Playing Possum

Posted on Tue Nov 10th, 2026 @ 3:00am by Commodore Wilkan Targaryen & Enterprise Officer NPC & Commander Ash Randall & Commander Zhora zh'Roothi & Lieutenant Commander Sora Bernadotte & Lieutenant Urvasi Elandorn & Lieutenant Rio Kholin MD & Lieutenant (J.G.) Dylan Blake & Ensign Sayori Nakai & Ensign Mirakylin Yumerieva

3,516 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: 11. Recess
Location: Bridge, U.S.S. Enterprise
Timeline: 2439-10-21, 12:30

The Main Bridge remained steady, maintaining Enterprise's silent orbital vigil over the Karemma homeworld while the senior staff finished up in the Executive Conference Room. The silence of the Bridge was only broken by the low, ambient hum of the navigation consoles and the occasional sharp click of data inputs.

At the center command platform, Lieutenant Narri Gloreon maintained a rigid, unyielding posture, his Cardassian features set with an absolute devotion to Starfleet regulations and operational protocols. His eyes scanned the displays around him, ensuring every auxiliary system was locked in exact compliance with standard deployment directives.

"Rrawran," Gloreon glanced sideways toward the tactical console, "status on the outer perimeter sensors?"

"Sensors remain clean, Lieutenant," Rrawran replied without turning his head, keeping a watchful eye on the dormant profile of the Starfleet vessel nearby. "No active energy spikes from their hull. They're still sitting dead in the water from whatever feedback loop was punched through their EPS grid."

"Maintain current scanning frequencies," Gloreon commanded sharply. "If the John Kelly attempts any interdiction maneuvers, I want the telemetry logged immediately."

Across the Bridge, the corridor doors parted with a soft hiss, admitting Commander Ash Randall back onto the Bridge alongside Lieutenant Urvasi Elandorn and Lieutenant Dylan Blake fresh from the Senior Staff briefing. Stepping out into the ambient glow of the upper deck, Commander Randall was met immediately by Lieutenant Barbax. The Denobulan engineer stepped up from his diagnostic console, his nervous, characteristically cautious expression betraying a hint of his habitual anxiety as he approached his supervisor.

Urvasi headed towards the Helm to check on Status of the Enterprise.

"Welcome back, Commander," Barbax greeted quietly, clasping his hands together with a slight twitch of his fingers. "I hope the briefing went... well, as well as situations involving Captain Tazari can go. Have we received the green light to proceed with the deep-diagnostic sweeps on our Transporter buffers and Shield harmonics? If the John Kelly decides to try another trick while our systems are cycling, I want to make sure our containment fields can handle the blowback. My technical models suggest... well, let's just say the energy dispersion could be somewhat volatile if we don't pre-calibrate the EPS taps."

The Chief Engineer Consulted a small PADD while she listened to Lieutenant Barbax report and nodded, appreciatively. "Lieutenant, lets assume that the John Kelly is, currently, playing possum, has already restored their systems, and is waiting to see what happens." She replied,, quietly, while she slowly moved toward the main engineering station. "Yes, we are going to do deep-diagnostic sweeps...at least, it is going to appear we are. Slow, steady, non-intrusive diagnostic sweeps, of the deepest level, have already been completed. So, we're going to pretend to do, standard deep-diagnostic, sweeps when, what we're actually doing, is conducting hyper-aggressive monitoring of those systems for any attempt at tampering when we do what needs be done." She explained.

"Understood, Commander," Barbax replied, his nervous expression tightening as he clutched his PADD. "Disguising hyper-aggressive monitoring as routine diagnostics is clever, though I must confess the prospect of their tampering causing a feedback cascade makes me somewhat apprehensive. I will configure the EPS taps immediately to ensure our containment fields absorb any unexpected blowback."

"Proceed, discretely, please. Roll them into the routine, calibration, cycle. Nice and boring-like." The Chief Engineer responded.

