Anxious

After Lieutenant Moss transported down to the surface, Rashad returned to her seat on the command deck and occupied herself and the rest of the crew as best she could by conducting passive scans of the planet's orbit and pretending to be waiting for the arrival of the Engineering section of USS Leviathan-B. It was not as easy to take her mind off what was happening on the surface though.

She could not help but keep wondering whether her fellow Section 31 officer had walked into a trap. It had been an hour since Lieutenant Moss had transported down to the surface of the mining base, which according to Stefen's source was one of the bases used by Omega in the Gamma quadrant.

The rest of the Hellcat's crew were sat waiting anxiously for any news from the surface. So far everything had been quiet, which worried Commander Rashad. She had been the one who had agreed to help Lieutenant Moss in travelling to the base, against the orders of Captain Taybar. She also knew that she'd probably be arrested for her action and possibly court-marshalled once the Hellcat returned to the Leviathan. She was prepared to take the majority of the blame, along with Moss. The rest of the crew had just been following orders, they'd probably get away with nothing more than a black mark on their records.

"Commander…." Ensign Rustazh announced from the Tactical station. "…I'm picking up a small vessel leaving the surface."

"Can you identify it ?" T'Kul enquired.

"Looks like a Type-9 shuttle." The young Klingon reported. "One occupant…. Klingon."

"Lieutenant Dare… Intercept course." T'Kul ordered. "Bring weapons and shields online, prepare to decloak as soon as we are in weapons range."

"Commander, I'm picking up a second vessel." Rustazh suddenly announced. "De-cloaking sixteen kilometres to port. It looks like the shuttle is heading straight for it."

"Helm, alter course to intercept." Rashad ordered. "Mister Omega, can you identify the vessel."

"The vessel does not conform to any of the database entries." Lieutenant Tony Omega announced from the Ops station. "But it's definitely Federation, the warp signature is similar to a Defiant class vessel."

"On screen, maximum magnification." Rashad announced.

As the image of the larger vessel appeared on the screen, a look of shock crossed Rashad's face for a split-second.

"Do you recognise it ?" Tony asked.

"No." Rashad lied.

She knew very well what the vessel was and what it was capable of. The vessel was three times the size of the Hellcat, but even with the array of weapons installed on the heavy shuttle, it was no match for a Federation "Bird of Prey".

The Federation "Bird of Prey" was it's most heavily guarded secret. It referred to a group of vessels that had been designed specifically for use by Section 31, going back to the creation of the Federation itself.

They had originally been designed as a direct counter to the Klingon "Bird of Prey" and were usually armed to the teeth. They were the cutting edge of technology and often used untested devices and equipment, either in the early stages of development or just as often stolen or salvaged from alien vessels.

Rashad knew full well that this current 'Bird' had been developed and built over thirty years ago and was equipped with transwarp capability (A retro-fitted development using salvaged and re-engineered Borg technology), quantum torpedoes and phaser cannons. (Both of which were not seen on any Starfleet vessel until the USS Defiant was developed in 2366.)

"The shuttle is approaching the vessel." Omega announced. "We're still outside weapons range."

All they could do was watch as the shuttle entered the larger vessel and disappeared once more under it's cloak.

"Any trace of the vessel ?" Rashad asked, already knowing the answer.

"It's gone." Rustazh admitted. "There's no trace of it."

"Stand down all weapons, helm return to station." Rashad ordered. "We'll have to chalk that one up to Omega."

Half an hour later, the comm system activated and the voice of Lieutenant Moss came over it.

[Commander Rashad. The base is secure, you can come down.] He requested.

Reacting to the request and feeling relieved that Stefen had finally made contact, she got out of the command chair.

"On my way, Lieutenant !" She replied. "Mister Dare, you have the Bridge."

"Aye, Ma'am." Came the helmsman's somewhat surprised reply.

She quickly heading down the corridor toward the crew quarters where Stefen had stored all the equipment. Walking in, she picked up the black satchel where she had her Section 31 gadgets and computer hacking equipment. The Omega lance - one of those handed out by Stefen - was already in the bag. She hoped that the weapon lived up to its expectations should an armed encounter be necessary. Leaving the room once more, she headed for the transporter room and beamed down to the surface.