S:5 E:6 - Signals

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 1 - Bridge]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Using Lieutenant Litt's new course and pushing as hard he could through the chaos of the nebula, the Challenger was still four hours away from Seku VI. Repairs teams were working feverishly to restore damaged systems and while the breach on Deck 9 had been repaired along with the residual issues caused by the reboot of the main computer, the damage to the Forward Torpedo Bay Control bay were much more extensive than initially believed. Forward torpedoes were available, but they had to be manually fired and targeted, which greatly impaired their rate of fire and accuracy.

During the confusion of hitting the mine and the near catastrophic fire, Hyperion had been overlooked and had moved back to an inobtrusive corner of the bridge and was observing the actions of the crew in crisis as a means of better understanding humans for the first time as a self-aware being. He remained silent as his vast ability to calculate and extrapolate ran at a speed that was high, even for his complex neural network.

"Captain, I am picking up a signal from the probe we left in orbit of Seku VI." Commander Catalan said and looked confused. "But it isn't visual or audio in any format I am familiar with."

"Put it on." Ian replied.

There was a burst of static and then an unmistakable series of beeps that Ian immediately recognized and he smiled.

"That, Commander is an ancient form of communication known as Morse Code. As a history buff with an emphasis on mid-20th Century atmospheric fightin' craft, several members of the crew have been exposed ta a holoprogram of mind set durin' the Second World War. As a result, when communications are compromised or damaged, those individuals resort ta Morse Code in an effort ta get a message out. Both Commander Sigurdsdottir and Addams are well versed in the technique.

"I can read the message as it's presented, you will probably have ta run that series of beeps through the computer ta translate it, but I do suggest you put in the effort ta learn Morse. It may save lives one day, your own might be one of them. Short translation, as expected, the away team is in trouble with the Mjolnir damaged. Unfortunately, we're already runnin' as hard as we can, we push any harder and we're likely ta hit summat even worse than I mine."

Ian stepped next to Catalan and added.

"Send this via Morse. Message received. Susquehanna and crew recovered in nebula. Your source of smoke unknown. En route your location at best speed, but still four hours out. Advise caution."

"Aye Sir."

As Catalan sent the message, Ian dropped back into the command chair.

"Hang in their Lads and Lasses, the bloody cavalry is on the way."

Lahr looking about for Hyperion was glad to see the AI safe and sound in an out of the way 'corner' of the Bridge.   Lahr gave him an up-nod before returning to his duties.

Being second seat at Ops meant that his job was to shuffle power flows to where they were needed most; and right now they were needed in a lot of places, so Lahr was kept busy transferring power to from place to place as priority demanded.

Because of this Lahr wasn't the one to pick up the signal from the probe, though at hearing Catalan point out it's presence, Lahr's antennae swiveled about in interest as to what the message said.

When played, Lahr immediately recognized the series of beeps as Morse Code.  The Andorian was getting so good a deciphering he didn't even need to run it through a translation program any more.

However, news that the Mjolnir was down, was bad and had Lahr worrying.  Inevitably his antennae sank and his thoughts were filled for the next four hours with all sorts of terrible thoughts and imaginings. 

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[Underground Facility - Seku VI]

Even running a full, side stitching speed, Ruth and Don only just made it out of the cave in time, diving to one side as a huge gout of flame spurted from the mouth of the tunnel. On the surface, the explosion wasn't as powerful as Ruth and Don imagined it to be, it seemed like the density of the composition of the hills containing the facility was sufficient to contain the bulk of the explosion.

Once the dust settled and they scrambled to their feet, almost immediately the away team realized the interference that had so severely impaired their equipment was gone. Apparently, in addition to the signal, and the planetary defense grid, the facility had created a dampening field. Now that the facility was destroyed, tricorders, and more importantly, communications began to work. Which immediately translated into the Morse Code signal that Ruth had sent hours ago, finally reached the probe that had left in orbit and was retransmitted to the Challenger.

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

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Using Lieutenant Litt's new course and pushing as hard he could through the chaos of the nebula, the Challenger was still four hours away from Seku VI. Repairs teams were working feverishly to restore damaged systems and while the breach on Deck 9 had been repaired along with the residual issues caused by the reboot of the main computer, the damage to the Forward Torpedo Bay Control bay were much more extensive than initially believed. Forward torpedoes were available, but they had to be manually fired and targeted, which greatly impaired their rate of fire and accuracy.

During the confusion of hitting the mine and the near catastrophic fire, Hyperion had been overlooked and had moved back to an inobtrusive corner of the bridge and was observing the actions of the crew in crisis as a means of better understanding humans for the first time as a self-aware being. He remained silent as his vast ability to calculate and extrapolate ran at a speed that was high, even for his complex neural network.

"Captain, I am picking up a signal from the probe we left in orbit of Seku VI." Commander Catalan said and looked confused. "But it isn't visual or audio in any format I am familiar with."

"Put it on." Ian replied.

There was a burst of static and then an unmistakable series of beeps that Ian immediately recognized and he smiled.

"That, Commander is an ancient form of communication known as Morse Code. As a history buff with an emphasis on mid-20th Century atmospheric fightin' craft, several members of the crew have been exposed ta a holoprogram of mind set durin' the Second World War. As a result, when communications are compromised or damaged, those individuals resort ta Morse Code in an effort ta get a message out. Both Commander Sigurdsdottir and Addams are well versed in the technique.

"I can read the message as it's presented, you will probably have ta run that series of beeps through the computer ta translate it, but I do suggest you put in the effort ta learn Morse. It may save lives one day, your own might be one of them. Short translation, as expected, the away team is in trouble with the Mjolnir damaged. Unfortunately, we're already runnin' as hard as we can, we push any harder and we're likely ta hit summat even worse than I mine."

Ian stepped next to Catalan and added.

"Send this via Morse. Message received. Susquehanna and crew recovered in nebula. Your sorce of smoke unknown. En route your location at best speed, but still four hours out. Advise caution."

"Aye Sir."

As Catalan sent the message, Ian dropped back into the command chair.

"Hang in their Lads and Lasses, the bloody cavalry is on the way."

[Settlement - Underground Facility Entrance on Surface - Seku VI]

Ruth stood up, shakily.  Dusted herself down and, holding the stitch pain in her side, gasped out "D-Don... you ok there?"

Whilst recovering the commbadge started beeping and following it automatically she grinned.

Translation: =/\=Message received. Susquehanna and crew recovered in nebula. Your sorce of smoke unknown. En route your location at best speed, but still four hours out. Advise caution.

"Du-dunno if you got that Commander Addams... the cavalry are en route..." she said in a quiet voice as she helped him to his feet.  "Four hours out but, we are going to be picked up thankfully."

Making sure her back was turned to shield from the populace she tapped out a 2nd message to the Challenger.

- . .-.. .-.. / .-.. .- .... .-. / - --- / .... .- ...- . / .----. ...- .- .-.. -.- -.-- .-. .. . ... .----. / .--. .-.. .- -.-- .. -. --. .-.-.- / .-- . .----. .-.. .-.. / ... .. - / - .. --. .... - .-.-.- / - .... .- -. -.- ... / -.-. .... .- .-.. .-.. . -. --. . .-. --..-- / ... . . / -.-- --- ..- / ... --- --- -. .-.-.- / ... .. --. --. -.-- / --- ..- - .-.-.- ¹

₁Translation: Tell Lahr to have 'Valkyries' playing.  We'll sit tight.  Thanks Challenger, see you soon. Siggy out.

The Science Chief knew Lahr would be worrying so this was an effort to mitigate that, and she knew that if Ian had him on the Bridge, Lahr could translate the morse without any hesitation, so knowing she was alive and mostly ok bar the minor cuts and bruises, would have him less aggrieved and saggy-antennae'd!

