Beg, Steal or Borrow – And then there were three ... Part 3
by Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Lieutenant JG Opaka Jo'el
Post Details
"Whatever you say, Madam Ambassador. I just hope I don't end up being the bargaining chip when the station figures out where we are."
NEW:
“I don’t plan to be caught up in this revolt, I plan to lead it and to take back my rightful property.” Isha said quite seriously. She turned back to Opaka, wondering if he actually knew what he had just said; she thought not, but it still stung. “You just saved my life, Opaka, that puts me in your debt - you’re no longer mine to use that way even if I wished to. I’m sorry that you think that as a Romulan such a debt must mean nothing to me.”
Jo'el huffed. He stooped over the now-vacant table and dropped his head. "My apologies. I didn't mean it that way. I'm just afraid that if the crew sees me as the only thing they have to offer to disengage from this battle, then it's an easy decision. One I'm sure most captains would take advantage of if they see no alternative."
He looked up at Isha, the sadness in her eyes reflected in his own. "Where to now?"
Isha’s gaze wandered over to Merrok as she pointedly ignored Opaka’s apology. “We’re going to the bridge,” she replied. “Before we leave I want the main door sealed and fused – I don’t want anyone getting in here and speaking with him – Ruwon has enough of a challenge as it is. See to it,” she added stiffly as she tapped a long string of integers into the active panel clasping her lower lip between her teeth.
Ensign Opaka nodded. "I'll use that disrupter to weld the door shut once we're on our way." If she didn't want to talk about the mutual mistrust between their governments, he wouldn't bring it up either.
Isha released her lip and smiled softly to herself as the computer returned the response she had hoped for, “My friend Rh’vaurek is going to be exceptionally angry with me for doing this,” she said, “but as he thought this would be a good time for a short trip to ch’Rihan his opinion doesn’t really count, does it? Aaaand that should just about do it,” she finished as she added another code string to the first.
"Alright then, lead the way."
Isha straightened as though to shrug off the weariness in her body and make room for the adrenalin fuelled activity that the situation demanded; she didn’t really know how long she could keep going, but she was damned if she was going to break down in front of a yihk and before the ship was hers again. She swept out of the room in a whisper of skirts and waited.
"I never thought the VIP bodyguard position would require much welding. If the Chief could see me now..." Jo'el adjusted the disrupter and traced a green streak along the middle of the doors, sealing them together. He shot the manual override and handed Isha's weapon back to her.
“Perhaps you missed your true calling in life,” Isha suggested as they made their way down the corridor. She spoke as they moved; “When the Vrelnec left Agurtha to travel to Taish for its final fitting it was with a crew consisting mainly of engineers along with a handful of security and enough command to keep it moving – somewhere en route my husband’s brother and his friends found their way aboard, replacing my commanders, appropriating those members of security who did not feel the urge to die and pressing the engineers into continuing their work – as long as all systems are operating normally one can operate a starship with worryingly few hands.
“Ruwon is one of the original command crew and he knows enough of the men who are on the rear decks keeping this bird humming; he will get the engines taken offline for me.” Isha paused and glanced at Opaka, “I have started a sequence that will, at a word allow me to take control of the ship when the final access code is given … I think that when I do that you should avert your ears or else later on you might feel obliged to tell Gabriel of the event,” she added.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Madam Ambassador," Jo'el said with a smirk. "I haven't been able to hear anything since we were beamed aboard. Must be a side effect of the anxiety of this job and the shock of being transported unexpectedly." Ahhh plausible (however improbable) denial was a good thing.
Isha smirked, “So, do we risk the lift or do we open the service hatch and climb?”
"It occurs to me that most starship crews at battle stations hate being surprised," Jo'el mused. "We could take the lift to the floor directly below the bridge and then climb the last level."
“And jump out from behind the command chair?” Isha was being facetious.
"Well, climbing the last level will allow the bridge crew to see you a moment before they see me. We can ease them into the situation as opposed to having a Starfleet officer with a bomb strapped to his shoulders suddenly on the bridge with them."
