USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202110.15
The Penumbra was at Yellow Alert in interstellar space within the boundaries of the Breen Confederacy. The Zhenkarian, V'rot Ka'Gun, had told them where to find the Ferengi, Galex, and they'd met with him briefly, telling him of their mission, and then returned him to his ship to meet with "a customer".
That "customer" turned out to be a Breen Thot (a rank equivalent to General or Admiral) on a cloaked Scout ship. Why a General would be on a tiny Scout ship in interstellar space remains a mystery.
Somehow, when Galex contacted Thot Yurl, the Penumbra picked up their communications. It wasn't anything the crew of the Penumbra had done. After a moment, the Thot beamed over to Galex's ship with a pair of bodyguards, and suddenly Galex's tiny "party barge" jumped to warp and was gone!
As the tiny yacht disappeared, Zak cursed, "Damn it! That damned Ferengi double-crossed us!"
But Relok said, "Sir, if Galex was going to double-cross us, I don't think we'd have heard his communications with the Thot. I suspect there's something deeper going on here."
Cdre. Zak Taylor was pacing back and forth across the Bridge ... again. He glanced towards the Helm where Ens. Proximus Filler had taken over for LtCmdr. Jason Carter who was going to be flying one of the Delta Flyers. "Are the Deltas launched yet?"
Filler turned slightly to answer, "Last one just launched, sir."
Zak gave a curt nod and said, "Then let's head after Galex."
LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris sat beside Filler at the Operations Console. He glanced over at Filler as the Ensign entered the course into the navigational computer, watching over his underling in case he needed help. He said softly, "Hey, don't forget to ask me if you need anything, Filler. This flight might get tricky."
Down in Main Engineering, LtCmdr. Bevin MacArdry-Tibris worked doggedly to keep the ship running smoothly. She smirked as she mumbled, mostly to herself, about how to catch a (Feren)Gar in an ocean of Breem(n). She chuckled as she worked, amusing herself.
Back on the Bridge, Zak turned towards the Sciences area to the starboard side of the Bridge. "Relok, Carshel, you'll have to find his warp signature and provide any course adjustments to Filler."
Lt. Jackson Carshel was at the Primary Science Station while his superior, Cmdr. Relok, worked at the Secondary Science Station on the outer wall of the Bridge. Carshel was looking over the sensor data but something was still nagging at him. He was feeling bad about not staying longer with the Hawkes in Sickbay. He knew he was no doctor, but ... something about Kat - LtCmdr. Katarina Hawke - just reminded him of "home".
After a moment Filler reported, "Warp 8 laid in, sir. We ought to catch him pretty quick."
Zak nodded and moved to the Command Chair and took his seat. "Let's get going then. Engage!"
Relok was trying to pick up Galex's warp signature trail when a slight frown creased his face. Without actually turning to face him, he said, "You know, Jackson, Galex's barge leaves a distinct trail, or at least, it is. Do you see that baryon particle trace? It's like his warp drive hasn't been cleaned lately."
Carshel didn't turn either, just touched a couple of places on his own console. "Aye, I see it."
Zak turned towards his Chief of Sciences. "Do you think ... Galex left us a trail of bread crumbs?"
Relok responded, "I don't think crumbs of any wheat-based baked goods would survive the vacuum of space well enough to be effective."
Carshel reached out and gave Relok a gentle smack on the back of his head. "He didn't mean literally!"
Relok rubbed the back of his head and said, "Oh, well, of course not, that would be totally illogical." Carshel gave him another smack for the sarcasm.
Zak rolled his eyes at the two Science officers and said, "Right. So, he left us a trail. And he let us hear his comms. So ... maybe he's not double-crossing us. Is he ... double-crossing that Thot?"
LtCmdrs. Denovan and Katarina Hawke were still in Sickbay. Dr. Shadow K'Trevala was carefully watching their responses to the "drug cocktail" he and LtCmdr. T'Lin had whipped up that would hopefully bring the debilitating hallucinations the Hawke siblings had been experiencing under control. They just had to deal with the "side effects".
Kat groaned, curled up on a biobed in a fetal position. "What did you give me?" she whimpered. Clearly she was not happy they'd given her the cocktail while she'd been sedated.
"Same thing I had," her brother responded. "Which is why you better keep close to the bathroom, unless you were given something for that."
Shadow, of course, picked up their discomfort with his empathic abilities. He tried to soothe them, "Yes, I did, for the GI side effects, to help ease them."
"You're all a bunch of meanies!" Kat retorted, pouting, wondering if Shadow was trying to kill her!
Den groaned, suffering similar discomfort. "Or, we could be slowly dying, sis."
