Cloaked

Selene Division investigates attach on border colonies

From The Shadows

Various
December 2401

— USS Falcon, Flag Bridge —

Captain Radak ran his fingers along the edge of the PADD as he re-read the report. His eyebrow rose as he looked from the screen to the Lieutenant Commander waiting for his attention once he’d digested the details.

“Are we confident in this report’s accuracy?” Radak asked Lieutenant Commander Victoria Hume.

Obviously he knew that no intelligence report was perfectly accurate, and until things were verified there was still some level of doubt, but given recent events with the Changelings there was really no room to not act if there was even the slightest chance the report could be correct.

The young Lieutenant Commander nodded, “Four colonies along the Klingon – Federation border have been attacked, seemingly by the Klingons. Either it actually is the Klingons or pirates who’ve stolen Mat’Ha-class destroyers.”

Radak nodded, considering the implications. The report detailed the attacks, scans from the colonies attacked showed Klingon ships, but their actions seemed more like pirates. Hitting hard and fast and looting. These ships, at least two of them, had also been attacking cargo vessels in the region. It did not take a leap in logic to understand that having pirates whether part of the Orion Syndicate or not, with access to Mat’Ha-class destroyers was serious. Either it spoke to a highly capable element within the pirates to have stolen them, or a Klingon house working with the pirates to provide weapons and technology. At the very least having Klingon ships attacking Federation outposts would put pressure on the Federation for a response. This could, Radak realized, lead to war between the Klingons and Starfleet which would only benefit the pirates.

Reading further Radak said the inevitable, “The Klingons have denied it is them.”

“When they bothered to respond, yes,” Lieutenant Commander Hume said, “but it’s not like old Warbirds. Mat’Ha-class destroyers are hard to get your hands on.”

“This means either the pirates have resources and abilities we had not realized or the Klingons are involved,” Radak said, “At this juncture however it would not be prudent to act as though this was a Klingon attack. Risking all out war would cause more hardships for all the colonies along the border than if this was a series of isolated attacks either by a single House or by pirates. Recall the USS Selene. We are hunting for these ships now.”

Hume nodded, “They won’t like being called back.”

“I know, they are a science ship, but this for now is our focus. Tell Captain Carrillo it is an order, she will obey,” Radak said confidently. Captain Aike of the USS Falcon however was less likely to fall in line, though he might enjoy Klingon hunting.

 

—- USS Selene, Deep Space (The Triangle) —-

The Selene cut through space at a brisk warp eight, leaving behind the USS Falcon and the Federation. To Captain Carrillo’s mind it was finally being let off the leash to do what it was always meant to do, explore. Despite their overriding assignment of defence of the Federation, they could best do that by finding out what things lurked in the darkness beyond their borders, and dealing with them before they became tomorrow’s issues. It was an argument that the Federation had been saved by the Enterprise’s early and unattended meeting of the Borg thanks to Q’s interference. Had they not discovered that the threat lurked out there, preparations (however insufficient) could not have begun and the first time that Starfleet had been alerted to the Borg was when there were right at their door.

Commander James Young entered her office for their weekly debrief. They’d been running in a straight line at cruising speed for weeks now, and while she got reports from engineering she trusted that Young would raise an issue if one had to be dealt with.

“Sit Commander, how’s it going?” Carrillo asked, as Young took a seat.

“It’s going good, but I was wondering if there’s anything in the next week or so we could stop at. I’d like to run a diagnostic on the engines,” he said.

Carrillo frowned, “Any reason?”

“No, but this is the most sustained run they’ve been on since… well forever in my understanding and I wanted to just make sure nothing surprises us. We’re weeks out from Federation space and I’d rather not discover something serious when we get months out,” he said.

Carrillo nodded, it was understandable caution. While she doubted anything would be wrong, they could do with doing something other than sprinting outward bound.

“Okay, there’s a Class M world about four days out, we’ll stop there and do some scans,” Carrillo said, “see if we can send a few away teams down.”

“I appreciate it ma’am,” Young said, he avoided away teams as he believed his place was on the ship, but the chance to have a few days babying the engines was all he wanted.

As the commander left a message sent from Captain Radak came in to Carrillo’s terminal. She sighed, knowing this was going to be something she wasn’t keen on and leaned forwards.

— USS Falcon, Conference Room —

The senior staff of the ship reviewed the briefing after Captain Radak had presented it. The Selene recalled from it’s mission, Klingon destroyers stolen by pirates. Nothing that either Captain Radak or Lieutenant Commander Hume had presented had been particularly good news.

“The Selene is heading into Klingon space to try to track down where these ships may have come from. They’re starting at this KDF storage facility inside Klingon space near the Triangle,” Radak said gesturing to the display and the sector map.

