S2 M7 - The Two Wolves

[Hrafn Falleg]

Replicant - Ensign Nadia Oloze
[USS rHealy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

The self-destruction alarms sounded. Working to gain a transporter lock on the lifesigns as ordered by rRayek, rNadia encountered a problem at first - that there was a forcefield.   The Bajoran replicant didn't curse like the Romulan would have, instead she kept testing the forcefields strength.  If the Cobras were setting up to link all their emergency transporters that meant the field would have to come down at some point.  She'd have to be ready to disrupt and lock on when it did.

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm](earlier)

While the exchange of phaser fire occurred between the two ships, every shot fired towards the fake by Hrafn was like a knife twisting in his gut.  Despite his attempt to ensure Tess' safety through his plan with Rhade - he was so fortunate the Caitian had been aboard - there were no assurances.

Hrafn's words to Ensign Oloze at this point, after he had dropped the pretence of allying with the fake Rayek, was worrisome.   Why was she continuing the ploy of him threatening her life, now after they'd already proven it was a ploy by attacking the fake Healy?

After they rescued Tess and Rhade, he was relying on Hrafn to vouch that his 'mutiny' had all been an act - one that she had known was an act all the while.  Would she say such when questioned by Saxon or Solluk later when they investigated the matter?  Would it make a difference?  Act or not originally... it was he who was giving the orders currently...

Rayek frown realizing this.  Best correct that before he got too comfortable.  He had intended to pass off command back to Hrafn once there was a suitable pause in the battle but one thing led to another and now it seemed almost rude to pass off command in the midst of a crisis.   Once he knew Tess had been beamed safely away... then he'd give up the command seat.  He just needed to know the Cobra transporter chain had worked.

[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm](earlier)

Hrafn realised that Rayek was worried for Tess, as was she, but she was probably at a 7/10 to his 20/10!!

Healy, the real one to Katra... did it work, do you have Commander t'Lhoell and Lt. Rhade aboard? Can you confirm? 

If they got back to them, it would give them one less thing to worry about and they could blow the fake Healy out of the sky if necessary.

Replicant - Ensign Nadia Oloze
[USS rHealy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

It seemed that no sooner had rRayek called for transport to Sickbay, than the forcefield was dropped and a transporter signal attempted to lock onto the three lifesigns in Sickbay.  But rNadia was ready and overlapped that transporter signal with her own, disrupting the transporter signal - locking the three in a sort of transporter limbo.

The Bajoran noted as she did this that rRayek's beam in went through.

The sudden appearance of the Klingon ship was alarming as usually it preceded an onslaught of torpedoes and weapons fire.  But not today.  Today, the Klingons seemed intent on making rNadia's life difficult by disrupting her overlapping transporter signal which was meant to keep the Cobra chain from transporting the three out of sickbay.   She couldn't let that happen!  rRayek would be furious if they managed to escape!

"Lieutenant!" she called out toward Lieutenant rFalleg. "Klingon cruiser has decloaked.  They are using their annular confinement beam to disrupt mine which is disrupting the Cobras chain transport.   I can't hold all three."

[USS rHealy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

rHrafn looked sadly towards rOloze. "Frankly, I don't think we can do a lot, the self-destruct, without Tess and Rayek we can't stop that, and now with a Klingon, we've got no chance, personally... I'd be getting into the escape pods.  Concentrate on disrupting their transporter chain." rHrafn said in a sudden decision realising that if they could stop them getting their Tess back then maybe the real Healy and Katra's allies might hold off destroying their Healy... but it was a gamble.

Falleg to tr'Lhoell, permission to start getting the crew into escape pods, we now have another enemy in the form of a now uncloaking Klingon, our only chance of escape and regroup is to take the escape pods...

Inwardly, her decision she knew was a mute point... if they didn't stop them transporting out, then they'd be dead anyhow because she knew that rRayek would be that annoyed that the phaser he was carrying might not only be used on anyone in the Sickbay, but on her and Oloze too for allowing such a travesty to happen!

Replicant - Ensign Nadia Oloz
[USS rHealy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

rNadia slumped back into her seat as the transporter beam that had attempted to finally stopped.  She'd been forced to focus on holding back just one bio sign.. she'd one in the forcefield hoping that it was their Tess.   While it might seem to have been done to keep the  loving couple together... the prompt really was just more Thinker programming intended to keep replicant technology out of enemy hands.

The Bajoran ops officer clone looked over towards rHrafn and gave the other woman a slight half smile.  "Do you think the Prophets had a place in their plan for the likes of us?"

[USS rHealy - Deck Six - Sickbay - Day 3 - 3pm]

rHrafn looked sadly but benevolently at the Bajoran officer, and switched to Bajoran, being bi-lingual since she was married to a Bajoran and had half-Bajoran children, thinking that, in the last few moments they had, the mother tongue of her colleague might be a comfort.

"Bentel bren vel*, ilani*" she said kindly. (Trans: The Prophets accept all, my friend.) and moved to stand near the woman and hold her hand.  There wasn't a lot more she could do.

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

From his spot in the Captain's seat of the Healy, Rayek waited impatiently for some acknowledgement of their warning.  Some announcement that the plan had worked.   He alternated between watching the screen and glancing down to the armconsole of the chair..  he had the Ops console mirrored so he could 'see' what was going on aboard the other ship.

