SD 241301.17 || "Meeting the Neighbors" || Part I || JL || XO & CHelm

Posted on Thu Jan 17th, 2013 @ 8:13pm by Captain Robert Lansine & Captain Landon Neyes

1,160 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Romulan Ale.. I mean Aide
Location: USS Vindicator

Larger than a shuttle, but still vastly smaller than even the smallest modern cruiser's bridge, the runabout's piloting cabin felt only slightly homier than the dank caves beneath the colony. But, now facing an unraveling tactical situation on the surface and a pending political conversation with the newly arrived USS Kennedy and unknown Romulan Warbird, the aesthetics of the situation were far outside Lansine's current worries.

"Hail the ship. Tell the shuttle bay crew to prepare for our arrival. We don't have time for logistical pussyfooting," Rob ordered hastily. The young XO was leaning over the co-pilot station in obvious distress, his knuckles white from almost tearing his fingers into the soft synthetic leather seat. "You're following me to the bridge."

Neyes made a comical face, suddenly taken by Rob's commanding presence. Lansine was, of course, the First Officer and naturally it was his duty to take command in this situation, but Landon didn't expect it to so fully envelop his friend. Landon didn't really know what to do except try to ease the tense vibrations quickly filling the cabin.

"Sit down Robert. You're going to sprain something." Neyes said as he opened a channel to the ship, "This is Commander Neyes on the runabout Daedalus. Flight Ops, clear the landing bay of all traffic we're coming in immediately."

"Roger that Daedalus, we cleared it as soon as we detected your ascent."

Neyes smiled, "See? Nothing to worry about. They're just Romulans, Robby. We've done this. We're not on some science frigate anymore, remember that. The Vindicator is not a ship anyone wants to tangle with."

Lansine knew his Trill friend was correct, but the combination of his experiences on the colony and the arrival of both Federation and Romulan ships had pushed Rob into a new level of discomfort.

The Daedalus deftly hopped around the port nacelle on it's approach and slid into the docking bay. Neyes quickly dropped the landing gear and they were out and powering across the deck seconds after landing.

The exterior hatch hissed for a moment before releasing and unveiling the inside of the Vindicator's largest shuttle bay. With no time to waste Rob looked to Landon and jumped out on the deck. "Commander Williams, Commander Neyes and I will be arriving shortly."

He looked back to Landon, "Let's go."

Landon's brow shot up as he watched Lansine turn on a dime and start taking strides in a decidedly hurried fashion. By the time Neyes had grabbed his equipment and hopped out into the platform, Rob was already half-way to the exit. Landon collected himself, resisting the impulse to sprint across the deck to catch up. Instead he simply power-walked just a little bit faster until they both met at the turbolift.

A minute later they exited onto the bridge.

Glancing over the officers already on the bridge, Lansine noticed Lieutenant Commander William's absence. He was doubt working on something important, otherwise he would be on the bridge. After taking a seat in the command chair, Lansine paged the Security Chief with the press of a small button and turned back to Landon.

"Have they tried to contact us yet?" Landon asked, not hesitating to take spot at the control station behind the command chair.

"Mr. Capellupo?" Rob diverted the question to the Operations officer.

"Neither ship has--scratch that Commander--the Kennedy is hailing," the junior officer reported.

"On screen, Lieutenant," Rob order, taking a deep breath as he readjusted in his chair.

The image of a young human woman replaced the empty bulkhead in the front of the bridge. Clad in a red collar, pressed Starfleet uniform and adorned with four full gold pips, the woman stood strong. "Commander Lansine? I was expecting Captain Dar." Her strong demeanor betrayed a sense of confusion as she looked at Lansine through the Kennedy's viewer.

"Yes, ma'am." Rob replied. "I'm afraid we have no time for pleasantries, however. Captain Dar and a fair number of our crew are currently trapped on the planet's surface."

Neyes brought his attention to an alert sounding on his console. "The warbird has powered its weapons and is moving toward us, their shields are raised, but they're not locking onto either the Kennedy or us, sir."

"Commander, are you aware of-," the woman Captain began, but Lansine cut her off mid-sentence.

"Red Alert!" Rob barked. He wasn't about to be caught with the Vindicator's 'pants down'. A flurry of activity swept across the bridge as departmental officers prepped their stations for possible combat. Now, with lighting dimmed and red klaxons glowing, Rob returned his attention to the Kennedy.

"Captain, my first priority is to get our people back. I'd appreciate your help, but if you haven't noticed, a rather large Romulan Warbird is taking an attack posture," Rob said almost condescendingly.

The woman's face contorted slightly as Lansine, a lower ranked officer talked back. "I have orders from Starfleet Security and the Starfleet Commander himself,-"

Rob interrupted her--again. "Captain, you can either help us or sit on the bench with a small cruiser with as a Romulan Combat vessel prepares for conflict." With his people trapped on the surface and memories of Carida and the Intrepid's command staff's decision to leave him behind ever present in his mind it would take a personal conversation with the Federation President to change his mind.

Obviously irritated, but equally beginning to understand the realities of both ship's current predicament, the other Captain nodded. Quickly, before she could say anything else Rob motioned to Capellupo to cut the channel.

"Get me the Romulan captain," Lansine ordered.

A frank looking Romulan appeared on the screen, the dimly lit warbird's bridge illuminated the man's face with dark greens and greys. He wore a wry smile you'd expect from someone who prized control. "Commander, I am [Rommie rank] D'rheav. What a surprise to see the Federation parked outside our colony." His demeanor betrayed his irritation, despite his shallow and transparent attempt at pleasantry. "Do you have a reason for this?"

"A perfectly reasonable one, and one I'd be more than happy to explain as soon as you deactivate your weapon systems," Rob replied. Diplomacy with Romulans was tricky, add to the fact Lansine had few aggressive command situations under his belt and an outside observer might be worried for the young human XO. Thankfully he an emotional fire burning in his gut; one that wasn't about to let inexperience or self-doubt scuttle him during this tense situation.

The Romulan's smile faded. "In my experience, your definition of 'reasonable' has rarely served your people well enough to keep them out of trouble. It seems you've found your way into our territory, and I'd suggest you leave. Our weapons will remain until you are long gone. Leave now, and we'll forget this ever happened." His tone had intensified, but yielded a little as he finished off the casual threat, "I feel that's fairly reasonable, Commander. Don't you?"


=/ \= End Part I =/ \=

 

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