Grinning she turned and went over to where Jael was once she'd made sure that Don was fine.

"That was close! Good news,.." she said bending close to Jael's ear like she was checking her head injuries.  "...Challenger are en route. and the found the Susquehanna. Four hours ish but hang on in there!"

[Jael Sherem]

[Underground Facility - Seku VI]

"Um... Don..." Ruth began when the obelisk started warbling. "That's not any language I care to try to translate...."

"For once not even gonna argue..." Ruth said following him out and gesturing wildly at bystanders to get clear.  As she got level with Jael she nodded to the miner who had been with her and said simply, "We gotta move, NOW!  That things going to blow.  On the plus side if it blows up, it might actually stop working! Grab Jael's other side please to help her along"

They got far enough away and found some shelter to hide behind, Ruth looking for Don.  "I think the First Officer made the right call there..." she said to the Counsellor, "...otherwise you'd be treating a rather morose, very droopy antennae'd Andorian by the name of Lahr for grief counselling... and possibly anger management aimed at Commander Addams for allowing me to die and himself for not being here to protect and save me."

[Underground Facility - Seku VI]

Even running a full, side stitching speed, Ruth and Don only just made it out of the cave in time, diving to one side as a huge gout of flame spurted from the mouth of the tunnel. On the surface, the explosion wasn't as powerful as Ruth and Don imagined it to be, it seemed like the density of the composition of the hills containing the facility was sufficient to contain the bulk of the explosion.

Once the dust settled and they scrambled to their feet, almost immediately the away team realized the interference that had so severely impaired their equipment was gone. Apparently, in addition to the signal, and the planetary defense grid, the facility had created a dampening field. Now that the facility was destroyed, tricorders, and more importantly, communications began to work. Which immediately translated into the Morse Code signal that Ruth had sent hours ago, finally reached the probe that had left in orbit and was retransmitted to the Challenger.

[Ensign Jael Sherem | Encampment | Seku IV]

In the midst of it all, just as Jael was getting some well-deserved rest, and in which case Jael would've been well-rested enough to make inquiries about the encampment, "Siggy" swept her up and dragged her along in a run.

"What's the matter?" asked Jael with befuddled near panic, for Siggy was being just as panicky, but then the explosion went off from where she and Commander Addams had gone. She didn't need to have acute cognitive awareness to know they did something that went wrong in the mine.

"That's okay, I think we're all going to live after all," she said to Siggy.

And the news that the Challenger was coming to pick them up was good to hear. "That's good news, in a way," she said. "Of course, odds are, I think I'm going to be in trouble again when I get back aboard, though misguided assumptions of a First Officer's orders in the midst of a concussion I hope, hope that it's not a court martial offense; I've started this morning drunk," she explained to Siggy, feeling it was best to explain. "The last away mission, I was so offended by a bunch of pompous...jerks, and that's putting it the nicest way possible, who we were trying to help save from a tectonic apocalypse, regarded humans as overlords over us member races as servants, me included. Us! Member races! Servants! The only way I could've been more offended would be if I was called a 'spoonhead.' I mean, they made Cardassia look like Marie Antoinette's France, and I know my Earth history, from the primitive 'let-them-eat-cake' mannerisms! Earth had been my home for years, and being referred to as a servant of the Federation instead of a member of Starfleet is an insult.

"Let's just say my attitudes toward them were enough that," she continued to explain to Siggy, "at one point, one of their ships attacked us and when I went to the bridge to help, I was expelled from it. Sure, the Captain was doing it to prevent further feelings, but at that time, I was offended by his explusion. Once we left the system, I've locked myself away and found comfort in kanar. End result? Negligence of duty. It had to have taken my brother and enough medication to sober me up just to see the Captain; you may have seen me being frog-marched to the Captain's ready room, Siggy, and I apologize if you had noticed that scene...again, I'm pointing out that I'm in trouble already. I've been assigned a proctor from my departmental head and anything further to go wrong will result in my expulsion, so you can see how anxious I am about returning to the ship, especially since I inadvertently disobeyed orders..."

She looked downcast and looked down at the ground. Her fervor had died out and was now replaced with shame at her confession and the fact that she had disobeyed orders, even from their new first officer.

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[Ensign Jael Sherem | Encampment | Seku IV]

In the midst of it all, just as Jael was getting some well-deserved rest, and in which case Jael would've been well-rested enough to make inquiries about the encampment, "Siggy" swept her up and dragged her along in a run.

"What's the matter?" asked Jael with befuddled near panic, for Siggy was being just as panicky, but then the explosion went off from where she and Commander Addams had gone. She didn't need to have acute cognitive awareness to know they did something that went wrong in the mine.

"That's okay, I think we're all going to live after all," she said to Siggy.

And the news that the Challenger was coming to pick them up was good to hear. "That's good news, in a way," she said. "Of course, odds are, I think I'm going to be in trouble again when I get back aboard, though misguided assumptions of a First Officer's orders in the midst of a concussion I hope, hope that it's not a court martial offense; I've started this morning drunk," she explained to Siggy, feeling it was best to explain. "The last away mission, I was so offended by a bunch of pompous...jerks, and that's putting it the nicest way possible, who we were trying to help save from a tectonic apocalypse, regarded humans as overlords over us member races as servants, me included. Us! Member races! Servants! The only way I could've been more offended would be if I was called a 'spoonhead.' I mean, they made Cardassia look like Marie Antoinette's France, and I know my Earth history, from the primitive 'let-them-eat-cake' mannerisms! Earth had been my home for years, and being referred to as a servant of the Federation instead of a member of Starfleet is an insult.

"Let's just say my attitudes toward them were enough that," she continued to explain to Siggy, "at one point, one of their ships attacked us and when I went to the bridge to help, I was expelled from it. Sure, the Captain was doing it to prevent further feelings, but at that time, I was offended by his explusion. Once we left the system, I've locked myself away and found comfort in kanar. End result? Negligence of duty. It had to have taken my brother and enough medication to sober me up just to see the Captain; you may have seen me being frog-marched to the Captain's ready room, Siggy, and I apologize if you had noticed that scene...again, I'm pointing out that I'm in trouble already. I've been assigned a proctor from my departmental head and anything further to go wrong will result in my expulsion, so you can see how anxious I am about returning to the ship, especially since I inadvertently disobeyed orders..."

She looked downcast and looked down at the ground. Her fervor had died out and was now replaced with shame at her confession and the fact that she had disobeyed orders, even from their new first officer.

[Seku VI]

Ruth sighed sadly when she'd finished listening to Jael's story.

"First off... unless it has to be official, call me Ruth.  Secondly, yep... I think everything is still attached, we'll live!  And Thirdly,.." The former Captain sighed but dregged up some of her more sisterly feelings that she had for her younger twin sisters Arya and Katya, as it seemed that what Jael needed here was some sympathy.

"...I'm not saying he will, but Captain Galloway may be a gruff Scot but he actually has a heart.  I'm pretty sure that you're not the first person of whatever species who has dealt with bad situations by trying to drown themselves in some kind of alcoholic beverage, present company and probably the Captain himself included.  My best advice, be honest, admit fault, tell him everything.  I don't think he'll court martial you or send you for one.  Trouble is with me being there now, I think he wouldn't have to go back to a base to do so if he wanted to... he'd have enough for a tribunal, a fully legal one."