“If we’re going up against two Klingon destroyers we are outclassed on our own,” Captain Aike pointed out, he relished a fight more than most captains but he was not suicidal.

“Indeed, but colonial defences are even less prepared,” Radak said evenly, it was a case of needing to do the impossible because there was no other option. 

The younger Hume, who had transferred from the Selene to become the Chief Security Officer glanced at his sister, not sure she understood just how overmatched they were. He nodded, to support Captain Aike’s assessment of the situation, “The Falcon is a tough ship, but these are at least two  Mat’Ha-class destroyers. We’d have our hands full with one.”

Radak nodded, “I am aware of the tactical situation. There is no gain in continuing to raise these objections. We will do what we can, that is the orders and I have faith in Captain Aike. As of now we’re to move towards the border and begin a defensive tour. Lieutenant Murf, we will need to increase our possible top speed to respond to threats. Ensure this happens.”

The Chief Engineer nodded, “Will do.”

The Vulcan nodded, “Lieutenant Commander Hume will field any further questions.”

He nodded briskly and exited the conference room.
Captain Aike stood, and smoothed his uniform, “Well let’s make it happen people. Hume you and me should start on some drills. I realize this will be your first rodeo in charge.”

 

— USS Selene, Captain’s Ready Room —

“This isn’t what I meant by taking the engines offline to work on them,” said Commander Young as stars sped by outside.

“We’ll push the ship until we get into Klingon space and then slow down to Warp eight. We have to get to the depot, and the ship can do warp 9.995,” Captain Carrillo said, she had been hoping for a week studying a class-M planet and now was rushing to fight some Klingons or Orions, it was not yet clear which.

“And the Klingons will work with us?” Commander Keyana Mason asked, not convinced that was the case.

“They’re saying they’re not involved in the attacks, and they’ve agreed to be some help, though that’s undefined. Put together an away team for when we arrive. I want us to figure this out quick, the Falcon is on its own at the moment,” Carrillo said, not pointing out that so where they.

Mason nodded, “Ma’am.”

What they seem

Klingon Space
December 2401

—- Klingon Shipyard, Valor —-

The station seemed approximately like an old K-Type station, but with more angular parts to it. While the actual ship inventory was large, the internal living areas of the Klingon shipyards were cramped and small. Largely non-Klingons worked there, though the Selene’s crew was not there to inquire on the working conditions or how the non-Klingons were treated as a labor force. The few Klingons were relegated to officers running the station and a small security garrison that seemed disinterested in the Starfleet presence.

Lieutenant Commander Keyna Mason frowned, not getting the answers that she needed from the station’s commanding officer. The man shrugged and repeated himself.

“No ships are missing,” he said. He gestured to a display showing dozens of ships either in service or being held for transfer between houses or between the Klingon Defense Force and a house. She had studied statistical models, and as a science officer data was invaluable to her. There was nothing in the Klingon’s record keeping that provided her with confidence.

Beside her Chief Diplomatic Officer Lieutenant Diya Acharya smiled, as if the Klingons were being something other than unhelpful. That was the difference between a diplomat and a scientist, a Diplomat could see a skunk and call it a rose while the scientist would simply point out that it was in fact a skunk.

“Thank you, may we look though your files?” Lieutaenant Acharya asked.

The Klingon looked like he was going to laugh and then promptly did, before offering a one word answer, “No.”

Security Chief Lieutenant Claudia Jara glanced at the Klingons and said, “We should probably get back if we’re not going to find anything.”

Mason nodded, turning to the Klingon station commander, “Thank you for having us.”

He grunted and looked displeased.

 

—- USS Selene, Engineering Lab 2 —-

“Why are we in here?” Captain Carrillo asked, the room was small and crowded with a large part of it taken up with a massive computer.

Commander Young smiled, “Best computer on board, I’m trying to hack the Klingon’s system and not get caught.”

Lieutenant Commander Mason, having just returned, said, “Anything we can get. There records looked like they were a shambles. They’re not keeping careful track of anything there.”

“This technically is an act of war,” Carrillo pointed out, “so don’t get caught.”

“I got visitor logs. Two months ago Chancellor Toral visited,” Young said as she scanned the documents.

“Why would the leader of the Klingon Empire come here?” Carrillo asked. She glanced at the file, spotting the date.

“There was a conference that day,” the captain said, “Chancellor Toral was at it, and it wasn’t in traveling distance. It was across the Empire.”

“So how would Chancellor Toral be on the other side of the Empire and here on the same day?” Mason asked, frowning.

“Grab what you can then cut the connection, we want to be out of here as quickly as we can and without getting our hands caught in the cookie jar,” Carrillo said, adding, “Study what you get Mason, we need answers.”

