Chapter 415

FEDERATION GOVERNMENT RESORT

MOTU ONE, TAHITI, EARTH

Senator Jameson was relaxing on the beach sipping a native drink with a slice of pineapple in it. This resort was top-notch. The Federation purchased the remote island of Motu One and turned it into a resort and convention center. The resort had everything that was needed to take care of a thousand guests in various ways; either suite-style rooms in a hotel environment, air-conditioned tropical huts either on the beach or on pilings over the water, or authentic huts overlooking the beach. The resort also had a state-of-the-art convention center for performing government-sponsored gatherings. The primary function of this resort was for the Federation to put the best face forward to whomever they decided that they needed to impress.

It was for this reason that the Federation spared no expense. You can joke about government golf courses, government parks, whatever. This was one of the few areas that the bureaucracy worked very well. Of course, Presidents, Senators, Legislators, Cabinet members, Agency officials, and whoever else was important in the Federation could spend time here. The resort started off as a small and typical government institution, very bleak. Over time it expanded, then somewhere around fifty years ago it got an enormous budget to improve and it went from ho-hum to five star. Then it was exclusive. So exclusive that you had to be a high official. And it was also totally free. Perks.

Jameson was taking a week off from the office, sort of. A Senator never could leave totally. He was now on the beach sipping his drink getting some sun while reading various financial reports. Thoroughly enjoying himself. Suddenly, a shadow appeared over him. Jameson looked up to see a silhouette of a person. "Eli, what is it?"

Gold dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and shorts said, "Enjoying yourself sir?"

Jameson squinted, "You're going to give me a heart attack doing things like that."

Gold handed a datapad over, "Sorry, I'll keep that in mind. I'd like you to take a look at this. The latest reports from Maghreb."

Jameson started scanning the report. "You think the Klingons are going to beat us?"

Gold shrugged, "I don't know. One thing the Maghreb desire is advanced technology, specifically weapons. Klingons are obliging, we are not. Ambassador Mamet is going to start offering Federation technology, but not officially. He is walking carefully around Dax."

"The Trill? I didn't want him there, but the State Department absolutely wants him there. They are giving Dax some heavy-hitting experience because he's a former head-of-state and will be terrific for the Federation later. I really couldn't counter that since I wanted this treaty to be successful."

Gold nodded, "Yes sir. Point is that Mamet is doing everything himself. Mamet felt that Dax isn't able to be compromised. That is making it tougher for Mamet to contact elements that might be persuadable with non-forthright negotiations."

"Because of Dax. I know. Whatever Mamet does has to be out of the sight of Dax otherwise the operation will be blown." Jameson sipped his drink again.

Gold nodded. "Yes sir, it is. He thinks he has found somebody named Soklos or something like that. Their most prominent businessman. Soklos owns the tallest building on the planet, in their capital. Mamet thinks that Soklos is very hungry for technology."

Jameson asked, "Which part of our technology?"

"Any part, if he can reverse-engineer it. Soklos thinks he is on the verge of a fortune."

Jameson smiled, "I like him already. Anything else?"

"Yes sir. Mamet has informed me that Clayborne used the President's video."

Jameson sat up at that. "Why didn't Clayborne let me know?"

Gold said evenly, "I do not know why not, but it gets worse. He used it in front of Adama at Starbase 5, not on board a starship like he was told."

Jameson swore. "Can we stop it?"

Gold shrugged, "I don't know. I told our vendor to start the purge, gave him the file, and told him to delete any associated files too. It will take a while for that to propagate through Starfleet, but it is at the speed of subspace. If they are not warned, there's no stopping it."

PRESIDENT'S OFFICE

MAGHREB

Soklos walked in and said, "Good morning Kurbish."

President Kurbish stood and welcomed Soklos in. "Good morning Soklos. Sit down, we have much to talk about."

Soklos sat down, "Good, I've been meaning to talk with you. For instance, when are you going to let me get at those Klingon weapons and other technology."

Kurbish sat down, "You would not want them, they are junk. The Klingons admitted to it. It seems that they are saving the best for later."

"Their junk would still help us get ahead by decades."

Kurbish shook his head, "No, it will not. It must work to figure out how it works. We're waiting for their better 'samples'. They tried to pawn off their trash, but it did not work."

