"BEEP. Analysis Complete." The computer had finished its analysis of the trail the hacker had left. But from the computer data, it was no longer clear that it was indeed Romulans who had authorised the attack. In fact, the computer that had left the signature most likely was Federation in origin. Specifically, a Federation PADD had carried out the attack. Fascinating. Spock delved a little deeper…
He stopped abruptly and tapped his combadge, struggling to keep his stoic exterior intact. "Captain, you may want to take a look at this. I have tracked the precise location of the device the hacker used." On the other end, Alieth was shocked. "What? I'll be right there." After Alieth arrived at the computer lab, Spock went over the procedure he used. "The device left a pattern that clearly belongs to a Federation PADD. As you are no doubt aware, each PADD has a unique tracker ID. I can input the ID into this piece of software that Nordri supplied me with, to get an exact bearing on the PADD. And it is currently on the Earth Spacedock." Alieth nodded. "Let's get to the bridge."
When Alieth arrived on the Bridge, the helmsman hardly had time to say "Captain on the Bridge!" before she was ordering maximum warp to Sol System. When they arrived, Alieth immediately assigned an away team of Savel, Spock, McCoy, and a few hapless security officers who were picked rather than volunteered. They then proceeded to beam down. The Starbase seemed normal, nothing out of the ordinary. Spock checked his sensors. "The PADD is on the Mezzanine. Recommend each member of the away team take one of the turbolifts. As we have four crew members and there are four turbolifts, the holes should be bridged. The only way down would be to jump off the edge. As the Mezzanine is 33.5 meters off the ground, I doubt the hacker will jump." Savel nodded his approval. "Make it so."
The team arrived on the Mezzanine, phasers on a wide beam heavy stun setting. Spock used Savel's tracker, calibrated specifically for the ID that had been in the computer signature. He pinpointed the PADD as belonging to a human female, whose rank pips indicated a rank of Lieutenant and had the colours of an Engineering officer. He relayed the information to the away team's tricorders, then closed in. But when the female saw them, cutting off the turbolifts, she calmly stepped over the safety fence and off the edge of the Mezzanine, as if her plan was cut out. Bones yelled, "Dammit, she'll break her legs!' The away team watched her fall, certain that she would break her legs on contact with the lower level and be left for capture. So they couldn't have been more surprised when the green-hued, obviously Romulan transporter beam caught her, and she disappeared milliseconds before impact. Savel could have sworn she had a smug grin on her face. Spock immediately whipped out his tricorder, getting a lock on the transporter signal and the coordinates. He also noticed that she had left the PADD behind. Now he had evidence, as well as another lead to work with. Their material was rapidly accumulating. Savel, who observed all of Spock's actions, now felt a little less downtrodden, though it would have been better and so much simpler if they had captured the hacker. Savel knew what came next. A Romulan transporter meant a Romulan ship, and a Romulan ship in the Sol system, with their hacker on it, meant a chase. He tapped his combadge.
"Transporter room. Beam us up."
…
"So. Any idea about how to detect a cloaked Romulan ship? It's undetectable by our sensors, after all." Alieth asked, to no one in particular and to the entire Bridge in general, with a slight challenging tone. Savel looked at her, wondering how she had not thought of it yet. "The Romulans won't risk going to warp. Their warp signature is easily detected. We have the transport coordinates the Romulans used. Set a course for those coordinates, 138 mark 4. Use a passive ionic phased pulse; maybe that will disrupt the cloak." The Omega cruised over to those coordinates, only to find that it went right up and into Jupiter. "Dammit. They must have used a two-part transport. Transport to some obscure or impossible location, then use a second system to intercept and bring the transportee safely aboard. Have to say, these Romulans are determined. Maybe we can scan for a miniature quantum singularity." The Omega had hardly finished the scan when directed energy struck the shields. "Red alert!" yelled Alieth. A Romulan Dhaelan Warbird decloaked. Of course. A ship built for stealth and firepower. "Return fire! Power to shields!" The Dhaelan, however, did not continue the assault. After taking Omega's shields to a mere 98%, they turned tail and warped away. Savel sighed. "They're headed to the Neutral Zone! Set course to pursue!" The Omega and the warbird raced along. However, Omega was slightly faster, and gained ever so slowly, finally pulling even just half a parsec from the Neutral Zone and firing weapons. The Dhaelan whipped around, firing back, as a Romulan D'Deridex decloaked behind it. Alieth ordered evasive maneouvres, and the two ships moved in a deadly dance. The D'Deridex at some point must have called in reinforcements, since more Romulan ships were headed to the Zone, but so were Starfleet ships, presumably with their frequencies scrambled. An impressive stalemate then took hold; each side held position, waiting for the other to make a move. The tension in the atmosphere was almost tangible, as if at any moment it would turn solid and form a wall between the two fleets. Finally, a T'Varo Light Warbird near the edge of the pack decided, foolishly, to fire. The Starfleet ships fired back, alarming the other warbirds, and the situation soon escalated into a full-scale firefight.