1. Chapter 1

Captain I.R.I.S. sat in the command chair of the Federation starship U.S.S. Royalton. The raised dais gave her the perfect vantage point from which to view the low level hum of activity, that always accompanies the bridge of a starship. Not that she needed a vantage point. The bridge had been designed for a humanoid captain, that needed a central and elevated position to oversee activities. I.R.I.S was possessing of no such need. Her onboard sensors scanned out around her at all times, giving her detailed information on everything in her environment. If androids were going to be given command positions aboard starships then Federation engineers could rethink their design aesthetic.

I.R.I.S., short for Integrated Resource Inter-management System, was a prototype. The first artificial intelligence of her kind. After the Federation had perfected the science of the Positronic Net, following in Doctor Soong's footsteps, they began experimenting with "Synthetic Personnel". At first these newest members of Starfleet were assigned low ranking positions like crewman and ensign. However, they soon proved to be invaluable in other more critical areas. Their superior intelligence, processing ability and adaptability turned out to be naturally suited to officer level positions. So, in the years that followed, they had slowly been given higher and higher rank. Culminating in the I.R.I.S. prototype.

She was the first artificial intelligence, the first Synthetic Lifeform, ever to be given permanent command of a Federation starship. Six months after her posting she turned out to be every bit the asset her designers had hoped she would be. In her time as captain of the Royalton, an Akira class starship, it had become one of the most efficient in the fleet. Despite the concerns expressed by many within Starfleet the crew had acclimated remarkably well to being under the command on an A.I.

I.R.I.S's link with the ships computer indicated that a turbolift was approaching Deck One, Bridge. Her onboard sensors indicated it was a human bio-sign inside the turbolift, identification Lieutenant Allison Haige. Scans indicated Lieutenant Haige was carrying a PADD. Iris linked with the PADD's transmitter and downloaded the contents. It was a proposal for an upgrade of the gravimetric sensor array using a new quantum algorithm. Iris quickly cross referenced the algorithm against the ship's database and found that it had been the thesis of a remarkably gifted student at Starfleet Academy two years earlier and had been the source of much research since. She continued by running a number of simulations and concluded the proposal was viable and would result in a 17.8% percent increase in the sensitivity of the gravimetric array. The entire process, from being alerted by the computer that the turbolift was in route to finishing the simulation, took exactly 11 seconds.

A moment later the turbolift's doors whooshed open and Lieutenant Haige entered onto the bridge. She made her way toward Iris. She was thin, but athletic, with a petite build. Her brown hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, that made evident her soft and pretty face. Her deep brown eyes locked on Iris' as she stepped up onto the dais.

"Ma'am." she began. "I have a proposal for your review." she handed Iris the PADD.

Iris glanced down at the device and scrolled through the several pages of text and several dozen pages of specs. She found the crew preferred her to act as human as possible. It tended to unnerve them if she approved a proposal they hadn't presented yet. So, in response to human preference, she pretended to read from the device.

"This is excellent work Lieutenant." she said in a cool voice, that was devoid of emotion. "You may implement it at your convenience."

The young Lieutenant beamed a huge smile at her. Obviously she was pleased with the praise. "Thank You Ma'am. I will." She strode to her station at Operations with a bounce in her step.

Iris had also learned the value of offering platonic gestures of praise and reassurance to the crew. She estimated that her efforts in this area accounted for 23% of crew moral under normal operating conditions.

She stood up from her seat and drew herself up to every inch of her 5' 11'' frame. She turned her cool blue eyes to her First Officer, Commander Bradak, and met his eyes. They were just as blue as her own, but three shades darker. He was taller than she was, 6'3'' with a sturdy build, like someone who would have excelled in football on Ancient Earth. His dark black hair was cut short and accentuated the harsh plains of his face. He always seemed to look at her with mild puzzlement because, as a Betazoid, he was accustomed to reading the thoughts of most people he encountered. He has informed her on their first meeting that androids were immune to telepathic probing and thus she was somewhat of an enigma to him.

"Commander, you have the bridge. I will be in the Ready Room" she said in an authoritative yet pleasant voice.

Her voice was in part due to her extensive programming and in part the product of her adaptive learning subroutines. She had improved her voice in both pitch and harmonics to be most receptive to the average humanoid nervous system. It was a voice that would encourage communication, but never let the other parties forget that she was the authority in the situation.

The doors to the Ready Room hissed open in front of her. She walked gracefully over to the desk near the back of the room. She sat down in the well padded chair and interfaced herself with the main computer's library. She gained access to her personal files by entering a 2000 digit alphanumeric code and opened the files marked as Molecular Sub-Cohesion Analysis. She was currently researching a way to bond a series of alloys over the hull in order to increases structural integrity, without returning to space dock. She could have stored the information in her own memory files but even her resources were finite. Best to store very large files on the ships computer and access them when needed. For the next hour she sat perfectly still staring straight ahead conducting her research.

She was interrupted by the main computer indicating an incoming transmission from Starfleet Command. Priority One. She closed out her personal files and turned to the small display on her desktop.

A moment later the comm chimed. "Captain." Lieutenant Haige's voice said. "There is an incoming transmission from Starfleet. Priority One."

"Thank You Lieutenant," Iris responded, "Put it through to my ready room."

The small screen flicked to life and Admiral Nakisara appeared. She has never corresponded with him before, but she had all of Starfleet's personal files as part of her programming and recognized him immediately by a simple search of her internal database.

"Admiral Nakisara," she began. "How may I help you?"