She gave a regrettable look, but then winked.  "But, that does mean you have someone who appreciates what you are going through and you've opened up to a bit about your problems 'on the bench' so to speak.  If it goes that far and Captain Galloway opts to have 3rd party try the case, then I volunteer to be your defence council.  I'm not a professional but you only need someone to have your back.  Plus I happen to know a few people myself included who have done far worse, who the Captain knows, but if you're prepared to take a rap, knuckle down and then just work hard... I'm pretty sure you have the makings of a decent officer.
One who has 'Been there, done that' is far more likely to judge others fairly and assess situations with more variety of options."

[Ian Galloway]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 1 - Bridge]

Lahr looking about for Hyperion was glad to see the AI safe and sound in an out of the way 'corner' of the Bridge.   Lahr gave him an up-nod before returning to his duties.

Being second seat at Ops meant that his job was to shuffle power flows to where they were needed most; and right now they were needed in a lot of places, so Lahr was kept busy transferring power to from place to place as priority demanded.

Because of this Lahr wasn't the one to pick up the signal from the probe, though at hearing Catalan point out it's presence, Lahr's antennae swiveled about in interest as to what the message said.

When played, Lahr immediately recognized the series of beeps as Morse Code.  The Andorian was getting so good a deciphering he didn't even need to run it through a translation program any more.

However, news that the Mjolnir was down, was bad and had Lahr worrying.  Inevitably his antennae sank and his thoughts were filled for the next four hours with all sorts of terrible thoughts and imaginings.

[Settlement - Underground Facility Entrance on Surface - Seku VI]

Ruth stood up, shakily.  Dusted herself down and, holding the stitch pain in her side, gasped out "D-Don... you ok there?"

Whilst recovering the commbadge started beeping and following it automatically she grinned.

Translation: =/\=Message received. Susquehanna and crew recovered in nebula. Your source of smoke unknown. En route your location at best speed, but still four hours out. Advise caution.

"Du-dunno if you got that Commander Addams... the cavalry are en route..." she said in a quiet voice as she helped him to his feet.  "Four hours out but, we are going to be picked up thankfully."

Making sure her back was turned to shield from the populace she tapped out a 2nd message to the Challenger.

- . .-.. .-.. / .-.. .- .... .-. / - --- / .... .- ...- . / .----. ...- .- .-.. -.- -.-- .-. .. . ... .----. / .--. .-.. .- -.-- .. -. --. .-.-.- / .-- . .----. .-.. .-.. / ... .. - / - .. --. .... - .-.-.- / - .... .- -. -.- ... / -.-. .... .- .-.. .-.. . -. --. . .-. --..-- / ... . . / -.-- --- ..- / ... --- --- -. .-.-.- / ... .. --. --. -.-- / --- ..- - .-.-.- ¹

₁Translation: Tell Lahr to have 'Valkyries' playing.  We'll sit tight.  Thanks Challenger, see you soon. Siggy out.

The Science Chief knew Lahr would be worrying so this was an effort to mitigate that, and she knew that if Ian had him on the Bridge, Lahr could translate the morse without any hesitation, so knowing she was alive and mostly ok bar the minor cuts and bruises, would have him less aggrieved and saggy-antennae'd!

Grinning she turned and went over to where Jael was once she'd made sure that Don was fine.

"That was close! Good news,.." she said bending close to Jael's ear like she was checking her head injuries.  "...Challenger are en route. and the found the Susquehanna. Four hours ish but hang on in there!"

[Unnamed Settlement - Seku VI]

As the away team came together to confirm everyone was okay, Ero Drallen and four of his goons stormed over and their leader leveled Don with a near lethal level of stinkeye.

"I said turn the thing off not blow it the hell up! Do you have any idea how much work and equipment went into sinking that shaft? I was going to just kick you out on your own and let the land finish you off, but now I'm gonna get compensation off of you idiots one way or another. You can join those three Romulans and bust rocks for the next fifty years to pay for what you cost me!. Take them, and please, please resist."

Ero added with a menacing expression as he and two of the goons covered the away team with their own weapons they'd take earlier as the other two goons tied lengths of rope between their legs. The restraints acted like shackles to prevent the away team from running, which was further enhanced by a rope that tied Ruth, Don, Jael, and Blackfeather together with about ten feet between each person. They were then led to a conveyor belt loaded with rock, given hammers and were literally forced to break the ore laden rocks into smaller pieces so they would fit into a smelter at the end of of a second conveyor belt. The three captured Romulans were already soaked in sweat from the heavy labor as no less than a half dozen men armed with a mix of phasers and disruptors stood guard and each looked as if they took their role very seriously.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

As the ship wove through the varied obstacles of the nebula, Ian was in the command chair scrolling through damage reports. Tharn reported that they'd managed to get the beach in the hull sealed with emergency plates that were only a temporary fix, as to properly repair the damage would have to wait until the ship was out of warp. The damage to the torpedo control room hadn't progressed much since her last report, manual loading and targeting was still required and this would remain so for the next twelve hours.

On the positive side, they were just entering the edge of the Seku system and had dropped out of warp. It would take them a half an hour at full impulse to reach Seku VI. Having received Ruth's reply, it seemed as if whatever had occurred on the planet seemed to be under control, but Ian was still ill at ease as no further communication from the away team, either by Morse or subspace had followed and that just didn't sit right. It was at that moment when T'Kel spoke in an unusually sharp tone.

"Captain. I am picking up an increase in neutrinos."

[Jael Sherem]

[Seku VI]

Ruth sighed sadly when she'd finished listening to Jael's story.

"First off... unless it has to be official, call me Ruth.  Secondly, yep... I think everything is still attached, we'll live!  And Thirdly,.." The former Captain sighed but dregged up some of her more sisterly feelings that she had for her younger twin sisters Arya and Katya, as it seemed that what Jael needed here was some sympathy.

"...I'm not saying he will, but Captain Galloway may be a gruff Scot but he actually has a heart.  I'm pretty sure that you're not the first person of whatever species who has dealt with bad situations by trying to drown themselves in some kind of alcoholic beverage, present company and probably the Captain himself included.  My best advice, be honest, admit fault, tell him everything.  I don't think he'll court martial you or send you for one.  Trouble is with me being there now, I think he wouldn't have to go back to a base to do so if he wanted to... he'd have enough for a tribunal, a fully legal one."

She gave a regrettable look, but then winked.  "But, that does mean you have someone who appreciates what you are going through and you've opened up to a bit about your problems 'on the bench' so to speak.  If it goes that far and Captain Galloway opts to have 3rd party try the case, then I volunteer to be your defence council.  I'm not a professional but you only need someone to have your back.  Plus I happen to know a few people myself included who have done far worse, who the Captain knows, but if you're prepared to take a rap, knuckle down and then just work hard... I'm pretty sure you have the makings of a decent officer.
One who has 'Been there, done that' is far more likely to judge others fairly and assess situations with more variety of options."

[Unnamed Settlement - Seku VI]

As the away team came together to confirm everyone was okay, Ero Drallen and four of his goons stormed over and their leader leveled Don with a near lethal level of stinkeye.

"I said turn the thing off not blow it the hell up! Do you have any idea how much work and equipment went into sinking that shaft? I was going to just kick you out on your own and let the land finish you off, but now I'm gonna get compensation off of you idiots one way or another. You can join those three Romulans and bust rocks for the next fifty years to pay for what you cost me!. Take them, and please, please resist."

Ero added with a menacing expression as he and two of the goons covered the away team with their own weapons they'd take earlier as the other two goons tied lengths of rope between their legs. The restraints acted like shackles to prevent the away team from running, which was further enhanced by a rope that tied Ruth, Don, Jael, and Blackfeather together with about ten feet between each person. They were then led to a conveyor belt loaded with rock, given hammers and were literally forced to break the ore laden rocks into smaller pieces so they would fit into a smelter at the end of of a second conveyor belt. The three captured Romulans were already soaked in sweat from the heavy labor as no less than a half dozen men armed with a mix of phasers and disruptors stood guard and each looked as if they took their role very seriously.

