Star Trek RPG - Mission #7: "The War-Brotherhood of Irkhuit"

The situation is still completely fluid, and increasingly out of the Tesla's crew's hands: Bizhi's own boss is already on board, by far the most senior officer, and he is not sure if she will send him up to the Yorktown with Onn and Rangin (surely that makes the most sense? Yet someone has to stay down here) or if something else will supervene. Seeing Kylah leaning into the cabin, he beseeches her, "The bridge team--- please ensure someone tries to get the complete manifest, passengers and crew. And the 'cargo', if the Uwat dared to put them on the record."

Dr. Villa tells Dr. Mäkeläinen with a rueful smile, "Oh, yes, Mr. Rangin has been studied and scanned quite a bit since the Sakathian mission - more, I think, than he ever really wanted. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, though. His case is unique." She then speaks to the Captain via communicator and says, "Ma'am, I recommend my immediate return with Mr. Onn and Mr. Rangin to the Yorktown. I really would rather have them in Sickbay and be able to make use of all its resources, then to keep them here, unconscious and in possible continuing danger, with only a limited understanding of their medical status."

"Understood," the Captain says. She pauses, thinking, then says, "All right, Doctor. Prepare to beam back, the three of you. We'll lower the shields just long enough to bring you back. Dr. Mäkeläinen, you'll remain there, and continue as medical officer for the boarding party. Mr. Graham, take command of all those aboard the Uwat ship. Secure the ship, proceeding as you think best."

Hearing the others discuss her like mindless cargo, Nia curls her fingers around the thin bunk until they're bloodless. Every instinct pushes her to protest. She belongs here. She wants--needs--to be with the crew.

But she can't repeat the humiliation that she just went through in the corridor. Sorry, you're an invalid, go back to bed and let the others do the work. What would be the purpose of staying, other than her sense of duty? She's been of no use since crashing the Tesla. Before that, really, since gravity probably did most of the navigating there: Nia can't think of a single thing she's contributed to this mission since dropping Hutchinson off at the prison. Except as a time constraint and source of inconvenience and, worse, endangerment.

And what's she supposed to say to Singh? Hey Captain, I know you cut the ship's mission short and raced here to save my ass, but you mind indulging me a little more and let me sit on this bunk awhile longer, just so I can chill with my former team and pretend like I haven't completely abandoned my post?

Yeah, no. She'd rather disappear.

Nia remains silent and counts the rivets in the deck panels.

Somewhat surprised that Dr. Mäkeläinen would question the thoroughness of the investigation, Kylah then recalls that, as hard as it is to believe, this is his first mission with the Yorktown. She will not lie and say everyone is flawless, or even expert at their job--she knows she isn't, and she highly doubts she is unique in making as many mistakes as she has. But in something like this, which violates multiple basic tenets of Starfleet and Federation beliefs (and, it must be said, involves one of their greatest enemies and is thus of extreme tactical interest)... No, even Kylah, cynical as she can be, is confident the crew will take especial care with anything and everything involving this ship.

Without the ability to pass this explanation along in the presence of Dr. Villa in person and Captain Singh via communicator, she just nods intently. "Of course, doctor," she says. "It sounds as if you will remain here, likely to help with the captives. But I will ensure as many records as possible are copied over, and those that cannot will likely be taken aboard intact. Perhaps we will bring the Doregg into one of our docking bays? I do not know if our ship can hold something of this size. I did not notice how big it is in the first place. Of course it will have to be swept for any traps first, I suppose." She turns to Lt. Graham and Ens. Rawlings, if either of them is nearby and not in the middle of conversation. "Is that a possibility?"

Kylah lifting her head and volunteering to stay fills Graham with...what? Pride? Or something else--reminders of his daughter Lizzy, not much younger than Kylah, who inherited a fierceness from her late mother.

Unfortunately, he can't muster much more than an approving nod and something of a grunt. "Very good, uh, excuse me..."

He looks around to find Nia. Who doesn't look happy, regardless of health.

He approaches and clears his throat. "You've been staring the wrong kind of death in the face for days," he says quietly. "It's...it's, um...ah"

She's not going to die on my watch. It's like a reprieve from a death sentence.

He clears his throat again. "It's OK. And even if you think it's not, as your duly appointed acting mission commander I am going to order you to get your ass back onto our ship, if that's what it takes."

He blinks, looks away, and then back to here. "Please" in almost a whisper.