Soklos thought about the Klingon technology, even stuff found in the dumpster would help, but new stuff would be better. "If you get some good 'samples' I need to see one. You owe me that. All I ever have done for you; it is payback time now."

Kurbish leaned back and held his hands together forming a point. "I've been meaning to talk to you about that. It is in both of our interests that Maghreb find out the secrets of these new devices. All of them. It's a matter of our survival. I hate to admit it, but that movement that Dr. Zouger started is right in one area, to be afraid of these aliens. Their solution is wrong though. We need to learn from them, not kick them out."

Kurbish intentionally dropped that line on Soklos. He had microphones in the office that were voice-stress analyzers. A red light under his desk lit up anytime somebody's voice showed significant stress, such as lying, or hiding a lie. Soklos said, "Dr. Zouger may have his good points, but I don't agree with his movement."

Red light. Tough thing with multiple statements was which one was the lie? Kurbish asked, "Do you have any influence over Dr. Zouger?"

Soklos shook his head, "No, none at all." Red light.

Kurbish remarked, "Too bad. I could use him right now. I think we could get some of that technology."

Soklos spread his hands out, "I wish I had some influence too." Red light.

Kurbish sat forward and reached in one of his drawers for a thick file. "Really. I think you do. And I aim to use you on that." He sat the file down on the desk. "This details you. Everything you are involved in personally. Look at it."

Soklos opened the file while Kurbish went on, "It details the money trail from you to Dr. Zouger's movement. It details how you have already tried to steal what little technology the Klingons have given to us for yourself. It also details how your construction company here prepped the Embassies for both the Federation and Klingons. Hiding an entrance in plain sight is a wonderful idea."

Soklos paged through the report. He was shocked at the extensive background that was revealed. Sub corporations that were providing support to Dr. Zouger, hand-written plans on changes to the plans of the prep work for the Embassies, and how a perfectly good access tunnel was built under the Embassies of both the Klingons and the Federation. Soklos looked up with the best poker face he could muster up. Kurbish said, "This is where I'm going to squeeze you, and if you don't cooperate, I'll release this." Kurbish pulled out a smaller file, but it too plopped with a small thud on the desktop. Kurbish pushed it over to Soklos.

Soklos started looking at the second file. It had everything down, all the illegal deals he had done in the last twenty years, all the people he worked with in the black market, everything. What was here was an open-and-shut-case and he would be in prison forever. "I need reassurances that you won't double-cross me."

Kurbish nodded, "I expect you would. How about this? You get me their technology. All we want is a few samples from each category. You don't get to keep a raygun until you give me a raygun. Simple."

Soklos thought a bit, "What's to keep me from saying, 'We didn't find a such-and-such raygun?"

Kurbish nodded, "Fair question. This." Kurbish pushed a button and four big men dressed in suits came up. Two of them held Soklos's arms while the third literally pushed Soklos down. The fourth brought in what amounted to a wristwatch, an exact copy of his own wristwatch. The fourth took Soklos's watch off and put on the wristwatch that came in.

Kurbish explained, "The wristwatch that is being put on has an explosive and a poison in it. If you try to take the watch off, or I even suspect you of double-crossing me, the watch will inject you with a poison and then blow up. You're twice dead. If you hide underground, the watch will get you. Either you stay in the hole in the ground or you come up for a breather and get blown up and poisoned."

Soklos asked, "What do you want?"

Kurbish said plainly, "Get me technology. The Federation is hiding it somewhere. The Klingons somewhere too. Most likely either on their respective ships or in the embassies."

Soklos thought about what Kurbish was saying. He looked at the watch on his wrist, and rubbed his arm, suddenly wanting to take the watch off. "What do you expect me to do?"

Kurbish pointed at the file, "Dr. Zouger. We know you finance his activity. I assume you already have a plan in place to get some technology, otherwise you wouldn't be playing both sides. Get that technology, however you can."

Soklos eyed the President. True enough, he had planned on Zouger creating a mayhem and maybe he could get some weapons, but now he was government sanctioned? This was good if that watch did not kill him. "I can push him, but ultimately, he is a pacifist. He will not fight or send people to fight. I would need someone else to stir up the people."

"Why? Just use Zougar as a smokescreen. Use professionals to do the actual hard work, and use Zougar to stir up the crowd. If you need a list of operators…"

Soklos snapped, "I know operators."