 

—- USS Selene, Captain’s Ready Room —-

“So the records have been doctored?” Carrillo asked looking at the details on the PADD’s screen again.

Commander Mason offered a shrug, “Or not properly kept. We have our two ships arriving about six months ago and slated to be delivered to a small house. Probably as part of payment for supporting the Chancellor. Then they simply vanished off the record. Between these two periods see, there’s no record of the handover, but they simply don’t appear anymore.”

Carrillo glanced at Security Chief Lieutenant Jara, the slender woman nodding, “So it’s not a surprise that Klingons might be crumby bookkeepers.”

“No,” agreed Carrillo, “But it’s also not an answer. Can we find out anything else?”

Mason exchanged a glance with Jara, “Well ma’am, there is a security system that’s not tied into the network we accessed. It’s only accessible via a direct interface.”

“Meaning?” Carrillo asked, pretty sure what was being suggested.

“Meaning we need to get a blue shirt on board the station and to a terminal to access it,” Jara said.

“Commander Young?” the captain asked.

“Maybe, though you know how he hates to leave his engines,” Mason said.

Jara shook her head, “We need someone expendable, if Young gets caught he’s our Chief Engineer and we’re going to be in a shooting war. There’s a Vulcan cadet…”

“I’m not risking a cadet’s life,” Carrillo said.

“They’re on the ship for real world experience,” Jara said, “And it gives us some deniability.”

“Not much,” Carrillo said, grumpy at the suggestion. She did not like putting a cadet’s life on the line, but was anyone’s life worth risking for this. She sighed, they had their orders and this was what they had to do.

 

—- Klingon Shipyard, Valor —-

Cadet Sol materialized within the computer core of the Klingon station. It was small and cramped and she immediately hit her head on a duct. The resulting clang was loud, but did not seem to draw attention. She had left her Starfleet uniform back on the USS Selene and wore an IDIC pin as a commbadge. She tapped it to open a channel, “I am heading for the security computer now.”

She ducked, two arm Klingons were strolling by and just a series of terminals separated them from her. Remaining still she watched as they left the room and their voices receded down the hallway. Standing she headed for the security terminal.

“Please tell me you’re good with computers,” Jara’s voice came from her badge. The Security Chief running the infiltration.

“This is an illogical time to ask if I am competent at the job assigned. Thankfully I am exceptional with computers,” Sol said. She was not a security officer, and not used to missions such as this where her life was on the line, but she did trusts herself with computers. Arriving at the station she was glad that she had chosen to learn Klingon at the Academy. It allowed her to work faster than a translation could be provided and pull up security files. She inserted a drive and began to copy the data from the ships’ arrival to the point where they vanished from the registry.

Klingons reentered the room and as the progress bar filled, indicating files copied over, Sol kept low.

“I don’t like having Starfleet out there, watching us,” one of the Klingons said.

“Who cares, they learned nothing. Once we purge out security files there will be no evidence anything went wrong,” the other laughed, adding, “Stupid Federation.”

The computer finished with the files, and Sol tapped her badge again, “Hurry. I need to leave.”

“What was that?” one of the Klingons asked.

They both drew their sidearm phasers. Sol was still, and just as they began to round the corner she saw the distinctive starry pattern of the transporter whisking her away.

 

—- USS Selene, Bridge —-

Captain Olivia Carrillo sighed, “I’ll ask again do you have proof?”

The Klingon commander narrowed his eyes at her, “No.”

“So you suspect that someone from our ship beamed over to steal the information you were told to give us anyway? You can’t prove it, but you think it must have happened?” Carrillo asked.

The Klingon made a guttural grunting sound to show his displeasure with the description of events, but he offered no alternative set of facts.

“You did not ask for security logs,” the Klingon said.

“No we asked for all information on two missing ships. If security logs were pertinent then you would have provided them wouldn’t you have?” Carrillo asked, knowing the answer.

The Klingon glared at her.

“Well we have to go scan a nebula or something, but thank you for your help,” Carrillo said and then made a signal to Lieutenant Jara to cut the transmission.

She glanced at Lieutenant  Pr’Nor at helm, “Let’s not overstay our welcome. Set course for the USS Falcon, maximum warp.”

The Vulcan nodded and the ship leapt to warp. After handing the bridge off to the helmsman, the captain headed into her Ready Room where Commander Mason was already waiting.

“Anything interesting?” Carrillo asked.

“Lots of nothing, but Chancellor Toral makes an appearance,” Mason said.

“The Chancellor here?” Carrillo said.

“Well just watch,” Mason said. Footage of the Chancellor and an aide played on the wall mounted screen. They yelled at some low level officers and then when left alone…

“Shapeshifters,” Carrillo said as she watched the Chancellor melt and reform as a Klingon soldier.

