“I’m detecting three Vor’cha-class attack cruisers and two B’rel-class birds of prey in orbit.”

The already tense atmosphere on the bridge thickened with Calhoun’s report. They were all thinking the same thing, but Raisa verbalised the thought,  “That’s a lot of firepower.”

“You need a lot of warriors to invade a planet,” Henris replied. “And ships to hold it. How long until we arrive?”

“Coming up on two and a half minutes, sir.” da Costa reported.

“Bring us out of warp near the third moon and take us the rest of the way in on impulse,” Henris smiled tightly. “Don’t want to spook the Klingons by landing on top of them.”

Raisa smirked. “Not when there are so many other ways to piss them off.”

“Approaching the third moon,” da Costa announced. “Slowing to impulse.”

The deck vibrations shifted subtly as Ark Royal slowed to sunlight speed. Compared to their journey from the border, the last leg of their journey was over in the blink of an eye. Ark Royal found herself bow to bow with two of the three Vor’chas as the third stalked around them. Meanwhile, the birds of prey adopted positions off Ark Royal’s stern. They were surrounded.

“We’re being hailed,” Calderwood reported.

Captain Henris tugged at his uniform jacket before propelling himself out of his chair. “Onscreen.”

The craggy visage of a grizzled Klingon appeared on the viewscreen, “I am Tor’gah, son of Korrak. State your business.”

“This is Captain Arlo Henris of the Federation starship Ark Royal. Withdraw your troops from this planet and return to Klingon space immediately.”

Tor’gah’s roared with laughter, his voice echoing around the bridge. When his laughter subsided, he growled, “We are not in Federation space. You have no jurisdiction here. This world has been claimed for the glory of the Klingon Empire.”

“You have no right-”

Tor’gah jumped out of his chair. “We have every right! We are Klingon!” He thundered. “For too long, the Empire has strained at the end of the Federation’s leash, called to heal by cowards with no stomach for conquest.” Tor’gah glowered across the viewscreen, his mouth contorted into a sneer. “No longer. We will rid the galaxy of the Romulan threat once and for all.”

A year ago, the idea of a Klingon ship opening fire on Ark Royal was unthinkable. Chancellor Toral’s leadership had seen a marked decline in Federation-Klingon relations and there were reports of isolated skirmishes. Now, Raisa wouldn’t bet on making it out of this without exchanging fire with the Klingons.

Henris clenched and unclenched his fists. “I will not stand by and allow you to occupy this world.”

“You have no choice,” Tor’gah said evenly, “You are outnumbered. Leave this system, immediately.”

“And if we don’t?”

“Then you will die,” Tor’gah replied matter of factly. “You have thirty minutes.” The comm channel was immediately cut, returning to a view of the Vor’cha-class ships off the bow.

“He seems like a friendly guy,” Raisa commented dryly.

Henris let out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t think diplomacy is going to cut it.” He thumped his fist on his chair’s armrest. “Commander Callahan, have you had any success in establishing contact?”

Callahan nodded. “Yes, sir. Doctor Livek’s been lying low since the Klingons arrived. He’s agreed to proceed with the extraction as planned.”

“The Klingons are actively jamming any attempts to beam to the planet,” Lieutenant T’Reya reported from the science station.

“So how do we get him off the surface?” Raisa asked.

“Um, excuse me?” All eyes turned to the owner of the voice, Lieutenant da Costa. “We could fly to the surface with  a shuttle.”

Callahan shook her head. “The Klingons would shoot our shuttle out of the sky as soon as it left the shuttlebay.

From the port side of the bridge, a new voice spoke up. “We could modify the deflector dish,” Calhoun began, “to emit a wide band jamming signal that would disrupt the Klingon sensors and communications.”

“That would also affect our sensors and communications,” Callahan pointed out. “Not to mention those of the shuttle. We’d be flying blind.”

“The shuttle could be flown using visual flight rules, ma’am,” Raisa looked up to find da Costa watching them expectantly.

“Good thinking, Lieutenant,” Raisa smiled at da Costa before she turned to Calhoun. “How long can you jam their sensors and communications for?” 

“How long is a piece of string?” Calhoun asked rhetorically. “It depends on how good their engineers are and how quickly they can compensate for the jamming signal. Could be two minutes, could be twenty.”

Captain Henris absorbed the information he’d been presented with before making his decision. “Mister Calhoun, begin modifying the main deflector,” he ordered before turning to Raisa. “If you want to be able to move freely down there, you’ll need to go incognito.”

Raisa nodded her head in agreement. “Surgical alteration.”

“Get down to sickbay,” Henris said. “I’ll let Doctor Young know you’re coming, but you don’t have much time.”

That prompted Raisa to her feet. “Commander Callahan and Lieutenant da Costa, you’re with me.” She looked at Wescott. “Have Lieutenant Tanner meet us there.” Raisa marched into the turbolift with Callahan and da Costa following close behind her. Before the door could close behind them, she ordered, “Deck eight.”

As the turbolift sped off on its journey, Raisa noticed da Costa fidgeting. “Everything alright, Lieutenant?”

“Yes ma’am,” he replied with a forced smile. “It’s just…this is my first away mission.”

“What?” Callahan asked sharply as she fixed da Costa with a wide-eyed look.

“Is that a problem?”

