Chapter 8
The three officers entered swiftly onto the bridge and ran to their respective stations. Commander Sara lifted himself from the Captain's chair and began to explain the situation before there was a call from the ops station.
" The lead Cardassian vessel is hailing."
" Ignore it, prepare to go to warp," he ordered.
" They're jamming our frequencies, incoming audio transmission." Sara responded.
There was silence for a second before some crackling was heard over the com system, then an unfamiliar voice spoke.
" Starfleet vessel, you are surrounded and escape is impossible. If you surrender your vessel I promise none of your crew will be harmed."
Again Lennon gave no response to the demand, he knew that Cardassian diplomacy was at best a joke and had no intention of handing the Federation's deadliest foe their latest design in starship. But bad news was coming from Lieutenant Glatzer in engineering.
" We can only outrun the Cardassians at warp 8, but we don't have enough power to reach warp 8 while we're emitting our 'Pakled transport' guise. It will take fifteen minutes to reconfigure."
" We don't have fifteen minutes, you've got five maximum." responded the Captain in annoyance.
" I don't know if we can do it Captain, we'll have to override all the safety protocols and disconnect the deflector dish manually,"
" Then I suggest you get started while we try and hold off the Cardassians."
" The ship may not run without a deflector dish, its never been done before."
" Then we'll be the first to try it." replied Lennon.
The Spartan were sitting ducks for the eight Cardassian warships and Lennon knew this too well, however he was willing to bet the Cardassians wouldn't inflict a tremendous amount of damage to her if they wanted her technology. Perhaps this gave him the upper hand. There were a few moments of silence as both sides waited for the other to make the first move then a sudden thought hit Lennon. The Cardassians were using the science station found by Lieutenant Donnachie to send out false readings of military build- up, could they be doing the same here. Afterall as far as the Cardassians were concerned the Spartan had no idea about the sensor station. He stared down his nose at the eight Cardassian ships on the viewscreen.
" Lennon to Donnachie." he said into his commbadge and continued, " Ruth, you are hereby reinstated as a full member of this crew, your first task is to go quickly to the window in the Mess Hall and tell me how many Cardassian ships you see."
Commander Sara turned around to Lennon puzzled by why he should instruct a so bizarre order at a time of crisis.
" I don't think this scenario is all it seems Commander. Remember they want us to surrender, don't they?" the Captain said with a smile on his face.
Again the voice came through the com system of the Cardassian Commander.
" USS Spartan, this is your last chance to surrender otherwise we will take your ship by force, we also believe you are holding a prisoner aboard, return him or your crew will be executed."
Upon finishing the sentence Lieutenant Donnachie burst out onto the bridge looking bewildered at the viewscreen, she signified that through the window there were only two Cardassian warships.
" Just as I thought, false readings." Lennon said aloud for everyone to hear "I want everyone to discard whatever their sensors are showing, we are going to do this on instincts alone." He then turned around to his crew at their stations.
" Ric, respond to communication on my mark, audio only. Cumbrae charge weapons when the transmission is complete and Atkar prepare to jump to warp 8 when I give the signal."
All around him the officers acknowledged his orders spontaneously, he could only hope engineering could give him warp 8 when he needed it. But Ric Sara seemed unsure about his strategy.
" They still outnumber us two to one Captain." he began, "if we attack first they will respond and we might never make it back to Federation space."
" They are bluffing us." Lennon shouted for the whole bridge to hear. "The first rule of deception, you must always be prepared for your bluff to be called."
" Open communications now,"
" Cardassian Commander," the Captain began with a smirk. "We are not prepared to simply give up our ship, especially to your pitiful armada."
" This pitiful armada has eight ships all targeting you, so I suggest you reconsider our demand." the Cardassian responded.
" Eight ships? I think you seem to have a problem with your mathematics."
There was a pause between the conversation while the Cardassian stuttered.
" Are you willing to bet your ship on it?"
" Yes." replied Lennon.