He'd clenched his fist in frustration as he could do nothing.   There seemed to be a convergence of three separate annular confinement beams - one from station, a second from the fake Healy and the third from the uncloaked Klingon ship.  Then the beams ended... and one Ba'ku lifesign remained in Sickbay with his clone.   His Tess or the fake?

Had it worked?  Or had the subspace distortions had some unforeseen effect on the transport beam.

Rayek stood unable with his impatience and current nerves to remain seated.   He turned partially back towards the seat to reach for the communications screen, when the self-destruct countdown ended.

While he waited for a response from Zex or some other Ops personnel on Katra, the whole of the viewscreen flared brilliant white with the view of the fake Healy exploding.  The shock wave hit the Healy bow first which thankfully lessened the strength of it's impact.  Yet still the ship bucked.

Rayek, standing beside his chair with his focus on waiting for a response to his call, didn't have time to brace himself.  He was thrown back towards the safety railing.  The railing struck him in the side with such force that the air was knocked from him.  He'd injured his wrist in the fall as well when he'd attempted to put out a hand to catch himself.

He groaned from the floor of the Healy as his call finally connected.

The comms came in with a bit of static but was legible.   A second call came in before Rayek could get to his feet.  This one from the Klingon ship.

Rayek winced as he rolled over to his hands and knees.  Pain flared from one wrist..  The Romulan recalled his attempting to use it to block his fall.   There was also a familiar pain along his ribs.. making it difficult to breath.

Ignoring both for the moment, Rayek used his good hand braced on the command chair to push himself up to his feet.

He did a quick look about the Bridge taking stock of the others to see how badly injured they were in comparison.   Oloze and Stewart were fine, the former coordinating with Engineering to assess damage taken to the Healy in that last shake-up, the later turning the ship away from the wreckage.

On the viewscreen,  the Klingons were latching on the fake Healy's Bridge.

But it was Hrafn he was keenest to check on, her and Saqa7.  First appearance wise she seemed okay.   "Lieutenant Falleg.  Are you okay?  Any chance you might want to switch positions again?  I'll play with the weapons and you can report out on how I busted up the ship again?"

As he said this her earlier comment - "Um, Rayek... ever got the feeling that we shouldn't be left in charge of Katra support ships?!" - got dragged to the forefront of his mind.   Yeah, definitely not likely to happen again anytime soon.

He leaned over to toggle a reply first to Katra.

"USS Healy to Katra Station.  Damage reports are still coming in but it appears we are none too worse for wear.   Ensign Oloze will forward on a detailed damage report once available.  Our people on the fake Healy that were beamed out, are they safe?"

He tried not to make it obvious that he was asking after Tess but it was rather obvious.

[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

"For the love of the Prophets, Ensign, sit down before you do yourself more of an injury! I'm fine, shaken not stirred, knees a bit achy but, I'll live!, and yes now that your ruse has paid off, I'll have 'my' seat back!" she said with a grin.

Bridge to Medical, please send someone up, from my rudimentary knowledge of medicine, I'd say that Ensign tr'Lhoell has some broken ribs and at least a sprained if not broken wrist.  But I also know he's not going to move from his position until we're done here so you'll have to come to him! Falleg out

"You need seen to, but I know, my friend, that you're too damn stubborn to actually take yourself to Sickbay, until we've finished the job and you know that our Commander t'Lhoell and Jnr are safe, I'm with you on that one.  Yes, Ensign Oloze, sorry for keeping you unawares, but the phaser to my throat thing... a ruse for our opposite numbers, we had to make it look like a surprise..."  she tapped her temple with her forefinger.  "...telepathy has it's uses!"

"I tell you, I'll be glad to get home..."

[Tess tLhoell]

Replicant Lt. Cmdr. rTess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant)
[USS rHealy - Deck 6 - Sickbay]

Replicant - Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS rHealy - Deck Six - Sickbay - Day 3 - 3pm]

From where rRayek materialized, Tess was closest.  She was 'dead in his sights' as the phrase went.   Yet the replicant found that he hesitated on firing as she called again for a beam out.   With a scowl he switched targets, aiming for the farther Caitian who had phaser rifle pointed at him, but by the time rRayek's shot left his weapon, the transporter effect had already begun the dematerialization and was in the process of sending them across space to the first of the Cobras where the pattern was then pushed forward onto the next Cobra... and from there onto the next.. and the next until final they would arrive at Katra Station.

Turning to the biobed, the replicant Romulan stared in a mix of hope and despair at the space where his Tess was still fading in and out of view from behind a biobed forcefield.

After a moment the transporter effect cut out and Tess was left unconscious on the bed.  With the countdown to self-destruct announcing the last 30 seconds.  Rayek canceled the forcefield around the bed, allowing him access to hold his wife.   He called on the biobed to administer a dose of adrenaline and animazine.   He was no doctor but hoped the combination would be enough to wake her so that he could say his final goodbyes.  He selfishly wanted to see her smile at him one last time.

He sat on the mattress beside her and pulled her into his embrace calling to her while she woke. "Tess?  Tess... I thought I had lost you.  E'lev, there are only moments left but just want you to know.... I-jol au - I don't regret a single moment spent with you.  These memories given us and the ones we created together - they will hold me over into the hereafter where I will find you so we can start anew."