Kurbish nodded. "I think you know what has to happen."

Soklos looked out the window at his tower off in the distance. Yes, he did know what must happen. The rules with Kurbish have changed. Soklos in the past used strong-arm tactics to get what he needed, but they were always with underlings, never equals. Soklos would also argue that no man was his equal, but you knew who was in your club and who was not.

Kurbish pulling this poison- exploding watch thing set the tone. Soklos distastefully saw that Kurbish considered him an underling. Soklos was the one that funded Kurbish's election, it was Kurbish that was an underling of Soklos. Was there a way to turn this around? Perhaps.

"What is my guarantee that you will take this watch off without killing me once I get what you want?"

Kurbish was enjoying seeing Soklos squirm. "Absolutely nothing more than my word."

Soklos gave a smirk. "Sure." Soklos was already scheming against Kurbish. Kurbish was an extreme disappointment, supposed to be doing what Soklos wanted, not the other way around. And now Kurbish was threatening Soklos' life. You threaten my life, I will take yours, Soklos thought. An idea came to mind.

Soklos said, "I'll need some support from you."

Kurbish asked, "I'll give you what I can."

Soklos angrily said, "NO politician promises. I mean it Kurbish. I'll try to do as much as I can, and I understand the whole 'plausible deniability' thing. Frankly, I do not want your help, but if I need it, I NEED IT!"

Soklos nodded, "I understand. You will get it."

Soklos stood up with a snort. "I'll be in touch." He left in a huff.

SOKLOS OFFICE

SOKLOS SKYTOWER

Soklos stormed into his office, stupid watch was chafing him. His main strong-arm man was waiting for him. Bartol was there also. Soklos stepped up to both men. "Kurbish is a dead man. This watch is booby-trapped. First moment that Kurbish thinks I am double crossing him, I am dead. I need ideas on how to deal with this."

Bartol said, "We make a video right now detailing this. If he does kill you, we release the video."

Soklos winced, "Fine, let's do that. We can threaten that later. Can I get this thing off?"

Soklos' strong-arm man had been in the military for a term of three years, then switched to the government's intelligence. He had spent years spying and performing operations on the citizenry of Maghreb, then got tapped by Soklos for his wet-work. Soklos had performed a lot of illegal operations, and it was amusing that now his own life was being threatened similarly to the way he had done others. His name was Rofvert.

Rofvert looked carefully at the watch. Externally, it looked like the standard, high-end watch many of the elite wear. "I'll have to do some checking. Right now, I do not see any triggering mechanisms. I'll have to get some better optics on this sir."

Soklos nodded, he was fighting off his body's urge to shake. "Fine Rofvert. Kurbish wants us to go get the good stuff from both the Klingons and Federation."

Rofvert asked, "What are your objectives?"

Soklos stated, "I want to grab as much of their technology as I can. I want also Kurbish to be dead at the end of the day."

Rofvert pulled out a small camera and was taking pictures of the watch while he was thinking aloud. "I think I'd also add that you don't want to be blamed. No connections."

Soklos nodded, "Right now I'm so mad that I don't care. What are you thinking of?"

Rofvert said, "First, I think I can get somebody that can at least tell me if this thing is crackable."

Soklos looked at the watch. "What about our operation?"

Rofvert thought aloud, "Let's change the order a bit. We want an operation to grab as much stuff as to satisfy Kurbish and you. We also want to keep from getting blamed, and we want Kurbish dead at the end. Can we do an operation that accomplishes all three?"

Soklos looked at Rofvert, "What are you thinking?"

Rofvert smirked, "From what I hear, it does not take too much to make Klingons mad. We just have to make sure they are sufficiently mad at Kurbish and don't even suspect us. They will kill Kurbish for us."

"What about the Federation?"

Rofvert shrugged, "From what I've heard, they are made up of different aliens. Much harder to predict. Whatever we do, we have to make it sufficiently bad enough that we rile them too. Maybe we use some expendables. I am just thinking right now."

Soklos said, "Think fast my friend. Only use who you absolutely trust. I like what you said on transferring blame to Kurbish."

TRANSPORTER ROOM 1

USS WISCONSIN

Jacobs walked in seeing Clayborne standing on the transporter pad. "You asked for me sir?"

