((Blythe Bridge))

Wong leaned over to Tyler and said in a whisper “As the senior CO on scene, you gotta take point on this sir, I can’t do this part for you.”

“Options?”

“Keep our distance, shadow them and keep sending hails…or wait for them cross the border and maybe help start a war.”

“No pressure then…very well. Ingram, tell the Culver City remain at standoff distance outside of their weapons range. Have them standby, then have our runabout prepare for combat launches if needed.

((Culver City, Bridge))

“Message from the Blythe, sir,” Chief Bong said.  “They’re asking us to hold back for now, let them take lead for the moment.”

K’lev nodded as he took his seat.  “Tell them we’ll watch their backs.  And would you please ask if we can be tied into any conversations they have?” he said to Bong, then turned to Ensign Phillips at the helm.  “Ari, let’s hang back just outside of weapons range for now.  Shadow the Blythe, but let them lead here.”

Culver City slowed to impulse a little outside of weapons range of the Tholian cruiser, allowing Blythe and the more-senior Captain Tyler to take lead and shadowing her sister.  “Ophelia, please let us know if you pick up anything ‘funny;’ hopefully they aren’t trying anything, but I guess we’ll find out.”

Tyler had the Blythe move into a stand off position just outside of the known weapons rsnge of the Tholian vessels. Ingram had reported the sensors showed the the Tholian cruiser holding station about 50km short of the notional border line. To remain outside of their weapons envelope this meant that the Blythe and CC were positioned about 5000km away from the borderline.

Tyler did the Picard manuever, again, nervous as he was and nodded as a reassurance unto himself. “Ingram prepare a class 1 probe please, and calibrate it to conduct a variable sensor sweep of the area as soon as it launches, then slowly move it to within 1000km of the border.” He went back and sat in the centre seat.

Wong asked “Whats your plan sir?”

Tyler cleared his throated “Well number 1, I have a feeling we’re about to play a game of chicken as our ancestors would have called it.”

Wong smiled knowing exactly what the Captain was going for. Again, the bookish blue shirted shy and socially awkward CO, had suprised him, in a good way.

((TAS Feer’hat, 30 light years away from the Nebula))

The regional fleet commander stewed and vented to his Chief of Staff “That fool. After recieving explicit orderd from me, why in Nukaras name would he let one of his squadron commanders oursue a ship into Federation space.”

“The squadron commander has been relieved of duty and placed under arrest sir. The Pasff is now holding position at the edge of the nebula, there is 2 Starfleet utility cruisers holding position nearby.” His chief of staff said.

The squadron leader being relieved wasnt enough, the carbon based Starfleeters would have no clue it had even occured. He needed to have the Federation pull back in fear of provoking the mighty Tholian Assembly if their plan had any hope of success.

“Order them to reveal themselves and approach the border. Just the Pasff, have the rest of our forces remain in place hidden in the nebula. Have Captain Darsis approach the border and hail the Starfleeters. Have him apologize to the federation on behalf of the Tholian Assembly. Have him report that his squadron commander responsible for the border incursion has been relieved. Then have the Pasff pull back from the border and head back to our supply base at Drenarra(far away from either border).

The Chief of Staff was shocked. They would be admitting a mistake to their potential enemy. He motioned as if he was about to protest, but the icy crystalline glare of the Admiral made him reconsidered. “Yes sir, right away.”

((Culver City, Bridge))

K’lev watched on the viewscreen as Blythe moved towards the Tholian ship at the border.  “I wonder what the Tholians’re doing way out here?” he mused aloud.

The question hung around the bridge, weighing on the minds of the young crew, until Ensign Lotharys spoke up.  “Maybe they’re having a meshweaver race?” she asked, a playful twinkle in her eye.

The joke sent a ripple of laughter around the bridge, cutting the tension in the room.  K’lev grinned, looking back.  “I could see that!  Or they could be looking for new seasonings for their food?”

Another chuckle rounded the bridge.  From ops, Chief Bong watched the banter between the young senior officers, glad that they were starting to relax; the situation at hand was a tense one that could be overwhelming for inexperienced officers, so that they were finding chances for humor was a good sign. But, immediacy demanded sharpness, so Bong, being the old timer sprung a snap drill.

“That ship likely has more meshweavers and other fighters sirs. The Blythe is now launching a probe and maneuvering it closer to the border.” Bong said from the ops console.

K’lev nodded as the laughter faded out.  “Chief, would you please see if Blythe could tie us into the data feed from their probe?  I’m worried that if we launch too many probes it could cause a problem, but if we can share in Blythe’s telemetry data then we may be able to respond faster if the Tholians launch anything at them.”  He tapped his lips with one green-skinned finger.  “All joking aside, though, I do wonder what the Tholians are doing out here…  Ophelia, there anything on sensors that could explain it?”

Bong seethed and bit his tongue as he rapidly tapped in commands on his console. They literally in combat, the meshweaver had been destroyed by the Blythe and them mere hours before. This was no time for joking, and the Chief would have words with the CO and XO privately later. But for now, the task at hand was the dire priority, not brainstorming on the command deck with your buddies like a cadet review.

“Tieing in the feed…recieving telemetry now. The nebula is particularly dense on the Tholian side of the border…can’t get anything definitive.” Bong said crisply through pursed tight lips of a man who was holding something back

“How far are we from the border, Ari?” K’lev asked.

“6400km sir.” then helmsman replied.

K’lev looked to Lotharys and then to Bong as he had an idea.