Fourteen days. It had been fourteen days since Sioll Baxx and Ev glasch Ytog had been killed in the line of duty. The Orion’s first casualties of the war, and the first time he’d had to inform families about the death of their loved ones since the loss of the Kukri. Reihyn had vowed never to let it happen again, but there had been nothing he could’ve done to prevent it. The loss had had a profound effect on all of the crew. But things had gone from bad to worse not one week after the loss of the DeVier, when every Starfleet channel and all the newsfeeds reported that Earth had been attacked by the Breen, resulting in thousands injured or dead in and around San Francisco. As traumatic as these events were for each of them, they had also bound the crew together in grief. Whilst Crewman Ytog hadn’t gone out of his way to ingratiate himself with many others outside of Security, everyone onboard had known Baxx in their own way. For him, Baxx was someone who would always speak him mind, no matter just what it was, and he’d found that honesty to be something he appreciated.
As he rounded the corner that took him directly towards the airlock, he wondered if his new CMO would share that trait. He would find out once he met them, as he knew nothing about who would be coming onboard—the sector office for Starfleet Medical had only told him an hour before they arrived at Starbase 360 that a new doctor had been appointed. The station’s personnel department were better organised, letting him know that a new security guard, Crewman Barda R’K’K, would be coming aboard as well. This would be the first time he would ever worked with an Antican, which would be interesting to say the least. He only hoped his new physician wasn’t a Selayan, or there could well be carnage waiting for him in the docking bay.
Crewman Matapang stood at the control panel and nodded as he approached. “Morning sir.”
“Morning. Have we got a seal?”
“Just secured as you came around the corner, sir.”
“Open it up.”
She tapped the control and the heavy airlock doors slid open, followed a few seconds later by those on the station. Two sets of footsteps echoed through the umbilical and Reihyn stood a little stiffer, wanting to give a proper introduction.
The two new arrivals stepped through together but couldn’t be more different. Barda had an elongated head, short muzzle baring pointed canines, with scruffy grey fur on the sides of his head and sticking out from his collar and cuffs, as beady, near-feral eyes, quickly darted around. The new Doctor however was an Arcadian, demure and serene, with porcelain white skin, her large doll-like head looking out of proportion for her slim body, her features were delicate, with a miniscule nose and small mouth, her large unblinking eyes taking in her surroundings as her long, tapered ears twitched at sounds he couldn’t hear.
He took a step closer and they both stood at attention. “At ease,” he began, never one to be overly-formal. “Welcome to the U.S.S. Orion, I am Captain Reihyn.”
“Lieutenant Yeema Ad’u,” the ship’s new physician said, her accented husky voice contrasting with her fragile appearance—a human classmate from the Academy had referred to Arcadians as ‘China Dolls’.
“Crewman Barda R’K’K, security,” he growled.
“It’s nice to meet both of you.”
Ad’u bowed her oversized head. “Thank you, Captain. I wish it was under better circumstances.”
“As do I,” he replied, trying to keep his tone level. Not wanting to dwell any longer he gestured to the on-duty guard. “Once we get you logged into the system, then Matapang will show you to your quarters, Mr Barda. Doctor, I’ll give you the tour.”
It didn’t take long to get them both registered into the ships system, which would then connect with the station computer and download all the necessary files and records for both of them. Once it was seen to they parted company, heading for either the enlisted or officer quarters.
“Captain, this really isn’t necessary, I’ll be able find my way around.”
“I’m sure you could, Doctor, however I wouldn’t feel right leaving my new CMO to stumble around lost.”
She gave him a throaty laugh, the sound so unlike anything he expected from her it was a little weird. Ad’u cast him a glance. “I see Sioll wasn’t lying about you.”
He paused and looked at her, causing her to stop and look around. “You knew Doctor Baxx?”
“I interned under him onboard the Columbia, just before he retired. We remained in contact ever since, though the war hampered the frequency, we spoke many times since his commission was reactivated. I doubt he would ever have said, but he was quite fond of you, Captain.”
A weak smile, his first in two weeks, tugged at his lips. “You’re right, he never did mention that.”
“Well, he was never one for giving out complements—especially not to those who they were about. When I learned of his passing, I submitted my request to assume his duties onboard, I felt it was a way to honour him.”
