Unexpected Pleasures

Posted on Fri Apr 2nd, 2021 @ 4:01am by Commodore Loatha Targaryen & Captain Wilkan Targaryen & Galatea & Admiral Xeri Tei & Captain Nathan Bishop & Captain Ryan Walsh & Commander Nathan Hawkins & Commander Ash Randall & Lieutenant Commander T'Lisha "Hawkeye" Bishara & Patton O'Sullivan & Lieutenant Commander Lily Snow PhD, MD & Lieutenant Commander Chire & Lieutenant Dylan Blake & High Commissioner Jasmine Haynes

2,526 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Cheese
Location: Starfleet One
Timeline: 2430-08-31, 10:30

Admiral Willian Targaryen watched the displays on his console as Starfleet One warped toward Ni'Var at maximum warp. It had been almost a day since their disastrous trip through the wormhole and the ship was still not at full readiness. It had led them to pass through Romulan Space to the other side of explored space. Their damage had been easily repaired, the crew only had minor injuries, but the whole situation had been an unnecessary diversion that brought them closer and closer to war.

War was looking more and more likely. The Romulans had started to deploy more of their ships along the border zones while Starfleet One headed toward their space, and those were just the ones that were visible. He had no doubt that there were at least double the amount hiding behind their cloaks and on patrol. He wouldn't be surprised if they were following Starfleet One at this point either. They had been approved entry into Romulan territory and access to Ni'Var, but he was certain that they were in pursuit of them now and just waiting for a reason. Starfleet One was the Federation's Presidential Transport - it was the pinnacle of Federation pride - if they could damage it or worse destroy it then it would be devastating to the morale of the entire Federation. Fortunately, President Gruzy was not aboard.

As a series of beeps came from his station he grinned, "Secure from Warp Speed. Prepare for standard orbit."

"Aye sir, securing from warp. Now preparing for syandard orbit sir," T'Lisha said as she brought the Enterprise into orbit around the planet. "Standard orbit achieved sir," she added.

Willian tapped his communicator, "Yellow alert. Admiral Luzol to the Bridge."

The alert lighting came online on the Bridge of Starfleet One. Seconds later the doors to the Bridge opened and his wife came through and onto the Bridge. He stood, "Captain on the Bridge."

"Report," she ordered as she sat in the chair.

"We have arrived at Ni'Var, Admiral," he motioned toward the viewscreen as he said it. "Orbital defense systems are coming online as we speak. We have not yet received any hails."

She glanced, "Let's not hack into their defense net this time. Commander Snow, begin tactical analysis of the Vulcan Defense Net. Commander O'Sullivan, bring defense systems online but keep weapons offline. Will, have Captain Bishop bring Ms. Haynes to the Bridge."

"Yes Admiral," Patton replied and immediately brought up their defense systems. He stood at the ready, in case they would need weapons in a hurry.

"Yes sir." Snow stated as she began her tactical analysis of the VDN.

Willian tapped his communicator, "Targaryen to Bishop. Nathan, please bring Comman... Commissioner Haynes to the Bridge."

There was a moment of silence before Bishop's voice came through the combadge. "Certainly Admiral, we will be there shortly."

Jasmine looked over to Bishop. She was still supporting her wound. But was back on her feet. She had not forgotten the ordeal that she went through. She started to follow Captain Bishop.

"Bridge to Engineering," Luzol called out.

"Main Engineering." Commander Randall responded. "Randall speaking." The Chief Engineer replied.

"Commander," she looked at the viewscreen, "Keep the engines primed and ready to go should we have to make a quick exit."

"Aye, Admiral. Coaxial drive will be on hot stand by for emergency departure."

Luzol looked at the Operations Manager, "Commander, open a channel to the Administrator of the Confederacy. Priority One."

Concerned at the formidable defences surrounding their destination and so far lack of communication Hawkins keyed the comm to the correct party: "Channel open," he announced.

Admiral Luzol walked toward the viewscreen, "Vulcan Space Central this is Fleet Admiral Luzol Targaryen, Commanding Officer of Starfleet Command and temporarily in command of Starfleet One. We are requesting an audience with your leadership at the behest of the United Federation of Planets. We await your response on this frequency."

She stood, watching the screen carefully. In the lower corner of the screen a display rose to replace the Vulcan homeworld below with a face that Luzol had doubted that she would see on this trip. She had trouble stifling her surprise. Nonetheless, she heard the surprise come from behind.

"Sakkath?" It was Willian who said it in surprise.