The Admiral's face faltered for a moment, clearly startled from being addressed by name by a complete stranger. As quickly as the disorientation came it passed back to the an expression of authoritative indifference. Perhaps a human would not have picked up the expression at all, but Iris was a skilled interpreter of micro-expressions and facial dynamics. Also, she processed every millisecond of time with perfect clarity giving her a wealth of virtual time to analyze every nuance of his face before he even began to speak.

" Captain Iris, a pleasure to speak with you." he said, in a tone almost as cool as her own. "I can't tell you how much I have looked forward to your acquaintance. You are somewhat the talk of Starfleet Command."

"I trust that I am exceeding expectations?" she questioned.

"Indeed!" he proclaimed, His demeanor cracked somewhat and filled with a hint of genuine enthusiasm. "You have preformed beyond anyone's expectations!"

She smiled, doing her best impression of the beaming smile Lieutenant Haige had given her in response to praise. "I am pleased to hear that Admiral. However, I am sure the purpose of your communication is not to complement my performance."

"No its not, but Starfleet's opinion of your performance is the reason you were chosen for the assignment I am about to give you." He lowered his voice, as though speaking in confidence to an old friend.

Iris recognized his personality as extremely familial and open. She was not surprised he had reached the rank of Admiral.

"We have an assignment of some delicacy for you." he continued. "We have detected an anomaly on the Romulan side of the Neutral Zone. Starfleet Intelligence is not certain of its origin but we have reason to believe that it is a weapon detonation signature."

"What kind of weapons signature?" she asked.

"I have forwarded all the data we have on the event. I would be interested in your opinion..." he said, with a bit of anxiety creeping into his expression. Again something a human would have been unlikely to notice.

Still interfaced with the main computer she located the data packet attached to the transmission and downloaded it into her onboard database, taking care to encrypt the information at every stage of the process. She opened the files and began to analyze the data at lightning speed. In only several seconds she had analyzed the information sent by the Admiral and reached a conclusion.

In a voice as casual as someone having light dinner conversation, she said. "As I am sure you are already aware this is most likely Omega."


	2. Chapter 2

The Admirals face darkened with the mention of the word. "That is the conclusion we reached as well." he cast his eyes downward, the topic having drained him of all joviality.

"If the Romulans are experimenting with Omega what is Starfleet Command prepared to authorize?" She asked the question almost as a formality. If the Romulans had Omega she knew the only course of action. It would have to be destroyed at all costs.

The Admiral looked back up from his desktop. "If it is Omega, and if the Romulans are developing it, Starfleet is prepared to authorize military action." Collecting himself together with a near physical force he locked his eyes on her. There was no longer an signs of uncertainty on his face. The micro-expressions indicating anxiety and unease were gone. Iris knew how rare it was for a human to be able to control their emotions to this extent. Given the stress he was obviously under only moments ago she should still see tell-tale signs of it, despite his attempts at composure. "However, there are too many unanswered question to contemplate war." he said in a strong clear voice. The voice of the close friend was gone, replaced by the voice of the Admiral. "That is where you come in. Find out what the Romulans are doing and report back. I am sure I don't need to stress the importance of this mission?"

Iris gained access to the ship's sensor array and navigational computer simultaneously. She triangulated their exact position using the sensor data and cross referenced it with the navigational computer. "We are twelve days from Romulan space at maximum warp. I will set course immediately." Iris responded.

"I am also authorizing you to take whatever actions are necessary to accomplish your mission." Nakisara added.

"Understood. Iris out." she tapped the indicator on the screen and the Admiral's image disappeared.

She stood in a single fluid motion and strode toward the door. By the time she had reached it she had simulated 1,200 possible reaction scenarios the crew might exhibit in response to the orders she was about to give. She then determined the most probable, based on the most recent Starfleet psychoanalysis of each of the bridge officers. She then narrowed the possibilities further until she was confident she was within a 20% margin of error. Based on their most likely reaction she decided how much she would have to reveal.

Commander Bradak stood from the central command position and moved aside to allow her to take the seat. Instead she mounted the dais and stood facing the view screen now displaying only a star field.

"Ensign," she spoke to the young man seated at the Conn. "Set a course for the Neutral Zone, Spatial Grid 2263."

The Ensign tapped the Conn, inputting the Spatial Grid. After a moment his fingers froze over the controls. "Ma'am," he addressed her slowly. "That is on the Romulan side of The Zone."

"I am aware of that Ensign." she responded in her most authoritative tone. "Set course and engage at maximum warp."

"Aye Captain." he responded. A tap of the Conn caused the star field on the view screen to momentarily turn into a multi-colored vortex and then to the serene scape of particulate matter streaking by.

Everyone on the bridge had fallen silent. Her onboard sensors detected elevated respiration and heart-rate from a number of the bridge officers. She had already anticipated having to explain something, their anxiety would only increase if kept in the dark. An anxious crew would not benefit this mission.

"I am sure you are all wondering why we are crossing the Neutral Zone." she began, raising her voice a few levels. "I am not at liberty to discuss the nature of our mission with any but a select few officers. However, I can tell you that the security of the Federation depends on our success and that each of you will be required to perform above and beyond the excellence I have come to expect.

She turned and faced Commander Bradak whose normally confused expression had deepened turning his eyes dark and his brow into a furrow. "Commander. Will Lieutenant Haige, Lieutenant Commander Var'dah and yourself please join me in the briefing room." She turned and strode to another door opposite that of the Ready Room. It whooshed open before her and she entered into the briefing room, taking the first seat at the head of the long high gloss conference table at its center.

A few moments later Commander Bradak entered with Lieutenant Haige trailing behind him. They took seats on opposite sides of the table. "Var'dah is on his way." Bradak reported as soon as he was seated.

