Flight to the Undine ship

 S'Tan stood as the Captain left the room. Turning to Baoule, he spoke out.

"Mister Baoule, It took me four months to learn how to say your name. Don't let this battleship imp--explode. I'd hate to have wasted my time."

"Not to worry, Sir," the bald black-skinned human answered with his trademark smile. "I wrote a ship's loss technical report once and it took me four damn months to do so."

The Romulan engineer turned towards the turbolift and proceeded to his quarters. He had twelve minutes to code a virus. So he sat down at his terminal and started writing the program which, he prayed, would shut down the Undine vessel and transmit it to any nearby enemy ships. He could only hope that the Undine systems were similar enough to infect. The program would enter through an innocent system, like audio processing, and proceed imbed itself silently in all systems until called upon to cripple the vessel. It would take hours, if not days, to repair it's damage.

With only a few minutes to spare, he ran out of his quarters, dress uniform hastily thrown on, PADD in hand, and walked to the shuttlebay.

No surprise, Somers and the captain were already there, discussing final security preparations with Lieutenant Moore, the exhuberant and easy-going pilot that on the Horizon was second only to chief helmsman Aguk Snow in talent, expertise and experience. As the Romulan approached the conical form of one of the two Delta Flyer shuttles aboard the flagship , he could pick up the end of their conversation.

"No weapons, Lieutenant Somers ?" was wondering the pilot with a frown, looking at the captain with dubious eyes. "I know this is to be a diplomatic flight but..."

"Exactly," answered the taller red-haired woman. "These are Undines. The core of their belief is that the weak is unworthy to live; if we come to them armed, it will be an admission of fear, therefore of mental weakness born of physical inferiority and thus of our unworthiness. It will doom these talks from the start."

"Like Klingons," understood Moore although still a bit worried. "You insult them by showing you do not consider them enough of a threat to bring weapons at the bargaining table. Still..."

"Lieutenant Somers' recommendation is a valid one," added Kheren with a reassuring nod. "But we are not going there without a few precautions. That is why you will stay on board the Dusk to whisk us out at the first sign of trouble... and why our friendly neighborhood doctors have given us these subdermal transponders. You will be able to beam us back to the shuttle even through their organic hull."

"Moreover, we are not totally defenseless," pointed out Somers looking at her commanding officer. "In Human form, Undines are physically not much better than the average Human; in that shape, what hurts us hurts them."

S'Tan walked up to the group and motioned to his ceremonial honor sword on his hip. "We will not be defenseless on the Undine ship. I consider this part of my Dress Uniform, and it has been used to spear a human once or twice." 

"What about their mental powers?" now asked Moore only half-convinced.

"Lieutenant-Commander K'Leysha said that she will extend her mental shielding protocol to us while we are over there," answered Somers with a very clinical tone. In this she had no more experience than any of them and had to rely entirely on the Science Chief. "This will also apparently ensure that we may also stay further in contact with the ship."

"Not mine, Lieutenant." Snowfire spoke softly as she approached the shuttle, coming like all the others from her quarters. She'd taken a bit longer to get ready though, the IDF dress uniform was rather more elaborate then that of Starfleet. And the Treaty mandated a fusion of the two that was almost more complex. It was still unmistakeably Starfleet in its colours - barring of course the white in the place of a unit code - but the cut was very different. Designed for swift movement in a way that even the most advanced form fitting clothing couldn't quite match.

"Not mine," she repeated, a slender black-skinned hand indicating the ship around them. "The Aegis is formed from the strength of almost every Gifted aboard this vessel, to call it mine would be to dismiss their strength. It is a fragment of that which I shall carry around us all into the Undine vessel, and that shall protect us from any attempt to influence our minds." She smiled, the expression incredibly calm. "In a very real sense, I will carry a microcosm of the strength of the very Federation. That is our shield." She looked to Moore. "Does that settle your concerns, Lieutenant Moore?"

"I guess it will have to do, beside, if they ever did read my mind we'd know it by the 'cringe factor' on their faces." And wiggled his eyebrows up and down in a suggestive way.

"And our chief engineer is bringing in a Greek within our horse," said the captain as the Romulan joined them. "Your... safeguard is ready, Lieutenant Solius?"

The Romulan gave a dark smile to the group. "Indeed. I will attempt to deploy it as soon as we land and I can get near a computer. Once I run some scans, of course. Wouldn't want to trigger any alarms. I just need some alone time with their computers. Their Computer Core would be best...but most difficult to get to undetected. Especially if this Undine is 'attached' to the ship, as we believe. But at worst, anything with wires that's connected to the main systems will do. It will just take longer to install."

It had been a long time since he needed to play cloak and dagger, he licked his lips in excitement. Usually, it was his own ship he was infecting, to make fellow engineers look bad when repairs would fail to correct issues...but this? This was actual covert operations. Excellent.

Moore make a *snerk* sound. "Good idea, and when they figure out were trying to sabotage their computer we can always blame it on the Romulans." He paused and made a thoughtful face "Yep, can't see how that might go wrong."

"Hence Mister Moore, Mister Solius, why we will keep this in reserve unless and until we need to do it," said Kheren with a stern tone, looking at the chief engineer  with a look that invited no discussion. "And also why I asked Lieutenant Blakely and Lieutenant Skon to come and stay with our pilot to back us."

As he spoke, the powerful-looking Vulcan security officer and the tall blonde engineer were coming up to them. Both were in standard uniform, like Moore, and both also brought the tools of their trade; Skon was in battle armor with a tricorder, a phaser rifle, a hand phaser and stun grenades; Blakely was in an engineering suit with a hand phaser of her own and a complete engineering toolkit including a technical tricorder. The captain greeted them with a nod before continuing.

