"Tactical Lull"
Previous Post: "Dreams And Other Illusions"
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Stardate: 60298.1628
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Bridge
Moving at high warp speed towards the OTOL System and the two planets that had been identified as the possible source of the distress signal the crew of the USS ANUBIS fell into a sort of respite as they took care of their individual tasks. The Romulan/Terran hybrid was no exception to this, her duties as COO having become routinely simple over the last several minutes as compared to the hectic pace that she had been in the middle of not so long ago.
Following the return of the CO to the seclusion of his office after having given permission to the XO to stretch her legs and quench her curiosity, the Romulan/Terran hybrid had been left in control of the bridge and ship. Such responsibility would have normally been a source of stress and anxiety but for some reason this time was different. As far as the COO could explain it to herself, the rescue mission that they were now on paled so much in comparison to the life and death struggle they had faced with the Hirogens, the Dominion and the Romulans that it seemed to be nothing special. The fact of the matter was that this type of mission had been a welcome changed from the combat situation they had endured, although Rawyvin seemed determined to find something for them to engage the moment they would arrive at their destination.
Leaving the Sec/Tac to his research, a task that the COO understood all too well as she would have diligently done the same had Romulan/Terran hybrid not taken on the duties of the Ops station, Serenna concentrated on something that still feel well within her field of expertise.
Using her knowledge as an Intel trained officer and student of the Tal'Shiar, the Romulan/Terran hybrid reviewed at her station some of the information the ILO had been able to retrieve from the frigate's computer. The COO had not been all that surprise that access to highly classified files had been denied to her, understanding that Enaii would want to keep those for herself for the time being. As the head of the ANUBIS' Intel department, the decision had been her prerogative and she was in the best position to make sense of what would be found inside of these mysterious files.
Being able to only access the lower security files, the COO still dove into the task at hand without displaying her enthusiasm, curious as to how a Tal'Shiar vessel had been commandeered by Dominion forces while Romulan agents were still onboard, hidden for their opportunity to make their presence known. Knowing the Tal'Shiar as she did, the Romulan/Terran hybrid could only imagine that the Romulan Intel agency had let the frigate fall into enemy hands. Finding support for this theory in the fact that stasis chambers had been found in a hidden room near Engineering and that two Agents had been hiding on the bridge, the COO diverted her research on the reason for this.
Trying to make sense of what she was reading, the Romulan/Terran hybrid began to realize just how important the obtaining of the Yal-Tonil was to the Romulans, and that the Tal'Shiar knew that this interest would be shared by many other races. What troubled the COO was that according to all that the CO and ExO had said to the crew about their current mission, no one knew scale of the mission given to them by the Admiral.
Looking back at the wide number of ships that had appeared out of nowhere around TOLAR IV had been only the tip of the iceberg as to the implied importance and power of the item that they had been sent to find. The real problem was that the item in question had not been located as of yet, being in the possession of someone else according to Enaii's own report. The only advantage the crew of the ANUBIS had was that the Mind Stone was useless without its counterpart, the Mind Source, a simple item which luckily was in the possession of this crew.
Taking a moment to assimilate all that the Romulan/Terran hybrid had read and figured out, the COO glanced at her instruments and confirmed that the ANUBIS was still on course for the two planets, their ETA now being just under 30 minutes away. Wanting to obtain the opinion of the Sec/Tac officer, Serenna turned to look at the tactical station just in time to see Rawyvin's expression change. "Don't tell me that you found those ships that you have been looking for."
Reacting to the statement made by the Romulan/Terran hybrid with a great deal of delay, the head of the Sec/Tac officer snapped up after a few seconds. "No, every sensor scan of the system and area around the two planets have come up completely negative. I can't even find the ion trail that would have been made by the ship that sent the distress signal."
Not understanding why the lack of findings had made Rawyvin's expression change as it had, the Romulan/Terran hybrid pressed on, fearing that maybe something more sinister had been discovered, something that would cause the ANUBIS to return to battle conditions. "So what it is?"
Looking rather disappointed, the Sec/Tac officer replied, "It's our Vorta prisoner. I have just received a report from the brig that Cmdr. Rikar found him dead in his cell. Apparently our instruments failed to notice that he had some sort of termination device on or in him and ended his own life, the body his being transferred to Sickbay for an autopsy."
Thinking back to some of the information the Romulan/Terran hybrid had read on the methods used by the Dominion, the COO tried her best to make Rawyvin not feel guilty for what had happened. "After the war, I can imagine that the Founders made sure that the termination devices used by their operatives would not be detectable by our technology or anyone else's. I'm sure that there was nothing you or anyone else could have done. Serul did not end his own life earlier only because he wanted to see us fail and be destroyed by the Romulans."
Grinning, Lt. Seth nodded. "I for one am glad that we disappointed him on that front, but it would still have been nice if we could have obtained some information from him as to why the Dominion was here onboard a Romulan frigate."
Having been searching for the same answer, the Romulan/Terran hybrid returned her eyes to her station, the question still haunting her thoughts.
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Serena Switt {serena1141@yahoo.com.au}
Lieutenant Serenna
Chief of Operations / Second Officer
USS ANUBIS
2005 post #011
