Scylla & Carbides

Anomaly TrekMUX Episode (#01-020)

Bridge - USS Aegis - [IC]

This is clearly the nerve center of the ship. It is a roughly circular room, laid out symetrically along a central axis, with the ends of the curved gun-metal gray walls giving way to a section which houses the main view screen at one end of that axis. A turbolift door opens on either side of the room, and further back are doors leading to a conference room and the captain's ready room. A long, curving 'wishbone' structure divides the room unevenly between two levels, and the floor slopes down in a ramp to the lowered area before the viewscreen. On this lower side, and built into the wishbone is set of three command chairs, with the Command Station in the center. Between here and the viewscreen are two seats at the station for Operations/Helm and Communications. On the upper side of the wishbone is the centrally located Tactical station. Arrayed along the curving wall on the upper level are stations for Mission Ops, Science and Engineering. A large circular port overhead grants a breathtaking view of the stars above.

Ensign Kelly takes a seat at the helm controls and looks to Poole.

Gwen has taken a seat at tactical, though she is in command of the Aegis for now. "Helm.... depressurize and seal the airlock, disengage docking clamps, and prepare to engage thrusters, set course two-two-nine mark two." She takes a glance around the bridge, smiling at all the familiar faces.... she's practically glowing, after all starships are in her blood.

Nevaren 's fingers fly over the engineering console, bringing up stats on the warp engines. "Matter/Anti Matter injectors are at nominal. Warp Core is online and at 98 strong. All systems are go."

T'sal places her hands in her lap and turns toward the viewscreen.

Kelly nods smartly. "Aye-aye, sir." She taps the console, and exchanges some words with station ST. "Docking clamps disengaged. Course laid in."

Accolon works at a console at the sciences station. He says, "Sensors read everything's normal." He pauses, working, then. "All readings indicate the artifact is secure."

Gwen nods to Nevaren and Accolon in turn, "Good." She look to Ensign Kelly. "Engage thrusters... then once we are out of the station's way, engage impulse engines."

Nevaren loads up the Impulse engines status screen, checking it's availability and readiness. He gives an okay on their status, then changes to another set of screens.

Poole's comm badge chirrups. "Commander Balin to Lieutenant Poole," says a voice over it.

Poole taps her comm badge. "Lieutenant Poole here."

Over Poole's comm badge, Balin says, "Have a good flight Lt."

"Thrusters engaged. Clearing the station.. Engaging impulse engines." Kelly reports.

Gwen looks about the bridge, savoring the feelings.

Poole says into her comm badge, "We will, Commander. We promise not to keep her out late."

Over Poole's comm badge, Balin says, "I'll hold you to that." His voice contains a hint of jocularity. "Balin out."

Poole terminates transmission with a tap on her comm badge.

The ship responds fairly smartly- not as smart as a runabout, certainly, but it handles quite well considering its size. Soon the station is far behind. Now for various preliminary systems tests..

Poole grins to herself, then does a status check on shields and weapons. "Everyone ready for some manuevers?"

Accolon nods his head solemnly and settles back in his chair, gazing out of the viewport.

Nevaren grins, looking around the bridge. "I'm ready to try anything with this baby."

"Lt. Nevaren, check on the status of the structural integrity field, then bring it online and prepare for warp." Gwen looks to Accolon, "Lt. Accolon, could you find us a nice quiet place we could do those manuevers in? Something away from any incoming station traffic?"

Itaani has arrived.

T'sal regards the comments with an arched eyebrow. She remains quiet as she regards the bridge, her eyes sweeping across the systems of the Aegis.

Accolon says, "Yes, sir. Searching now." He leans up, tapping at the console.

Itaani steps onto the bridge, quietly, ready to hand off a Padd of some routine data to the center seat...

Gwen stands from the tactical station and greets Itaani, "Glad you could join us on the bridge Lt. Take a seat at Ops?"

Itaani nods. "Aye, aye...

Itaani sits down at Ops.

Nevaren nods to Poole. "Aye sir." He turns to his console and brings up the SID and Inertial Dampener field controls. WIth a few deft keystroke, small columns of light on the screen start to rise. "Structeral Integrity Field at 100 percent of parameter, Interial Dampeners are holding strong. Ready for warp whenever you are."

Itaani slips into her seat, and checks her board.

Gwen sits back in her seat, raising it a little from it's current position. She looks to Accolon, "Feed the coordinates to the helm when you have them."

Accolon says, "Transfering coordinates to Conn. It's outside station traffic, near the Nuetral Zone. 24.1 Mark 155.23"

T'sal looks toward Poole. "I recommend against operations close to the Neutral Zone, Captain."

From Kelly. "Course laid in, sir. Initiating jump to warp."

Poole grins, then regards T'sal for a moment. "Nurse, I believe we'll be safe. It's only for a few hours." She nods to ensign Kelly, "Engage, warp one.... bring us steadily up to warp five.... let's test the warp drive."

T'sal nods once. "Aye, sir."

Crae has arrived.

Nevaren loads up the Warp Core Monitor on his terminal, checking it's output against tested parameters. He is constatntly tweaking the field settings, trying to optimize them to peak efficiency.

Crae steps in off the lift as the doors snick open. She does a visual sweep of the bridge, taking in the current work and state of affairs.

Gwen looks up from her console and spots Crae. "Counselor." She greets the woman with a grin, then waits for the warp engines to engage.

Accolon glances back, smiling toward Crae, revealing some excitement about the test run.

There is a slight feeling of acceleration, just enough to give the feeling of movement, as the inertial dampeners compensate for the increasing velocity. There is a brief flash as the ship breaks into warp speed, and Kelly reads of the numbers. "Warp achieved, sir. One, One.point.five, Two.." Increasing up to, "Warp five."

Itaani says "Scanning for unwelcome observers."

Crae nods to Gwen and returns the grin, "Lt." She notices Accolon's glance and smile, and returns one of her own. She walks down the ramp and takes a seat in the command area--the one often set aside for Counselors. She leans over and taps a few keys on the console calling up a display.

Scans indicate nothing unusual, unless you count the area itself- it's moderately exceptional in that it's a large clear area of space, more or less perfect for conducting maneuvers.. There's a nebula of some kind on long range sensors, but it's over the border of the NZ. That's about it.

Nevaren continues monitoring all major systems, taking reports from engineering every few moments as he updates his setups.

Gwen fidgets in her chair at tactical, then gets that smirk of her's on her face. She taps a few keys at her console, then stands and moves for the captain's chair.

Poole stands and leaves Tactical.

Crae sits down at Command.

Poole sits down at Command.

After some time traveling at warp (not long, but it's not a one block bus ride either), Kelly announces, "We're nearing the specified coordinates, sir. Should I reduce speed?"

"Hello again, Counselor.... thought I'd see what it feels like." Gwen sits in the Captain's seat, then routes some tactical controls through the console on her chair. "Yes, Ensign. Reduce speed until we are within 100 kilometers, then disengage warp and engage full impulse."

Crae leans closer to Gwen, smiling, "You're doing a fine job Lt." She glances up at the viewscreen, then back over to the Lt, "It's nice to /feel/ the crew upbeat." She glances around the bridge.

T'sal remains at her station, observing the rest of the crew.