Barbax offered a quick, anxious nod, clutching his PADD a little tighter against his chest before turning sharply on his heel to scurry back toward his diagnostic station. His fingers immediately flew across the console keys, rapidly weaving the hyper-aggressive monitoring protocols into the background hum of the routine calibration cycles so seamlessly that even a sophisticated sensor sweep from the John Kelly would read it as nothing more than dull, standard maintenance.

"Commander Randall," Blake interrupted. "How can I or Operations assist?"

"Maintain the outward appearance of standard operations. I'm almost positive the John Kelly is playing possum and waiting for us to make a move that they can then, attempt, to counter from surprise. They know we're watching as they are watching us and, while they play dead, we play like we're maintaining standard, sub-orbital, operations." Ash answered as she took over the Main Engineering station.

"Build a smoke screen?" the human smirked before turning to his station. "Sure, I can do that."

Listening to the exchange, Urvasi now turned and asked the current helmsman, "Greetings, if you would please, I would like a Sit-Rep of the current helm situation. Then, if you are slated to be on duty, and you feel comfortable being here, you can continue. Otherwise, if you desire, I can take over at the helm. So, I am ready for the Sit-Rep."

"Enterprise is holding steady in standard orbit, Lieutenant," 1001 replied cheerfully, tapping a quick sequence into the flight control console. "Primary thrusters are idling, Warp Core's nominal, and Impulse is primed. We're completely green across the board and ready to step out of this orbit whenever command gives the word. I'm on duty, but the station is all calibrated and yours if you want to take over?"

Urvasi thought about the situation with the John Kelly. She nodded and replied, "Please, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to take over as there is a very big unknown floating right in front of us, and I would prefer to be at the helm to answer whatever tricks are being planned. I thank you for your sit-rep and manning the station till now."

"She's all yours, Lieutenant," 1001 offered with a bright, easy grin as he slid out of the pilot's chair. Stretching his arms upward with a satisfying pop of his joints, the Bynar Helmsman stepped back from the console to make room.

She waited till he got up and then sat down into the helm seat. Her eyes and hands were already going over stored states and creating flight path scenarios for various 'dead dog' scenarios that the John Kelly could try. With several hot keys ready, from Z- and Z+ maneuvers, full reverse and sweep left down, to sideways motion shifts to keep main front shields pointed at the John Kelly, she felt she had enough hot keys ready. Now it was her building up possibilities in her mind and being ready to deftly and confidently act upon them.

Urvasi called out, "Command Duty Officer Lieutenant Gloreon, Helm, Lieutenant Elandorn reporting. Change of Duty Helmsman complete, alternative flight paths for USS John Kelly opossum scenarios programmed into helm quick keys. Status Green."

From the command platform, Lieutenant Narri Gloreon maintained a rigid, unyielding posture, his dark eyes scanning the Bridge perimeter displays with an unblinking focus that left no room for error. Hearing Lieutenant Elandorn's prompt readiness report, the Cardassian officer gave a crisp, approving nod, ensuring every operational protocol remained strictly aligned with standard Starfleet deployment directives.

"Noted, Lieutenant," Gloreon replied smoothly, his tone clipped and formal as he kept his attention locked on the sensor grids tracking the dormant profile of the John Kelly. "Maintain full operational vigilance. If their posture shifts by even a fraction of a degree, I want an immediate defensive posture."

Urvasi responded, "Understood, Sir, continuous shifting of parameters for evasive and attack parameters is continuous, Lieutenant Gloreon, is in place."

The Cardassian officer smoothly stepped away from the Captain's Chair and approached the Enterprise's Chief Engineer. "Command authority returned to you, Commander," Gloreon stated cleanly, his tone clipped and professional as he relinquished oversight with a crisp, formal nod of compliance to his superior.

Ash looked up at Gloreon, From her seat the Engineering Station while she tapped in a Command Sequence. "Command Authority Accepted, Lieutenant. Thank you. You are relived." She replied, smoothly, with a little nod, stood up and moved, toward the Command Diaz and Captains's Chair. The Tuansee officer took position next to the center seat while the vacated engineering station was remanned by her relief. "Lieutenant Rrawran, put the John Kelly up on the main viewer, please." She ordered, quietly.

