Reunification, Part 4

Posted on Sat Oct 17th, 2020 @ 4:54am by Commodore Wilkan Targaryen

3,163 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Reunification

Lieutenant Commander Mikhail Vassen’s fingers danced over the Operations console on the Bridge of the Starship Enterprise. Dozens of displays were playing over the obsidian black workstation as the hybrid officer analyzed the data pouring into his workstation. The Enterprise had gone to Red Alert on the Admiral’s order and they were on their way to his father’s world. The Bridge was tense, almost palpable, as the ship approached its destiny. He just hoped that this wasn’t the swan song for the Federation flagship; or himself for that matter.

Admiral William Teagarden’s voice broke his attention on his panel, “Have we reached the President?”

“No Sir,” the Human/Vulcan hybrid answered as he checked the readout. “We’ve been trying to hail the Spock since we left the Romulan vessel. They’re jamming us.”

“Approaching Vulcan,” the Trill helmsman announced.

Captain Guri zh’Aald called out from her chair, “Slow to one third.”

“Preapproach scan,” Admiral Teagarden ordered.

At least they’d gotten him off the interference. Pressing a control he brought up the sensor scans from the Vulcan system. He shook his head in disgust, “It’s not good, Admiral. Sensors are showing that the Praetor’s Flagship and half a dozen Warbirds are in orbit.”

“The Bozeman, Paris, and Spock are in orbit over the Capitol,” Tactical Officer Beshtan interrupted.

William looked at his Tactical Officer, “Are the Warbirds armed?”

“No,” the Orion answered. “But they’re probably realizing we’re at alert.”

“Transfer power to the forward shields,” the Andorian XO ordered.

Mikhail nodded and typed on his workstation. The Enterprise had more power available to it than some starbases, but even he wasn’t too sure about her chances against that number of Warbirds. Cycling through the sequence he nodded, “Shields are at double power to the forward quarter.”

A series of beeps erupted from the Tactical Workstation, “They’ve spotted us. Two of the Mogai Class Warbirds are breaking off from the main group on a direct intercept course.”

“Evasive, Mister Sorla, pattern Beta 9,” Admiral Teagarden ordered from the Captain’s Chair in the center of the Bridge. “Ready Phasers and Torpedoes.”

Beside Commander Vassen the Trill pilot executed the evasive pattern while Tactical brought weapons online. As the Enterprise dove his panel told him that power had been transferred to the Phaser Arrays to bring them online. As it started to turn to port the Enterprise’s Photon Torpedoes began to load in the launchers. As she turned to starboard alarms started to sound. Mikhail called out, “Romulan weapons are powering up.”

“I’m also showing that the orbital defense platforms are coming online,” the Deltan Science officer informed.

“Have we broken through to the President?” The XO asked.

“No Sir,” the Human/Vulcan Hybrid answered as his console began to beep. A dialogue box appeared on the screen, “We’re being hailed though.”

Captain zh’Aald looked at him, “Is it the President?”

“No. Vulcan Space Central,” Mikhail answered as he kept trying to break the interference.

“Good,” the Enterprise’s Captain said as he rose from his Captain’s Chair. Stepping toward the forward two workstations he crossed his arms and stood behind the Ops Officer. There was a moment of trepidation before he spoke – almost as if he were deciding if he really wanted to ask his question. “Commander, if we answer could you use the frequency to interface with the Orbital Defense Platforms?”

The Hybrid Officer looked up at his Captain and considered it carefully. It would be next to impossible to interface with the Orbital Weapons Platforms on their own, but the carrier wave from Vulcan Space Central may give them a leg up. Thankfully, at least for the Enterprise, he’d had some experience with Vulcan Space Central. Despite his dislike for all things Vulcan, one of his first assignments had been as a Starfleet Liaison to Vulcan Space Central. He helped coordinate their defenses.

“I’d love to try.”

William nodded, “Do it. Open the channel.”

Opening the communications channel Mikhail got to immediate work on the carrier wave. The frequency was on a rotating channel that even someone with intermediate experience may’ve had difficulty with. Fortunately he was an expert. Typing quickly he started cycling through the frequencies on his own to isolate the one that Space Central was using to communicate with its defensive platforms.