[...]

The moment rTess woke, she heard her husband calling for her. There was concern in his voice, but also relief. Her eyes fluttered open, the drugs kicking her back to consciousness, just as the computer announced 30 seconds until the self-destruction. rTess instantly knew what that meant. Her eyes found rRayek's as he said his final good-byes while he held her. rTess wrapped her arms around him, holding him close to find comfort and calm of him.

Her eyes watered as he spoke of a life together in the hereafter, and a small smile touched her lips. They were on a sinking ship - she couldn't help but think of the old couple on the famous ship on earth - Titanic - that chose to spend their last moments together, holding each other to face their final moments, knowing the other would not move from their side. This felt very similar.

As the computer counted down the seconds, rTess' eyes never left Rayek's, her fingers sliding through his hair. "I just wish I could have given you your child that you were longing to see." Her voice was thick with emotion. She leaned forward to place her lips on his, just as the computer counted 'one'.

A moment later their world blew up in a bright ball of fire.

Lt. Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant)
[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay]

[ Provisional Junior Lieutenant L'mar Rhade ] | [ Deck 6 - Sickbay | USS rHealy ] - [ DAY 3. AFTERNOON. ]

Working on the transporter targeting sensors, Rhade felt the now familiar touch of Hrafn's mind again. She mindtalked about the transporter chain. He smirked as it seemed that nearly everyone was getting the same idea as he was. Then she warned him that Rayek's clone was on his way. That was not good!

He quickly checked the forcefield was still up, and the doors were locked. Those were the only ways in, the Jefferies tubes maybe? Rhade glanced over to the access hatch. The forcefield would block anyone coming in there. Then his question was answered when the angry fake Romulan's transporter beam began to appear when the same effect began around Rhade's vision. Clearly his forcefield was now down or got holes in it. He raised his rifle at the Romulan but couldn't fire till the matterstream finished, he growled his impatience.

He looked over at both Tesses, a transporter beam was surrounding them as well. It seemed the link with Katra Station was established and the rescue in progress. Though the effect dropped, or froze, Rhade heard Tess command the Cobra pilot to try again and it began again. Rhade looked back at rRayek, who was fully materialised now, and he was pointing directly at him, Rhade wanted to fire but it would impact the transporter signal. He couldn't risk any of them by doing that.

[ Deck 22 - Main Medical Bay | Katra Station ] - [ DAY 3. EARLY EVENING. ]

Rhade's vision of the fake sickbay vanished and Katra Station's larger medical bay appeared. It worked, though now he was going to have to face the Captain and his disregard of orders. Invalid now, though he doubted that had any impact in his defense. Rhade decided that he'd take the punishment and be proud of his assisting in saving his superior officer.

He looked around for Saxon and didn't see the old man, Rhade hoped that he had been beamed back. Whatever Saxon's fate, Rhade was glad he hadn't let the Strategic Operations Officer down by getting Tess and her baby home with help from the Cobras. He heard Tess get off a biobed in pain and from his bed made eye contact with her. She thanked him and he could see the warmth and gratefulness in her eyes.

"Yourrr welcome Commanderrr. Maybe you can put in a good worrrrd with the Captain forrrr me?" L'mar said his words gained more rolling sound. He suddenly realised she didn't know what her clone had done but he was sure that the Captain would inform her of her clone's actions. "Yourrr clone." L'mar added by way of explanation.

Rhade liked that Tess realised that she had to submit to Medical instead of galavant off to command. She asked the Captain how the Healy was doing. "What about Lieutenant Saxon?" L'mar asked Tess.

Tess had been treated by the nurse for her pain. She noted a strange mark on the hypo-injector, wondering what that was. She had never seen those on their equipment before.

Rhade's words drew her attention back to him and made her realize that she hadn't gotten a reply from Solluk. He probably was too busy right now. She hoped his silence didn't mean that something bad happened to the Healy - or Saxon.

"I don't know", Tess admitted as she looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen.

As soon as Tess was treated, she headed up to the OCC, to get an update on the events first hand.

Cadet Benjin Moreno and Roberto Padrini
[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay]

Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sick Bay

Beja didn't have any time to ask or dwell on the fact that a lot of the hyposprays were malfunctioning, as Roberto and her had to act quickly and efficiently in order to save their patient Benjin. It was a touch and go for a bit, but with Roberto's skill and level head, he managed to stabilize Benjin.

"Shh," Beja smiled down at Bejin and gently placed her hand on his shoulder, "You are in the medical bay. You were hurt in an explosion, but you are going to be fine. Roberto here," Beja nodded over to the medical Ensign before she continued to Benjin, "You need to just rest now. Don't try and get up okay?"

New people kept transporting in: Tess, Rhade, etc. The medical team was already prepared for such new patients and immediately began to assess injuries if any, and begin treatment as necessary.

"Bridge, this is sick bay, we have Commander t'Lhoell, and Lientuant Rhade transported to sick bay. We are assessing their injuries now," Beja reported to the bridge.

And just when things were looking up for them, an emergency request for transport came in for Lieutenant Saxon. Beja remained calm and didn't let the sheer worry and anxiety she felt inside show on her face or body language. Mind over matter, that old human saying was rooted in the truth. Presenting a confident and calm facade did allow for that to slowly seep into the inside of a person if they kept it up. Beja knew that panicking wasn't going to help anyone, let alone their new patient Saxon. The old human male had been through a lot in his old age, and she would do whatever was needed in order for him to see many more years too!