Sora stepped onto the bridge and made a beeline for the Ops station. "Mr. Blake, you are relieved," she stated flatly, waiting for the young officer to vacate her station.

"Of course," Dylan replied before standing to allow the Commander to take over and moved off to secondary station to assist with the ruse.

Commander Randall watched the main viewer while Lt. Commander Bernadotte took over at OPS and had a moment to assess their current, boring, normal by all appearances, operational status and what it was hiding from the John Kelly.

The towering, Rorworr shifted slightly at the Tactical console, his dense silver-grey and dark fur rippling under the Bridge illumination as he processed the order. He routed the high-resolution sensor feed of the dormant John Kelly directly to the Main Viewer, the universal translator collar at his throat emitting a low, mechanical whir.

"Visual feed online," Rrawran's deep, translated voice resonated across the Bridge with a flat, robotic cadence, displaying the silent vessel against the backdrop of the Karemma system.

Before the Tactical display could even settle, the speaker built into the Center Seat chimed sharply. Commodore Wilkan Targaryen's deep, gravelly rumble cut through the Bridge audio channels with unyielding authority, "Bridge, have the Jem'Hadar scout prepped for immediate launch."

"Understood, Commodore." Ash responded and looked to Urvasi, "Lieutenant Elandorn, make it happen, please." The Commander ordered, with a glance at the main viewer with the John Kelly suspended in space like a fly in amber. "And...away we go." She commented, quietly.

Urvasi quietly gave orders to the Flight Deck B to get the DSF-3751 ready to go and on hot standby, a crew to man her would be there shortly.

Gloreon cast a sharp, assessing glance toward the main viewer where the dormant silhouette of the John Kelly hung silently in orbit. Though his outward demeanor remained entirely unreadable behind a mask of disciplined calm, his sharp intellect processed the tactical implications instantly: a Dominion vessel breaking orbit under the guise of an administrative sabbatical was a calculated, high-stakes gambit.

"Keep all defensive systems on standby," Gloreon added, addressing the tactical console with a brisk nod of authority. "If Captain Tazari's crew attempts to react to the scout ship's departure, I want our response queued and ready before their sensors even register the vector change."

"Standing by, Lieutenant," Rrawran's deep, translated voice rumbled with a flat, robotic cadence. "Weapon locks are slaved to lateral sensor arrays. Any fluctuation from the John Kelly will trigger an immediate counter strike."

Urvasi called out to the new Command Duty Officer, "Commander Randall, Helm, the DSF-3751 will be ready in 97 seconds. The fighter-scout's design is for quick bring up and action."

"Understood, lieutenant." Ash replied. "Thank you."

Zomuul jav Ghul glanced up from his astrometric readouts, his sharp Tellarite snout twitching with undisguised contempt as his eyes flicked from the main viewer to the dead-in-the-water silhouette of the John Kelly. While the rest of the deck danced around subtle diagnostic ruses and cautious protocol, jav Ghul found the entire exercise profoundly tedious.

"If they spent half as much time reinforcing their structural integrity fields as they do playing dead, they might actually pose a credible threat," jav Ghul muttered aloud, his abrasive voice carrying easily across the open space of the upper deck. "Let them watch the scout launch. If they try any of their usual tactical posturing while our systems cycle, I'll gladly overload their dorsal relay manifolds and save us all the prolonged diplomacy."

The ambient hum of the Bridge seemed to drop an octave as the launch sequence initiated. Lieutenant Narri Gloreon stepped smoothly away from the command platform, his movements precise and measured as he ceded oversight to the incoming shift. He brought his heels together in a single, crisp motion, inclining his head slightly toward the engineering console before stepping cleanly off the riser to make way for the secondary tactical oversight arrays.

