S4: E9 - The Sheriff of Gothos

[Mondo'li Nari]

Edge of Gothos City - Rogue Planet - Larn System

Mondo smirked at his superior officer's humor at the ludicrous position they were in, having articles disappeared off of their person at the whims of some powerful puppetmaster.

Then something new developed.  Mondo eyed the approaching Romulan, and frowned somewhat as the officer asked to speak with 'humans.'  Why did homogenous nations always seem to assume that 'humans' were the default standard species in charge of anything important within the Federation?

Mondo glanced to Briggs and Wessex, and considered the Captain, and his frown deepened.

In any event, this was not the time nor the place to correct the Romulan's misguided notion, or consider whether it had any validity.  Instead, Mondo continued to watch the approaching Romulan and leaned close to Lieutenant Wessex.

"Do you wish me to circle wide to take a flanking position, Sir?"

Only then did it occur to him that the Romulans might have done the same, using this overture as a distraction.  The Hupyrian turned his head, looking all around them for places where an enemy might take cover or attempt an unseen approach.

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

When Lahr sent out the standard hail, as expected there wasn't a reply. Just like the engines and transporters, the communication system had power and diagnostics showed that there was nothing wrong, but the signal did not go out. Annoyed, but not surprised, Lahr did however have the system set to receive the widest possible band of frequencies and that turned out to have results. Lahr noted a weak signal, easily mistaken for background radiation on the lowest frequency band and its signature was Romulan! Once aware of the signal, Lahr cleaned up the transmission and picked up the following.

"Federation vessel. We are aware of your new weapon and will do all in our power to resist any attempt to board this ship. Your actions constitute an act of war and the Praetor will hear of this outrage. These images you are sending clearly show you are the aggressors here with your unlawful detention and attack on our crew. Even now we are endeavoring to counteract your new weapon and as soon as we have overcome it, we will destroy you.

"Federation vessel..."

The message repeated and seemed to be on continuous loop.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Crewman Groktar went to the replicator and found that they were fully functional. Once they produced the requested items, he brought them to Ruth.

"Here you go Sir. At least one system is working."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

"Ah thank you Grotkar.  Since we are sitting here anyone else want anything??" she said almost toasting them with the mug of Ratkajino.  "I don't think Captain Galloway would mind this once."

Her idea to send Lahr a message using Hangman was interesting, and she marked out _ _ / _ _ / _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ / _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _?

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

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

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

When Lahr sent out the standard hail, as expected there wasn't a reply. Just like the engines and transporters, the communication system had power and diagnostics showed that there was nothing wrong, but the signal did not go out. Annoyed, but not surprised, Lahr did however have the system set to receive the widest possible band of frequencies and that turned out to have results. Lahr noted a weak signal, easily mistaken for background radiation on the lowest frequency band and its signature was Romulan! Once aware of the signal, Lahr cleaned up the transmission and picked up the following.

"Federation vessel. We are aware of your new weapon and will do all in our power to resist any attempt to board this ship. Your actions constitute an act of war and the Praetor will hear of this outrage. These images you are sending clearly show you are the aggressors here with your unlawful detention and attack on our crew. Even now we are endeavoring to counteract your new weapon and as soon as we have overcome it, we will destroy you.

"Federation vessel..."

The message repeated and seemed to be on continuous loop.

He took the paper and pencil, when offered, looking at them curiously.  It reminded him of his 'punishment' hand-written note-taking of past Department Head meetings when Ruth was Captain.   His antenna swiveled about perplexed.  He wondered what this 'game' she was suggesting was actually for.   Could it be as simple as 'passing notes'?

For the moment he set aside the items and considered the transmission he'd received.  He hadn't yet informed Ruth about his receiving it - concerned that Trelane would overhear his comment and then stop that communication as well.

Why had the Romulan's been able to send a signal through? Was it just the low frequency?  Or was this more bait from Trelane.  Wanting them to threaten one another.  It seemed like a childish thing to do - stir up trouble.

Lahr glanced back over his shoulder towards Ruth and then to the paper sitting on his desk.  Did he dare send a note? Bah, that seemed overly obvious to the Andorian, and so not Lahr.  He'd try something more him.

Lahr worked his console a moment mixing the Romulan transmission into Ruth's favorite song and sent it to her console.