“It’s a touching sentiment, Doctor, though I can just imagine what he’d have to say about it.”
She laughed again. “All things that shouldn’t be repeated in polite company.”
“Precisely.”
They carried on, heading first to her small cabin, where she stowed her luggage, before she asked to see sickbay. As they travelled through the ship, he filled her in on the crew, her new staff, their remit and some of the previous assignments they’d been given, just to let her know what she could face. She listened intently, though some of what he told her she’d most likely heard from Baxx, asking a few questions for greater clarity.
When they arrived at the main ward, he let her enter first. Inside all was quiet. No patients, no medical checkups, no work accidents. Medtech Vaand was running routine checks on the biobeds as they entered whilst the two corpsmen on shift were nowhere in sight.
The Rhaandarite looked up. “Captain.”
“Crewman, I’d like to introduce our new CMO, Lieutenant Yeema Ad’u. Doctor, Medical Technician Second Class Vaand.”
“It is nice to meet you, Doctor,” Vaand said politely. “K3 Brown is in the medlab and Gregson is inventorying our supplies.”
Before he could show her through the intercom whistled. “Bridge to Reihyn,” announced D’Kehra.
“Go ahead, Lieutenant.”
“You’re receiving a secure communiqué from Vice Admiral P’Rau.”
He frowned. Their orders typically came through from the station's Logistics Officer, not the Admiral’s office—being just a support ship they typically didn’t warrant direct communication with the Sector Commander.
“Understood. Route it to my office, I’ll be up in a moment. Reihyn out.” He looked at Ad’u. “You’ll have to excuse me.”
“Of course, Captain. You got me safely to sickbay, I think I can manage from here,” she told him, a small smile tugging her pert lips.
* * * * *
Captain’s log, stardate: 52524.5.
Our downtime at Starbase 360 has been cut short as we’ve been given a new run. Though this one will be a little different; we are to transport a team from the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, in a runabout, to a point in the Lamemda Sector then carry on to field hospital on Dreon VII. On our return we are to retrieve the runabout at the same location and continue back to three-sixty.
No one onboard is privy to the orders of the S.C.E. team, myself included, we’re just being used as a taxi service.
End Log.
* * * * *
As the Orion was loaded up with supplies for their unscheduled cargo run, Aleksander Jachim was overseeing the arrival of the S.C.E. team onboard the U.S.S. Thames. He had watched as the Danube-Class runabout had touched down in the main hangar, which dominated the front of the saucer and could easily hold three such craft but was always left empty (used for recovering salvage or escape pods), before heading down to meet the specialists they would be carrying.
As he neared the mini-starship, the portside hatch opened and a tall human with jet-black hair stepped out. Jachim immediately took note of the lieutenant commander pips on his collar and stood at attention on the deck before him.
“Welcome to the Orion. I’m Lieutenant Aleksander Jachim, Operations Manager.”
The man stepped forward and extended his hand as the rest of his team disembarked. His grip was firm. “Lieutenant Commander James Sheppard, we appreciate the lift.”
“Happy to be of help, sir. Captain Reihyn has asked that I make sure you’re seen to quarters and provide any assistance you may need with regards to your equipment.”
“Everything we need is on the runabout and will remain there until we reach our destination. I trust you all know the plan.”
“We have the timetable and co-ordinates for the drop-off/rendezvous point, sir.”
“Excellent. How about you show us our quarters, I’ll also need to speak with yourself, the captain and your chief engineer, as soon as we’re underway.”
“I’ll make arrangements,” he assured Sheppard. The S.C.E. team comprised of five members, including their commander, two female full lieutenants, a blonde Arbazan and brunette Trill, a yellow feathered Skorr junior lieutenant, and a human Ensign. Sheppard made no attempt to introduce the rest of them to him. They all looked around as he led them deeper into the ship, the Trill and young human spoke excitedly between themselves, the Skorr watching out for anything hanging down from the ceiling and dodging them as they walked, whilst the Arbazan’s nose seemed permanently upturned as she took in their surroundings. Sheppard was more difficult to get a reading on.
As they silently stepped into a turbolift, he ordered it to deck four. It chirped and whined as it started moving.
“Is the whole ship like this?” the Arbazan asked.
“Like what?”
“Barely functional.”