"Aye, sir." Kelly complies with the orders with her usual efficiency. Soon the 'warp jump' sensation is repeated in reverse, and the ship continues at full impulse to their destination. Kelly begins to slow the ship further as the coordinates near..

Gwen touches the console at her side and activates the view screen. A simple forward facing view, like a camera mounted outside the hull and in front of the bridge. "Do we have any company?" This she says generally, though it's focused towards Accolon and Itaani. "How did the did the ship handle, Lt. Nevaren?"

Crae returns her attention to the console she is working at, a pleasant smile on her face. She taps a few more keys and calls up a crew manifest. She notes names, ranks, and postings checking to see if anything just jumps out and grabs her attention. A few more taps and she's pulled up a couple records to review in greater detail.

Accolon says, "We're on our own, sir. The closest company we have is a nebula across the Nuetral Zone border." He smiles, contentedly.

Itaani says "We're free and clear, according to sensors, sir."

Itaani says "I think I'll just test the lateral array's chronoton sensors, in light of recent events, sir?""

Nevaren makes a final check on all the incoming system reports before answering. "Well," he states seriously, tapping a few keys, "She could use just a WEE but of fine tuning but other than that everything went great." Nev sniffs once, "Though I gotta try and get rid of thet "New Starship" smell."

Gwen smiles and nods to Nevaren, "My sentiments exactly, Lt." She turns to look at Itaani, "Aye. Test the sensors."

Itaani nods, and runs a chroniton sweep.

Itaani says "Scanning for background, preparing a test pattern...""

Itaani says "Elevated readings... Should we be reading the anomaly, Lieutenant Accolon?""

Accolon replies, "It shouldn't be levels higher than what the artifact normally throws off." He comments and looks toward his console. "Yes, chroniton levels appear normal."

Itaani says "The artifact is here, then. I see."

Accolon lifts his brows, nodding. "Yes." He states.

Itaani says "All right, I will mark this level as nominal for the time being, then."

Gwen shakes her head at that, frowning. She shifts in her chair and says, "I want some system checks run, then we'll start manuevers."

Kelly's more or less brought the ship to 'rest' for now, as per the 'by the book' protocol. She starts to diagnose the Conn systems. "All flight control systems are AOK, sir." He taps a buton to record the current readings into the mission log.

Accolon says, "Yes sir." He taps at the sciences console rapidly and soon answers. "All systems functional."

Nevaren seconds Accolon's aye. "Engineering systems green."

"Alright. Let's rev those impulse engines a bit." Gwen sits up in her seat, sending a series of coordinates and speeds to the helm. "Helm, engage impulse and begin these manuevers."

Itaani says "Commuications, are green, power transfer, green, shielding, green, secondary systems, all go..."

Poole smirks slightly and adds, "Lower inertial dampeners by five percent.... give us a little bit more of a feeling."

Kelly initiates the impulse warmup sequence, and begins calling up the evasive and attack pattern templates. "Impulse systems go, sir. On your mark."

Nevaren nods, lowering power to the IDF systems by 5. "Dampeners down 5, sir."

Gwen leans forward slightly in her chair, arms gripping the sides. "Engage."

Crae finishes checking over the crew manifest and calls up the internal schematics. She catches the excitement in the air, however, and sits back in her seat, eyes glued to the viewscreen.

T'sal watches this with a detatched curiosity. She cocks her head to the side, glancing now and then toward 'Captain' Poole.

A series of simulated situations have been programmed for this.. Sensor simulations indicate an approaching threat craft and provide a summary of a created situation..

At Poole's command, Kelly initiates the impulse engines.. The lowered power to intertial dampeners is apparent in the increased sensation of movement...

Gwen speaks to Accolon, "Lt... scan that vessel, identify the ship class." She taps the controls on her console, "I'm bringing shields up and weapons to stand-by."

>> ...The staged maneuvers exercises are carried out without a hitch, at least no SNAFU of any great importance. The Aegis continues in this manner for about 45 minutes or so.. Then, midway through a starboard roll, a shudder passes through the ship...

Kelly says, "What was that?"

Nevaren frowns, running a systems check to see if it was anything of his that was causing the shudder

Gwen doesn't deign to repeat the question, but raises an eyebrow and looks to Nev. Then she says to Accolon, "Run a scan of the ship, focus on the hull and the room containing the artifact."

Crae tenses at her seat...her hands grabbing the armrests....she's /not/ getting thrown from her seat this time.

Accolon glances warily around the bridge, upwardly then begins quickly working at his console. "Yes, sir." He says.

T'sal checks her console. "No injuries, Captain."

Nevaren taps his terminal display again, bringing up internal sensors in all the most sensitive areas/ "It's not an internal malfuntion of problem, SIr." He states, tapping a few more controls. "I've checked twice. It's not a systems or hardware problem."

Itaani grabs a handhold almost casually, "No damage, sir. Shall I raise shields, precautionary?

Gwen checks the shields and weapons systems, then says, "Ensign... come to a full stop. Let's get a full scan of our surrounding area." She nods to T'sal, then looks to Itaani, "Yes, raise shields."

Itaani calls up shields.

Another shudder ripples through the ship. It's a juddering jar that makes one's teeth rattle..

Accolon's brows knit, in confusion. "We've hit a wave of particles." He glances again at the console. "Comprised mostly of chronitons."

"The source of the wave?" Gwen looks to Accolon again.

Nevaren looks away from his console at Accolon, looking a little surprised. "It's not from the Anomaly is it? We're too far away."

Accolon shakes his head. He says, "It's not from the Anomaly. It could have drifted from there, however." He taps at the console, more. "No... it looks like the forefront of some kind of storm."

T'sal braces herself as the shudder passes. She arches an eyebrow and regards Poole.

Nevaren turns back to his console, bringing up power core and systems reroute controls. "DO you wan't me to route power from the warp core to the shields?" he asks Poole, his voice tinged with worry.

Itaani says "Shields up.."

THere is a bllingngh as the computer responds. Shields are indeed up..

Hearing Poole order Accolon to scan the room with the artifact, Crae leaves the Command area and moves towards the upper level and the Mission Ops station.

T'sal consults her screen, tapping in information with swift, agile movements. "Two injured, Captain."

Itaani says ""Minor damage to deck three, section 12,""

Itaani says "Advise bringing the IDF back to full power, Captain."

Sensors show an energy storm of some kind.. Very fast moving! is sweeping across the area. Various energies and particles are involved, but chronitons are prominent..

Itaani says "SIF fields took a shock.."

The Aegis takes another buffeting- this one less rattle-y.. Though that's not much comfort- it takes one of those slower waveforms that one can feel moving their body to sympathetic vibration..

Accolon nearly slips from his chair but stablizes himself with a foot out on the floor. He continues surveying the nature of the 'storm' at his station.

"Bring the IDF back up to full power, reroute some power from the warp engine to shields and start manuevering us away from the storm." Gwen shakes in her chair, gripping the sides hard.

Itaani looks up at the screen.. "Mothers! Energy wave, bearing---!

Nevaren slides out of his chair, not prepared for the farring of the ship. He takes a moment to pull himself back up into his chair, his fingers going to the display and bringing the IDF bak to 100percent optimal and reouting power from the warpcore to the shields.. He then runs a system check on the power relays and SIF circuits.