"Hey Babe," he used her pet-name on the bridge to signal to her that this was important and to pay close attention.  "Since we have time to kill, I've just done up for you a new remix of your fav.  Take a listen on yer ear buds.  The low beats are especially fine.  You can filter more into the foreground if you adjust yer bass a bit.  Am hoping that this will be all the rage and with this I can send my music out to the stars.  Tell me what you think."

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

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

He took the paper and pencil, when offered, looking at them curiously.  It reminded him of his 'punishment' hand-written note-taking of past Department Head meetings when Ruth was Captain.   His antenna swiveled about perplexed.  He wondered what this 'game' she was suggesting was actually for.   Could it be as simple as 'passing notes'?

For the moment he set aside the items and considered the transmission he'd received.  He hadn't yet informed Ruth about his receiving it - concerned that Trelane would overhear his comment and then stop that communication as well.

Why had the Romulan's been able to send a signal through? Was it just the low frequency?  Or was this more bait from Trelane.  Wanting them to threaten one another.  It seemed like a childish thing to do - stir up trouble.

Lahr glanced back over his shoulder towards Ruth and then to the paper sitting on his desk.  Did he dare send a note? Bah, that seemed overly obvious to the Andorian, and so not Lahr.  He'd try something more him.

Lahr worked his console a moment mixing the Romulan transmission into Ruth's favorite song and sent it to her console.

"Hey Babe," he used her pet-name on the bridge to signal to her that this was important and to pay close attention.  "Since we have time to kill, I've just done up for you a new remix of your fav.  Take a listen on yer ear buds.  The low beats are especially fine.  You can filter more into the foreground if you adjust yer bass a bit.  Am hoping that this will be all the rage and with this I can send my music out to the stars.  Tell me what you think."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

"You choose a letter and if you get it right I tell you where they go, get it wrong I start drawing in the gallows.  Simple as that!" Ruth said indicating the paper.  "People traditionally go for vowels." She gave him a look which between the two of them knowing each other as well as they did, it wouldn't take an empath to work out there was more to the 'game' than just something to while away the time.

Her eyebrows shot into her hairline and she gave him a hard look when Lahr called her 'Babe' but she figured there was something special in the music so she popped in her earbud and listened.  If her eyebrows had been raising at Lahr's use of her nickname, they positively disappeared into her hairline when she heard the message played out.

Hoping Lahr picked up on what she was doing she started tapping her right foot tapping out a message in Morse Code.

"Gotta love a good bass beat!" she said pointedly giving a look at her feet during one of her famous neck rolls.

Once she was sure that Lahr was at least hearing the taps of her foot she started a message which said "WOT U THINK? IDEAS? ROMULANS KNOW WE HERE.  BRAZEN OUT OR NEGOTIATION? SEND NEW MESSAGE TO ME VIA BUDS."

[Paul Wessex]

[Edge of Gothos City - Rogue Planet - Larn System]

As the away team contemplated what to do next, Paul caught movement out of the corner of his eye and spotted the Romulan away team some fifty meters away, well out of range of the crude pistols both sides carried. One of the Romulans approached with his arms at his side, but extended forward at the elbow with the palms up to show he was not armed. He closed to ten meters and stopped.

"Humans, I would speak with you."

Edge of Gothos City - Rogue Planet - Larn System

Mondo smirked at his superior officer's humor at the ludicrous position they were in, having articles disappeared off of their person at the whims of some powerful puppetmaster.

Then something new developed.  Mondo eyed the approaching Romulan, and frowned somewhat as the officer asked to speak with 'humans.'  Why did homogenous nations always seem to assume that 'humans' were the default standard species in charge of anything important within the Federation?

Mondo glanced to Briggs and Wessex, and considered the Captain, and his frown deepened.

In any event, this was not the time nor the place to correct the Romulan's misguided notion, or consider whether it had any validity.  Instead, Mondo continued to watch the approaching Romulan and leaned close to Lieutenant Wessex.

"Do you wish me to circle wide to take a flanking position, Sir?"

Only then did it occur to him that the Romulans might have done the same, using this overture as a distraction.  The Hupyrian turned his head, looking all around them for places where an enemy might take cover or attempt an unseen approach.

