Out of the Frying Pan...

Posted on Sat Aug 28th, 2010 @ 5:19am by Commander Fala Awen & Commander Earlond & Commander Michael Evans M.D. & Vice Admiral Iluvar

Mission: Episode 1.2 - "A House Divided"
Location: Carnauba
Timeline: Day 18, 0530

ON: [[Carnauba, Day 18, 0530]]

R'Vark (NPC) had kept mostly to himself on this trip. He didn't really know what to say to the others and really, he was concentrating on his job. Since they'd left the Pandora an hour or so ago, his job had essentially been to continuously run and analyze the tactical sensors of the Carnauba. There would be no honor in getting caught on the way back to the planet.

At the helm, Drake checked his course corrections again. He had been varying the Carnauba's flight path based on what he knew about Romulan patrol patterns. Though he hadn't spoken much - no one had, really - he kept an ear out for any conversation that might start up.

Restless, Nol (NPC) went to check on the equipment again. He knew it was fine, but just sitting around didn't suit him. His hands passed over the Observation Suits, looking for any malfunctions. It certainly wouldn't do to be exposed when amongst the colonists...at least not until they were ready for their presence to be known. Most of the weapons he'd been able to take had been smaller - no rifles. The smaller ones were much easier to conceal. The Bajoran wondered if they would, indeed, need them.

Dr. Evans had spent the trip so far nervously fussing over his medical equipment. He'd managed to discreetly heft a couple extra bits of field-lab equipment before departure. It made his little corner in the aft compartment rather more cramped, but he preferred it to kicking himself later for not having something that he really needed.

Michael sat back in his chair at the make-shift lab station and sighed, tossing the PADD he'd been using with a clatter onto the counter surface. He scrubbed his face, still tired. His body and mind felt alert but he couldn't quite get the sleepy burn out of his eyes. He looked over at the Bajoran inspecting the suits. He barely knew his team... something that needed to be rectified before things got too thick with Romulans. He tried to think of something witty to say to break the silence, but nothing coming to mind he took a breath and said simply, "Do you need a hand over there?"

Frowning ever so slightly, Nol turned towards the man in charge of their little team, "No thank you, Doctor. Everything appears to be fine. Mostly I'm filling the time. Is there anything I could assist you with?"

"You could come up here and try your hand at piloting, Sir," Drake called back. "You should be able to handle it, right? Just like trying to get though Sickbay without running into the Mk. X."

Michael grinned and chuckled. The Mk. X Emergency Medical Hologram was generally avoided by everyone; one of the reasons she'd been taken offline. Struck suddenly with whimsy he cocked his head. "Say, Drake, mind if I take a crack at it?"

"Go right ahead, Sir," Drake said amiably, sliding smoothly out of the seat to make way for Evans. He was interested to see the doctor's piloting style, which would almost certainly be different than his own.

Michael slipped all the way forward to the helm station and sat in the just-vacated seat. "Now don't go too far," he said to Drake. Mike was a Level Two pilot, sufficient for current conditions. Still... He disengaged the autopilot. There wasn't much to do, much of warp flight being largely computer driven. Some pilots were skilled enough to modulate the warp field for a smoother, more efficient flight and were creative enough to plot a course that would take them to their destination faster than the computer's default route. Michael, however, wasn't quite that skilled.

Michael liked this seat. It was all the way forward in the craft and the back-swept peripheral windows gave a greater sense of the speed and direction of flight. The controls seemed a little odd though. Of course, the Flyer class vessel wasn't quite in the same category as the standard shuttle that he'd been trained on.

The Klingon glanced over as the Doctor took over piloting. He wasn't sure how qualified the Doctor was to pilot the craft, but he was only a Crewman and felt it best not to comment. After a few minutes, the console in front of him beeped. Bringing up the information, R'Vark said, "Sir! I'm picking up something on Tactical sensors... I believe it's a Romulan vessel."

Hearing R'Vark's comment, Nol quickly turned around. The suits would mean nothing if the Romulans caught them; actually nothing would probably matter if that were the case...most likely they would be dead. The Bajoran contemplated if the Romulans would be gullible enough to believe that their craft had 'accidentally' crossed through the Neutral Zone.

Michael checked his navigational display; sure enough there was a vessel headed their direction. Before he could make a decision however, his console suddenly beeped another warning. "R'Vark," he said, "is that a subspace disruption I'm reading..." But there was no time to finish. They were coming up on it fast. "Everyone hold on!" he shouted. He cut the warp engines and brought the external inertial dampeners up to full power just as a Romulan vessel decloaked in their path. He brought the helm over hard to starboard but overcompensated, and the Carnauba did a little pirouette in space, spinning more than 360 degrees in a circle. "Sorry," he called back as the craft finally came to a full stop.

