Hide and Seek

Posted on 26 Jan 2025 @ 9:33pm by Commodore Harvey Geisler & Commander John Reynolds & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Lieutenant Commander Theodore Marsh III & Lieutenant Ranul Frex & Lieutenant Zayna Ryler & Lieutenant T’Mari Rael & Ensign (Provisional) Bertrim Wysocki & Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Carter & Lieutenant JG Shay Mitchell & Master Chief Petty Officer Mila Rasputin

1,869 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Bait and Switch
Location: Auxiliary Control
Timeline: June 30, 2390 || 1230 hours

For an hour, the Black Hawk pursued G90B as the alien craft warped deep into space that was recently patrolled by the Federation. Harvey gave no order to overtake or engage the enemy craft. After all, the damage rendered to G90B was solely thanks to the Valcour's sacrifice. If the Black Hawk managed to intercept, there would be no telling how long the Akira would last in a direct engagement. The goal now was to trail G90B and see where from where they were operating.

Harvey sat in his chair, watching the tactical plot on the viewscreen in front of him. G90B was headed in the direction of a nebula first detected by a Vulcan expedition back in 2371, dubbed only as G71-2B. The Commodore grunted and shook his head. What was with all of these letters and numbers anyway. Surely there were enough names out there that could be assigned to something like this.

"What do we know about this nebula?" Harvey asked the bridge crew. "Aside from the fact that it's Mutara class?"

"It contains high levels of static discharge and is comprised mostly of ionized gases. Sensors will be unreliable, not that they haven't been already, and shields will be inoperable inside," Joey answered as her fingers moved over the console in front of her.

"All typical of Mutara-class," Harvey muttered. "Miss Ryler, any indication that our friend has been affecting repairs, or if their exhaust trail is still good?"

"So far still can trail but, yeah, sensors won't be of much use after we go in there." Ryler finally stated after looking over the readings carefully.

T’Mari had stood listening to the conversation about the Nebula. “Commodore if I can be of any help?” She gave Harvey a polite smile. “The ship’s sensors maybe useless in the Nebula, but there’s nothing wrong with my senses. If there’s a ship in there I should be able to pick up on them. As long as the crew are readable to Betazoids of course.”

The Commodore nodded, asking in reply, "Were you able to pick up on anything during our last encounter? I know there was a lot happening, including the sudden loss of the Valcour."

“Given the emotions of the crew at that time, it was difficult to tell Sir” T’Mari shrugged her shoulders. “I should get a better sense now. It’ll be even better if they have any telepaths onboard, it’ll make them easier for me to pinpoint.”

Harvey considered the idea for a moment. While the idea had merit, the frown on his face betrayed how he felt about it. "We'll give it a shot. Speak up if you sense anything."

T’Mari nodded. She just hoped she would prove useful.

Frex walked out of the turbolift into Auxiliary Control, activating the Engineering console that was to the starboard of the Commodore. They were talking about tracking G90B into a Mutara-Class Nebula, which was notoriously nasty for trying to use sensors in.

But, Frex had a thought for tracking them, when he spoke up and said, "Sir, depending on our plans, I might be able to help keep a tracker on our little friends. I think that G90B uses Birythium in some part of the construction of their ships, which leaves behind a minuscule trace behind whenever their engines are in use, both a light and sublight speeds. Them being in the nebula might have even more of an affect on their ship, as Birythium has slightly different properties than the material Starfleet uses in their ship designs. With the help of Zanya, I might be able to use that to our advantage and have an upper hand in our new game of cat and mouse, sir."

Harvey had turned to the engineer once he'd started to talk, and listened carefully to the idea. It had plenty of merit, and at this point, he needed anything that might work. "Alright, let's do it. The clock is ticking, so get what you can off of that ship before it enters."

Giving a nod to Frex, Zayna spun back to her console. "Birythium? I would never have thought of that. Let's see if these sensors are up for the challenge."

Frex walked over to the where Zanya was standing and replied, "Yeah, I had something on it earlier and it was part of what helped me give you guys something to lock onto up here. The other part of was them shooting at us and getting something off their weapons. So, if you can keep an eye on them for as long as possible, I'm hoping that we can work together on improving our sensor locks on their ships, even while they're in the nebula."

"I can help extend the range of our sensors, if you can help me get a continuous scan of their ship. Mind giving me a hand with those sesnor readouts?" Frex said as he took a seat at one of the science stations in Auxiliary Control.

"Whatever help we can get at this point. These sensors are frustrating me today with all the limiting." Zay gave a shrug and started in on working on what they needed.

