Agreed, Captain," she said. "Let's save the 'Bedouins' and see what the Klingons have against them."

[Jettis Jyur]

[ USS Challenger - Bridge - Science One ]

What an interesting turn of events, Jettis mused to himself. They were being sent out to investigate the Jyn's possible involvement in pirating and ship attacks. But the new development of the Klingons brought up many interesting questions. Unfortunately, most of them would remain unanswered if they couldn't get to the ships fast enough. "I was joking about the secret cloaking technology bit." He grumbled to nobody in particular.

Jettis assumed that the Klingons were also aware of their presence, and hasty approach. Even through all of the distortion, it was a bit harder to hide a Cruiser, and the runabout had small Jyn ship had managed to get a distress signal off.  That meant whatever their goal was, they would either finish it quickly, or retreat. His first order of business, trying to bypass the jamming signal to get some clearer scans, and possibly even reestablish communication with the ships. Their focus was now on the small shuttle, but the Burke's transmission had also been severely obstructed - meaning either there were two separate attacks, or it was some sort of wide-range field set up. The latter was an incredibly concerning possibility, knowing now that they were dealing with Klingons.

His second order of business though, only slightly less pressing would be to search for any signs of cloaked ships. Unfortunately he needed to recalibrate his sensors to do so and would not be able to unless they were essentially on top of them already. Overall an unfortunate situation, but the safety of the Satra came first.

[Neva Cordon]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

When Jettis cranked the ship's sensors up to their maximum power, the amount of data coming in would have been overwhelming if not for being filtered to find only anomalies and artificial objects. Once of the first things he discovered was that all the noise that was making any scans complicated was, in fact, deliberate jamming.

Knowing the interference was not a natural phenomenon allowed Jettis to refine the scans enough to pick one, then a second ship through all the jamming. The first ship, clearly fleeing from the second was small, just 35 x 12 x 8 meters and showing signs of significant damage with failing hull integrity. The second ship was...was... Klingon! An older bird of prey. Not a large ship, but certainly more than a match for the fleeing ship.

It was at that time that CatalÁ¡n at Ops spoke up again.

"Another transmission, not the Burke... audio only."

"œThis.... Satra. We are .... attack ...... My ..... severely injured and primary systems are ..... Request immediate ..... Repeating..."

"The signal is less than a quarter lightyear from us and moving perpendicular port to starboard from our current course."

Ian took in this information and began building a mental image of the locations of the ships in the 3D of space.

"Mister Shepard. Make your headin' 49 mark 122 take us ta full emergency speed of warp 9.88 we can cut the corner on them. Hopefully before the smaller ship is destroyed. Mister MacKenzie, red alert, bring the photons ta ready. Ops, can you identify this Satra?"

"Checking registry of ships...yes Satra. Listed as Jyn Faisha Sir."

"Well, looks like we're ta be meetin' the Jyn a wee bit sooner than planned."

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

[Sickbay - USS Challenger] - [Dr. Jessica Fellows]

The sickbay was ready to receive casualties as it could be. The team knew there jobs and fortunately, had too much experience recently to need much direction. All they could do was wait.

Jess received an update from the bridge and began to issue instructions.

"Okay, casualties reported on a small ship under attack by Klingons. I'm going to have to have an away team ready. Ensign Rashar, Petty Officer Heesou, and Crewman Th'vyrrol. Prep emergency treatment and triage gear."

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

[Aft Crew Lounge -  USS Challenger]

Neva arrived to find the five members of Damage Control Team Six waiting for her with tool boxes in hand. PO1 Skor lorin Vovraarra, a Tellerite; PO3 T'roth, a Vulcan; Crewman Hylax, a Benzite, Crewman Phillip Nuyen, a Human; and Crewman Sheila Danvers also a Human.

"I think we should draw weapons Ensign."

Skor said in a blunt tone.

"If Klingons are involved, I don't want to be unarmed when we face them."

Neva nodded and bit her bottom lip. "Right, thanks." Settling her kit strap more firmly on her shoulder, she reached for her phaser. Silently, she prayed to The Gods that she wouldn't have to use it.
She looked at each of the assembled crewmen, trying to put their faces to memory. Giving a small sigh, she looked at them and asked, "OK. So I know what task to put you on, do any of you have any specializations?" She smirked a little at them. "You guys can't tell me you don't have a certain part of this job that you like to tinker more with, can you?"