“Of course it’s a problem,” Callahan snapped. “We have no idea what we’re going to face once we reach the surface if we even get that far. This isn’t the time to have a rookie on the team.”

The gentle hum of the turbolift coming to a stop and the soft hiss of the doors opening punctured the heavy silence that followed Callahan’s words. “Lieutenant, go ahead. We’ll catch you up.”

With his ears turning a deep shade of pink, da Costa hurried out of the turbolift. Raisa waited until he was out of sight before asking, “Was that necessary?”

“We don’t have time to worry about his feelings,” Callahan said. “He doesn’t have the experience necessary for a mission like this.”

“He’s our best pilot, which means he has exactly the experience we need if we have any hope of reaching the surface in one piece,” Raisa fired back. Callahan opened her mouth to protest again, but Raisa cut her off. “This isn’t up for discussion.”

Raisa walked off, giving Callahan no chance to reply. It only took her a few minutes to reach sickbay where she found Doctor Young adding forehead ridges to Lieutenant Tanner’s disguise as another doctor added a second pointed ear to da Costa.

“And y’all are sure you can fix this once we’re back?” Tanner asked, a hint of worry creeping into his voice.

Doctor Young’s eyes twinkled and lips turned up into a smile. “Don’t worry Lieutenant, these changes are only temporary. I’ll have you looking like your normal, handsome self in no time.”

Raisa didn’t miss the way da Costa’s features darkened. She hopped up on the biobed where another doctor began making the cosmetic changes to her appearance.

“So, what’s the plan once we’re dirt side?” With his cosmetic changes complete, Tanner was already pulling on his civilian Romulan clothes.

Raisa glanced over at Callahan. “We need to reach the capital city,” Callahan explained as her appearance was altered, “once there, I’ll contact Doctor Livek and arrange where to meet him.” 

“Ya make it sound as easy as saddlin’ a horse,” Tanner said. “But there’s a lotta Klingons between here an’ there. This ain’t gonna be no walk in the park.”

Callahan’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t need that pointed out to me, Lieutenant. Just reaching the surface will be difficult enough.”

“Well if anyone can get us past them Klingons and set us down in one piece, it’s da Costa,” Tanner drawled, slapping a hand on the pilot’s shoulder.

Da Costa quickly shrugged Tanner’s hand off and marched past Raisa, mumbling something about preparing the shuttle. He was out the door and out of sight before Raisa could stop him. She sighed heavily as she pulled on her cloak.

“What’d I say?” Tanner asked, his wide eyes fixed on the door da Costa just passed through.

Raisa placed a hand gently on his arm. “Don’t worry about it,” She told him softly. “Why don’t you wait for Commander Callahan and I’ll go on ahead.” 

Marching out of sickbay, Raisa made her way to the shuttlebay where da Costa was already in the pilot’s seat of the Type-9 shuttle Harrier preparing for launch.

“You should apologise to Lieutenant Tanner,” Raisa told him as she slid into the co-pilot’s seat.

The silence inside the shuttle was only broken by the beeps as da Costa’s fingers danced nimbly over the LCARS interface. Raisa glanced over at him, watching his jaw gently clench.

“Commander Callahan’s wrong,” Raisa told him. “You’re the right person for this mission.”

As if frozen in time, da Costa’s fingers stopped and hovered over the controls. “What if she’s right?” he asked, his voice not much above a whisper. “What if I’m not?”

“Were your superiors on the Challenger wrong?” Rasia asked. With unshed tears in his eyes, da Costa turned to face her. “Fleet Captain Forrester and Commander Mitchell both speak highly of you in your performance reviews. Were they wrong?”

The tears spilled over, rolling down da Costa’s cheeks. “I don’t know.” He looked away and wiped his eyes.

“I don’t think they were,” Raisa told him firmly. “I believe you’re the right person for this task. I wouldn’t have selected you if I didn’t.”

“And what if you’re wrong?”

Raisa took a deep breath. “Then I’m wrong.” She told him. “But you’ve received the same training everyone else has, and I believe you’ll give me your very best. That’s all I can ask.”

When he met her gaze again, da Costa nodded. “Aye, ma’am.”

Raisa smiled. She let silence fall between them again for a few long seconds before adding, “But I’m serious; you need to apologise to Tanner.”

A chuckle escaped from da Costa. “I will.”

“He’s pretty cute,” Raisa mused casually.

“I hadn’t noticed,” da Costa replied as his ears turned pink.

“Liar.”

The only response Raisa got was the corner of da Costa’s lips curling into a small smile.

Callahan and Tanner arrived a few minutes later. The four of them now disguised as Romulan civilians were ready to fly to the surface. “We’re ready to go,” da Costa announced.

“Shuttle Harrier to bridge,” Raisa said through the comm channel. “We’re ready to launch.”

“Understood Harrier,” Captain Henris’ voice filled the small cabin of the shuttle. “Standby.”

The seconds ticked by as they waited for the officers on the bridge to carry out their plan.

“I’m ready to engage the jamming signal,” Calhoun’s voice announced.

Henris immediately ordered, “Do it.”

“Engaging signal.” It didn’t take long for him to report, “It’s working. Their sensors are being jammed…and so are ours.”

“Harrier,” Henris began. “Cleared to launch.”