"Lieutenant Somers, you will brief en route Lieutenant Skon about rescue and retrieval operation in what little we know about Undine ships. Lieutenant Solius, you will do the same with Lieutenant Blakely about your program and how to possibly use it in a bioship' systems."

The blonde woman smiled at both the ship's commanding officer and her chief but her voice was all business.

"As far as we know, Sir, Undine vessels do not have any wiring as we understand it; but certainly there is some manner of transmitting data throughout the vessel, especially if there is but one occupant in such a large thing. Once docked to it, we should be able to get some readings. They certainly won't be surprised of offended if we do so then; after all, we meet to learn about one another no? We will have to adapt... or improvise... but we'll find a way."

"See that you do," the Andorian retorted, "but only if it becomes necessary and not before."

Then, when Oseno Jureth and ambassador Yiral finally joined them, he addressed everyone.

"This is a diplomatic mission; and here, we are the United Federation of Planets. Regardless of their telepathic ability being thwarted or not, we go in with caution... but we go in with integrity and the true spirit of universal brotherhood that is the very foundation of our Federation. We go and meet them with only the sincere intention of establishing lasting peace and true friendship with them. Do I make myself clear, people?"

S'Tan saluted his superior, "Aye Sir."

Nodding to the Romulan and sharing a look with each and everyone in turn, Kheren boarded the Dusk with his away team in tow. Moore went straight to the pilot seat and started pre-flight procedures while Oseno was offered the tactical station behind and to the left of Moore while K'Leysha occupied the Ops and Sensors one on the opposite side of the Bajoran's. Solius was left with the chair beside the technical and engineering console turned around right behind the Yllithirii science chief, leaving Captain Kheren to stand between all of them as there was no other station left. There were folding seats available in the rest of the cockpit which the others, Yiral, Skon and Blakely used, but the Andorian prefered to stand, his partly insectoid physiology making him immune to tiredness, cramps or discomfort even in long periods of immobility.

Snowfire opened a channel on sign from her commanding officer after he himself got a nod from Moore.

"Horizon, this is Dusk. Pre-flight procedures completed. Request permission to depart."

"Permission granted; good luck, Dusk."

The voice of flight control officier Sheeneea was heard throughout the ship and up to the bridge. And so was relayed that of Moore.

"Engaging thrusters, clearing shuttlebay 1 in ten seconds... We have cleared shuttlebay 1, en route to destination."

Snowfire reached out with her mind, projecting a message into a mind she had come to be able to recognise quite well; her only equal aboard the Horizon, Counselor Lyrya.

"I pass to you our shield of adamant, to hold and to be. Watch over our home."

"Aegis fully active and operational; you proceed with our full cover protection... and all our hopes."

"I carry it with me, Counselor." Was Snowfire's gently reply, behind it the feeling of a parent's smile. "Look to your duty, in holding the Horizon. And trust me to look to mine." The next words held all of the power of an oath. "I will not fail."

At full impulse, it took barely a few minutes to cross the millions of kilometers between the two huge vessels. As they approched the rear end of the Undine ship, they flew in between it's immensely long tentacle-like protursions until they came near the bulbous front part of the gigantic greenish hull. That's when the captain made a sign to Oseno to open a ship to ship channel.

"Undine vessel, this is Captain Kheren on board the shuttlecraft Dusk with the diplotic delegation of the United Federation of Planets coming as per your request. We request permission to dock."

There were a few seconds of silence then, through the canopy of their cockpit, they all saw several hundred meters away an opening forming withni the hull expanse right where the tentacled spires emerged to stretch and expand towards and around them. It looked like it simply appeared as a rip in the very fabric of the hull and expanded in a circular pattern to open access to a glowing yellowish cavity within the ship.

"Anyone else suddenly remembers the tale of Jonah?" grumbled Moore as his hands gripped his controls as if he wanted to jerk them away from the mawing aperture.

"I remember that Jonah got out," said Blakely from far behind him.

"Hope somebody listens to you too, lady," Moore retorted glumily.

And then they were inside.

As the Delta Flyer settled gently on her skids, they felt for a moment as if the whole shuttle was sinking. Then before they had even fully realized that first feeling came taht of rebounding up again to settle comfortable on a strange grey-green surface, surrounded by arching green walls under darker greenish arched columns between wich pulsed on each side a single row of yellowish bulbs.

The computer confirmed that outside the hull, conditions were quickly stabilizing to standard Terran norms; oxygen-nitrogen compound, 1G gravity, 1 atmospheric pressure, 15 degrees Celsius.

"Mister Moore, you will be skipper here while we are gone. Keep our sails unfurled and the ship on a floating anchor," ordered Kheren as everyone else made their preparations to disembark. "Ensign S'Kon, you keep watch and listen at all times to our open channels on our transponder frequencies so that those walls will not completely silence us. Lieutenant Blakely, keep your finger over the transporter button and your eyes on our transponder signals."

"Aye, Sir," the three of them answered together.

"The rest of you...let us go meet our new friend."

And so saying, he let Somers open the hatch and secure the way for him to lead them all to their rendez-vous.

As the team left Moore looked smugly at his two companions.

"See that? he left me in charge of the house while he's gone. The man knows leadership potential when he see's it."

"Indeed, Mister Moore," answered the Vulcan security officer with a very straight face. "This is a good opportunity for you to start to learn something."

At least Patricia Blakely's muffled giggle told that someone found it funny.