Benjin sank back on the mattress when Beja held him back. His breathing was heavy while he heard and felt the dermal regenerator tugging at his skin as it regenerated the tissue there.

Explosion? He tried to recall what happened, retracing his steps to find out what the last thing was that he could remember ... but Beja's call distracted him. "Tess?", he gasped. She was injured?

Roberto put a hand on the young man's shoulder to keep him down on the bed. "She'll be okay, just focus on yourself now, it will help her to know you are okay."

Benjin looked up and saw the concerned look on Roberto's face as he briefly looked over his shoulder.

[Kirok]

Replicant - Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS rHealy - Deck Six - Sickbay - Day 3 - 3pm]

From where rRayek materialized, Tess was closest.  She was 'dead in his sights' as the phrase went.   Yet the replicant found that he hesitated on firing as she called again for a beam out.   With a scowl he switched targets, aiming for the farther Caitian who had phaser rifle pointed at him, but by the time rRayek's shot left his weapon, the transporter effect had already begun the dematerialization and was in the process of sending them across space to the first of the Cobras where the pattern was then pushed forward onto the next Cobra... and from there onto the next.. and the next until final they would arrive at Katra Station.

Turning to the biobed, the replicant Romulan stared in a mix of hope and despair at the space where his Tess was still fading in and out of view from behind a biobed forcefield.

After a moment the transporter effect cut out and Tess was left unconscious on the bed.  With the countdown to self-destruct announcing the last 30 seconds.  Rayek canceled the forcefield around the bed, allowing him access to hold his wife.   He called on the biobed to administer a dose of adrenaline and animazine.   He was no doctor but hoped the combination would be enough to wake her so that he could say his final goodbyes.  He selfishly wanted to see her smile at him one last time.

He sat on the mattress beside her and pulled her into his embrace calling to her while she woke. "Tess?  Tess... I thought I had lost you.  E'lev, there are only moments left but just want you to know.... I-jol au - I don't regret a single moment spent with you.  These memories given us and the ones we created together - they will hold me over into the hereafter where I will find you so we can start anew."

Replicant - Ensign Nadia Oloz
[USS rHealy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

rNadia slumped back into her seat as the transporter beam that had attempted to finally stopped.  She'd been forced to focus on holding back just one bio sign.. she'd one in the forcefield hoping that it was their Tess.   While it might seem to have been done to keep the  loving couple together... the prompt really was just more Thinker programming intended to keep replicant technology out of enemy hands.

The Bajoran ops officer clone looked over towards rHrafn and gave the other woman a slight half smile.  "Do you think the Prophets had a place in their plan for the likes of us?"

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

From his spot in the Captain's seat of the Healy, Rayek waited impatiently for some acknowledgement of their warning.  Some announcement that the plan had worked.   He alternated between watching the screen and glancing down to the armconsole of the chair..  he had the Ops console mirrored so he could 'see' what was going on aboard the other ship.

He'd clenched his fist in frustration as he could do nothing.   There seemed to be a convergence of three separate annular confinement beams - one from station, a second from the fake Healy and the third from the uncloaked Klingon ship.  Then the beams ended... and one Ba'ku lifesign remained in Sickbay with his clone.   His Tess or the fake?

Had it worked?  Or had the subspace distortions had some unforeseen effect on the transport beam.

Rayek stood unable with his impatience and current nerves to remain seated.   He turned partially back towards the seat to reach for the communications screen, when the self-destruct countdown ended.

While he waited for a response from Zex or some other Ops personnel on Katra, the whole of the viewscreen flared brilliant white with the view of the fake Healy exploding.  The shock wave hit the Healy bow first which thankfully lessened the strength of it's impact.  Yet still the ship bucked.

Rayek, standing beside his chair with his focus on waiting for a response to his call, didn't have time to brace himself.  He was thrown back towards the safety railing.  The railing struck him in the side with such force that the air was knocked from him.  He'd injured his wrist in the fall as well when he'd attempted to put out a hand to catch himself.

He groaned from the floor of the Healy as his call finally connected.

The comms came in with a bit of static but was legible.   A second call came in before Rayek could get to his feet.  This one from the Klingon ship.

Rayek winced as he rolled over to his hands and knees.  Pain flared from one wrist..  The Romulan recalled his attempting to use it to block his fall.   There was also a familiar pain along his ribs.. making it difficult to breath.

Ignoring both for the moment, Rayek used his good hand braced on the command chair to push himself up to his feet.

He did a quick look about the Bridge taking stock of the others to see how badly injured they were in comparison.   Oloze and Stewart were fine, the former coordinating with Engineering to assess damage taken to the Healy in that last shake-up, the later turning the ship away from the wreckage.

On the viewscreen,  the Klingons were latching on the fake Healy's Bridge.

But it was Hrafn he was keenest to check on, her and Saqa7.  First appearance wise she seemed okay.   "Lieutenant Falleg.  Are you okay?  Any chance you might want to switch positions again?  I'll play with the weapons and you can report out on how I busted up the ship again?"

