Stardate: 74448

Time: 1046 hours

Stardate: 74448

Time: 1046 hours

The Heracles matched its position with the Angelikós Zilotís’ Battleship and extended an umbilical over the a hatch. Vausees watched the process happen from a monitor next to the hatch. When a solid seal was made the monitor changed color from a red to a green. REaching up she tapped her ComBadge, “Cody keep us in a stable orientation with their ship,” she said and then tapped her ComBadge once more.

Thý’ella greeted both Vausees and Debrah at the hatch to their ship. She placed two fingers on her forehead and bowed slightly. Vausees was unsure of what that gesture meant but mirrored it as best as she could. The three women walked away from the hatch, with three other hooded figures flanking them. Vausees could only assume that the other hooded figures where of  Thý’ella species. As they walked, Thý’ella spoke of the outpost that she had smuggled from, and of her most recent endeavours from there. 

“Thý’ella,” she said as she placed a hand gently on the womans forearm, which caused the other hooded figures to reach for their weapons, only to stop when Thý’ella looked at them. “Have you or your people figured out what is on the data storage device yet?” She asked.

Thý’ella shook her head, “I am afraid not, it seems to be locked and encrypted by some unknown language that we have never seen,” she confessed as she stood there in the corridor with the two ladies. 

“Could we possibly take a look at it and see if we could decode and unlock the information on that storage device.” Debrah said from behind Vausees.

Thý’ella looked at the woman that had spoken and then to one of the hooded figures. The figure departed the corridor, only to reappear a few moments later holding the storage device and the idol. Thý’ella took the items from the hooded figure and gestured once more. 

Vausees instantly recognized the idol to be of Tkon orgin. She watched as Thý’ella handed the storage device to Debrah. She then turned to her, “Head back to our quarters and start decrypting that device, I’ll join you shortly, Commander,” she hated to pull rank on her but knew that she needed to show some form of order in from of Thý’ella and the other hooded figures.

Debrah understood the situtation as it way, “Aye, Captain,” she replied as Vausees turned to face Thý’ella once more.

“Anything that we find we will share with you,” she said as she thought to herself, ‘unless it has to do with any locations or omega.’

Thý’ella smiled and shook her head. “Captain,” she said and was corrected by Vausees.

“Please Thý’ella call me Vausees.”

Thý’ella once more nodded, “Vausees would you permit some of my crew to interact with your crew on your ship. I would allow it on mine.”

Vausees could see no harm in the gesture and permitted it, “By all means, I accept under the conditions of not being in secured areas, which I am sure you do not want my crew to go into on your ship,” she said and Thý’ella nodded too.

***

Debrah sat in the Captains Cabin, her attention was buried into the monitor of a console and the holographic console as well. She squeezed her eyes shut as shew pinched the bridge of her nose. She had been staring at the monitor and the holographic display for hours. A soft groan escaped her lips as she opened her eyes and looked back at Vausees, she lay half covered in a dark blue blanket, her right leg and the back of her upper body were uncovered. A smile crossed her lips as she looked at her. 

“Computer, create an algorithm that searches for patterns in all known and hypothetical languages,” she requested, “Also combine language patterns, and alert me if anything is within a high probability.”

The computer beeped in acknowledgment. Rolling her neck, Debrah stood up and turned to look at Vausees. She slipped completely out of her nightclothes and pulled the covers away from Vausees. As her skin came into view she slipped into bed with her and kissed her skin with the Trill patterns. Starting with her ankle and slowly moved up her body.

Vausees felt the warmth of Debrah’s lips on her body and the coolness of the ambient temperature of the room kiss her skin after Debrah had. A soft moan and sigh left her lips as she turned over giving Debrah a view of her bare body. The next thing that she knew Debrah had her own body pressed on top of hers, and her mouth sealed around hers.

Both women laid together, Vausees was pressed up against Debrah’s body, her fingers were intertwined with Debrah’s. A soft chime caused Vausees to turn over and look into Debrah’s eyes, which had opened due to the beep. She kissed Vausees nose as she slipped over to the chair in front of the monitor, a silk sheet was all that she had covering her body.

Tapping on the monitor the holographic display shown a flashing red series of symbols. A moment later the symbols shifted to a translation that shown the word, ‘Tkon’. Debrah tapped the red symbols and the holographic display changed to a star chart and a golden ring around a planet.

“Babe,” she said as she turned and looked at Vausees who had sat up against the wall of the cabin when Debrah had left the bed.

Vausees looked up at her, “Hmm?” She responded as she moved over toward Debrah. She wrapped her arms around her as she looked at the display. She kissed her cheek before she spoke, “Our next course.” She tapped a button on the desktop, “Commander Bettencourt set course for the system that I have sent you,” she said as she sent the holographic information to the Command chair.