"Sensors are locked and tracking," Gloreon reported in his flat, clipped Cardassian register, his eyes lingering for a second on the tactical readout. "The John Kelly remains inert, but their secondary power busses are showing minor thermal bleed consistent with active sensor monitoring. They're watching the bay."

"Let them watch," jav Ghul grunted, his abrasive tone cutting through the hushed tension of the deck. "If Captain Tazari thinks he can hide a tactical target lock behind an idling deflector grid, he’s even more foolish than his record suggests. I’ve already isolated their lateral emitter frequencies. The moment their shields twitch, we won't just see it—we'll have their primary array bypassed."

At Tactical, the massive Rorworr shifted his weight, his thick, silver-grey fur bristling slightly under the overhead lighting. The universal translator collar around his neck emitted a brief, low-frequency hum before rendering his deep growl into a calm, mechanical cadence. "Flight Deck reports the DSF-3751 is on hot standby. Depressurization of the outer airlock is complete. Vector trajectory matches the approved sabbatical manifest."

"I think we may expect a communication from the John Kelly." Ash stated, quietly, and looked to Sora at Ops. "It'll be an attempt to infiltrate our systems. Commander Bernadotte, you know what to do in that case." She added.

Sora smirked. "We have a few options. Including, if it comes to it, remotely taking over their systems." She flashed a brief view of a familiar datachip. "I can use this to override their command codes and lock them out of their own ship. I'm already locking our own systems behind an extra layer, anyone not currently signed in to command functions needs either my own code or that of the Commodore to get in."

"If they attempt to hack our systems through a incoming channel," Gloreon maintained his rigid stance behind the Communications console, his clipped Cardassian register remaining flat and analytical, "it will likely be disguised as a routine diplomatic inquiry regarding the scout's registry." An aggressive signal infiltration was entirely consistent with Tazari’s past tactical behavior.

At Tactical, Rrawran’s dense fur settled slightly, though his posture remained coiled and ready. The mechanical whir of his translator collar preceded his calm, robotic voice once more. "Scout ship DSF-3751 has cleared the bay. No active change detected... yet."

"Twelve seconds will tell the tale." Ash commented, to no one in particular, while she moved to the edge of the dais. "We'll know soon." She added.

The heavy bulkhead doors to the Bridge parted with a soft, swift hiss, and Commodore Wilkan Targaryen stepped out of the express Turbolift directly onto the upper command tier. As he stepped past the Tactical and Communications consoles along the upper curved rail, Wilkan immediately picked up the Bridge's physical atmosphere - the low, ambient hum of LCARS tripolymer touchscreens, the rhythmic thrum of the Warp Core filtering up from the lower decks, and the silent, high-strung tension vibrating through his crew.

Descending the short starboard steps onto the central command platform, Wilkan took his place at the center of the three-chair command arrangement. Positioned at the Central Seat (flanked by the First Officer's seat and the Mission Specialist station), Wilkan didn't sit immediately. Instead, he quickly studied the Bridge before focusing on the holographic viewscreen. Suspended against the atmosphere of Karemma, the silent, grey hull of the John Kelly hung dead in the water, its profile flanked by the Federation seal inset into the deck floor. The newly launched Jem'Hadar scout ship, DSF-3751, was cleanly pulling away from the Enterprise's bay under the cover of their ruse, its impulse thrusters glowing a faint, steady violet against the dark backdrop of the Karemma system.

"Keep a tight, unbroken sensor lock on the scout's trajectory," Wilkan commanded, his voice carrying the full weight of his authority toward Urvasi at the Helm. "If the John Kelly so much as twitches a deflector grid in response to the scout's departure, I want us on their throat before their sensors can even register the vector change. Let's see how long Tazari can keep playing dead."

At the helm, Urvasi was watching both the data coming from Flight Deck B on the Scout ship and the so far no fluctuations of energies from the John Kelly. She responded, "Aye Aye, sir, I have both data streams incoming to the helm for monitoring."