An older Vulcan appeared on the screen – his face withered and worn from what the Admiral estimated was nearly three generations of life. His voice was deep and emotionless as he spoke about the transgressions, “Starship Enterprise this is Vulcan Space Central. You have violated the terms of the agreement between the Federation and the Confederacy of Vulcan for travel to this world. You are ordered to stand down immediately and proceed, under escort, to our border. If you fail to abide by these terms we will open fire upon your vessel as an enemy of the citizens of Vulcan.”

Admiral Teagarden glanced at the control panel as the Operations Manager worked. Using his strongest bravado he engaged the Vulcan, “Vulcan Space Central this is the Starship Enterprise. We are operating within the best interests of the Confederacy of Vulcan by our actions. We have uncovered evidence of Romulan duplicity regarding Reunification and we are trying to bring the evidence to our President and your Administrator. Our frequencies have been jammed though and we’ve failed to reach them up to this point.”

Mikhail pulled up a secondary menu. The command codes had been changed – of course – but there were alternative options to exploit. Scanning through the command codes that they had available from the past the Operations Officer knew that the codes never strayed too far from the previous code. He ran the sequence through the Positronic Network of the Enterprise hoping that it could decipher the encryption lock. He only needed a few more moments.

After a moment of contemplation, and a brief discussion with someone off screen that was muted, the Vulcan Commander returned. “The Confederacy of Vulcan has allied with the Romulan Star Empire,” the Operator from Vulcan Space Central answered. “The Confederacy of Vulcan thanks Starfleet for its concern; however, we remain steadfast with our decision. Disengage weapons and fall into position alongside the lead Warbird. This is your final warning,” there was a momentary inflection in the word.

As the Ops panel informed him that it had isolated the command protocol Mikhail realized just how devastating this could be. The Vulcans – his father’s countrymen and longstanding members of the Federation – were about to declare war upon them. Now he had control over a swarm of locusts that could decimate the planet. Should Admiral Teagarden decide to use the platforms against Vulcan he would be dooming the entire civilization. He doubted that a Starfleet Admiral would take such a drastic step, but he couldn’t rule it out. Ever since the Confederacy had sided with the Romulan Empire Admiral Teagarden had been different. He’d been cold, almost as if he’d held a grudge against all Vulcans. Even he hadn’t been immune to it. Only a short while ago the Admiral had denied him a place on an away team, begrudgingly put him in command while Captain zh’Aald was away (despite the fact he was Second Officer), so he had to be sure that the Admiral wasn’t planning to use these weapons against his people.

Commander Vassen knew what he had to do. He muted the channel on his own, “I’ve isolated the frequency, Admiral, but I need to know what you plan to do.”

The Captain of the Enterprise looked at the Vulcan Commander, a moment of contemplation playing upon his features. “Worried I’m going to wipe out the planet? Don’t. Deactivate the platforms and lock their systems down, Commander. Restore communications.”

The Commander kept his fingers over the activation sequence on his keyboard and thought through the Admiral’s words. He could have just overridden Mikhail with a single word to the computer, but he ordered the Platforms disabled. That was more inline with what he’d expected from the Admiral. He smiled and got to work, his fears abated and knowing that the Admiral wouldn’t use the platforms for genocide.

“Vulcan Space Central, we are responsible for the protection of our President while she is a guest on your world. For that reason we decline your request and will continue on course to intercept her vessel.” A series of alarms could be heard through the comlink and the Vulcan Commander could be seen looking between people off screen. The Admiral smiled, “Is there a problem, Commander?”

“Enterprise,” the Vulcan continued without a single betrayal of his own thoughts, “We order you to leave our space at once.”

The Enterprise’s Commanding Officer shook his head, “I don’t think so. And, if you’re wondering what’s going on with your defenses that would be my Ops Officer ensuring that the Enterprise is safe while in orbit. We’ve shut them down.”

