Cat & Mouse

Posted on Mon Jul 18th, 2011 @ 7:57am by Commander Raven Adams & Khiy Tal'ehrihn & Captain Jackson Hawkins
Edited on on Sat Jul 23rd, 2011 @ 4:38am

2,169 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Winds of Change
Location: Yerdisian Space

Yerdisian space was crawling with activity, confusion, and war. Trading ships brave enough to enter the Yerdisian system were often detained, searched, and their cargo confiscated if not worse. It was indeed dark times.

Upon entering Yerdisian space, several Yerdisian patrol ships would decloak, power up weapons, and approached whatever vessel entered their space.

----

Raven sat beside Khiy, both anticipating and anxious over what they'd find as they explored the sector.

The information Khiy was receiving on his command consol was indeed distressing. From the look of things, Yerdisian space was being controlled like a military state. Little if any checks were in place for the military who were wandering around like a packs of wild dogs.

Khiy was relieved to find that the Yersisian military was using "dirty" cloaking devices, meaning their ships could be detected by looking for anti-proton radiation. At one point two patrol ships passed within three kilometers of the Khellian's bow. Fortunately, Romulan, Klingon and even now Federation cloaking devices were much more advanced. Khiy's ship would not be found using the same trick.

"Good lord." Exclaimed Khiy's sensor specialist. "They are everywhere. In the last hour I've counted eight distinct trails. And that's only with our short range sensors. Since when did the Yerdisian navy get so big?"

Khiy looked to Raven half expecting her to know.

"No idea. But it does add credence to Kendar's claims. The need for such a show of force is still obfuscate..." She thought for a moment. "If their cloaking devices are outdated, perhaps their computers are, as well? If so, I might be able to acquire some information?"

Khiy nodded. "You can take that station over there." He pointed at the spot where a young woman was currently working. She looked up and frowned at Khiy. "Well, take a break." Khiy said with a frown of his own back at her. The woman grumbled something derogatory about Starfleet people before briskly walking off the bridge leaving the station unattended.

Raven chuckled. "Tactful as always. I wouldn't have you any other way." Still grinning she walked over to the station, inserted one of her data rods, and began to verify the security of the computer system.

Several minutes later she look up at Khiy. "Impressive." His security on board was top notch. She inserted another data rod and began to search for weaknesses in the communications systems of the other ships.

Khiy smiled. "I spent a small fortune getting my ships retrofitted to my specs. If you weren't impressed I would ask for a refund." He chuckled.

"Take us within 10000 kilometers of the nearest cloaked patrol ship." He said to his helmsman. "It should be close enough for Raven to work her voodoo."

"My voodoo and I would appreciate that. Then I'll be able to reach out and grab what I want -- metaphorically speaking," Raven joked

Only a couple of minutes passed before the helmsman called out. "Got one. Moving into range."

The Khellian banked away and sped up to match the course and speed of the cloaked patrol ship.

Khiy waited for the nod from his helmsman before looking to Raven. "Still think you can hack a ship in three minutes?" He asked. He well knew and even saw first hand her talent for subverting code and breaking through security systems that many thought impenetrable.

"Time me," she said, working quickly and efficiently.

Two minutes later she inserted a second data rod and hit a button on the panel. "Ha. Got 'em. Downloading the data now." She used a special program to filter the data as it streamed through the computer. The program would sift and collate the date for quick analysis, as well as keep an origianl copy for backup. "The longer you stick with them, the more data I'll grab. Three minutes if you can manage it and I'll have everything."

Just to be sure, she sent the data on an encrypted Intel channel to herself at Starbase Typhon. Edgar was in her office keeping track of incoming data. He'd take care of the information. If he found anything useful, he'd contact Captain Hawkins. Although Raven wasn't sure how Captain Hawk would react to an AI raven. Part of her wished she could be there to see it.

When she was done she turned to Khiy. "That will help. Now, let me see if we found anything useful."

***

The Fury of the Regent continued on course for a few moments before making an abrupt course correction, banking heavily to starboard and increasing speed.

"We're tracking the ion trail that matches Yerdisian configuration however there is no military transponder. That means one thing..."

The Commander smiled. "We've found our traitors." She leaned forward in her chair and watched as they continued to close on the vessel. "When we have a shooting solution drop the cloak and begin firing."

The weapons officer nodded with a sinister grin. "Aye." She immediate began configuring her systems to gain a lock on the vessel.

***

The ship in front of the Khellian. "It's powering up weapons," a young woman said, checking the readings in front of her. "They appear to be focused on a smaller ship. What do you want me to do?" she asked Khiy.

Raven turned her head. "From what I've seen so far, the ship in front of us is Yerdisian military. That would make the other ship a rebel of some sort. Khiy?" She hated bullies, and from all she'd uncovered in the past ten minutes pointed to the Yerdisian government being the worst kind of bully. "Can I?"

Raven still had a connection to the other ship. And she had a data rod full of lovely programs...

"Let me think." He said as he leaned forwards in his chair. "Put it on screen." He ordered.

The panel in front of them all lit up with the outside image of the black space where the ship was currently cloaked. They watched as the scene unfolded in front of them.

***

"Disengage the cloak and fire!" The female commander leaned forward in her chair as the Fury of the Regent slipped into visible space and began discharging it's weapons, revealing the targeted Yerdi ship attempting to escape.