Jachim looked at her levelly. “We get by,” he replied evenly. Not long after he’d come aboard, he would’ve shared her assessment of the ship, but after getting to know the Orion better he’d come to appreciate just how rugged and durable she was—even with all her creaks, groans and whines. She had proven herself to be a workhorse, which would’ve been in far worse shape had it not been for Enan Lanali.
Before she could make another snide comment, which was clearly on the tip of her tongue, the Trill stepped in. “I think she’s got character. Remember, once upon a time she was considered state of the art. I wonder if Galaxy’s will be in such good nick next century.”
The doors swished open and he led them out, glad to be on the move again. They reached the guest quarters, five of which had already been prepared for their arrival, three on his right side and two on his left. He highlighted where the mess hall, rec rooms and gym were located, pointing out that they had no replicators (to which the Arbazan scoffed), the let them get settled in as he headed for the bridge.
* * * * *
Stars stretched out behind them through the transparent aluminium viewports of the conference room, located at the back of deck two. Lanali was the last one to arrive at the meeting that’d been called, she’d been seeing to a diagnostic of the warp coils in the dorsal starboard nacelle, when Jachim had contacted her. Though she was intrigued to meet the team from the S.C.E. she did have a never-shortening list of jobs that needed to be seen too.
Stepping into the meeting she found the guests sitting along one side of the table (organised by rank, with the team leader closest to the head), their backs to the windows, whilst the Captain was in his customary place at the end of the table and Jachim sat on his left. She noted the looks she got from all but the team leader, all various degrees of surprise.
“Lieutenant,” said Reihyn as she stepped in and approached the table, “thank you for joining us at such short notice.”
“Sorry for the wait, sir,” she replied, taking the seat next to Jachim, who gave her a small half-smile which made her pointed ears tingle.
“A quick round of introductions; this is Lieutenant Enan Lanali, my Chief Engineer. Enan, this is Commander Sheppard, Lieutenants Dalzou, Rell and Krenn, and Ensign Watanabe.”
“Hello,” she said to the group, smiling politely.
Sheppard sat forward, set a small device on the tabletop and activated it. It hummed softly and she felt a prickle on the back of her neck, something she always experienced when in dense EM fields. The device must’ve been some sort of dampener, blocking out all signals in and out of the meeting room.
“Now that we’re underway, I’ve been given permission by Starfleet Intelligence to inform you of the nature of our assignment. This is need-to-know information that must be shared by no one else onboard, not even your First Officer. Understood?”
They all nodded their consent so he continued. “As you all know, eight days ago Earth was attacked by the Breen, signalling their alliance with the Dominion and full participation in this war. This came out of the blue because we don’t have sufficient coverage of the Breen border, every time we send out a surveillance satellite it disappears. Though we suspect the Breen are behind it, we can’t say with any certainty.
“Almost five years ago, the U.S.S. Equinox disappeared near the Delavi System, which Intel believes the Breen are responsible for. As it highlighted how little we know about Breen deployment, a covert recon team managed to set up a small monitoring facility on an asteroid in a field within the Rolor Nebula. It was operational for just over a year before all contact with it was lost as well. Several weeks ago a very faint transponder signal was detected, so it is still there though most likely damaged.”
“That’s where you come in,” stated Reihyn.
“Yes sir. My team and I have ninety-six hours to get the outpost operational again and begin relaying all data it collects back to Starfleet Command.”
Lanali’s eyebrows shot up. She’d had two friends at Starfleet Command at the time of the attack, one was an instructor at the Academy and had been out on a field training exercise with a group of cadets whilst the other, her former roommate Lindsay Rhodes, has been critically injured and was still in a coma. The mission was definitely a crucial one and she could understand the need to send in a small team instead of a full S.C.E. ship, but giving five specialists just four days to get the outpost working was madness. They had no way of knowing just what had happened to it, how badly damaged it was, or just what it might need to get it up and running.
“Sir,” Jachim began, leaning forward in his seat, “whilst I appreciate this is an important assignment, I’m a little confused as to why Lieutenant Lanali and I have been called into this meeting.”
She’d been wondering the same thing.
Sheppard looked at the two of them, then turned his attention to Reihyn. “Captain, I’m afraid for this mission both Lieutenants Jachim and Lanali have been seconded to my team.” He slid a PADD over to the Captain. “Authorisation from Captain Scott.”
