Like Kehlan, Corbus had headed back to his shipboard quarters to freshen up. Donning a clean uniform, he stared at his image in the mirror and then reached up and removed one of his rank pins, placing it carefully on his desk. It felt odd wearing only three pins, but for the next hour or so, he was a commander again and he would play the part correctly.
Maybe ten minutes before the appointed time, Alex beamed down again, making his way through the corridors to the simulator that had been designated for Kehlan's Kobayashi Maru test. As he came round the corner, he saw Kehlan standing next to the entrance with another female officer that he did not recognise. The two seemed to be engaged in conversation. Standing with her back to him, the other officer was, unsurprisingly, wearing the usual black and grey uniform jacket with burgundy-red trim and undershirt and commander's rank insignia on the sleeves. Taller than Kehlan, she had vibrant, red hair, neatly braided in a thick plait, which hung down her back, almost to her waist.
As he approached the pair, she turned and to his shock, he recognised her. "General Khetara?"
Kehlan laughed. "That was my reaction as well. I am glad to see you, Alex."
"For the purposes of this exercise, it's Commander," Khetara grinned. "I have to say, this uniform is certainly a lot lighter and more comfortable than Klingon battle-armour. I could get used to this."
As Kehlan's antique watch told her it was 20:57 hours and only three minutes to go before the test would begin, she heard the sound of light footsteps and turned to see a Vulcan woman approaching. Even at this time of the evening, the corridors were busy and her mind on the test she was about to undertake, she took little notice of one more officer passing by.
This officer, however, did not pass by, instead coming to a halt and holding up her hand, fingers spread wide, in the ta'al, the Vulcan salute. "Dif-tor heh smusma, Kehlan."
Kehlan stared at the stranger, then did a double take as she realised at whom she was looking. Vulcan? That was no Vulcan! "Rhiana? Kahless, I almost didn't recognise you!"
The Romulan had chosen to wear her usual Starfleet uniform – the black and grey jacket typically worn by Starbase 24 officers, with mustard-gold trim and matching undershirt. Three gleaming pips sat on the collar of the undershirt, indicating her rank of commander. It was her hair that had changed, rendering her all but unrecognisable. Her honey-blonde locks had vanished, hidden under a black wig cut in a typical Vulcan style, its neatly trimmed fringe covering the faint 'V' shaped ridge across her forehead. She'd even remembered to darken her upswept eyebrows and was wearing makeup – only a little as she was on duty – in a style that was currently fashionable among younger Vulcan women. The overall effect was striking and not a little disconcerting.
Rhiana grinned, immediately ruining the illusion and then quickly schooled her expression to something a little more appropriate for the Vulcan that, for the purposes of the simulation, she was pretending to be. "Commander T'Rian reporting for duty, Captain."
"Greetings, T'Rian," Kehlan acknowledged, holding up her hand in an attempt at the ta'al. she'd never been quite able to spread her fingers in the required pattern. "Live long and prosper."
Corbus and Khetara looked as shocked by Rhiana's changed appearance as she was and Kehlan wondered ruefully if the expression on their faces was mirrored on her own.
The three talked amongst themselves as they waited, but Kehlan said little, just listened quietly. She was unaccountably nervous although typically Klingon, she hid it well and did not let it show and she was glad to have Corbus, Rhiana and Khetara here with her. It was always good to fight alongside friends, even if in this case, the battle was only a simulated one.
The hands on the watch ticked around to 21:00 hours, and the doors to the simulator swung open. A holographic Starfleet officer, dressed in the usual black and grey uniform with gold undershirt adorned with lieutenant's rank insignia, stood at attention in the doorway.
"Captain Kehlan, ladies and gentlemen," he began. "Welcome to the Intrepid Class vessel, USS Sir Gawain, NCC-82792, assigned to patrol the Romulan Neutral Zone. Please come aboard and take your places on the bridge."
The two beta shift technicians assigned to the simulation control room, watched the screen as the Klingon fleet captain prepared to enter the holodeck.
"I'd heard something about a Klingon doing the scenario," one of them said, putting down his coffee mug on the console and leaning closer to the screen.
"Should be interesting to watch," his colleague said, preparing to set things in motion. "It's not going to be the usual run of the mill, that's for certain. With a Klingon in the command chair, it's bound to be explosive. Okay… everything's ready. Let's get this show on the road."
"Yeah, I…" He was interrupted by the door opening as someone else entered the room.
"Dismissed," the newcomer said. "I'll be running this scenario. Go take a break."
The two technicians got to their feet. Neither of them was inclined to argue with a senior lieutenant and certainly not one who was offering them an extra tea break. As soon as the two had left the room, the lieutenant began to swiftly reprogramme the computer. He was skilled and it only took him a few moments. Finally, satisfied that it was done, he settled down to watch the results. The Klingon fleet captain was not going to get quite what she had been told to expect. He grinned. Captain Reilly owed him big time for this favour.
The holographic lieutenant stepped aside and as he did so, the simulation momentarily shut itself down, causing both the officer and the barely visible bridge behind him to flicker out of existence, leaving nothing but a blank, grid-lined room in their place. Assuming it was just a glitch, Kehlan thought nothing of it, waiting patiently… or at least, without any visible signs of impatience… for the holodeck to reset itself. For long moments, nothing happened but just as Kehlan was starting to think that there was something wrong with the holodeck, there was another flickering and the bridge reformed, flickered again and then stabilised. Eager to get started, Kehlan entered immediately, followed by her officers.