Nia stares at the deck for a few seconds longer until she can cover her sadness with affection. Then she looks up at Booker with a gentle smile. "That makes it unanimous. I can't fight all of you," she says softly. "Anyway, what purpose would I serve? Don't worry. I'll be out of your hair soon, Book. Thanks for... everything." She lifts a tired hand to pat his forearm, then lets it drop so he can get back to work.

After sending a final thankful glance around to the conscious team members, whether they're paying attention or not, she shifts her gaze to the porthole.

Mäkeläinen tries not to let his own fatigue and nerves show, especially now. He is not so green, though. "Understood, Doctor," he says. "We may want an engineer to help examine those cryopods. Then we may need some way of evacuating a quantity of individuals of yet-to-be-determined number, condition, and identity."

"Nia," he addresses the whilom leader softly, "she's right. There is a state-of-the-art Sickbay on the Yorktown with all of your scans and records, along with a whole team of nurses and technicians. Here there is nothing but cold bunks, and it's not safe. There may be other injured, plus a hold full of narrowly escaped might-have-been slaves, and we have to get them out, too. I will look in on you two, personally, as soon as it's secure." He makes sure she still has her Bilitrium substitute on her, even though she does not really need it any more.

He explains to Kylah and Graham, "I just... if possible, I would like to have those records available to us, so we know as soon as possible who is accounted for. We will all need communicators. We cannot force anyone who is awake and able to vocalize their objections to accept medical treatment from us, but we should make the effort to convince them. If they still do not want us touching them, we give them access to first aid."

Nia looks up at the upper bunk and leans her head back against the wall, wondering how much more of this she has to take. The doc's been too helpful, too impossibly steadfast for so long, for her to express anything but gratitude to him. So she musters a titan's strength of will and clamps down on her growing despair. "Of course. I'm not arguing. Whenever Villa takes me, I'll go. Thank you, Bizhi. Go help the people who need it."

She closes her eyes and prays the others won't keep trying to convince her of what she's already resigned herself to. If Kylah's next, Nia is not sure she'll be responsible for her actions. They won't find enough Elasian atoms to put the girl back together.

Suddenly her own violent thought makes her consider another, and her eyes blink open again. "Speaking of records: If I were running a slave ship," she says looking from Bizhi to Graham and Rawlings, "I'd want to make sure the records and any proof--including surviving captives--weren't around to incriminate me. So maybe y'all should get going and make sure there's no self-destruct on this tub. 'Cause the Romulans left in a big damn hurry. Did they know something we don't?"

Rawlings says thoughtfully, "Makes sense to me. We've seen no sign of any traps yet, either, but I suppose it's a possibility." Answering Kylah's question, he says, "The Doregg is a bit too long to fit into the Yorktown's shuttlebay." He squeezes Onn's arm, saying, "You've earned a break, ma'am. We'll wrap things up here, and I'll buy you a drink once you're out of Sickbay."

Russell adjusts his Security tricorder, runs a scan and says, "No traps, bombs or the like that I'm picking up."

Chief Nguyen's voice comes over the comm channel: "Dr. Villa and two patients: stand by for transport." In seconds, they disappear into the iridescent sparkle of the transporter effect. Once aboard the Yorktown, Onn and Rangin are whisked by antigrav gurneys to Sickbay and then taken to separate rooms. Dr. Villa remains with Onn as she is quickly bathed, changed into soft, clean, loose-fitting patient garb and more thoroughly examined and scanned.

"Orders, sir?" Three Crows asks Graham.

"I know we will help the captives regardless," Kylah says softly while staring at the bunk that now seems so empty. "But a xenobiologist would probably have been useful. I wish Velir..."

She does not bother finishing. Her wish is obvious. Instead she belatedly thanks Mr. Rawlings for his response and agrees with the doctor's wise suggestions. "Do you think we will need more medical staff, sir? Have you experience with...helping people from cryostasis?"

Nia thanks Dr. Villa and bunches up the blanket closer to her. The ship is warm enough--not as much as she keeps her quarters, but normal, average warmth for the M-class atmosphere that L/S maintains. But she's been cold since the Tesla crashed, and there's part of her that doesn't feel like it'll ever thaw.

Of course it's good to see the familiar setting, and she's grateful for all that's been done for her and Rangin. Despite this--or rather, because of all this--she hopes the staff and officers forget her. She expects they will, for now: The attention of the ship is properly focused where it belongs--on the Doregg, the slaves, the passengers and any injured parties, and of course the remaining crew on board.

