USS Alsea: In Dispute Part 2

Jureth continued to ponder what might be waiting for them the remainder of their mission as the Alsea followed the lead of the Lleiset until the Romulan ship dropped out of warp on the outskirts of the Unroth System. 

"Captain, the Lleiset is dropping out of warp." Shawn Hunter reported

"Follow suit Mister Hunter, take us to impulse."

"Aye Sir, dropping out of warp." 

Oseno then turned to the two women standing above and behind him at the tactical and science stations.

"Lieutenant Sirus, Cat...sensor readings..what's out there?" 

"Long range sensors are reading multiple vessels, all of Romulan design. Two D'Deridex Class, and multiple Valdore, Mogai, and T'liss class vessels." The Orion science officer replied

"Confirmed," Cat said in support "Multiple targets, all Romulan."

"What is their status?"

"They all appear to be holding station above Unroth IV Sir."

"Sir," Hunter said "The Lleiset is moving into the system."

"Follow them in Lieutenant, stay alert people."

The Alsea moved into the system matching the Lleiset's pace. As they neared the fourth planet the Lleiset broke off and joined one of the three separate formations of vessels that were now occupying the space above the colony. 

"Mister Hunter, put us into a high orbit of Unroth IV." Jureth ordered 

"Aye Sir,"

"Captain we're being hailed," Catherine Steele reported "it's from the colony."

"On Screen."

On the Alsea's viewer appeared an older Romulan male, his once dark hair was tinged with wisps of gray, and what may have once been vibrant green eyes appeared almost dim. His face showed the the toll leadership had taken on him, and he looked almost relieved to see the Federation captain.

"Federation starship, I am Governor Verrek of the Unroth IV colony. Welcome to our suddenly very active corner of space."

"Governor, I am Captain Oseno Jureth of the Federation starship USS Alsea. We are here to investigate your petition on behalf of the United Federation of Planets. You seem to have quite a bit of traffic up here." 

"Indeed Captain. I am sorry I couldn't offer you a more pleasant welcome, but since we sent our petition several parties have taken an interest in us." 

"So it would seem, can you give me any additional information Governor?" 

"I would much rather do so in person Captain, We could meet in my office if you like." 

Jureth did not like the thought of leaving the Alsea with so much potential for sudden violence in the space around her, so he proposed a counter offer.

"Alternatively, we could beam you aboard the Alsea Governor, that way I could ensure our discussion would not be...disturbed." 

"Very well Captain, as you wish."

"Give me a few minutes Governor and we will have you aboard, Oseno out." 

Almost as soon as the governor disappeared from the viewer Cat spoke up again

"Captain, we're being hailed...again." 

"The Governor?"

"No Sir, one of the Romulan vessels." 

"Very well, on screen." 

The face that appeared on the viewer was one the Bajoran instantly recognized. The Romulan woman before him had been hailed as a hero during the incident with Shinzon, a clone of Jean-Luc Picard that had assasinated the Romulan Senate and attempted to take control over the Empire. One Romulan commander and her ship had aided Captain Picard in stopping the would be emperor and now Jureth was looking at her and her eyes practically blazed with anger.

"Federation starship, this is Admiral Donatra of the Romulan Star Empire. Unroth IV is an Imperial Colony, you have no jurisdiction here whatsoever."

"Admiral Donatra, I am Captain Oseno of the starship Alsea, and I'm afraid the Governor has a different opinion. Are you aware he has petitioned the Federation for aid?"

"I am aware of his disloyal petition Captain, but I must insist that this is an internal Imperial matter and that you recuse yourself at once. Doesn't your Prime Directive forbid you from interfering in the internal affairs of another species?"

"Precisely the reason we are here is to determine the nature of the Governor's request and if necessary place the colony under Federation protection."

"You wouldn't dare, I will not permit the Federation to lay claim to a Romulan system." 

"That sounds an awful lot like a threat Admiral."

"I do not make threats Bajoran. My Empress sits in a Federation prison, I have no inclination to grant you the slightest amount of latitude in this matter. I am warning you Captain, do not press me, Donatra out." 

The admiral disappeared from the viewer and Jureth sighed aloud "Well that was interesting." 

"Captain, another hail..."

"Oh great, now what," Jureth muttered before composing himself "On Screen." 

