Thevius stared at the viewscreen with a blank expression, dread settling in the pit of his stomach.  He slumped back in his chair and pressed his palms over his eyes, letting out a shuddering breath.He raised his hand and taps his combadge, “I need all personnel to the bridge. Now.”

Thevius waited till all of his crew were assembled, not even bothering to straighten up from his slumped over position, “We have a dire situation. I’ve lost contact with Lihran. He sent a message to his friend on Starbase Four. I have come to a decision.”

He pushed himself up to his feet, a determined and shockingly fierce look in the Vulcan’s eyes, “Ivin and Nivox, I need some genetic alterations. All I need is Romulan brow ridges. Since I am already half Romulan, I imagine all you need to do is just… coax that trait out of hiding. I need to replicate a Star Navy uniform. We need to locate that ship once more and beam me aboard. I will find him and bring him back.”

K’Vibo stepped forward, “Sir, it is unsafe for you to do this, we cannot allow you to do such.” Thevius snapped a little in reply, “You don’t think I thought about the risk?! I know. I damn well know. I haven’t even stepped foot on a ship constructed by my own kind before! I don’t even know my own military culture! One thing I am good at is faking it. I had everyone fooled that I was a genuine Vulcan for many years. I can do this, out of all of us, I am the least likely to get caught.”

The Klingon hesitated, taking a step back, “Very well, sir, as long as you know the risks.” Thevius slowly sat back down, “After this meeting, I will record a message. Worst case scenario, if I get killed, escape while cloaked and give it to Fleet Command. If I come back alive, we’ll make up some excuses and pretend this never happened. K’Vibo, you are in command till I get back or if I die.”

K’Vibo nodded, wincing, “Yes, sir. I understand. I will keep the crew safe and fulfil your requests. I hope it does not come to that.” 

Thevius gave his crew one last look over, turning to head towards the med bay, “Ivin, Nivox, let us do this.” He pushed himself up to stand, exiting the bridge, the two named officers following behind him.

Ivin stepped towards the biobed where Thevius was laying down, “Are you ready to commence the alterations, sir?” Thevius nodded slightly, “Yes, let’s get it over.”

The Bajoran loaded and readied a hypospray, “Luckily this should be relatively easy to alter your appearance.at least. Right! Time to turn you into an Andorian! I mean Romulan.” Thevius gave him an unamused glare at his attempt of humour.

Nivox lets out a small snort of amusement, standing back out of the way. Ivin rolled his eyes and shook his head, pressing the hypospray to Thevius’s neck and stood back quickly. If it caused him pain, he did not want to be within grabbing distance. In fact, Ivin edged over to step behind his husband.

Thevius lifted a brow, nothing happened at first. All of a sudden, he let out a shriek of pain and his hands flew up to clutch at his forehead, rolling and thrashing on the biobed for a minute. Ivin clutched the empty hypospray nervously to his chest as they watched their captain. Thevius calmed down after a few agonising minutes. His chest heaved as he panted heavily. His hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat. He rolled over to sit up, clutching his head, “Dammit, that hurt… Is the uniform replicated?”

Nivox nodded, “Yes sir, it’s right here.” He stepped forward, holding out a small stack of folded articles.  Thevius took a moment, running his fingers over the new brow ridges that graced his features. He took the offered uniform with an unintelligible grunt. He pushed himself up to his feet slowly and stepped into a restroom to get changed.

Thevius emerged a few moments later wearing the Romulan uniform. Ivin held onto Nivox’s arm as he said, “You look… You look incredibly scary. More authoritative than you normally are.” Thevius clasped his hands behind his back, “Alright. I am ready. Let us get me aboard before I change my mind.” He turned sharply and brisky made his way towards the transporter room, clicking the combadge he held in his hand, “Captain Thevius to Lieutenant Renot. Meet me in the transporter room. It’s time.” Egil replied quickly, “On my way!”

Thevius stepped into the transporter room and up behind Egil, making the Al-Leyan jump and instinctively reach for his phaser, “Damn, sir!” He shook his head, “Frighteningly real…”

Thevius lifted a brow, “I… would hope so, Egil. I am Romulan and sneaking on board a ship full of them. Are the transporters ready?” Egil nodded and stepped towards the console, “Yes they are, sir. Got a combadge or something on you.” Thevius nodded, “I do, yes. I will call if I need help or have Lihran, whichever comes first.”

Thevius stepped onto the transporter pad and turned around, casting a last glance at his crew. He gave a solemn nod, “Beam me over.” The shimmering filled his vision and vanished, plunging him into the dark cargo bay, right where Lihran beamed in. He staggered a moment and stopped to lean against a crate, rubbing his eyes to try and get his eyes to quickly adjust.

After a few minutes, Thevius straightened up and strode over to the quartermaster’s desk, luckily it was not manned at this hour. He snatched up the PADD device and started to work to unlock it. It took him far longer than Lihran, but he managed it. He started to plug himself into the roster. Satisfied, he pulled up a deck plan of the ship and started on his way.