Not one person in that room was going to be friendly, Isha thought, as they arrived at the lift. “Then we’re lucky that the turbolift does not deposit one directly on the bridge, aren’t we! If there is no-one in this car when it arrives we have a clean run, at least until we reach the command deck - if there is activity, that corridor is where we are going to find it.”
Jo'el drew his phaser as the lift came to a stop and opened in front of them. When he determined there was no one to shoot, he stepped into the waiting car. "There's a certain wisdom in separating the bridge from the rest of the command deck. Makes for less dramatic entrances, I suppose."
“That was my reasoning,” Isha said as she slipped in beside Opaka, “Not exactly standard design procedure, but effective … it makes our lives a little more interesting though, doesn’t it.”
The doors closed and the lift hummed to life. The artificial gravity was such that Jo'el could not be completely sure they were moving upward. "Smooth ride," he noted. "Hope it stays that way."
Isha closed her eyes and breathed deeply as she tried to focus; her throat felt constricted. “Let’s hope so,” she muttered, unconvinced.
As the doors opened, Jo'el looked for immediate threats and then waved Isha through the doors behind him. "I assume you'll want to lead..."
Isha glanced at the disruptor she held, before he had given it to her Opaka had slipped it onto the lowest setting, “Not the normal circumstances under which I’d introduce one to my family,” she said increasing the power setting, “but let’s not let that bother us.”
Isha stepped out into the corridor and crossed the short distance to the set of double doors, “Open it,” she said flatly.
"I don't suppose you want to call Ruwon on the comm and ask for an update," Jo'el suggested half-heartedly. When Isha made her disapproval obvious with her cool Romulan gaze, Jo'el shrugged.
"Nevermind..." he submitted, stepping to the side of the entrance and tapping the panel. As the doors slid open, Jo'el listened for the crew's initial reaction and sighed with relief when he didn't hear disrupter fire immediately. He looked up at Isha for a cue.
Isha opened with a calculated insult, “Nniol i-Ihhliae, you appear to be sitting in my chair,” she said, quite deliberately omitting to use the House name Illialhlae to refer to her husband’s brother. It presented the implication that he was no longer considered a member of the House to the assembled officers, leaving doubt to do its own work in their minds.
“Someone get her out of here,” Nniol replied, but nobody seemed inclined to obey; they recognised the nature of the confrontation that was occurring, and to act too soon or too late could prove disastrous depending on which way it went.
Turning slowly toward the bridge, Jo'el stood and attached himself to Isha's right side. He held his phaser pointed at the ceiling and eased it into its holster when she placed a hand firmly on his shoulder. He nodded and stood at attention, eying the bridge crew with a combination of suspicion and hesitant respect. If these officers were loyal to Isha, then his mission was now significantly easier. Besides, the bomb strapped over his shoulder was an excellent deterrent for any potential snipers.
If only Opaka wasn’t here, Isha thought with a sideways glance, It was easy enough now to accept the idea of plausible deniability, but could he really be relied upon to keep his mouth closed once she returned him to DS5?
She did not linger for long on the question, “Computer, activate final sequence: kre-rhi-lli draed-ehrie kre-sei talshaya lhohnu,” she said, continuing to speak in her calm even tone as Nniol leapt to his feet and started shouting at her to stop.
Any doubts she might have had about her ability to do this were gone, even those who would not support her position as hru’Hfirh against Nniol would heed her now if they valued their careers and their lives. There was just one thing left for her to do.
Isha directed the computer to open a comms Channel, “Ruwon Tahn,” Isha said, “Have your people power down the engines, if they do not co-operate, eject the singularity as instructed. All safeties are disengaged.”
Even Nniol fell silent.
“Through the cloak? At warp?” Are you insane?” the officer at the helm was the first to break.
“Send the order to co-operate,” she said with a little shrug.
Jo'el didn't need the Universal Translator to know what a Romulan self-destruct sequence sounded like.
"Prophets protect us," he whispered.