"I believe it is best if we await for his arrival to begin" Iris said. She already knew that Var'dah was on deck 5, Section 4B. He was moving toward turbolift 4A. At his present rate of travel she anticipated he would arrive in the briefing room in approximately 54 seconds.

She interfaced with the computer and began programming a presentation for her senior staff. She referenced all Starfleet Directives to ensure that what she was about to tell them would fall within protocol. She accessed database after database, sorting through every byte of date for anything of relevance to the upcoming mission. Star-charts of the Neutral Zone. Data on Romulan technology, culture and history. Information on the Omega Molecule from several highly classified areas. When she was done she was sure she had adequate information to brief the officers. She downloaded the visual aids into the briefing room computer system and erected several layers of encryption and a firewall between it and the main computer.

Just then the doors on the far side of the room parted and a tall Vulcan man glided through. He was by far the tallest person in the room standing at 6' 5'' His jet black hair arranged in perfect symmetry around his thin face. His expression was as hard as granite and showed no emotion. Not even his eyes betrayed the slightest glimmer. Lieutenant Commander Var'dah took the seat beside Haige.

"Now that everyone is here," she began "I would like to explain the nature of our mission."

Her link to the briefing room computer allowed her to activate the holographic matrix in the center of the table. A 3-D representation of what looked like a lattice-work sphere composed of many particles appeared above the table, turning slowly.

"This is the Omega Molecule. It is quite possibly the most energetic molecule in existence. When destabilized it releases that energy with 100% efficiency." She looked around the table at the assembled crew. Their expressions indicated they had not yet grasped the significance. "However," she continued, "Omega has another property. When destabilized it releases its energy not just into normal space but into subspace as well. A single Omega Molecule can destroy subspace for a radius of several light years. A small chain of Omega could destroy subspace throughout the quadrant, making warp travel and subspace communications impossible." Finally she recognized a look of shock and disbelief cross the faces of the assembled staff, with the exception of Lieutenant Var'dah.

"Why have I never heard of this 'Omega Molecule'?" Lieutenant Haige questioned suspiciously.

"Are any of you familiar with the Lantaru Sector?" Iris asked, still pressing forward with the presentation. She had anticipated their questions and had been sure to include satisfactory answers in her pre-planned speech.

"The Lantaru Sector is a region of Federation Space in which a natural disaster of unknown origin has caused subspace ruptures, making warp travel impossible." Var'dah said confidently.

"Yes," Iris agreed, "but it was not a natural disaster that caused the destruction of subspace in that region." She brought up a star-chart of the sector in question with the subspace ruptures indicated by amorphous red blobs packed tightly throughout the area. "This sector was the location of a Federation research facility under the command of Dr. Ketteract. Ketteract was able to synthesize a single molecule of Omega. It destabilized only a fraction of a second after it was created resulting in the death of 127 people and the subspace disruptions you see here."

"There is no mention of any research station in the Lantaru Sector." Var'dah interrupted. "I am certain I would have remembered such a detail when studying the sector for a presentation I gave on Vulcan about Subspace Distortion Geometry."

"There is no official documentation of the station or its research." Iris explained. "After the event Starfleet classified the incident and banned any future experimentation with Omega."

"All of this is very interesting." Commander Bradak spoke up. She noticed he had been unusually quite. "But what does this have to do with crossing the Neutral Zone."

The holo-image switched to a star-chart of the Romulan-Federation Boarder, separated by the Neutral Zone. "Forty seven hours ago long range sensors at Deep Space 4 recorded an emission from Romulan Space." The holo-image changed to display sensor telemetry. "The anomaly registered for only 1/100 of a second. This is the telemetry that was recorded."

"One-one hundreth of a second?" Lieutenant Haige questioned. "That's not even enough for sensors to discern spatial origin."

"No it's not. Had the sensors been even a micron out of alignment they may not have detected it at all. However, the analysis of the subspace harmonics is conclusive." The image zoomed in on a small portion of the display. "This signature is almost certainly Omega."

"So what exactly is our mission?" Bradak asked.

"Our mission is to infiltrate Romulan space, find the source of this anomaly and report back to Starfleet Command." she said in a flat matter-of-fact voice.

"And if it turns out to be Omega?" Bradak continued his questioning. She was sure he was driving at a point.

"Then Starfleet Command will take action." she responded, voice still cool and unreadable.

"Action?" Bradak asked. She saw emotion plain on his face. It had been her experience that Betazoid emotions always floated a little closer to the surface than most. She reasoned that it was probably the flood of feelings and emotions that Betazoid telepathy saturated the psyche with. Now his anger, no not anger... outrage, floated just behind his eyes like some sea serpent in dark waters.

"Military Action, Commander." she clarified.

"The Federation is going to incite a war!?" he boomed. The resonance of his voice echoed around the room.

"I realize that Betazoids idealize pacifism, Commander. However, you must realize, in light of what I have told you, that we can not allow the Romulans to remain in possession of Omega."

"I just don't like the idea of being the one who causes the Federation to declare war. We have never been the ones to fire the first shot. Never made a preemptive strike. It is against the very ideals that the Federation was founded on. Starfleet is a peacekeeping armada! We are not war-mongers!"

Her onboard bio-sensors indicated increases synaptic activity in the Limbic System as well as a marked drop in Messenger Serotonin in the brain. "If you feel uncomfortable performing your duties I can have you replaced." Iris said, her eyes locked on his. If he was going to crack better it be now, when she could still replace him. She couldn't have him loosing his composure like this when they were staring down a Romulan Warbird.