Wessex slid a glance to Nari, appreciating the sensible precaution. "Much obliged, Mister Nari" he replied softly. "But" he added, perhaps unnecessary, given the Petty Officer's significant expertise, "please take no direct action until the situation is clearly egregious to our safety."

At that, Wessex moved forward towards the Romulan, matching his gesture. "And we, you!" he called back. "Leftenant Paul Wessex; a pleasure to make your acquaintance. To whom am I addressing? I trust you've come to the same conclusion as the nature of our common quandary?"

[Ian Galloway]

[Edge of Gothos City - Rogue Planet - Larn System]

Wessex slid a glance to Nari, appreciating the sensible precaution. "Much obliged, Mister Nari" he replied softly. "But" he added, perhaps unnecessary, given the Petty Officer's significant expertise, "please take no direct action until the situation is clearly egregious to our safety."

At that, Wessex moved forward towards the Romulan, matching his gesture. "And we, you!" he called back. "Leftenant Paul Wessex; a pleasure to make your acquaintance. To whom am I addressing? I trust you've come to the same conclusion as the nature of our common quandary?"

[Edge of Gothos City - Rogue Planet - Larn System]

The Romulan looked Paul up and down making a hard assessment before he replied coldly.

"I am Sub-Lieutenant Vekiron. I do not know of this 'common quandary' of which you speak. Somehow, you have beamed us into one of your holodecks for some unknown purpose and we demand that you end this farcical charade. Whatever these trappings of... wherever this is supposed to be, are clearly of human origin and we will not participate any longer to whatever end you intend."

The Romulan then waited for Paul or anyone in the away team to reply.

[Jettis Jyur]

[Edge of Gothos City - Rogue Planet - Larn System]

The Romulan looked Paul up and down making a hard assessment before he replied coldly.

"I am Sub-Lieutenant Vekiron. I do not know of this 'common quandary' of which you speak. Somehow, you have beamed us into one of your holodecks for some unknown purpose and we demand that you end this farcical charade. Whatever these trappings of... wherever this is supposed to be, are clearly of human origin and we will not participate any longer to whatever end you intend."

The Romulan then waited for Paul or anyone in the away team to reply.

[Outside City Limits - Rogue Planet]

Jettis was lost in thought as the Away Team proceeded. The news, and task of finding some kind of power-magnifier had urged him to recall every detail of their last experience. Anything that had seemed... Odd, or out of the ordinary. There were many things that had struck him as "wrong", but what exactly could it have been?

Soon however, they were faced with a more pressing predicament. The Romulan away team they had just been in a firefight with approached, evidently unarmed and hoping for.. peace?
Paul was the first to speak up, although the rest of the security team was immediately put at unease. Matching the other two's gesture - palms out, showing he had no intention of aggression - he stole a glance at Vekiron's other team members, then back.

"Sub-Lieutenant, I can assure you none of this is our doing. We do not wish to have any hostilities." Pausing, he motioned towards Gothos City vaguely. "The Sheriff, or so called Sheriff is running some sort of game he wants us both to participate in. And it seems he will stop at nowhere to make sure we play along." Maybe if they could convince the Romulans that they had a common enemy, they wouldn't have to run out this ridiculous simulation. Jettis feared it wasn't as simple as that however, and that might only enrage Trelane more. Whoever it was he had hostage right now, was likely in danger, and they couldn't spend all day negotiating with the Romulans. He also didn't want to prematurely reveal the valuable information the bridge had passed on - it could easily be some sort of red herring, or cause more issues. For now he would stick with trying to convince them they weren't the enemy.

[Kyle Briggs]

"Challenger to Away Team.  The Captain has been captured and is being held in the jailhouse by the Sheriff Trelane.  He's 'Highland Joe'.  If there's any intel you need on the jailhouse, let me know.  Currently, we have eyes on the Captain." 

"Great. Another game." Kyle said as he reached for his comm badge. Before his fingers could even brush the metal, the badge disappeared. "They really should just embed those damn things into us." he quipped.

They continued making their way to the outskirts of town until they were at an advantage point to see the jail that now apparently held their captain. As they paused to take in the situation, Kyle heard movement behind him.

A Romulan was approaching and asking to speak. As head of security in the away team, Wessex moved to engage an the two men spoke about the current situation. While the Federation team had ascertained the issue they were trapped in and the Romulans believed it was the Federation. Jettis stepped up to assist with the explanation. It was well in hand, so Kyle turned his attention back to the captain's location.