There is a creaking as the structural support struts and integity field attempt to compensate for the twisting battering the ship is taking from the phenomenon...

The 'storm' is a fairly large phenomenon.. Sensors show that it has the capablitly to tear the ship apart.. Also, the storm's energy is interfering with the engines and making handling somewhat rough, as Kelly soon comments..

"Full impulse away from the wave, pull us up and out of it's path." Gwen orders, clinging to her chair just barely. "Try and reroute power from the warp engines to the shields, we need to reinforce them."

Crae's gymnastic experience comes back instinctually as the ship rocks while she is moving up the ramp. Her body moves with the shudder and she manages to keep her feet. She hurries up to the Mission Ops station...and activates the built in chair. She quickly takes a seat.

T'sal taps at her display while still trying to keep her post.

Itaani clings to her panel, "Looks to be a large one, sir... Heavy chroniton content... Aye, sir, tranferring available power to shields... Epicenter of storm, seems to be the nebula, at bearing 12 mark 3

Another groaning noise from the walls. Despite the inertial dampeners, one can feel the ship being 'tossed about. Artificial gravity keeps people from being similarly tossed...

Nevaren starts reouting more power from the warp core to the main shields. "We need to keep some in reserve, Sir." He tells Poole, as his fingers fly over his computer, "We'll probably want to jump to warp the moment we clear this thing."

Accolon calls, "Sir, this ship is going to be torn apart if we don't do something!" He glances toward Poole, maintaining calm, but the seriousness of it is reflected in his expression. "The nebula across the Nuetral Zone appears to be the storm's center. The particle activity there is at a minimum."

Gwen nods and starts making her own calculations on her console, then stops. "The eye of the storm." She nods to Accolon and says, "Helm... take us into the epicenter, full impulse."

Nevaren turns in his seat. "We'll be violating the treaty, sir. If the romulans see us they'll intercept."

T'sal looks to Poole. "I should remind you that crossing the Neutral Zone will be viewed by the Romulans as an act of war, Captain."

Accolon glances toward Poole, sighing. He says, "It appears to me, it's either that, or we all get crushed on our first time out in the Aegis."

Kelly complies, her expression indicating she's thankful to have something to do now. "Aye, sir!" The ship moves with a rattle that changes pitch from dd-du-ddun to didiing! towards the nebula. "Oh-fivefive-mark-260."

Crae calls up an internal sensor scan of the room containing the artifact. She's not sure exactly what she's looking for....

"And if we don't... this ship could be torn apart...." Gwen responds to T'sal. "Could we get close as we can without crossing the border and survive the storm?" She looks to Itaani, then to Accolon.

Itaani says "If the Romulans can see us in this, T'sal, we may as well hand them our homeworlds..."

Itaani says "The nebula may be the eye of the storm, sir, it seems that it's slightly more intense up to the edge of the nebula itself..."

Accolon calls to Poole, "I'm afraid if we enter the 'eye' we're in the Neutral Zone, sir."

The ride to the Nebula is rough.. Even rougher for several kilometers at the nebula's edge.. The 'waves' of the 'storm' seem to increase in rate here, if not in intensity... Kelly hasn't recieved any other order but to head for the Nebula though, and that's what she's doing, and she's got her foot to the floor, proverbially..

Itaani looks over her shoulder, briefly, "Commander, I believe that the treaty of Algeron says that only entry intto the Neutral ZOne without adequate warning would be considered an act of war...

Gwen shakes her head, "Damn it." With a sigh she says, "I don't suppose we can raise the station?..... Computer, record that one Lt. Poole gave the command to enter the Neutral Zone and violate treaty, though she did it to save the ship and crew." Then she pauses, eyeing Itaani. "If we can't speak to the station, how would we speak to the Romulans?"

Itaani says "If we can get a signal through.. Sensor readings erratic..."

Accolon whistles through his teeth. "It wouldn't hurt to try." His brows raise.

"Alright.... let them know that we are coming, but not our coordinates.... Perhaps we could launch a probe with the message, it might get clear of the storm." Gwen looks from officer to officer.

The ship hits a particulary rough patch, and one of the engineering consoles explodes in a shower of sparks. The smell of ozone competes with the scrubbers.. Consoles chime as damge reports and other telemetry starts coming in...

T'sal states, "Injuries coming in from most decks!"

There's all kinds of subspace interference flooding the area.. Communications are going to be difficult.. The ship emits a protest as it's flexed again..

Itaani shakes in her seat.., opening a communication channel.. "USS Aegis to Romulan Fleet, <shake> We'd like to caution you against an energy storm in this sector, due apologies if we are crossing your borders, our intentions are peaceful, please respond... "

Crae switches off the work she was doing at the Mission Ops station and vacates it, sure that a differently trained crewman will know how to put it to better use. She stands and begins to follow the wall back down to the command section and sits next to 'Captain' Poole, her smile gone and a serious look etched on her face.

Nevaren screams in surprise. "POWER SURG....!" but is cut off as his terminal explodes. He takes the brunt of the last inm the chest and face, being ripped from his seat and sent flying nealry ten feet back across the bridge, comming to rest against thje base of the tactical station. green blood flows rather freely from glass imbedded gashes in his now exposed and burnt skin. He lies there, unmoving and smoking...

There is a blelep as the computer indeed records that one Lt. Poole gave the command to enter the Neutral Zone and violate treaty, though she did it to save the ship and crew.

...About this time, the Aegis crosses into the nebula. The contrast is dramatic. All the rattling and shaking stops, and all appears quiet and calm. Systems begin to come back online and return to functioning normally.

There is a chirrup from the com. And a pinging on the sensors: Another ship?

T'sal stands, slinging her medkit from around her shoulder. She moves shakily toward Nevaren's position, kneeling beside him.

Crae moves to stand on the other side of him from T'Sal...helping if asked to.

Itaani says "Looks like we're not the only ones in the nebula, Commander..."

T'sal flips open her tricorder and starts to scan him.

T'sal makes a diagnosis on Nevaren.

Accolon stands unsteadily to his feet. "Oh no." He shouts, seeing Nevaren blasted back. He glances out the viewport as the calm settles in then watches with concern as T'sal works on Nev.

Gwen shudders in her seat, then says, "Itaani, Hail them, if you can."

Gwen shudders in her seat, then says, "Itaani, answer that hail, if you can."

Itaani says "This is the Federation starship Aegis, over..."

T'sal works silently, snapping the tricorder shut and quickly opening the medkit. She picks up a hypospray, and leans in to inject the half-Vulcan.

From the com, "This is Captain Seneka of the RSE vessel Almagest. To who am I adressing?" comes the somewhat sardonic reply.

Gwen responds to Captain Seneka, "This is Lt. Poole, acting Captain of the Federation starship Aegis." She stands from the chair, "Could we put this onscreen?"

Itaani looks to Poole... and puts the transmission on screen.

Crae glances up from Nevaren's smoking body to watch T'Sal work. She kneels ready to give any aid if required. Her face is etched with concern. She hazards a quick glance towards the viewscreen as the image of the Romulan appears.

Accolon sits back down in his chair, composing himself in the calm. He begins to work at the console, running diagnostics on the various sciences systems.

Kelly looks to Poole, "The ship or the communications, sir?"