"No!" he said a little to forcefully. "No, I just think we all need to be aware what we are doing here. Be aware of the consequences."

"I am fully aware of the consequences." she said, her own voice taking on a deeper tone. To an onlooker it might seem she was becoming agitated. In all actuality she was simply altering her tone to be most receptive to the Commander's current emotional sate. "I am also aware of the consequence if the Romulans were to weaponize, or even experiment with, Omega."

Bradak's Limbic activity began to decrease and his serotonin levels began to elevate. He was claming down. "Of course Captain." he said, casting his eyes down and away from her. He was obviously embarrassed by his outburst.

She turned her gaze back to Haige and Var'dah. Haige looked uncomfortable and anxious. Var'dah looked curious. "Haige, I want you to alert all departments of our situation. Explain only that we are entering hostile territory. I want all non-essential facilities powered down and the excess power routed to auxiliary reserves." Haige nodded her understanding a little to eagerly, still shocked by the revelations of the conversation. "Var'dah, as Tactical Officer it is you duty to make sure the offensive and defensive systems are operating at peak capacity. I want the phasers realigned, manual checks of the torpedo system and auxiliary power hardwired to the shields."

"Understood Ma'am." he responded with a very Vulcan sweep of the head that looked like a semi-bow.

"Bradak, I want you to alert engineering to reinforce structural integrity, reinforce the warp core with auxiliary force field generators and equip at least three shuttle craft with Type 7 phasers."

"Yes Ma'am." he agreed a little to formally, likely overcompensating for his rude behavior.

"We have 12 day before we cross the Neutral Zone, I want everything to be done by then." she stood from her seat and placed her palms open on the table leaning forward. "To quote a human expression, 'This is going to be a bumpy ride.' Dismissed."

She knew that 'a bumpy ride' was likely a gross understatement. As with everything she had analyzed the data, crunched the number and ran the simulations. The odds of success for a lone starship entering hostile space and infiltrating one of the most militarily active sectors in Romulan territory were not favorable. Not favorable at all.

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading my story! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Review! I would love all your ideas, advice, criticisms and opinions. The story can only be made BETTER by your input. PLEASE REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 3

Iris' link with the navigational computer gave her the very inhuman ability to render huge areas of space as a virtual 3-D simulation inside her mind. This real-time simulation gave her detailed information on the ships location, speed, trajectory and surrounding environment. As she sat in the command chair she 'watched' the ship approach the boundary of The Neutral Zone.

A moment later the ensign at Conn spoke. "Ma'am, we are approaching the Neutral Zone. Range two-million kilometers."

She already knew their exact distance from the Neutral Zone. She also knew the answer to the next question she was about to ask. However, she was programmed to command a vessel in a human fashion.

"Lieutenant Haige, scan for any Romulan vessels within sensor range." she ordered.

Haige tapped a few indicators on the operations consol bringing up a 2-D representation of the region surrounding the ship. "Nothing on short-range sensors." she said watching the electromagnetic array scan out at a range of 20 million kilometers. She switched to the long-range gravitic array and analyzed the readout. "Nothing on long-range sensors either." she reported.

Iris knew that the long range array relied only on gravitational data to give real time results. Any ship that was not at warp or with it's shields lowered would not register on the long-range sensors. There could be an entire Romulan fleet running in Gray Mode only 25 million kilometers away.

"Use short range sensors, minimum resolution, and scan at a range of 180 million kilometers." The short range sensors could only scan out at the speed of light so it would take twenty minuets for the scan data to be received.

"Aye Sir, 180 million kilometers" Haige responded, reconfiguring the short-range array. Twenty minuets later Haige had the results. "No enemy ships detected."

Iris accessed the sensor grid and analyzed the results herself. She trusted that Lieutenant Haige had preformed the analysis to the best of her ability. However she was only human and she didn't process at a speed of 76 quadrillion calculations per second. After she was satisfied with the Lieutenant's analysis she stood and took a central position behind the Conn. "Ensign, set a course for Romulan Space heading 216 mark 5. Warp 8. Engage. "

The view screen turned into the vortex once again and then settled into its familiar state of streaking matter. The ensign at Conn turned to address Iris. "Ma'am, at our current velocity we will enter Romulan Space in approximately nine hours."

"Thank You, Ensign." She turned to face Bradak. "Commander, I want the ship prepared to enter Gray Mode before we enter Romulan Space."

He stood. "Yes Ma'am." He proceeded to the engineering station and began to prepare a Gray Mode Protocol."

* * *

Nine hours and eighteen minute later the ship was about to cross from neutral space into Romulan territory. As Iris sat perched on the edge of the Captain's chair she reflected on the implications of this mission. She realized she would be the first Federation Captain to order her ship into Romulan territory, without the consent of the Romulan government and with the consent of Starfleet Command, in 223 years.

"Captain." Haige said. "We will enter Romulan Space in four minuets. We will come within range of their sensor nets in two minuets."

"Initiate Gray Mode." Iris ordered. "Alternate the Warp Field frequency to scatter their long-range sensors." She monitored the modulations carefully, prepared to correct any error that might allow the Romulan sensors to lock onto them. Simultaneously she monitored the ships total power output for any anomalous spikes or variations that could be identified form a distance. She estimated, despite the precautions, that there was a 43% chance of the sensor net detecting them.

"Captain." Lieutenant Commander Var'dah spoke from the tactical station directly behind the Captain's chair. "The Romulan grid is locking onto us. The rest of the nodes are realigning for a detailed scan. They will detect us."

