"I'm on my way up, Captain."

* * *

"That got their attention, sir. Lead ship is cutting power to her engines."

"Keep us out of range, countermeasures active," Captain Ross said through a yawn. "Our outer patrol is sure they collected all of their com relay ships?"

"Yes, sir. There were only two small patrol boats loaded with four com drones each. They've been neutralized," Ensign Steger said from the OPS station. The small bridge of the Predator-Class Federation Prowler only had four crewmembers on it: the captain, a pilot, and then the OPS and Tactical officers. The Predator was one of the newest additions to Prowler Fleet and boasted the latest and greatest in stealth technology and passive sensor systems. The fact his force had been able to fly right up on the ESA's attack formation without being detected seemed to indicate the eggheads at Fleet R&D got this one right.

"Let's break EMSEC." Ross sat up in his seat and smoothed out his dark gray uniform. Prowler Fleet belonged to the Central Intelligence Service not Starfleet or CENTCOM, so they didn't wear the usual fatigues or dress blacks the regular fleet spacers wore. "Ping the lead ship and request a channel."

"Standby," Steger said.

"Easton, while he's doing that, go ahead and send a Bluebird to Captain Barrett and tell him he is clear to proceed," Ross said.

"Aye, sir," Lieutenant Commander Easton said, her hands flying over the controls. The small staff of three who worked in the Prowler's CIC would relay the message over Bluebird—the Federation's top secret, superluminal communication system—and let Captain Barrett know he was clear to bring in his taskforce.

Captain Ross's group had been tracking the ESA ships since they'd crossed the border into Fed space. They'd gotten strong intelligence the Alliance planned to hit soft targets throughout the region with as many as ten different strike groups. Ross had watched this particular group refuel in Alliance space, and then had tracked them to the most obvious destination, an unmanned resupply depot with little defensive capability. He's called ahead to Starfleet Captain Michael Barrett and had him prepare the surprise the Alliance taskforce had so helpfully flown right through on their way down to their target.

"Channel is established, sir. Clear voice. It'll trigger once you start talking," Ensign Steger said.

"This is Captain Elliot Ross of the United Terran Federation aboard the Prowler sitting approximately two hundred and forty kicks off your formation's starboard flank," Ross began. "I appreciate you taking the warning laser fire we sent your way in the spirt with which it was intended and resisted the urge to do anything foolish.

"I'll get right to the point, Admiral Xiao…your formation flew right through a cluster of very specialized mines we set near the jump point you came in through. They were attracted by your low-level gravimetric signatures and, by our last count, almost thirty-seven of them have attached to all the ships of your taskforce. I can trigger them manually, but they're also set to go off if your engine output exceeds fifty percent of maximum. We'd like to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed, Admiral, so if you'll just sit tight and not do anything foolish, we'll have it sorted out soon. Please, take your time checking over your hulls to verify my claims, but I warn you not to try and tamper with the mines…they're nuclear and very touchy to being fiddled with. Ross out."