The Great Starship Robbery

Posted on 03/05/2021 @ 1:15pm by Captain Kheren & Captain Syntron & Captain Oseno Jureth & Captain Vir'ell Gould & Commander David Rogers & Lt. Commander Sorripto
Edited on on 03/16/2021 @ 5:41pm

Mission: Men Of Good Conscience
Location: Starbase Lotus, USS Lotus
Timeline: 88695.8

 Starbase security would not be alarmed at a failure of sensors and cameras in this area of the immense Capitol class station. This was a low level maintenance area for storage of discarded equipement but a few noncoms would even be aware of, let alone concerned with. It was in the oldest part of the former Starbase 10 structure; before it had been refitted to 25th century specs following Operation Horizon. Some of the systems here dated back as far as early 23rd century and had not been prioritized at all during refit. Glitches and failures in minor circuits and old duotronic systems were quite unsurprising here.

It suited Kheren just fine.

The Andorian had been working in this exact spot when the Romulans had attacked Lotus Fleet's then brand new HQ, years ago. Doing some inspection in a thruster suit as part of his training as a senior cadet in Starfleet security, the initial brunt of the attack had almost sent him carening into space. It is through this very small maintenance hangar that he had managed to return safely inside the base and proceed to join Starfleet officers working to regain control of the station.

He was not yet a Starfleet officer back then; he was a Starfleet officer no longer. Somehow, he felt it was kind of poetic that it all could end where it all began.

Inside that diminutive, low-powered, barely heated, forgotten cargo bay, he found the old workbee he had restored and used for his first foray to the Lotus. A thorough check confirmed to him that no one had been here since he had. The small crab-like maintenance vehicle had enough seats for two people in spacesuits; ample space for two in civilian clothing. Prudently, he positionned himself in the shadows near the emergency hatch to wait for Syntron to arrive. This way, if by some misfortune a security guard or technician would find him here, he would pretend being here only out of nostalgia for his early days in his career, now all but over. No one would fault him for that or be surprised and suspicious. And there was nothing anyone could imagine he could do from here to compromise anything on the base anyway.

He hadn't told either Tyvya nor Lyrya what he intended to do; and fortunately, his recent experience as an Undine had forever altered his brain pattern, to the point that telepaths even as powerful as his Aenar wife couldn't even detect it, let alone read it. They were not happy when he asked them to book a private leisure flight in the nearby star system and that he would not be with them. They knew, most of all Tyvya, his former chief of security, that he was using them to cover up some ''pirate scheme'' as she put it.

But in the end, they relented when he convinced them it was for the greater good; just like his resignation.

And so, everyone in the universe would simply assume that he was, since this morning, gone with his two wives in a chartered civilian runabout to tour nearby space for the next seventy-two hours; everyone but Syntron of course. The Vulcan would be the only one to know he was here; waiting for him in the dead of night to steal a starship.

Pirate scheme indeed.

Jureth knew that rousing Fleet Captain Samji before the normal start of his day probably would not win the himself any favors, but it was a risk he needed to take. He had home up with the exact story he would feed Lotus Fleet's commander in order to get him to approve the access request for the Lotus. Once he was aboard the venerable vessel it would be an easy task to slip into some unused corridor and transport Sorripto aboard. In fact catching Samji early in his day was a very calculated part of the plan. So he made his way to the senior officer's quarters and rang the annunciator. When the door opened a very groggy looking Samji, still in sleep clothes, looked at Jureth with both surprise and frustration on his face.

"Captain, do you know what time it is?" 

"I apologize if I woke you Sir, but I think you'll understand why." 

"This better be good Oseno." 

"Sir, I need you to approve access to the Lotus for me." 

"The Lotus? Why?"

This was the part Jureth had planned and rehearsed several times in his ready room on the Alsea. He needed Samji to buy every line of his premise so he took a second to compose himself before replying.

"Well, with all of the parts shortages that we've had I think I can use the transwarp drive prototype installed on the Lotus to speed up getting the Alsea ready for the mission." 

"So you want to take the transwarp drive from the Lotus and fit it on your ship?" 

"Yes Sir, or at least explore the possibility." 

Samji shook his head "It's so crazy it might just work." the Hindu man replied "Fine, I'll approve it as soon as I get to Ops." 

"No need Sir," Jureth said producing a PADD and offering it to Samji.