The three officers entered swiftly onto the bridge and ran to their respective stations. Commander Sara lifted himself from the Captain's chair and began to explain the situation before there was a call from the ops station.
" The lead Cardassian vessel is hailing."
" Ignore it, prepare to go to warp," he ordered.
" They're jamming our frequencies, incoming audio transmission." Sara responded.
There was silence for a second before some crackling was heard over the com system, then an unfamiliar voice spoke.
" Starfleet vessel, you are surrounded and escape is impossible. If you surrender your vessel I promise none of your crew will be harmed."
Again Lennon gave no response to the demand, he knew that Cardassian diplomacy was at best a joke and had no intention of handing the Federation's deadliest foe their latest design in starship. But bad news was coming from Lieutenant Glatzer in engineering.
" We can only outrun the Cardassians at warp 8, but we don't have enough power to reach warp 8 while we're emitting our 'Pakled transport' guise. It will take fifteen minutes to reconfigure."
" We don't have fifteen minutes, you've got five maximum." responded the Captain in annoyance.
" I don't know if we can do it Captain, we'll have to override all the safety protocols and disconnect the deflector dish manually,"
" Then I suggest you get started while we try and hold off the Cardassians."
" The ship may not run without a deflector dish, its never been done before."
" Then we'll be the first to try it." replied Lennon.
The Spartan were sitting ducks for the eight Cardassian warships and Lennon knew this too well, however he was willing to bet the Cardassians wouldn't inflict a tremendous amount of damage to her if they wanted her technology. Perhaps this gave him the upper hand. There were a few moments of silence as both sides waited for the other to make the first move then a sudden thought hit Lennon. The Cardassians were using the science station found by Lieutenant Donnachie to send out false readings of military build- up, could they be doing the same here. Afterall as far as the Cardassians were concerned the Spartan had no idea about the sensor station. He stared down his nose at the eight Cardassian ships on the viewscreen.
" Lennon to Donnachie." he said into his commbadge and continued, " Ruth, you are hereby reinstated as a full member of this crew, your first task is to go quickly to the window in the Mess Hall and tell me how many Cardassian ships you see."
Commander Sara turned around to Lennon puzzled by why he should instruct a so bizarre order at a time of crisis.
" I don't think this scenario is all it seems Commander. Remember they want us to surrender, don't they?" the Captain said with a smile on his face.
Again the voice came through the com system of the Cardassian Commander.
" USS Spartan, this is your last chance to surrender otherwise we will take your ship by force, we also believe you are holding a prisoner aboard, return him or your crew will be executed."
Upon finishing the sentence Lieutenant Donnachie burst out onto the bridge looking bewildered at the viewscreen, she signified that through the window there were only two Cardassian warships.
" Just as I thought, false readings." Lennon said aloud for everyone to hear "I want everyone to discard whatever their sensors are showing, we are going to do this on instincts alone." He then turned around to his crew at their stations.
" Ric, respond to communication on my mark, audio only. Cumbrae charge weapons when the transmission is complete and Atkar prepare to jump to warp 8 when I give the signal."
All around him the officers acknowledged his orders spontaneously, he could only hope engineering could give him warp 8 when he needed it. But Ric Sara seemed unsure about his strategy.
" They still outnumber us two to one Captain." he began, "if we attack first they will respond and we might never make it back to Federation space."
" They are bluffing us." Lennon shouted for the whole bridge to hear. "The first rule of deception, you must always be prepared for your bluff to be called."
" Open communications now,"
" Cardassian Commander," the Captain began with a smirk. "We are not prepared to simply give up our ship, especially to your pitiful armada."
" This pitiful armada has eight ships all targeting you, so I suggest you reconsider our demand." the Cardassian responded.
" Eight ships? I think you seem to have a problem with your mathematics."
There was a pause between the conversation while the Cardassian stuttered.
" Are you willing to bet your ship on it?"
" Yes." replied Lennon.