T'sal looks to Counselor Crae. "His injuries are severe."

Itaani says "Romulan warbird, range, 1.2 AU, sir..."

Crae nods seriously at T'Sal's words, "Should we beam him directly to sickbay?"

T'sal nods and taps her badge. "Nurse T'sal to Doctor Holliday."

The viewscreen comes up, displaying an oh-so slightly disheveled male Romulan. (It raises the question for you- Do I look that shook up, myself?) His dissaray only contributes to his slightly arrogant, extremely confident, and .. dashing? appearance. "Ah. Lt. Poole." An amused snort. "Or Acting Captain Poole, as the case may be." A dramatic pause. "So. We meet again." He smiles.

T'sal's compin chirrups. "You rang?"

Gwen fixes the viewscreen with a scowl in preparation for speaking to the romulans. That scowl disappears when she recognizes the man she's speaking to, "Captain Seneka, do you require assistance?"

Itaani shakes her hair down to order and keeps an eye out for more of them..

There is a pause, as Seneka considers Poole's words. He raises an eyebrow. "Do you?"

T'sal says into the air, "Doctor, one to transport directly to sickbay. Lt. Nevaren is near death. There is serious internal bleeding, massive cranial trauma. His brain is swelling. There are also second and serious third degree burns."

Accolon slowly glances in T'sal's direction, then drops his eyes, turning back to his station.

"In all honesty?" Gwen regards the romulan tiredly, "Perhaps we do.... The storm sprung from out of nowhere, and if we hadn't crossed into the nebula, we would have died.... We don't want any trouble, we just want to get out of this ... thing... and get back to Station 419."

From T'sal's compin, "<Tone becoming more serious, though not much> Understood. I was hoping for a social call T'sal, though I was surprised at your forwardness. Administer 200 cc's of impedrazine and stand by to transport.."

There is a flickering as Nevaren is transported to sick bay, leaving only a scorch mark behind..

Crae stands clear as T'Sal arranges Nevaren's transport to sickbay. Concern still etched on her face, she nods a *good work* nod to T'Sal and then makes her way down to sit beside Captain Poole. She studies the Romulan almost casually as Gwen exchanges words with him.

T'sal nods to Crae and turns toward her station. She sits back down and watches the viewscreen.

Crae sits down at Command.

Seneka smiles. "I understand, 'Captain' Poole." he says with perhaps a touch of patronization. "I find my ship in similar straits, perhaps. If you require assistance, you have but to ask." He offers magnanimously.

"How long have you been in here, Captain? And, do you see any feasible way out?" Gwen asks calmly, trying to ignore the patronizing.

Itaani starts tapping keys, trying to find what might be causing the storm in the first place.

Accolon glances over toward Itaani, briefly and sets to work at his own console as well. He asks, "Are you finding anything, Leiutenant Itaani?"

Seneka smiles without much humor. "Long enough, Captain Poole. Indeed, we have some telemetry on just what you refer to. I would be willing to share that information with you..." A pause, "Although you will understand my concern in regards to the use you might put that information to." His voice cuts a little.

Itaani looks to Accolon, "I'm not a physicist, I'm afraid, but these scans certainly look interesting...

Accolon glances up toward the viewscreen, dubiously toward Seneka. Then he says to Itaani. "Transfer those readings to the science station. Let me have a look. Maybe we don't need their help, yet." As he works at the console, he seems to grow more discouraged at what he finds.

"How we would use it for what, Captain? All we want to do is get out of this mess." Gwen responds to Seneka. She smiles coyly, then says, "Or do you think we'll use the information to destroy your Empire?" Shaking her head, she says, "Be serious."

Itaani nods, sending the readings to Accolon.

Accolon shakes his head once, reporting in the meanwhile, "The source of the storm can't be located. However, it's not the nebula. The nebula itself is acting as a buffer, preventing the storm from entering."

Seneka continues to smile. "I do not consider -you- (Poole? The Aegis? The Federation?) a threat to _the Empire_. As you claim to be, I am merely looking after my own interests in the matter of 'getting out of this mess'."

Itaani says "THe waves do seem to be centered here, however, Lieutenant... i'm going to check for Doppel-er-izaton in the waves, perhaps it's moving..."

"If we found a way out, we would, of course, show you the way." Gwen nods, then looks to her side at Accolon, "Any luck?"

Accolon shakes his head. "Not yet, sir."

Seneka nods, lifting one eyebrow slightly. "I'm sure. Do you wish to formalize that statement with an agreement of mutual cooperation? I believe the expression is 'two heads are better than one'?"

"I agree to it, if you do Captain. Both of us will keep our weapons unpowered, but our shields up." Gwen manages a smile for the Romulan. "And combine our efforts until we get out of this trap.... Then you can go back to your empire, and we go back to our station, is that agreeable?"

Kelly frowns, her brow creasing in frustration. "Sir, helm controls are nearly inoperative here. It seems to be due to some interaction between our propulsions and some kind of emissions contained in the nebula.

"Then we'll have to get around that." Gwen says softly to the ensign at the helm.

Seneka nods. "Indeed. I agree to my proposal, 'Captain Poole'. We will 'combine our efforts' to surmount this problem and then go our separate ways, then?" Kelly's comment apparently carried over the com, as Seneka continues, "Oh yes. That. You may find that to be a dificulty. Would you like us to share our telemetry with you now?" Oh so sweetly he says that..

Itaani looks over her shoulder, "I ...have a feeling we'll figure out why soon, sir... I don't understand it yet, but we're at the center of some wave action, it may be creating a subspace... eddy of some kind..

"Yes, Captain Seneka, that would be appreciated." Gwen looks to Itaani and says, "Perhaps we can find a way... a path out of here where the effects of the storm are nil, perhaps an area where the waves cancel out."

Itaani says "Possible, sir, waves, I have some knowing of... Computer, what type of phenomenon could create waves that would be interrupted by nebular matter, but appear centered on that same mass?"

Ch-chime: Insufficient data for analysis.

Itaani says "Narrow query to phenomena evidenced by significant chroniton emissions?"

"Thank you Seneka, we'll transmit the data we acquired on our way in... and if we find anything we'll let you know immediately." Gwen looks to Accolon, then to Itaani, "Keep working on it. I'm going to review what the computer knows about events like this.... perhaps it's similar to another anomaly." She heads for the ready room.

Bllelep- The computer begins to process the request...

The Romulan's telemetry reports: Their suppositions and data: They dont offer any theories as to where the storm came from or what caused it. The nebula traps and contains energy within itself. (Incidentally, you can see ripples and little charges through it's gasses, like a storm in a cloud.) (This is also why the ships aren't responding, as the nebula absorbing their inertial output) The one big connection between the storm and the nebula is this: Chronitons. The storm's 'caught' by the particle trapping nature of the nebula. The romulans theorize that a large enough burst of chronitons could overload the nebula and allow the storm to dissipate.. but they don't have the capability to generate a big enough burst.

Itaani mms. "Seems like the Romulans need some chronitons... A good thing we brought some, then....

"May you find this information.. helpful. Contact us if you have anything constructive to offer, Aegis." Seneka dissapears from the screen, being replaced by a view the swirling purple vapors of the nebula. Occasionally an impressive ILM bolt arcs across a cloudmass.