The Fleet Captain took it entered his authorization code and handed it back to Jureth. 

"Approved, now go away Captain. I don't want to see or hear you again until I've had my Raktajino." 

Jureth smiled "Thank you Sir." 

That went better than planned Jureth thought as he walked away from the door. He moved quickly through the mostly empty early morning corridors of Starbase Lotus taking a turbolift back  to the appropriate level and cutting through the promenade area to save himself time before entering another turbolift to get back to the docking area. He had sent Sorripto a coded message informing the Cardassian of his plan the night before so Jureth hoped that once he was aboard the Lotus his accomplice would be ready. Of course he'd made no mention to Cat of any of this, the less she knew the better for her when the time came. 

As he came to the Lotus berth he was met by the two security officers almost immediately. They were not the same two officers he'd encountered during his recon pass two days earlier. The more senior of the two was a brown-haired, human lieutenant junior grade who stopped Jureth in his tracks.

"Stop right there Sir, please identify yourself." 

Jureth almost smiled, the young officer was addressing him using a voice that all security officers perfected. It was polite and calm, but firm all at the same time intended to put the subject at ease but also let them know that the security officer mean business.

"Captain Oseno Jureth, USS Alsea." 

The second officer, also human, was a fresh-faced enlisted man bearing a petty officer's rank insignia. He produced a tricorder from his belt and scanned Jureth before nodding to his partner. The lieutenant relaxed his posture a bit once the identification was confirmed.

"How can we help you Sir?"

"I have approved access to the Lotus from the Fleet Captain himself." 

Jureth handed the officer the PADD and the lieutenant looked at it for a moment before handing it back. 

"Yes Sir, follow us and we'll unlock the airlock for you." 

Jureth trailed behind the two men examining his surroundings and making sure that no extra security had been added. As they approached the airlock the lieutenant keyed in an access code and the door opened to the access tube.

"All yours Captain," the lieutenant said with a smile "maintenance crews won't even be here for another hour so you'll pretty much have her to yourself." 

"Thank you Lieutenant, have a good day." 

"You too Sir." 

Jureth walked quickly up through the access tube and emerged into a dimly lit corridor that he recognized immediately. A decommissioned ship had no reason to have full power to it, but even though it had been a long time since he'd been aboard  when he was the ship's chief of security Jureth had memorized her deck layout. He knew exactly where he was despite the lack of lighting and exactly where he needed to go. He made a right from the main airlock and entered the nearest turbolift which the computer told him was the only one that had power to it. 

"Engineering deck." He commanded.

From the main airlock the ride to the Lotus engineering deck was short and the security officer had been correct, there was no one else aboard the Lotus yet. All the security was external to the ship. That seemed like an oversight to the Bajoran but at the same time what need was there for security on a locked down and decomissioned vessel? As he stepped out of the turbolift Jureth pulled the device Sorripto had given him and placing it on the deck he activated it. 

The green beam of a transporter apperared before Jureth as Sorripto materialized in front of him. The Cardassian was wearing what appeared to be a heavily modified engineer work jumpsuit, carrying the bags he had pulled out in the lab and, most notably, he was wearing the holster and carrying the phaser pistol he produced in the lab. Sorripto meant business and was dressed for the part. He nodded to Jureth and smiled.

"Shall we?"

Sorripto quickly looked around got his bearings for the ship. He tilted his head as if to say follow me and proceeded towards engineering. He paused at the entrance to main engineering and looked back at Jureth.

"This is the point of no return Captain. You follow me in here and you are a criminal in the eyes of the Federation Council."

Jureth nodded "The Council has brought this upon themselves. I regret nothing." 

Sorripto nodded and the two of them entered engineering. Sorripto hurried quickly towards a section of panels and cabling a few feet away from the second level of the warp core. He dropped his tool bags and, with a speed Jureth had never seen from an engineer, removed panels and unhooked several of the cables in front of them. Sorripto pulled out a device which looked the transporter pin he gave Jureth and placed it on the ground. Checking a time piece he waited a moment and just as it beeped he activated the site to site transporter and a small pile of components and pieces appeared. Seeing that Jureth appeared confused Sorripto smiled.

"I will replace what we steal with these components. They have been designed to generate the same power signatures and readings as the pieces we will need for the transwarp drive. It is not a perfect system, but we will be long gone before anyone notices the error. Assuming they do not immediately check here first when they realize a ship without one has a transwarp drive now."

