OLD:

“We’re nearly skirting the atmosphere,” the officer reported.

No Romulans appeared. “Transporters?”

“Interference has deepened,” Xarbe said, surprised. “I’m barely getting anything from the away team’s location now. The Security team won’t be able to beam down.”

Damn. “Divert them to the shuttlebay,” Evan said. “They’ll go in with the evacuation shuttle.” Instead of seconds, now it would take minutes for help to reach Mez and the others. Could they hold out for that long?

NEW:

“Fancy meeting you here,” LTJG Davies-Muir expressed, mostly to vent her frustration at being unable to help with the away mission. In that, her situation was matched by her roommate, who’d also been sidelined for the present. “Nae taking back th’ watch?”

“Not yet,” Jenny admitted, for she wasn’t in all that much of a hurry to release ENS Shaw from his current assignment. “At least, not until I have a cup of tea. So, what’s your story?”

“Well,” she began. “We found tha’ quantum singularities are visible to th’ slipstream matrix, so I had t’ brief the Captain.”

Jenny lifted a brow in surprise. “Wait. You’re saying that we detected quantum singularity? So we’ve Romulans poking about? Of course.” They were horrid neighbors, who simply could not be trusted. “Makes ya wonder why they wouldn’t allow us to cross their territory, hrm?” Her guess was that it was a delaying tactic, while they did whatever backhanded thing they were planning to do here.

“I dunno about all of that,” Stephanie agreed, “but it disnae seem above board, snooping about at a time like this.” It could be mere happenstance, yet she didn’t think it likely, as the Romulans were a fairly calculating lot. “But I doubt it’s t’ help.”

“Agreed. I mean, why remain cloaked if you’re here to help? Like, who ‘helps’,” she added, using air quotes, “by skulking about while concealing their presence?” That question bordered upon the rhetorical, for the best answer was the Romulans.

Jenny was interrupted by her commbadge, which indicated an imminent evacuation flight for the away team. “I need to go,” she explained, before hurrying toward the turbolift. For whatever reason, the away team couldn’t use the shuttle they’d taken down, which didn’t bode well. Something was definitely going on, yet she didn’t yet know what. Jenny was, however, about to find out…

OFF:

LTJG Hanmore