Iris' neural-net fired into action processing the incoming data both from the bridge officers and the ships systems. A power spike in the secondary EPS junction had given of an energy signature detectable by the grid. She had instantly re-modulated it but it had been to late, the sensor net was locking on. She estimated that the nodes would be realigned within 12 seconds and would detect them only a fraction of a second beyond that. She had to act quickly.

She ran a series of multi-spectral algorithms through the primary computer, diverting all available processing to that task. The several trillion algorithms that had to be calculated took almost three seconds to process.

In the meantime, she accessed primary shield control and brought the shields on-line at 130% efficiency, taking advantage of the auxiliary power that was already allocated to them. As the algorithms finished processing she selected out a few thousand that had been mathematically identified by the main computer and began re-writing the shield harmonics, overlaying the new multi-spectral sub-routines. This took another four seconds.

She estimated only 5 seconds remained until detection.

With the new shield programs in place she ordered the computer to activate them. The power surged to the shields and she detected several of the EPS conduits on deck 10 blow out under the increased strain. She re-routed secondary systems.

4 seconds remaining.

She accessed the communication network and locked onto the transceiver inside the closest node of the Romulan sensor grid. She tried to remotely access its computer system. A firewall blocked her path. She opened a hacking program embedded inside her database and began running a breaker program on the firewall. Two seconds later the firewall deactivated.

2 seconds until detection.

The computer core and key systems were still encrypted with a 25 digit sequence. She began to disable the encryption. One second later she had cracked the code and entered the appropriate sequence giving her access to its on-board systems. She accessed its object identification database and entered the new multi-spectral shield frequencies she had applied to the Royalton, reclassifying them as neutral space debris.

At that instant the net locked on and fully analyzed the frequencies. Still connected to the computer of the node she observed it identify the frequency as a neutral piece of space debris and file it as Priority Zero. They had averted detection.

"Something is happening to the array." Var'dah reported from his station. "The grid locked onto us and scanned us. However, it is not transmitting or position. It is deactivating and returning to Stand-By Mode."

"Ma'am." Haige continued from Ops. "Something else is also off. The shields have been re-modulated to some kind of Multi-Spectral Frequency. It kind of looks like a cloaking field but with key differences in the sub-matrix."

"I can explain." Iris responded. "I was able to reprogram the shields and the Romulan node to avid detection. The node analyzed the frequencies and classified it as zero priority space debris."

"When did you reprogram them?" Haige asked, her voice thick with disbelief.

"After sensors indicated the array was about to lock on." she responded mater-of-factly.

"But that was what? 20 seconds ago?" Haige asked, still confused.

"12 seconds." Iris corrected her.

"Even with the help of the main computer it would take hours to lay down those new frequencies." Haige stated.

"Not to mention an an equal amount of time to hack and reprogram the Romulan Node." Var'dah added.

"It would take a human hours." Iris corrected again. "As I am sure you are aware I am dramatically faster."

Haige turned back to her consol still in obvious disbelief, but she didn't pursue the line of questioning any farther. Var'dah looked at her quizzically.

Iris stood. "Deep Space 4 indicated the emissions came from somewhere near the Hakkona System. I believe we should start our investigation there." she turned back to Haige. "Take the shield modifications offline and return to Gray Mode." She turned to the Ensign at Conn. "Set course for Hakkona and engage."

She sat back on the chair. In spite of the seemingly miraculous feat she had achieved she knew there had been a great deal of chance at work. If the Romulans had entered a second layer of encryption or if Auxiliary Power had not already been routed to the shields the outcome could have been very different. The sensor net would have transmitted their position all the way to Romulus. Right now a dozen Warbirds would be bearing down on them. Iris didn't like that at all. She did not like chance or luck. They were unpredictable. Unpredictable was unacceptable. It put the entire mission in jeopardy, indeed the entire Federation. The worst part was that no number of calculations-per-second could process chance and luck out of the equation.

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading my story! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Review! I would love all your ideas, advice, criticisms and opinions. The story can only be made BETTER by your input. PLEASE REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 4

"Commander," Iris voice broke Bradak from an almost trancelike state. "Your shift ended twenty minuets ago."

"Hmm?" he asked looking up.

"Your shift Commander. It ended twenty minuets ago." she reiterated.

"If it is all the same to you Ma'am I would like to stay on the bridge." he said rubbing his eyes.

Ever since they had entered Romulan space he had been restless. It seemed that a sense of impending doom hung over the ship like a dark cloud. He knew it was probably just the anxiety of the crew bleeding through telepathically. Probably. In any case he knew he would feel better if he was on the bridge, ready to act when the thunder and lightning let loose from this particular storm cloud.

"I am afraid I must insist that you go off duty." Iris said through his distraction. "I have cut shifts in half for the duration of this mission in order to avoid fatigue. You have already been on duty for 8 hours and 21 minuets. If you do not sleep and eat you could become a liability in a crisis situation." Her eyes remained fixed on him, her face passive.

"Of course." he said rising from his seat, a little stiff from his prolonged inactivity.

He looked into her eyes one more time as he made his way to the turbolift. Her eyes looked so intense, so 'present' for a lack of a better word, it seemed at odds with another intuition he had about her. He had been around other species who he could not read telepathically. He had never been as thoroughly perplexed by them as he had been by his captain from the moment he met her. Something about her just seemed more inhuman than other non-humans. More complex, or perhaps more simple. He always wondered about that. If it was her stupefying complexity that made her seem so inhuman or if it was some other innate simplicity, something lacking from her constitution.

