Part 10
"Bridge to Engineering."
There was a strange silence on the Bridge. Despite the hissing Environmental console, despite Richards working frantically to stem the radiation leak, despite the clicking of buttons and switches, breathing slightly laboured from the recent surge of adrenaline, there was, nevertheless, an odd silence on the Bridge.
Except for Commander Spock's voice.
Too calm, Human minds identified. We're in the middle of a stalemate. Any second now, violence could erupt again. And he's too calm. Is it nerves? Fear? Does he care at all?
Those who worked closely with Spock knew that while Vulcans encouraged the belief they possessed no emotions, it wasn't entirely true. There had even been occasions when they had seen evidence of emotion rather than logic driving Spock's actions. Oh, he had never lost control during such situations, he had always been able to explain his behaviour in a logical manner - but nevertheless, there had been hints that emotion had contributed in some capacity to his decision-making. Therefore, these Vulcan-experienced Humans did not question whether Vulcans felt emotion, they merely questioned how much emotion influenced Vulcan logic.
It was a question even Captain Kirk had never been able to get Spock to answer. And that now created a barrier between the Enterprise's current commanding officer and his crew. While he had learned a lot of painful lessons since the Galileo's crash two years ago, he hadn't learned them all. He still struggled with empathy. They could look to him for efficiency, rationality and professionalism but they couldn't look to him for understanding of their hidden fears. He was better than he used to be but he wasn't Captain Kirk. He could provide sound judgement but there was still doubt about his ability to inspire.
"Scott here," the Chief Engineer's breathing was ragged, as if he had been involved in strenuous physical exertion. It was, Spock reflected, quite probably true as Scott had been on his way to Transporter 1 to return to the mining facility when the attack had occurred. The fact he was in Engineering to respond to Spock's hail implied a great dedication by the Second Officer to have made it back to his station so fast. "What the devil's going on, Mr Spock?"
"Romulans, Mr Scott," Spock said evenly and was rewarded by a moment's silence.
"This far from the Neutral Zone?" Scott sounded like he couldn't quite believe what he had just been told. "Why on earth would they risk it, Mr Spock?"
Romulans were inside Federation space. Not only that but in order to reach the Beta Koris system, they must have been inside Federation space for several days. There had been no warnings, no hints, nothing to suggest activity or conflict within the Neutral Zone, or along its borders; no intelligence to suggest they were planning anything at all. The Romulans had not carved a path of destruction as they travelled. They had moved noiselessly, unseen, avoiding conflict wherever possible.
And then broken their cover in an unprovoked ambush on the Enterprise.
If they had maintained their secrecy could they have made it to a Federation homeworld without detection? Could they have made it to Vulcan? Or even Earth?
The Humans on the Bridge were baffled and confused. They were also worried. Spock could see it in their faces, in their mannerisms. Until now, there had been no reprieve for anyone to voice the questions they clearly had.
Until now.
"Unknown," Spock didn't have time to debate the subject and came to the point. "Mr Scott, Turbolift 1 is inoperable. Main Bridge is inaccessible."
Chapel looked up sharply from the science station. "Two of the ceiling couplings have given out. If the technicians approach from underneath, they'll need to know that. It's unstable...sir," she added quickly, as Spock lifted his eyes to stare at her.
She swallowed. She was used to questioning McCoy and M'Benga when necessary. Over the years, they had worked out where the boundaries were - she knew when to push and when to hold her tongue. Within in the labs, she had developed that same dynamic with Spock. But that had been in a research capacity. This was Main Bridge. This was combat. And Platonius had destroyed their rapport.
She wasn't sure where the boundaries were anymore. If she wasn't careful, if she fell back on habit and challenged whenever she felt it necessary, what would happen? This wasn't Sickbay. This wasn't a research lab. What worked there might not work here. What if she fell back on habit once too often and distracted them at the wrong moment? Would she get them all killed?
His stare was making her shiver.
But the First Officer didn't question her interruption and merely relayed the extra information instead.
"We have experienced a radiation leak, Mr Scott. There is a certain medical urgency associated with this request."
As well as the tactical urgency, the Vulcan reflected. But he didn't need to state that - Scott understood.
"It'll be a priority, Mr Spock. How long before radiation reaches lethal levels?"
"Two hours at this rate," Richards gasped from underneath the Environmental controls, clearly hearing the Chief Engineer's question. "I might not have the equipment I need to fully fix this. Best I can do is slow down the leak."
"Peters may have suffered inhalation damage," Chapel added. "Richards' exposure will be of concern as well. It may not be two hours for them."
Dammit, Christine, what did you just tell yourself?
"Fun," she heard Richards mutter from underneath the console but he didn't pause in his efforts to repair the damage. And again, Spock didn't question her interruption. She wondered how long she'd keep getting away with that if she didn't control her innate instinct to speak her mind.