“Override,” the Vulcan could be heard saying in an emotionless, but hurried, tone. Through the link the commotion of the Vulcans trying to follow the commands of their Administrator came through the speaker before the channel abruptly closed.

“The Romulan vessels are approaching,” the Tactical Officer interrupted. “Their weapons are primed.”

Guri spoke up, “Pattern Omega, Enik, all ahead full.”

William returned to his Captain’s Chair as the Enterprise started to rapidly turn in stomach-churning high speed maneuvers. The Captain of the Starship checked his readouts as the Tactical Plot appeared on the viewer. With the speed and erratic course that they were taking it would be difficult for the Romulans to target the Enterprise, but not impossible. There was something far worse on the horizon though, a more dangerous scenario that could put the whole galaxy at risk.

An alarm erupted on the Strategic Operations panel. The Tellarite strategist sighed, “The Romulan flagship is on a direct intercept course for the Spock.”

“The President,” William interrupted. “All ahead flank. Put us between the Spock and the Romulan Flagship. Direct course.”

Alarms blared from the engineering panel as the Enterprise’s structural integrity was pushed to the limit by the abrupt change in course. Groans came from deep inside the Enterprise as the ship struggled to keep up with the stress affecting her. The defensive maneuvers that they’d been using thus far were intended to avoid incoming weapons and now the ship was heading straight for the planet. It was bound to cause some issues below decks.

“Engineer to Bridge,” it was Commander Krimik and she was not happy. “You need to watch those maneuvers. Enterprise was never meant to keep up with this kind of stress on her hull.” An explosion could be heard in Engineering. The alien Chief started screaming orders to her staff. “We’ll do what we can to keep things together, but you need to keep in mind that this ship was never meant to turn on a dime.”

“Noted,” The Andorian XO said as she leaned over the railing. “ETA to Spock?”

“47 Seconds,” Sorla answered from the Helm.

“Romulan ETA?” The Admiral asked already realizing the answer.

“They’re within firing range,” the Enterprise’s Tactical Officer replied.

It was hard to do but Mikhail kept his attention on the console before him. He wanted so much to watch the drama unfold around him, but he knew he had to keep his focus on his work. He wished for a moment that he would’ve undergone the Vulcan training that his father had wanted him to follow to purge all of his emotions. At least then he wouldn’t have had his heart pounding in his chest and his mind full of fear for the future. Or maybe he would – just only he’d have learned to disconnect it a bit better. Maybe he would go through it one day if they survived all this.

The fear was just as palpable as the tension now more than ever. The Spock was a Redemption Class vessel and had been designed to serve as an escort. The ship had been further modified to serve as a diplomatic transport vessel specially tailored to serve the needs of the Federation President when a capital ship was unavailable. Even with all those advancements and modifications if the Romulans opened fire on the Spock it would all be over by the third salvo. The ship’s shields would have failed and Romulans weren’t known to take prisoners all too often.

“Open a channel to the Spock.”

The Hybrid Officer shook the fog from his mind, “Sir?”

“The Spock, Commander,” the Admiral repeated.

Vassen nodded and typed on the workstation. Opening the communications menu he interfaced with the transceiver and targeted the small vessel. The console had an audible alarm as he tried to open the channel. He tried a second time and then a third: the same result. “They’re still blocking our hails to the Spock. I haven’t broken the interference pattern,” the sadness was unmistakable in his voice.

“The Paris and Bozeman are in position to defend the President,” the Strategic Operations Officer reported. “They won’t last long though.”

“I’m detecting targeting solutions!” The Science Officer yelled from her panel. “They’re locking onto the Spock.”

William called out in a roar as he rose from his chair, “Open a wideband channel – all frequencies.”

Mikhail sprang to action. His fingers raced over the communications menu and he opened the channel that the Admiral had asked for. “You’re on.”

Admiral Teagarden was a picture of leadership as he stood in the center of the Bridge of the powerful starship. His deep voice echoed, “This is the Enterprise to the Romulan flagship. If you attack the Starship Spock we will respond with the same level of force upon your flagship and Praetor. If you stand down the Enterprise will do the same.”