"Wait up Commander." Haige called from her station. "I'm off duty too. I'll ride with you." Haige hoped up from her chair with more sprite than she should be able to possess after such a long shift and half ran and half bounced to the turbolift behind him.

Even though she was only four years younger than he was she always seemed filled with a child-like joviality. All smiles and bubbly personality. Although, he had a unique angle on her personality that made him more qualified than most to make an assessment. Of course he refrained from an outright probing of her mind, that would be an invasion of her privacy. However, a lot of her essential personality couldn't help but flow around her like an aura.

When they were inside the turbolift she looked up at him and her good mood flowed across the telepathic connection and infected him with a semblance of her constant high spirit.

"Are you going to Five Forward?" she asked. "I'm going to get something to eat before I die of starvation!"

"Sure." he said, a smile finding its way onto his lips. "Deck Five." he spoke to the computer.

* * *

When they were seated across from each other at a small table in the Five Forward Lounge, each with a plate of food in front of them, the conversation lolled.

"So," Haige said slowly, obviously trying to think of a topic. "This sure is a _unique_ mission." She put a lot of stress on the word unique. "If you had told me two weeks ago that we would be sneaking into Romulan space on a mission to find a Doomsday Particle I would have laughed in your face." she said, taking a big bite of her pasta.

"I still cant believe it." he said casually.

"I guess we should be honored in a way. I mean, its not like we were the only ship in the area. Starfleet must have had their pick of a dozen ships for this mission." she said.

"Maybe we shouldn't have been so 'honored." he said under his breath, taking a drink from his glass.

"I know you aren't exactly a cheerleader for this mission." Haige said. Her voice remained as light as ever but he could see her mood shift, turn more serious. Like a light that had been on her dimmed by about half. "But it is important." She seemed to be studying him closely, trying to guage his reactions.

"Undoubtedly." he agreed "That's my point. Maybe this mission is a little to important for us."

Haige studied his face deeply. Her brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't follow." she replied.

" I just wonder if we are the best crew for a mission of this nature. If everyone onboard is up to the task." he continued, trying to sound casual.

Haige's face suddenly opened up in epiphany as she realized what he was driving at. "You mean maybe this is not the best mission for Captain Iris to command." she said with a tinge of hostility overtaking her pleasant singsong tone.

"I didn't say that." Bradak snapped defensively. His internal dialog told him that he may not have said it but it was pretty close to what he had meant.

"You didn't have to. I don't have to be a telepath to read those particular thoughts." she said. He saw her mood changing around her like a wind blown in from some hot dry place. He knew this emotion well, anger. " I cant speak for Betazoids but humans left prejudice and bigotry behind us a long time ago."

"I just wonder if a machine, regardless how complex and intelligent, can be expected to make the kind of moral judgements that this mission is likely to require!" Just as her joviality had infected him in the turbolift he now felt her anger creeping into him like tiny hot serpents. "You saw what she did with the computer and the sensor net. Obviously she doesn't think like us. Obviously she is not like us." As soon as the words crossed his lips he felt ashamed of them.

Haige's face twisted into a combination of disgust and disbelief. Her entire body language turned inward retreating away from him. "Maybe your right." she hissed at him. "Maybe some people on this ship arent up to the mission." she stood from the table abruptly and walked out of the lounge.

He hadn't meant for the words to come out the way they had. He could'nt believe, as he played them over in his head, how intolerant he had sounded. He had just meant that maybe the moral values that the Captain possessed were at odds with the ones a Federation officer was expected to embody. He had to admit, in that instant, he was more outraged by his own moral behavior than he was by the Captain's.

* * *

Haige rushed out into the corridor still fuming from the conversation. She very rarely got angry and she didn't much care for it. She was halfway to the turbolift before she could feel her pulse begin to slow. She was feeling more like herself by the time the doors parted in front of her.

While the anger may have passed like a phantom. Her anger usually did. She was still left with a sense of disbelief. The idea that a Commander on a Federation Starship could spout that kind of intolerance was unbelievable to her. The Federation was an institution built on respect and open-mindedness, on embracing other species and ways of life different from one's own.

As the turbo-lift streaked up to Deck 3 she couldn't get the exchange out of her mind. Then as her outrage began to wain she had a thought. 'What if their was something to what Bradak had been saying?' She actually shook her head trying to clear the thought forcibly from her mind. There was definitely no place for those kinds of Dark Age thoughts in her enlightened 24th century psyche.

As she walked down the corridor towards her quarters she couldn't fully shake the idea. Maybe Bradak had been crass and heavy-handed. Maybe he had handled it in the worst possible manner. But maybe there was still something to be said for his concern.

Her mind went back to that afternoon when the Captain had reprogrammed the ships shields and the Romulan sensor net in 12 seconds. She tried to contemplate how different a mind that could do that must be from her own, indeed from any organic mind. She found her imagination wanting. Was it really so unreasonable that Bradak saw that fundamental difference and wondered if it could really be too fundamental. Maybe Iris's thoughts, goals and motives really were to alien to be compatible with Federation ideals. Maybe.

'No!' She shouted to herself in her own mind. You are leading yourself down a path that has caused a lot of people to do horrible things. Once you can justify a segregation between individuals in your own mind it is a short step to put it into practice in reality. She would not abandon all that she believed in. But as the doors to her quarters closed behind her the 'maybes' kept floating through her mind like unwanted poltergeists.

