[Cargo Hold - Narendra Station - In Orbit of Narendra IV]
Tedros Chisulo held his breath as his eyes darted about the darkened containers lain out before him. His breath muffled by the pitch black bacalava he wore over his face. In one hand he held his hand-held phaser, in the other a specialized intelligence tricorder. Behind him, LtCommander Faulkner, his default XO for the mission, cleared his half of the large darkened cargo bay that Lieutenant Jackson had beamed them into. The cargo bays were near the bottom of the station, just above the refinary plants embedded into the bowels. Shipments of the raw duranium would come in from the planet below and pass down the decks in an assembly line to be refined into a workable material. Chisuloa nd Faulkner had been beamed into one of the middle decks because of their lack of traffic.
Chisulo turned to Faulkner and waved an all clear symbol befor ehwspering into his communicator headset. "We are clear, Kortag'h."
+Very good, Captain.+ The Klingon commander replied. He was on the shuttle with Jackson using his knowledge of KDF computer security protocols to hack into the stations metaphorical "backdoor" to supply the away team with on-the-spot intelligence. +30 meters north of your position you will find access to the ventilation maintenence shafts. Proceed up five decks to the mainframe coolant system.+ Came the gruff klingon voice through his ear.
Chisulo whispered an aknowledgement to Kortag'h, and waved for Faulkner to follow as he darted into the shadows with his tricorder leading the way. The proceeded the 30 meters quietly with no interruptions and Chisulo nodded for Faulkner to set to work on the locks to the maintenence shafts.
"You got it." As Faulkner crouched forawrd with his techinical kit. "Are you picking up anything interesting on the tricorder?" The LtCommander whispered.
Chisulo studied the device inhis hand for a moment. "Klingon life-signs are concentrated on the far end near the conveyor shafts to the refinary. No threat at this time." Chisulo whispered back. "This is low-grade duranium, heavily laden with various mineral deposits that make it unfit for starship construction."
"Then what would Romulans want with it?" Faulkner asked as he pulled out another tool to pry off the lock's faceplate.
"That's what we here to find out, Commander."
"Got it." Faulkner said, snapping the faceplate back into place before pulling open the shaft door. "After you."
Chisulo nodded, and surveyed the area once more before stepping through onto the metal grating of the shaft platform. Faulkner quickly followed and shut the door behind him. The Captain put a hand to his ear, "Any red flags, Commander?"
+Not yet, Captain." Kortag'h replied. +You are performing honorably thus far.+
Chisulo smirked beneath the cloth covering his face. He hardly thought of covert actions as honorable. Often necessary, but not honorable. He pulled out his tricorder once more and scanned the path before them. The five decks above were clear. Apparently there was a workteam near the top of the stationa round the command center that appeared to be installing some security equipment, but they were not interfering with his current operation. He motioned to Faulkner to lead the climb why he took up the rear guard. The LtCommander nodded and took hold of the rungs, ascending at a steady pace.
Chisulo fianlly put his boot atop the metal grating of the platform five decks aboveand moved over to where Faulkner had already begun work on the acces hatch to the mainframe coolant system. Chisulo pulled out his phaser and scanned the above decks for activity. The deck hallways surrounding him were swarming with armed KDF personell, but the shafts were almost spotless and provided a clear path to the upper levels of the Klingon mainframe.
Faulkner opened the hatch, and Chisulo went through first on his hands and knees through the dark tunnell. The pair crawled through the tunnel until they reached a dead-end with grating keeping the computer core just out of reach. Chisulo pulled out his ceramic-composite monofilament knife and cut a hole for himself and Faulkner to proceed through. Once completed he crawled out over to the deck plating that computer technicians would use to make repairs to the core and pulled out a transponder given to him by Kortag'h and inserted it onto an isolinear chip before replacing it in the system.
"Greenlight, Commander." Chisulo whispered into the encrypted channel back to the shuttle.
+Acknowledged.+ Kortag'h replied over the line. +Incoming datastream now.+
Chisulo monitored the progress onhis tricorder. Files flew across the display infront of him, but one of a strangely familiar design caught his attention. He directed his tricorder to play back the file to view it in more detail. On the screen before him popped up an image of a large Romulan missile reminiscnet of an Erassian THUD design, except for one major difference: a space in the payload for a deadly biological weapon - the deadly virus that attacked the colony at New Geneva.
+Captain.+ Tuned in Jackson's voice. +I'm picking up traffic on Federation encrypted chanells. It's Ambassador Ayanami of the Erassian Alliance.+
Chisulo flashed a tense stare toward Faulkner before whispering back. "Prepare for emergency extraction." He pointed Faulkner back to the ventilation shaft. "We're coming back."
+Aye, sir.+
[End Log]
Captain Tedros Chisulo
Tactical Advisor
SSF First Taskforce
