3 months later
"Captain, I'm waiting for your report."
"We've got a problem here, Admiral," announced Captain Belle of the Federation science vessel Silver Arrow.
Her voice crackled with the annoying static of subspace interference. Admiral Martinez leaned forward in her chair and adjusted the dials. She needed to hear her officer's report clearly, especially if there was trouble – this business about clouds emerging from Romulan space had Starfleet on tenterhooks. The poor reception itself troubled her: Silver Arrow was not far enough away to transmit messages so poorly, and there were no ion storms in the area.
"Please continue, Captain."
"As you know, Sir, our studies have shown the gaseous anomaly reported by Enterprise on star date 3979.4 to be mostly inert – at least until now. Unknown compounds are forming within the cloud, causing massive systems failures in our main computers. What's worse, the cloud has suddenly sped up, as if in response to our interaction with it. The cloud responds to all attempts to redirect its trajectory with deadly electromagnetic discharges. Our ship has sustained damage, and we've lost four people already due to circuit overloads caused by the cloud's electromagnetic charges. We now have reason to believe that this is a weapon."
Admiral Martinez pursed her lips and folded her hands tightly. The Romulans had been quiet for some time now; was this mysterious vapor the consequence of that prolonged silence?
"I assume this phenomenon is interfering with communications?"
"Yes, Sir," came the broken reply.
"Captain, I want you to stay on course with this cloud. Continue analysis. If you cannot deflect its course, we may want you to attempt to destroy it. Please proceed with care and take all safety precautions. I want you to transmit all scientific data to Starfleet Command immediately. I'll meet with the other Admirals and get back to you as soon as possible."
"Yes, Sir. Captain Belle out."
Within days, the cloud had drastically sped up, aggressively billowing towards Earth and disrupting subspace communications all along the way. Starfleet Command gave the order to destroy the body. Before, Starfleet was not completely sure it the cloud was intentionally a weapon, but after the Silver Arrow's latest attempt to halt the menace, they were totally convinced of the Romulans' malcontent.
The science vessel had deposited an explosive buoy in the path of the anomaly. However, instead of destroying the rampaging vapor, which all tests indicated would happen, the energy from the detonated explosive rebounded through space towards the starship. Within seconds of detonation, there was nothing left of Silver Arrow.
The mysterious cloud continued on its path, completely unharmed.