So Nia hugs her abdomen and calls no attention to herself, wishing her ability to blend into the background were capable of rendering her totally invisible, and listens to the familiar sounds of the Yorktown.

Bizhi observes the transportation impassively. The mere prospect of risk does not deter him, and he knows that goes for Nia. Yet a medical decision has been made— and he agrees with it. He only wishes he could have accompanied his patients to see the cases through personally. But he knows that they are in good hands, possibly better hands than his would be at the moment, and that lives may still depend on just how things on board the Doregg unravel.

He finds himself talking to Kylah. "I have seen cryo chambers before, and I do not mean in a museum. They still see some use... evidently." There is a certain, at least superficial, simplicity to the idea, and it is well-established, old-school tech, especially compared to a dodgy transporter delay line or other horrors. "I am familiar with the principles; there are several different types. The tricky part is the freezing and thawing cycles— now, a pukka pod will handle all of that automatically, under computer control, but we don't know yet what we are dealing with here. We will want to take a careful look before touching anything, to understand exactly how it works, including possible exigencies, failure modes, and... traps. We may need some assistance once we get started, even if not for the operation itself, to evaluate the patients' overall condition."

Graham purses his lips. “All right, I see two priorities: one, ensuring we have control of the ship, and two, figuring out how to safely handle the poor souls stuck in cryo.”

He addresses the team. “To me that means two teams, one headed to the bridge, the other to the uh…well, where the Uwat were holding their captives on ice. And, unfortunately, along the way one of them might have to calm down–or stun–some angry Chalnoth.”

He pauses. “Security escort for Team Cryo will be led by Lt. Three Crows, with Ens. Russell, and Ens. Rawlings. Obviously the doctor is on Team Cryo. Lt. Vielar - unless you have other orders, your expertise could almost certainly help with figuring those systems out too.”

“That would mean Me, St. Croiz, and Li are escort two, and along with Ens. Kylah, we’ll head to the bridge.”

He pauses. “With that said, it’s been a long trip, permission granted to sound off if I missed something.

After a quick "Yes, sir" to Lt. Graham, Kylah glances at the Doctor, and then thinks of the comm panel again. She moves to try it again. The Romulans have taken down their shields, and if the cloaked ship is gone, there should be no further external interference. Her fingers tap the panel to see if she can gain contact with... well, anyone. She will also take a look at the panels Dr. Mäkeläinen opened earlier.

"Lieutenant," she says to anyone of that rank in earshot, "Could you contact Lt. Thalen, please? Perhaps he can access the Doregg's system again to inform everyone on board that things are safely in control, and the Romulans and Uwat are gone?" She looks at Dr. Mäkeläinen, Ens. Rawlings and Lt. Graham. "The Chalnoth are unreasonable but it might help calm them a little." With a sigh, Kylah looks at her empty duty belt. "Perhaps extra communicators and phasers could be beamed over, as well?"

"Communicators and a spare first-aid medkit," says Dr. Mäkeläinen. "I will not be needing a phaser; one less weapon to keep track of.

"Am I the only one who finds it odd that the Uwat crew seem to have all conveniently vanished? The Romulan operatives may have had to nash just now, but they had ample time earlier to take them in, to be tried for the crime of enslaving Imperial citizens, seems a plausible scenario." He frowns. He fears for the children. Even if they are repatriated, it will not be a pleasant experience; he does not know enough about Uwat psychology to guess how they might be affected. Nothing they can do about it, and not their mission. (Yet, it does not sit right with him. One more flaw in an indifferent and hostile universe.) Before anyone can get too alarmed, he offers, "The Captain must be deep in negotiations by now. Any intelligence we gather will facilitate that."

He asks Lt. Graham, "Shall our team head straight for the cryo compartment? Before we split up, could you describe exactly how to get there?"

The doctor's concerns echo her own, and Kylah reassures him: "I had the same fear as soon as I heard Mr. Russell's report. I did inform them of the Uwat situation--and especially the children. I hope the Yorktown will keep them in mind when communicating with the Romulans. If the Romulans answer." She sighs, remembering the Uwat in the cryo chamber. She still finds that concerning, but perhaps if they are successfully awoken, they will have some answers.

"As for the location of the captives, we accessed the chamber by using the same ladder through which we entered the ship. It is one level below this, roughly underneath these cabins. That is why the deck is so cold." She looks back to Lt. Graham. "The Lieutenant can give you more precise directions, as he led the way to the... storage area."