Jureth looked at the components,looked at Sorripto, and shrugged "if you say so, I"m a tactical officer"

"Like I said, not perfect" Sorripto replied.

Getting back to work Sorripto removed cables and several smaller and secondary components replacing them with the pieces he beamed over. He continued to work with haste removing and swapping out components before he had a second small pile of stolen pieces. Just as quickly as he opened the panels Sorripto closed everything up looked at his work and smiled.

"Now for the fun part" he said to himself.

Walking over to a control panel on the adjoining station Sorripto entered a few commands and the largest panel piece opened. In view was the central transwarp drive mechanism itself. It was y shaped with a large disk at the bottom and two square components on each of the forks. It was just over a meter from top to bottom, but was thick and covered in components and connections. Sorripto grabbed the final two pieces he beamed over and connected them. They made a rudimentary y shape and he handed it to Jureth.

"Hold this please"

Sorripto then began to carefully disconnect the couplings and very slowly removed the transwarp drive. Despite being strong Sorripto struggled under the weight. He placed the transwarp drive down next to the rest of the looted components and then grabbed his device from Jureth. Quickly reconnecting it Sorripto reached for one last piece. It appeared to be about the size of a tricorder, but was black and covered in green lights. Sorripto looked at it with pride and smiled. He connected the device to the shunt he installed and activated it. He looked over to Jureth.

"Wait for it." Sorripto said with an almost braggin tone.

Before Jureth could respond the item Sorripto connected blinked, activated and instantly the entire assembly turned into the transwarp drive Sorripto had just removed. It was a holographic projection like the fake experiments in his laboratory. Walking over to the same work station Sorripto entered a few commands and the primary hatch closed. Walking over to Jureth Sorripto removed his combadge and replaced it with one from his pocket.

"I will gather these and prep them in the lab. When you need me again tap your combadge twice. It works on the standard Starfleet frequency and it is coded to you, but I am piggybacking on that for just us."

Reaching into his other pocket Sorripto handed Jureth two more combadges and handed them to Jureth

"If there is anyone else you trust to talk to me give them this. Remember press it twice to talk on our frequency"

"Understood," the Bajoran replied taking the badges and slipping them into his pocket.

With that Sorripto gathered the components and tagged them each with his scanner. Activating a few buttons Sorripto and the missing components transported away in a dark green transporter beam. Jureth now stood alone in engineering witness to the theft of a transwarp drive.

With the Cardassian and the parts gone Jureth headed back the way he'd come not in any particular hurry as he was still relatively certain he was the only soul aboard the Lotus. 

                                                                       *          *          *

Stealthily arriving to the designated low level maintenance area of the storage facility, Syntron slinked around the neglected cargo bay until he found the small maintenance vehicle. He could see the shadowy silhouette of the Andorian in the dim light waiting besides the diminutive worker bee and continued his journey towards it.

“I espied Captain Jureth heading towards the USS Lotus as I was traveling to this rendezvous point,” the Vulcan announced calmly despite comprehending the ramifications of that disclosure. “This may complicate our plans significantly depending on the reason for and the duration of his visit.” 

Kheren growled something in Graalek even the universal translator could not decipher; most assuredly profanities programmers felt unbecoming of a Starfleet officer.



''As I feared; Jureth is requisitionning the Lotus transwarp drive for the Alsea! We must hurry!''

Hurrying in a workbee however was a contradiction in term; especially when you had to fly a circuitous flight pattern to avoid both starbase sensors and traffic, not to mention any window from the base itself or any vessel docked outside. Kheren had planned this route carefully, but he had not taken into account that he would be racing against time. The small cabin of their maintenance vehicle was filled with the fruity aroma of his sweat when they finally docked to the Lotus herself. 

Like a torpedo, he bolted and used his intimate security knowledge of the ship he had first served on to gain access. It was a backup programming in the ultrasonic Andorian language no one could have activated even if one had been capable of finding it; and removing it would have activated the entire security grid of the ship. He had implemented this in the happenstance of some take over of the ship, like what had happened to Starbase 10 back then; he never thought he would be the one to do the take over.

In an instant, they were aboard, in the lowest section of main engineering, through a maintenance and spare parts cargo bay. He ran to the nearest engineering computer and plugged in Rogers programming into it from his PADD. If they could take full control of the ship immediately through automation, maybe they could prevent...

