Captain Isara Aleron: Playing a Hunch
Serala
The blue beam and high-pitched whine engulfed them and they suddenly materialized on the bridge. Isara stepped into the Command Center, making toward her chair while studying the viewscreen.
Aleron: Report, Commander.
T’Ama: Sensors have detected at least one obfuscated ship in the vicinity. Threat level unknown. Possibly not using a true cloaking technology, and instead using a form of optical camouflage helped by sensor scrambling.
oO That’s different. And clever. Oo
Is’Kah: Fascinating. I wonder if it’s a home brew cloak.
Lennai: Based on the readings I'm picking up here, that's the conclusion I'm reaching.
She took her seat, her mind already whirring with possible responses.
Aleron: Have they attempted any communications?
Neshala: None so far, Captain.
T’Ama: We also have seven people unconscious in Sickbay that we rescued from cargo containers in a debris field near the listening post. The ship that came to retrieve them had a more rudimentary form of optical camouflage.
Is’Kah: Perhaps they belong to the Concordance?
Isara nodded. That was a reasonable conclusion and actually made the most sense. This Concordance was posing a real mystery to her, and she didn’t have enough answers yet.
Aleron: It’s likely, Is’Kah.
Lennai: Well I'm not sure about any Concordance, but whatever they're a part of, it looks like posturing to me.
T’Ama: It is possible this is related. One of the people we rescued was Charn.
That caused Isara to turn her head. No wonder they hadn’t been able to find him on the surface.
Is’Kah: That explains why no one would let us speak with him, and their extreme fear, Captain.
Lennai: Ominous.
Aleron: To say the least. I’m getting a bad feeling about our hosts, and I don’t like mysteries. :: pausing :: Anything from the listening post that can be of use to us, T’Ama?
T’Ama: The listening post was destroyed when the debris field expanded suddenly. I would have attempted to recover some of it but Commander Ada sustained life threatening injuries that required us to return to the Valkyrie. She survived.
Isara didn’t like hearing that one bit. She had come out here to establish a dialogue, and for some inexplicable reason, the powers out here had decided to set themselves against her. And now her crew was suffering. But this was not the time to let her emotions get the better of her. Her crew needed her to be strong and in charge. She could express her feelings later.
(( flashback - Isara’s and Taleia’s Quarters, USS Vandenburg ))
Venn: Lirae, you are too hard on yourself. You cannot control everything. The debris was in our path before we knew it. And the ship damage was relatively light.
But someone had died because a piece of debris had struck the starboard hull. Someone who would never get to see their significant other because she hadn’t reacted fast enough.
(( end flashback ))
This was one of those times when Isara wished she was more combat-focused. She really wanted to blast these idiots out of the stars for attacking her people without provocation. But that was not her way. She was a diplomat. A strategist as well, but always with the focus toward achieving diplomacy, not war. Whatever their reasons were, she knew they had to have them, and if she could find out what those were then maybe, just maybe, they could resolve this peacefully.
Lennai: I'm keeping an eye on those strange readings I got, but I think it's from the falloff of energy in regard to their cloaking device.
Aleron: Thank you, Ensign. Let me know if those readings change.
Is’Kah: Commander, are you aware of any Ion surges that didn’t have any explanation?
T’Ama: Response
Lennai: Of course. checking now.
Is’Kah: I see. Captain, if they are using optical camo and sensor scrambling they might not think to scramble their drive trails. Perhaps science could find it and see if it leads to a blank spot in our sensors?
Lennai: I hope so, because every scan I'm running from up here is coming up with nothing.
Aleron: Okay, if this is not a true cloak as we suspect, then it’s possible they're leaving an ion trail. Good catch, Lieutenant Is’Kah. Let’s start looking for those trails.
Of course, whatever was screwing with their sensors could be masking that as well, but it was worth a shot.
T’Ama: Response
Is’Kah: It also might be possible to detect them via the solar wind. Locate any spots that deflect it without explanation.
Lennai: Changing our angle where we are best defended.
Aleron: Good thinking, Ensign. However, next time I would appreciate a recommendation first. Let me make the decision. But please, carry on.
It was a mild rebuke, at best. She’d taken care to moderate her tone to reflect that this was only a teaching moment and not an actual reprimand. She could easily forgive an eager Ensign. She had been quite the eager beaver when she’d been a helm officer. Just remembering the time she jumped to warp before the Captain had given the order brought a brief smile to her face, but she quickly returned her thoughts to the immediate situation.
Is’Kah / T’Ama: Response
Lennai: Captain, should we open hailing frequencies?
Aleron: Yes, Ensign. All channels and frequencies. Let’s see if they’re willing to talk.
Is’Kah / T’Ama: Responses
Lennai: Understood. At your command.
The hailing frequencies were opened and she noted both Orion women working to get the message out.
oO Twice the resources, twice the efficacy. Also, it is interesting that I have two Orion women at the front seats of my ship. Nice little coincidence. Oo
Is’Kah / T’Ama: Responses
Unsurprisingly, they received no response. Neshala continued to run through the channels, and Isara encouraged Lennai to do the same with a gentle nod of her head.
Aleron: Okay, let’s get into open space. I don’t like the idea of being trapped between them and the planet. If they start shooting, I want room to maneuver.
Lennai: Response
Is’Kah / T’Ama: Responses
As the ship moved away from the planet, Isara began to breathe a bit easier. With their new stealth technology, she had begun to wonder what other new technologies did they possess and how much of a disadvantage would the Valkyrie be against them.
Aleron: They seem to be letting us depart. Maybe they just don’t want us here. :: she decided to play a hunch, as the humans called it, although she was certain one or more of her officers would say something about it later. :: Helm, set a course for deeper into the sector. Let’s see if they’re really letting us leave or not.
Lennai: Response
Is’Kah / T’Ama: Responses
She looked over at the First Officer.
Aleron: As the humans say, T’Ama, I am playing a hunch.
T’Ama: Response
Is’Kah / Lennai: Responses
Aleron: I want to see if they’re really letting us go, or if they just want us to go back where we came from.
T’Ama: Response
Is’Kah / Lennai: Responses
But even as the ship turned to go deeper into the sector, another ship seemed to manifest out of the stars in their flight path.
oO Damn. Oo
Aleron: Helm, alter course zero-zero-six mark zero relative.
Lennai: Response
The ship turned with ease and continued forward, but they hadn’t gone far when yet another ship appeared in their path.
oO How many of these things are there? Oo
Given their general shape, she was almost tempted to call them a hive or a swarm, but they’d only seen three so far. Yet, given their technology, there could be plenty more. And it didn’t help that she was starting to get a headache from all of this.
Aleron: Alter course again, Ensign. Continue trying to take us deeper in.
Lennai: Response
T’Ama / Is’Kah: Responses