Romulans Come A-Callin

Posted on Sat Jun 1st, 2013 @ 1:56am by Fleet Admiral Sevlek & Captain Patrick Dow & Admiral Tomalak

1,509 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Mission 83 - Recovery
Location: Starbase 400
Timeline: Concurrent with the Lexington and Vanguard Missions

ON:

Aboard Starbase 400, things were flowing smoothly after the Lexington and Vanguard had departed. The Gladiator had returned, and Captain Dow was in Ops looking over the report of the ‘damage’ to the Gladiator.

He handed the PADD back to the Ensign that Admiral Sevlek had sent to Ops. “It’s a shame such a new and advanced vessel had that kind of system malfunction.” He smirked, “Thanks.”

Dow walked over to glance at the long range sensors at Tactical Two when the panel beeped. About the same moment, the Comm station beeped too.

“Captain, there’s a Romulan D’deredex type Warbird decloking at the edge of the Neutral Zone, and hailing us.” Archer reported.

“On screen Nick.” Dow replied. He was worried the Lexington and Vanguard had been discovered. When the face of Admiral Tomalak, was expecting to hear the worst…

“Admiral Tomalak, this is Captain Dow, how can we be of assistance.” Pat said as the Romulan Commander in the area appeared.

“Shouldn’t you be on Kaleb digging in the dirt still? I will speak to Admiral Bremer.” Tomalak replied.

“It looks like your intel is a little out dated,” Dow smirked at the screen, “The Admiral isn’t available, he’s in meetings today.”

“And where is Vice Admiral T’Lar?” Tomalak replied.

“She’s also in the meeting, I’d be happy to assist you though.” Pat was nervous, he wondered if Tomalak was probing him for info…

“Who is in command of the USS Gladiator?” Tomalak asked.

Dow didn’t reply at first, he knew the question meant two things. The Romulans didn’t know for certain who the ship’s CO was, and secondly that Tomalak’s anger was regarding the Gladiator’s crossing into Romulan space.

“I’ll have her CO brought to Ops so you can speak with him.” Pat replied, then added, “If you’d like to come aboard the Station to meet him face to face, I have the Constantinople. Laffey, and Ark Royal meet you at the border and escort you to the Station.”

Tomalak paused a moment, then nodded, “Agreed.” He closed the comm quickly.

Dow turned around, the Ensign was still in Ops and had watched the exchange, “Inform Admiral Sevlek and Captain Zandusky.” The Ensign nodded and Dow looked back at Archer, “Have the Laffey, Ark Royal, and ‘Nople meet Tomalak’s Warbird and escort him here. Also, if other Romulan ships should make an appearance, have the Cutlass, Steadfast, and Tirpitz on standby.”

Archer nodded, and Dow walked over to Strategic Operations and looked over the sensor readings in the area. He remembered how comfortable he felt at the station, the position he’d helped aboard the Pegasus-B for so many years before taking on the job as Starfleet Liaison Officer to the fledgling colony down on Kaleb IV. Sure, he enjoyed his new position, especially all the archeological work he was able to do on the surface, but he also realized how much he’d missed the action in space…

The ensign had informed the Vulcan flag officer and Captain Zandusky promptly upon returning to the Deck 4 Offices and both officers had made their way to the station's Operations Center. Sevlek stood just out of view of the communication equipment and Zandusky walked towards Dow and nodded to the other man as he said, "Ensign Rawlins said there was a message concerning the Gladiator?"

Dow looked back at Zandusky, he hadn't seen or spoken to him in years, since both serviced aboard the Pegasus-B together.

"Tomalak. He hailed, asking who her CO was. I didn't give him that information, however I did invite him to the Station. His ship is being escorted across the border now, and should arrive in about two hours. He also asked to speak to T'Lar and Mike, I told him they were in meetings." Dow glanced over at Sevlek, then looked back at Zandusky.

Sevlek nodded as he stepped forward now, "I will meet with him after he arrives. Both of you will be present."

Zandusky nodded, "I'm sure he thinks the Gladiator 'accidentally' crossed the border for some super clandestine reason."

"There's no telling what he thinks." Dow blurted out, "I'll have him escorted to the Briefing Room once he arrives."