[Ensign Jael Sherem | Encampment >- Mining Facility | Seku IV]
Jael nodded and said, "I appreciate it. It's not easy to admit fault when one is a Cardassian, being a prideful race as we are. Thank you for backing me up if it should happen."

Her gratitude was cut short when the encampment leader approached and glared down at them. So it seemed that trying to shut down something inside and it blew up instead. Jael was presuming it was an accident; it was more likely than intentional sabotage and neither Don nor Ruth were the type.

Let the land finish us off? she thought in horror. She thought of the wilderness they trudged through and was beginning to realize that the land would've been worse than implied, that she was lucky she wasn't killed when she was straggling behind. But then they were shackled and brought to a facility to be forced labor. Jael realized with a shock that she would've easily been living like the poor forced labor slaves working in a Cardassian strip mine during the Occupation.

"You can't be serious," Jael said with shock. "You? Of the Federation? If the rest of the Federation knew about this...and besides, I'm injured," she added, gesturing at her concussion wound.

One of the guards approached and smacked her right on the injury where she pointed. The wound had opened again and she felt the blood.

"Well, then, you'll keep working with that, spoonhead," he snarled, "unless you'd like to get some more. In fact, I'll treat you to the same taste of medicine you spoonheads gave in the strip mines."

It was more than just the use of the word "spoonhead" that made Jael look up at him, seething in pain. It was the wonton contempt in his voice and the mention of the strip mines. Surely it wasn't coincidence...? She looked up, got a good look at him, and widened her eyes in horror. The guard who approached her and beat her...he's a Bajoran. And not just that, he was grizzled, probably early fifties, and he bore a brand on his cheek. She knew that brand anywhere; when her father served on Terok Nor, he often made visits to inspect the strip mines on Bajor. Once in a while, he was called in to punish slow or defiant (or both) slaves on the mines. While punishments were quite severe in the strip mines, Nehor Sherem had his own speciality punishment: beatings, floggings, and he had his henchmen burn brands into the poor slaves' skin, and often times, he did it himself, a demonstration of how brutally cruel he was, a brutal cruelty matched only by Crell Moset and his ilk. Of course, those punishments rarely happened, and were especially reserved for more resiliant slaves or captured Resistance fighters, but Gul Nehor Sherem reserved them for such occasions when he really wanted a point made, and it was even rarer for him to do it himself.

She knew what that brand was because one of her mother's Bajoran friends had the same kind of brand on him; she had freed him mere weeks before the Cardassians withdrew from Bajor and treated him, even though the brand never fully healed, nor would it ever in a person's lifetime. She did it in secret, though, so it never got to her father's knowledge, but Jael remembered seeing it treated, and she never forgot it, even when she was a toddler; it was horrifying enough to remember at such a young age.

Now, here she was before another unfortunate slave, probably freed when the Occupation lifted, and how the tables have turned.

"No...you wouldn't," said Jael almost pleadingly.

"Like I said," he said with a leer that would've made her father jealous, "a taste of your medicine, spoonhead. I saw you when you walked into camp, and I had been dying to do this since I saw you come in, and the uniform be damned."

Jael knew what he was going to do, and she couldn't do a thing with her shackles. The next thing she knew, she was subjected to such a beating that by the time he was finished, she looked like ink wells have been spilled all over here, and one or two teeth had joined the gravel around them, and then she was forced back to work.

"Now, WORK, spoonhead!" he snarled. "Or I'll burn this on you!"

He gestured at the brand on his cheek and Jael worked as fast as the pain and the blood allowed her, whimpering piteously as she did so. She never thought in a million years she would run into a survivor of the strip mines, and especially someone with a definite wonton hatred for Cardassians. He must've been a young man when he was in the mines, perhaps a few short years before the Occupation ended. She could see that this was what she was going to be subjected to, potentially a slow torture as she bore the brunt of his revenge. She wondered if she will last four minutes, never mind four hours. Her one light of hope was that when Captain Galloway arrived, he could see the horrific conditions in this hellhole, and then whoever allowed this to happen will be seeing potential time in New Zealand.

[Don Damien Addams]

[Encampment/Seku IV]

Don was relieved that the explosion had caused them to reach the Challenger. It was not what he intended, but it was what they needed.

Malcolm Lincoln, who cared for the Starfleet officer, had turned to the two Commanders cause rushing out of the tunnel. Then there was the explosion from the mouth of the cave. They seemed to sabotage the equipment. Why? He had felt a connection with Jael.

An unhappy leader, Drallen, angry came to Don and Ruth

Under stress losing the shuttle, leaving an injured member behind, a fallen crew member, trying to keep his crew together, Don felt he was messing up on everything he does. He sure heck needs a good drink and gets drunk.

Don tightened his jaw, clenching his teeth. His hands became a ball of fists. He almost swung at Dallen, and the Guard with a rifle poked his ribs to keep him from trying it.

The Bajoran gave Jael a hard time. He had to stick up for her, and she was under his care. "You..You leave her alone. Yes. Cardassians were wrong as Romulans destroyed the ship, my mother was killed. I hated Romulans," the surviving Romulans turned to hear what Don had to say. "I learn those Romulans were wrong. But it gives me no right to hate ALL Romulans for Captain who ordered the destruction of my mother's ship. Open your eyes. There are good in everyone," except the Borg, Don did not say. "You need to see there good in everyone. Even some of those who hurt had been wrong taking those orders. They could be in fear, or they ---" Don stopped as he was slammed in the head by the butt of the gun.

"You getting bad as the ginger," the Guard said. "Should we gag you all?"

[Jael Sherem]

[Encampment/Seku IV]

Don was relieved that the explosion had caused them to reach the Challenger. It was not what he intended, but it was what they needed.

Malcolm Lincoln, who cared for the Starfleet officer, had turned to the two Commanders cause rushing out of the tunnel. Then there was the explosion from the mouth of the cave. They seemed to sabotage the equipment. Why? He had felt a connection with Jael.

An unhappy leader, Drallen, angry came to Don and Ruth

Under stress losing the shuttle, leaving an injured member behind, a fallen crew member, trying to keep his crew together, Don felt he was messing up on everything he does. He sure heck needs a good drink and gets drunk.

Don tightened his jaw, clenching his teeth. His hands became a ball of fists. He almost swung at Dallen, and the Guard with a rifle poked his ribs to keep him from trying it.

The Bajoran gave Jael a hard time. He had to stick up for her, and she was under his care. "You..You leave her alone. Yes. Cardassians were wrong as Romulans destroyed the ship, my mother was killed. I hated Romulans," the surviving Romulans turned to hear what Don had to say. "I learn those Romulans were wrong. But it gives me no right to hate ALL Romulans for Captain who ordered the destruction of my mother's ship. Open your eyes. There are good in everyone," except the Borg, Don did not say. "You need to see there good in everyone. Even some of those who hurt had been wrong taking those orders. They could be in fear, or they ---" Don stopped as he was slammed in the head by the butt of the gun.

"You getting bad as the ginger," the Guard said. "Should we gag you all?"

[Ensign Jael Sherem | Mining Facility | Seku IV]

Jael looked on in surprise at Don's sticking up for her. The Bajoran guard who beat her, however, glared furiously at Don. He stormed up to him and smacked his fist across his cheek.