Lt. Vielar shakes her beaked head at Graham. The tall, yellow, birdlike officer says in her faint, almost whistling voice, "I have no other orders, sir, but I do have some prior experience with cryogenics. I will be glad to serve on 'Team Cryo,' as you say."

No one has any other suggestions for Graham, whose plan seems to meet with general approval.

Kylah finds that the ship's comm system is working again. She has no answer to her first few shipwide queries until what sounds like a Chalnoth roars from the other end, clearly angry: "Who is this? Why have we been locked up, all crammed into this single room? This is outrageous. We paid our fare, just as had been agreed upon."

The Yorktown again briefly drops her shields, this time to beam over communicators and phaser-2s for anyone who doesn't already have them, and a spare medikit for Dr. Mäkeläinen.

Dr. Villa and her Sickbay staff briefly fuss over Onn before she is sedated. "Sorry, Mr. Onn, but I think it's for the best. See you soon," the CMO says, smiling, lifting away the hypo. "I hope to have good news for you then." In seconds, Onn falls headlong into a warm, all-embracing darkness.

Shocked--to put it mildly--that she can suddenly communicate with the entire ship, Kylah releases the button without a response to the Chalnoth. They are no longer a threat, clearly.

She asks Lt. Graham, as leader of the mission--and Dr. Mäkeläinen, who seems to know procedures very well--if they would like the honor of speaking with the Chalnoth as official representatives of Starfleet in a First Contact situation.

If neither of them choose to, she will, of course, recommend this to the Captain, First Officer or Lt. Thalen himself.

The Doctor says, "Official First Contact protocol begins with identifying ourselves and offering a so-called universal greeting, 'we come in peace' and so forth. What they have already heard on shipwide comms, though, was the Captain's ultimatum mentioning acts of war, which is a tack this lot is far more likely to look upon positively and respect.

"Trouble is, it will not take them long to put two and two together and realize we were Starfleet all along, which means not only that we are cowardly spies, but in their eyes, rightly or wrongly, we have already attacked them in fact, not mere bluster. What we do have going to salvage the situation is, they are precisely in the same position we were, waylaid by the Romulans and cheated by the crew. We can bond over common cause, explain to them that the Vulcan delegation were actually Romulan spies who stuffed us in a cabin and we were forced to break out. There is a good chance they will correctly deduce who did them wrong."

Graham nods approvingly. "That's both by the book protocol and pretty damned smart, doctor," he says.

"Given that we've encountered them face to face before, I feel like it would be stand-up to communicate this ourselves rather than handing off to Yorktown. It's your call: do you want to give it a go, or--taking your advice into account - I can carry the ball as acting mission commander."

Mäkeläinen has to consider for a moment. He has already broken more than just contact protocol by punching that Chalnoth earlier, as far as he is concerned, even though it was in defence of others and no one would fault him if it came to a cold analysis. Now he is being asked to speak with that very person as an official representative of Starfleet and the Federation, which did not have the greatest reputation in this sector to begin with. Normally, he should recuse himself, but, considering all the current variables, his gut tells him it is worth the gamble to take responsibility.

"I absolutely agree they deserve to hear it from us, not over the intercom," he says. "All right, Mr. Graham, I accept. I assume they are all in one of their cabins up here; we can pinpoint from the scan. Let's get their door open, and I'll talk to them first."

"Not just 'acting mission commander,' sir," Rawlings murmurs to Graham. "The Captain just put you in command, no 'acting' about it, if I may say so."

"Are we all going to see the Chalnoth, sir?" Three Crows asks. "Or do you still want some to go to the Bridge, and some to the cryo chamber?"

No Chalnoth, no Uwat, no Romulans, and no self-destruct mechanism detected. There are no threats to their safety on board, unless Kylah is leaving someone out--other than the lone human, and no doubt any security officer can handle him. She suspects even she might be able to deal with the querulous stranger, as bad a shot as she is with a phaser. She does wish to talk to him, but sating her curiosity is not a priority.

Kylah wastes no further time, anxious to leave this accursed ship and see how Velir is faring. So she ought to follow Lt. Graham's command and head to the Bridge, as she has no role with the Chalnoth, nor with the cryo area--the Doctor will be the point person for the latter two, it seems--and Lt. Graham will probably keep his presence felt in all three.

"I will proceed with your orders, sir," she says to Lt. Graham, and looks up at Mr. Rawlings. "We should secure the ship logs and passenger manifests. Or as the Uwat no doubt called them, cargo inventory," she adds in contempt.