A holographic crewman leapt to attention. "Captain on the bridge!"
Kehlan gave a nod of acknowledgement. About to speak, she stopped, taking in the archaic uniform the hologram was wearing. A belted, hip-length jacket in a deep red colour that was not almost but not quite burgundy, with black trim highlighting an asymmetric fastening and underneath it, a white undershirt with ribbed collar. A white band was visible on one sleeve, containing various pins that she knew indicated his rank and length of service. Another rank pin, matching the one on the sleeve, adorned the strap on his right shoulder. The insignia was unfamiliar to her and she realised that she had no idea what rank this officer held.
Thankfully, Corbus did recognise the insignia and came to her rescue, saying smoothly, "At ease, Lieutenant. Report."
The holographic officer moved to the 'at ease' posture, feet apart and hands clasped behind his back. "Captain Kehlan, ladies and gentlemen," he began. "Welcome aboard the Excelsior Class vessel, USS Sir Gawain. We are…"
"Wait a minute," Kehlan interrupted. "Excelsior class?" We were told just a moment ago, that Sir Gawain was an Intrepid class ship." Whatever she'd just been told, this was clearly not it.
"No Captain," the hologram said. "You must be mistaken. The USS Sir Gawain, NCC-1751 is, as I have informed you, an Excelsior class vessel."
Kehlan frowned. Certainly, this officer's uniform was appropriate for an Excelsior class. She'd wondered about that when she'd first seen him. Mentally she reviewed what she knew of the class, which was unfortunately very little. She had seen pictures but had never been onboard one, even in simulation. She did know that they were one of the longest serving classes of starships in the fleet, having been commissioned in the late 23rd century. Even now, a few still remained in service, although they'd been heavily upgraded over the years. Not that any of those upgrades were in evidence on this ship. The Sir Gawain looked like it had just rolled off the production line over a hundred years ago.
No doubt her Starfleet colleagues… which for all practical purposes, meant Corbus since the others were all holograms… had trained on such vessels in their academy days and would have learned about it in history classes. The gap in her knowledge put her at a disadvantage. Very well, she thought. As the Vulcans said, Kaiidth. What is, is. She would play this game with whatever cards she had been dealt.
"Very well, Lieutenant," she said eventually. "Continue your briefing."
"The USS Sir Gawain is currently assigned to patrol the Neutral Zone. I am Lieutenant Sam Tyler, your communications officer. If you and your crew would care to take your posts, you'll find that the ship is ready to depart on your command, Captain. The simulation will begin as soon as a course is laid in and engaged."
Tyler offered a padd to Kehlan and stood aside to allow her and her crew full access to their stations. Once everyone had taken their positions, the hologram took his own position at the communications station.
Settling herself in the captain's chair, Kehlan activated the padd she had been handed and read the orders she found there. "Our mission," she said after a moment, "is to patrol the neutral zone. Helm, set a course parallel with the zone, warp four… Engage."
There was just the faintest, almost subliminal thrumming as the USS Sir Gawain leapt to warp.
So far, so good. Determined to make the best use possible of her time as she waited for something to happen, Kehlan pulled up the ship's schematics on the padd, familiarising herself with them as quickly as she could. In a scenario like this, knowledge - or the lack of it – could make all the difference to the success of the mission. She was studying the ship's weapons capability when an insistent beeping came from the Ops station.
Kehlan frowned, in concentration rather than displeasure although a person who didn't know her could be forgiven for not seeing a difference. Finally, she thought, something was about to happen. She wanted to get on with it, get to the battle. It would happen soon, she knew. This was not real life, where a crew could spend hours on the bridge with absolutely nothing happening. No, battle was coming!
She glanced at the Klingon general currently serving as her tactical officer. She grinned. It was not often that she got to give orders to a general and she planned to enjoy it. "Khetara... report!"
Running a scan, Khetara double checked the readout before speaking. For exactly the same reasons as Kehlan, she was not as familiar with this class of ship as she would have liked, and she had no desire to embarrass herself by getting it wrong. No doubt, she thought wryly, Rhiana was thinking exactly the same thing. "Sensors are detecting a highly charged energy pulse, brief but distinct, somewhere within the Neutral Zone. I'm also reading a fluctuating energy signature; the computers have almost got a clear reading."
Aware that she was taking longer than she should, and that Kehlan was staring at her intently as she waited for information, the Klingon general studied the LCARS displays with a tinge of irritation before responding to the unvoiced prompting. "It is a transport ship, detecting numerous life signs, and it is badly damaged, possibly a hull rupture. Unknown where the ship originates from. Radiation readings are consistent with…" Before she could finish, the console beeped insistently, loudly interrupting her.
"Captain…" The holographic comms officer broke in. "I am reading a distress call, requesting aid. Situation dire."
"On screen!"
The transmission was garbled and distorted, but the bridge crew could hear the fires and claxons on the other ship, almost loud enough to drown out the voice of the clearly terrified captain.
"Mayday… Mayday… This is the Federation freighter Kobayashi Maru. We have struck a gravitic mine and have lost all manoeuvring capability! Main and auxiliary power are failing! We have almost four hundred passengers onboard! Requesting emergency assistance! Life support at critical!"