A warning signal flashed on the computer screen.

'' Computer, report!''

'' Full automation can not be completed according to specifications input.''

 '' Explain!''

 '' Some key systems have been altered.''

 ''The transwarp drive has been removed.''

''Affirmative.''

 He was not asking the computer, just thinking outloud. The untranslatable expletive was heard again.

''Computer; are there any other sentient life forms aboard beside the two in this specific cargo bay?'' 

'' Affirmative; there is one sentient life form present in main engineering's central access.'' 

''Identify!'' 

'' Jureth Oseno, Captain, commanding officer of the...'' 

Kheren was not even listening anymore. He looked at Syntron with antennae lowered. 

''I believe a Vulcan neck pinch is in quick order my friend.'' 

 A brow subtly raised on the Vulcan’s stoic visage as Kheren made the contentious proposal.

“No honor among thieves I would presume,” he responded almost in a jesting tone as he processed how this endeavor was leading deeper into this role of an apparent lawless former Starfleet officer. 

Kheren sighed. 

''Well we are the only thieves here. Jureth has all legal authority to do what he did. And we must stop him, or we will fail before we even start. Hurry my friend. Your way will be less... damaging than mine and I respect Jureth too much to hurt him... unless there is no choice left. Too much is at stake. Hurry!'' 

Rogers had a dilemma! 

At the outset of his week the entire station had gone into lockdown. And while he had been able to determine through scuttle-butt that the return of the Alsea from a simple cadet training cruise had precipitated the complete censure of almost any and all information available through channels, David had been unable to determine what exactly had happened and why there was practically no dissemination of reason's why everyone was so closed mouthed about the shut down of the base.

 All he did know for sure was the surprising and utterly unheard-of resignation of two Lotus Fleet captains. And the only one he had been able to talk to had actually talked to him first. And had requested assistance in automating a starship; of which he was known to be an expert on! At least in the higher echelon of Star Fleet.

So now, David prowled about the bowels of the station, avoiding everyone as he could, and endeavored to satiate his gnawing curiosity. Why the lockdown? Why would the Andorian need to know how to automate the Lotus? And Rogers knew it had to be the Lotus because of the very specifics of the automation files he had forwarded to Kheren. So the obvious line of inquiry would seem to be; What was the uniqueness of the updated Intrepid class USS Lotus that eliminated all other ships at the base? And being the engineer that he was David had narrowed that uniqueness to the Lotus's drive; or rather, her special drive; functional Transwarp capable drive!

 Further thoughts proved valuable just for the unique reason that someone wanted a automated, transwarp capable ship. Go somewhere fast! And alone! And that revelation gave Rogers his dilemma.

 For once before someone had needed to go somewhere fast and alone. And with that someone being himself, at the time, David thought further that a station lockdown, coupled with the recent clandestine request of his files, led to a conclusion that whatever the emergency introduced by the Alsea arrival had prompted a division in the top ranks of the base. So if two of the highest ranked captains of the fleet had resigned, and Fleet Captain Samji still had the station in blackout, then David himself needed to see why. And also to see what he could do about any of this.

So Rogers was in computer core maintenance, deck 245, 60 decks below the Lotus. At this time there was no one around except Delta shift, a small overseer group of maintenance staff, along with a pair of roving security. And they were bored. David was out of sight and tapped into the main power umbilical to the Lotus with his padd, which silently lit up with new information after twenty minutes of normal operation. The Lotus had just registered a power fluctuation that shouldn't have occured at this hour. Small fluctuations in power were occuring to the drive systems on the ship. Very subtle and minute disruptions. If David had to guess, someone was performing maintenance checks on the Lotus' main engineering systems.

David hastily grabbed his padd off the small shelf and entered a trace algorithm. It traced the power track to the ships transwarp drive mechanism. Very low, almost indetectable power fluctuations gave an impression that the mechanism was losing and regaining power.

But who would be removing and installing components on the transwarp drive at this hour?, David thought. Kheren wanted to automate the ship, not work on the drive!

 Suddenly, the padd emitted a sharp, low cheep and the screen lit up with a red warning. Power had been interrupted to the Beta computer core. David leaned in a read the contents. 

''' Full automation can not be completed according to specifications input.''

 "Fvadt!"