"GOOD?!?!" he snarled. "I for one never knew good! I've spent every day since birth a slave to the spoonheads! My whole family was murdered by those butchers since they claimed Bajor! There were no Prophets for us! Let alone for ME! I was deemed eligible to work as soon as I could crawl! I've seen the blood, the bodies! I've spent twenty years since birth in the strip mines! Then they cart me off to a colony when they up and leave Bajor, but plenty of them have taken their slaves along, me included! I didn't care that the Celestial Temple opened up! I didn't care if there was an Emissary! They were never there for me! Even when the spoonheads had those reptiles from the Dominion backing me up! I hate them all! I hate the spoonheads! Especially the ones who gave me THIS!"

And he jabbed at his brand furiously. "I won't forget them! Especially their leader! Nehor Sherem! I hope he's burning with the Pah-Wraiths somewhere, if he isn't alive already!"

Jael stopped at the name. She stared with horror and was determined not to let slip her name. Even if she and her mother was against her father, it was clear this man regarded a Cardassian an enemy no matter what side they chose.

"And letting them join your Starfleet!" he spat at Don, then literally spitting at him in the face. "You disgust me! You're a disgrace!" And he again slugged Don in the face before he sauntered off on his patrol, but not before he doubled back on Jael and whacked her on the head with the butt of his own rifle.

"GET BACK TO WORK, SPOONHEAD!" he snarled as he did so. It was enough to send Jael sprawling to the ground, and so she painfully got back up and continued work, the tears in her eyes, tears of pain mingled with tears of shame at meeting, apparently, one of her father's former slaves, and she could definitely see he was in servitude even into the Dominion War. She met Don's and Ruth's eyes as she worked and conveyed her anguish to them.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret

[Underground Cavern - Seku VI]

The Commander looked around at Don, looking specifically for Ero before she went on.  Not seeing him or anyone but the XO she said  We're not prisoners, but I can't see us getting out of here easily as we've been tasked with something rather... difficult.  If I don't make it out of here, tell Lahr I love him, oh and walk the dog!

[USS Challenger - Deck 2 - Corridor](en route to Seku system  - 5 hours away)

Lahr had taken a 30-minute lunch break during their travel back to the Seku system.  He used this time to not just grab a quick bite of a nutrient bar, but also to take Skye out for her much-needed walk. Unfortunately, with power usage being directed to high priority areas first and foremost, that meant that they couldn't use the holodeck to trick Skye into thinking she was peeing or pooping in a huge field. Nor could Lahr use the holodeck to collect and dispose of her waste.  Nope, instead he was using doggy poop bag and spray sanitizer in the corridor outside their quarters.  Some days you just had to appreciate the advances of modern technology.

It had taken a bit of convincing and a lot of excited running for Skye to finally cave to evacuate her bladder and bowels on something other than her usual 'walking paths'.  But when you gotta go... you gotta go.   Lahr quickly and efficient cleaned up the mess and bagged it and the cleaning rags for disposal in the recycler once they got back to Ruth's quarters.  Then he opted to spent the last few minutes tossing her ball for her to fetch.

Lahr was crouched down to receive back the ball he'd thrown to Skye moments earlier down the hall, when suddenly he sneezed so loud that it startled the dog.  She looked at him cock-eared, head tilted to one side as if questioning something, mouth still holding onto her ball.  Then Skye dropped the ball and barked excitedly, bouncing side to side while her tail wagged as if greeting him after a long absence.  That was odd.

It took several minutes for Lahr to get Skye calm downed and by then it was time for him to get back to work.  Skye was much more subdued when returning to Ruth's quarters.  The Andorian gave her a last scritch before heading back up to the Bridge.

[Settlement - Underground Facility Entrance on Surface - Seku VI]

Making sure her back was turned to shield from the populace she tapped out a 2nd message to the Challenger.

- . .-.. .-.. / .-.. .- .... .-. / - --- / .... .- ...- . / .----. ...- .- .-.. -.- -.-- .-. .. . ... .----. / .--. .-.. .- -.-- .. -. --. .-.-.- / .-- . .----. .-.. .-.. / ... .. - / - .. --. .... - .-.-.- / - .... .- -. -.- ... / -.-. .... .- .-.. .-.. . -. --. . .-. --..-- / ... . . / -.-- --- ..- / ... --- --- -. .-.-.- / ... .. --. --. -.-- / --- ..- - .-.-.- ¹

₁Translation: Tell Lahr to have 'Valkyries' playing.  We'll sit tight.  Thanks Challenger, see you soon. Siggy out.

The Science Chief knew Lahr would be worrying so this was an effort to mitigate that, and she knew that if Ian had him on the Bridge, Lahr could translate the morse without any hesitation, so knowing she was alive and mostly ok bar the minor cuts and bruises, would have him less aggrieved and saggy-antennae'd!

Grinning she turned and went over to where Jael was once she'd made sure that Don was fine.

"That was close! Good news,.." she said bending close to Jael's ear like she was checking her head injuries.  "...Challenger are en route. and the found the Susquehanna. Four hours ish but hang on in there!"

[USS Challenger - Deck 1 - Bridge] (en route to Seku system  - 4 hours away)

Lahr was worried about Ruth.   Which to the Petty Officer's credit he didn't openly talk about or comment, but it was plain as the antennae on his head that he was worried.  But he kept doing his job, assisting the repair work by directing the necessary power to the right section for the repair crew to use the heavy duty powered tools rather than the weaker battery-operated ones.

A blip on his console told of another incoming message from the Mjolnir forwarded on by the probe.  Because Catalan had been dealing with this sort of thing consistently, Lahr didn't think he'd be needed to report this one out to the Captain. But he did put it his ear buds and listened to the patterned beeps himself, translating as he listened.  What her heard prompted a laugh, which drew some attention.  His antennae were upright once more.

He glanced over towards his Department Chief, but he seemed fully focused on some other task and hadn't yet gotten to checking the message, so Lahr addressed the Captain.

"Another message forwarded on by the probe, sir.   Commander Sigurdsdottir says they will 'sit tight' and has a song request for our arrival.  I'll have it cued up and ready to play, with your approval sir.   She's asking for her usual 'Ride of the Valkyries' by Wagner." he said with a grin.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

As the ship wove through the varied obstacles of the nebula, Ian was in the command chair scrolling through damage reports. Tharn reported that they'd managed to get the beach in the hull sealed with emergency plates that were only a temporary fix, as to properly repair the damage would have to wait until the ship was out of warp. The damage to the torpedo control room hadn't progressed much since her last report, manual loading and targeting was still required and this would remain so for the next twelve hours.

On the positive side, they were just entering the edge of the Seku system and had dropped out of warp. It would take them a half an hour at full impulse to reach Seku VI. Having received Ruth's reply, it seemed as if whatever had occurred on the planet seemed to be under control, but Ian was still ill at ease as no further communication from the away team, either by Morse or subspace had followed and that just didn't sit right. It was at that moment when T'Kel spoke in an unusually sharp tone.

"Captain. I am picking up an increase in neutrinos."

[USS Challenger - Deck 1 - Bridge] (edge of Seku system - 1/2 hour from orbit)

With their arrival at the outer edge of the Seku system, Lahr was prepping Ruth's song request, when T'Kel spoke up.  Neutrinos?

Elevated neutrinos, were warning signs of a potentially cloaked vessel.  It was Lahr's turn to make the prediction "Likely the Khranu."

As he stated this, Lahr was scanning the area for the telltale readings of tachyons, ready to send the slightest increase an area to the Captain, Tactical (for targeting) and Helm (for evasive maneuvers).  Romulan ships needed to uncloak to fire - and a build-up of tachyons often preceded their decloaking.

"We have a build-up of tachyons, sir.  Coordinates being sent!" Lahr sent the approximate coordinates to the Captain,  T'Kel and Litt.

[Ian Galloway]

[USS Challenger - Deck 1 - Bridge] (edge of Seku system - 1/2 hour from orbit)

With their arrival at the outer edge of the Seku system, Lahr was prepping Ruth's song request, when T'Kel spoke up.  Neutrinos?