As he said this her earlier comment - "Um, Rayek... ever got the feeling that we shouldn't be left in charge of Katra support ships?!" - got dragged to the forefront of his mind.   Yeah, definitely not likely to happen again anytime soon.

He leaned over to toggle a reply first to Katra.

"USS Healy to Katra Station.  Damage reports are still coming in but it appears we are none too worse for wear.   Ensign Oloze will forward on a detailed damage report once available.  Our people on the fake Healy that were beamed out, are they safe?"

He tried not to make it obvious that he was asking after Tess but it was rather obvious.

[Katra Station OCC]

=/\-Acknowledged, Healy.   I'll inform the Captain that a damage report will follow.  As for our crew who were on the Healy, we received two who are in sickbay now-/\= Zex said.

If it had been anyone other than Rayek who was asking she would have stopped there and moved onto the next hale.  But he had a right to know that Tess was ok.  At least that was her current thought on the matter.

=/\-First Office trLhoell and Rhade are both in sickbay now.  We will know more about their condition shortly.  I will update you as I'm able-/\= she added.

Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sick Bay

Beja didn't have any time to ask or dwell on the fact that a lot of the hyposprays were malfunctioning, as Roberto and her had to act quickly and efficiently in order to save their patient Benjin. It was a touch and go for a bit, but with Roberto's skill and level head, he managed to stabilize Benjin.

"Shh," Beja smiled down at Bejin and gently placed her hand on his shoulder, "You are in the medical bay. You were hurt in an explosion, but you are going to be fine. Roberto here," Beja nodded over to the medical Ensign before she continued to Benjin, "You need to just rest now. Don't try and get up okay?"

New people kept transporting in: Tess, Rhade, etc. The medical team was already prepared for such new patients and immediately began to assess injuries if any, and begin treatment as necessary.

"Bridge, this is sick bay, we have Commander t'Lhoell, and Lientuant Rhade transported to sick bay. We are assessing their injuries now," Beja reported to the bridge.

And just when things were looking up for them, an emergency request for transport came in for Lieutenant Saxon. Beja remained calm and didn't let the sheer worry and anxiety she felt inside show on her face or body language. Mind over matter, that old human saying was rooted in the truth. Presenting a confident and calm facade did allow for that to slowly seep into the inside of a person if they kept it up. Beja knew that panicking wasn't going to help anyone, let alone their new patient Saxon. The old human male had been through a lot in his old age, and she would do whatever was needed in order for him to see many more years too!

=/\-Acknowledged, Sickbay.  Thank you for the update.  Bridge out-/\= she said.

Then she turned to Solluk.  "Sir, the realy Healy survived.  A damage report is forthcoming.  And Tess and Rhade are being assessed now" she said.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Replicant - Ensign Nadia Oloze
[USS rHealy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

[USS rHealy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

rHrafn looked sadly towards rOloze. "Frankly, I don't think we can do a lot, the self-destruct, without Tess and Rayek we can't stop that, and now with a Klingon, we've got no chance, personally... I'd be getting into the escape pods.  Concentrate on disrupting their transporter chain." rHrafn said in a sudden decision realising that if they could stop them getting their Tess back then maybe the real Healy and Katra's allies might hold off destroying their Healy... but it was a gamble.

Falleg to tr'Lhoell, permission to start getting the crew into escape pods, we now have another enemy in the form of a now uncloaking Klingon, our only chance of escape and regroup is to take the escape pods...

rNadia hadn't been one of those of the Healy crew that had been abducted and examined by the Thinkers, so she'd always known who created her and what her purpose was and most importantly - had always known the price for failure.

The replicant Operations officer wondered what proper memories might be like.  She'd been programmed with the knowledge gathered from open source data... but it wasn't the same as actual memories.  There were so many questions about the real Bajoran's life that she would have liked to know.   Oloze was married - with her husband and children remaining on Bajor.  Did she miss them?  Or had some private argument spurred the decision to try for the Academy?  It was disappointing that she would never know.

Lieutenant rFalleg's instruction to continue the disruption to the transporter chain went without saying.  But rNadia acknowledged it with a nod and a 'yes ma'am'.

However, when Lieutenant rFalleg tried reaching out to their Romulan, she was surprised at the suggestion to attempt to make an escape via the pods.   The Tholian web trap was well known for being inescapable.  rNadia realized that the original Hrafn's positive nature must be preventing her replicant self to accepted the fact that they had failed.. and that self-destruction was the only means out of the situation at present.

Replicant - Ensign Nadia Oloz
[USS rHealy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

rNadia slumped back into her seat as the transporter beam that had attempted to finally stopped.  She'd been forced to focus on holding back just one bio sign.. she'd one in the forcefield hoping that it was their Tess.   While it might seem to have been done to keep the  loving couple together... the prompt really was just more Thinker programming intended to keep replicant technology out of enemy hands.

The Bajoran ops officer clone looked over towards rHrafn and gave the other woman a slight half smile.  "Do you think the Prophets had a place in their plan for the likes of us?"

[USS rHealy - Deck Six - Sickbay - Day 3 - 3pm]

rHrafn looked sadly but benevolently at the Bajoran officer, and switched to Bajoran, being bi-lingual since she was married to a Bajoran and had half-Bajoran children, thinking that, in the last few moments they had, the mother tongue of her colleague might be a comfort.