If Lt. Graham does not object--he may prefer to go too, as he expressed earlier, but that was when they were worried about stray Chalnoth--she will start off, with Ens. Rawlings hopefully at her side.

Graham rubs his chin. "All right, hold up a second - Team Cryo will detour to deal with the Chalnoth first. With the addition of Mr. Li."

"Mäkeläinen, Three Crows - I want to emphasize that leaving them locked up is still a first-class option if they are uncooperative and stunning them is 100 percent on the table. When they were worked up about the Rangin incident they attempted to assault us before, and if they aren't over it, that's their problem."

"That leaves me, Kylah, and St, Croix headed to the bridge."

Dr. Mäkeläinen tries to get a measure of Three Crows, the security lieutenant who will be heading the escort.

He announces to the team, "Leaving them locked up is a notch better than a fight breaking out right here, right now, but that would be a temporary solution at best." He has not forgotten how they broke in for the first fight efficiently enough--- "Very temporary. Nor are they are our prisoners. Protocol dictates we treat them the way we would like to be treated. Let us introduce ourselves, face to face. Six of them, six of us."

He asks Ens. Russell, who is holding the big tricorder, to point out in which of these cabins are the Chalnoth. He knows he knows his business and will have already scanned for number of life signs and possible energy-weapon signatures.

Three Crows seems a calm, professional, focused young Security officer to Dr. Mäkeläinen.

Russell points down the corridor. "Five doors down to starboard, sir," he says.

Then it is settled. Kylah gazes across the crew surrounding her. So, Dr. Mäkeläinen, Ens. Russell, Rawlings, Li, and Lt. Vielar will be led by Lt. Three Crows to the Chalnoth. And Kylah will join Ens. St. Croix and follow Lt. Graham to the Bridge.

While she waits for the others to move, an old memory has dredged up from her Academy days. One evening she was invited by her somewhat overly friendly Earth Language Studies tutor to Paris for an "immersive French cultural experience." She was fully expecting to fend off his advances, but instead, she was fending off sleep while enduring a play called Huis clos. Apparently it was an ancient classic, the familiarity with which the tutor was trying to impress her.

It did not work. Kylah was impressed with neither him nor the production. She found both were pretentious, less provocative than they wished to be, and unintentionally ridiculous. Frankly, the tedium had been equal to formal bureaucratic Regency Council events on Elas that had made Kylah wish for the fraught danger of Klingon negotiations.

Of course she is not bored now--the circumstances are grim and the stakes high, and she is extremely curious about the records they will find when they arrive at the Bridge. But as the surfeit of officers dither about what to do, she does feel as stuck as the characters in that play.

Bouncing a little on her toes, she runs a hand through her hair in an atypical gesture of agitation. At last, Kylah decides to go against protocol and take the initiative. Either superior officer can dress her down if they wish.

"Good luck then, Doctor," she says firmly, and starts off in the direction of the Bridge.

With everything sorted and the crew split into teams, the Doctor leads the way to the door Russell indicated. Once everyone is in position, he activates the intercom to speak to the Chalnoth inside:

"This is Doctor Mäkeläinen, of the humans you met yesterday. We had a dispute, and I respect that, but it turns out we were all gudgeoned. We were stunned and tossed into a cabin, same as you. Turns out the Vulcan group, each and every one of them, were Romulan spies. We just broke out ourselves, and, if you'll stand back, we can get your door open from this side. The Romulans and Uwat are gone, and it is important that we talk."

The Chalnoth on the other side is uncharacteristically silent for a moment before growling, "Romulan spies, you say? How can that be? Were we all so deceived? Impossible. And surely the Uwat are only hiding... or you are in league with them."

Graham, Kylah and St. Croix find themselves back before the heavy, locked door that Graham and Kylah passed through earlier, when Kylah sent her coded message.

"Deceived? Perhaps," says Dr. Mäkeläinen. "They said they were Vulcan pilgrims, so as far as we were concerned they were Vulcan pilgrims. Had they claimed to be merchants, or tourists, we would have accepted that." He observes sardonically, "One can't trust anyone, can one?"

"The crew may indeed be hiding; we can't rule that out. We have not physically searched the ship yet. Look, we are going to open the door." He motions to Lt. Vielar and indicates the thumbprint reader [Or was it a palm reader?] and any access panels that resemble the ones he had luck with inside his own cabin. "Should not take long," he adds for the benefit of the Chalnoth.