Lanali sat up, not quite believing what she’d heard. As Reihyn frowned and picked up the tablet, she and Jachim exchanged a look then focused on the only person in the room wearing a red shirt. It took him a few minutes to read over the information, before setting it down.
“It looks like he’s right, effective immediately the two of you are on Commander Sheppard’s team and will head out with them on the Thames when we arrive at the drop-off point. You’d best get your gear ready.”
* * * * *
“I never thought I’d miss my pokey quarters on the Orion,” Jachim stated as he sat down at the table in the runabouts aft compartment.
Lanali, seated opposite him, paused mid-chew her bright blue eyes wide, startled. “This is a day for the history books.”
He chuckled softly as he set into his breakfast of bacon, tomato and scrambled eggs—once they arrived then they would be working pretty much flat out, so he needed something hearty in him. Though he’d long since come to terms with his assignment to the old Constellation-Class ship, even embracing the considerable responsibility placed upon her and using it as an opportunity to truly test himself, it was still rare he gave actual voice to his fondness for the ship—or those onboard her.
The runabout Thames was essentially three parts, the cockpit at the front, the midsection payload (containing a long cargo hold on one side packed to the gunnels with supplies, with two separate workshop and diagnostics lab modules on the other), and the aft section, which had two sets of bunkbeds, a table and chairs, and a replicator. It was a basic as basic got, so his cramped quarters back on the Orion were almost opulent by comparison.
They were alone in the rear section, the S.C.E. team were all seeing to their last minute prep before reaching the asteroid base. Since leaving the ship, they had been running radio silent, sensors in passive mode and their engine output tweaked to make the Starfleet ship look like a Kybeerian freighter. As soon as they reached the outpost they would run a full array of scans, looking to see just what the situation was like, only after which could they make concrete plans as to what needed to be done. He had never been a fan of jumping into something without knowing just what was waiting for him, but with the support of the Breen Confederacy then the Dominion were even stronger. Without better understanding of the enigmatic species then the Allied Forces stood little chance of countering effectively.
As unknown and potentially dangerous as their mission was, he had managed to find one highlight, spending more time with Enan. He smiled to himself, wondering if the young woman knew just what a reassuring and reaffirming presence she was. As they ate they chatted about all their usual topics, what work needed to be carried out on the Orion, the latest Federation News Service reports, what word they’d had from family and friends—even discussing his old friends Vincent Okonedo, who Lanali was still in contact with (fortunately no further embarrassing stories about their time as cadets had been shared with her). Everything about being in her presence was just easy and made even the bleakest situation feel like it would come out alright at the end.
Their plates clear, he was just finishing off his coffee when the intercom chirped. “Stations. We’re approaching the outpost.”
They shared a confused look as they stood. “I thought we still had an hour until we reached the asteroid field.”
“Either they increased speed or our co-ordinates were out,” she suggested as they headed through the midsection, towards the cockpit.
It didn’t take them long to reach it, finding Sheppard at the helm, Rell at ops, and Watanabe at the portside station. They moved to the freestanding console in the middle of the deck, quickly ascertaining that the co-ordinates they’d been given hadn’t been 100% accurate—not surprising in such a dense nebula like Rolor.
Dalzou and Krenn stepped in and immediately the Arbazan quickly took the vacant post, whilst the Skorr, who needed to stoop so he didn’t hit his head, moved to stand behind Watanabe. Though not unpleasant (except for Dalzou) the team were far from friendly, it had only been the Trill computer systems specialist who had made any effort to welcome them—but they weren’t there to make friends.
He quickly ran a cursory scan and noted that no ships were in the immediate area, which wasn’t surprising as most avoided the nebula. All of the team were busy with the sensors, most of them focused on the monitoring station. It didn’t take them long to determine that the base was structurally sound, not that there was really much to it—perhaps twice the size of the runabout, and four levels high, though it would be tight as most of the base was dedicated to communications, computer and sensor equipment, with little in the way of habitable space. The asteroid, one of the largest in the field, had pockmarks from numerous impacts of smaller objects, one of which had damaged the main connectors between the arrays and power core.
From the outside the work would be fairly straight forward, though would require a team in EVA to conduct the repairs, so long as all the systems remained operational inside the base then they would be finished with time to spare.
Sheppard turned from his console. “We’ll connect to the docking port, once there we will proceed with plan alpha.”