Clayborne handed him a datapad. "We need these areas on Maghreb geologically surveyed for dilithium, samples taken, and report back to me as soon as possible."

Jacobs looked at the areas, "There's more than a dozen here."

"Fifteen. How long?"

Jacobs did a quick calculation. "I would guess perhaps three or four days. It is tough to say."

Clayborne said, "A Starship Captain should be able to give me a better estimate, your time with tenders shows that this exploration mission is over your head."

Jacobs raised an eyebrow, but did not respond to the insult. "That's my estimate. I can get back to you later with a better estimate. Are these areas already cleared with the Maghreb Government?"

Clayborne snapped back, "Of course they are!"

Jacobs patiently nodded, "Good, then according to Maghreb protocols, each flight will need an authorization code for us to operate under. I believe we have two geologists on board. I can…"

"You don't know exactly how many geologists you have?"

Jacobs was getting frustrated and angry, but knew Clayborne was trying to provoke him. Jacobs remembered an old saying 'don't give them the satisfaction.' He calmly said, "Admiral, I'll check with my Science Officer who is the expert in his department. Lt Cdr Hotchner will let me know who is qualified to give you reports concerning dilithium. If memory serves, dilithium is a bit tricky to determine from common quartz."

Clayborne shot a nasty look at Jacobs. Dilithium looking like quartz was basic 23rd century science knowledge. It was also true that it takes specialized training to determine the difference between quartz and dilithium. "How long before you can get me a schedule?"

"Ten minutes. Would you like to delay your beam-down until I get the information?"

Clayborne angrily said, "No. Send it down when you can. Energize!"

Chief Frye looked at Jacobs, who nodded. She manipulated the controls and Clayborne transported down. After Clayborne was gone, Frye said, "Transport complete, sir."

Jacobs was thinking over the conversation. Frye commented, "Admiral Clayborne is a hard man to please."

It broke Jacobs' train of thought. He turned around chuckling. "That is an understatement. That is why I told you not to let him get under your skin."

Frye asked, "Did he get under yours?"

Jacobs shrugged, "I will not admit it if he did. Most especially to him."

"Sorry I asked sir." Frye smirked at the thought. "I'll be standing by when he wants to return."

Jacobs walked through the doors and remarked as he left. "Do not take any crap from him, Chief. Keep doing the excellent job I have grown accustomed to expect from you."

BRIDGE SIMULATOR

STARFLEET ACADEMY

EARTH

Lt Cdr Uhura worked the controls of the communications station. The simulator was set up to simulate the Wisconsin's software. On the surface, the controls were that of the new standard bridge for heavy cruisers, but the software was loaded with all the software that the Wisconsin was currently running.

Lt Cdr Ressler was watching the simulation that was underway. He was very impressed and a little bit intimidated at how things progressed. Cdr Rogers had suggested that the first stop was to try to reproduce what was happening on the Wisconsin. This was the classic case of needing to keep information tightly held, but you need to get expert help. So, the solution was to enlist some legends in Starfleet.

Ressler was looking over Uhura's shoulder, and Captain Spock was at the Science Officer's station. It was very intimidating asking these two for help, but they were very willing. They tried the Wisconsin first, then other starships, and finally returned to the Wisconsin software. Uhura said, "Messages are in the queue and are being sent."

Spock said, "From the past tests, I can confirm that the Wisconsin is the only ship being affected. The data packet fragmentation just occurred. This did not happen on any of the other ships."

Ressler asked, "What about the other messages?"

Spock picked up a datapad that was linked to the simulator's main computer. "That is unknown. We will have to analyze this data. We might have to have more tests to confirm that the other messages are not being compromised."

Ressler looked at Spock and asked, "Do you think they are?"

Spock turned and raised a customary eyebrow, "Insufficient data. I cannot determine if any other messages are being compromised."

Uhura was smiling and shaking her head, trying to ask a Vulcan for a gut feeling takes a little bit more work than Ressler was used to. She offered, "Captain Spock, I think what Mr. Ressler is asking is do you believe there is cause to further test the Wisconsin's program."

Spock's other eyebrow raised up. Bingo, thought Uhura. Now Ressler is going to get his answer. Spock started, "I believe so. We are seeing a virus that is deeply embedded in the computer system. From the level of difficulty of determining exactly what the computer is doing, I expect that more than just Nurse Griffin's email is being read."