The question was what did shapeshifters, the infamous Changlings that had almost toppled Starfleet, want with a space ship? Or two of them?

Too Late

USS Falcon - Federation Border
December 2401

—- USS Falcon, Bridge —-

“We’re getting reports that Tridus III is under attack sir,” Lieutenant Hume said. He was standing at the tactical controls, reading through anything relevant that came up in regards to their primary mission.

“Full speed Lieutenant Winfield, engineering should give us some extra power, so let’s get there,” Captain Aike said to his Chief Flight Control Officer.

Despite their relative lack of seniority the two Lieutenants were proving to be adapt at being heads of station. While they might not have been who he would have normally picked had he not lost most of his crew when his former First Officer got his own ship, they were talented. They time on the USS Seattle, USS Anaheim, USS Titan, and USS Selene had proven to be a good training ground.

Aike sat down in the center chair, glancing to his left to see his new First Officer Commander Attwell reading reports from Tridus III.

“Attwell, let Captain Radak know we’re heading in,” Aike said.

The Vulcan captain was the head of Selene Division, and a pain in Aike’s neck. Radak had made his office aboard the USS Falcon, which made it seem as if he was the ship’s actual captain. It was an uncomfortable situation, especially when Captain Carrillo of the USS Selene was the junior captain in the equation and yet got to command her own ship without having a pointy-eared babysitter.

“How long until we arrive?” Aike asked.

Lieutenant Thomas Winfield looked back at the captain, “Approximately three hours sir. If we push.”

“Push,” Aike said, “And I want to start scanning an hour out, we don’t want cloaked ships getting past us if we can stop them.”

There was still the problem of one Starfleet vessel up against two Klingon Destroyers. Despite being a new refit the USS Falcon was overmatched and in a fight with two Klingon ships, they were at a disadvantage.

“How far out is the Selene?” Aike asked Hume.

“At least three days,” was the answer, only a day less than the last time he’d asked. Together they stood a chance, alone they were in trouble.

Captain Aike nodded, complaining more about it would not help the situation. They were Starfleet and they could not and would not leave the colonies defenseless.

“Commander Attwell you have the bridge,” Aike said heading into his Ready Room.

 

—- USS Falcon, Flag Bridge —-

One of the first things that Lieutenant Hume had learned was that you complained upwards. As Chief Security and Tactical Officer he could not vent about how outmatched they were about to be to his staff. He had to appear confident and in control. So he complained to the First Officer, who was his manager. She did not complain to him, but presumably upwards to the captain. Yet so new into his role as CSO he did not want to make Commander Attwell think that he could not hack the job, so he did not complain to her.

It turned out that the only person he could commiserate with was in another department, his sister. She was now the Division’s XO and most often stuck close to Captain Radak helping the Vulcan run everything. Now through a twist of fate they’d both ended up on the USS Falcon, even if she was not officially assigned there but rather to Selene Division.

When he entered the Flag Bridge he saw Captain Radak staring at some data, unmoving. He did not seem to notice the hiss of doors as they opened, or acknowledge the young officer as he entered.

“William what’s up?” Lieutenant Hume’s sister came out of an office and saw her brother.

“Is Captain Radak okay?” William Hume asked,

His sister Lieutenant Commander Victoria Hume shrugged, “He does that, let’s go into my office.”

It was not until the door closed that William Hume asked, “How often does he do that?”

“A few hours a day. It’s one of the reasons he can’t have his own command anymore. His health is deteriorating and he needs to meditate in order to carry on. He’s should have ten or twenty more years, but he’s having a hard time hanging on,” she said. She admired Radak and was obviously close to him. In fact in the months that she’d been his assistant she’d never heard him refer to any friends or family so she reckoned that she might have been the person closest to him.

“Great, love finding out that this whole plan is that of a senile old Vulcan,” the younger Hume said.

His sister frowned, “He’s not senile. And I agree with him. What are we going to do, sit by and not respond to planetary distress calls? We’ve flagged that we’re going in and if the USS Majestic or some other ship can help it will but for now the Falcon is all there is.”

William Hume nodded skeptically. So his sister pressed the point.

“I get you’re scared, we all are. But you don’t accomplish anything wishing the world was different. Your job, and it’s a big one, is protecting us alll once we get there.You go into a fight knowing that there’s no ship in the verse that can beat the USS Falcon. Sure we’re never going to be on an Enterprise, but this is a good ship, and the best you’ve served on,” she said.

Lieutenant Hume looked at his sister and nodded, a pep talk wouldn’t exactly solve everything, but it was better than nothing. He nodded, grateful for the advice.

“You make it back for mom’s retirement party?” He asked his sister.