"Greetings Captain, I am Proconsul D'Tan of the Romulan Republic"

"First Proconsul, let me say it is a pleasure to meet you. Your reputation as a pupil of Spock proceeds you" Jureth said  " but I was not aware such a thing as the Romulan Republic existed." 

"We are...still finding our way as a people. We seek that all Romulans live in peace together without the iron hand of Sela and her military." 

"and your mission here is?" 

"We wish for Governor Verrek and his people join us in our quest to unite Romulans in cooperation." 

"You are aware of why I am here?"

"I am, but I hope to persuade the Governor differently and for the Federation to recognize the Republic as a legitimate government."

"Proconsul you must know I don't have that authority." 

"Of course, but your word will carry weight with Starfleet Command, and the Council. But I haven taken enough of your time and should let you attend to your business. I look forward to speaking with you further. D'Tan out." 

With the channel closed Jureth tapped his communicator "Oseno to transporter room one, prepare to beam Governor Verrek from the planet."

"Aye Captain, we are standing by."

Jureth turned to his Tellarite first officer.

"XO, let's go meet the governor. We can walk and talk."

"You mean run and talk," the diminutive and portly Tellarite retorted, jumping down from his seat.

Once they were alone in the turbolift, Sangliar spoke with a gruff tone.

"Ain't it nice for Starfleet to dump us right into the middle of a swirling Romulan Empire. A full ambassadorial staff would have a hard time with this mess we have been trusted in. On one hand, the remnants of that dictatorial empire clawing to keep control over the shreds of it's former glory; on the other hand, an upstart revolutionary group intent of throwing down the old regime for a new one... which might turn out exactly the same as before in the more or less long term, who could tell... And right in the middle, a desperate, isolated world who either wants nothing to do with any of them or trying to play them both against one another for it's own benefit. As for us, we are either shark bait, sword of Damocles or forced witness to this entire dance between politicians, soldiers and revolutionaries. Am I getting all this correctly, Captain Sir?"

"Unfortunately," Oseno replied "you have it exactly correct. What do you think of Donatra? Is she right? Does the Prime Directive prevent us from acting here?"

Before the XO could answer the pair arrived at the transporter room where a security detachment was already waiting for them. Oseno looked at the transporter operator and nodded. 

"Energize." 

The transporter hummed and a moment later the Romulan governor of Unroth appeared in front of them. Oseno motioned to Ensign Allen at the head of the security team who stepped forward and ran a tricorder over the governor before nodding to the Alsea's captain.

"Governor I am Captain Oseno Jureth, welcome aboard the USS Alsea." 

The governor, looked Jureth and the Bajoran could see weariness in the man's features. It seemed as if the man had a great deal on his mind, and Jureth supposed he would too if three factions were individually demanding his attention.

"Thank you Captain. I am grateful for the Federation's response to my petition." 

"I hope we are able to assist you. May I introduce my First Officer Lieutenant Commander Marksus Sangliar." 

"A pleasure I'm sure" Verrek replied with a nod

The Tellarite was about to retort with a most tarditional welcoming jibe when he caught the sudden tension in his commanding officer and bit his lip to nod back without saying a word.

"We can continue this discussion in our main conference room if you'll follow me Governor?"

"Of course Captain." 

The group, along with the security escort, made their way to bridge of the Alsea with little more than small talk along the way. Oseno wanted to save the bulk of the discussion until the were in a private space where he could assure security. As they crossed the bridge to the adjacent conference room Jureth motioned for Sorripto and Catherine Steele to join them. 

"Lieutenant Sirius the bridge is yours." 

"Aye Captain." 

Inside the conference room all the parties took seats around the Alsea's conference table with the Oseno at the head and the governor and LtCdr Sangliar seated on either side of him. 

"Governor, if you would " Jureth began "please tell us a little more about your situation here."

"Of course, as you can see Captain a number of factions within what is left of the Romulan Empire are vying for control over my colony. The truth is, none of them have been interested in us for nearly a decade. Only now that they are in opposition to each other and realize that they need resources do they remember that we even exist. For me Captain, and for my people that is not good enough. We desire only to live in peace. I and many of my people remember the Empire Captain, the real Empire. The Empire that used the Tal Shiar to exert oppressive control over its people. The Empire where citizens disappeared on a regular basis never to be heard from again. I for one do not want to return to those days. Donatra is loyal to Sela who even being a prisoner still exerts her will on the sons and daughters of Romulus. D'Tan and his people are brave, but they do not yet have the means to accomplish what they seek, and the Remans...they seek independence which will certainly lead to war. I knew that transmitting my petition to the Federation would have consequences, but I did not realize exactly how far they would reach. I believe, and many of my people believe that the Federation offers a better alternative to any of the factions I have told you about, but most of you could assure us protection if we joined and we have a great deal to offer for our part."