"Mr Scott," Spock said. "When you know how long this will take, make sure Sickbay has a team on standby. You have a maximum of two hours. Please attempt to resolve this situation much sooner. Lives may depend on it."
"Aye, I'll try sir," Scott sounded cautious. "Scott out."
Spock lifted his eyes to focus on Uhura. The Communications Officer met his gaze calmly. "Send a coded message to Starfleet," he ordered quietly. "Inform them we have come under attack by Romulans while in routine orbit above Beta Koris 2. Reason for their presence, unknown. How long they have been here, unknown."
"Aye sir," she said and turned away.
Spock turned away from the command panel to regard Environmental thoughtfully and was interrupted by the nurse again. "Mr Spock, radiation dosage is inversely proportional to distance. Doubling the distance will quarter the dose. If we move Lieutenant Peters over to this side of the room it will minimise any further exposure he suffers."
This time, the Vulcan turned stiffly to face her, fully intending to remind her of where she currently was and to focus on Science. But he paused, slightly startled upon realising she had been quite successfully multi-tasking all this time - reacting to the situation on the Bridge as a nurse while not once neglecting her new duties to the Science station.
Fascinating.
Spock moved the prone crewman in silence. Although he was aware of her lack of Bridge experience and acknowledged several quite logical concerns about her ability to man Science during combat, her dedication, efficiency and determination to succeed had never been questionable. But, in the past three months, he had questioned a lot of things he shouldn't have. He trusted everyone on the Bridge to do their jobs to the best of their ability, he needed to grant Chapel the same or their ability to resolve their current problem would be impaired. Once upon a time, he had never doubted her skill, expertise or professionalism. He was a little shaken to discover he was doing so now.
Was Platonius really still so much of an issue? Or was it her lack of experience on the Bridge? The latter question made no sense - she functioned admirably in Sickbay under such conditions. The Bridge was a new location, with a new duty, but she had already proven countless times that she could cope with combat situations and she was a qualified scientist. That, therefore, could not possibly be his concern. The former question, however ...
The former question was emotional and unprofessional. It had no place in the mind of either a Vulcan or a first officer and it certainly had no place on the Bridge - under any circumstances but most especially right now.
"Mr Spock, I'm picking up more of that subspace noise," Uhura was scowling. "There's a lot of interference but I think it might be artificial. Sir, the Romulans could be sending a message."
"Are you able to determine the content?" Spock carefully placed Peters near Chapel's station and returned to the command chair.
"Working on it now, sir," Uhura returned to her console,
"Romulan ship is moving away, Mr Spock!" Chekov's voice was a bark of alarm.
"Direction?"
Chekov stared, threw a glance at Sulu's bemused face, then turned to face Spock. "Deeper into Federation territory, sir!"
Spock studied him for a moment, then looked up at the viewscreen thoughtfully.
"Do we follow, Commander?" Sulu asked, fingers poised to order the ship to give chase.
Spock watched the ship moving away. It hadn't cloaked, it was moving very swiftly, and it was heading away from the Neutral Zone, further into Federation space.
Dealing with Romulans was like playing chess: one began without knowledge of the opponent's strategy and planned a series of moves and countermoves in order to identify that strategy and render it useless. Romulans were ruthless but they were patient. There were many similarities between them and Vulcans.
The ship hadn't cloaked.
And suddenly, Spock suspected he knew what the Romulans were up to and why.
"Yes, Mr Sulu. Match velocity and maintain this distance."
"Sir, we're abandoning our landing party?" Rivers' tone was mild.
"Man your station, Mr Rivers," the Vulcan's voice was quiet, too quiet. The Lieutenant stared at him for a moment, then spun back around to his console.
Spock sat down and watched, almost pensively, as the Romulan ship left the solar system behind and entered deep space.
"What on earth do you suppose they're doing?" Sulu muttered to Chekov as they followed. "They're not even headed for Earth."
"Probably something sneaky, knowing them," was Chekov's unhelpful response.
Chapel listened to the exchange even as she scanned the space around the two vessels. She was beginning to get the hang of this station now. She wasn't going to be great but she could be competent. Sulu was right, they weren't heading for Earth - or any other Federation homeworld that she knew of. That meant they were doing something else. She widened the focus of her search, trying to identify any asteroids or moons - something that they might seem to be aiming for, that would help explain where they were going or what they were up to.
"Mr Spock," Uhura said softly. "The signal was definitely Romulan in origin. I'm trying to decode the message now."
Spock nodded to indicate he had acknowledged her and rose from his seat. If he was right about his suspicions ...
"Romulan ship just stopped, sir," Chekov told him.
"All stop," Spock replied. "Prepare to divert all available energy to the shields, ready aft phasers."
"Aft?" Sulu asked.
"Aft, Mr Sulu."
"Aye sir," Sulu complied looking puzzled. Then the puzzlement died to be replaced by suspicion. He swallowed, and began to key instructions into the computer. If his suspicion about Spock's suspicion was right, then a little extra planning wouldn't hurt at all.