OFF:
Ensign Opaka Jo'el
VIP Bodyguard
Ambassador Isha t'Khellian
by Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Lieutenant JG Opaka Jo'el
Post Details
| Title | And then there were three ... Part 3 | |
| Mission | Beg, Steal or Borrow | |
| Author(s) | Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Lieutenant JG Opaka Jo'el | |
| Posted | Thu Apr 23, 2009 @ 7:37am | |
| Location | Vrelnec | |
| Timeline | SD 8 - after the attack |
NEW:
“I don’t plan to be caught up in this revolt, I plan to lead it and to take back my rightful property.” Isha said quite seriously. She turned back to Opaka, wondering if he actually knew what he had just said; she thought not, but it still stung. “You just saved my life, Opaka, that puts me in your debt - you’re no longer mine to use that way even if I wished to. I’m sorry that you think that as a Romulan such a debt must mean nothing to me.”
Jo'el huffed. He stooped over the now-vacant table and dropped his head. "My apologies. I didn't mean it that way. I'm just afraid that if the crew sees me as the only thing they have to offer to disengage from this battle, then it's an easy decision. One I'm sure most captains would take advantage of if they see no alternative."
He looked up at Isha, the sadness in her eyes reflected in his own. "Where to now?"
Isha’s gaze wandered over to Merrok as she pointedly ignored Opaka’s apology. “We’re going to the bridge,” she replied. “Before we leave I want the main door sealed and fused – I don’t want anyone getting in here and speaking with him – Ruwon has enough of a challenge as it is. See to it,” she added stiffly as she tapped a long string of integers into the active panel clasping her lower lip between her teeth.
Ensign Opaka nodded. "I'll use that disrupter to weld the door shut once we're on our way." If she didn't want to talk about the mutual mistrust between their governments, he wouldn't bring it up either.
Isha released her lip and smiled softly to herself as the computer returned the response she had hoped for, “My friend Rh’vaurek is going to be exceptionally angry with me for doing this,” she said, “but as he thought this would be a good time for a short trip to ch’Rihan his opinion doesn’t really count, does it? Aaaand that should just about do it,” she finished as she added another code string to the first.
"Alright then, lead the way."
Isha straightened as though to shrug off the weariness in her body and make room for the adrenalin fuelled activity that the situation demanded; she didn’t really know how long she could keep going, but she was damned if she was going to break down in front of a yihk and before the ship was hers again. She swept out of the room in a whisper of skirts and waited.
"I never thought the VIP bodyguard position would require much welding. If the Chief could see me now..." Jo'el adjusted the disrupter and traced a green streak along the middle of the doors, sealing them together. He shot the manual override and handed Isha's weapon back to her.
“Perhaps you missed your true calling in life,” Isha suggested as they made their way down the corridor. She spoke as they moved; “When the Vrelnec left Agurtha to travel to Taish for its final fitting it was with a crew consisting mainly of engineers along with a handful of security and enough command to keep it moving – somewhere en route my husband’s brother and his friends found their way aboard, replacing my commanders, appropriating those members of security who did not feel the urge to die and pressing the engineers into continuing their work – as long as all systems are operating normally one can operate a starship with worryingly few hands.
“Ruwon is one of the original command crew and he knows enough of the men who are on the rear decks keeping this bird humming; he will get the engines taken offline for me.” Isha paused and glanced at Opaka, “I have started a sequence that will, at a word allow me to take control of the ship when the final access code is given … I think that when I do that you should avert your ears or else later on you might feel obliged to tell Gabriel of the event,” she added.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Madam Ambassador," Jo'el said with a smirk. "I haven't been able to hear anything since we were beamed aboard. Must be a side effect of the anxiety of this job and the shock of being transported unexpectedly." Ahhh plausible (however improbable) denial was a good thing.
Isha smirked, “So, do we risk the lift or do we open the service hatch and climb?”
"It occurs to me that most starship crews at battle stations hate being surprised," Jo'el mused. "We could take the lift to the floor directly below the bridge and then climb the last level."
“And jump out from behind the command chair?” Isha was being facetious.
"Well, climbing the last level will allow the bridge crew to see you a moment before they see me. We can ease them into the situation as opposed to having a Starfleet officer with a bomb strapped to his shoulders suddenly on the bridge with them."