David quickly reached into the maintenance panel and rapidly entered commands. He quickly assigned the security warning that the system was generating to a non-priority file to ensure it wouldn't trigger an audible alarm up top. David couldn't erase the warning but, unless someone, at this late hour, was physically looking at the screen in security on deck 39, no one would see the alarm until later. Hopefully much later.

Rogers quickly disconnected from the umbilical and exited into the maintenance hallway. No one was in sight. With a measured sigh, and wiping a small sheen of sweat of his brow, David exited core maintenance and made for the nearest turbo lift. He knew where Kheren was at the moment. And he knew someone needed a quick lesson about hiding power fluctuations in a line.

 David also knew that this someone wasn't a former captain rank Andorian tactical officer.

 At this same moment, said former tactical officer was using the ship's computer, internal sensors and security logs to find out what happened and who did what. What he found was as disturbing as it was astonishing.

 Nothing.

In fact, the ship's security record even showed Jureth while on board after proper security clearance seemingly went into engineering, did nothing then just presently came back out. And yet, something had interfered with the automation process regarding the transwarp drive which, by all data, was still there and at nominal status. To Kheren, this nonsense clearly showed something did happen.

''Computer; calculate how long it would take for one technician to remove safely the transwarp assembly; correlate with how long Captain Jureth has been on board. Do they match?'' 

''94.7% match.'' 

There were not that many people that could so utterly fool Starfleet security measures; especially Lotus Fleet. Kheren himself was a top expert, and he admitted to himself that even he couldn't have pulled that one off; at least not this clean and confusing way. And that person would also need to be a competent engineer; or have one as an accomplice.

So who did it?

Jureth...

Jureth had a strangely similar career to Kheren and the same training and expertise, just slightly less experience. He could not have pulled this off either. But he might know who did. 

No; He DOES know...

The Andorian awaited eagerly for his Vulcan accomplice to bring him back. There were many questions that needed answers.

Syntron was striving to make sense of those recent events as they transpired, but things were not adding up logically as expected. He turned to the Andorian.

“Something seems awry with the methodology of Captain Jureth’s actions. Perhaps he has a rationale for how he is proceeding, or could it be that he has derived an alternative plan?”

The question hung in the air for a moment as he ran a scanner before the silence was broken.

“I have Jureth’s location pinpointed. Should we confront the Bajoran on exactly what he is planning to do and how?'' 

''Jureth is a Starfleet officer; and the task force commander. It is clear what he is planning; he wants to go scout while the rest of the fleet prepares for the attack. It is his right to requisition the Lotus transwarp drive for his ship. And it would be his duty as a Starfleet officer to arrest us for what we are attempting to do.''

His antennae lowered as much as his voice.

''We have only two choices; stand down; or stop him. I will not stand down; too much is at stake. So you stop him... or I do. Me, I can't do a merciful Vulcan nerve pinch.''

“Between the proverbial rock and a hard place,” Syntron acknowledged as he weighed in again on the prospect of rendering his fellow officer unconscious. He faced his counterpart. 

“If I am successful administering the maneuver, what will be the immediate series of actions that we intend to follow afterwards?” 

''Stop him; find out what happened with the transwarp drive; then, if we have any chance left to save the Federation. Now you go or shall I? He is on his way out!''

This was not a time for debate. it was the time for action. If there was still time.

Syntron nodded affirmatively as he rechecked the portable display in hand.

“May fortune favor the foolish,” he noted uncharacteristically, quoting an infamous Starfleet captain from an earlier century as he dashed off to intercept the newly appointed task force commander.

Glancing down, he could detect Captain Jureth departing the main engineering's central access area. He followed the display as it indicated his whereabouts proceeding through the nearby corridors of the USS Lotus at a rather leisurely pace, especially considering the urgency of the impending mission. 

Kheren had provided the Vulcan with a detailed off-the-grid map of the ship’s decks. Syntron glanced at it as he pursued his target swiftly yet stealthily until he eventually caught the Bajoran officer within his sight. With the finesse of a predatory animal, he moved within reach and then expertly pinched the nerves of the unsuspecting task force commander. 

Syntron caught the unconscious officer as he began to collapse and placed him along a nearby wall. He then immediately sent a discreet local signal that caused two subtle ultrasonic beeps to emanate from the Andorian’s PAAD. It would also briefly mark their current location. Now it was a matter of how quickly Kheren would manage to arrive to their vulnerable position before anyone else caught the peculiar sight of them just sitting in the corridor of a decommissioned ship. 

