"You can't be serious." Somel's voice was flat despite the concern in his eyes.
"I am quite serious, Somel. I am taking Dauntless; Subcommander Sagat will be aboard the April. This operation may be essential to--"
Somel silenced his wife with a sharp glare. "Does Doctor Niana know about this, T'Lessa?"
T'Lessa regarded him coolly, her yes glittering. "Of course she does. She is going with me."
Somel sighed as he realized that T'Lessa had outsmarted him...again. "Promise me you'll be careful. The last patrol turned deadly when you least expected it."
T'Lessa struggled to hide her frustration. Somel was always so overprotective, often to a fault. "This is only a reconnaissance operation, Somel. Both ships have functioning cloaking devices; we won't be seen." She paused, believing she saw a way to end the discussion. "You will accompany Subcommander Sagat on the April; we will be able to ensure each other's safety."
Somel bowed his head, acknowledging the compromise. "So it shall be, t'hai'la." At least I will not be worried from afar.
T'Lessa shook her head at him. "I heard that. Shield your thoughts better, Somel," she scolded gently. She knew, of course, that he had meant for her to hear it, and she was grateful for his concern. "I know you're worried, but Dauntless will be cloaked and behind the April. The Dominion, and the Cerva, will not know either ship is there." Mischief sparkled in her eyes as the next thought formed behind them. "The Romulan High Council has also offered us a ship, but I'll tell you about that in the briefing, which takes place in twenty minutes."
Somel looked at her with renewed admiration. The woman to whom he was bonded could be so...devious, as though she were part Romulan. He supposed it came from her long service and participating in multiple conflicts...
T'Lessa watched him in amusement, then tapped his shoulder. "Somel, the briefing. You thoughts are wandering."
Somel shook himself from his musings. "Yes, of course. Shall we go now?"
T'Lessa nodded, and as they left their cabin for the briefing room, she found the presence of mind to remind her crew about her briefing. She tapped her combadge as they entered a nearby turbolift. "Senior staff to the briefing room. Briefing proceeds in fifteen minutes." The link terminated as she released the pressure on the badge.
Neither Vulcan spoke as the turbolift surged toward ops, but they had no need to. Though restrained while they were on duty, their love and support for one another was still clear. The silence continued as the lift stopped and the pair walked out into main ops, their steps in sync. T'Lessa acknowledged the junior officers holding positions as they crossed to the briefing room.
T'Lessa entered the briefing room with Somel at her side. "Carry on," she called as she crossed the threshold, giving the officers present no time to rise. She indicated that Somel should take his seat as she stood at the head of the table.
T'Lessa's staff watched her, admiration and loyalty shining in their eyes. Their captain seemed so much stronger than she had only a few short days before; they could detect no limp or weakness. The only flaw they could see was the now muted green scar above her eye, which her again short-cropped hair mercilessly revealed.
T'Lessa returned their admiring gaze for a few moments, knowing her crew would do anything she asked. "Last time we gathered, it was to discuss a development in the war that put Starfleet at a disadvantage," she said quietly. Her low voice commanded attention that even a shout could not muster. "Now we meet to discuss strategy." She looked at each officer in turn, waiting for one to ask the question they all longed to hear answered.
"Strategy for what, Captain?" Leya and Patrick Shaw asked in unison. Each glared at the other in false anger as the senior staff dissolved into giggles.
A gleam of amusement in her eyes, T'Lessa waited for the lighthearted laughter to die down. In a less perilous time, she might have hushed them, but with circumstances as dark as they were she allowed her crew mirth wherever they could find it. When the room had again quieted, T'Lessa nodded once. "Precisely the question I wished to hear." She moved quickly to the viewscreen on the bulkhead, her former grace restored by the healing trance she'd undergone only days before. She touched a series of keys, and the room dimmed as the viewscreen powered up with a visual of an Akira class starship.
"That's the Robert April." Toran was the first to identify the ship. "She just arrived this morning with one Lieutenant Commander Arrez in command. Said he was supposed to help us, but he couldn't say with what."
"Correct." Another tap on the keypad brought a well-known Hornet class ship coasting in alongside the April.
"Dauntless." A handful of officers spoke at once and looked around in surprise.
Slightly amused, T'Lessa nodded as the image on the viewer held steady on the two ships. "Yes, the April and the Dauntless. Starfleet Command has in store for us a mission that may finally give us an advantage in this war. These two ships--" T'Lessa indicated the screen. "--will infilitrate Cerva space under cloak." To illustrate her point, the ships shimmered and vanished. "And conduct reconnaissance operations. The mission is not without risks, but Command believes those risks to be trivial compared to wahat may be at stake, and that is the lives of every member of the Federation." T'Lessa halted her briefing, knowing her observant crew would pick up on the next layer of the plan.
Sagat had been studying her with a mixture of Romulan and Vulcan disciplines. He unfolded his hands and lay them flat on the table. "There is another element, Captain. Something you haven't told us yet." He paused slightly, glancing around the room. "I am certain everyone would like to hear it."
In response, T'Lessa manipulated the keypad, revealing the two previously mentioned starships as their companion glided in. Grace and danger emanated from the Valdore class Warbird, strikingly similar to one the crew had known several years ago.
Gasps of recognition filled the room as the Warbird's most notorious flaw, a swath of paint scraped away on its port hull, rotated into view.
"Bloodwing!?"
T'Lessa didn't know whichof her officers had spoken the ship's name, but she nodded. "Yes, our old friend Bloodwing. Many of you remember her and, I'm sure, her infamous commander." The image faded to one the crew knew well, a female Romulan commander.
"If I remember correctly, t'Dharvanek was demoted to erei'riov several years ago." Sagat paused to consider the new development. "Unless the Council has declared an emergency and granted her promotion. Again."
Ever curious, Toran cut into the conversation. "But would they do that? They never seemed to like her much."
"They would." Despite the confirmation, an edge of uncertainly colored Sagat's voice.
"They have." T'Lessa again held every officer's attention with that simple statement. "Two days after our last incident with the Dominion, the Council re-promoted t'Dharvanek and recommissioned Bloodwing. She will join us on this endeavour." She glanced around the room, looking at each officer in turn. "Questions?"
No one spoke, their confidence in their captain leaving them no reason to question her strategy.
"Very well. Dismissed."
Somel hung back as the rest of the staff filed out. He touched T'Lessa's arm lightly to get her attention. "I thought you didn't like t'Dharvanek."
"I do not 'like' her, but I respect her and what I've seen her do. That is the sole reason I invited her."
Somel blinked, hiding his suprise as best he could. Surprises around every turn.