While she works, he continues, "We spoke yesterday, but while you named several of your patrons, we never explicitly revealed for whom we work. Part of the reason we, all of us passengers, are not in a Romulan holding facility right now is, our friends were out looking for us. Their arrival is what spooked the Tal Shiar team. I am a passenger like you and a victim of the Romulans' and Uwat's duplicity like you, and since I am the one here, the honor of offering a formal introduction falls upon me.

"On behalf of the United Federation of Planets, I bring greetings of peace and goodwill. I represent a federation composed of many diverse worlds, peoples, and cultures, unified by our shared ideals of peace, curiosity, and cooperation. As we travel among the stars, it is our highest principle to approach new civilizations with openness, respect, and friendship. It is my honor and privilege to extend the hand of understanding, in hope that we may begin diplomatic dialogue and mutual exchange between your people and the United Federation of Planets."

Mäkeläinen looks faintly embarrassed at being the one to get the old "we come in peace" speech on the record. He wonders how many political speeches these mercenaries have been forced to endure in their time. "Aye, we're with the Starfleet cruiser. And now that they are here, we're on our way to inspect the hold. Full of slaves, or at least that is what the Romulans told us. The strong take from the weak, is what you said, in which case the Uwat forgot that in this quadrant the strong include the Romulan Star Empire. But stronger than empire is the idea of a federation composed of literally hundreds of planets."

If at some point the door flies open, Mäkeläinen will be clearly empty-handed, in a non-threatening pose.

Graham sighs. He's tempted to smack his forehead against the door.

"Nothing can be easy, I guess...." He examines the door and any adjacent controls or panels for possible ways to get it open.

Kylah scowls. "Might the Yorktown be able to countermand security measures, and possibly beam someone to the Bridge?"

After biting her lower lip in thought, she then lifts her fingertips to the comm panel she used before. "Is it possible someone is in there? An Uwat, hiding? I can try to reach them. They will likely not be receptive, but some level of negotiation might be fruitful, if they were frightened of the Romulans but are worried about the repercussions of serving on this ship."

She holds off from pressing the controls, waiting for Lt. Graham's advice. It might not be a safe venture.

The door opens, and Dr. Mäkeläinen and his shipmates can see six scruffy, ill-used Chalnoth crammed into the cabin. He recognizes the Chalnoth leader, Teloqq, from before. Teloqq looks like he's about to launch himself at the good doctor, but the sight of phaser-2s at the ready in the hands of Three Crows and the other Security officers seems to deter him. "So..." he gruffly says. "Here you are. We have heard of your Federation before, but have little interest in it. What happens to us next?"

At the entryway to the Uwat ship's bow, St. Croix says, "Leave it to me." She is able to access the door controls and, after just a minute or so, bypasses the codelock and opens the door. "There you go," she says, grinning.

Kylah drops her hand, feeling a trifle foolish. Of course, she should have known St. Croix would have a way to solve the problem. With a small smile, she waits for Lt. Graham to lead them into the Bridge and other areas past the door.

Bizhi says, "First of all, as a physician I ask, does anyone require medical attention?" He will note if any of the Chalnoth are visibly suffering beyond being understandably scruffy and miserable. "I have emergency medical supplies, and for anything severe our ship has a fully staffed and equipped sickbay. We just sent over two of our own," he tells them, not elaborating under what circumstances.

"Our captain will be eager to meet you, and will probably extend an invitation to dine with her. My advice is to accept; unlike on the Doregg, the food is good, and no one will attempt to charge you for accommodations. More importantly, it's a chance to arrange exactly where you want to go. She's a fast ship, and you may be pleasantly surprised.

"Whatever you decide, it's looking more likely by the minute the crew of the Doregg have either fled or been taken captive by Romulans, in which case it is our responsibility to assist you and ultimately leave you at a safe port."

Teloqq glances behind him at his comrades, turns back and says, "Several of us have headaches from the stun field, but no injuries." He thinks a moment. "I am willing to meet your Captain. Getting off this damn, smelly ship would be a relief to us all."

"All right, Gorom. You're a diplomat now; you may have to listen to a lot of hot air, but freezing, stinking bunks and inedible slop are not part of the job. You'll be berthed and eating better than we junior officers. They may even hold a reception in your honor."

Bizhi turns to Three Crows. "This will not be a medevac, then. I'm passing this on; Command and Security will want to set up first contact procedures. We should inform them we have eager guests."