[Aarwendil Cheizex]

[USS Challenger-A / Deck 2/ Corridor outside the Observation Lounge]

After the brief exchange in the Engineering, Aarwendil continued with his work. The Ensign had continued reviewing his files and picked a turbo lift to Deck 2. This way he would be close to the bridge and could give help if something happened. For now, the Ensign would only finish what he was doing.

[Cole Shepard]

"Mister Shepard. Make your headin' 49 mark 122 take us ta full emergency speed of warp 9.88 we can cut the corner on them. Hopefully before the smaller ship is destroyed. Mister MacKenzie, red alert, bring the photons ta ready. Ops, can you identify this Satra?"

Cole made the adjustments and felt the ship's trajectory change.

Klingons. he thought as he watched the intercept course. There went the good mood he had been in as of late.

[Ian Galloway]

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

Nira pretty much whirled around at hearing the news from Commander Catalan. Klingons?!? She had certainly hoped that it wasn't crewed by the friends she had made when she went on her exchange program. Well. Unless it was a ship from House I'Prgho, whether or not the Battlemasters Kergh or Shas were involved in that crew. She remembered that House I'Prgho was more motivated by greed than honor. She never forgot that Kergh and Shas were very much opposed to her as much as with most of the rest of her crew, who were all a part of a feuding house against them, House Korath.

"Can you identify who the Klingons are?" Nira asked. "I served on an exchange program with Klingons for a bit, I would like to know who they are."

She raised an eyebrow with interest at the identification of the ship being Jyn. "Agreed, Captain," she said. "Let's save the 'Bedouins' and see what the Klingons have against them."

[ USS Challenger - Bridge - Science One ]

What an interesting turn of events, Jettis mused to himself. They were being sent out to investigate the Jyn's possible involvement in pirating and ship attacks. But the new development of the Klingons brought up many interesting questions. Unfortunately, most of them would remain unanswered if they couldn't get to the ships fast enough. "I was joking about the secret cloaking technology bit." He grumbled to nobody in particular.

Jettis assumed that the Klingons were also aware of their presence, and hasty approach. Even through all of the distortion, it was a bit harder to hide a Cruiser, and the runabout had small Jyn ship had managed to get a distress signal off.  That meant whatever their goal was, they would either finish it quickly, or retreat. His first order of business, trying to bypass the jamming signal to get some clearer scans, and possibly even reestablish communication with the ships. Their focus was now on the small shuttle, but the Burke's transmission had also been severely obstructed - meaning either there were two separate attacks, or it was some sort of wide-range field set up. The latter was an incredibly concerning possibility, knowing now that they were dealing with Klingons.

His second order of business though, only slightly less pressing would be to search for any signs of cloaked ships. Unfortunately he needed to recalibrate his sensors to do so and would not be able to unless they were essentially on top of them already. Overall an unfortunate situation, but the safety of the Satra came first.

Cole made the adjustments and felt the ship's trajectory change.

Klingons. he thought as he watched the intercept course. There went the good mood he had been in as of late.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

There was a slight vibration in the deckplates as the Challenger reached her maximum speed. The minutes slowly ticked down as the distance to intercept also slowly decreased. Ian always hated this part of any mission. The wait when there was nothing to do but bank on the preparations you'd made and hoped you guessed right.

Commander CatalÁ¡n was, once again, the person who broke the silence.

"Captain, I've punched through the jamming! I've established communications with the Jyn ship."

"On screen."

"Audio only Sir."

"Then let's hear it."

"-llenger, this is the Jyn Faisha cour.... Satra. We are ....... attack by pirates. ), our ship is damaged, and..... co-pilot is severely injured and needs immediate .......attention. I'm am request Feder- asylum and assistance."

As soon as Ian heard the word asylum he knew things had just gotten a lot more complicated. Especially as the ships reached weapons range. And at that point CatalÁ¡n added.

"The Klingons are hailing us."

Ian grimaced and repeated.

"On screen."

"I am Kharn, commanding the Bird of Prey R'Qla. What is the meaning of this interference? I am in pursuit of that Jyn Pe'taQ for piracy against the Klingon Empire-"

"That is a lie, you're the pirates!

"-I demand that you immediately surrender the Jyn to meas per treaty!"

Ian sighed as Kharn had a point, but only partially and the Klingon was not going to like his response.