"Makes sense." Sorripto added.

"The same thing happened to some of the fringe Cardassian colonies directly following the end of the Dominion War."

"Admiral Donatra insists this to be an internal affair, " Oseno replied "If that is the case I believe the Prime Directive may prevent us from interfering." 

Verrek scoffed "Donatra inisits that which is convenient for her. She respects the Federation Captain, but she is Rihannsu and believes Sela only wants what is best for those that survive. In reality, what Sela seeks is control, the same control that has existed for centuries." 

Jureth looked at his staff "Questions?"

"Well, I have one," growled Sangliar.

He shifted his stout but still considerable bulk in his chair to face the Romulan squarely.

"You beleive that we can offer you protection; support maybe... and even possibly establish commercial relations.  That's nice... but consider this. We may no longer be bound by the Prime Directive since you petitionned us to be part of our Federation, at least in regard to contact and establishing relations. But, we are however still bound by the Treaty of the Neutral Zone. Unless you are effectively part of the Federation and specifically send a justified distress call, we cannot cross the zone. Such an action would instantly place both the Federation and the Empire in a state of war. And even under this duty given under general order 6, or better yet, going the long route as we did to get here, such deployment within Romulan territory could be considered by all your fine friends out there as an actual invasion and, again, start an intergalactic war... a war we do not want and that you can ill afford. But I don't think Sela's supporters, nor even this D'Tan or those Remans, would welcome Starfleet ships freely going back and forth within their borders... and the Federation would certainly be wary of any Romulan ship crossing into our territory, which could carry spies, like former Ambassador T'Pel, or should I say Sub Commander Selok... or an invasion force like those alleged reunification Vulcan transports had been...  or weapons of mass destruction like your Late Praetor Shinzon's thalaron projector..."

He now pushed his dark heavily bearded face closer.

"So my question is this; what do you expect us to do here?"

Governor Verrek eyed the Tellarite and then looked at Oseno "Do all Starfleet captains allow their subordinates to speak to visiting diplomats in such a manner?"

Sorripto began to chuckle, but caught himself. His smirk was not as well hidden.

"Only when they have a point Governor" Jureth replied without missing a beat "I'd like to know the answer to that question myself. Starfleet asked me to investigate the situation and I don't have to be Spock to see that this situation is going to require much more attention than one officer will be able to give. She said herself, Admiral Donatra however misplaced her loyalties may be will not allow the Federation to stake a claim in this space. Attempting to do so would mean war as my XO pointed out." 

Verrek sighed "Perhaps I was wrong in thinking the Federation could help my people. I believed and still believe the Federation offers the best chance for us to have a better future, but as you have said there are other forces at play here."

Oseno thought for a moment and then looked at the governor "I am not the one that will make that decision. My mission is to observe and report. If the Federation Council wishes to pursue the matter further that would be their decision to make. I cannot tell you what to do governor, but I can tell you that if you seek a better life there are other options available to you. Proconsul D'Tan.."

"Does not have the strength yet to face Donatra or whoever else replaces Sela." Verrek said interrupting the Alsea's captain

"Maybe not," Jureth concluded "but is sounds to me like he wants many of the same things you do." 

"Perhaps, but I can see I've taken up enough of your time, Captain. You know my position, you now know why I submitted my petition and you see what I am facing. I wish to return to my office now. "

"Very well," Jureth tapped his communicator "Oseno to transporter room. Lock on to the Governor and return him to his office on the surface." 

"Aye Captain," 

A moment later the familiar hum of the transporter wrapped around the governor and he was gone. Jureth looked at his people 

"That man is under a great deal of stress, but you are right XO. We don't have that many options...or any as far as I can see."

Sangliar harumphed.

"Is it me or this Governor of yours just threw up his hands a bit too easily? He petitions us, surely knowing full well what that would imply... and when we tell him plainly the difficulties and consequences of what he proposes, he just shrugs and leaves. Looks to me like he wanted us here just to have a piece to play against the others... or maybe he promised one or all of them something? Something like, I don't know...  Starfleet hostages and a state of the art Federation warship?"