Itaani looks over to Poole.

Poole has slipped into the captain's Ready Room..

The scene: Return from commercial break (Sluggo Cola- the slimiest cola in the galaxy!), it's an undisclosed ammount of time later. The Aegis crew has been reviewing the data and otherwise working on a problem. The ROmulan ship hangs ominously opposite the Aegis in the nebula.. waiting..

Sick Bay - USS Aegis - [IC]

Although this is a large room, it is still somewhat cramped and irregularly shaped. There's a lot of equipment packed in here, using every space saving design concept available. Double bunk style biobeds fold out from the walls between banks of storage panels. An operating table and the accompanying sensor dome can be lowered down from ceiling, and is raised up compactly overhead when not in use. Screens can be drawn out from the walls on tracks to divide the space in various ways or to form private exam or recovery rooms. The CMO's 'office' is a cubicle defined by a transparent alluminum panel, the corner of the room that houses the Main Medical Computer and Life Support Monitors, and an outward facing combination desk and workstation. Movable workstation cubes allow other various configurations of equipment and layout, the modular concept adaptable to meet a variety of situations. Lighting is bright- maybe the only place on the ship so well lit, aside from the bridge. Severe, sterile and a bit harsh, the Aegis sick bay sacrifices asthetics for funtionality.

Slowly, the room brightens and begins to come into focus... You're becoming aware of the incessant humming of various medical equipment..

Nevaren coughs once then winces, groaning lowly. His eyes, unfocused, look straight up. He tries to say something but it comes out as another painful cough from a dry throat.

Holliday's looking at a display, his back to Nevaren. At the sounds from his patient, he turns around. "I wouldn't try to sit up untill we get the clamshell of you." He refers to the surgical module attached to the biobed than Nevaren lies upon, covering his chest and torso. "I heard you went out with a bang.." He lifts the shell up, and offers Nevaren a small cup containing icecubes.

Nevaren takes the small cup in a shaky hand and slowly brings it up to his lips. A little bit spills down the sides of his mouth, bet he manages to drink most of it before dropping the cup onto the floor accidently. "Am.. I.. going to.. be ok?" he whispers hoaresly.

Holliday smiles. "Well, you're not going to be able to play the violin anymore. Other than that, you should be fine, though it may take a little while for your eybrows to grow back."

Holliday stoops to pick up the cup. "Set you up again?" He asks, raising the cup.

Nevaren shakes his head. "Ok fer now." He coughs again. "Howlong till I kin get up and go back to work?"

Holliday seems to take the question as a good sign, though he purses his lips when replying. "I don't know. How are you feeling, Nev?

Nevaren ponders that. "Well.." he hoarsley whispers, "That would depend on whats happened to me.. and what you did to fix me. I can't tel;l to much at the moment beyond "I hurt too much to be dead.""

Holliday chuckles. "Considering, I think that's a good sign. What's the last thing you remember, Nev?"

Nevaren closes his eyes. "I.. I remeber seeing a power surge indicator alarm. Chronoton emmisions overloaded the data conduits sending a pulse of feedback. But before I could do anything there was a flash and something that felt like a brimostone hand pusing everything away.. then nothing."

Holliday nods,"Um-hmm." He seems pleased by this as well. "Well, from what I know of it that feedback pulse exploded out thru your console. After that charge I started getting calls from across the ship. You seem to be the worst case though- Some internal hemoraging and a concussion, second degree burns. Most of that, I've dealt with, although you may be rather 'stove-up' for a few days. Any dizziness or nasuea, Nev?"

Nevaren shakes his head. "just sore. and hungry."

Holliday smiles. "Hungry is good. We'll see about getting you something to eat to give your body something to work with under the regenerators. You'll get to discover which is worse- hospital food or army food." He considers a moment, "I don't want you to overdo it, but aside from some out-patient treatment, I've done what I can to help you recover.. Now we let your system do the rest. You should be ready to get out of bed in an hour or so.. As far as duty, I'm going to have to leave that partially up to you- if you feel up to a shift.. I'm reluctant to administer any painkillers now though.. So.."

Nevaren nods. "I understand, Doc. I've hurt worse. Neurowhips have desensitized me somewhat."

Holliday raises an eyebrow. "After the hot tar, cattle prods don't hurt that much?" Pause. "Allright. But don't get yourself involved in anything you can't take a break from if you get tired or the pain gets worse."

Nevaren nods and slowly sits up. He swings off the bed carefully. "Aye, Doc. I'll try. Thanks."

Nevaren stands, tests his weight, and slowly limps towards the door.

Holliday nods. "Actually, I might come with you? I'm feeling a little claustrophobic in here. Though lucky for you they jammed all this equipment in here, as it might not have gone so well if we were further from the facilities.."

Nevaren grins and nods as he walks out the sickbay. "Sure, doc."

Itaani sits and reviews the Romulan's message....

Accolon reviews the data sent at his console and then leans back. He says, "Well, it seems we have a solution."

Itaani says "Or the source of the problem, Mr. Accolon..."

Accolon says, "All we need is a large enough burst of chronitons. It should overload the nebula, causing the storm to dissipate."

Itaani says "Chronitons don't have to go forward in time... what if we were to cause the very storm that brought us here by creating the chroniton burst they ask for?"

Accolon shakes his head. "I don't believe we have to worry about chronitons themselves, causing any time disturbances."

Itaani nods, reluctantly taking that on Accolon's expertise..

Itaani says "Then it seems the artifact is our answer... Though it seems rather too convenient.."

Accolon chuckles softly. "Too convenient for what?" He asks, probably thanking the luck, himself.

Itaani says "That we should happen to find ourselves in a most unusual circumstance at the precise time to use a unique artifact for an equally unusual effect..."

Itaani says "What if the storm is an *effect* of some temporal distortion not yet created? Or what if it was created by moving the artifact?"

Gwen steps back onto the bridge from the ready room, straightening her tunic as she does. From the look on her face, her research into similar phenomena turned up very little indeed. She walks down to Accolon and Itaani, and says, "Any luck?"

Accolon stands to his feet. "I'm going to go see if we can get chroniton emmissions from the artifact, sir." He says to Poole, "You're talking about fate and circumstance, Leiutenant Itaani." He chuckles. "Leave that to mystic speculation."

Itaani says "Lacking an Imaasha, I would prefer to leave it to a temporal physicist, if possible..."

T'sal regards this conversation quietly as she observes from her post.

Accolon says, "Chroniton emmisions themselves are harmless, and can cause no temporal effects." He walks toward the turbolift.

Itaani says "But what causes *them..."

Accolon shrugs his shoulders, stopping at the door. "Romulan cloaking devices, certain anomalies..."

T'sal says "Temporal events."

Gwen nods to Accolon, "Just be careful, Lt. At the first sign of trouble, stop what you are doing..." She nods to Itaani, "I trust our science officer with the artifact.... he's one of the only one of us who even went near it."

Itaani nods. "Aye, sir.

Accolon nods to Poole. "I'll keep the bridge informed." He opens the door and walks through.

Accolon touches the pad beside the turbolift door.

Accolon summons the turbolift.

The turbolift doors slide open with a hiss.

Accolon enters the turbolift.

Accolon has left.

The turbolift doors slide closed.