"We need to figure out a way in there." he said aloud to no one specific before actually looking back at the rest of the team and nodding toward Wessex. "Let's see what those guys figure out. Maybe we can team up and have an advantage."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

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

[Bridge - USS Challenger] (moments before)

"Ah thank you Grotkar.  Since we are sitting here anyone else want anything??" she said almost toasting them with the mug of Ratkajino.  "I don't think Captain Galloway would mind this once."

Her idea to send Lahr a message using Hangman was interesting, and she marked out _ _ / _ _ / _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ / _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _?

Busy cleaning up the Romulan transmission, Lahr didn't answer Ruth's question regarding a drink, and barely looked up to see as she showed off her piece of paper.  He had no clue what the lower-case dashes and forward slashes meant.  His expression showed confusion.  The question mark at the end kind of implied that it was a question.   Bah, he'd deal with it later.  Right now, he needed to focus on clearing up the Romulan message and figure out a way to inform Ruth of it without letting on that they had received a communication.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

"You choose a letter and if you get it right I tell you where they go, get it wrong I start drawing in the gallows.  Simple as that!" Ruth said indicating the paper.  "People traditionally go for vowels." She gave him a look which between the two of them knowing each other as well as they did, it wouldn't take an empath to work out there was more to the 'game' than just something to while away the time.

Her eyebrows shot into her hairline and she gave him a hard look when Lahr called her 'Babe' but she figured there was something special in the music so she popped in her earbud and listened.  If her eyebrows had been raising at Lahr's use of her nickname, they positively disappeared into her hairline when she heard the message played out.

Hoping Lahr picked up on what she was doing she started tapping her right foot tapping out a message in Morse Code.

"Gotta love a good bass beat!" she said pointedly giving a look at her feet during one of her famous neck rolls.

Once she was sure that Lahr was at least hearing the taps of her foot she started a message which said "WOT U THINK? IDEAS? ROMULANS KNOW WE HERE.  BRAZEN OUT OR NEGOTIATION? SEND NEW MESSAGE TO ME VIA BUDS."

Ruth's explanation of the rules of her game was barely acknowledged by the Andorian while Lahr worked on mixing the Romulan transmission with her favorite tune.   It was only while she was listening to the message that Lahr turned his attention to the paper which she had showed him earlier with the dashes and slashes and was able to piece together what the rules meant.  Her suggestion of asking for vowels first made sense.   Lahr wrote down E and then waited for Ruth to indicate which dashes he could replace with the very common vowel.   This was delayed by the fact that Ruth was now listening to the Romulan transmission (mixed with the Ride of the Valkyries).

He wasn't sure how Ruth would acknowledge the message discreetly, but it didn't take the Andorian long to put together Ruth's comment and pointed glance down to her feet, with the uncharacteristic and oddly timed foot tapping,  and come up with Morse Code.   Lahr didn't dare access the ship's database on the code (in concern of potentially giving away their use of it) and instead strained his memory to recall the code from the many times he'd used it.

Roozh! Lahr promised himself after this he would memorize the damn code so he wouldn't ever have this problem again.

Since Lahr knew he couldn't translate the code in his head.   He used the paper and pencil to transcribe the code Ruth was tapping in amongst a bit of doodling.  Then in a backwards order tried to decipher the letters he knew S, O, T, E, H, I.   In a way, it reminded him of Ruth's 'hanging man' game with the gaps in the words:

.-- O T / ..- / T H I -. -.- ..--.. / I -.. E .- S ..--.. / .-. O -- ..- .-.. .- -. S / -.- -. O .-- / .-- E / .... E .-. E .-.-.- / -... .-. .- --.. E -. / O ..- T / O .-. / -. E --. O - .. .- - I O -. ..--.. / S E -. -.. / -. E .-- / -- E S S .- --. E / T O / -- E / ...- I .- / -... ..- -.. S .-.-.-

He also recalled that the 6-bit codes were the end of the sentence symbols but didn't recall which was which - period or question mark.

.-- O T / ..- / T H I -. -.-  (?.)/ I -.. E .- S (?.) / .-. O -- ..- .-.. .- -. S / -.- -. O .-- / .-- E / .... E .-. E (?.)/ -... .-. .- --.. E -. / O ..- T / O .-. / -. E --. O - .. .- - I O -. ..--.. / S E -. -.. / -. E .-- / -- E S S .- --. E / T O / -- E / ...- I .- / -... ..- -.. S (?.)