T'Lin had been at one of the monitors nearby, correlating various streams of bio-data, but had moved to her customary place sitting on the floor with her archaic paper and pencil, taking careful notes on the side effects Den had described. She dropped the pencil and rubbed her face, then leaned backwards so that she lay flat on the floor. As she did she said, "I cannot form more hypotheses without more data. I need ... data." Suddenly, she sat back up, then quickly climbed to her feet. "I will be back," she said as she rushed out of the Sickbay towards a Turbolift.
Kat blinked at T'Lin's sudden departure. "Where's she going?" she asked.
Den's eyes also followed T'Lin as he answered, "No idea."
Kat returned her attention to her brother, responding to his statement they were slowly dying. "You got that impression, too?"
Shadow did sympathize, and did what he could to ease their problems.
Meanwhile, T'Lin hurried from Sickbay on Deck 5 to her quarters on Deck 3 among the other Senior Officers' Quarters. Stepping into her quarters she rushed through to her desk and began rummaging through the drawers. She collected a book from there, turned and took another from a shelf, and then grabbed another from a table nearby, then darted back to the corridor to take a Turbolift to the Bridge.
Back in Sickbay, Den suddenly announced, "I know what would help us, getting back to work! A distraction! We can always call if something gets worse."
But, just as he said that, he shook his head, seeing the horrific shadow demon once again in the middle of Sickbay. "I thought this was supposed to dumb these hallucinations down." He gave a dismissive wave at the demon.
Shadow considered a moment, then nodded, and turned to a monitor, running a series of experiments dealing with their Borg nanites (well, simulated anyway).
Kat groaned, "Distraction would be nice."
"Or," Den gestured at Shadow running experiments, "guinea pigs still."
In the Reconnaissance Area on the other side of the Bridge from Sciences, worked a Marine that many of them hadn't worked with before, a Sergeant named Dillion. With many of the senior Marines with the Colonel assaulting the Breen Scout ship, this new Sergeant had come to the Bridge to man the Reconnaissance Area. Dillion spoke up, "I don't believe we should sweep the possibility under the rug, sir."
Zak looked at the new Marine manning the Recon Station. "True," he said, "we shouldn't ignore the possibility that Galex set this up so we could follow him. But ... follow him where?"
Dillion gave a slight shrug and answered, "Exactly where he wants us to follow. We should have our own trap set in case."
As they considered that, Carshel muttered towards Relok, "Do you know if Kat will be okay?"
Relok turned to look at his subordinate, then answered, "I am sure she will be fine ... eventually. We really must determine just what is causing the Hawkes' implants to malfunction."
"I know that," Carshel said, a slight blush coloring his cheeks, "It's just ...," he trailed off and turned back to his station. To himself, he thought, ~Why am I so fixated on her? After seeing her like that, just ... why is she so much like me?~
Suddenly, the Turbolift doors slid open and LtCmdr. T'Lin stepped out carrying three large, leather-bound books in her arms. She strolled straight towards the Commodore's Ready Room and announced, "Commodore, I need to speak with you in private."
Carshel heard the tone of authority in T'Lin's voice. He murmured, "Mmm-other? T'Lin?" He was well aware of the fact T'Lin bore two "souls", two katras: her own, and that of an ancient Vulcan D'Vir sometimes called "Mother". Then he muttered, "What happened to my floor buddy?" Before, the two of them could be found sprawled on the floor surrounded by copious hand-written notes on pieces of paper.
Zak turned to the Vulcan Assistant Chief of Sciences, a slight frown on his face, then turned to Relok and said, "Relok, you have the Bridge."
Relok stood. "Acknowledged, sir."
Zak followed T'Lin to his own Ready Room. As the door slid shut behind them, Carshel glanced at Relok and gestured towards T'Lin. "When she's like that she kinda scares me."
Relok replied with a slight smirk, "T'Lin often scares me, Jackson." He moved around and took the Command Chair.
Zak strolled over and turned, sitting on the edge of his desk. "Whatcha got, T'Lin." He was keeping the discussion deliberately informal.
T'Lin dumped her three heavy books on the desk beside him, accompanied by a loud "thunk". She looked down at him (T'Lin was taller than Zak normally, but with him sitting on the desk she was significantly taller). "I need all the information we have on Borg Transwarp technology. Everything I am not allowed to see under any condition. And I need it now."
Zak jumped slightly at the thud right beside him on his desk, then flinched at T'Lin's powerful insistence. He smirked, "Everything you're not supposed to see?" He paused a moment, then asked, "Where are you going with this?"
"I believe," T'Lin began, then backtracked, "I think ...," she paused again, trying to arrange her thoughts. Finally she said, "There is something about the Transwarp technology that effects spacetime, and I think that that is what is messing with the Hawkes' implants and interlinks."
