.((TAS Pasff, Bridge))

Assemblyman Flotilla Captain Darsis paced back and forth on the command deck of his cruiser. The leader of his weaver squadron had already been relieved for allowing one of his pilots to dash across the border in pursuit of the Federation smuggling freighter. But he had to figure out how to deescalate the situation and get the Starfleeters to pull back now, it was imperative. Their primary operational and strategic goals neccesited the Assembly have control of the Rhontaka system.

“Has the Federation Nebula class vessel made any movements in this direction?” He asked his sensor operator.

“Not yet sir.” The young females 4 pincered armed swiftly danced across the crystalline control console.

K’lev stood, facing quickly to Lotharys.  “See what you can do about clearing up the sensors, Ophelia; loop Pelix in too, in case there’s hardware upgrades that can be done.  The Tholians seem especially interested in that nebula, and call me nosey but I’d like to know why.”

Lotharys nodded and set to work.  As K’lev turned back forward and headed for the helm, he caught Chief Bong seemingly holding something back; he mentally noted to ask the chief about it later.  In the moment, though, he joined Phillips at the helm.  “Ari, you think you can get us closer to that nebula, without risking a shootout with the Tholians?”

Phillips nodded.  “I think so,” they said.

“Then let’s take a closer look at the nebula while the Blythe talks to the Tholians,” K’lev said as he straightened.  “Take us in, Ari, nice and easy.  Ophelia, let me know when we’re starting to get data better than what Blythe’s probe is getting.”

‘Reccomend placing us at position bearing 060.1 by 098.4. It will give a good side oblique angle for our sensors to complement the readings from the Blythe’s probe.” Bong said.

“Make it so, Ari,” K’lev said.  “Get us there quickly, but subtly.”

Culver City drifted forward at one-quarter impulse, charting a casual and – hopefully – unobtrusive course towards the border.  As she reached the proscribed position, K’lev looked towards Lotharys.  “Any luck with those sensors?”

She nodded.  “By adjusting the amplitude of the frequency band, we’ve been able to extend how far we can see into the outer areas of the nebula; Pelix says it’s probably the best we can do without replacing hardware.”

“Great work!  Call out if you detect anything.”  With that, K’lev took his seat once more.

Several minutes went by before Lotharys spoke again.  “I’ve got something…. It’s very faint, and kinda garbled, but…. Yes, there it is again!”  She looked up.  “I’ve picked up what seems to be movement just inside the nebula; it’s right on the edge of our detection range, but there’s definitely at least one meshweaver, and I think possibly at least one more.”

K’lev looked to Bong.  “Note them for our report, please, Chief, and let Blythe know, too; at this point, I’d bet latinum that they’re either looking for something or trying to protect something.”  He left the rest unsaid: if the Tholians attacked Kozlov, and Shuswap, then whatever they were after or hiding was big, big enough to risk a war with the Federation over.  His gaze returned to Lotharys.  “Get as much data as you can, and let’s share it all with Blythe.”

“Hallert runaboots hreport hready ser” Lasalle reported.

“Have them standby, if this gets hot their 4 phaser banks and micro torpedos might just come in handy.” Wong replied.

“The Tholian ship is responding to our hails sir” Ingram said.

Tyler and Wong exchanged flances beforr Typer stood, fidgeted a bit and said.

“Very good, tie in the CC on this call…onscreen commander.” Tyler said.

The viewscreen switched to an image of a shadowy crystalline spider-like creature behind a 5 columned control console that was glowing a gloomy golden light on the alien.

“I am…” Tyler was then cutoff by the resonant and yet whispy sounding voice of what he presumed was his counterpart.

“This is the Tholian vessel Pasff, we regret that our vessel crossed the border in pursuit of the known illegal smuggling freighter. We apologize on behalf of the Tholian Assembly, no aggression was intended. The squadron leader responsible for allowing our vessel to cross the border has been relieved of duty. Our government will reach out to request extradition of the smuggling vessels crew into our custody through appropriate channels.” The viewscreen shifted back to the standard starry view as the Tholian shift closed the channel. A few seconds later they all watched the Tholian cruiser turn and warp away from the scene.

Wong chuckled “Congratulations sir…I think.”

“I know they aren’t the most conversational species…but then again, we can’t argue with the result in this case….back us away from the border Lasalle and return us to yellow alert please Mr. Ingram.” Tyler said as his adrenaline levels began to dump.

((Culver City, Bridge))

After the Tholian ship warped away, K’lev breathed a sigh of relief, feeling tension release from his muscles.  “That went better than it could have…” he said, then rubbed his face and neck.  “Let’s return to our patrol area, Ari.  Ophelia, Chief, please make sure Blythe has copies of our sensor data for the reports on all this, and let them know we’re returning to our patrol.  Tyrisa, let’s go back to yellow alert for a bit; if it stays quiet for the next, say, 3 or 4 hours, then we can stand down from yellow alert altogether.”  A series of nods made their way around the bridge as Culver City turned away from the border, returning to her patrol route.

Bong had almost enough, he sent the Captain a curt not on his armrest console. The message read; This is a patrol that we’ve combat on. Reccomend remaining at yellow alert when within 5 light years of the the border sir.

The young Captain was smart, quick, and eager to be sure. But Bong realized K’lev still knew barely fuck all about being a leader in combat. Joking around, and standing down from alert status with an enemy as cunning as the Tholians not a good recipe from the old Chiefs point of view.

K’lev read the message on his chair’s armrest console, mulled it over a moment, then looked back in Ensign sh’Livo’s direction.  “On second thought, let’s hold at yellow alert for now, until further notice.”  He then turned to Chief Bong.  “Good suggestion, Chief,” he said simply.  With that, K’lev’s eyes shifted back to his armrest console, calling up the ship’s sensor data, and that of the Blythe’s probe, and beginning to review it.