They all confirmed the instruction. Though they didn’t know exactly what they would face, they had laid out plans for any foreseeable possibility. With the base in better shape than they’d assumed, once they connected with it, they would split into three two-man teams, with Krenn remaining behind to monitor things. He would be working with Lanali, given their familiarity with one another, and would check the second and third levels, making sure there was no damage and checking support systems. Sheppard and Watanabe would head down to the lowest level and get to work on the power generator, leaving Dalzou and Rell to work from the control room and get full diagnostics underway.
Though they would all be going in armed, there was a part of Jachim that wished they’d taken a security detachment with them. Something about the reconnaissance outpost was unsettling, or perhaps it was the fact that is they ran into trouble there would be no one coming to help—if the Breen weren’t responsible for damaging the facility then Starfleet couldn’t risk alerting them to it by sending in a starship.
It took only a few minutes for the runabout to dock with the base, then the cramped ship was a flurry of activity as the three teams got into EVA suits. Though the base was intact and was capable of holding a small crew, it was designed to be unmanned so the life-support systems would be off-line, the suits would be needed until they got the environmental systems booted up—which would be one of the jobs he and Lanali would need to see too.
As they headed through the airlock, Jachim kept his hand on the grip of his phaser, just in case, whilst Lanali already had her tricorder open and started scanning. Sheppard and Watanabe were ahead of them whilst the two other lieutenants were taking up the rear, though they were going over some last-minute details with Krenn.
Stepping onto the outpost he began to feel a sense of claustrophobia, the passages were barely wide enough for a single person, the ceilings were lower than the runabout, and the bulkheads had an unfinished look to them with conduits, junction boxes and all manner of equipment jutting out. He was about to head down the passage that would take them to a ladder, when he realised that Lanali had paused at the airlock. He turned and looked at her. She stood by the entrance, scanning the bulkhead.
“Everything alright?”
“I picked up micro fractures in the airlock as we were coming through, they won’t harm the integrity whilst we’re here though. I’m also picking up a blow seal servo. It looks like this airlock has been forced open at some point,” she told him.
Immediately he drew his sidearm. “Jachim to Sheppard.”
“Go ahead.”
“Sir, it looks like we’re not the first ones here. There’s evidence the docking port may have been tampered with.”
There was a pause. “Are you sure?”
Jachim locked eyes with Lanali. He knew that she wouldn’t have brought up her findings unless she was sure about what she’d found and what it meant. “Yes sir, I am.”
“All teams proceed with extreme caution. Krenn, start scanning for life-forms other than our own, and keep a closer eye on external sensors. Whoever was here before may decide to come back. But remember we only have four days here to get this facility operational, and it may very well give us the edge we need to win the war.”
Lanali followed his lead and armed herself as they headed deeper into the covert recon outpost.
* * * * *
As he rounded the corner that took him directly towards the airlock, he wondered if his new CMO would share that trait. He would find out once he met them, as he knew nothing about who would be coming onboard—the sector office for Starfleet Medical had only told him an hour before they arrived at Starbase 360 that a new doctor had been appointed. The station’s personnel department were better organised, letting him know that a new security guard, Crewman Barda R’K’K, would be coming aboard as well. This would be the first time he would ever worked with an Antican, which would be interesting to say the least. He only hoped his new physician wasn’t a Selayan, or there could well be carnage waiting for him in the docking bay.
Crewman Matapang stood at the control panel and nodded as he approached. “Morning sir.”
“Morning. Have we got a seal?”
“Just secured as you came around the corner, sir.”
“Open it up.”
She tapped the control and the heavy airlock doors slid open, followed a few seconds later by those on the station. Two sets of footsteps echoed through the umbilical and Reihyn stood a little stiffer, wanting to give a proper introduction.
The two new arrivals stepped through together but couldn’t be more different. Barda had an elongated head, short muzzle baring pointed canines, with scruffy grey fur on the sides of his head and sticking out from his collar and cuffs, as beady, near-feral eyes, quickly darted around. The new Doctor however was an Arcadian, demure and serene, with porcelain white skin, her large doll-like head looking out of proportion for her slim body, her features were delicate, with a miniscule nose and small mouth, her large unblinking eyes taking in her surroundings as her long, tapered ears twitched at sounds he couldn’t hear.