By the placement of the one letter word ..-  Lahr translated the code as A, since he already knew what code the letter 'I' was.

.-- O T / A / T H I -. -.-  (?.)/ I -.. E .- S (?.) / .-. O -- A .-.. .- -. S / -.- -. O .-- / .-- E / .... E .-. E (?.)/ -... .-. .- --.. E -. / O A T / O .-. / -. E --. O - .. .- - I O -. ..--.. / S E -. -.. / -. E .-- / -- E S S .- --. E / T O / -- E / ...- I .- / -... A -.. S (?.)

The Andorian wondered what an 'oat' had to do with Trelane or the Romulans?  It made no sense and Lahr worried that he'd misremembered one of the letters.   Damn, he wished he could just run the code through the translator and be done with it!   With a sigh he continued on..

The first word (missing a single letter) had several possible translations G - Got, N - Not, H - Hot (but he already knew the code for H and .-- wasn't it), D - Dot, C - Cot.  Hoping to determine which of these the .-- was looked for other words with that specific code and found it as part of a two letter word. ( .-- E ).  Yes!  This could be solve his problem..  but no GE (not a word), NE  (not a word), DE (not a word) CE (not a word)... what the Hell?!  Had he gotten the translation of H wrong after all?

Lahr scribbled over his attempted translation in frustration.  This wasn't gonna work without the key... which he couldn't risk calling up... which left the only source as Ruth.

By now several minutes had passed and Ruth no doubt was expecting him to have deciphered this by now.  He hated to disappoint her.

"Yeah bass beats are great, but I find I'm a bit a novice with them and I've got to learn them again, and practice them anew like my A B C's"

[Ian Galloway]

[Outside City Limits - Rogue Planet]

Jettis was lost in thought as the Away Team proceeded. The news, and task of finding some kind of power-magnifier had urged him to recall every detail of their last experience. Anything that had seemed... Odd, or out of the ordinary. There were many things that had struck him as "wrong", but what exactly could it have been?

Soon however, they were faced with a more pressing predicament. The Romulan away team they had just been in a firefight with approached, evidently unarmed and hoping for.. peace?
Paul was the first to speak up, although the rest of the security team was immediately put at unease. Matching the other two's gesture - palms out, showing he had no intention of aggression - he stole a glance at Vekiron's other team members, then back.

"Sub-Lieutenant, I can assure you none of this is our doing. We do not wish to have any hostilities." Pausing, he motioned towards Gothos City vaguely. "The Sheriff, or so called Sheriff is running some sort of game he wants us both to participate in. And it seems he will stop at nowhere to make sure we play along." Maybe if they could convince the Romulans that they had a common enemy, they wouldn't have to run out this ridiculous simulation. Jettis feared it wasn't as simple as that however, and that might only enrage Trelane more. Whoever it was he had hostage right now, was likely in danger, and they couldn't spend all day negotiating with the Romulans. He also didn't want to prematurely reveal the valuable information the bridge had passed on - it could easily be some sort of red herring, or cause more issues. For now he would stick with trying to convince them they weren't the enemy.

"Great. Another game." Kyle said as he reached for his comm badge. Before his fingers could even brush the metal, the badge disappeared. "They really should just embed those damn things into us." he quipped.

They continued making their way to the outskirts of town until they were at an advantage point to see the jail that now apparently held their captain. As they paused to take in the situation, Kyle heard movement behind him.

A Romulan was approaching and asking to speak. As head of security in the away team, Wessex moved to engage an the two men spoke about the current situation. While the Federation team had ascertained the issue they were trapped in and the Romulans believed it was the Federation. Jettis stepped up to assist with the explanation. It was well in hand, so Kyle turned his attention back to the captain's location.

"We need to figure out a way in there." he said aloud to no one specific before actually looking back at the rest of the team and nodding toward Wessex. "Let's see what those guys figure out. Maybe we can team up and have an advantage."

[Outside Gothos City - Rogue Planet - Larn System]

The Romulan eyed the away team suspiciously, which for a Romulan was a default way of looking at anyone. He seemed to be weighing his words very carefully, before he finally spoke.