On screen, the Romulan ship had turned to face them, it was glowing, as if about to fire but then Uhura spoke. "Romulan vessel is hailing us, Mr Spock," she sounded baffled.
Spock stirred restlessly. He had not expected that. For a moment, he wondered if his suspicions were incorrect. "Lieutenant, will you be able to establish a link that will allow us to monitor their transmissions when they have finished communicating with us?"
"It'll take me a moment to set up, sir," was the reply.
"Do that, then open a channel."
It took her a few moments to respond, then she twisted her earpiece, and turned to face him. "Hailing frequencies opened, sir," she said quietly and turned back to her console to concentrate on hacking into the Romulans communications system.
On the viewscreen, a set of angular, chiselled features appeared. The arrogant lift to the chin, the dark pleasure in the eyes and the tiny, almost cruel smile on the lips was unexpected enough to remind them they were looking at a Romulan and not a Vulcan.
The translators buzzed into action as the Romulan spoke. "Human commander of the Federation starship ..." he began.
It was as far as he got.
"Human?" Spock interrupted in a mild tone, one eyebrow lifting.
The Romulan stared at him, for the first time focusing on the face he was confronted by. His eyebrows shot up in a disconcertingly familiar fashion. "A Vulcan?" he leaned backwards slightly, apparently very startled by this unexpected turn.
Spock didn't belabour the point. "Your presence within Federation space is a violation of the terms of the Earth-Romulan treaty and will not go unchallenged. You will desist your activities here and allow us to escort you back to the Neutral Zone where you will immediately return to Romulan space." He didn't have much hope that the Romulans would comply but the formalities needed to be observed.
A smile played across the Romulan's lips. The Humans on board couldn't help watching with fascination - it was the closest to an emotional Vulcan they would probably ever get. "'He talks peace if it is the only way to live?'" the Romulan queried. "Did it not occur to you that Surak conveniently forgot to mention it is not the only way to live?"
Spock studied the Romulan with obvious curiosity. "It is not a lifestyle without merit," he replied calmly.
The commander stared at him in silence for a moment. The Vulcan could not identify the express on the Romulan's face - and that intrigued him. "It's a gracious offer, Vulcan, but I decline," the Romulan said at last with ... was that a hint of regret, Spock wondered. "Now I will make you an offer. You may surrender, and live - we will treat you with courtesy if you agree. We Romulans are not completely unsympathetic to Surak's followers - we will respect life, if you choose to live. If not, we will finish this battle. You will not survive." The Romulan smiled faintly. The smile didn't reach his eyes - but in a Romulan, that meant nothing. "Logic dictates you surrender. It is your best chance for the survival of your crew, and that is most important to Vulcans, is it not?"
Spock regarded the Commander steadily. The fact that Romulans knew more about Surak than he had expected was interesting. Either the Romulans had chosen to keep the memories of that time alive for some reason, or Romulan infiltration into the Federation was quite successful. Or perhaps it was a little of both?
The Romulan is stalling for time.
Spock didn't know how he knew that, he didn't know if logic warned him, or whether it was that illogical gut instinct Humans relied so heavily on. The conversation seemed pointless, without logic. The Romulans didn't share the Vulcan respect for life and could not be trusted to keep their word. A Vulcan would not trust a Romulan on word alone, not with the history both races shared, and the Romulan had to know that.
Unless the Romulan was stalling for time, there was no logic to this conversation at all.
"I decline," Spock said simply. "Enterprise out." The second Uhura cut communications, he snapped. "Mr Sulu, retreat!"
"Aye sir," Sulu was the only one in the room not caught off-guard by the command, and put the ship into a full reverse - with almost the same degree of urgency he had used to flee the Romulan plasma weapons two years before.
Chapel scowled at her sensor readings. The computer was detecting an energy build up but it wasn't coming from the Romulan ship. It didn't seem to be weapons related or any kind of known space phenomenon. Either she hadn't got the hang of this station nearly well enough or the computer really had no idea what this strange energy reading represented.
Strange energy reading building up behind us!
Hadn't Chekov used those exact words just before the first attack? Chapel blinked and quickly recalled the computer's information on Chekov's original sensor displays.
The energy readings were identical.
"Energy build up behind us. Possible bird-of-prey decloaking!" she yelled.
"Shields to max." Spock reacted immediately. " Mr Sulu - fire! Evasive actions, get us out of here."
Rivers jumped to enhance the shield structure. At the same time, Sulu made full use of the evasive tactics he had pre-programmed upon his earlier suspicions. Even as the Enterprise was firing on the new ship, the old one was firing on them. The ship rocked violently and then shuddered a second time, something screeching loudly, as if the hull itself was being torn apart. Chapel was flung away from her station, barely having the presence of mind to grab the unconscious Lieutenant Peters and hold him steady. Something behind her crashed and she could feel her stomach drop through her boots.
The ship was beginning to roll.