Ressler looked at both senior officers, "Sirs, what should our concern be? Is compromised communications the only danger we have here?"

Uhura shook her head, "No Mr. Ressler. From what I can see, I think this virus has formed some pathways between various systems on the ship. I do not think any system is beyond being compromised. One signal and you could shut down engineering."

Spock interjected, "There are safeguards against that, but I believe that virus may have somehow circumvented those safeguards. It may be possible for unauthorized access to do more than simply shut a system down. It may even be possible that remote control of a starship may happen, like what our prefix codes can perform. Further testing is necessary."

Uhura asked, "Mr. Ressler, I believe I have enough data here to determine where the emails ultimately end up. The further testing will help speed that process. I can extend the simulation to include Starbase 5 and their software program."

"You can do that?"

Uhura smiled, "You came to use mine and Captain Spock's expertise. We have resources that we can tap and you can unlock them with Admiral Nogura's approval."

Ressler nodded, "Let me know what you need and I'll get it. Ok, we have a good idea as to what is happening, or could be happening. Next question is who is doing this? Klingons? Romulans?"

Spock said flatly, "I would rule out any of the foreign powers. For example, if the Klingons were behind this, they would be into every message the Wisconsin was sending, not just from some nurse. Tell me, why Nurse Griffin?"

"I don't know why."

Spock stated, "I suggest if you find out why they want Nurse Griffin's email, you will find out who. The answer is out there, not here in the program."

COMMANDER CARTER'S OFFICE

USS WISCONSIN

Jacobs walked in, Alan greeted him, "Good morning, sir."

"Good morning, Alan. How are our new guys coming along?"

Carter chuckled, "It looks like Mr. Anders knocked some sense into Mitchell. The boy has been quiet and cooperating."

Jacobs shrugged, "I do not know about that. Keep your eye on him."

Carter smiling said, "I will. What brings you by?"

"I've got some flying for you. These are the coordinates. Admiral Clayborne wants some geologic surveys done and after talking with Hotch we think shuttles will be better than transporting down." Jacobs handed over a datapad with the information on it. "We envision three shuttles. Here is the sensor package to be included in them. We have three qualified science people. Each mission will entail some overflying along with a landing and groundwork."

Carter took the datapad and looked over it. "Lots of flying. What about the possibility of the inbound Klingon?"

"That was also part of the concern. Equip each shuttle with an extended survival package. In case we get under siege, damaged, or worse maybe they can survive until help comes."

Carter made a couple of notes. "Does the Admiral know about the bad guy?"

Jacobs shook his head, "No, he clearly stated to me and Leo that the ground is his concern, the sky above is mine."

Carter smirked, "I'd like to see how that came down. I'll get flight plans drawn up for them. How long at each site?"

"Plan on four hours, Hotch said that would be a good estimate. Some longer, some less. We can beam up or down various items if necessary."

Carter said, "That means two and a half days minimum."

Jacobs smiled, "I told the Admiral four. Better to finish early than late."

SOKLOS' OFFICE

SOKLOS SKYTOWER

MAGHREB

Rofvert laid out his plan, "I think this is the best plan."

Soklos nodded, "It's beautiful. What do you need?"

Rofvert listed his materials he needed. "We also need to do this relatively fast."

"Why fast? I thought you would want some time to practice, to work up."

Rofvert shook his head, "No sir, it is the other problem. The teams are already at a good edge, I'm worried about operational security. The less time we waste is less time the aliens can learn of this. I need you to get Zouger to work the people up in a frenzy. I need confusion, mass confusion and anger."

"I can do that."

BRIDGE

IKV INSTIGATOR

Captain Golger was looking at his screen. They had arrived at their quarry, apparently undetected. The Instigator had done a very careful approach, maximizing every known trick, and avoiding potential pitfalls. Golger had the navigator also plot their approach to Kang very carefully. The approach kept their position from coming between Kang and the visible stars. It had been painstaking, but was worth it.

Now they were at visual distance and looking at the two ships very carefully. It was an impressive sight to see a D7-M in formation with a Federation Heavy Cruiser, and one of the new models. Golger was outgunned two to one assuming the Federation Captain would assist Kang. Starfleet was so weak, Golger doubted that the Starfleet vessel would fight. So much the better.