"Are you expecting me to believe that this is not your doing? Everything about this program clearly points to Earth and this 'sheriff' is a human, yet you say this is all a game not of your creation? I do not understand why your perceive me to be a fool. Now, if you would have me believe you, I suggest you start with the truth."

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

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

Busy cleaning up the Romulan transmission, Lahr didn't answer Ruth's question regarding a drink, and barely looked up to see as she showed off her piece of paper.  He had no clue what the lower-case dashes and forward slashes meant.  His expression showed confusion.  The question mark at the end kind of implied that it was a question.   Bah, he'd deal with it later.  Right now, he needed to focus on clearing up the Romulan message and figure out a way to inform Ruth of it without letting on that they had received a communication.

Ruth's explanation of the rules of her game was barely acknowledged by the Andorian while Lahr worked on mixing the Romulan transmission with her favorite tune.   It was only while she was listening to the message that Lahr turned his attention to the paper which she had showed him earlier with the dashes and slashes and was able to piece together what the rules meant.  Her suggestion of asking for vowels first made sense.   Lahr wrote down E and then waited for Ruth to indicate which dashes he could replace with the very common vowel.   This was delayed by the fact that Ruth was now listening to the Romulan transmission (mixed with the Ride of the Valkyries).

He wasn't sure how Ruth would acknowledge the message discreetly, but it didn't take the Andorian long to put together Ruth's comment and pointed glance down to her feet, with the uncharacteristic and oddly timed foot tapping,  and come up with Morse Code.   Lahr didn't dare access the ship's database on the code (in concern of potentially giving away their use of it) and instead strained his memory to recall the code from the many times he'd used it.

Roozh! Lahr promised himself after this he would memorize the damn code so he wouldn't ever have this problem again.

Since Lahr knew he couldn't translate the code in his head.   He used the paper and pencil to transcribe the code Ruth was tapping in amongst a bit of doodling.  Then in a backwards order tried to decipher the letters he knew S, O, T, E, H, I.   In a way, it reminded him of Ruth's 'hanging man' game with the gaps in the words:

.-- O T / ..- / T H I -. -.- ..--.. / I -.. E .- S ..--.. / .-. O -- ..- .-.. .- -. S / -.- -. O .-- / .-- E / .... E .-. E .-.-.- / -... .-. .- --.. E -. / O ..- T / O .-. / -. E --. O - .. .- - I O -. ..--.. / S E -. -.. / -. E .-- / -- E S S .- --. E / T O / -- E / ...- I .- / -... ..- -.. S .-.-.-

He also recalled that the 6-bit codes were the end of the sentence symbols but didn't recall which was which - period or question mark.

.-- O T / ..- / T H I -. -.-  (?.)/ I -.. E .- S (?.) / .-. O -- ..- .-.. .- -. S / -.- -. O .-- / .-- E / .... E .-. E (?.)/ -... .-. .- --.. E -. / O ..- T / O .-. / -. E --. O - .. .- - I O -. ..--.. / S E -. -.. / -. E .-- / -- E S S .- --. E / T O / -- E / ...- I .- / -... ..- -.. S (?.)

By the placement of the one letter word ..-  Lahr translated the code as A, since he already knew what code the letter 'I' was.

.-- O T / A / T H I -. -.-  (?.)/ I -.. E .- S (?.) / .-. O -- A .-.. .- -. S / -.- -. O .-- / .-- E / .... E .-. E (?.)/ -... .-. .- --.. E -. / O A T / O .-. / -. E --. O - .. .- - I O -. ..--.. / S E -. -.. / -. E .-- / -- E S S .- --. E / T O / -- E / ...- I .- / -... A -.. S (?.)

The Andorian wondered what an 'oat' had to do with Trelane or the Romulans?  It made no sense and Lahr worried that he'd misremembered one of the letters.   Damn, he wished he could just run the code through the translator and be done with it!   With a sigh he continued on..

The first word (missing a single letter) had several possible translations G - Got, N - Not, H - Hot (but he already knew the code for H and .-- wasn't it), D - Dot, C - Cot.  Hoping to determine which of these the .-- was looked for other words with that specific code and found it as part of a two letter word. ( .-- E ).  Yes!  This could be solve his problem..  but no GE (not a word), NE  (not a word), DE (not a word) CE (not a word)... what the Hell?!  Had he gotten the translation of H wrong after all?