Elevated neutrinos, were warning signs of a potentially cloaked vessel.  It was Lahr's turn to make the prediction "Likely the Khranu."

As he stated this, Lahr was scanning the area for the telltale readings of tachyons, ready to send the slightest increase an area to the Captain, Tactical (for targeting) and Helm (for evasive maneuvers).  Romulan ships needed to uncloak to fire - and a build-up of tachyons often preceded their decloaking.

"We have a build-up of tachyons, sir.  Coordinates being sent!" Lahr sent the approximate coordinates to the Captain,  T'Kel and Litt.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian bolted upright in the command chair at the reports of neutrinos and tachyons as he new as well as everyone on the bridge that those were signs of a cloaked ship. Gripping the arms of the chair firmly, Ian barked.

"Shields up! Red Alert!"

And when the Khranu uncloaked, the Challenger staggered from multiple hits from the Romulan ship's disruptors. Ian only just held onto his chair and snarled.

"Helm, break hard to port. T'Kel return fire! Battle stations!"

When the plasma torpedoes hit, Ian found himself on the deck, he was uninjured, but stunned by the ferocity of the attack. He lurched back to his chair and added.

"T'Kel. Load aft quantum torpedoes and prepare ta fire them in proximity mode on my mark. Ricky, continue the turn ta port, take us below the galactic plane. When the torpedoes detonate, I want you ta Immelmann the old girl. As soon as we are inverted, T'Kel, hit them with every bloody thing we have ta include harsh language. Ch'Verret. It's time ta let those Valkyries ride!"

As the crew responded with "Aye Sirs", Ian had time to think.

"What the hell has crawled up Thelal's arse? He kens full well we're in Federation space and he's just initiated a war the Romulans can't win?"

[Ensign Jael Sherem | Encampment >- Mining Facility | Seku IV]
Jael nodded and said, "I appreciate it. It's not easy to admit fault when one is a Cardassian, being a prideful race as we are. Thank you for backing me up if it should happen."

Her gratitude was cut short when the encampment leader approached and glared down at them. So it seemed that trying to shut down something inside and it blew up instead. Jael was presuming it was an accident; it was more likely than intentional sabotage and neither Don nor Ruth were the type.

Let the land finish us off? she thought in horror. She thought of the wilderness they trudged through and was beginning to realize that the land would've been worse than implied, that she was lucky she wasn't killed when she was straggling behind. But then they were shackled and brought to a facility to be forced labor. Jael realized with a shock that she would've easily been living like the poor forced labor slaves working in a Cardassian strip mine during the Occupation.

"You can't be serious," Jael said with shock. "You? Of the Federation? If the rest of the Federation knew about this...and besides, I'm injured," she added, gesturing at her concussion wound.

One of the guards approached and smacked her right on the injury where she pointed. The wound had opened again and she felt the blood.

"Well, then, you'll keep working with that, spoonhead," he snarled, "unless you'd like to get some more. In fact, I'll treat you to the same taste of medicine you spoonheads gave in the strip mines."

It was more than just the use of the word "spoonhead" that made Jael look up at him, seething in pain. It was the wonton contempt in his voice and the mention of the strip mines. Surely it wasn't coincidence...? She looked up, got a good look at him, and widened her eyes in horror. The guard who approached her and beat her...he's a Bajoran. And not just that, he was grizzled, probably early fifties, and he bore a brand on his cheek. She knew that brand anywhere; when her father served on Terok Nor, he often made visits to inspect the strip mines on Bajor. Once in a while, he was called in to punish slow or defiant (or both) slaves on the mines. While punishments were quite severe in the strip mines, Nehor Sherem had his own speciality punishment: beatings, floggings, and he had his henchmen burn brands into the poor slaves' skin, and often times, he did it himself, a demonstration of how brutally cruel he was, a brutal cruelty matched only by Crell Moset and his ilk. Of course, those punishments rarely happened, and were especially reserved for more resiliant slaves or captured Resistance fighters, but Gul Nehor Sherem reserved them for such occasions when he really wanted a point made, and it was even rarer for him to do it himself.

She knew what that brand was because one of her mother's Bajoran friends had the same kind of brand on him; she had freed him mere weeks before the Cardassians withdrew from Bajor and treated him, even though the brand never fully healed, nor would it ever in a person's lifetime. She did it in secret, though, so it never got to her father's knowledge, but Jael remembered seeing it treated, and she never forgot it, even when she was a toddler; it was horrifying enough to remember at such a young age.

Now, here she was before another unfortunate slave, probably freed when the Occupation lifted, and how the tables have turned.

"No...you wouldn't," said Jael almost pleadingly.

"Like I said," he said with a leer that would've made her father jealous, "a taste of your medicine, spoonhead. I saw you when you walked into camp, and I had been dying to do this since I saw you come in, and the uniform be damned."

Jael knew what he was going to do, and she couldn't do a thing with her shackles. The next thing she knew, she was subjected to such a beating that by the time he was finished, she looked like ink wells have been spilled all over here, and one or two teeth had joined the gravel around them, and then she was forced back to work.

"Now, WORK, spoonhead!" he snarled. "Or I'll burn this on you!"

He gestured at the brand on his cheek and Jael worked as fast as the pain and the blood allowed her, whimpering piteously as she did so. She never thought in a million years she would run into a survivor of the strip mines, and especially someone with a definite wonton hatred for Cardassians. He must've been a young man when he was in the mines, perhaps a few short years before the Occupation ended. She could see that this was what she was going to be subjected to, potentially a slow torture as she bore the brunt of his revenge. She wondered if she will last four minutes, never mind four hours. Her one light of hope was that when Captain Galloway arrived, he could see the horrific conditions in this hellhole, and then whoever allowed this to happen will be seeing potential time in New Zealand.

[Encampment/Seku IV]

Don was relieved that the explosion had caused them to reach the Challenger. It was not what he intended, but it was what they needed.

Malcolm Lincoln, who cared for the Starfleet officer, had turned to the two Commanders cause rushing out of the tunnel. Then there was the explosion from the mouth of the cave. They seemed to sabotage the equipment. Why? He had felt a connection with Jael.

An unhappy leader, Drallen, angry came to Don and Ruth

Under stress losing the shuttle, leaving an injured member behind, a fallen crew member, trying to keep his crew together, Don felt he was messing up on everything he does. He sure heck needs a good drink and gets drunk.

Don tightened his jaw, clenching his teeth. His hands became a ball of fists. He almost swung at Dallen, and the Guard with a rifle poked his ribs to keep him from trying it.

The Bajoran gave Jael a hard time. He had to stick up for her, and she was under his care. "You..You leave her alone. Yes. Cardassians were wrong as Romulans destroyed the ship, my mother was killed. I hated Romulans," the surviving Romulans turned to hear what Don had to say. "I learn those Romulans were wrong. But it gives me no right to hate ALL Romulans for Captain who ordered the destruction of my mother's ship. Open your eyes. There are good in everyone," except the Borg, Don did not say. "You need to see there good in everyone. Even some of those who hurt had been wrong taking those orders. They could be in fear, or they ---" Don stopped as he was slammed in the head by the butt of the gun.

"You getting bad as the ginger," the Guard said. "Should we gag you all?"

[Ensign Jael Sherem | Mining Facility | Seku IV]

Jael looked on in surprise at Don's sticking up for her. The Bajoran guard who beat her, however, glared furiously at Don. He stormed up to him and smacked his fist across his cheek.