"Report on those ships."

Golger's tactical officer said, "Kang is running with shields up. He also has his weapons charged. The weapons and shield generators are showing moderate heat saturation, but I estimate his readiness level is high. The Federation ship is the Wisconsin, one of the new Enterprise Class Heavy Cruisers. It too has its shields up, but not at full. They are up at what I would estimate at one-tenth level. They also have only one phaser on each phaser bank charged, again showing moderate heat saturation. My guess is that they are rotating charging the phaser banks."

Golger nodded, "Federation technology is not as robust as our own."

The tactical officer said, "Certainly, sir. Something puzzles me."

Golger asked, "What?"

"Both ships are radiating sensors at high power. They are clearly searching for something."

Golger smiled a sinister smile, "They are searching for us. Let's assume that Starfleet will enter the fight, plan accordingly."

The tactical officer nodded. "Also, the Wisconsin's phasers seem to be randomly moving."

Golger sat up, "What do you mean?"

The tactical officer brought up a video and showed it. "Excuse the poor resolution. This video is at the limit of our passive optical sensors. This is one of the Wisconsin's phaser banks." The video showed a very blurry image of the pair of phaser emitters.

Golger shook his head, "I don't see them moving. If they were, why would they be moving?"

The tactical officer shook his head, "I do not know, we'd need to get closer to get better images. But that exposes us to being discovered."

Golger ordered, "Helm, bring us to within ten thousand kalikams. Keep us from coming between them and any of their moons or planets."

BRIDGE

USS WISCONSIN

Jacobs had been spending more time on the bridge. It allowed the pair of Badgers assigned for bridge security a chance to relax in the ready room. The bridge was staffed normally, with the addition of the two periscopes being manned. Jacobs was reading some reports listening to the banter. He could see Lt Maya and Ens Hilts were moving the periscopes back and forth surveying the sky. Jacobs could also see that Lt Grimm's slaving program from the periscopes to the phasers was working well.

Grimm also had two of his displays showing exactly what the periscopes were looking at. One was labeled UPPER and the other was LOWER. Maya was on the UPPER scope.

Maya was swinging around when she suddenly saw one of the stars in the scope twinkle. She froze on the spot and kept looking. Nothing. She was just about to start moving again when she saw another star twinkle. She zoomed in and saw nothing. What she needed was more light, or the ability to see more light.

Maya's sudden stop caught Jacobs' attention. He looked up and sat the datapad on his lap. Jacobs looked at the screen assigned to Maya's scope and did not see anything unusual. The screen was an imperfect representation of what Maya saw in the scope, using conventional sensors to reproduce an image. It was even more startling to see Maya change her form into that of a Catian. Catians were members of the Federation. They resembled man-sized cats that walked on their hind legs. One thing that they also had were cat eyes.

Maya (Caitan) snugged her new face into the periscope eyeshield. It totally blocked out the light from the bridge. As she let her new eyes adjust, she could see more and more faint objects.

BRIDGE

IKV INSTIGATOR

The tactical officer was showing a much clearer picture of the Wisconsin's phaser bank. Golger saw now what his officer was mentioning. "Good work, why is the phaser bank sweeping around randomly?"

"No idea, unless it's some form of new scanning they have. But the phaser isn't emitting anything."

The phaser was sweeping around and as it came across them, it stopped. It was a little unsettling looking down the emitter of a phaser bank. "Helm, change our course thirty degrees to the starboard."

As the ship moved, the phaser fell in behind them, it suddenly slewed again to where they were. But only for a minute. As it stayed in position and the Instigator moved, the phaser bank would fall behind and not point at them. The phaser suddenly slewed again.

"They are tracking us."

The tactical officer shook his head, "Impossible."

Golger pointed out, "How does it keep slewing to point to us? Once is a coincidence, but this has happened three times now. They are at least detecting us. Helm, stop all relative motion."

The Instigator stopped all motion relative to the Wisconsin.

BRIDGE

USS WISCONSIN

Jacobs could see Maya was keyed in on something. "Maya, what do you see?"

Maya (Catian) didn't want to shake her head and break the seal, "I see an occasional blinking star."

Jacobs looked at the screen for her periscope, it was all dark right now. Maya's eyes were now so sensitive that the screen was not actually showing all she could see. "We don't see anything."