"Bentel bren vel*, ilani*" she said kindly. (Trans: The Prophets accept all, my friend.) and moved to stand near the woman and hold her hand.  There wasn't a lot more she could do.

She was surprised by the kindly gesture but gave the woman's hand a squeeze back as she closed her eyes-  expecting the world to end but then just moments before they were set to explode she felt a jarring movement. When she looked to her console she discovered that the bridge sauce had been disengaged from the rest of the ship and was drifting away from the force of the focused charges that had been blown.

Then there was a flash of brilliant white across the viewscreen and a blink of a moment later a shockwave so fierce that darkness swallowed her.

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

"For the love of the Prophets, Ensign, sit down before you do yourself more of an injury! I'm fine, shaken not stirred, knees a bit achy but, I'll live!, and yes now that your ruse has paid off, I'll have 'my' seat back!" she said with a grin.

Bridge to Medical, please send someone up, from my rudimentary knowledge of medicine, I'd say that Ensign tr'Lhoell has some broken ribs and at least a sprained if not broken wrist.  But I also know he's not going to move from his position until we're done here so you'll have to come to him! Falleg out

"You need seen to, but I know, my friend, that you're too damn stubborn to actually take yourself to Sickbay, until we've finished the job and you know that our Commander t'Lhoell and Jnr are safe, I'm with you on that one.  Yes, Ensign Oloze, sorry for keeping you unawares, but the phaser to my throat thing... a ruse for our opposite numbers, we had to make it look like a surprise..."  she tapped her temple with her forefinger.  "...telepathy has it's uses!"

"I tell you, I'll be glad to get home..."

[Katra Station OCC]

=/\-Acknowledged, Healy.   I'll inform the Captain that a damage report will follow.  As for our crew who were on the Healy, we received two who are in sickbay now-/\= Zex said.

If it had been anyone other than Rayek who was asking she would have stopped there and moved onto the next hale.  But he had a right to know that Tess was ok.  At least that was her current thought on the matter.

=/\-First Office trLhoell and Rhade are both in sickbay now.  We will know more about their condition shortly.  I will update you as I'm able-/\= she added.

Zex's response to his call came in just as Hrafn was calling for Medical to send up someone, so he didn't have opportunity to argue.  Not that she wasn't right.  Because she was.  She was rather astute when it came to knowing him.  Which would be a cause for consternation in and of itself, had he been paying closer attention, but as it was his focus was on Zex's reply.

The Deltan's initial answer had been blandly non-committal and the Romulan frowned as he moved aside from the command chair, leaving Hrafn to resume command, while he made his way to his tactical station.

He was about to be more direct and ask about Tess' specifically, when Zex continued given what little information she knew.

"t'Lhoell" he corrected the minor pronunciation error.  "Males have the prefix tr', females the prefix t'... added to the clan name such as Lhoell." He explained - unsure why suddenly it felt important that people pronounce her name correctly.  Realizing he was likely interrupting Zex's important work, Rayek hurried to close their conversation. "I appreciate that information. Thank you. tr'Lhoell out."

Seated once more at his station, Rayek began scanning for any sign of those trying to escape while Hrafn's call to Sickbay was answered by Saqa7.

"Understood, Lieutenant. I'll have someone there momentarily.  Actually, I'll see to it myself.  The staff here are a well oiled machine and I feel rather out of place since I really can't treat anyone here medically." She'd had her Medical licence suspended for 3 years - only a year and half left to go.  "But as of last month, I was permitted to get my First Aid ticket.  So I can do minor protocols - if I'm not in a medical bay. So I love doing 'housecalls' - especially for Rayek.  I'll be there shortly!"

[Kirok]

Replicant - Ensign Nadia Oloze
[USS rHealy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

rNadia hadn't been one of those of the Healy crew that had been abducted and examined by the Thinkers, so she'd always known who created her and what her purpose was and most importantly - had always known the price for failure.

The replicant Operations officer wondered what proper memories might be like.  She'd been programmed with the knowledge gathered from open source data... but it wasn't the same as actual memories.  There were so many questions about the real Bajoran's life that she would have liked to know.   Oloze was married - with her husband and children remaining on Bajor.  Did she miss them?  Or had some private argument spurred the decision to try for the Academy?  It was disappointing that she would never know.

Lieutenant rFalleg's instruction to continue the disruption to the transporter chain went without saying.  But rNadia acknowledged it with a nod and a 'yes ma'am'.

However, when Lieutenant rFalleg tried reaching out to their Romulan, she was surprised at the suggestion to attempt to make an escape via the pods.   The Tholian web trap was well known for being inescapable.  rNadia realized that the original Hrafn's positive nature must be preventing her replicant self to accepted the fact that they had failed.. and that self-destruction was the only means out of the situation at present.

She was surprised by the kindly gesture but gave the woman's hand a squeeze back as she closed her eyes-  expecting the world to end but then just moments before they were set to explode she felt a jarring movement. When she looked to her console she discovered that the bridge sauce had been disengaged from the rest of the ship and was drifting away from the force of the focused charges that had been blown.

Then there was a flash of brilliant white across the viewscreen and a blink of a moment later a shockwave so fierce that darkness swallowed her.

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

Zex's response to his call came in just as Hrafn was calling for Medical to send up someone, so he didn't have opportunity to argue.  Not that she wasn't right.  Because she was.  She was rather astute when it came to knowing him.  Which would be a cause for consternation in and of itself, had he been paying closer attention, but as it was his focus was on Zex's reply.