* * *

After Commander Bradak and Lieutenant Haige had left the bridge Iris turned her attention to Var'dah. He stood at the tactical station performing some diagnostic or analysis. She considered relieving him as well. She knew that, unlike Humans and Betazoids, Vulcan's could go for weeks without sleep with little drop in cognitive ability or performance efficiency. She estimated, based on Var'dah bio-readings, that he had not slept in several days. Still well within acceptable parameters. If he continued to forego sleep she would be forced to relieve him as she had the others.

It was strange to her, the organic psyche. Why the crew insisted on reducing their efficiency through sleep deprivation when that efficiency was most needed. It was both irresponsible and illogical. She knew that on average the officers in question were neither of those things. At leat not to a debilitating extent. Still here the behavior was.

She turned her full attention back to tweaking the long-range sensors using Lieutenant Haige's proposal. Haige had already upgraded the sensors with the new algorithm but Iris was sure she could re-write some of the protocols and boost efficiency even higher. While she worked at this she diverted her resources elsewhere.

She had access to internal sensors in all public areas of the ship. As the terabytes of audio and visual data streamed through her mind she noticed a conversation taking place in the Five Forward Lounge. She moved the stream up to priority two in her processors. She watched and heard the dialogue in perfect clarity. No nuance of tone or pitch escaped her. Not the smallest tick of the facial muscels went unnoticed. After Bradak and Haige had finished their exchange she returned the Five Forward sensors back to normal priority.

She was not surprised by Bradak's position on her ability as a Captain. She understood that under times of stress organics would tend to vent frustrations more freely. She estimated that this mission had caused a 65% increase in anxiety and tension among the crew, more than enough to elicit this kind of response. She also knew that opinions expressed under these circumstances were rarely acted on. In fact he likely regretted saying it at all, based on his psychological profile.

She ran several personality simulations using his psychological parameters and the data she had collected from the conversation, to approximate the likelihood of him acting on his views. She estimated that the probability was less than 20%. This was acceptable for the time being. However, she would continue to monitor him closely. If the probability began to rise she would have to replace him.

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	5. Chapter 5

"What is the status of the anomaly?" Iris asked Var'dah.

The Vulcan made a quick appraisal of his consul before responding. "Antiproton readings remain unchanged."

Three hours ago sensors detected unidentified antiproton emissions following the ship at warp speed. Iris had ordered a 15 degree course change and the emissions had changed course to follow. An hour later, after several subspace scans, Iris ordered another alteration in their course. Again the emissions had changed course with them. Based on the readings as well as the course changes she was 92% certain that the emissions were being generated by a cloaked ship.

While she analyzed the telemetry from the latest scans she became aware of Commander Bradak exiting his quarters and making his way toward the bridge for his duty shift. She estimated he would arrive on the bridge in 1 minuet 18 seconds. She ran the scan telemetry through another variance analysis program. The result was what she expected. The computer could not isolate sufficient variance in the particle distribution to determine if the emissions were the result of a cloaked ship.

Bradak entered on to the bridge looking much better than he had the previous night. The dark circles under his eyes had faded to a light shadow and his posture was once again erect and confident.

"Commander." Iris addressed him. "There is something I would like you to take a look at." Her link to the computer allowed her to transfer the sensor data to Bradak's consul in a microsecond. By the time he took his seat the information was already displayed on the screen.

After a long minuet Bradak looked up. "A cloaked ship." he stated.

"My thoughts exactly." Iris agreed. "It has been following us at high warp for over three hours."

"Do you think it has transmitted our location?" Bradak asked his voice faltering along with his face.

"No," Iris said with complete confidence. "We would have detected a transmission. They are likely maintaining a communications blackout until they gather more information."

"What are we going to do about them?" Bradak asked. Her reassurances seemed to have belayed his immediate anxiety. "We cant just let them follow us until they decide to transmit their findings."

"Of course not." Iris agreed again. "Lieutenant Commander Var'dah and I have been working on a solution." She looked over to the Vulcan. "Var'dah?" she encouraged.

"I proposed that our first order of business should be to disable their communications array." Var'dah began explaining. "Once they know we have detected them it will only take seconds for them to transmit. Insufficient time to disable their communication with conventional weapons." A few taps of his consul caused the specs of a Class 3 probe to be displayed on the main viewscreen."With the Captain's help I was able to modify a series of probes to act a signal dampers." He tapped the consul again and it changed to a top-down view of the Royalton and surrounding space with three probes indicated in a triangular pattern around the ship. "Three of the damping probes deployed around the ship will disable communication for a range of 500 million kilometers."

It was Iris's turn to speak. "My analysis of these emissions indicated the ship to be significantly smaller than the Royalton. Once their communication is disabled we should be able to hold them in a tractor beam."

"And once we have them in a tractor beam?" Bradak questioned, raising an incredulous eyebrow. He tapped a control to clear his consul, waiting for Iris's response.

Iris had given a great deal of thought to this problem. She had come up with several alternatives. She had, of course, considered the obvious. Destroy the ship. Analysis indicated this to be a flawed course of action. It would likely result in a drop in crew moral as well as exacerbate the tensions between herself and Bradak. Also, it was in direct violation of Starfleet Protocol to destroy a ship that has been disabled and immobilized.

She had considered taking the Romulan crew prisoner. However, that was fraught with difficulty as well. The task of imprisoning between 50 and 200 people onboard a starship with facilities for 25 was not viable. The odds of a successful escape increased by 4.5% per every 10 prisoners. That would put the odds of escape between 25% - 90%. Likely around 60%. She had deemed this an unacceptable risk.

She had considered transporting the prisoners to an uninhabited planet. However, the nearest habitable planet was 6 days away. This was an unacceptable diversion. She estimated that every day they stayed in Romulan space their chance of detection increased by 10%. She analyzed the likely number of Romulan ships in the area based on Starfleet intelligence and determined that, given standard patrol behavior by the enemy ships, the Royalton could only hope to avoid detection for 8 or 9 days.