"GOOD?!?!" he snarled. "I for one never knew good! I've spent every day since birth a slave to the spoonheads! My whole family was murdered by those butchers since they claimed Bajor! There were no Prophets for us! Let alone for ME! I was deemed eligible to work as soon as I could crawl! I've seen the blood, the bodies! I've spent twenty years since birth in the strip mines! Then they cart me off to a colony when they up and leave Bajor, but plenty of them have taken their slaves along, me included! I didn't care that the Celestial Temple opened up! I didn't care if there was an Emissary! They were never there for me! Even when the spoonheads had those reptiles from the Dominion backing me up! I hate them all! I hate the spoonheads! Especially the ones who gave me THIS!"

And he jabbed at his brand furiously. "I won't forget them! Especially their leader! Nehor Sherem! I hope he's burning with the Pah-Wraiths somewhere, if he isn't alive already!"

Jael stopped at the name. She stared with horror and was determined not to let slip her name. Even if she and her mother was against her father, it was clear this man regarded a Cardassian an enemy no matter what side they chose.

"And letting them join your Starfleet!" he spat at Don, then literally spitting at him in the face. "You disgust me! You're a disgrace!" And he again slugged Don in the face before he sauntered off on his patrol, but not before he doubled back on Jael and whacked her on the head with the butt of his own rifle.

"GET BACK TO WORK, SPOONHEAD!" he snarled as he did so. It was enough to send Jael sprawling to the ground, and so she painfully got back up and continued work, the tears in her eyes, tears of pain mingled with tears of shame at meeting, apparently, one of her father's former slaves, and she could definitely see he was in servitude even into the Dominion War. She met Don's and Ruth's eyes as she worked and conveyed her anguish to them.

[Ore Processing Area - Seku VI]

Having gotten their point across regarding their complete disregard of Starfleet uniforms, it was clear that whoever theses settlers were, they had gone rogue regardless of their point of origin and were deadly serious about the 'debt' they felt the away team owed.

As they worked crushing rocks with hammers and then separating the ore from the tailings, Blackfeather risked saying to Don in a hushed whisper.

"Coming up on five hours Commander."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr
[USS Challenger - Deck 1 - Bridge]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian bolted upright in the command chair at the reports of neutrinos and tachyons as he new as well as everyone on the bridge that those were signs of a cloaked ship. Gripping the arms of the chair firmly, Ian barked.

"Shields up! Red Alert!"

And when the Khranu uncloaked, the Challenger staggered from multiple hits from the Romulan ship's disruptors. Ian only just held onto his chair and snarled.

"Helm, break hard to port. T'Kel return fire! Battle stations!"

When the plasma torpedoes hit, Ian found himself on the deck, he was uninjured, but stunned by the ferocity of the attack. He lurched back to his chair and added.

"T'Kel. Load aft quantum torpedoes and prepare ta fire them in proximity mode on my mark. Ricky, continue the turn ta port, take us below the galactic plane. When the torpedoes detonate, I want you ta Immelmann the old girl. As soon as we are inverted, T'Kel, hit them with every bloody thing we have ta include harsh language. Ch'Verret. It's time ta let those Valkyries ride!"

As the crew responded with "Aye Sirs", Ian had time to think.

"What the hell has crawled up Thelal's arse? He kens full well we're in Federation space and he's just initiated a war the Romulans can't win?"

For once, Lahr was grateful for the Vulcan tactical officer's swiftness to respond.  The Andorian could see the shields already forming, with no small thanks to his shunt of power in their direction.  The repair teams would just have to suffice with backup power for now.

He was also grateful once more for his standard use of the seat restraints.   Yep.  While others - including the Captain - were being tossed out of their seats, Lahr remained steady at his console.

Without being ordered, Lahr kept up his scans in case there was more than just the one Romulan ship.  One on one Challenger could take the Khranu.  But being outnumbered could be bad.. very bad.

Soon the Captain was back in his seat and issuing fast orders.  The Immelmann maneuver Lahr recognized from his time spent in the Flying Tigers holodeck program.  Well, if anyone could pull it off it was Litt.

Lahr looked over to the Flight officer and took a second to give the man a thumbs up gesture of confidence.

At his own orders Lahr responded with an "Aye sir!" crisply.

With the song already cued up in anticipation of their arrival as his Ruth had requested, all Lahr had to do was hit PLAY and send the comm out at full volume and on all known Romulan channels.  Effectively jamming their communications if there were other ships.

Inside the ship - on the Bridge and in the torpedo room - the song played at a lower volume, making it much more inspirational and less of the distraction it was intended to be for the Romulans.

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[Seku VI - Chain Gang]

Ruth sighed but resignedly shuffled along white studying the knots on the person in front of her.  They weren't particularly well made knots and the Commander had made certain to keep her hands tensed, thus she had some wiggle room to do things...not enough to free herself but...

Standing as close to Jael as she could manage without pulling the person behind her off her feet as they worked solidly she kicked little stones in the Counsellor's direction until she noticed her then mouthed.

"You OK?  Meanie there is very anti-Cardassians.  I heard what he said."  Ruth was determined not to say the name in case it warranted even more unfair treatment of the poor girl by her side.  She was glad however to see that Don took care of his charges seriously and had stood up for her, even if she had bristled at the anti-Cardassian feeling and herself being called 'the Ginger'.  Her Lahr loved her hair, she didn't care what others thought it was just that the guard had used it as an insult.

Humming 'Ride of the Valkyries' under her breath she made sure that the members of the Challenger crew around her could hear her and had at least glanced her direction and made stabbing motions with the tool she was using in time with the music so to their captors it would just look like she was using the movement to give her some kind of rhythm.

"Duh duh duh DUN DUN (the tool thrust forward in a stabbing motion) dur dur duh DUN DUN (again the motion...) duh duh duh DUUUUUUUUUUUH (the tool swung down and stabbed directly down like someone pushing a knife into the back of a neck) duh duh duh duhhhhhhhhh...." and Ruth pointedly looked at her right leg where her boot knife was stashed.  Hopefully someone on the crew would get the message or her beloved Lahr and the Challenger would arrive soon enough, along with an altogether better rendition of 'her' battlesong!

"Let's hope Lahr has my song cued up cuz my humming isn't much good and I can't whistle except for calling horses!" she said with a small smile.  "Chin up guys, I'm sure we'll be out of here soon."

She worded it thus so their captors didn't get wind of the proposed retrieval.  She just hoped that with the exception of Lowe, for whom locking onto a life sign might be rather obsolete, that Ops, be it Lahr or Grelek, had locked onto their lifesigns since not all of them had commbadges now.

[Don Damien Addams]

[Seku VI - Chain Gang]

They got five hours of hard work to do. The Commander will be sure his people have good energy, and if they need a break, he is confident they get one. Even that means a good beating on him.

What Don can see Jael was feeling she was being targeted by that Bajoran. "Ensign, do your best to ignore him," Don to Jael. "They just trying to make themself feel better; they were hurt once too. And everyone tries to pace your energy...five hours or less of work here."

Don heard that tone once before the Ride of the Valkyries, and he whistled as they worked the same beat. He knew they had to time things right to make things be a green light.

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[Seku VI - Chain Gang]

They got five hours of hard work to do. The Commander will be sure his people have good energy, and if they need a break, he is confident they get one. Even that means a good beating on him.

What Don can see Jael was feeling she was being targeted by that Bajoran. "Ensign, do your best to ignore him," Don to Jael. "They just trying to make themself feel better; they were hurt once too. And everyone tries to pace your energy...five hours or less of work here."

Don heard that tone once before the Ride of the Valkyries, and he whistled as they worked the same beat. He knew they had to time things right to make things be a green light.

[Chain Gang - Seku VI]

Ruth grinned as Don started whistling "We should get DJ Lahr to do a remix of this, you whistling, me... well I can't whistle but I'm pretty good with a bass guitar!" she said with a giggle.

