"Move us towards the scout vessel Mister Shale." Chu ordered.

Shale responded and the crew saw first the frigate and then the Romulan warbird go to warp.

"USS Hellcat to Romulan scout vessel." Chu announced.

[This is the Romulan scout 'Selok'.] A Romulan voice replied. [Where have the Warbird and Frigate gone ?]

"They are travelling to the last known co-ordinates of the ISS Leviathan. They will be rendezvousing with us in about three hours. You will be travelling with us. Please listen carefully, we need you to take up a position about a hundred metres directly behind us and divert all your available power to your shields and structural integrity." Chu ordered. "We will be travelling at speed in excess of those your vessel was designed for. If you start to have any problems let us know as soon as possible. We should be travelling for about an hour and if we manage to reach the co-ordinates, as soon as we exit the vortex, activate your cloak. Is all of that understood ?"

[Understood.] The scout replied, the voice sounding confused.

"The scout has taken up a position one hundred metres behind us." Ensign Oakenshield announced.

"Mister Shale, prepare to enter the slipstream." Chu ordered.

Ahead of the Hellcat the slipstream vortex began to open up. As soon as it was fully formed, first the Hellcat and then the Romulan scout vessel were pulled inside.

"Slipstream is stable." Oakenshield reported. "The Scout appears to be surviving the trip so far."

"Keep an eye on them." Chu replied. "I'd hate to have to explain to Kanlid what happened to the scout."

"Understood." Oakenshield replied.
"How are the sensor modifications going Mister ASHER?" Chu asked.

"The sensor logs from the Romulans are not complete, but I think we can narrow the band we will need to scan. Plus we have now have the slipstream drive frequency for the ISS Leviathan. The Romulans probably don't realise what they were scanning. Our range will still be limited, but we should have a much better chance of picking out the vessel." ASHER replied.

An hour later…

"Commander, we're about to reach the co-ordinates." Shale announced.

"Prepare to leave the slipstream on my command." Chu ordered. "Hellcat to 'Selok' we are about to leave the slipstream, prepare to cloak as soon as you are clear of the vortex. We will be making a one-eighty degree turn to port, I would suggest that you make the same turn to starboard."

[Confirmed.] The Romulan scout replied.

"Now Mister Shale." Chu announced.

The Hellcat left the quantum slipstream and made the turn to port. The Romulan scout appeared behind the Hellcat and made a similar move to Starboard.

"The Romulan vessel has cloaked." Oakenshield announced.

"Can we still detect them ?" Chu asked.

"Affirmative. They are holding station five hundred metres astern." Oakenshield reported.

"Bring the refractive shielding online and prepare to make our first sensor sweep." Chu ordered.