***

Cody had his eyes on the display of a PADD when he heard the intercom chirp. He looked up at the main viewscreen as he heard the Captain’s voice. He pressed down on the armchair console and it flipped open, activating as it did. He looked at the system and then tapped the intercom. “Mister Nief, if you would please report to the bridge. I know it’s an hour before your shift but I need you here sir.”

A moment later the door to the main lift opened and Trever entered the bridge, he was wearing running gear as he entered. “Commander?”

Cody looked over at Trever, “Lieutenant, please take the conn and plot in a course for the system on the console.”

Trever was already on the move as the Commander asked him to take the conn. He took the conn and entered in the system that was being displayed on the holographic display.

“Course and route laid in.”

“Confirmed Mister Nief.”

“We should arrive in three hours, Commander.”

Cody nodded and tapped on the display and the glowing holographic icon for the Captain’s Cabin. “Captain we should arrive in three hours.”

Vausees looked at Debrah, who had just told her how long it should take to get to the system. Debrah was smiling as she looked back at Vausees. “Acknowledge, Commander. I will be on the bridge in forty-five minutes, also let Thý’ella know what we have found,” she said as she reached past Debrah and deactivated the intercom to her cabin. She then whispers into Debrah’s ear, what she wanted to do to her in the next forty minutes. Debrah stood up, allowing the sheet to fall from her body, she turns and lifts Vausees into her arms and carries her back to the bedroom.

***

The Heracles dropped out of warp and slowly came to a stop just outside of the system. A moment later Thý’ella’s battleship arrived from warp. The viewscreen changed from a trinary system, two huge super nova’s that circled a white dwarf, that was drawing superheated material off of the other suns, to the face of Thý’ella. “Commander Bettencourt,” she said as the door to the main lift opened and Vausees stepped out, followed closely by Debrah.

Her attention was then drawn to Vausees and her white skin turned slightly red when she saw the slight glow from the two women that had entered the bridge. 

“Vausees it is good to see you again and I would like to ask why we are here?”

Vausees noticed the change in color, even if it was subtle, on Thý’ella, “Good to see you too,” she said and continued to speak, “This is where the storage device led us to.”

Thý’ella nodded, “I have an armada on standby should we need them.”

Vausees returned the nod as she tapped an icon on her console. The screen split in two and the system showed itself. 

“Jonton.” That is all she said

Jonton had already been working on the sensor logs before Vausees had said anything. He looked up at her. “Trinary system that supports a number of planets,” he stated. “From what I can gather only one supported life at one point but now is a desolate barren rock. A few structures, ruins lie on the surface and below it.”

Suddenly the lighting on the bridge dimmed and the klaxons blared. Red flashes pulsated over the bulkheads, consoles, and flooring. Vausees looked from the viewscreens to Debrah.

“A single Romulan warbird decloaking off our bow.”

Sure enough, a Romulan warbird appeared out of space in front of the Heracles. Thý’ella’s eyes widened for a split second. 

Vausees looked back at Debrah, “Hail them Miss Fergouson.”

“I already have, Captain,” she stated, “I think they are choosing to ignore the hail.”

“Thý’ella, have your ships begin the warm-up of their warp drives, we may need them,” Vausees said to Thý’ella.

Thý’ella looked at Vausees, “Captain we can take this single ship.”

“If it was just one ship, yes, but I have a good feeling that there is more than one ship cloaked out there.”

“We do not detect anything other than the one ship,”  Thý’ella stated.

“If you know the Romulans as Starfleet does, then you wouldn’t underestimate them.”

Thý’ella nodded and looked off-screen for a moment. “The Armada is prepared to make the jump to here.”

Vausees nods as the wings on the Romulan ship shift slightly, and several more Romulan ships decloak in an attack formation around the first ship. Thý’ella saw this and gave the order for her Armada to jump. Within seconds, the space behind the Heracles and Thý’ella’s Battleship, the Boulóni Día, opened up into a swirling vortex of shimmering lights, a wormhole. Through it flowed ship after ship after ship. The Angelikós Zilotís Armada all took up defensive and offensive formations around the Heracles and Boulóni Día Battleship.

Suddenly the main viewscreen on the Heracles changed to a Romulan Commander, “Captain Vausees, I believe that you have something on that ship that belongs to the Romulans.”

“And what might that be, Commander?” She asked as she knew all too well what that item was, and she would be damned if it was going to end up in Romulan hands.

“Captain, we know that you are holding a figurine of some significant value,” the commander stated, “Let us not shed blood over it. Hand it over and we will depart this sector.”

“Over my dead body,” she replies.

Suddenly a massive ship decloaks behind the Romulan fleet. Vausees looked at it and then calmly to Debrah. 

“I don’t know what that is Captain,” she said, “However it does share a similar profile to a destroyed Reman vessel that the USS Enterprise-E destroyed in 2379,“ she stated as the Scimitar profile appeared on the console in the Command chair’s armrest.

Vausees looked at the information on the console and agreed, “Pass this to the Boulóni Día.”

Debrah nodded as she transmitted the info to Thý’ella’s ship, “Completed, Captain.”