The Vulcan Administrator looked beyond Admiral Luzol to Willian, "Indeed, Admiral Teagarden. I am at a loss as to why you are surprised to see me when you were aware of my position as Administrator of the Confederacy of Vulcan."

"Administrator," Luzol tried to draw attention back to herself. "We regret our intrusion. We are here on an errand of peace."

"Please describe your errand," the Vulcan said in the typical monotone.

The Admiral nodded, "We have been made aware of an effort by a former colleague of yours, Rear Admiral Gregory Coulson, to come to Vulcan. He was under the impression that you had come to harm and he intended to offer his assistance to you to ensure your safety."

"As you can see, Admiral, I am well and safe," Sakkath answered. "If there you have no other business I ask that you depart Vulcan territory immediately and return to Federation Space."

"Administrator, until we are able to recover Admiral Coulson we still have business here. We ask for permission to await him so that we may intervene in his efforts and return him to Federation territory with us." Luzol knew that she was pushing.

And he was going to push back, "I am unable to grant your request at this time. You are asked to leave Vulcan territory immediately. Admiral Coulson shall be subject to Romulan justice."

"Admiral Coulson is our responsibility, Administrator," Willian said walking toward the viewscreen. "We cannot, nor will we, allow his actions to damage our relationship. Under the same Romulan law you wish to charge him with we assert that we are permitted to intervene in his act of treachery. As the Admiral is working of his own accord and is risking the peace between our two governments it is only logical that we be permitted to intercede."

As Sakkath considered their request, Willian watched his former colleague and studied his reactions and expressions. Sakkath had been his responsibility at the same time that Coulson was. They had all worked together, fought together, and nearly died together. There was more to this. He knew that there was more going on here than a simple misunderstanding. Sakkath was in trouble.

"Hold position," Sakkath answered as the screen went dark and returned to the image of Vulcan.

Luzol crossed her arms, "What the Hell was that?"

Jasmine's turbolift doors swung open, as she entered the bridge. She walked over towards the Admiral. For the moment, she remained silent. She also wondered what was going on? Deep down she wondered if Sakkath was under duress. Something did not seem right.

"Commissioner," Willian greeted as he saw Jasmine approach.

Luzol looked at the former Starfleet Officer herself, "Welcome to the Bridge, Commissioner. We were just chatting with Administrator Sakkath, who seems to be very much not at risk, unlike what Admiral Coulson seemed to believe."

"Admiral." Jasmine simply said, as she looked and started to walk over to Willian. She wondered what was going on. Something really did not seem right. Her former security officer investigator skills, could tell something was out of the ordinary. But she was not sure, where or from whom. Her best option at the moment, observe and report later on.

"Is there a way we can run scans of Sakkath without setting off any alarms?" Willian asked after having excused himself and walked toward Commander Snow. "Can we be sure he is who he says he is?"

"It is possible, but we would need to hack the sensor network at the Administrator's office." Snow stated lowly and without looking at the Admiral.

Luzol glanced at her husband as he spoke with the Science Officer, "I am growing more and more concerned by this. We have yet to find Admiral Coulson and now Sakkath appears to be fine. We may be forced to withdraw even with our request." The Admiral crossed her arms, "Perhaps a better code word would be more apt next time?"

Willian ignored his wife, "Do you think that you three could access their network?"

Glancing between Snow and Chire Hawkins felt uneasy by what Will was asking: "I doubt it would be a walk in the park," he confessed. "What if we're discovered?"

Chire shrugged, her feathers setting down around her again. "Anything is possible." It certainly didn't sound fun to her. "We just have to try? And . . . perhaps not worry about the consequences unless our journey takes us down that road."

"We are already at the risk of war, Commander," Willian pointed out to the Operations Officer and the Attache. "Hacking into their database won't be the worst thing that could happen during this mission." He couldn't help but smile at the memory though. When he was last here he had ordered his Operations Officer to hack into Vulcan Space Central and isolate the orbital defense grid. They threatened to use the defense net against the Romulan forces that were threatening them.

He tugged on his uniform, "I think that it's worth the risk."

Snow sighed heavily. "Understood sir, but I must voice my concerns over this course of action." She stated as she began to encode a secondary transmitter.

"I second Commander Snow's concerns," Hawkins wasn't one to normally object to an order nor actually agree with Lily on anything but this really didn't sit well with him even if they were sitting upon the verge of war.