Itaani watches the screen...

T'sal looks to Poole. "Sir, if Romulan Cloaking Devices can cause chronitons to be emitted, perhaps we should speak to the Romulan captain. Lacking our specialist with the artifact, it may not be able to produce the desired results. You should effect a contingency plan."

Gwen shakes her head, squeezing the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. After taking a few deep breaths, she moves closer to T'sal and says, "How are the injuries, Nurse? Lt. Nevaren?"

Poole says "I don't want to speak with the Romulans again unless it is necessary. If the artifact fails to help us, then I will contact them."

T'sal looks to Poole. "With all due respect sir, by then it could very well be too late."

Gwen frowns slightly at that statement, "Why would you say that?"

T'sal states quietly, with no emotion, "The storm could get worse, destroying both ships in the process."

Gwen nods, then looks to Itaani. "Any sign of the storm changing? Growing? Shrinking?"

Poole's comm badge chirrups. "Lieutenant JG Accolon to Lieutenant Poole," says a voice over it.

Poole taps her comm badge. "Lieutenant Poole here."

Over Poole's comm badge, Accolon says, "The artifact is not responding to the method of communication Counselor Crae and I had used before. I'm not sure how we're going to get it to produce emissions but I'll continue working on it, sir."

Poole says into her comm badge, "Ah... Lt. Do you think our friends the Romulans, might be able to produce similar emissions with their cloaking device?"

Over Poole's comm badge, Accolon says, "It is possible, though I'm sceptical whether they will be able to produce the amount we're looking for. I'm not familiar with the workings of their ships. They would know better than myself."

The turbolift doors slide open with a hiss.

Holliday exits the turbolift, the double doors sliding shut behind him.

Holliday has arrived.

Nevaren exits the turbolift, the double doors sliding shut behind him.

Nevaren has arrived.

Poole says into her comm badge, "I was afraid you'd say that.... Keep working on it."

Poole terminates the comm by tapping her comm badge.

Nevaren limps out of the lift, squinting slightly in the bright lights. He looks around slowly, taking everything in. "have I missed much?" He asks, his voice hoarse and whispy.

Gwen turns to face the Doc, and Nev. She smiles when she sees Nev in one piece, then nods to both entrants. "Doctor, Lt.... You haven't missed all that much."

Itaani glances up and actually smiles. "Less than I thought you would, Lieutenant...

T'sal turns her head to regard those exiting the turbolift. "It is agreeable to see you up and about, Lt. I had my doubts about your survival."

Nevaren nods slowly and turns to look at his terminal, or at least where it used to be. "Well I seem to be missing a station." he sighs and looks back at his crewmates. "Thank you both. I'm alright now.. really."

Holliday follows Nevaren off the 'lift, and assumes a stance near the door out of the trafic pattern. He nods to those here, "Oh, I didn't. You were here to look after him, after all." He says to T'Sal, then proceeds to survey the bridge and try to take in the situation..

The com chimes..

T'sal glances toward Poole. "The Romulans." Vulcans are such masters of the obvious.

Itaani checks the source...

Gwen groans inwardly, "Itaani, put that onscreen." She heads to the command chair.

Itaani says "Onscreen."

The communications display comes up: Seneka. "Well, 'Captain?"

Nevaren taps his commbadge. "Nevaren to ENsign Trevor. Report to bridge with a repair crew. We need to repair the Engineering station." He gets an aye and signs off his commbadge. He then walks to the tactical station and splits the screen between ops and engineering functions

Nevaren stands and leaves Engineering.

Nevaren sits down at Tactical.

Trevor's voice can be heard over Nev's compin. "Aye, sir. I'll assemble a team and be right up."

"We've analyzed the data, and have some theories.... Have you had better luck?" Gwen eyes the other captain warily.

T'sal watches on silently.

Seneka raises an eybrow, and gestures. "Do -you- notice any difference in our predicament, 'Captain' Poole?" Pause. "Yes, we have founded some theories of our own. Perhaps they are similar. So. What has the renowned Starfleet come up with?" His tone is just on the edge of sarcasm, tinged with amusement?

Nevaren frowns at the romulans sarcasm, growling to himself.

Long distance to Accolon: Holliday chuckles. I didn't think so. But since Poole's being so well behaved..

"No working theories, Captain.... though we are testing a method of emitting chroniton particles." Gwen sighs, looking away from the captain of the romulan vessel. "If it's fruitful, we should know within the next couple of minutes."

Seneka raises an eybrow. "And what, pray, is this method?"

Nevaren looks up from his terminal and clears his throat.

Gwen motions to Lt. Nevaren, "My engineer will explain the procedure." She turns slightly, watching the half-vulcan.

Seneka waits expectantly. "Very good. I look forward to hearing this.."

Nevaren 's demeanor becomes very cold and Vulcan, his voice passionless.. very different from the way people who know him have experienced. "The concept is simple. By passing black hole dust, which I collected for an experiment some time back, and passing it through a redundant loop of gravity generators and an inertial dampening field, I speed the material to such a high speed that the electrons are stripped from the dense matter. The dust is fired into a small Matter, Antimatter chaber. The reaction between the three compnents causes a duel effect. The matterial implodes, but chronotons are released since the gravity cannot hold onto them."

Nevaren gets ready to start refining the process for captain Seneka in true vulcan fation, preparing to give every.. single.. boring detail

Seneka nods thoughtfully. "Ah? And you think this will be effective?" He looks to Poole, "You said you intend to test this method shortly?"

Itaani says "It may require some modelling, first, Captain, " Itaani speaks up, looking at the screen. "Perhaps you've already accomplished this?"

Gwen fights a smirk, then turns back to Seneka. "Yes, we believe it may have a positive effect. You may detect some chroniton particles emitting from our ship."

Nevaren speaks again in his vulcan tones. "Thats assuming the duo-cyclic reflection filaments, which we got from the ferengi, hold. The whole process cannot work without them."

The turbolift doors slide open with a hiss.

Accolon exits the turbolift, the double doors sliding shut behind him.

Accolon has arrived.

The turbolift doors slide closed.

Poole stands and leaves Command.

Seneka smiles, "I must claim ignorance of 'black hole dust' or its theoretical uses, Andorian." He looks to Poole, "Yes, I have noticed that, 'Captain'." A pause, then he leans forward, "I confess, we have been working on our own methods of generating chronitons, but as yet, we have been unable to find a way of emitting a sufficiently large burst." He leans back. "Well, good luck with your endeavor, 'Captain'. I will be waiting." He says, his tone moving between sarcastic, conniving, and arrogant.

Accolon returns from the turblift, moving back into the sciences station. He says, "No luck with the artifact, Lieutenant Poole."

The screen goes blank as Seneka terminates the transmission.

Itaani looks over her shoulder to Poole. "Possibly more power we could provide to their cloaking deveice.....

Nevaren starts to laugh, then clucthes his sides, coughing and wincing, but still laughing. "duo-cyclic reflection filaments... heehee.. yeah right."

Holliday raises an eyebrow, also amused by Nevaren's explanation. "Black hole dust, Nev? Maybe I should check you for a concussion again.."

T'sal looks to Nevaren. "There is the possibility that they did not believe such a weak ruse."

