Halting of a Diplomatic Solution Part 4

Stardate: 74769.8

Time: 0947 hours

Location: Alpha Quadrant – USS Heracles

—Vausees Ready Room—

Vausees was sitting at her desk in her Ready Room over an hour later when a chime went off. “Enter,” she says as she leans back in her chair, looking up from the holo-graphic monitor she had been staring at for the previous hour.

As Adé and Charles enter, the door to the room moves to the side. Charles smiles as Adé looks to be a blank slate, with no sign of what they were both doing in her office.

Vausees sat there in utter stillness, waiting for one of them to speak up. She beckoned for them to have a seat when neither of them replied. “Well?” she questioned as she looked between the two of them.

“Captain, with Adé’s cooperation, we have upgraded our sensors to the point that even if the Tactical and Operations Officers on the lead ship were aware of what we were doing. They’d be unable to notice our scans of their ship.”

Vausees nodded, listening to what her Chief Engineer had to say. “I can confidently presume that this has been tried,” she said, her voice inquiring.

“Only in simulation, Captain Vax,” Adé admitted as he gazed at Vausees.

“Simulation only,” she said again, looking at them. “I see, well, there’s no better time than the present to check if your enhancements work.”

—Bridge—

Vausees sat in the center, next to Cody, who had given up the command chair.

“Debrah, be ready to respond to any hails from Commander Ty.”

Debrah nodded as she kept an eye on her interface and scanners. “Aye, Captain,” she said.

Vausees turned to face Adé and Charles, who had taken control of an engineering console on the bridge. Charles tapped a couple of holographic icons, and the scanners proceeded to use Adé’s upgrades.

Debrah continued to examine the readings coming back from the lead ship while the Heracles began to scan. Her eyes startled as two icons appeared, “Captain. “If Adé’s scans are true, we’re dealing with not just one device or person, but both,” she explained, “and to make matters even more awkward, the person responsible is Commander Ty.”

Vausees shifted her gaze to her Chief Security and Tactical Officer. Vausees stood up and moved over to the console after Debrah nodded to confirm what she had been informed.

There were two icons on the holo-monitor, one of which was Commander Ty. She ignored the Commander for a moment and pressed on the second symbol, which immediately returned readings indicating that the device was incorporated into the ship’s main computer and, more especially, life support.

“Computer, access Starfleet personnel files,” she requested as she looked down at the icon that was pulsating around Commander Ty. A soft beep sounded when the computer awaited further input. “Access Commander Ty Reginal and send the information to my Ready Room,” another soft beep confirmed her request.

Vausees looked at Debrah as she spoke to her Senior Officers. “I want all of my Senior Officers in the conference room in ten minutes with possible solutions,” she ordered. “I am taking off the gloves for this one and I want you all to use any means necessary to disable the device on that ship and a way to legally remove the Commanding Officer of the lead ship from command.”

She then looked away from Debrah and headed for her ready room. As soon as Vausees crossed the threshold, the door slipped back into place. Taking a seat, she displayed the data that she had the computer compile for her.

Looking over the Commander’s personnel file, she discovered various inconsistencies, including how he permitted his former Captain to beam down onto a Cardassian-occupied planet during a siege that had cost the Captain her life. This didn’t sit well with Vausees, who was still reading the report he had written on how he had tried to persuade his Captain out of traveling down to the planet. As she read on, her jaw tightened as she realized that this man was more than eager to use his ship as a weapon to destroy any Cardassian planet.

“Computer, are there any personnel still on the lead ship who were with Commander Ty when his Captain was killed in action?” she inquired, looking away from the monitor for a moment. A gentle beep validated the request, and the monitor displayed the ship’s manifest, with one member showing on the display, “Computer, did this member file any reports pertaining to the death of the former Commanding Officer of the lead ship?”