Zandusky looked at Sevlek who nodded and said, "Inform us when he is there." He paused for the briefest of seconds as he remembered Tomalak's psychological profile, "It would be logical to make him wait at least 15 minutes for our arrival."

"Understood." Dow replied.

**2 Hours Fifteen Minutes later**

Sevlek walked through the doors to the Briefing Room, followed by Zandusky and Dow to find 2 Romulans waiting in seats at the table.

Tomalak stood and when he realized who entered he put on an immense false smile, "Admiral Sevlek, how good to see you again. I had no idea you were aboard this station."

Sevlek raised an eyebrow, "Indeed." After both Zandusky and Dow were in the Briefing Room fully he indicated Zandusky first, "This is Captain Daniel Zandusky, and you know Captain Dow."

The Romulan made a slight bow as he responded, "Captains." He paused as he turned towards his escort, "Allow me to present Commander Yelaris."

Sevlek nodded as did Zandusky and Dow. Then Sevlek spoke, "What can I assist you with Admiral Tomalak?"

Tomalak looked around the room for a moment, then pulled a Romulan PADD from his pocket and slide it across the table. "I want to know why the USS Gladiator crossed into Romulan space? As you can see from the PADD, we monitored the...damage to the Gladiator before it drifted into our territory."

Dow picked up and PADD and glanced at it before handing it to Zandusky, then finally to Sevlek.

Zandusky spoke up, "The answer is quite simple, Admiral Tomalak." He paused as Sevlek handed him the PADD, "We're using a new type of EPS conduit shielding and the conduit behind the primary navigational deflector was defective and weakened by..." He knew the Romulans knew about Slipstream being available on about 20 vessels belonging to Starfleet but decided to play it vague, "extreme velocity stresses and maintenance crew hadn't cycled to that specific stretch of conduit. The resulting rupture caused moderate damage to the primary deflector and the ship drifted as the navigation controls were locked out by new safety protocols."

Tomalak eyed Zandusky for a few moments after he'd finished talking, then he glanced at Sevlek before speaking. "To use a Human saying, they just don't build them like they used to I suppose." He waited a moment, then added, "I just don't understand why Starfleet would send such a new and advanced ship so close to the Romulan border, especially if she is so defective."

Tomalak looked back at Sevlek again. He really wanted to know why the Vulcan Admiral was on Starbase 400, but of course he couldn't ask.

Zandusky smirked, "Well, Admiral. We needed to test a majority of its systems, since they are prototypes. A man of your experience understands the importance of such things I'm sure."

Tomalak smirked, then stood up. "Well then, Captain, I suggest you make sure your vessel is repaired before you near Romulan space again, because if it crosses the border, it may be viewed as an invasion and destroyed on site."

Tomalak looked back at his aid, then headed out of the Briefing Room. The two Security Guards followed them out.

Once the door shut, Dow looked over at Sevlek, "Now how do we get the Lexington and Vanguard back into Federation space?"

"They exit freely. The Romulan tachyon net is not as effective as they would portray. Its sensitivity is focused completely on vessels entering their space, not those leaving."

"Sir, is it possible they haven't obtained even the most vague schematics of the Gladiator even this long after it's construction has been completed?" Zandusky asked.

Sevlek nodded, "The only data they have on the Gladiator Class Starship is that it is the newest and most advanced combat focused vessel in use by the Federation and Starfleet. It is highly unlikely they have any more data than that, or Admiral Tomalak would not have made such an empty threat of its destruction."

Zandusky nodded as he looked at Dow who had a slightly puzzled look on his face, "In live-fire tests, the Gladiator disabled 6 other vessels before its shields reached 20%. We had to power down the offensive and defensive systems at that point to avoid a core breach due to an imbalance in the resequencing of the benamite crystals that was fixed a couple of weeks later."

Dow stood up, glanced out the window, then looked back at Sevlek. "Sure hope you're right Admiral...about the Gladiator and the Tachyon net."

Dow nodded to Zandusky, "Good to see you again Daniel. I need to get back to Ops." With that, he left the Briefing Room.

Zandusky nodded, "Likewise." With that, Zandusky and Sevlek left the Briefing Room and headed back to the Gladiator and Deck 4 Offices, respectively.

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