The Ops Manager watched the sensors carefully as a knot grew in the pit of his stomach. The Federation and the Romulans going to war with one another would bring the entire Quadrant to its knees. He pecked at the controls on his console and hoped for a miracle. A series of rapid beeps came from a submenu, but it wasn’t what he’d hoped for. He glanced over his shoulder at Tactical – the Orion Officer shook his head.

The Enterprise’s Captain continued, “So far nothing has been done that we cannot return from, but if our leaders come under attack that will be the start down a road of mutual destruction. We’ll open fire and I’ll turn those defense platforms on you. Stand down!”

Mikhail Vassen stopped cold at his console. The Admiral had said to shut the systems down and he’d done it, but he knew that the truth was far more dangerous thing. If the Romulans didn’t stand down they would have no other choice. He would not turn the weapons against his own people, his father’s people, but he would turn them on the Romulans if they killed the President.

Another series of beeps came from his panel. He pulled up the submenu and looked at the readings. “We’re being hailed,” the Commander informed. “It’s Vulcan Space Central.”

“Not exactly who I’d hoped for but I’ll take it,” the Admiral said as he paced around the center of the Bridge.

“This is Vulcan Space Central to the Federation and Romulan forces in orbit of our world. As former citizens of the Federation and current Romulan citizens we request that you discontinue this threat upon one another immediately. Our High Command requests to immediately meet with representatives of both governments.”

The Hybrid looked at Admiral Teagarden and watched for his response. He had know the Admiral for a very long time and knew that, recently, he’d been deeply hurt by the Vulcans leaving the Federation. He really didn’t know though what William would do. The Admiral was trying to get this to end, he’d made a speech to the Romulans, but the Vulcans were the ones who’d played a stronger hand.

Mister Beshtan at Tactical checked his readouts, “The Romulans are powering down their weapons.”

Mikhail watched the Admiral closely, waiting for his decision. He couldn’t help but smile when the Admiral did. “Yellow Alert.”

The tension on the Bridge was still there, but it felt like the weight of the galaxy had become just the weight of a world. The voice of Vulcan Space Central returned, “Starship Enterprise is authorized to enter orbit with the members of its fleet currently in our airspace. Romulan vessels are ordered to fall into position with their flagship. Our Commissioner will meet with you shortly. Your leaders are requested – with their respective Fleet Commander – to transport to Space Central to meet. The interference has been alleviated and the Starship Enterprise will have access to its President.”

Behind him Admiral Teagarden gave a respectful nod, “Thank you, Vulcan Space Central. We will beam over at once.”

“On behalf of all of Vulcan welcome,” the channel went dead and the visual of the elder Vulcan faded away.

From the Helm Lieutenant Sorla moved several indicators to slow the Enterprise, “We’re in orbit and the Starships Bozeman, Paris, and Spock are less than 500 meters below our Saucer.”

William looked at Tactical, “Extend our shields around them.”

The Orion Tactical Officer nodded, “Extending shields.”

As the Tactical console chimed, Admiral Teagarden looked at his Andorian XO. “I’m heading to Vulcan Space Central. Let the Spock know that I’m waiting for the President there.”

The mechanized voice of Lieutenant Rrawran – their Chief of Security – interrupted, “I must object to this course of action, Admiral.”

“I can’t say I disagree,” Captain zh’Aald said from next to the alien Security Officer. “You’d be defenseless.”

“So would the President,” Rrawran continued.

The Admiral waved them off, “We have to trust them.” He looked at Commander Vassen at the Ops console, “After all they’re our family.”

Mikhail looked back at the Admiral. He smiled, humbly, at the comment. “We are,” the Hybrid answered. “All of Vulcan owes the Federation a debt. We have to trust.”

“Well said,” Teagarden answered. “Captain you have the Bridge,” he said as he walked toward the turbolift.

As the Enterprise’s Commanding Officer disappeared inside the turbolift, Commander Mikhail Vassen watched the doors slide shut behind. Mikhail had meant what he said and the young officer felt that Admiral Teagarden meant what he said too. Returning his attention to the Operations Console he got back to work, feeling a little bit of the weight of the world backing away too.

 

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