Iris had concluded the best option was to physically destroy the Romulan's communications array and introduce a virus into the ships computer to destroy all data. With both the communications array and the ships computer offline it would take them a minimum of 12 days to repair the damage. More than enough time for Iris to complete her mission, or be detected by another ship. Of course the possibility of them repairing it sooner or being rescued had to be considered, but she did not see another option.

Iris watched Bradak's questioning look as she reanalyzed the possibilities. Her decision remained unchanged. "We will destroy their communication system with weapons fire and disable their computer with a virus." she explained.

"A very reasonable course of action." Bradak said, sounding a bit surprised.

She had analyzed the tone of his question and response and knew he had expected her to advocate destroying the ship. The crew always seemed to expect her to be amoral or indifferent to ethical considerations. Even the ones who openly accepted her command seemed to be surprised when she behaved in an overtly moral fashion. She was unsure of why this perception remained. At least half the crew knew enough about artificial intelligence to know that she was programmed with a strong sense of morality. The others should have been reassured by her consistent actions in that regard. However, the crew seemed to expect nothing but cold and calculated decisions. Strange.

She decided to take this opportunity to make another validation in front of the bridge crew. "It is the only course of action that is both tactically and ethically valid." she said in a matter of fact tone.

"Lieutenant Commander" she spoke to Var'dah. "Prepare the probes for launch."

"Probes loaded and ready" Var'dah reported.

"Lieutenant Haige," Iris instructed. "Drop to impulse and bring us to bear on heading 185 mark 34." Haige input the command and the vortex on the main view screen slowed to a static starfield.

"The antiproton readings have dropped from warp as well. 150 million kilometers of our port aft." Var'dah spoke.

"Deploy the probes." Iris instructed. She watched through the ships sensors as the probes streaked out from both the fore and aft torpedo tubes to take up their formation. She analyzed the probes dampening frequencies, checking for fluctuation that could allow a signal to bleed through. After a second she was satisfied that the dampening field was 100% effective.

"Target the antiprotons and fire phasers. Full yield." she said calmly. "Lieutenant Haige, maintain a navigation lock on that ship."

The phasers fired. Iris watched as the energy blistered through space searching for its target with pinpoint accuracy. As soon as the beam came in contact with the cloaked ship the energy was dispersed across the hull in a rippling effect that gave a clear outline of the vessel.

"They are dropping their cloak and raising shields." Bradak barked.

"They are altering course, heading away from us at full impulse." Haige said from Ops.

"Their shield generators have been damaged." This from Var'dah. "Shields at 58%"

"Continue fire. Phasers only." Iris said as she sifted through the data pouring in from the sensors.

"Captain?" Var'dah questioned.

"An antimatter explosion could disrupt the dampening field." Iris explained quickly.

"Sir." Haige called. "They are attempting to transmit. The dampening field is holding"

"Lock on with the tractor beam." Bradak called to Var'dah at tactical.

"I can not lock on. They are using a modulating shield matrix. It is scattering the beam." Var'dah said. Iris thought she detected the slightest trace of anxiety creeping in to his tone.

"Captain, they will be clear of the field in 45 seconds." Haige called.

"Quantum Torpedoes, full spread." Iris ordered. "Prepare to fire on my command. I am taking control of the tractor."

In an instant the tractor beam was under her control. She began modulating the beam parameters. She knew if she could match them precisely to the Romulans shields she could disrupt them long enough to get the torpedoes through. In an instant she found the frequency but before she could lock the beam it re-modulated. Again she found the frequency a second to late and the shields re-modulated. Quickly she dumped her other processes and diverted all computation to her current task. The added speed paid off and she found the frequency before it re-modulated. She locked the beam and watched as their shields faltered and dropped. She knew they would have only one shot.

"Fire torpedoes on these coordinates." she said, her voice so fast it was almost incomprehensible.  
A set of tactical locks appeared on Var'dah display. Without a second thought he hit the blinking indicator to fire.

The quantum torpedoes blurred out of their tubes and struck the ship. The entire hull seemed to buck as first one, then two, then three, then four warheads hit home. Explosions rocked the ship as plumes of burning plasma and debris were ejected from the great swaths cut by the torpedoes. The engines went offline as the ship began to drift by momentum alone. The lights in several areas flickered and then went out. The small craft began a wild tumble as inertial dampers and thrusters failed. Within a second secondary explosions began through the ship blowing great wounds from every part of the outer hull. A second latter the warp core lost containments and the view screen went white in a blinding flash of light.

An instant after the Romulans warp core breached the shockwave hit the Royalton. Iris knew when the forward shields were overloaded and collapsed. She knew when the shockwave continued past the shields and hit the hull overloading structural integrity fields as it went. She knew when the energy from the blast made its way to the power grid and overloaded the conduits. She knew when the EPS conduits blew out across 10 decks. She knew when the hull of the saucer section was ripped open by the gravitational shear of the shockwave.

An instant before the bridge heaved like a canoe in a hurricane she secured an iron grip on the Captains chair, locking her in place. Bradak was thrown from his seat and thudded against the bulkhead with an audible crack of his ribs. Var'dah was thrown against the aft consuls hard enough to shatter the displays. Haige's consul exploded from the power surge, throwing her from her seat in a spray of sparks. She hit the deck with severe burns to the left side of her body. When the inertial dampers reinitialized after only a nanosecond Iris was the only one on the bridge left in her seat.

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