U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901

/||\ ---------------------------------------------
/ || \ UCIP Starfleet Command, Fifth Fleet
/ || \ U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
.-/ || \-. Fleet Captain Tebrun Lora Kor, Commanding
./ || \. ---------------------------------------------
.-_-. || .-_-. Simulation Teaser
.-_ \||/ _-. -[ SD 240110.01 ]-

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Commander William Daren looked into the mirror. There was a stranger there.
Daren reached up to touch the cranial ridges that marked him as an Imperial
Klingon. His skin was dark and swarthy, his teeth were sharp, and his hair
was long. As Daren's fingers traced across the ridges, he felt them... even
when he knew they weren't there. The grey leather and steel armor of a
Klingon warrior was there in the mirror, and he could reach down and touch
it... and yet his body reported that the 30 or 40 kilograms it should have
weighed were not there. The Executive Officer suppressed a shudder -- the
Taeren were far too good at this.

"I can't go to the space station looking like this!" Commander Zunite Oswald
complained loudly. Daren turned to look and then suppressed a smile. The
young engineer was also "disguised" as a Klingon, but in the typical dress
of one: a red and grey satin and leather number that announced cleavage that
Oswald didn't have in real life. Horror fought amusement as she looked at
the mirror also.

The other away team members were similarly disguised, and seemingly
similarly troubled by their appearances... all but Savant and Tlaloco. The
former projected her typical serenity, apparently not bothered in the
slightest by the fact that she made an attractive Klingon. Commander
Tlaloco seemed resigned.

The only exception to the Klingon motif in Vladivostok's main lounge was the
single Taeren male. The man floated a few inches off the deck, regarding
everyone with that same look of amusement that the Taeren seemed to look at
everything with. Like all Taeren, he appeared to be taller than the average
human, hairless, and had four arms. He was apparently dressed in what was
little more than rags and his physical appearance was unkempt. The Taeren
had little better than contempt for their physical bodies and this feeling
extended into the illusions they projected of their own appearance.

"I'm sorry I cannot make you look Kioth," the Taeren, Jia Ron Drull, was
saying, "but none of you knows anything of Kioth ways or culture... and by
and large, the Kioth know of their conquerors. They simply refuse to speak
of it. A Kioth asking of them would be noticed," Jia Ron Drull said. The
Taeren floated gently around, observing his handiwork with that tolerant
amusement. "This species, however, is unknown to the conquerors and you say
you have none with you..."

Daren nodded, confirming it. There were no Klingons in the crews of the
ships of Task Group 5.4.

The Taeren also nodded. "Then it's settled. You can visit Tarndare safely
in this guise. Do not worry," he said with a wider smile, "This is not
permanent and I can remove it when you return. Simply call upon me."

Oswald snorted. "Thank heavens!" she said. Daren silenced her with a look.

"However," Jia Ron Drull was saying, "do not tarry. Our moon wanes, and
this illusion will only endure for two of your days... past that, our
deception cannot be maintained at this distance," he said.

Colonel Ironside, who made a particularly imposing Klingon, nodded. "Thank
you for your assistance," he said.

The Taeren nodded, still with that amused smile, and faded away.

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Rear Admiral Todd Marshall frowned. "This doesn't make sense," he said to
himself. Marshall tapped a key, and the sensor log playback of the
destruction of the Reorsan starship Dauntless began again. Like virtually
all of the task group members who had seen the logs, he was watching them
again and again, in this case from his Ready Room. Staring at one of the
sensor indicators, he tabbed another key, calling Vanguard's Bridge.

"Get me Aldur," he commanded, voice somewhat short.

While he waited, Marshall stared at the sensor indicator as if it were
offensive to him. He didn't have to wait long. A few minutes later,
Aldur's face appeared on the secondary monitor. If he was bothered by the
call, it didn't show.

"Something I can help you with, Todd?" he asked, voice mild.

"Yeah," Marshall said. "Something you can help with. This sensor log you
wanted me to look at doesn't make any sense," he said. Marshall stood and
began to pace.

"Go on," Aldur said.

"If you look at this log closely enough, you can see the indicators that the
Dauntless self-destruct system was armed less than a minute after they
detected the Accursed ship," Marshall said. "Long before it entered weapons
range. And I just realized -- you never actually said that the Reorsans had
never encountered an Accursed ship before Dauntless did. You just let me
believe it."

"Continue," Aldur said, still revealing nothing.

Marshall's voice turned even more sour. "This is Romulan tactics, isn't
it?" he demanded. "Dauntless wasn't their first encounter with the
Accursed," he said, pointing one finger at Aldur's face on the monitor, "Her
CO had orders to destroy his ship rather than let it fall into Accursed
hands. THAT'S why the self-destruct was activated. He just decided to try
to take the cruiser out with him." Pacing back and forth, Marshall
continued. "That's why the ramming signature on the patrol ship Coronado
picked up is off -- that Accursed fighter didn't ram the patrol ship. It
was the other way around. The patrol ship was trying to prevent their
boarding and capture. And you know it," Marshall concluded, jutting his
chin out.

Aldur's smile was grim. "Very good detective work, Admiral," he said.
"You're correct in every particular. As a matter of fact, the Reorsans have
had a number of minor encounters with the Accursed going back almost twenty
years. Almost since the day the Accursed annexed the Kioth homeworld. The
Accursed are obviously patient -- they're systematically testing the waters
for their next invasion." Aldur leaned forward. "Now you know why the
Reorsans are so paranoid."

"Who knows about this?" Marshall asked, shaken.

"All of the group COs," Aldur said. "Most of the XOs. Colonel Ironside and
a couple of his key Marines. All of the Reorsan command personnel, of
course. And now you." Aldur paused. "You can decide yourself who you want
to tell, but I think it would be smart to keep this detail to ourselves."
Aldur leaned back again. "That's why it's so important that we find out
more about these people -- it's damned clear the Accursed know a hell of a
lot more about us than we do about them."

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Crew Roster:
Commanding Officer: FCapt. Tebrun Lora Kor (Jester)
Executive Officer: Cmdr. William Daren (Daren)
Marine Commandant: Col. Jeremy Ironside (Fraser)
Command Liaison Interface: Cmdr. Savant (Savant)
Chief of Operations: Cmdr. Olme Tlaloco (Tlaloco)
Chief Tactical Officer: LCdr. Sieven Drexler (Garstini)
Assistant Tactical: Lt. (JG) Kyle Marcy (Marcy)
Intelligence Officer: Lt. Kariasa Ma'Aru (Kari)
Company Commander: 1Lt. Eric Moore (Alffred)
Squadron Leader: Maj. Thomas Wayne (Masters)
Squadron Leader: 2Lt. Jacob Prescot (Shadow-FjP)
Chief Flight Operations: Ens. Ananda Wilk (Baralu)
Chief Engineer: LCdr. Zunite Oswald (Sonya)
Assistant Engineer: Lt. Jack C. Farley (CCC)
Assistant Engineer: Lt. Aramis Skylooker (Skylooker)
Chief Science Officer: LCdr. Kathryn Janeway (Kath)
Acting Chief Medical: Lt. Ungtae Brie (Aggie)
Assistant Medical: Ens. Jason Thompson (Thompson)

On Extended Leave of Absense:
Assistant Tactical: Ens. J'aren Mayo (Spork)

Positions Available:
None!

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Ross Glenn aka Jester
Fleet Captain Tebrun Lora Kor, U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/