Thevius was never allowed aboard a Star Navy ship. He had no connections to the Romulan military. This was an all new experience for him. He would have normally enjoyed it, if it wasn’t literally a life or death situation. He hurried down the halls, brushing past other Romulans who paid him literally no mind. He fell in behind an injured Romulan making his way towards the medbay. He figured if Lihran was hurt, that’s where he would be. He stepped in behind the one he was following, seeing Lihran unconscious on a bed. And Covel at his side. Thevius’s stomach dropped, as the Starfleet Captain had attended their wedding and would surely be recognised. He approached slowly, “Is Centurion Lihran alright? I heard he ah… I see, got quite wounded.”  

Covel looked up sharply, narrowing his eyes at Thevius. He seemed familiar and perhaps slightly out of place, and he was trying to figure out why. Covel says, “Name, rank and position.” Thevius quickly replies, “Lieutenant Thevius, medical officer.” Thevius pursed his lips together, thinking, ‘Medical?! Seriously Thevius! You are an ASTROPHYSICIST!’ 

Thevius hesitated, “Pardon me sir…” He turned to grab a tricorder, mentally screaming at himself. He had seen enough medical exams he thought he could fake his way through this. He stepped up to Lihran and started to scan him, checking all his vitals, or at least making it look like he was. 

Covel stood up slowly, “I see that my husband is in good hands. Be sure to report to me on his condition, Lieutenant. I have things to do.” Covel let go of Lihran’s hand and stepped back, letting Thevius ‘work’. Thevius nodded and looked at Covel, “I will do so, sir.”

Covel nodded and turned sharply and left.

Thevius let out an agitated grunt after the ship’s commander left. Lihran cracked his eyes open, mumbling, “Is he gone? Wait-” Lihran bolted upright and regretted it moments after, letting out a groan and clasping his head in his hands. Thevius reached out to steady Lihran, murmuring, “Easy now. I’m here to get you out.” 

Lihran moved slowly, swinging his legs down, “We need to bring two people with us; Sekal and Thajeet. Two friends. Trust me. I trust them. I have an idea to get us out of here unnoticed, transporting four will be noticed. Grab me a hypo, my head is killing me.” Thevius strode over to where the supplies are kept, rummaging through it till he found a hypo and returned to Lihran with it. He grasps Lihran’s chin with one hand and tilted the larger Romulan’s head to the side as he pressed it to his neck, “Better?” Lihran nodded, his form relaxing as the medicine took effect. He pushed himself up to his feet and straightened out his uniform, “Several ideas, follow me, it’s late anyways…”

Thevius followed Lihran, thankful to have a guide to help him around the ship this time. Lihran led him towards the bunks, passing by many sleeping Romulans. He stopped beside his bunk and glanced at Thevius as he pulled off his uniform jacket, whispering, “Explain in a moment. Trust me and roll with it.” Lihran hung up his jacket and stepped up to Thevius, sliding an arm around his waist and resting his head on his shoulder, tilting his head to whisper in his ear, “No one will overhear us if we pretend to sleep together. We can plan accordingly. Take off your jacket and boots and crawl in beside me.”

Thevius tensed, about to shove Lihran away from him when he heard his words. He hesitated before placing a hand on Lihran’s lower back, whispering back, “Alright, I trust you.” He stepped away from Lihran and shrugged off his jacket, hanging it up over Lihran’s and bent to pull off his boots. He set them aside and straightened up, crawling into the bunk with Lihran. It wasn’t overly small, but neither Thevius nor Lihran were particularly small. 

There was awkward shuffling and muttered curses as the men tried to sort out whose limbs go where. They finally settled with the larger one, Lihran, settled with his arms around Thevius, facing each other so they could talk. Thevius threatened, “Your hands wander anywhere, I will throw you in the brig.” Lihran snorted softly in amusement, smirking, “I promise Captain.” Thevius glowered, “I am serious.” He emitted a sigh, “Alright, what is this plan?”

Lihran nodded, “A revolt. I’ve been seeding thoughts of mutiny into some of the crew, and those friends of mine have been in on it as well. I am thinking in the morning while the crew is still somewhat sleepy and would be disorientated.” Thevius paused to think, “Yes, good time. How will we do it?” He could see Lihran’s smirk as he said, “Leave that to me. I’ve got a plan. Just roll along with it. I’ll start a brawl against Covel and his followers.”

Thevius nodded, stifling a yawn, “As long as you have a plan. I did not formulate one to get us off of here. Just to get on and find you.”  Lihran nodded again and closed his eyes, “Get some sleep, Thevius. We will need it. I’ll watch your back.” To emphasise his words, he pressed the palm of his hand to the other’s back. Thevius tensed briefly, giving a small warning of a non verbal growl. Lihran opened his eyes just to roll them, “Oh for… My hands are staying above the blanket, we have to be a little convincing. We had sleepovers as children together. This isn’t any different.” Thevius muttered incoherantly under his breath. Lihran lifted a hand to try and make Thevius rest his head on his chest, ruffling his hair, “There’s a good little captain, sleepy time now.” Thevius snarked, “I hate you.” He rolled over, turning his back to Lihran to try and get some sleep.

Lihran settled down, shutting his eyes once more. He heaved a sigh, preparing to sleep. After several minutes of laying in silence, he jerked out of his half asleep state, which startled Thevius as well. Thevius whirled around, accidentally elbowing Lihran in the gut. There was whispered swearing at each other. Lihran gasped quietly, “I forgot, Covel has that tracking device that was in my rank pip. We… We will deal with that after some sleep. He knows I am a spy.” 

Thevius muttered, “Dammit, Lihran!”