***

Aboard the Regent's Smile, chaos and havoc ensued. "Aft hull plating down to sixty percent! Weapons are offline!"

The commander stood and rushed forward to take the helm from the fallen helm officer. "Decloak, raise shields, and send out a general distress signal!"

***

Raven couldn't sit back and watch the other ship be destroyed. Everything she'd read about the Yerdisian government showed it to be tyrannical and barbaric. She inserted another data rod into the computer and quickly sent a program through the link to the other ship. In moments, their computer crashed, weapons went offline and sensors failed. She sent an encrypted message to the rebel ship. run.

***

Regent's Smile immediately began to gain speed and bank back towards Khellian, having pinpointed the source of the message but still having been unable to break it's contents.

"Could it be one of the Regents Imperial Guard?" Quizzed the tactical officer.

The Commander nodded. "Could be. I've hear rumor of the Imperial Guard having more sophisticated technology than the rest of the fleet." She looked over to the science officer. "Begin scanning the area with a dense particle scan."

***

Khiy stared at the screen in front of him as the military ship fired upon the refugee boat. Many thoughts and concerns ran through his mind as he looked on. Primarily he was worried about screwing up his relationship with a new government that the Federation may not be able to oust. This was a very profitable trade route for him before he caught wind of the change of government.

Khiy was also angry with Raven for involving them without asking for permission. It had never occurred to Khiy how far Raven had slipped into the mentality of the Federation. The old Raven would never have exposed her ship where there might be an angle to twist to their benefit.

Still, it seemed like Khiy's hand was forcibly played as the other ship banked away towards their position for protection; they must have locked on to their signal somehow. He knew Raven must have done something to disable the attacking ship as it drifted in space, but that would only be a temporary fix until they locked her out. Also there lies the problem that they were currently knee deep in Yerdi military space that was crawling with warships. The Khellian was bred for war from one of the military superpowers in the quadrant, but even she couldn't hand more than four or five Yerdisian warships at once. Khiy had a feeling there was far more than that within a few minutes of his ship's position.

Watching the ship pulling closer to their position Khiy slammed his fist down on the control panel attached to his chair. More than a couple of the bridge crew looked at him, surprised for the outward display of anger; something that they had never seen before. Some of them, however, grinned evilly at the outburst. They knew what this could only mean.

"Power shields and weapons." He said finally "Decloak and cover that ship's escape out of Yerdi space if it looks like others are moving in. Hopefully they will back off if they see a new K'vort trolling a ship behind her." Khiy shot a glare over to Raven. "I hope to hell you are prepared for this." There was much he was referring to by the statement. Not only would she have to deal with the impending danger they were about to face getting out of this system, but she would also have to deal with Khiy's later reaction to stringing him out on a wire.

"I wasn't going to sit here and watch them blow the other ship out of the sky. No trade route is worth that, Khiy," Raven said. "It has nothing to do with Starfleet." His thoughts were too loud to ignore. "I couldn't do this when we worked together, I can't do it now."

She turned back to her console, blinking back tears of frustration. He knew her better than that. She took a deep breath, focused her thoughts on the task at hand and began to systematically shut off every one of the Yerdisian ship's systems. Everything but life support, that is.

"A warning would have been nice." He said raising his voice near the end. "How is it this ship knows where we are?" He asked pointing at the ship closing to their position on the view screen."

'No idea. Their technology isn't as advanced as ours. Their cloaking devices not as sophisticated," Raven said. She crashed the other ship's computer and it began to drift in space. "I suggest we move while they restore power," she said coolly to Khiy. "Or another ship comes to their rescue. I don't know if I'll have time to hack into its systems before it attacks."

"Of course you don't." He said in equally cool measure. "Keep you damn eyes on that panel!" Khiy snapped at a crewman who was watching the conversation between himself and Raven.

***

"I'm not detecting anything Commander." The science officer responded from the refugee ship.

The woman shook her head and sat back in her chair. "Open a channel to the frequency we received..."

***

"Incomming transmission from that ship closing on us, Sir." The comm specialist relayed.

Khiy shook his head and scowled at Raven. "Well this is bloody well your show. You answer them."

Raven sighed and linked the signal through a special jamming frequency. "Yes?"

***

"Go ahead and finish it Imperial Scum!" The Commander gripped the armrests of her chair.

***

"Look, we're trying to rescue you. Now RUN before the other ships restores power."

***

The Commander looked over to communications. The officer at communications was shaking her head which indicated that the transmission was not Yerdi. The universal translator was having to work overtime to process the new language.

"Identify yourselves!"

***

Khiy already didn't like this exchange as he leaned heavily into his chair.

Raven grinned at him. "I'm Robin Hood. I'm here with my band of Merrie Men to rescue you. Now, stop talking and get your bloody arse out of here."

***

The Commander looked over to the navigation officer who had returned to his post. "Set course out of Yerdi space and engage."

She paused for a moment. "I don't suppose this here Robin Hood has a suggestion of a new home..."

***

Coordinates appeared on the other computer. "Good luck. and God speed."

Khiy looked over to his helmsman. "Shadow them until they are out of the system."

***

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Khiy Tal'ehrihn
Owner
Trans Galactic Trading

Commander Raven Adams
Chief Intelligence Officer
Starbase Typhon

Various Yerdi
Refugees and Loyalists
Yerdis III

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