Keeping spirits up was a large part of getting through this and she smiled kindly at Jael.  "Commander Addams is right, unpleasant tho it is, both that ass targeting you to bully and this um... healthy exercise!  So we think about more pleasant things... So... if we were forming a band, would you play an instrument, sing, bang rocks together?"

[Jael Sherem]

[Ore Processing Area - Seku VI]

Having gotten their point across regarding their complete disregard of Starfleet uniforms, it was clear that whoever theses settlers were, they had gone rogue regardless of their point of origin and were deadly serious about the 'debt' they felt the away team owed.

As they worked crushing rocks with hammers and then separating the ore from the tailings, Blackfeather risked saying to Don in a hushed whisper.

"Coming up on five hours Commander."

[Seku VI - Chain Gang]

Ruth sighed but resignedly shuffled along white studying the knots on the person in front of her.  They weren't particularly well made knots and the Commander had made certain to keep her hands tensed, thus she had some wiggle room to do things...not enough to free herself but...

Standing as close to Jael as she could manage without pulling the person behind her off her feet as they worked solidly she kicked little stones in the Counsellor's direction until she noticed her then mouthed.

"You OK?  Meanie there is very anti-Cardassians.  I heard what he said."  Ruth was determined not to say the name in case it warranted even more unfair treatment of the poor girl by her side.  She was glad however to see that Don took care of his charges seriously and had stood up for her, even if she had bristled at the anti-Cardassian feeling and herself being called 'the Ginger'.  Her Lahr loved her hair, she didn't care what others thought it was just that the guard had used it as an insult.

Humming 'Ride of the Valkyries' under her breath she made sure that the members of the Challenger crew around her could hear her and had at least glanced her direction and made stabbing motions with the tool she was using in time with the music so to their captors it would just look like she was using the movement to give her some kind of rhythm.

"Duh duh duh DUN DUN (the tool thrust forward in a stabbing motion) dur dur duh DUN DUN (again the motion...) duh duh duh DUUUUUUUUUUUH (the tool swung down and stabbed directly down like someone pushing a knife into the back of a neck) duh duh duh duhhhhhhhhh...." and Ruth pointedly looked at her right leg where her boot knife was stashed.  Hopefully someone on the crew would get the message or her beloved Lahr and the Challenger would arrive soon enough, along with an altogether better rendition of 'her' battlesong!

"Let's hope Lahr has my song cued up cuz my humming isn't much good and I can't whistle except for calling horses!" she said with a small smile.  "Chin up guys, I'm sure we'll be out of here soon."

She worded it thus so their captors didn't get wind of the proposed retrieval.  She just hoped that with the exception of Lowe, for whom locking onto a life sign might be rather obsolete, that Ops, be it Lahr or Grelek, had locked onto their lifesigns since not all of them had commbadges now.

[Seku VI - Chain Gang]

They got five hours of hard work to do. The Commander will be sure his people have good energy, and if they need a break, he is confident they get one. Even that means a good beating on him.

What Don can see Jael was feeling she was being targeted by that Bajoran. "Ensign, do your best to ignore him," Don to Jael. "They just trying to make themself feel better; they were hurt once too. And everyone tries to pace your energy...five hours or less of work here."

Don heard that tone once before the Ride of the Valkyries, and he whistled as they worked the same beat. He knew they had to time things right to make things be a green light.

[Chain Gang - Seku VI]

Ruth grinned as Don started whistling "We should get DJ Lahr to do a remix of this, you whistling, me... well I can't whistle but I'm pretty good with a bass guitar!" she said with a giggle.

Keeping spirits up was a large part of getting through this and she smiled kindly at Jael.  "Commander Addams is right, unpleasant tho it is, both that ass targeting you to bully and this um... healthy exercise!  So we think about more pleasant things... So... if we were forming a band, would you play an instrument, sing, bang rocks together?"

[Ensign Jael Sherem | Chain Gang | Ore Processing Facility | Seku IV]

Five hours. It was feeling more like five millennia. Every so often, the Bajoran guard would come to beat her, often using the butt of his rifle like a bat, swinging it on her back, her abdomen, even her head once. Then he'd follow up with using a fist. He did it as an excuse that she wasn't working hard enough or fast enough, which was true because she was in so much pain.

By now, after five hours, Jael had lost enough teeth that it was obvious just from any smile or grimace she made, punctuated with the dripping black blood from her mouth. Her eye, particularly the one blinded earlier by the blood of her concussion, was puffy enough that she could barely see out of it. And she was moving so slowly she'd make a geriatric with a cane jealous. Her outer uniform was in tatters, showing the blue jumpsuit, and so the blood was more poignant to see on.

Jael had scowled earlier when Ruth called her tormentor "meanie," like he was fifty months old instead of fifty years. Like this was a schoolyard bully. This was much more serious than that. Later, when Don told her to do her best to ignore her, Jael actually turned to face him, a scowl of pain in her face, her mouth baring a grimace with many missing teeth and a strand of blood seeping.

"Ignore...him?" she said through the pain. "Hard to do...when he regularly...drops by...to beat me..."

She could barely talk, taking in some breaths at intervals. She was wondering if a rib was broken and punctured her lung.

Then she turned on Ruth and said, "You're not...having a former...Bajoran slave...coming by so much...to..."

And she gestured at all of her to indicate what he as done to her. Indeed, if she wasn't thinking of the pain, she was thinking that she never imagined the day she would meet a former Bajoran slave, let alone one who used to work under her father, filled with that level of hate, and that this was an atrocious colony. Her one hope was Challenger would be coming, though Jael hoped that the Captain would bring a bigger party than what they brought down.

It was her bad luck to be standing still (as if she didn't have enough bad luck already) that the Bajoran came back.

"Oh, did you think Mom and Dad would make you feel better?" he said sarcastically. "FAT CHANCE!"

And he swung the butt of his rifle like a bat again and sent Jael sprawling to the ground, another tooth flying, before he struck her body with it like an executioner's axe.

A waterboy who was coming by with the water was just giving water to the Romulan prisoners when he looked up and saw what the Bajoran was doing.

"Stop it! Galen Mal, stop it!" he snapped. The Bajoran, Galen Mal, glared back at him as he continued, "she's had enough!"

"You don't know what it was like for me! Nobody here does!" he snarled. "There was no such thing as enough! And don't give her any water. We never had water or breaks! I want her to die! Like how everybody around me did under her fellow spoonheads!"

"Take any lessons in barbarism, Mal?" scowled the waterboy.

"Yes I did," he said. "From her people!"

And as he stepped away to make his rounds, he stopped a moment and struck Don and Ruth with his rifle like a bat in like fashion.

"And that was for your little adoption of a spoonhead, Mom and Dad!" he snarled. It was an allegorical joke on his part, calling Don and Ruth "Mom and Dad" compared to Jael. Then he took notice of Blackfeather. He looked at him long and hard; he never took notice of Blackfeather much, his attention was always on Jael. He knew a yellow security uniform when he saw one, and he knew a Starfleet security officer when he saw one, seeing as they were there when they freed the slaves in his camp.

This one could be a problem, he thought to himself before moving off, and all thoughts of Blackfeather were expelled from his mind as he was thinking with relish of what fresh beatings he could give Jael next.

Once Galen Mal was gone, the waterbody, making sure he was gone, gave water first to Jael, who took it in appreciation, and then to Don and Ruth.

"I'm so sorry about this," he whispered. "I don't even know why the hell Drallen let him in. Well, he seems a fit anyway, what with his record, since he was found in that Dominion slave camp."

And he took off before Mal could come back, as fast as he could; the Bajoran mercenary turned thug turned monster scared him.