“No, she seemed to like it.”

Lieutenant Hume nodded, smiling at his sister, “Well thanks for the pep talk.”

“Hey holding men’s hands is what I do.”

 

—- USS Falcon, Bridge —-

Captain Paul Aike sat in the center chair and watched the viewscreen without saying anything as the USS Falcon dropped out of warp. Tridus III was a prospering mining colony, one that had been paying for itself with its production of dilithium. It had been one of the success stories of these scattered border worlds that neighbored the Triangle. They had even invested in colonial defense batteries, giant guns that could shoot into space with the power of a ship’s phaser array.

“Scans are showing signs of areal bombardment,” Lieutenant Hume said from the security conn.

“Scan for the Klingon ships,” Aike said as he kept his eyes on the main display.

He’d studied Earth’s history and naval warfare in the Academy and this reminded him of naval battles against subs.

It was something that Commander Ashley Attwell thought of as well, vocalizing it, “It’s like the Royal Navy versus UBoats in the Atlantic Ocean.”

Aike nodded, and made a small grunt to acknowledge the statement. The two Mat’Ha class destroyers were likely out there somewhere, hidden behind their cloaks.

“Have Doctor Njord prepare an emergency medical team. Do a full spectrum scan, and prepare to lower shields, but not yet. They don’t come down until the medical team is ready to go,” Aike said. He glanced at Hume, “You go with them, lead the team down and liaison with whoever is in charge down there.”

—- USS Falcon, Flag Bridge —-

“The Klingon ships have left,” Captain Aike reported to Selene Division’s CO Captain Radak.

The Vulcan closed his eyes and nodded, “As I thought.”

“You could have told us that’s what you thought,” Aike said.

“If I was wrong we’d have walked into a trap, better to come in prepared and be wrong then come in complacent,” Radak said.

“We’re not complacent you need to trust me on my ship,” Aike said pointedly.

The Vulcan considered this, “Very well. I hypothesized that the pirates would have left the area. They are used to being outgunned, it will take awhile for them to adjust their tactics to their new reality of two very powerful ships.”

“We’re providing emergency medical care,” Aike reported.

“They will hit one of the nearby colonies next, be prepared to leave quickly, but good job Captain,” Radak said.

Anything Justified By Honor

USS Selene, Triangle
December 2401

—- USS Selene, Captain’s Ready Room —-

Captain Olivia Carrillo and Lieutenant Commander Gabriella Miller looked at the Klingon officer. Carillo had not realized that they had a half-Klingon officer, a fact that had just been brought to her attention after their trip to the Klingon fleet yards. Though the woman was a half Klingon half Vulcan and her distinctive ears would not have allowed her to pass as a Klingon. Further she was a science officer, a job not suited to a mission in a potential battle zone.

“So Lieutenant Junior Grade Bran’nea, do you have family in the Klingon Empire?” Carrillo asked, trying to gauge if the officer would be useful.

“I was raised Vulcan, and while I have family in the Empire, I would hesitate to believe that I am a cultural expert on the Empire. My family there are farmers, not warriors,” the woman said, her pacing of language and vocal intonations quite Vulcan. Given that she looked like the could rip both of Carrillo’s arms off it was quite odd.

Of course, the captain reminded herself, so could a Vulcan.

“And what do you think of the footage?” Miller asked. She was the woman’s direct commanding officer, which was why she was here.

“Given Starfleet has shared its changling finding technology with the Empire, among other powers, I would posit that the Emperor has not been replaced by changlings. However it is possible that this technology has not been shared throughout the Empire. Hence it would be possible to impersonate the Emperor for a limited time,” Bran’nea said.

This matched both what Captain Radak had said when they had shared the footage with him back on the USS Falcon, and Carrillo’s own guess at what was gong on. One of the powers not gifted the technology was the Orion Syndicate, and that was who it was assumed was behind the attacks.

“Would the Klingons allow two destroyers to be stolen on purpose?” Carrillo asked.

The half-Vulcan and half-Klingon blinked, “I would answer again that I am not an expert on current Klingon political situations. It could be justified under the code of honor, but nearly anything could.”

“Thank you Lieutenant Junior Grade, Lieutenant Commander,” Carrillo said as she gestured towards the door. The pair exited. The blue of their uniforms pointing out a weakness the Selene had in its current role. It was a science ship, staffed by scientists and cadets. It was not adapt at solving mysteries like stolen destroyers.

Her terminal beeped with an incoming message. Being in Klingon space they had opted for sending encrypted messages rather than real time conversations. The Klingons might be allies, but that was seeming increasingly temporary.

After the message was unencrypted it played on the terminal as Carrillo sipped from a thermal bottle of water.