Michael stood up. "Drake, take the helm," he said, "and be ready to make our best speed back to Federation space. R'Vark, be ready on those shields." He moved to sit at the Ops/Command station.

As smoothly as he had left, Drake slid back into his seat at the helm. Quickly, he returned the controls to his prefered setup, including the reduction of the inertial compensators by 15%; it might not feel good for the rest of the team, but Drake needed to feel the ship if they had to do some evasive maneuvers.

"Aye, sir," R'Vark replied. He tapped the console in front of him a few times, bringing the shield and weapon controls to the main display.

'Let's see how good we are at bluffing today,' Evans thought to himself, and hailed the patrol ship in front of them. "Romulan vessel, this is Doctor Michael Evans of the Federation Medical Relief Vessel Carnauba. Do you need assistance?"

"This is SubCommander Seltik (NPC) of the warbird Turis," the gruff voice of a Romulan replied, "State your identity or we will open fire." It was clear from the tone of his voice that he had little patience for any kind of deceit. Seltik eyed the Federation doctor closely, almost as if by staring at him long enough, he would be able to discern whether or not the physician was telling the truth.

Michael mustered all his strength and refrained from rolling his eyes. "As I said, SubCommander, this is Doctor Evans of the Federation Vessel Carnauba. We're on a medical relief mission. Do you or your crew require assistance?"

The Romulan SubCommander blinked at Michael through the viewscreen, then swelled in rage. Tensions within the Empire, and this region in particular, had been growing for some time. It was possible that the subcommander saw this as some sort of elaborate deception on the part of the Imperial Romulan State. "You are trespassing in Romulan space," he stormed. "Where are you headed and what is your intent?"

Michael did roll his eyes this time. Romulan SubCommander Seltik seemed incredibly dense. "As I said, we are a medical relief vessel sent on an aid mission for your government. Do you require assistance?" he enunciated the last phrase very distinctly.

The SubCommander turned a very interesting shade of green as an angry vein pulsed in his forehead. "I will NOT be insulted like this!" he spewed.

"I see," Michael said. "How would you prefer to be insulted?" he querried seriously. He'd had enough. Better to be shot at than having to deal with this wingnut. May as well get it over with, since it seemed the conversation was heading that direction anyways.

Seltik sputtered, turning a deeper sickly shade. "I will... You will... Open fire!" he ordered, and cut the communication.

Evans rounded on his crew, "Let's go!"

As the Romulan ship began to let loose its weaponry, Drake quickly switched to manual piloting and rolled starboard, pulling up at a sharp angle from their initial spatial plane. He particularly liked the Flyer class - though it was more ungainly than a starfighter, the custom controls were almost as good.

As torpedoes targeted the Carnauba and raced towards them, Drake began erratic flight path that confused the torpedoes' guidance systems and kept he shuttle out of range of the Romulan disruptors. Unfortunately, it would take a while for even the advanced engines of the Flyer-class to be ready for warp after the maneuver Evans had pulled - more time than they had.

Suddenly, the Comm panel chirped. Evans checked the hailing signal, then wilted a little with relief. "It's the Intrepid!"

"This is Captain Benjamin Edwards (NPC) of the Federation starship Intrepid," the voice of the Intrepid's commanding officer came over the open comm channel, "I'd ask what four Starfleet officers are doing in a shuttlecraft this far from the nearest starbase, but I'm afraid now isn't the time for pleasant conversation. We're preparing a tractor beam...standby."

"Acknowledged. Standing-by," Michael replied.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the sleek form of the USS Intrepid swooped past the Carnauba so that the starship was between the Romulan vessels and the smaller runabout. Although she did not open fire, her presence created an efficient barrier and deterrent that gave the Romulans cause to think twice about what they were doing. The faint blue hue of the Intrepid's tractor beam lanced out and locked onto the Carnauba, drawing the smaller craft closer to the starship's open shuttlebay door.

OFF

A JP by:

Captain Benjamin Edwards (NPC)
Commanding Officer
USS Intrepid
Played by: RAdm Iluvar

SubCommander Seltik (NPC)
Commanding Officer
IRW Turis
Played by: RAdm Iluvar

Lieutenant Commander Michael Evans
Chief Medical Officer & Second Officer
USS Pandora

Ensign Revan Nol (NPC)
Security Officer
USS Pandora
Played by: LtCmdr Fala

Crewman R'Vark
Tactical Officer
USS Pandora
Played by: LtCmdr Fala