Lahr scribbled over his attempted translation in frustration.  This wasn't gonna work without the key... which he couldn't risk calling up... which left the only source as Ruth.

By now several minutes had passed and Ruth no doubt was expecting him to have deciphered this by now.  He hated to disappoint her.

"Yeah bass beats are great, but I find I'm a bit a novice with them and I've got to learn them again, and practice them anew like my A B C's"

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

Ruth frowned a little at Lahr's cryptic message in his reply to her but was glad he'd noticed it.  Thinking fast she replied while moving her hands.  She kept her hand on the armrest but made sure that he'd seen and using the American Sign language symbols spelled out what she'd tapped out in morse.

"That is a handy skill to have knowing your ABCs you know.  Pays to have Thinky People around to help! Or you could have your neck in a noose about it... or least be for the chop when it comes to your job.  Elementary, my dear Watson!"

Most people would think she'd gone totally crackers, but Lahr hopefully remembered her love of the Sherlock Holmes books and Watson being Holmes' sidekick.  Thus, what she said was a clue.

"I think everyone should all know this piece of music, perhaps we could get them to join in humming along or something?"  she hoped that wasn't so vague as to mean 'Get onto the Romulans, somehow. Find out what the hell they're on about!'

[Jettis Jyur]

[Outside Gothos City - Rogue Planet - Larn System]

The Romulan eyed the away team suspiciously, which for a Romulan was a default way of looking at anyone. He seemed to be weighing his words very carefully, before he finally spoke.

"Are you expecting me to believe that this is not your doing? Everything about this program clearly points to Earth and this 'sheriff' is a human, yet you say this is all a game not of your creation? I do not understand why your perceive me to be a fool. Now, if you would have me believe you, I suggest you start with the truth."

[Outside City Limits - Rogue Planet]

Jettis cringed as he realized the absurdity of his statement. He could completely understand their disbelief - it seemed absurd. Sucking in a deep breath, he realized perhaps they would have to show their hand a little bit more.

"Our ship, the USS Challenger was sent in to investigate complaints from local merchants in this area. That there was an uncharted, undocumented planet, that seemingly appeared. We were scanned by some unknown source, and then you saw what happened next - the planet just appeared. Right in front of us, between our two ships."

He paused, trying to assess and feel out what the Romulans were thinking. Were they still in total disbelief, or did they have some level of mutual understanding? Perhaps they had the exact same experience, and would be more likely to  believe him. "When the away team was sent down we were stripped of our hazard suits and given these," he motioned to his outfit, "And so we set off to discover the cause. That brings us here." He hoped the recap would be acceptable, and he shot a glance at his fellow crewmates, if they wanted to add anything.

"We have no control over this simulation, and we have no cause to keep you here. We're extending the offer - we work together, and escape this hell twice as quickly than if we fight each other."

[Ian Galloway]

[Outside City Limits - Rogue Planet]

Jettis cringed as he realized the absurdity of his statement. He could completely understand their disbelief - it seemed absurd. Sucking in a deep breath, he realized perhaps they would have to show their hand a little bit more.

"Our ship, the USS Challenger was sent in to investigate complaints from local merchants in this area. That there was an uncharted, undocumented planet, that seemingly appeared. We were scanned by some unknown source, and then you saw what happened next - the planet just appeared. Right in front of us, between our two ships."

He paused, trying to assess and feel out what the Romulans were thinking. Were they still in total disbelief, or did they have some level of mutual understanding? Perhaps they had the exact same experience, and would be more likely to  believe him. "When the away team was sent down we were stripped of our hazard suits and given these," he motioned to his outfit, "And so we set off to discover the cause. That brings us here." He hoped the recap would be acceptable, and he shot a glance at his fellow crewmates, if they wanted to add anything.

"We have no control over this simulation, and we have no cause to keep you here. We're extending the offer - we work together, and escape this hell twice as quickly than if we fight each other."

[Outside Gothos City - Rogue Planet - Larn System]

Based on the Romulan species characteristic of suspicion, Jettis faced an uphill battle with anything he said, truth or otherwise and Vekiron was no different from any other of his kind. The distrust radiating off of him was almost palpable as he considered what he'd been told.