Captain Radak’s face appeared, “We concur that it is unlikely that the Klingon Emperor has been compromised. However this incident is being shared with the High Command by the Federation diplomats anyway. Your next job is to go to Jaressi Centre and locate the stolen materials from the raided colonies. Obviously you won’t be able to repossess them, but if we can show the goods are in pirate hands, it will also us to more directly take this conflict to those behind it. Obviously a Starfleet Vessel showing up at Jaressi Centre will be difficult to manage so take a Runabout and send a team. Radak out.”

The video died off, as the Vulcan’s message ended. Carrillo glanced at the terminal and sighed, standing she exited her ready room to put the order in motion.

 

—- USS Selene, Main Shuttle Bay —-

The runabout Zeus left the Selene three days later once the ship was near enough to Jaressi Centre to send it off, but not near enough to be located on sensors. The team consisted of Lieutenant Jara, Lieutenant Rebecca Avila, Crewwoman Vanuoma Vedda, and Lieutenant Maria Cortez.

The inclusion of the Orion Vanuoma had been done so that they had some local expertise. Her mother was a high ranking pirate and perhaps that would payoff for the away team.

On the bridge Carrillo watched them go, nervous that she was not joining them. While she trusted most of the crew, she did not trust the residents of Jaressi Centre. The old Romulan station was now a hub of privacy and the last time they had sent crew there the Chief Councelor and the USS Seattle’s First Officer were taken control of by an evil god, and and their chiefs of security and science had been taken hostage in a shipping crate.

This was before Carrillo’s time, but it was enough to make her nervous.

Ambush

USS Falcon, Dionvia V
Late 2401

—- USS Falcon, Dionvia V —-

 

The Excelsior-II-class ship dropped out of warp, again with their shields up. They had been arriving at colonies after attacks now for two weeks and had not encountered the Klingon ships, nor the pirates. All they had found was devastated colonies. One attack would be bad enough, but Starfleet was being stretched having to assign resources for disaster relief after each attack. Soon a California-class ship would arrive to handle the engineering and medical tasks that the colony now faced with so much of their infrastructure damaged.

Captain Paul Aike paced the bridge, something that he knew made his officers nervous. He couldn’t help it, he was facing repressed rage seeing so many people devastated and losing their homes due to a Klingon negligence in losing two destroyers and Starfleet in losing control of the Changlings so soon after they had almost destroyed the Federation not once but twice.

“We have thirteen colonies now signing onto a petition for open war with the Klingons,” observed Lieutenant Commander Victoria Hume from a console. She was there because Captain Radak, perhaps correctly, found that his presence on the bridge was not welcome and was seen as being in conflict with the ship’s captain.

“It’s not Klingons,” Aike said, knowing that it did not matter to the colonies who this was, only that they were on the receiving end of such destruction.

Victoria Hume nodded, “No but they see Klingon ships in the sky, their worlds destroyed and it’s hard to understand the context of what’s happening or why. Also this is probably the Changelings goal, push for war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire while stealing stuff. Honestly it’s a pretty good plan.”

Aike knew that the Federation was already bending over backwards to maintain the fragile peace with the Klingons. Still that could only hold for so long, and Hume was right with the pirates attacking people in Klingon ships, things were becoming hard to hold together. He was not a diplomat, but he knew that this could not hold, and that the diplomatic corps was doing their best to keep things together.

He focused on the nuts and bolts of his job. Scanning, looking for anomalies and ensuring that the area was clear before they were down to the surface to triage what they could.

Lieutenant William Hume, the younger brother of the Division’s strategic operations officer, spoke up, “Captain we have something off the port side.”

“A ship?” Aike asked.

“Not sure energy, similar to a… Klingon Mat’Ha-class ship decloaking,” Hume said.

After two weeks of chasing the up to now unseen Klingon ships around the quadrant it was almost a relief to come up against one. Then the second decloaked.

The Falcon rocked as both ships, with no preamble or conversation began to fire, photon torpedoes striking the ship’s shields.

“Evasive maneuvers, Aike Four Two Bravo,” Aike said and glanced at Lieutenant Hume at the tactical conn, “Open fire, full spread start with quantum torpedoes.”

The crew was relatively new, but well drilled. They’d been preparing for this since the mission began. They might be out numbered and overpowered but they were going to fight and if Aike had anything to do with it win.

Hunting

Jaressi Station
Late 2401

—- USS Selene, Captain’s Ready Room —-

Captain Olivia Carrillo and Lieutenant Commander Gabriella Miller looked at the Klingon officer. Carillo had not realized that they had a half-Klingon officer, a fact that had just been brought to her attention after their trip to the Klingon fleet yards. Though the woman was a half Klingon half Vulcan and her distinctive ears would not have allowed her to pass as a Klingon. Further she was a science officer, a job not suited to a mission in a potential battle zone.