There remains one small matter. Bizhi speaks to Teloqq grimly, "The Romulan commander mentioned three of your friends are no longer with us. Nor have we found any sign of them yet."

"Nice work," Graham says to St. Croix. "I'll take the lead. Ens. Kylah, behind me, the better to do the talking if we need to calm someone down." He waves his group forward and leads on.

Happy to follow, Kylah looks around the corridor they visited before. "I hope they did not have time to destroy their records," she says, speaking softly even though she does not know if anyone is in the vicinity. "The Romulans must have taken over so quickly, the Uwat would not have been prepared to hide their illicit business, even if they wished to. And once the Uwat were ki--taken care of--the Romulans would have no reason to erase anything. I presume," she adds. It never pays to second-guess the rationale behind Romulans' activities.

Three Crows nods to Dr. Mäkeläinen. "I'll see to it, Doctor." She takes a few steps back and opens her communicator, speaking quietly into it.

Teloqq scowls. "Yes, three of our comrades killed by the vhushegi. Disintegrated before our eyes! We mourn them, and we shall avenge them."

Graham, Kylah and St. Croix head down the bow corridor, which looks much as before, except that there are no Uwat. There is, in fact, no one at all.

"I suppose you wish to head to the Bridge first, sir?" Kylah asks Lt. Graham, eyeing the space. "In case there are controls related to the cryo unit. And to see if any other cabins are currently occupied, if that information is available. I would like to find that curious human."

She frowns and looks at St. Croix. "Before the Yorktown arrived, we were being taken to Romulan space. How close are we, now?"

If the translation leaves something to be desired, Mäkeläinen covers it up well. He thinks he gets the drift. The absurd thing about the Chalnoth being killed in such a brutal manner is its utter unnecessity. Why did they not use non-lethals? Whatever their background, the Chalnoth were merely passengers wanting to get home after some misadventure, something in common with the crew of the Tesla. Mäkeläinen feels sympathy with Teloqq. (The man was just trying to kill him--- at least his barely contained rage, and talk of vengeance, are more comprehensible.)

He does know, too much, of senseless death. In that respect he knows exactly how they feel, a cry against fate that transcends cultures and time. "I honour them," he says. "If there is anything you need, it shall be respected."

Graham nods at Kylah's question. "Yes - secure he Bridge, gather whatever intel we can, and go from there."

St. Croix says to Kylah, "We're now about half a light year from the Neutral Zone - a lot closer than this ship was originally meant to go."

Teloqq says to Dr. Mäkeläinen, as he glances at the Security guards and their phasers, "We'd like to get out of this damnable room and eat something! We're starving."

The Communications Room you earlier saw is now empty but otherwise looks the same. Down the corridor and opening to either side there are also what appear to be six Uwat living quarters, a utility or tech chamber of some kind, a rather large and very messy storage closet, and three heads (bathrooms). The Bridge is at the very end of the corridor, at the bow. It is also behind a locked door which St. Croix is able to open, although it takes her a little longer than last time.

The Bridge is a oblong rectangle, perhaps a third bigger than the Yorktown's Bridge. Kylah counts three chairs - obviously designed for Uwat bodies - as well as nine knobby, odd-looking control panels of varying sizes and four large, ovoid display screens. One of the screens shows the Yorktown not far away; the others have row upon row of Uwat script scrolling across them. The room is silent except for a low hum.

"Nice work, once again," Graham says to St. Croix. Then he takes a deep breath and sighs it out. "You've pulled a rabbit out of the hat for us once already this mission, Ens. Kylah--any chance you speak Uwat too? Or that a tricorder can help us translate?" he asks.

The significant oddity of the panels and seats and controls threaten overwhelm, but the sight of the Yorktown provides a much-needed sense of familiarity, confidence and even--Kylah hardly dares admit it to herself--affection.

All of which Lt. Graham's words provide, as well. She glances at him gratefully and returns to step closer to the scrolling text. Her nose wrinkles in thought. "I know some Uwat. They are not wholly unknown to Elas..."

Mostly through second-hand accounts, however. She does not think her diplomats knew of the unsavory side of their society. Or is that why Uncle was so rapid in his response to my message? Her eyes widen at the thought. Perhaps he thought they were in danger; that might be why he put enough urgency in passing along the news to the Yorktown that they zoomed here.

She tucks this thought away when she decides it is fanciful. More likely, Captain Singh would have acted as rapidly anyway out of justifiable concern for Lt. Onn.