"I considered that XO, but there is an awful lot of firepower out there and the only group with anything to gain from taking us hostage would be Admiral Donatra. If she was planning on something I would think she would have acted by now, but at the same time I don't believe D'Tan would allow her to do so even if she wanted to. Perhaps the governor didn't think his request through before he sent it or maybe he got just what he wanted...our attention. He has a great deal to gain if the Federation decides based on our report to open diplomatic negotiations or even to send a delegation out here. If they don't then his situation is no different than it was before and if I know anything about Romulans I suspect the governor knows which side he supports."

"It is like I mentioned about the fringe colonies a minute ago Captain." Sorripto added.

"Many of them found themselves desperate and cut off, in that kind of situation even the worst deals can seem tempting. We have to assume that they are willing to bend more than a normal negotiation."

Before the discussion could continue any further, the Alsea's alarm klaxon began blaring and Oseno was the first out of his chair and out the door onto the bridge.

"Report!" he snapped at Lieutenant Sirius as the Orion science officer rose from the command chair.

"Captain, sensors have detected an explosion aboard one of the Reman vessels."

"Weapons fire?"

"Not from any of the ships Sir, at the least the sensors say it wasn't." 

"Keep our shields up, no weapons," Jureth ordered as Catherine Steele returned to the tactical station. 

"Aye Sir," 

"Open a general channel." 

"Open Captain," 

"Reman vessel, this is Captain Oseno Jureth of the USS Alsea, do you require assistance?" 

"The lead Reman vessel is signaling they have the damage contained...it's a text only message Sir." 

"I have a bad feeling about this." Jureth said to no one in particular. 

"It's more than just a feeling to me," Sangliar grumbled, looking at the screen warily. "This entire situation here is a fueled warp core waiting to breach and this would be one spark too many. It can't be just a coincidence or an accident,"

"Perfect time for a bomb. Anyone who wants to disrupts things knows full well that now is a good time." Sorripto noted.

"Aye," the Tellarite said somberly. "And between dissident Romulans, Republican Romulans, Imperial Romulans and us, who do you think is going to get accused first?"

"I think I already know the answer to that" Oseno replied "Cat, push out an update to Lotus Fleet and Starfleet Command appraising them of our situation." 

"Aye Sir." 

In the moments that followed Lieutenant Steele composed the requested report as a burst message, but when she tried to send it the computer beeped defiantly at her.

"Captain, I can't send the message. Our communications are being actively jammed." 

"Standard Romulan battle procedure, can you locate the source?" 

"Not conclusively, but if I had to guess I'd bet it's Donatra's ship." 

Oseno nodded "keep our shields up and rotate our modulation, I don't want anyone trying to beam through. Mister Sorripto, see if you can find a way to punch through the jamming." 

Jureth had barely given the order when Cat spoke up again

"Captain we're being hailed, it's Admiral Donatra." 

"On Screen."

The scowling face of the Imperial Romulan admiral appeared on the Alsea's main viewer and her eyes seemed as if they'd burn through Jureth's own.

"Terrorists!" Donatra said her voice full of anger

Jureth stood up and approached the forward consoles as he responded "Admiral, none of my crew has left the Alsea, there is no possible way we could have been involved in the explosion on the Reman vessel." 

"No? Then how do you explain the remains of Federation technology at the site of the explosion? How do you explain the saboteur confessing to being in league with D'Tan and his revolt? Tell me Captain, how? The Remans have requested my assistance in resolving this matter and I am holding YOU accountable Captain. You will lower your shields and prepare to receive an investigative team from my ship. Your ship will be searched and you will be detained."

"That's not going to happen," Oseno replied "You have no grounds for your accusations and you've shown me no evidence that would give you that kind of authority." 

"I expected that's what you would say Captain, and since you refuse to cooperate I have no choice but to detain you here. You will not leave this system until either you cooperate or the Federation agrees to a prisoner exchange. Do not attempt to leave orbit or I will have no choice but to fire on your ship. Donatra out."

The admiral disappeared from the screen and Oseno turned to Cat "Lieutenant, get your people together and sweep this ship from stem to stern and port to starboard. We are being set up here and I want to make sure we don't have our own saboteur on board." 

Jureth then looked at his XO "I hate being right...now we need a way out of this." 