"Captain Kharn. I appreciate you have a claim against the Satra, but as they have asked for asylum, I am now bound by the same treaty you mentioned ta, at least, have an investigation before I can turn them over ta you. How about we all take a step back, disarm weapons and have a conversation aboard the Challenger?"

"I will not speak with pirates!"

"You're the damn pirates!"

"As I'm late ta the table, what's been pirated?"

"I half ton of kemocite. Scan their ship, it's in their hold!"

Ian gave CatalÁ¡n a pointed glance and after a moment, he nodded confirmation. Ian then spoke to the woman speaking for the Satra.

"Captain...?"

"Llydin of the Jyn Faisha. Captain, yes, the cargo boxes are Klingon, but only because the kemocite was stolen from the Jyn to begin with-"

"That is a lie!"

"Then how is that possible when there are no Klingon kemocite mines anywhere in this sector! Where did it come from? The Targ Fairy?"

"A reasonable question. Captain Kharn?"

"You have no right to question me!

"And yet I am."

"Are you accusing the Klingon Empire of stealing?"

"If the shoe fits..."

"Enough both of you! Kharn, it is a valid question. Where did you get the kemocite?"

"If you must know Earther, we purchased the kemocite."

"Well, we have a problem then Captains. I have a valid request for asylum as well as a valid demand for the surrender of a pirate. As I mentioned previously, I cannot fulfill either request without an inquest. Since the Jyn have wounded. I must see ta that first. I will thus take the Jyn into custody and conduct my inquest. Kharn, you are welcome ta participate if you wish."

Kharn sputtered, his anger, but he simple closed the channel with a growl of.

"This is not over."

The R'Qla then pivoted away and cloaked. Ian sighed in relief and tapped his combadge.

"Sickbay, prepare ta receive a casualty."

He then turned to face Kyan.

"Send a security team ta sickbay. I wouldn't want our guests ta get too comfortable."

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

[Sickbay]

Abas nodded as the orders were disseminated. He didn't particularly like Klingons - but he knew to respect them. The warrior ethos and culture was one he'd become all too familiar with during the last years, in some ways by other Andorians. Even during the Klingon-Federation wars of years ago, there were recorded instances of Andorians holding their own... at least for a little while. Abas had no such desire. He was a pacifist - he'd joined Starfleet to save life, not take it. Regardless of the circumstances in which he found himself, though, he had a duty and he would perform it. Peace did not mean Pacivity, after all.

He grabbed his medical kit, remembering the Klingon's particular love for close-quarters combat. They much preferred their knives and Bat'leths in close combat, so in case of boarding actions he could expect lots of severe lacerations, broken bones, blunt force trauma, and fewer disruptor blasts. Not that a full hit from a charged disruptor left much behind to heal, anyways.

The bag landed on the bio-bed with a thud, as he filled the remaining empty space with packing bandages and plasma hyposprays. One could never be too ready, after all. When he was completed, and the bag as full as he could make it, he turned around, facing in the general direction of the door. "Ready, sir," he said, preparing to follow the Ensign in charge to wherever it was they were going.

[Sickbay - USS Challenger]

Three figures appeared in sickbay, two holding the third up. Two were women in their 20s and one was a man in his late teens. It was one of the women that was hurt. All were wearing traditional ship-knit coveralls with a utility belt festooned with a variety of small equipment items. The older female was also wearing a leather pilot's jacket, gloves, and a pilot's
sidearm.

Quickly moving the female to a biobed, Jess scanned the patient and looked grim.

"Severe plasma burns, internal and external. Numerous severe bruises. Several broken bones. She needs immediate surgery."

At that point the two only slightly injured Jyn were escorted to biobeds as the most injured patient was hustled to the surgical suite. At this point, the security team arrived and relieved the Jyn of their weapons which included a surprising number of knives.

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

Neva nodded and bit her bottom lip. "Right, thanks." Settling her kit strap more firmly on her shoulder, she reached for her phaser. Silently, she prayed to The Gods that she wouldn't have to use it.
She looked at each of the assembled crewmen, trying to put their faces to memory. Giving a small sigh, she looked at them and asked, "OK. So I know what task to put you on, do any of you have any specializations?" She smirked a little at them. "You guys can't tell me you don't have a certain part of this job that you like to tinker more with, can you?"

[Aft Observation Lounge - USS Challenger]

Before the team could respond, Tharn growled.

"Okay Team Six, prepare for transport."

