Going Underground

Posted on Wed Sep 7th, 2016 @ 8:02am by Captain Jacob Lambert & Lieutenant Commander Jaca Traylor
Edited on on Wed Aug 8th, 2018 @ 5:27am

784 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Episode 4 - Parallels
Location: USS Unification
Timeline: Day 8 - 1330 Hours

Commander Jaca Traylor entered the ready room of Captain Jacob Lambert. He was sitting behind his desk going over the latest intel.

Though it had only been 8 days since the Consortium insurrection, they had accomplished so much in the initial assault. With around half the ships stationed in the Gamma Quadrant, Deep Space 11 and the Wormhole under Consortium control, the remaining loyal ships were holed up throughout various sectors. And with a lot of subspace communication channels still being some what blocked, no one used any open frequencies any more. The only place with still maintaining active to that was Starbase Unity. But given that everyone knew it was still under Loyalist control, those channels were usually monitored.The last ship that replied to Unity was the USS Maketu, which was subsequently destroyed by the USS Hammerhead.

Jaca looked to Jacob, who gestured for him to take a seat. "Report." Jacob asked.

"We are coming up on the buoy. There doesn't seem to be any ships in sensor range. Once we are within range, I will connect to the buoy and begin my work. It should only take a few minutes."

Jacob looked at the Betazoid. "And you still won't tell me what that work is, will you?" Before even giving him a chance to respond Jacob shook his head. "Forget I asked." He stood up, followed quickly by Commander Traylor, then proceeded to the bridge. He took his seat in the center of the bridge.

"Ensign Calder, drop us out of warp. Red alert." The lights dimmers and the klaxons sounded. The last few days had been spent like this. As soon as they dropped out of warp, they engaged red alert. Jacob wasn't about to be caught with his trousers down. "Commander, get to work. Ensign th’Iroth, keep your fingers on those triggers. If so much as a micrometeorite gets within sensor range of the ship, I want to know about it."

The bridge went from the usual thrum of activity to an apprehensive atmosphere. Jacob adjusted the phaser on his belt while Commander Traylor got to work on the Ops station. There was a beep from the tactical console. Jacob, and what seemed like everyone else, turned to Ensign th’Iroth, the Andorian security officer. With long range sensors still not 100% reliable with all the jamming signals from various relays throughout the quadrant, this wasn't a good sign.

"I am detecting a ship on an intercept course. It's about 14 minutes out, approaching at warp 8, bearing 321 mark 219." The officers fingers now tapping furiously on his console.

"Lambert to all hands, battlestations." He looked to Jaca. "How long Commander? Time is a luxury we can no longer afford you."

"About 10 minutes, should nothing go wrong." He replied.

"It better be, for all our sakes. Ensign," he called to the Andorian tactical officer. "Any idea who is coming toward us? Friend or foe?"

"Unknown at this time. Sensors show it is a Galaxy class ship. But I’m not picking up a registry. They may be actively jamming incoming sensor scans."

"Meaning it could be Pinnacle, the Brazil or the Cairo. We know the Cairo is Consortium. Let's hope it's not that one. Brazil and Pinnacle are still unknowns. Regardless, I don't want to stick around to find out."

Time passed slowly for the next few minutes. Jaca broke the silence.

"Done. Computer begin data purge of Buoy 359, and upload program Jaca Epsilon 24."

"Captain," th’Iroth said. "The ship is slowing down, they have dropped to warp 6. And their course is changing. They are heading away from us."

"Commander, what the hell did you just do?" Jacob demanded.

"I uploaded a program myself and the Admiral have been working on. I had to change it for this ship, but I basically removed you from the sensor range of the buoys in this, and a few other sectors. We can move somewhat more freely for the time being. Now, we won't be hidden from ship sensors, but DS11 can no longer track us." He answered.

"But you said ship sensors would still detect us, why would that ship turn away?" Jacob asked.

"I masked our signature, to look like a faulty reading. According to Starfleet mission records, you were on your way out here to fix it anyway. So they were none the wiser. Now that's out the way, may I?" He gestured to the conn. Jacob replied with a nod. "Set course for the Jurgen system. There is an asteroid field there. Please inform me when you get there. I will be in my quarters." He left the bridge.

"Lieutenant Masterton, you have the bridge." He stood and went to his ready room.

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