The Deltan's initial answer had been blandly non-committal and the Romulan frowned as he moved aside from the command chair, leaving Hrafn to resume command, while he made his way to his tactical station.

He was about to be more direct and ask about Tess' specifically, when Zex continued given what little information she knew.

"t'Lhoell" he corrected the minor pronunciation error.  "Males have the prefix tr', females the prefix t'... added to the clan name such as Lhoell." He explained - unsure why suddenly it felt important that people pronounce her name correctly.  Realizing he was likely interrupting Zex's important work, Rayek hurried to close their conversation. "I appreciate that information. Thank you. tr'Lhoell out."

Seated once more at his station, Rayek began scanning for any sign of those trying to escape while Hrafn's call to Sickbay was answered by Saqa7.

"Understood, Lieutenant. I'll have someone there momentarily.  Actually, I'll see to it myself.  The staff here are a well oiled machine and I feel rather out of place since I really can't treat anyone here medically." She'd had her Medical licence suspended for 3 years - only a year and half left to go.  "But as of last month, I was permitted to get my First Aid ticket.  So I can do minor protocols - if I'm not in a medical bay. So I love doing 'housecalls' - especially for Rayek.  I'll be there shortly!"

[Katra Station OCC]

Zex tilted head slightly when Reyek corrected her pronunciation.  Yes, she probably should know such minute details when it came to names being a diplomatic officer.  But she got the feeling that his response was more about his lack of control about his wife's situation than the pronunciation of her married name.  And it cost her nothing to give him the shadow of the doubt on the matter.

=/\-Acknowledged-/\= she simply replied.  She ended the comm link.  Then said a short prayer for Tess and Rhade.

[Eli Ferris]

Lt. Eli Ferris|Cobra Lead|Right before the transport

Eli had been trading coded messages and now was the time to act. He heard Rayek's call, and immediately sent the transport authorization to the chain, piggybacking to Rhade to drop the shields.

It probably wouldn't have worked-Rayek's doppelganger was on to them...until the Klingons decloaked. Then all hell broke loose. Eli sucked in air as the transporter system went live, and he tapped in to each Cobra's HUD, the buffers repeating the sequence until completion.

All Cobras, fall back, maximum impulse. 

He pulled about, redirecting his flight towards the station.  =/\=On my beacon. Let's get home.

He pushed his engines as hard as they would go, even as the rHealy went up, the shockwave rocking him as he tried to get clear. Dazed a bit, Eli managed to signal ops.

=/\=Ferris to Katra. Bring us home...

[Hrafn Falleg]

Replicant - Ensign Nadia Oloze
[USS rHealy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

rNadia hadn't been one of those of the Healy crew that had been abducted and examined by the Thinkers, so she'd always known who created her and what her purpose was and most importantly - had always known the price for failure.

The replicant Operations officer wondered what proper memories might be like.  She'd been programmed with the knowledge gathered from open source data... but it wasn't the same as actual memories.  There were so many questions about the real Bajoran's life that she would have liked to know.   Oloze was married - with her husband and children remaining on Bajor.  Did she miss them?  Or had some private argument spurred the decision to try for the Academy?  It was disappointing that she would never know.

Lieutenant rFalleg's instruction to continue the disruption to the transporter chain went without saying.  But rNadia acknowledged it with a nod and a 'yes ma'am'.

However, when Lieutenant rFalleg tried reaching out to their Romulan, she was surprised at the suggestion to attempt to make an escape via the pods.   The Tholian web trap was well known for being inescapable.  rNadia realized that the original Hrafn's positive nature must be preventing her replicant self to accepted the fact that they had failed.. and that self-destruction was the only means out of the situation at present.

She was surprised by the kindly gesture but gave the woman's hand a squeeze back as she closed her eyes-  expecting the world to end but then just moments before they were set to explode she felt a jarring movement. When she looked to her console she discovered that the bridge sauce had been disengaged from the rest of the ship and was drifting away from the force of the focused charges that had been blown.

Then there was a flash of brilliant white across the viewscreen and a blink of a moment later a shockwave so fierce that darkness swallowed her.

[USS rHealy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

rHrafn felt the squeeze back as a tear snaked it's way down her cheek.  She thought briefly about the children, because programmed as she was to be as true to the real Hrafn as she was, her thoughts in any situation such as this were to Nevir, and her 4 children... even if they weren't truly her children and husband.  Somewhere in the back of her brain she was glad that the real counterpart would be there to look after them.

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

Zex's response to his call came in just as Hrafn was calling for Medical to send up someone, so he didn't have opportunity to argue.  Not that she wasn't right.  Because she was.  She was rather astute when it came to knowing him.  Which would be a cause for consternation in and of itself, had he been paying closer attention, but as it was his focus was on Zex's reply.

The Deltan's initial answer had been blandly non-committal and the Romulan frowned as he moved aside from the command chair, leaving Hrafn to resume command, while he made his way to his tactical station.

He was about to be more direct and ask about Tess' specifically, when Zex continued given what little information she knew.