“So Lieutenant Junior Grade Bran’nea, do you have family in the Klingon Empire?” Carrillo asked, trying to gauge if the officer would be useful.

“I was raised Vulcan, and while I have family in the Empire, I would hesitate to believe that I am a cultural expert on the Empire. My family there are farmers, not warriors,” the woman said, her pacing of language and vocal intonations quite Vulcan. Given that she looked like the could rip both of Carrillo’s arms off it was quite odd.

Of course, the captain reminded herself, so could a Vulcan.

“And what do you think of the footage?” Miller asked. She was the woman’s direct commanding officer, which was why she was here.

“Given Starfleet has shared its changling finding technology with the Empire, among other powers, I would posit that the Emperor has not been replaced by changlings. However it is possible that this technology has not been shared throughout the Empire. Hence it would be possible to impersonate the Emperor for a limited time,” Bran’nea said.

This matched both what Captain Radak had said when they had shared the footage with him back on the USS Falcon, and Carrillo’s own guess at what was gong on. One of the powers not gifted the technology was the Orion Syndicate, and that was who it was assumed was behind the attacks.

“Would the Klingons allow two destroyers to be stolen on purpose?” Carrillo asked.

The half-Vulcan and half-Klingon blinked, “I would answer again that I am not an expert on current Klingon political situations. It could be justified under the code of honor, but nearly anything could.”

“Thank you Lieutenant Junior Grade, Lieutenant Commander,” Carrillo said as she gestured towards the door. The pair exited. The blue of their uniforms pointing out a weakness the Selene had in its current role. It was a science ship, staffed by scientists and cadets. It was not adapt at solving mysteries like stolen destroyers.

Her terminal beeped with an incoming message. Being in Klingon space they had opted for sending encrypted messages rather than real time conversations. The Klingons might be allies, but that was seeming increasingly temporary.

After the message was unencrypted it played on the terminal as Carrillo sipped from a thermal bottle of water.

Captain Radak’s face appeared, “We concur that it is unlikely that the Klingon Emperor has been compromised. However this incident is being shared with the High Command by the Federation diplomats anyway. Your next job is to go to Jaressi Centre and locate the stolen materials from the raided colonies. Obviously you won’t be able to repossess them, but if we can show the goods are in pirate hands, it will also us to more directly take this conflict to those behind it. Obviously a Starfleet Vessel showing up at Jaressi Centre will be difficult to manage so take a Runabout and send a team. Radak out.”

The video died off, as the Vulcan’s message ended. Carrillo glanced at the terminal and sighed, standing she exited her ready room to put the order in motion.

—- USS Selene, Main Shuttle Bay —-

The runabout Zeus left the Selene three days later once the ship was near enough to Jaressi Centre to send it off, but not near enough to be located on sensors. The team consisted of Lieutenant Jara, Lieutenant Rebecca Avila, Crewwoman Vanuoma Vedda, and Lieutenant Maria Cortez.

The inclusion of the Orion Vanuoma had been done so that they had some local expertise. Her mother was a high ranking pirate and perhaps that would payoff for the away team.

On the bridge Carrillo watched them go, nervous that she was not joining them. While she trusted most of the crew, she did not trust the residents of Jaressi Centre. The old Romulan station was now a hub of privacy and the last time they had sent crew there the Chief Councelor and the USS Seattle’s First Officer were taken control of by an evil god, and and their chiefs of security and science had been taken hostage in a shipping crate.

This was before Carrillo’s time, but it was enough to make her nervous. She was not that far away from being a hands on First Officer, and allowing her officers to go into a situation where they’d had officers taken hostage and lost before was not something that sat well with her.

She watched the shuttle depart, her husband Lieutenant Lambert behind her. As it winked off into the distance he said, “Relax. They are all competent.”

“I know,” Carrillo said as the hanger doors closed.

—- Jaressi Centre —-

This time there was no attempt to disguise the fact that they were Starfleet. Granted they did not fly the USS Selene into dock, but there was no pretending they were pirates, or smugglers. They did not arrive armed to the teeth, hoping to take the station, but they were unapologetic in being Starfleet. There was some reluctance to let them onboard, but the calculation must have been made that either you let one shuttle dock at the station or a full ship shows up and makes things difficult for everyone. Given the makeup of the statin’s normal clientele, a Starfleet vessel docked was a sure way to scare off the locals.
Whereas before they had taken the Captain’s Yacht and beaten it up, stripping it of all Starfleet insignia they did not do so this time. There was no hiding they were Starfleet, and no pretending they were just traders. While the station was well beyond Federation space, and not controlled by any of the major powers of the region, it was also not entirely free to operate without their influence. If they so desired either the Klingons, Romulans, or Federation could have shut this down long ago and while nobody admitted it it was clear that the reality was known to the station’s leadership.