"God..." Gwen shakes her head as the Romulan disappears, "And I thought some Starfleet officers had a sticks up their backsides." She looks to Itaani, "We could establish some sort of power transfer, but I don't trust them."

Itaani says "I'm inclined to agree, sir."

Nevaren stands up straighter. "it's not THAT weak. There is such thing as Black Hole dust. Super dense material. It may be implauasable, but probably not impossible. And if they want to pay the ferengi to find out that duo-cyclic reflection filament don't exist, it's their money. I was just buying a bit of time. I don't care if they find out after we get away."

Poole looks to Accolon and Nev, "What about changing the quantum signature of our shields? Perhaps match it to the storm's chroniton particles. Could we absorb more of the rough weather in the shields?"

The turbolift doors slide open with a hiss.

Chorak exits the turbolift, the double doors sliding shut behind him.

Chorak has arrived.

The turbolift doors slide closed.

Chorak enters from the turbolift, "Security teams 1 thru 4 have completed their sweeps...the Aegis is secure at the moment."

Chorak walks over to the conn and replaces ensign Kelly.

Nevaren sighs. "I can try but chroniton's aren't my area of expertise. Accolon is more the proffesional quantum physisist than I am. I just build the stuff to their specs most of the time, unlkess I get one of those rare strokes of genius."

Chorak sits down at Conn.

Kelly moves to the turbolift and leaves the bridge..

T'sal stands up from her post. She looks to Holliday. "Doctor, if you will assume this post, I will go down to sickbay and check on the other injured."

Holliday nods to T'sal. "Assume it's assumed, T'Sal. Thanks."

T'sal nods once to him. She passes by Nevaren on her way out, stopping near his station for a moment.

The com chimes again.

Nevaren looks down at the shield control program on his screen. "Besides, a storm isn't a static thing. It's ever changing. With the random flux of quantum frequencies out there I doubt it would help too much. But I can research it a bit, with Accolons help."

T'sal mutters to Nevaren, "... due... was...".

T'sal touches the pad beside the turbolift door.

T'sal summons the turbolift.

The turbolift doors slide open with a hiss.

T'sal enters the turbolift.

T'sal has left.

The turbolift doors slide closed.

Nevaren grimaces, obviously displeased by what T'sal said to him as she left.

Itaani says "Accolon, is there a quantom resonance between the storm and the artifact?"

"Bloody..." Gwen approaches the viewscreen, "Answer the Romulan's hail, onscreen." She looks around the bridge quickly to silence any 'important' conversations in front of the Rommies.

Nevaren makes his face cold and stony again, standing straighter.

Itaani turns it nback on. "Onscreen

Chorak keeps his eyes on his console, only occasionaly looking up at the screen.

Seneka, again. "So sorry to.. bother you again, 'Captain'. I pray I'm not interrupting anything important. However, I wanted to remind you of our bargain. If you are having problems with your experiment, I would offer you our expertise. As you so elloquently put it, 'two heads are better than one.'"

"That experiment failed, Captain. We were unable to generate the chronitons emissions." Gwen sits down and settles back in the captain's chair. "We still, however, believe that a chroniton field might negate the storm, or at least allow us a pathway out."

Poole sits down at Command.

Seneka nods. "Indeed. I believe that was the premise we shared with you. Or maybe you came up with it on your own." A pause. "If your experiment failed, why is your ship still emitting chronitons, 'Captain'?"

Accolon works at his console, but has a look of being mildy frustrated. He says, "A resonance between quantums in the chronitons with the artifact and the chronitons here isn't really going to matter to us." He glances toward Nevaren. "If we could modify our reflector dish, perhaps there's a way to focus the chronitons we're emmitting."

Gwen perks an eyebrow at that, "Hold on a moment..." She stands and turns her back on him, facing Accolon and Nevaren questioningly. "Well?"

Nevaren speaks up so Seneka can hear "Because the initial chronoton wave that hit us and drew us into this place energized random areas of the ship with ambient chronoton fields." He then looks at Accolon. "I concur. If we can match the fields and cycle it, like a linear accelerator, perhaps he can compress and direct these chronotons at a specific point of space."

Seneka nods petulantly, "Ah. That could explain it. Though I find myself at a loss concerning this.. artifact you speak of." His tone and expression grow colder. "I have dealt fairly with you up to now, Lt. Poole. Now I am beginning to think you are trying to decieve me. Either this 'artifact' itself is a ruse, or the ruse is to draw me away from this 'artifact'. Which is it, Lt. Poole?"

Chorak's eyes leave his console and he watches the Romulan Commander closely, trying to guess what his thoughts are and what, if any, actions he is about to take.

Itaani takes another of her habitual scans, and taps her fingers on a small subscreen she's been working on..

Holliday frowns, keeping silent and out of the way for now.

Gwen turns back slowly to the Romulan. "In the interest of our continued agreement... We have an artifact onboard from the station, it is the source of the chronitons." The Lt. pauses, hesitant to reveal any more than she already has. She looks back to Accolon and Nevaren. "They are looking at a way of focussing those particles through our deflector dish... possibly creating an escape route for both you and us."

Nevaren frowns inwardly, but maintains a face of cold, vulcan, disinterest. He starts running simulations over his terminal on how to implement using the reflector as a chronoton collector and redirector, using stats sent to him from itaani's station.

Seneka looks offended. "I wish you had deemed fit to share this information with me earlier, 'Captain' Poole. I'm hurt," Doesn't seem so though. "That you aparently feel that I am untrustworthy. A reflection of your own untrustworthiness, perhaps? Should I worry that you will betray our bargain should we find a means of escape? Know that you will find me more than prepared for -that- contingency."

The screen -sniks- off, back to the view of the nebula..

Chorak frowns and mutters to himself, "Romulans..."

Nevaren growls. "I am REALLY begining to dislike him. And I am not just saying that."

Gwen looks down at the floor, "I shouldn't have bothered telling him... The artifact is in danger now." She looks to Chorak, "Post security personnel to guard the artifact."

Itaani says "As long as I can see him, I can smile at him. I am more concerned about falling to a bunch of invisible particles I don't fully understand.."

Itaani says "Captain, we may have something here that would accomplish just that.."

"Continue." Gwen replies to Itaani, standing and moving to the Ops console.

Poole stands and leaves Command.

Chorak turns towards poole, "Whatever ends up happening sir...I suggest we keep our guard up and an eye open...." He nods at Gwen's order, "Aye sir"

Holliday chuckles darkly, "I won't invite him to your birthday party then, Nev."

Nevaren brings up a few more schematics, waiting for Itaani to fill poole in. he just chuckles unhappily at Holliday's joke.

The turbolift doors slide open with a hiss.

T'sal exits the turbolift, the double doors sliding shut behind her.

T'sal has arrived.

The turbolift doors slide closed.

Itaani says "If the Romulans channel their warp energy through their cloak, supplemented by our chroniton emissions, the storm may be dissiapted, and in the process take their cloak offline long enough for us to reach our own space..."

Nevaren grins at that part

Holliday looks to T'Sal. "How're the Smiths doing in the guest room?"

T'sal steps onto the bridge, her footsteps light and quiet. She steps off to the side of the turbolift, clasping her hands before her and taking in her surroundings.