"Commander Bernadotte," the Commodore turned toward the Operations console, "Ensure our internal firewalls remain completely locked down. If Tazari attempts to hack into our systems, I want his signal isolated and trapped in a closed loop before it touches our core. Use whatever countermeasures are required to neuter their comm-arrays."

Sora smirked. "Music to my ears," she muttered. "Aye, sir," she added, more loudly. "As I just explained to Commander Randall, I have initiated a level one lockout on all command functions at this time. Anyone who is not currently signed in will require either your command code or my own to access anything beyond basic computer functionality. If anything comes in, their signal will get a nice tour of the waste recycling subroutines."

"Ash," Wilkan commanded, his voice carrying clearly over the hum of the LCARS terminals. "Maintain your diagnostics across the EPS taps, but tighten the monitoring thresholds. If the John Kelly attempts to punch through our decoy telemetry, I want immediate isolation on those power conduits."

"The monitoring is as tight as it can be without being detected through the diagnostics fog we are masking it with, sir." Ash responded, quietly.

Returning to the Captain's Chair in the center of the Bridge, Wilkan lowered himself into the comfortable chair. Resting his forearms against the leather casing of the armrests, the Commodore turned to the right to look at his Andorian First Officer. Commander zh'Roothi had been informed of the findings of the forensics team and had been assigned to coordinate with the JAG Office. Wilkan was curious what she had found.

"Exec," Wilkan continued, his tone sharp and purposeful. "How did things go with the JAG?"

"They remain tight lipped as you'd expect at this stage," Zhora replied evenly. "However, they confessed our evidence is too damning and numerous to ignore."

Turning now to his left and the Mission Specialist seat next to him, Wilkan nodded politely to the Enterprise's Chief Medical Officer. "Doctor, how is young Miss Datari?"

"She is recovering well, Commodore, thank you for asking. Her induced medical sleep was very successful in assisting her recovery from the initial shock and trauma and once she was awake again afterwards she found herself in her father's arms which offered her a lot of comfort and perceived safety, both of which helped to calm and reassure her still more. There was no need for any further sedation after that and she has recovered her equilibrium very well. I have referred her to the Chief Counsellor for a course of appointments where she can discuss her feelings and what happened to her with an expert and we will await the reports from that before discharging her completely but she is making good progress already." Rio explained.

Wilkan listened to the reports, his attention split between the crew and the main viewer as the Jem'Hadar scout's impulse trail vanished smoothly into the Karemma system. "Keep her that way, Doctor."

"We shall Sir, we have a very good team and we ,work together well." Rio added before resuming observation of her screen and incoming data from the "Possum" (USS John Kelly) from which - the life signs gave very little away, save in what was NOT being seen which seemed to keep to an obvious and predictable pattern for fake shut down bluffs.

Turning his gaze back toward his First Officer after hearing her brief on the JAG Office, Wilkan replied, his tone sharp and purposeful, "Let them play their bureaucratic cards close to the chest for now. They'll find out soon enough that the game being played in this sector doesn't fit into standard Starfleet legal briefs."

Unclasping his hands from the armrests, Wilkan stood up with heavy, deliberate grace from the Captain's Chair. His tall, imposing frame cast a brief shadow across the command well as he adjusted the hem of his tunic. The physical tension on the Bridge was palpable, but everything here was running as tightly as his crew could manage.

"Exec, you have the Conn," Wilkan commanded, his gravelly voice cutting cleanly over the low hum of the LCARS terminals. "Keep our posture standard, keep the decoy sweeps running 'nice and boring-like,' and if the John Kelly twitches, call me immediately." Without another word, Wilkan turned on his heel and strode down the starboard steps of the command well, exiting to his Ready Room.

Sora sighed. The Commodore seemed different from his usual self, agitated in a way. Of course, seeing as the farce that was playing out in the Karemma system appeared to be happening on orders issued by his wife, that was somewhat understandable. She adjusted a few settings to the decoy sweeps, and shook her head. Hopefully this would be over soon.

RSS Feed