Seconds later, Neva and her team were standing on the smoky and sparking bridge of the Jyn courier.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

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

When Lahr arrived at the staging area, something seemed off.  There was only 2 other teammembers present.  Usually they were a team of 4, and typically he was the last to arrive.  He looked from the Ensign Jones to Crewman Maranxx-ii.

"Where's T'roth?" the Andorian asked curiously.

"She was reassigned to DCT6." Jones answered as she set her PADD to listen to the engineering departments open comm chatter.

Before Lahr could comment, he was surprised to see Neva arrive.

[USS-Challenger-A Hallway]
Neva was just heading to a turbolift when the klaxons sounded. She jumped in surprise, putting a hand to her heart and leaning against a nearby wall to calm herself. When the Chief gave her new orders, Neva vaulted away from the wall and resumed her course to the turbolift. "Aye, Sir! On my way!.
Once on her way in the turbolift, the realization of what the Chief had ordered sank in. 'I'm LEADING the team? Again?!? It felt weird, considering she'd thought Lahr was in charge of his team already. Orders were orders, though. She technically outranked him, soo...

[USS Challenger-A Observation Lounge]

As the doors slid open, Neva looked around for "her" crew. Seeing them loosely gathered, she jogged over and smirked. "Hey all. Chief wants me to Mother Hen you again. You think you're up for it?"

Lahr blinked at the ensign's comment and looked back over to Ensign Jones, who seemed equally confused.

She tapped on her PADD a moment.

"Your team is Damage Control Team Six... this is the staging area for Team One.   You need to head to Deck 12 - AFT crew lounge." Kasey clarified the other ensign's assignment.

As Neva hurried out to get to her team, Lahr gave a wave "You can Mother Hen me next time!" he joked and waved her goodbye.

"Mother Hen you? Really?"

"Why not?"

Kasey just shook her head and sighed and went back to listening to the  comm chatter.   It seemed the Captain called for sudden jump to warp 8.

[Aft Observation Lounge - USS Challenger]

Before the team could respond, Tharn growled.

"Okay Team Six, prepare for transport."

Seconds later, Neva and her team were standing on the smoky and sparking bridge of the Jyn courier.

A short time later, the ship dropped out of warp.  Lahr's antennae perked alertly when a request came down to Engineering for a Damage Control Team to assist a Jyn vessel.

Lahr wasn't at all familiar with who the Jyn were.  'Please let it not be us who gets called!' Lahr fervently wished... and almost cheered when Tharn called on Team 6.

Oh wait, that was Neva's team.  Lahr hoped the woman was careful over there.

[Nira Said]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

There was a slight vibration in the deckplates as the Challenger reached her maximum speed. The minutes slowly ticked down as the distance to intercept also slowly decreased. Ian always hated this part of any mission. The wait when there was nothing to do but bank on the preparations you'd made and hoped you guessed right.

Commander CatalÁ¡n was, once again, the person who broke the silence.

"Captain, I've punched through the jamming! I've established communications with the Jyn ship."

"On screen."

"Audio only Sir."

"Then let's hear it."

"-llenger, this is the Jyn Faisha cour.... Satra. We are ....... attack by pirates. ), our ship is damaged, and..... co-pilot is severely injured and needs immediate .......attention. I'm am request Feder- asylum and assistance."

As soon as Ian heard the word asylum he knew things had just gotten a lot more complicated. Especially as the ships reached weapons range. And at that point CatalÁ¡n added.

"The Klingons are hailing us."

Ian grimaced and repeated.

"On screen."

"I am Kharn, commanding the Bird of Prey R'Qla. What is the meaning of this interference? I am in pursuit of that Jyn Pe'taQ for piracy against the Klingon Empire-"

"That is a lie, you're the pirates!

"-I demand that you immediately surrender the Jyn to meas per treaty!"

Ian sighed as Kharn had a point, but only partially and the Klingon was not going to like his response.

"Captain Kharn. I appreciate you have a claim against the Satra, but as they have asked for asylum, I am now bound by the same treaty you mentioned ta, at least, have an investigation before I can turn them over ta you. How about we all take a step back, disarm weapons and have a conversation aboard the Challenger?"

"I will not speak with pirates!"

"You're the damn pirates!"

"As I'm late ta the table, what's been pirated?"

"I half ton of kemocite. Scan their ship, it's in their hold!"

Ian gave CatalÁ¡n a pointed glance and after a moment, he nodded confirmation. Ian then spoke to the woman speaking for the Satra.

"Captain...?"