He took a step closer and they both stood at attention. “At ease,” he began, never one to be overly-formal. “Welcome to the U.S.S. Orion, I am Captain Reihyn.”
“Lieutenant Yeema Ad’u,” the ship’s new physician said, her accented husky voice contrasting with her fragile appearance—a human classmate from the Academy had referred to Arcadians as ‘China Dolls’.
“Crewman Barda R’K’K, security,” he growled.
“It’s nice to meet both of you.”
Ad’u bowed her oversized head. “Thank you, Captain. I wish it was under better circumstances.”
“As do I,” he replied, trying to keep his tone level. Not wanting to dwell any longer he gestured to the on-duty guard. “Once we get you logged into the system, then Matapang will show you to your quarters, Mr Barda. Doctor, I’ll give you the tour.”
It didn’t take long to get them both registered into the ships system, which would then connect with the station computer and download all the necessary files and records for both of them. Once it was seen to they parted company, heading for either the enlisted or officer quarters.
“Captain, this really isn’t necessary, I’ll be able find my way around.”
“I’m sure you could, Doctor, however I wouldn’t feel right leaving my new CMO to stumble around lost.”
She gave him a throaty laugh, the sound so unlike anything he expected from her it was a little weird. Ad’u cast him a glance. “I see Sioll wasn’t lying about you.”
He paused and looked at her, causing her to stop and look around. “You knew Doctor Baxx?”
“I interned under him onboard the Columbia, just before he retired. We remained in contact ever since, though the war hampered the frequency, we spoke many times since his commission was reactivated. I doubt he would ever have said, but he was quite fond of you, Captain.”
A weak smile, his first in two weeks, tugged at his lips. “You’re right, he never did mention that.”
“Well, he was never one for giving out complements—especially not to those who they were about. When I learned of his passing, I submitted my request to assume his duties onboard, I felt it was a way to honour him.”
“It’s a touching sentiment, Doctor, though I can just imagine what he’d have to say about it.”
She laughed again. “All things that shouldn’t be repeated in polite company.”
“Precisely.”
They carried on, heading first to her small cabin, where she stowed her luggage, before she asked to see sickbay. As they travelled through the ship, he filled her in on the crew, her new staff, their remit and some of the previous assignments they’d been given, just to let her know what she could face. She listened intently, though some of what he told her she’d most likely heard from Baxx, asking a few questions for greater clarity.
When they arrived at the main ward, he let her enter first. Inside all was quiet. No patients, no medical checkups, no work accidents. Medtech Vaand was running routine checks on the biobeds as they entered whilst the two corpsmen on shift were nowhere in sight.
The Rhaandarite looked up. “Captain.”
“Crewman, I’d like to introduce our new CMO, Lieutenant Yeema Ad’u. Doctor, Medical Technician Second Class Vaand.”
“It is nice to meet you, Doctor,” Vaand said politely. “K3 Brown is in the medlab and Gregson is inventorying our supplies.”
Before he could show her through the intercom whistled. “Bridge to Reihyn,” announced D’Kehra.
“Go ahead, Lieutenant.”
“You’re receiving a secure communiqué from Vice Admiral P’Rau.”
He frowned. Their orders typically came through from the station's Logistics Officer, not the Admiral’s office—being just a support ship they typically didn’t warrant direct communication with the Sector Commander.
“Understood. Route it to my office, I’ll be up in a moment. Reihyn out.” He looked at Ad’u. “You’ll have to excuse me.”
“Of course, Captain. You got me safely to sickbay, I think I can manage from here,” she told him, a small smile tugging her pert lips.
* * * * *
Captain’s log, stardate: 52524.5.
Our downtime at Starbase 360 has been cut short as we’ve been given a new run. Though this one will be a little different; we are to transport a team from the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, in a runabout, to a point in the Lamemda Sector then carry on to field hospital on Dreon VII. On our return we are to retrieve the runabout at the same location and continue back to three-sixty.
No one onboard is privy to the orders of the S.C.E. team, myself included, we’re just being used as a taxi service.
End Log.
* * * * *
As the Orion was loaded up with supplies for their unscheduled cargo run, Aleksander Jachim was overseeing the arrival of the S.C.E. team onboard the U.S.S. Thames. He had watched as the Danube-Class runabout had touched down in the main hangar, which dominated the front of the saucer and could easily hold three such craft but was always left empty (used for recovering salvage or escape pods), before heading down to meet the specialists they would be carrying.
