((Probe Target Point Charlie, just inside Tholian space in the Rhontaka System))

The small probe launched from the Culver City drifted in space at Point Charlie, its minimal systems and small size rendering it near-invisible to sensors.  Ensign sh’Livo’s aim was good, though, and Chief Bong’s piloting skills excellent; the probe sat smack in a patrol route for Tholian picket ships, so it was just a matter of time until one flew by and gave the probe a ride.  And fly by one did; around seventeen hours after the probe’s launch, a meshweaver on patrol flew through Point Charlie on its way deeper in-system.  The probe’s magclamp latched onto the meshweaver, nestling the probe onto the Tholian ship’s hull, its cameras, gyros, and accelerometers dutifully relaying images and telemetry to the Culver City, and from there to the rest of the flotilla.

((USS Culver City))

LCDR K’lev was asleep in his quarters when the intercom suddenly sounded.  “Captain to the bridge!”

“What is it?” He asked, sitting up in his bed.

“The probe’s on the move, sir,” came the voice; the speaker was the delta-shift officer of the watch, a first-class petty officer.  “Something’s picked it up.”

“On my way,” he said, then rolled out of bed and grabbed a uniform jacket on his way out of his cabin.

A short turbolift ride deposited him onto the bridge.  “Let’s have it,” he said as he crossed to his seat.

The on-duty ops officer called the data and video feeds up on the viewscreen; sure enough, the probe was moving, too fast for drift.  “Is the relay to the flotilla still up?  They need to see all this as it comes in.  And start mapping the course that they probe’s taking.”

((Bridge, Blythe))

Mee IH was at the conn, and Delta shift was on duty when the call came in. The CC’s low tech optical probe idea had worked.

“Onscreen Mr. Soeydo. Copy the feed, send it the science department and the senior staff please…By the way, your hair looks great today bud, loving the forward swoosh thing you’re doing with your bangs.” The second officer squeeked.

“Aye sir, uh, thank you sir.” The Ensign replied.

As the feed came up, they could clearly tell the probe was attached to something that was intelligently controlled and moving at hi impulse speeds. They watched as the vessel maneuvered around a moon and then dart off on a linear vector. After a few more minutes the ship appeared to be approaching Rhontaka 1, which was the suspected HQ for the Tholians.

“Triggar, run a dynamic filter on all this footage, have the computer scan for anything that could be another ship, a station, an obital defense platform, anything, then run that all through an advanced parallax  rectifier just to be sure. Send it to my hud” The dolphin squeaked as did a violent forward head nod that flipped down his integrated headset eyepiece into its active position infront of his left eye and began reviewing the data himself.

((Culver City, Bridge))

K’lev turned to the officer-of-the-watch.  “It’s a little early, but go ahead and call the senior staff to stations, and tell them what’s going on; I’d like Pelix and Tiza up here, too.”  His gaze then landed on the delta-shift science officer.  “Cross-reference anything we see on the probe feed with known Tholian ship configurations; maybe we can get a better picture of what’s going on.  And let’s keep that feed interference-free, yeah?  Deeper it goes in, the worse the gravimetrics will get.”

As the slightly-early shift change got underway, K’lev retired briefly to his ready room, but returned only moments later with a coffee in hand.  The rest of the alpha-shift bridge team – Lieutenant Lotharys, Ensign sh’Livo, Ensign Phillips, and Chief Bong – plus Lieutenant Pelix and Ensign Tiza assembled over the next few minutes.  “Thanks for joining us up here, Pelix, Tiza; I wanted you both up here to see this.” He motioned towards the viewscreen with a grin.  “Your probe is on the move, and we’re getting some good data from it.”