T'sal says "There is one patient that I believe requires your attention, doctor. I can assume your post if you would like to do so now."

Gwen groans slightly, "So, I'd have to speak with him again?" She makes no effort to conceal her reluctance to do that again. Without waiting for an answer, she says, "Let's try to focus our emissions first... once we know we can do it, I'll speak with Seneka."

Nevaren nods and starts setting up the reflector protocols to match the simulations.

Holliday smiles. "Sure thing. As-su-me away, just so long as it's not for malpractice.." Then he steps towards the turbo lift.. He mutters something to T'sal as he passes..

You mutter to T'sal, "Keep an eye on Nevaren. He's looking much imporved, but..."

T'sal nods once to Holliday as she slides into the seat he just vacated.

Chorak has disconnected.

Gwen turns away from Itaani, something obviously nagging her, and says, "Hail the Romulans and put Seneka onscreen."

There is a delay before the Romulans respond.

Then Seneka appears on the screen, looking .. well, looking Romulan. "Ya-ess?" He draws the word out insultingly.

"We mean no offense, Captain... But since I've come clean on what I had been hiding, perhaps we could get back to finding a way out of here? We are going to try and focus our chronotons through our deflector dish... Our likelyhood of succeeding would be increased if you also focussed your chronitons." Gwen manages to keep her voice rather calm and without anger.

Nevaren bring finishes recinfiguring the reflector and hus finger is poised abive the execute button. "I am ready to start on your command, sir." he says.

Itaani quietly lays in an escape course.

Seneka nods. "I am glad to secure you cooperation, Lt. Poole. Better late than never, I suppose. Thoug I am not wholly convinced of your sincerity." He glances to the side. "Very well. Stand by to initate chroniton pulse." He glowers, "At your earliest convienience, then." His tone is very sweet, but where there's honey, there are bees to sting...

Gwen looks back at Nev, "Lt. Nevaren, begin on my mark." She shifts her gaze back to the Romulan Captain, "Mark."

The proceedure is initiated ...

Itaani says into the intercom, "All decks, brace for turblence...

As the chroniton levels rise, the ships begin to shudder and shake again.. Energy roils around the nebula like lightning, growing brighter and brighter.. The walls are keening now in high pitched resonance..

Gwen makes her way back to the captain's chair, sits down and grips the armrests tightly.

Itaani keeps a close eye on the status of both ships...

Nevaren counts of the building charge as the levels wrise on his indicator. He takes a precautionary stepo back away from the console to avoid any accidents this time.

The vibration continues apace as do the energy emissions until all is bathed in violet light, the main viewer glowing one uniform tone.. Then there is a BANG!!! like thunder..

..and all is silent. The nebulan and the storm are gone, only a little dissipating vapor indicating their previous existance.

The Romulan ship drifts 'dead in the water'.. Sensors indicate they have emergency power only..

T'sal holds onto her station during the chaos. She looks over to the viewscreen when the shuddering subsides.

Itaani says "Romulan ship is down to emergency power... Our systems..."

Gwen frowns slightly, then looks around the bridge. "Damage report?"

Nevaren opens his eyes and looks around catiously.. he then makes a sigh of releif and looks at his status screen, making a check on all major systems.

Itaani says "Minor overloads and burnouts, but we're in as good trim as before... Should we assist the Romulans or turn tail and call in assistance for them from their own government?"

"Ask them if they require our assistance, or if they wish to be left alone." Gwen orders, then stands up.

Poole stands and leaves Command.

Poole says "And keep our shields up and our weapons off.... I intend on keeping my half of the bargain."

Itaani hails the Romulans. "This is the Aegis. Do you require assistance?"

Itaani says "Aye, sir.""

There is no reply from the Romulan ship at first.. Then the com chimes.. And then it chimes again..

Nevaren frowns. "Records show that as chroniton levels topped off, the romulans powered their weapons up. Then just before the peak their weapons power fluctuated as they diverted power and their lock was lost."

Itaani says "I think they have plenty of help, Captain..."

Itaani says "Escape course already plotted..."

Itaani says "Six, I'm reading six warbirds, Captain, on atack approach..."

T'sal arches an eyebrow and looks to Poole.

Itaani adds, "Incoming transmission, sir...

Poole says "Onscreen."

Itaani puts them on.

The screen comes up.. Possibly in split screen, if both hails are answered.. One is the by now familar visage of Seneka. ..The other is a female Romulan, _also_ familiar to some..

Seneka: "Thank you, 'Captain'. But no, -I- do not require any assistance. And you? And your ship are well, I trust?"

"Greetings." Gwen says, though it's hard to tell if she means it. "We were glad to be able to work with you to escape that storm, Captain Seneka. We will remove ourselves from your territory now." She looks to Itaani, "Escape course, maximum warp."

Itaani says "Aye, <beep> sir," And she engages the drves.."

The image of Senaka is quickly replaced with the image of Mekara's cold Romulan face. When she spots who is on the other end, her face actually brightens. She steps up off her chair and approaches the screen. "Just who I wanted to see," she says with a smirk. She makes a cutting motion at her throat, the transmission blips out, and is replaced with the image of Senaka, his communications barely able to keep hold as it flickers with static.

Nevaren groans as he see's Mekara. Looking back at his terminal he tries to bury himself in directing any repair efforts.

Itaani says "We'll need more power to get away, Nevaren.."

Seneka: "I think that would be an advisable course of action, Lt. I have ordered Mekara to stand down, but undoubtably she will disobey me in due time if you remain. Take good care of your artifact, Starfleet, or someone may try to -take it- from you."

The screen goes off..

Nevaren nods. "Aye, Lieutenant." He quickly brings up the warp core controllers and starts remodulating the injectors, trying to get more power effiecncy. He also shuts down life support in all ub-inhabited sections

"Hasta luego, Captain Seneka." Gwen signals to end transmission. "Reroute some energy from shields to the warp engines and get us out of here."

Itaani counts off range. "Perhaps we can find some backup...

Nevaren says "I would rather we didn't take power from the shields, sir. Not with *her* around."

Nevaren goes through every system he can find, shutting everything down that is not essential or needed at this time.

Itaani says "I don't think we have enough shields to repel the guns of five warbirds, anyway, Nevaren..."

Nevaren laughs darkly. "Same here, Itaani. But I would rather have a little bit of something than nothing at all. Besides, it keeps the artifact safe from transport attempts."

Itaani says "Warp nine point seven, nine pointseven five...."

Itaani's sensors show the six 'new' warbirds powering up their engines for pursuit..

Cut to a shot from space: The Aegis rolls and banks on a return course towards federation space.. Mekara's squadron, still screaming in at impulse, fly in an elaborate spiral towards the Aegis, and the bright line of a phaser array sweeps out from one ship towards the Aegis..

And abruptly shuts of just short of cutting into the Aegis' dish.. The Aegis leaps to warp, and behind them, the Romulan ships slow and regroup, hovering in the darkness like a swarm of angry hornets.. But they do not pursue..

Itaani says "They are not pursuing...."

Gwen lets out a deep breath that she didn't realize she was holding, then she says, "Continue repairs, best possible speed to the station... let them know what happened." She stands and heads for the ready room.

Itaani says "Aye, sir"

Over the com, Holliday, "You think Balin will buy our excuses for missing curfew?"