Not one person in that room was going to be friendly, Isha thought, as they arrived at the lift. “Then we’re lucky that the turbolift does not deposit one directly on the bridge, aren’t we! If there is no-one in this car when it arrives we have a clean run, at least until we reach the command deck - if there is activity, that corridor is where we are going to find it.”
Jo'el drew his phaser as the lift came to a stop and opened in front of them. When he determined there was no one to shoot, he stepped into the waiting car. "There's a certain wisdom in separating the bridge from the rest of the command deck. Makes for less dramatic entrances, I suppose."
“That was my reasoning,” Isha said as she slipped in beside Opaka, “Not exactly standard design procedure, but effective … it makes our lives a little more interesting though, doesn’t it.”
The doors closed and the lift hummed to life. The artificial gravity was such that Jo'el could not be completely sure they were moving upward. "Smooth ride," he noted. "Hope it stays that way."
Isha closed her eyes and breathed deeply as she tried to focus; her throat felt constricted. “Let’s hope so,” she muttered, unconvinced.
As the doors opened, Jo'el looked for immediate threats and then waved Isha through the doors behind him. "I assume you'll want to lead..."
Isha glanced at the disruptor she held, before he had given it to her Opaka had slipped it onto the lowest setting, “Not the normal circumstances under which I’d introduce one to my family,” she said increasing the power setting, “but let’s not let that bother us.”
Isha stepped out into the corridor and crossed the short distance to the set of double doors, “Open it,” she said flatly.
"I don't suppose you want to call Ruwon on the comm and ask for an update," Jo'el suggested half-heartedly. When Isha made her disapproval obvious with her cool Romulan gaze, Jo'el shrugged.
"Nevermind..." he submitted, stepping to the side of the entrance and tapping the panel. As the doors slid open, Jo'el listened for the crew's initial reaction and sighed with relief when he didn't hear disrupter fire immediately. He looked up at Isha for a cue.
Isha opened with a calculated insult, “Nniol i-Ihhliae, you appear to be sitting in my chair,” she said, quite deliberately omitting to use the House name Illialhlae to refer to her husband’s brother. It presented the implication that he was no longer considered a member of the House to the assembled officers, leaving doubt to do its own work in their minds.
“Someone get her out of here,” Nniol replied, but nobody seemed inclined to obey; they recognised the nature of the confrontation that was occurring, and to act too soon or too late could prove disastrous depending on which way it went.
Turning slowly toward the bridge, Jo'el stood and attached himself to Isha's right side. He held his phaser pointed at the ceiling and eased it into its holster when she placed a hand firmly on his shoulder. He nodded and stood at attention, eying the bridge crew with a combination of suspicion and hesitant respect. If these officers were loyal to Isha, then his mission was now significantly easier. Besides, the bomb strapped over his shoulder was an excellent deterrent for any potential snipers.
If only Opaka wasn’t here, Isha thought with a sideways glance, It was easy enough now to accept the idea of plausible deniability, but could he really be relied upon to keep his mouth closed once she returned him to DS5?
She did not linger for long on the question, “Computer, activate final sequence: kre-rhi-lli draed-ehrie kre-sei talshaya lhohnu,” she said, continuing to speak in her calm even tone as Nniol leapt to his feet and started shouting at her to stop.
Any doubts she might have had about her ability to do this were gone, even those who would not support her position as hru’Hfirh against Nniol would heed her now if they valued their careers and their lives. There was just one thing left for her to do.
Isha directed the computer to open a comms Channel, “Ruwon Tahn,” Isha said, “Have your people power down the engines, if they do not co-operate, eject the singularity as instructed. All safeties are disengaged.”
Even Nniol fell silent.
“Through the cloak? At warp?” Are you insane?” the officer at the helm was the first to break.
“Send the order to co-operate,” she said with a little shrug.
Jo'el didn't need the Universal Translator to know what a Romulan self-destruct sequence sounded like.
"Prophets protect us," he whispered.
OFF:
Ensign Opaka Jo'el
VIP Bodyguard
Ambassador Isha t'Khellian