"t'Lhoell" he corrected the minor pronunciation error.  "Males have the prefix tr', females the prefix t'... added to the clan name such as Lhoell." He explained - unsure why suddenly it felt important that people pronounce her name correctly.  Realizing he was likely interrupting Zex's important work, Rayek hurried to close their conversation. "I appreciate that information. Thank you. tr'Lhoell out."

Seated once more at his station, Rayek began scanning for any sign of those trying to escape while Hrafn's call to Sickbay was answered by Saqa7.

"Understood, Lieutenant. I'll have someone there momentarily.  Actually, I'll see to it myself.  The staff here are a well oiled machine and I feel rather out of place since I really can't treat anyone here medically." She'd had her Medical licence suspended for 3 years - only a year and half left to go.  "But as of last month, I was permitted to get my First Aid ticket.  So I can do minor protocols - if I'm not in a medical bay. So I love doing 'housecalls' - especially for Rayek.  I'll be there shortly!"

[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

"Relax, Ensign.  Remember when I first came to Katra... took 3 days of constant practice for me, a xenolinguist, to get your name right!" she winked.  "And besides, we got the important info, Commander t'Lhoell and Lt. Rhade are on Katra!" she deliberately over carefully pronounced Tess's name with a slight smile on her lips.

Hearing Saqa7's voice came as a relief.

Ah it's good to hear your voice, a sense of normality!  See you soon Lt. Mountain-Khan, and housecalls... I like it!

"You'll have medical assistance with a nice bed... or well, console side manner soon, so Mr. Grumpy Romulan can be put back in the box and we'll just have mildly annoyed and worried please?!" she teased.  "I'm sure Ensign Zex would have mentioned if there was anything wrong with either of our crew we got hoiked out of there.  If you're still worried I will try to raise Roberto or one of the medical staff directly."

She prayed she was telling the truth, only time would tell.

[Kirok]

Lt. Eli Ferris|Cobra Lead|Right before the transport

Eli had been trading coded messages and now was the time to act. He heard Rayek's call, and immediately sent the transport authorization to the chain, piggybacking to Rhade to drop the shields.

It probably wouldn't have worked-Rayek's doppelganger was on to them...until the Klingons decloaked. Then all hell broke loose. Eli sucked in air as the transporter system went live, and he tapped in to each Cobra's HUD, the buffers repeating the sequence until completion.

All Cobras, fall back, maximum impulse. 

He pulled about, redirecting his flight towards the station.  =/\=On my beacon. Let's get home.

He pushed his engines as hard as they would go, even as the rHealy went up, the shockwave rocking him as he tried to get clear. Dazed a bit, Eli managed to signal ops.

=/\=Ferris to Katra. Bring us home...

[Katra Station OCC]

=/\-Received Mr. Ferris.  I will relay your message.  We'll let you know how to come in.   Just give us a minute to coordinate-/\= Zex said.

She relayed the message.  She waited until someone took on the task.  Then went back to the next comm channel.

It had been a stressful day.  But exhilarating.  Ultimately she was happy that she could contribute in some small way.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

"Relax, Ensign.  Remember when I first came to Katra... took 3 days of constant practice for me, a xenolinguist, to get your name right!" she winked.  "And besides, we got the important info, Commander t'Lhoell and Lt. Rhade are on Katra!" she deliberately over carefully pronounced Tess's name with a slight smile on her lips.

Hearing Saqa7's voice came as a relief.

Ah it's good to hear your voice, a sense of normality!  See you soon Lt. Mountain-Khan, and housecalls... I like it!

"You'll have medical assistance with a nice bed... or well, console side manner soon, so Mr. Grumpy Romulan can be put back in the box and we'll just have mildly annoyed and worried please?!" she teased.  "I'm sure Ensign Zex would have mentioned if there was anything wrong with either of our crew we got hoiked out of there.  If you're still worried I will try to raise Roberto or one of the medical staff directly."

She prayed she was telling the truth, only time would tell.

Hrafn was of course right.  He'd made too large an issue of the pronunciation but rather than  apologize or acknowledge that fact, he merely turned his attention back to his console - his thoughts mostly on Tess while he watched the Klingons retrieve the bridge of the false Healy from the scattered remains of the ship.

He wasn't impressed with Hrafn's new nickname for him - apt thought it might be.   He was even less impressed with her suggestion to call Roberto to get an update on the Tess.   Even with all that had happened, Rayek hadn't forgotten the man's words to him:

"You don't know anything about what a woman like Tess wants and needs. You are only interested in fulfulling your own needs, isn't that right?  You probably don't care what I think, but I tell you this: You should have taken advantage of your position while you have been XO to get rid of me, because once Tess will have enough of your egotism, I will be right there to comfort her."

Just the thought of asking that man for any sort of assistance - never mind in regards to Tess - caused a slight scowl.  "No.  Thank you, ma'am.  I'll trust that Ensign Zex will update me if she hears of something pressing."

[Katra Station]
The return trip back to the station seemed to drag.  At some point he had been informed that while Tess had been tossed about at bit during the battle, that both she and the baby were fine now and she had been released from Sickbay.   The news only seemed to cause him to worry more and it wasn't until they docked and he could see that she truly was fine that he could release that tension.

Sometime later that night when they were alone, he apologized to her for not keeping her safe and for endangering her and the baby like he had.   For a long while Rayek simply needed to hold Tess gently in his arms.  A reassurance to himself that despite all that happened.   She was safe.