As the Chief of Security Lieutenant Claudia Jara took command of the mission. They left phasers on the shuttle, as the station had its own better armed security forces and there was little the small Starfleet team could do on their own. Granted Jaressi Centre’s forces were more akin to a street gang, but for the moment they’d have to rely on the street gang for what little protection they were going to have.

The only one of the group that seemed at home was Crewwoman Vanuoma Vedda. The Orion had grown up visiting starbases like this, and if anything this was more civilized then some that she had been on.

“You act like nobody is going to touch you,” Lieutenant Cortez observed as she ran a scan of some food supplies to see if it could be traced back to any of the raided colonies. The vendor watched her, eyeing her using a tricorder on their wares.

“Nobody would dare, given who my mother is,” Vedda said smiling, “You lot though might not make it out alive.”

Jara rolled her eyes, “Given that we took you on as a favor to your mother, because she was worried you were going to get yourself killed I wouldn’t feel quite so comfortable.”

Vedda laughed, and pretended not to care. They were safe enough on the main promenade, or so they had factored. While Jaressi Centra was not Starfleet having a Starfleet team killed in open would draw too much attention. If they got cornered somewhere more private, well who was to say what had happened.

They moved from storefront to storefront, scanning, trying to be subtle about it but aware that their every move was being watched. Not only would the station authorities know about their every move, but so would other factions.

After a study Cortez pulled the group to the side, the Science Officer being in charge of scanning.

“I’m getting results on a few items around here,” Cortez said nodding towards a vendor that was selling cheap construction materials.

“No weapons?” Jara asked, weapons tended to be easier to sell and always in demand.

“No but these are definitely not only Starfleet issue, but from the colonies attacked,” Cortez said.

Jara nodded, “Now we trance them to the seller.”

It was obvious, dealing with stolen matierals that the end point seller probably knew they were stolen but not a lot else that would be useful. What they would need to find was the individual, or individuals in the middle of this. The ones who got the materials from the pirates and then moved them on after a tidy profit of their own.

Unsatisfactorily Belated Endings

The Triangle
2401

—- USS Selene, The Triangle —-

The ship had picked up the away team that had bordered Jaressi Centre. They had managed through some teeth pulling, not literally, to get a set of coordinates out of one of the vendors that had been selling stolen Federation supplies from the attacked colonies. The treat of a fleet of Starfleet vessels showing up at Jaressi Centre to inspect all future cargo had been a bluff, but a bluff that had worked. Not everyone knew just how thin the fleet was being stretched.

“I still can’t raise the USS Falcon,” Lieutenant Randolf McKenzie said from the communications conn.

From her chair in the centre of the bridge Captain Olivia Carrillo turned and gave a small frown. They’d been out of contact with the rest of Selene Division since the away team had returned and this was not news that made her feel confident.

“What’s their last known coordinates,” Carrillo asked.

“Dionvia V, ma’am,” McKenzie said, “All other communications seem unaffected, it’s just them that’s gone we have comms with the rest of Starfleet and the Federation.”

“Which means it’s not on our end,” Carrillo said, understanding the inference. This was not a case that someone was blocking the USS Selene’s comms, there was just nobody picking up on the other end.

This worried her, she knew that the Falcon was up against tight odds, that two Klingon destroyers were more than a match for the Excelsior II-class ship. It had come through the war with the Dominion, but that did not make it invulnerable. Still she had faith in Captains Radak and Aike to see them though.

Commander Mason kept focused on the task, though she shared her commanding officer’s concern, “Find us someplace to hide.”

Chief Science Officer Gabriella Mason nodded, “There’s a nebula that’s composed of scanner reflective particles. We’ll be able to see out, but unless we use warp drive we won’t be spotted.”

“Head us in, and turn everything off but scanners and life support,” Carrillo said. The crew would have to go a few hours without holodecks, but not being seen was more important.

She glanced at her first Officer Commander Mason, “Any chance we can listen in to what they’re saying?”

Mason nodded, “McKenzie has some listening equipment. We should be able to intercept any ship to ship comms and remain undetected.”

“McKenzie, make it so, contact the Intelligence team if you need anything,” Carrillo said, then she remembered that with the advent of Selene squadron her intelligence team was down to one officer.

Now all they had to do was wait, potentially days. Carrillo stood and adjusted her uniform, “Alright everyone work on getting us eyes and ears ready. Mason the crew can use holo technology until we detect ships. Then we go dark. I’m going to go eat and go to my quarters. Mason you have the bridge.”