"It's intermittent sir. I have not seen it for almost a minute."

Jacobs was trying to think what was going on. He suddenly realized his thinking was wrong, rather than try to explain it, he needed to trust Maya and help diagnose it. He did a quick check of where Maya was looking. "Mr. Mitchell, come starboard ninety degrees. One-eighth impulse."

Mitchell was thinking that this was chasing ghosts. Well, it is the old man's chase. "Aye aye, sir. Starboard ninety and one-eighth impulse."

Jacobs nodded, "JJ, inform Kang we are checking out a possible target."

Jareau answered, "Aye aye, sir."

Maya noticed a star blink, then another. There was something out there. "Target! With our speed, I estimate it is ten thousand kilometers away!"

Jacobs hit the alert button and said, "RED ALERT! ALL HANDS TO BATTLESTATIONS!"

Grimm brought the rest of the phasers to full power and loaded the torpedoes, Agathon raised all shields to full power, Santini was on the bridge and killed all unnecessary power usages and diverted it to the shields and weapons. Off-dutyBbadgers ran to the Badger ready room, grabbed their gear and then ran to their duty stations. The secondary and auxiliary bridges were manned, all shuttles were manned, and as assigned today, TC and Anders jumped in Raptors 1 and 2 and started preflighting. Shortly after the Raptors were preflighted, two teams of Badgers ran into and boarded the Raptors, the doors were shut and everybody was ready for a fight. Two squads showed up in Transporter rooms 1 and 2 in full gear and activated the bridge monitors to get apprised of the situation.

On the tactical station, Jacobs could see all decks ready for battlestations. "Maya, how good of a fix do you have?"

"Not good at all. Predictable is all I would say."

IKV INSTIGATOR

Golger watched as the Wisconsin moved, as he was wondering why the Wisconsin was moving his tactical officer said, "The Wisconsin just came to a high readiness level. Shields are full power and Phasers are all charging."

What do we do now? They see us somehow. "Are they tracking us?"

The tactical officer said, "Not consistently, they point at us, but they do not hold it for very long. Should we attack?"

Golger shook his head. "Not yet."

"Kang has been broadcasting that he will fire at any cloaked vessel."

Golger said irritatingly, "I know that. I want to see if the Federation vessel will fire. It will tell us their intentions."

BRIDGE

USS WISCONSIN

Grimm asked, "Do we fire?"

Jacobs was trying to think whether to fire. "Maya, what are the odds of a hit?"

Maya said disappointingly, "Not even one in ten, probably one in a hundred."

"Hold your fire Ben, let's see if we can track him." Jacobs checked the plot of where they had been. He stood up and walked to the tactical board. "Maya said ten thousand klicks. That's about here." He touched the screen and made a circle. The computer left a circle where he traced with his finger. "Helm, come another forty degrees starboard."

Mitchell brought the ship starboard, "Aye aye sir, forty degrees."

Jacobs looked at Hotchner, "Any sensor readings Hotch?"

"None."

Jacobs looked at the plot, maybe they could put the target between them and the planet. "Helm, another forty degrees right, thirty degrees up, and increase speed to one quarter impulse. Prepare for crash stop on my command. Maya, I'm going to try to put the target between us and the planet."

"Aye aye sir." Maya answered. She adjusted her scope accordingly.

IKV INSTIGATOR

"They are making a rough circle of us!"

Golger looked at the plot of what was happening and saw the phaser bank on the Wisconsin slew. Now what were they doing? Suddenly, he saw. "Helm, ninety degrees down, full impulse!"

The Instigator pivoted and leaped ahead. The tactical officer asked, "What is happening?"

"They are attempting to put us between them and the planet. They were tracking us. Somehow, they saw us or part of us! Helm, maneuver to the far side of their moon. We need to rethink this."

BRIDGE

USS WISCONSIN

Jacobs saw Maya track something for a little while, then she changed her form back to normal, "I lost it sir. I think they went down underneath us."

Jacobs ordered, "Helm, return us to our station."

"Aye aye sir."

Leonaidas asked, "You aren't going to press on?"

Jacobs shook his head, "No. They escaped. JJ, secure from battlestations and let Kang know we're coming back. I'll talk to him in an hour."

"Aye aye sir."