After four days flying the Vaadwaur gunboat through the Underspace’s turbulent eddies and currents, its maneuvering characteristics, alien symbology, and control layout had become second nature. In the broad scheme of things, it wasn’t all that different from some of the other craft she’d flown, but really, that was only because she’d flown a little bit of everything during her days running the frontier. And back then, just like now, if you couldn’t adapt, you were dead.

But soon it would be out of Petty Officer Priyanka Dhawan’s hands. Soon, it would be a matter only of if the Vaadwaur bought the ruse and allowed the trojan horse to pass on by.

Besides Dhawan, who was dressed casually at the conn, the others were outfitted for a fight. They would soon beam aboard the alien array, and with no idea of awaited them, their duty uniforms had been swapped for armored hazard suits with self-contained environmental support, and over their shoulder, each had slung a ruggedized type 3 phaser rifle.

“Time on aperture, thirty seconds,” Lieutenant Commander Sena reported as she saw on her scopes a convergence in the entropic field that signified they were nearing the end of their journey. It was one of the few nice things about the Manasa, the way the small ship’s sensors were tuned specifically for the Underspace given that it was the Vaadwaur’s domain, the root of their power.

Lieutenant Commander Ekkomas Eidran looked over at their weapons and tactics specialist, the burly Chief Petty Officer Kevin Abedayo, who had just come up to the bridge. “Everyone ready down in the staging area?” As opposed to the pad-based transporter rooms on most Federation starships, this ship had a large staging area whereby a large boarding party could be beamed over in a single shot, yet more evidence of its purpose as a vehicle of conquest.

“All suited up and ready to roll,” Chief Abedayo nodded. “They’re just waiting on us.”

“Why don’t you go join them?” Lieutenant Commander Eidran asked, uncertain why the chief was hovering here. “Sena and I will be right behind you as soon as we clear the aperture and send the signal.”

“I was going to hang around just in case things get hot,” Chief Abedayo offered.

“Why?” Lieutenant Commander Sena asked pointedly. “If things get hot, what are you actually going to do?” They’d only succeed if they managed to fool the Vaadwaur into believing they were just another Manasa sent to defend the array, and otherwise, their only hope of survival would be to step on the gas and flee, and the shooter would be useless if that happened.

The Romulan was probably right, Chief Abedayo knew. Still, he didn’t like the idea that, if things went wrong, he’d just die belowdeck without knowing what hit them – and that was still a very real possibility if the Vaadwaur gave their stolen ship a second look.

“Kev, it’s all good,” Lieutenant Commander Eidran encouraged, sensing the nervousness in the chief’s thoughts. “We’re just gonna pop out, send the message, and that’s it. Go down there and do one last runthrough of the plan with the team.”

Chief Abedayo knew an order when he heard one, and so, reluctantly, he turned and left the bridge. Meanwhile, the other three turned back forward just as the energetic orange-brown soup that’d surrounded them for the past four days suddenly parted at the seams.

“Here we go,” Petty Officer Dhawan announced as the Underspace spit them back into normal space.

It took a moment for Lieutenant Commander Eidran’s eyes to adjust. Or at least that’s what he thought was happening as he squinted at the faint specks of light just barely visible against the black backdrop. But then he realized it wasn’t his eyes. It was that out here, beyond the Milky Way itself, stars usually so vibrant were now much more subdued. “Report?”

“We’re right where we’re supposed to be, and so is the alien array, ” Lieutenant Commander Sena replied. “Miss Dhawan, come about, bearing two two four mark five zero. Keep it slow and steady. Nothing to draw attention.” They were supposed to appear as just another escort sent to reinforce the defenses of the array. That meant no sudden movements. They needed to look boring and innocuous.

“Bearing two two four mark five zero, slow and steady, aye,” Petty Officer Dhawan confirmed as she pulled the ship up and to port, noting to herself that on their return, she was going to have to make this motion in reverse to reenter the aperture, more than likely with the enemy in hot pursuit since the gag would be up once they blew the array.

As the Manasa class assault escort settled on its new vector, the trio on the bridge got their first look at what awaited them, the array itself and the defensive assets assigned to its protection.

“Damn, that’s a lot of firepower,” Lieutenant Commander Eidran observed. “A battlecruiser and three gunboats.” It didn’t matter for them, as they weren’t going to shoot their way through, but his mind went to their sisterships bearing down on the other array. The Serenity and the Ingenuity would have to go direct with their target, and if it was defended like this, it was going to be a tough battle. The Duderstadt was fast, and the Pathfinder was fancy, but neither carried anywhere near the firepower of an Astika class battlecruiser. He just hoped Captain Lewis and Commander Lee could pull it off. He couldn’t bear to consider the alternative.

In contrast to Eidran, the Vaadwaur ships were of no interest to the Romulan xenotechnologist. What drew her attention was their target. With its smooth curves, dark slate hull, and green and blue undertones coming from deep within its superstructure, it was unlike anything she’d ever seen before. “Sensors indicate a hull composition and emissions signature completely distinct from the Vaadwaur.”

“Our friend did say it was gifted to them by a benevolent benefactor,” Lieutenant Commander Eidran observed. “Any sense from your readings who that might have been?” It would be interesting to understand who was in cahoots with the enemy.

“I’d have to consult Polaris‘ database to confirm if it’s truly novel, but I can at least say I have never seen anything like it,” Lieutenant Commander Sena offered. “Dating of its hull suggests it’s fifty to seventy thousand years old though so it’s possible its creators are long gone.” The scientist in her would have loved to spend days studying the curious machine, both for its novelty and for the spacetime displacement effect it was creating across tens of thousands of light years, but alas, they didn’t have the time. 

“Incoming transmission from the battlecruiser,” Petty Officer Dhawan reported.

Just as their prisoner had said would happen.

“Send our prepared response,” Lieutenant Commander Eidran ordered. 

Petty Officer Dhawan hit send.

This was the moment of truth. Would they accept the pre-generated message that reported their comms were on the fritz, but they were here to reinforce the line? Or would they get suspicious and give the ship a second look? They had repaired the ship as best they could, but if the Vaadwaur looked closely enough, they’d notice imperfections in the hull that they’d patched.

At the conn, Petty Officer Dhawan’s fingers hovering over the controls, ready to flip the ship about and punch it at full burn if any of the other ships so much as moved towards them.

But they weren’t going to have to run. Not yet, at least.

“Acknowledgement received from the cruiser,” Petty Officer Dhawan reported with a sigh of relief as a response came back. “They bought it. They’re ordering us into a pattern with the other escorts. You guys are good to go. I’ll keep the engines revved, ready for your return.”

As Lieutenant Commanders Eidran and Sena headed for the transport bay, all was proceeding exactly to plan, but now the question, besides what awaited them over on the array, was how the Serenity and the Ingenuity were faring with the other one.