Jax had been listening to the department heads and wondering what he could contribute since Commander Walsh was in Sickbay. "I could send the squadron in in pairs to drop buoys to enhance the Black Hawk's sensors, Commodore."

The Commodore looked in the Deputy Squadron Commander's direction. "As good of an idea that is, I don't want the squadron too far ahead of us. In a nebula like this, it'll be easy for a fighter or shuttle to get lost in."

"Then all we can do is keep on standard patrol and stay close, Commodore," Jax said.

A glance at the tactical plot informed him that G90B would enter the nebula within the next five minutes. The Black Hawk would be just a few minutes behind that. In a Mutara, every minute the Black Hawk lagged behind would only increase the likelihood that they'd disappear within.

It was time to issue some orders. "Helm, increase speed to close our distance. Keep us out of their firing range, especially when we drop to impulse."

Socks looked over his shoulder to the Commodore, "Aye increasing velocity and keeping us without weapons range." His eyes returned down to his console and the viewscreen.

"Mister Marsh," Harvey said, turning to the Ops station behind him. "Prepare a series of probes. Communication methods should still work through the nebulae matter, so let's use that to our advantage. Program the probes to surround the nebula and act as monitors. If G90B leaves, I want to know about it."

"Heard, sir." Teddy had already told his staff to get some probes prepped, so it only took a few short seconds to key in some simple code and copy it to the devices. "Locked and loaded, Commadore."

Harvey nodded his head, for a moment assuming that such an action would be interpreted as an order. Alas, this was not a day to be assuming anything. "Fire when ready," he ordered.

Terry quietly slid into Auxiliary Control. He'd been spending his time in the Squadron Command Center, taking the lead there. His Deputy had been doing a fantastic job with the more practical aspects of commanding a squadron. Jax had lots of potential and Terry had been trying to nurture it. With any luck, Commander Carter would have his own 'big show' one day. In the meantime, Terry was grateful to have the man on the Black Hawk.

Harvey, who'd still been looking in the direction of the Ops station while the probes were launching, was able to see Commander Walsh enter the room. The Commodore had always valued his relationship and reliance on the Squadron Commander (and former executive officer), and was grateful to have him back aboard. "Commander," he greeted the new arrival in Auxiliary Control. "We're about to follow G90B into this nebula. The squadron will be needed to stay within close proximity to the Black Hawk as sensors will be mostly non-functional."

Terry nodded, the edge of his mouth quirking up in a tight smile. "Commodore. They'll stay close; the squadron's been at the top of their game. If anything so much as twitches out there, they'll see it." The idea of using the squadron as an early warning system made sense, but it didn’t make him feel any less on edge. Navigating through a nebula was tricky under the best circumstances; venturing into one while pursuing an unknown entity was an entirely different beast.

Harvey nodded, considering any possible loose ends. A thought occurred to him, which prompted him to ask, "Are there any concerns about the nebulae material causing interference with the fighters?"

"Not the fighters themselves, no," said Terry. "Just the standard sensor degradation is all. But that's expected."

With that settled, Harvey turned his attention to Chief Rasputin. As he approached her, he asked, "Any word from the Endurance?" After all, it had been an hour since the Black Hawk chased G90B from the scene and left the convoy in Graham's care on its way to New Risa.

Mila shook her head after a moment. "He is maintaining his position with the convoy and is reporting same interference we are facing, Commodore," she reported. She looked at the readouts again, unable to distinguish one thing from another without resorting to memory of past readouts to compare them to. Yet, there was nothing there.

The Commodore nodded. "Have him report in as soon as they arrive in the system. We should get a couple of ships to head our way and also reinforce the convoy. Who's available?"

Mila passed the message to Holmes and then checked to see who was closest in their net. "We are having Captain Cacod Suhea of the Brandenburg and Captain Todd Ahern of the Challenger."

Harvey didn't hesitate. "All right, let's send them. Let Graham know that we're continuing our pursuit into the nebula and that we'll maintain regular comms."

"Da, Commodore," Mila said and began to transmit his instructions to the other ships.

Looking back to the viewscreen, he observed the G90B vessel disappear into the thick nebulae matter. The on-screen timer indicated that the Black Hawk would follow them inside in just a few seconds. "Mister Frex and Miss Ryler, I hope you've got something, otherwise we're going to have to play hide and seek."

Without waiting for a response, Harvey's gaze remained on the viewscreen. The nebula grew and grew until it was all that could be seen. Static began to fill the viewscreen, occasionally disrupting the once clear signal. The Commodore took in a breath, held it, then sighed and muttered, "Time to find the needle in the haystack."

Little did he or anyone aboard the Black Hawk know if any (much less how many) needles awaited them inside...

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