"You do describe the events that occurred to us as well, but where I find your explanation lacking is that you claim not to have control over this simulation. Why would I believe you? Yet you want me to accept your description of events solely on your word, when there is so much to call in question on that very point. Even if I were to believe your story, what would 'escape this hell' entail?"

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Bridge]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

Ruth frowned a little at Lahr's cryptic message in his reply to her but was glad he'd noticed it.  Thinking fast she replied while moving her hands.  She kept her hand on the armrest but made sure that he'd seen and using the American Sign language symbols spelled out what she'd tapped out in morse.

"That is a handy skill to have knowing your ABCs you know.  Pays to have Thinky People around to help! Or you could have your neck in a noose about it... or least be for the chop when it comes to your job.  Elementary, my dear Watson!"

Most people would think she'd gone totally crackers, but Lahr hopefully remembered her love of the Sherlock Holmes books and Watson being Holmes' sidekick.  Thus, what she said was a clue.

"I think everyone should all know this piece of music, perhaps we could get them to join in humming along or something?"  she hoped that wasn't so vague as to mean 'Get onto the Romulans, somehow. Find out what the hell they're on about!'

Ruth's subtle hand gesturing was noted, but again Lahr couldn't make any sense of it.  It wasn't like any sec/tac hand gestures he was familiar.  Her verbal cues were also going over his head.  It was like they were speaking two different languages.

It took a second for that thought to lead him to an idea.   He just hoped that Trelane's fascination was with human's only.    Lahr picked up the pencil and wrote down on the paper he'd been using to scribble is attempted translation,  a message to Ruth in Andorian.   She was good with languages and he hazarded a guess that she would have been learning Andorian since they started dating, if she hadn't already known it beforehand.

His message, written in Andorian, read:
How do I love thee let me count the ways...

One - I do plan to reply back
Two - Message received - our love is eternal
Three - Fate's warning understood.  But this is not our doing.
Four - Our Capt-ive love is being held hostage
Five - As such I hope we can work together.. to fulfil our every desire.

In Federation Standard, he had also written.
Please reply back discreetly. I hate that we're being watched.

PS How's my poetry?  Think I should go public with it?

Beside the question were two check boxes one labeled YES the other labeled NO.

He crumpled up the paper and then, like a teen passing notes in class in all those 20th century movies Burke had him watch, Lahr tossed the paper ball towards Ruth hoping Trelane didn't have the capability to pluck it from thin air as it got tossed.

"Commander, catch!"

[Jettis Jyur]

[Outside Gothos City - Rogue Planet - Larn System]

Based on the Romulan species characteristic of suspicion, Jettis faced an uphill battle with anything he said, truth or otherwise and Vekiron was no different from any other of his kind. The distrust radiating off of him was almost palpable as he considered what he'd been told.

"You do describe the events that occurred to us as well, but where I find your explanation lacking is that you claim not to have control over this simulation. Why would I believe you? Yet you want me to accept your description of events solely on your word, when there is so much to call in question on that very point. Even if I were to believe your story, what would 'escape this hell' entail?"

[Outside City Limits - Rogue Planet]

Jettis suppressed a slight sigh, as at the very least, they had some common ground. It gave him a bit of hope that perhaps, negotiation was possible. At his next question though, he pursed his lips, trying to concoct some idea. If he were highly distrustful, very skittish and in a dangerous situation, what would he need as proof? What logic would convince him? Some sort of irrefutable fact, that even the Romulans couldn't argue with.

An idea suddenly springing to mind, he spread his arms out, palms up. "Look at me. What do you see?" He waited for a beat, before holding out his shirt, where his commbadge had been minutes before their encounter. "Coming in unarmed would be logical, to create a false sense of security. However with no method of contacting our ship, reporting information?" He also motioned towards where is tricorder would typically sit, "or recording information? No utensils for writing or note-taking? Scanning?" Hopefully, even with all his doubts, Vekiron could see the absurdity in that claim.

"It would be foolish to do all of this without any reliable way to gather information. All we have is what we were given, or allowed by the Sheriff." Dropping his arms back to his sides, he leveled Vekiron with a gaze. "All we wish is to get back to safety, and ensure something like this won't happen again. If you join us, we can get to the bottom of why this is happening, and no blood needs to be shed. We can both leave this so called planet."