As soon as he received the signal, Kheren used his intimate knowledge of the Lotus to get to them through the maze of jefferies tubes he had patrolled so much back in the days he could challenge any Starfleet engineer to a game of hide and seek in there and win; although he never thought that he would be one day the actual infiltrator of his security exercises. Once he checked the ship was still empty, he pocketed the captain's combadge then lifted the unconscious Bajoran on his broad shoulders effortlessly and waved for Syntron to follow him to the brig area of the ship.

Locking themselves in and sending the security system on a loop, he used magnetic restraints to immobilize Jureth in a chair then altered the energy door to opacity and the gravity plate of the entire area to 1.5G; the Vulcan would feel right at home while the abnormally strong Andorian could manage the added gravity for a good while; but it should prove quite hampering to the Bajoran. he would also not be able to see them and a voice alterating program would disguise their voices.

While they waited for Jureth to regain his senses, Kheren looked at Syntron.

''Abducting a Starfleet officer and interfering in his duties. Now we're committed my friend. but we have to find out for sure what happened to that transwarp drive; if he transfered it to the Alsea... and how. Because stealing the Alsea would be a whole lot harder than a decommissioned starship to be sure.''

“He did not take the transwarp drive, I did”

The voice caught Kheren and Syntron off guard as they both turned around to see a familiar Cardassian face standing in the corner of the room.

“Although I am going to guess at least one of you suspected that already”

Sorripto smiled and stepped forward as they noticed he was wearing engineering exo components which were part of a suit that allowed engineers to work in increased gravity. The Cardassian frame is strong by nature, so he did not need the whole thing.

“An override loop in the security system? Really? You know I helped design that algorithm right?”

Sorripto slowly raised a Cardassian phaser pistol at the two.

“Do you mind terribly letting my friend go? We do have some very important business to attend to. Disobeying the council for the good of the galaxy and all that”

In current circumstances, Kheren knew at least six ways he could neutralize the Cardassian before he could even blink; four of them being deadly. 

Sorripto could read the eyes of the Andorian standing in front of him. He knew that Kheren was planning ways to take him out because that is exactly what Sorripto would be doing roles reversed. The room was tense, but it was obvious that no one here wanted a fight.

''Really? Finding prison fun, Lieutenant Commander? Because if I hear you right, and mind you, I can hear your heartbeat from where I stand, that's exactly where you will be going; and as a Starfleet officer, faster and deeper than Syntron and me.''

But what Sorripto had said hit him harder than his disruptor could. It was almost making his unmoving face frown.

''We, Mister Sorripto?''

His antennae curved towards the holding cell.

"We?" Sorripto responded with a nod.

He had already given Kheren his unofficial support during the ceremony and it did not take much reasoning to put together that Syntron and Kheren were trying to find the transwarp drive because they had the same plan Jureth and Sorripto did.

"We indeed..." Sorripto's tone was cautious, but one of approval.

Lowering the phaser pistol Sorripto smiled.

"So I guess I have to ask again I am going to need you to release my friend over there so... we... can finish this mission."

Kheren stood between a sigh of relief ad a groan of worry. He breathed deeply but did not relax.

''Lieutenant Commander Sorripto; I thought I read you right last time we crossed paths. I can certainly accept that you, of all people, could take the... stance you are claiming to; even with what you would be losing. But you want me to beleive Jureth Oseno would? The Bajoran is one of the most steadfast and honorable captains of Starfleet; and he, of all people, would renounce a brilliant career and a stellar reputation, a lifetime of accomplishments, and go against the Federation?''

"You do not believe he would go along with my plan?" Sorripto reponded. "My good man, he recruited me."

Kheren's mouth opened and closed as if dumbfounded. But in fact, he was articulating ultrasonic Graalek syllabes no Human or Bajoran could hear, let alone a Cardassian with weaker earing. The magnetic restraints deactivated and the cell's forcefield winked out; and so did the security containment field system.

''Well If I did not expect it, Starfleet certainly would not. That may work to our mutual advantage... as would joining forces and intent.''