"I knew I should have stayed in my comfy little tech lab on Starbase Lotus," the Tellarite grumbled, pinching his stout, large nose between two stubby, thick fingers. "Well, for one thing, the Alsea getting away could be done with a little trickery on our part, thanks to all the nifty capabilities of this ship. Getting away from giving an excuse for interstellar war however, that is something else. I can suggest an escape plan, Captain Sir, but not a solution to this imbroglio."

"This what?" wondered Hunter.

"This melting pot of lies and trickery. Don't you know your own human language?" shot back Sangliar.

"I speak Galactic Standard, Commander, not old languages."

"Then how come I do?"

"Because... you're old?"

The Tellarite guffawed.

"Well, Captain Sir, at least ship morale is still good."

Oseno did not share in the joviality, his mind was trying to figure out a diplomatic solution to the events unfolding in front of him but diplomacy was not his specialty even after having dealt with the Undine. 

"Keep your escape plan handy XO, but I want to find out what Donatra's game is. Cat, can we get in touch with Proconsul D'Tan, maybe we can at least even the odds here." 

She shook her head in dismay "Sir, with the amount of jamming coming from the Romulans I couldn't even say hi if I wanted to." 

"What about something other than subspace? Captain Kheren has used older forms of communication when subspace was not an option. Can we do the same?" 

"Sure...but we'd have to find a way to make sure they were paying attention." 

"I'm open to suggestions." 

"Well," Sangliar said after a moment," the Romulans arre certainly not jamming themselves."

Cat Steele looked at him with blinking eyes that suddenly became huge.

"You're not suggesting..."

"They do have subspace emitters too, no?"

"A commando infiltration to seize one of their emitters?" On their ship?" Shawn Hunter voiced with obvious disbelief.

"Ah, Humans... always eager to sneak around and fight and roar and bleed... "

The Tellarite turned towards Oseno.

" If you really want to play Andorian with them, one less guarded or more vulnerable to a covert operation to borrow a transmitter if is what you prefer? Or, maybe... isn't there someone in this jolly band of non-imperials who would be interested in helping us and thus gain a favor from us? "

"The governor..." Oseno replied "D'Tan could stand to gain from it, but I don't know if he'll risk angering Donatra. The governor on the other hand has nothing to lose by helping us. He obviously has a long distance subspace array, and it's not being jammed by Donatra as far as we know.  We would just need to get a team on the planet long enough to contact the Proconsul and push out a report to Starbase Lotus. Surely there is an encryption we can use that Donatra can't listen in on."

"So I guess that means going down with Sorripto for the encryption and Steele for safety," Sangliar decided, assuming his XO responsibilities with a short sigh. "Now, a transporter beam would be detected and even more easily a shuttlecraft. How are we going to get down there undetected?"

"Donatra is close enough we may be able to use a deflector pulse to blind their sensors long enough to beam you down," Oseno suggested "I could explain it away as a malfunction." 

"We would have to rotate the frequency fast enough for the pulse to appear random." Sorripto added.

"I can do that, and then we can beam down during the flash it will cause."

"I will send a technician to start fudging with the deflector to have those eagle-eyed Romulans take a note that there might be something wrong with it," the chief engineer acknowledged. "They will be less suspicious if we scratch our paint a little with orbital debris before we deal with some... temporary failure. At the same time, I will have our shield emitters fluctuate, just enough so that it will appear that we will be vulnerable for just an instant; not long enough for them to exploit but long enough so that they would dismiss any voluntary action of our part. They would not beleive we would risk ourselves like that in their presence. They certainly wouldn't."

He turned to face Oseno.

"Captain, they would expect us to try something. I suggest that we launch a buoy to have them beleive we are trying to get help; in fact, let's send an actual encrypted log buoy. They will either destroy it or more likely grab it to pick it apart... which could help us defend our cause if they think that they will get the truth out of our own reports."

He smiled crookedly, glancing at the other ships on the screen.

"Might even prove more distracting... and... interesting, if they all try to grab it and start to compete over it. I know Romulans; they just love secrets."

"That should work Captain." Sorripto added. "If we log the database and code from the buoy it should also allow us to prove if any of the recorded information was tampered with... In case they try and alter any readings to fit a narrative."

"Trust a Cardassian to distrust and outfox even Romulans," Markus said with a grin.

Oseno nodded.

"Let's make it happen people. Let me know when you're ready and we will have all our pieces in place before we move."  

"One hour tops, Captain Sir," the Tellarite assured him, jumping down from his chair and motionning to Sorripto.