Regardless, even the barely existent knowledge of Uwat by Elas is why Uwat was one of the languages she studied back home. One of dozens and dozens--frankly she is shocked she remembered it.

To the Lieutenant, she responds, "I wish I were fluent, sir. I did not learn this at the Academy, but back home. Only enough to understand the responses when the Tesla was heading into the Ollos airspace--which probably came from this very ship," she adds with a lift of her eyebrows at the realization. "And to greet Mr. Jol politely, among other extremely basic communications necessities."

Then she sighs. "I never did understand a word of what Mr. Jol was saying to the other Uwat crew. Or the children. They must have different dialects or entirely different language sets they choose to use among outsiders. Unfortunately, I would expect the private dialect to be what they use here."

She searches for a switch or button or, really, anything that looks as if it will allow her to make verbal commands. If she finds something promising, she will use it, and in the very slow, deliberate (and likely embarrassingly rudimentary) Uwat she knows, she asks the ship's computer if it understands her--and if it can translate its output to Federation Standard.

On the other hand, if she can discern anything from the panels themselves, she will try to read it herself to the others.

It takes a while to process unexpected shock. Dr. Mäkeläinen has seen people grow silent and practically catatonic. Others cling to routine, or otherwise make every effort not to think about what happened. Mäkeläinen himself has experienced much in his profession--- and outside it--- that takes an emotional toll. It is when things are going well that he fancies himself inured to tragedy; each fresh disaster proves any and all of his veneers false, even if none save himself can tell.

If Three Crows has completed making the necessary arrangements, he will ask if the Yorktown is ready to offer quarters and refreshment for their (disheveled and hungry) distinguished guests.

If not, he will explain that they are still getting ready. "In the meantime, the Common Room looks safe enough, and it is powered." He realizes that this poses a dilemma for the security detail of their little group. If they are not to be delayed in their mission--- six volatile Chalnoth with unknown intentions, he figures, might even warrant two armed guards from a security perspective, just to keep an eye on them, as it were. Graham assigned Ens. Li to their team for the purpose, but Lt. Three Crows might not be happy about detaching two officers. If it comes to it, he will remind her that the Chalnoth are not prisoners, and even if they were (and, again, they are now officially foreign dignitaries according to protocol) they have to prioritize supplying them with food, water, and other basic necessities even though they are a small team in the middle of an urgent mission, even if it means they will be net one security officer down in the cryo chamber, or need to request extra security from the Yorktown, which, under the present circumstances, may find such a request far from trivial to fulfill.

Belatedly, Kylah remembers to answer Lt. Graham's question about the tricorder. "I have not had luck with using tricorders for that purpose, sir, especially one that is non-specific to such tasks." She bites her lip in thought. "However, my knowledge of basic Uwat might be something the Yorktown's UT system can work with. I used a similar process when trying to understand the Aelyrr distress call, despite having almost no context. The language's similarity to Ancient Caitian meant that the UT could use Caitian as a sort of primer, or Rosetta Stone. Perhaps my rudimentary Uwat can perform the same function."

She says all this as she tries the other methods, and if they do not work, will attempt to contact the Yorktown for this purpose.

Kylah does not see any switches or buttons that would allow her to use voice commands. She actually can't recall any time when the Uwat used voice commands in their handling of the shuttle or the Doregg - it was all done through manual controls. From her rudimentary Uwat, she thinks she can figure out which Bridge controls are for environmental systems and deflector shields, and maybe those for the navigational deflector, but the rest are gibberish to her.

After speaking to Dr. Mäkeläinen, Lt. JG Three Crows is willing to allow the Chalnoth to get food and drink in the Common Room. She would not recommend taking them back to the Yorktown just yet, given your party's earlier dealings with them. She says a quiet word to Rawlings, Russell and Li, and they step back from the door to the Chalnoth quarters.

At that moment, the ship lurches slightly, and you all have the same disorienting feeling you experienced when the Doregg first went into warp after leaving Ollos. Three of the Chalnoth moan uncomfortably, and one in the back noisily vomits.

On the Bridge, the Yorktown drops away on its screen, and another screen clears of scrolling data and instead shows a view of a passing starscape.

The Doctor tamps down any residual nausea. What in the hells? Exchanging a look with the others, he attempts to contact Graham using his replacement communicator.

This is not a repeat of the stun field he was dreading, but what? Pre-programmed defence routine? Remote control? Or have Romulans and/or Uwat successfully evaded the earlier scan and are in control of bridge or engineering areas?