Syntron gradually stood up near the unconscious Bajoran officer as the tense exchange continued between the Andorian and the Cardassian. He brandished no weapon, nor could he stealthily sneak up on the armed engineer and neutralize his advantage. Instead, he chose to engage him verbally.

“If things exist as you have suggested and you and Captain Jureth plan to proceed with your own agenda that conflicts with that of Federation orders, you are going to require more teamwork than the two of you to successfully increase your odds. You will be confronting adversaries with superior technology and greater armed backup than one Starfleet vessel, even if it is separated into three vectors. Plus adding the other classified factor into the equation and the odds diminish even further.”

"Any odds we face are going to be greater than the odds of doing nothing. I cannot speak for any other man here, but I for one would rather die doing the right thing than live knowing I did nothing."

Sorripto sighed slightly because he knew the Vulcan was right.

"I guess it is a good thing there are the two of you here to increase our odds."

The Andorian's antennae curved slightly inward.

''I may even be able to bring that up to three.''

He took the PADD from his pocket and activated it to send back a call signal through the spying program he had found imbeded in the automation protocols.

''Commander Rogers; have you been listening?''

"Aye, Captain," Rogers responded.

David wasn't too surprised that Kheren had surmised the spy program embedded in his PADD. It had insinuated itself into the unit when he had passed it into the Andorian's PADD, allowing Rogers to monitor the man's movements and conversations. One way of trying to find out what the hell was going on. Also to unravelling this mystery he had circumvented dock security on the Alsea and boarded the empty ship.

Now that David knew the gist of what was going on, albeit not exactly the why yet, he could maybe figure out what to do going forward. And that meant staying the course. Rogers knew fairly well what the Vulcan's reference to 'three vectors' meant. It could only be the prometheus class vessel at the heart of his inquiry. So in order to find the why of it, perhaps he would need to get to the meaning of his other statement; the 'classified factor'. With that in mind, Rogers continued his communication with the Andorian.

" I am currently aboard the Alsea, Captain." David added, then glanced at the progress on his PADD. It was currently insinuating into the Beta computer core. Fifty six percent complete. "If you need off the Lotus now, I have aligned the two main transporters for site to site beam tunneling. The transport pattern buffer's of the ships are synchronized to covertly beam directly through the Alsea's defense systems, which can't be shut down internally without raising the alarm at docking control. But I can only transport one at a time, Sir. The angular confinement beam has to be tight enough to penetrate these shield harmonics while still maintaining system interlock."

Kheren's antennae flattened then started to wobble. His deep voice was soft even if the words were harsh. And he was not speaking to the engineer alone.

''First off, I am no longer a captain, nor even an officer. Second, I hope this is not indicative that you are as... unaware of your situation as you seem to be of mine. I'll make myself clear. I'm admirative, grateful even, for your ingenuity and talent on our behalf, Commander Rogers, but what you are doing now will in all probability end your career... at best; just as for Commander Sorripto and Captain Jureth, if truth be told. Syntron and I already lost it all, by choice. The rest of you do not need to.''

Jureth had briefly heard the footsteps behind him before everything went black...and now he could hear voices as the light started to return but his addled brain couldn't process them just yet. Where was he? He remembered being on the Lotus, with Sorripto, was he still there? He didn't know, but his internal instincts were telling him something was wrong. His eyes fluttered open and the lights of the room blinded him for a moment, but after several seconds things began to come into focus. He was still on the Lotus, but in the brig? How in the name of the Prophets had he gotten here?! His instincts began to kick in and he realized that someone had gotten the drop on him. His eyes darted around the room to the most unlikely group of faces...Kheren, Syntron, Sorripto...what the hell was going on and who had knocked him out? 

"Somebody better explain to me what in the name of the Emissary is going on here." 

Kheren's silvery pupiless eyes went to his.

''A conspiracy, Captain Jureth.''

Oseno's eyes narrowed "You know damn well what I mean. One minute I'm leaving engineering and now I wake up in the brig and slowly I'm realizing that one of you put me here. I want to know who, I want to know why, and I want to know now." 

Jureth's ire was up along with his body temperature. Bajorans were not known for being terribly reserved and this particular Bajoran was starting to lose his temper.

Sorripto pointed at Kheren.

“He did it”.

“Actually, I was the one that rendered you unconscious Jureth,” Syntron admitted without reservation. “The reason was to prevent you from completing the installation of the Lotus transwarp drive into your ship.''