T'Lisha had been silent till now. Being a full betazoid she might be of help in this instance. "Sir's, maybe I might be of help? Vulcan's don't show emotions as a general rule but, there is a possibility that I might be able to sense if something is wrong," she said quietly.

A nod from the Admiral gave permission.

A series of rapid beeps came from the communications system.

"Admiral, we're being hailed from surface," Hawkins informed feeling his skin prickle with further concerns. Had they detected their efforts already?

In main engineering, Commander Randall listened to the bridge chatter over the open com-line. Coaxial was being kept at hot stand-by for a quick exit and the engineering/operations personnel were on alert and at their red alert stations even though one had not been issued, yet. The Tuansee thought it was only a matter of time.

Luzol nodded once, "On screen."

The viewscreen changed again. The image of Vulcan below was replaced by Sakkath in the Administrator's Office once more, but this time with a guest. Sitting in the distance was a Romulan woman with long hair and a sour disposition. She needed no introduction for them. This was Praetor Xeri Tei - leader of the Romulan Empire.

It was Sakkath who spoke first, "Starfleet One, please be advised that the Praetor and I have discussed your request for permission to remain here at Vulcan. After careful consideration we have, provisionally, agreed to allow your vessel to remain here to await and intervene in the actions of one Admiral Gregory Coulson."

"What provisions?" Willian asked from near the railing.

Praetor Tei rose and approached the camera, "We are requiring that your primary offensive and defensive systems be disabled during your time in orbit. Further, we will be assigning two escorts to fly in formation with your vessel. If they detect a breach of these instructions you will be immediately fired upon."

"That's a little excessive," Willian pointed out.

"Take it or leave it," Xeri replied with a hawkish smile. "You have 30 seconds to decide."

"I require none," Luzol answered. "We agree to your terms," she nodded to the Tactical officer authorizing Patton to disable the defensive and offensive systems.

It was against Patton's gut feelings but he did as ordered and disabled their systems. "Bot Defensive and offensive systems are disabled, Sir." He was careful to keep his voice clear and devoid of any emotion.

Tei nodded, "A step in the right direction. Now, if you would care to join us for lunch I am certain both the Administrator and I would welcome your company. We are having Viinerine with Osol Twist for dessert. I am certain that you will find no better meal choice."

"We would be delighted," Luzol answered. "Myself and Commissioner Haynes will join you."

Jasmine nodded in agreement with the Admiral. She would be able to profile the situation. While making small conversation. They should hopefully get some answers as soon as possible.

"It is agreed then," Sakkath confirmed. "12:00 your time shall suffice."

"Until then. Jolan Tru," the screen went dark when the Praetor completed her farewell.

Admiral Targaryen waited until the screen was back to normal before saying a single thing, "Are you kidding? You can't be serious that you're going down there!"

"Is that how you all feel?" Luzol had a knowing grin.

"I agree with Admiral Teagarden." Bishop replied. Despite being reduced to a errand boy he was still XO of the ship and it was his duty to voice give a different opinion. "This is wrong Admiral. You should at least take two security officers with you. Your setting yourself and the Commissioner up to be used as hostages with Admiral Walsh still uncounted for. The Romulans use your safety to protect their own."

T'Lisha opened her mouth, "I agree with Captain Bishop. From the Romulan, I feel deception, about what, I can't say but something is not being said," she said with a worried gaze.

"Deception from a Romulan is like saying water is wet or fire is hot," Luzol replied with a hint of sarcasm. "I am certain that we will be fine." She walked around the Bridge and up toward her husband, "Besides, I have a distinct feeling you're going to be watching like a hawk from up here and waiting for anything out of the ordinary."

"Running an active scan could be perceived as aggressive," Willian chided.

She smirked, "Then make it a passive scan."

"So be passive aggressive then?" The Admiral continued. "Though, with you down there and me up here I am officially back in command of the mission. Which means if I have to act I will do so as afforded by Starfleet."

"And you will act as required by Starfleet Regulations," she confirmed. "Let's proceed then."

"Let's not forget, that Vulcan's are also down on the planet below. Despite our differences, they are still an honorable race, and we should have full diplomatic courtesy while on the surface. Which means the Vulcans of Ni'Var will make sure we are safe. It's probably, why we made contact with Sakkath, to show us their good intentions. She was still skeptical, but she believed the Vulcans would do everything in their power, to protect the Federation representatives. They were still a noble and honorable race."

"Well said," Luzol answered as she looked over her shoulder at her husband, "You have the Bridge. Let's get to work."

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