"Llydin of the Jyn Faisha. Captain, yes, the cargo boxes are Klingon, but only because the kemocite was stolen from the Jyn to begin with-"

"That is a lie!"

"Then how is that possible when there are no Klingon kemocite mines anywhere in this sector! Where did it come from? The Targ Fairy?"

"A reasonable question. Captain Kharn?"

"You have no right to question me!

"And yet I am."

"Are you accusing the Klingon Empire of stealing?"

"If the shoe fits..."

"Enough both of you! Kharn, it is a valid question. Where did you get the kemocite?"

"If you must know Earther, we purchased the kemocite."

"Well, we have a problem then Captains. I have a valid request for asylum as well as a valid demand for the surrender of a pirate. As I mentioned previously, I cannot fulfill either request without an inquest. Since the Jyn have wounded. I must see ta that first. I will thus take the Jyn into custody and conduct my inquest. Kharn, you are welcome ta participate if you wish."

Kharn sputtered, his anger, but he simple closed the channel with a growl of.

"This is not over."

The R'Qla then pivoted away and cloaked. Ian sighed in relief and tapped his combadge.

"Sickbay, prepare ta receive a casualty."

He then turned to face Kyan.

"Send a security team ta sickbay. I wouldn't want our guests ta get too comfortable."

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

Nira watched the exchange with rapt attention. Kharn's claims and Llydin's certainly both clashed. There had been something in Kharn's body language and in Llydin's voice that put her off. Contrary to popular belief common in Betazoid counselors, it wasn't possible to sense from long distances. It was more rather having to keep an eye out for "tells," as they were called. And Nira, in her learning as an investigator in taking electives at the Academy, learned a great deal in listening to small details, interpreting body language...

Once communications were cut, Nira turned to the Captain. "They're both hiding something," said Nira. "Kharn's body language was speaking volumes. And there was something in Llydin's voice. The matter of the kemocite certainly is worthy of investigation."

[Ian Galloway]

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

Nira watched the exchange with rapt attention. Kharn's claims and Llydin's certainly both clashed. There had been something in Kharn's body language and in Llydin's voice that put her off. Contrary to popular belief common in Betazoid counselors, it wasn't possible to sense from long distances. It was more rather having to keep an eye out for "tells," as they were called. And Nira, in her learning as an investigator in taking electives at the Academy, learned a great deal in listening to small details, interpreting body language...

Once communications were cut, Nira turned to the Captain. "They're both hiding something," said Nira. "Kharn's body language was speaking volumes. And there was something in Llydin's voice. The matter of the kemocite certainly is worthy of investigation."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian nodded as Nira reported her observations, which matched his own suspicions. Frowning he replied.

"Aye Commander, both seem more than a wee bit less than above board. Sure'n summat is afoot. A repair team has already beamed over ta stabilize the Satra. Take a team over and give that ship a proper, pre asylum inspection. Perhaps we'll get some straight answers from the ship-"

Before Ian could continue, Commander CatalÁ¡n interrupted.

"Sorry Captain. New contact on sensors. Our database identifies the ship as Jyn Cruiser Everen and it will arrive in approximately 45 minutes."

"Well, isn't out dance card gettin' full. Bloody hell. Okay Nira, you have half an hour ta investigate the Satra before our additional guests arrive. Be thorough, we need answers."

[Jettis Jyur]

[ USS Challenger - Bridge - Science One ]

As the Challenger swiftly closed the gap on the warring ships, Jettis switched gears from punching through the disruption, to monitoring for anything else out of the ordinary. Thankfully there seemed to be nothing so far, but that did not put the man at ease.

The moment the hail came through, Jettis leaned forward, eyes flicking to the view screen despite the fact it showed nothing. The argument that ensued both piqued his interest, and elicited an eye-roll from him. Almost subconsciously, he tried to read their intent, determine the lie, to no avail through such inefficient communications. Turning back to his own screen, the scans confirmed the Kemocite, adding yet another layer of complication to the matter.

As each made their case, it became a stalemate, and unfortunately the Challanger was duty-bound to be caught in the middle of it. The El-Aurian had certainly missed the diplomatics. To him though, none of the stories added up - why would the Klingons steal from the Jyn Faisha? And why would the Jyn dare try to steal the resources back with such a small ship? They may be daredevils, but even so it was a ridiculous plan.

As the channel closed, the tension dispersed, and orders were given, Jettis relaxed back onto his heels to await further instruction.