The Commodore's commbadge chirped followed by Relok's voice. "Commodore, we just lost our bread crumb trail."
Zak stood up from the desk and tapped his commbadge, "Damn. OK, have Filler reduce speed to Warp 5. I'll be right there." He looked back at T'Lin. "Transwarp ... effecting spacetime, and that's affecting the Hawkes?" He paused, trying to absorb it. Then he said, "OK, fine, maybe. Run that past Relok and I'll clear whatever you need to figure out the problem." He stood and gestured towards the Bridge. "Let's get back out there."
T'Lin gave a curt nod. "Got it." She grabbed her books again and stepped towards the Bridge behind Zak.
Carshel was working at the Primary Science Station when he asked, "Uhh ... hey ... what do you do when the trail runs cold? 'Cause ... it's going cold."
Relok turned to him, "What?"
Dillion on the other side of the Bridge was seeing much the same from the Reconnaissance sensors. He said, "Push it forward and enhance the sensors even more?"
Relok stood and quickly crossed to the Secondary Science Station to confirm. "The baryon trail ... it just ends."
"Yuup." Carshel said, pointing to the trail on his monitor.
Relok tapped his commbadge. "Commodore, we just lost our bread crumb trail."
The voice of the Commodore came back, "Damn. OK, have Filler reduce speed to Warp 5. I'll be right there."
Relok returned to the center of the Bridge. As he did he said, "Mr. Filler, reduce to Warp 5."
Filler nodded, "Aye, sir, cutting back to Warp 5."
Dillion said, "I ain't no expert, but can't you do like we would when tracking someone on the ground? Footprints, or broken branches in a forest? Something along those lines? Point in a direction? Couldn't you use the same theory to triangulate a destination?"
Relok turned towards the Recon area. "Mr. ... uh ... Dillion is it? Can you find any sign of Galex's ship with the Recon sensors?"
Dillion turned back to his sensor feeds. "Looking right now, sir."
Then Carshel chimed in. "What about that planet over there in that star system? It says inhabitable."
Relok turned to Carshel. "Unless Mr. Dillion finds otherwise, let's plan to head to that planet. But ... hold for the Commodore's decision."
The Commodore and T'Lin had just stepped out of the Ready Room in time to hear the exchange. Zak said, "Commodore agrees with the Commander." He smiled as he walked across the Bridge. "Mr. Dillion, if you have nothing, let's check that planet, Galex might have diverted there."
Dillion answered, "It'll take a minute to compile, and compilate, sirs. If y'all will, just give me a moment." He was, after all, just getting used to Bridge duty.
After leaving the Ready Room, T'Lin headed straight for the Primary Science Station. Carshel quickly shifted to the Auxiliary Station, leaving Secondary for Relok. As T'Lin logged in she said, "Look at the lowest ranges possible. Many Ferengi ships use the lowest possible emissions so that they cannot be detected while smuggling illegal goods."
Relok stepped past her, over to the Secondary Science station. As he did, he said, "Ordinarily, I'd agree with you, but Galex has been strangely easy to follow lately. Strangely."
Then T'Lin whispered softly, so low only Vulcan ears could hear (or maybe the half-Romulan, but he was half-way across the Bridge), "I need all information on Borg Transwarp technology, I think it may be effecting the Hawkes' interlinks. Commodore said to run it past you first."
Relok's eyebrows went up at the hypothesis and the request but he said nothing. After a moment, T'Lin said, "Relok, I need an answer."
In Engineering, Bevin was monitoring a feed from the Bridge, as she usually did. She helped Dillion by calibrating the sensors to enhance the lower end of the EM spectrum. Then, on a hunch, she enhanced the upper end as well, trying to help discover anything that might help them find Galex.
Then Dillion announced, "Um ... actually I do have a lock on it, and it is that planet. You're right as well, this is way too easy. We certainly should look into contingency plans and our own trap."
Finally, the stoic Vulcan filling in at the Tactical Station spoke up. Lt. Re'Libel Standin said, "I agree with the Marine, sir. This feels like we are being baited."
Zak ran a hand through his greying hair, "Hmm. Yeah, I'm feeling like a trout on a hook myself. Filler, take us to the planet at Warp Three, but drop out of warp before the heliosphere and let's have a good look."
"Aye, sir," Filler responded, "Warp Three to the heliosphere."
In just a few more moments, they approached the heliosphere and dropped out of warp, holding station and taking a good look. On their long-range scans they clearly picked up Galex's Luxury Liner ... and V'rot Ka'Gun's Zhenkarian frigate!
Dillion muttered, "Didn't figure that one."