Tasha rushed out of the shuttle and used the delay as cover.
She was no engineer, but Tasha knew enough to be dangerous – at least enough to cover her tracks.
It was a trick she had learned during her time in covert operations.
Tasha slid off the access panel. She counted over until she located the correct isolinear chip. Tasha removed the chip and set it on the bottom, inside the panel. That would hide it until someone came looking.
Next she pulled out the wire connecting the door access to the Bridge sensors. Tasha then unhooked the backup recorder that kept a secondary log of activity.
Lastly, Tasha inserted an isolinear chip into the open space at the end. It would enact a complete wipe of the console's system in twenty minutes.
The choice wasn't an effort to cover her tracks. There would be no doubt she was responsible for such an action.
But the use of the programme was a signature that would make clear that Captain Picard and the crew had nothing to do with their escape.
Tasha didn't want anyone else taking the fall for this.
She returned the panel to the console so nothing would be out of place.
Next, Tasha completed the final step of her plan.
She connected a small portable power cell to the side of the shuttlebay door. It had enough charge for a handful of uses.
After turning it on, Tasha returned to the shuttle and sealed the hatch.
"Yeah, there's nothing out of place here. The door's stuck. I think this is just a malfunction," Danvers reported. "I've attempted a manual reset but it didn't budge."
"Alright, sit tight. We're going to power down that subsection and try a system reboot," the Bridge answered.
A second later, the lights in the shuttlebay went dark.
Tasha activated the remote power source.
The shuttlebay doors opened and she carefully guided the craft out into the emptiness of space. From their position on the aft portion of the ship, their escape would be visibly shielded from the viewscreen on the Bridge and the Starbase.
Once they were clear, Tasha resealed the shuttlebay doors.
She set a course for the Barolia system and opened a warp bubble.
-X-
At the Operations Centre on Starbase 173, the sensor console blinked.
"Sir, I'm detecting a warp signature mark 817.45 off our starboard pylon," a Lieutenant reported. "We have no scheduled departures and I'm not showing any outgoing vessels."
He looked up.
"Everyone that was here a minute ago is still docked," the Lieutenant said.
The Night Watch Commander tapped his console.
"Starbase 173 to Enterprise," she said.
"Enterprise, here," Lieutenant Hawk responded.
"Do you have any scheduled departures or arrivals on your ship?" the Night Watch Commander inquired.
On the Bridge of the Enterprise, Lieutenant Hawk turned around and looked to Ensign Greville at the Tactical station.
She shrugged.
"Nothing on sensors. I don't show any activity in the shuttlebays," she reported.
"It didn't come from here," Hawk informed Starbase 173.
YOU ARE READING
The Case
ספרות חובביםA retelling of "Measure of a Man." Commander Bruce Maddox and Data have a long history. For the first few years of his activation, Data was confined as a prisoner for Maddox's research. He was conditioned to repress his feelings and desires - all in...
Zugzwang
Start from the beginning