As he neared the mini-starship, the portside hatch opened and a tall human with jet-black hair stepped out. Jachim immediately took note of the lieutenant commander pips on his collar and stood at attention on the deck before him.
“Welcome to the Orion. I’m Lieutenant Aleksander Jachim, Operations Manager.”
The man stepped forward and extended his hand as the rest of his team disembarked. His grip was firm. “Lieutenant Commander James Sheppard, we appreciate the lift.”
“Happy to be of help, sir. Captain Reihyn has asked that I make sure you’re seen to quarters and provide any assistance you may need with regards to your equipment.”
“Everything we need is on the runabout and will remain there until we reach our destination. I trust you all know the plan.”
“We have the timetable and co-ordinates for the drop-off/rendezvous point, sir.”
“Excellent. How about you show us our quarters, I’ll also need to speak with yourself, the captain and your chief engineer, as soon as we’re underway.”
“I’ll make arrangements,” he assured Sheppard. The S.C.E. team comprised of five members, including their commander, two female full lieutenants, a blonde Arbazan and brunette Trill, a yellow feathered Skorr junior lieutenant, and a human Ensign. Sheppard made no attempt to introduce the rest of them to him. They all looked around as he led them deeper into the ship, the Trill and young human spoke excitedly between themselves, the Skorr watching out for anything hanging down from the ceiling and dodging them as they walked, whilst the Arbazan’s nose seemed permanently upturned as she took in their surroundings. Sheppard was more difficult to get a reading on.
As they silently stepped into a turbolift, he ordered it to deck four. It chirped and whined as it started moving.
“Is the whole ship like this?” the Arbazan asked.
“Like what?”
“Barely functional.”
Jachim looked at her levelly. “We get by,” he replied evenly. Not long after he’d come aboard, he would’ve shared her assessment of the ship, but after getting to know the Orion better he’d come to appreciate just how rugged and durable she was—even with all her creaks, groans and whines. She had proven herself to be a workhorse, which would’ve been in far worse shape had it not been for Enan Lanali.
Before she could make another snide comment, which was clearly on the tip of her tongue, the Trill stepped in. “I think she’s got character. Remember, once upon a time she was considered state of the art. I wonder if Galaxy’s will be in such good nick next century.”
The doors swished open and he led them out, glad to be on the move again. They reached the guest quarters, five of which had already been prepared for their arrival, three on his right side and two on his left. He highlighted where the mess hall, rec rooms and gym were located, pointing out that they had no replicators (to which the Arbazan scoffed), the let them get settled in as he headed for the bridge.
* * * * *
Stars stretched out behind them through the transparent aluminium viewports of the conference room, located at the back of deck two. Lanali was the last one to arrive at the meeting that’d been called, she’d been seeing to a diagnostic of the warp coils in the dorsal starboard nacelle, when Jachim had contacted her. Though she was intrigued to meet the team from the S.C.E. she did have a never-shortening list of jobs that needed to be seen too.
Stepping into the meeting she found the guests sitting along one side of the table (organised by rank, with the team leader closest to the head), their backs to the windows, whilst the Captain was in his customary place at the end of the table and Jachim sat on his left. She noted the looks she got from all but the team leader, all various degrees of surprise.
“Lieutenant,” said Reihyn as she stepped in and approached the table, “thank you for joining us at such short notice.”
“Sorry for the wait, sir,” she replied, taking the seat next to Jachim, who gave her a small half-smile which made her pointed ears tingle.
“A quick round of introductions; this is Lieutenant Enan Lanali, my Chief Engineer. Enan, this is Commander Sheppard, Lieutenants Dalzou, Rell and Krenn, and Ensign Watanabe.”
“Hello,” she said to the group, smiling politely.
Sheppard sat forward, set a small device on the tabletop and activated it. It hummed softly and she felt a prickle on the back of her neck, something she always experienced when in dense EM fields. The device must’ve been some sort of dampener, blocking out all signals in and out of the meeting room.
“Now that we’re underway, I’ve been given permission by Starfleet Intelligence to inform you of the nature of our assignment. This is need-to-know information that must be shared by no one else onboard, not even your First Officer. Understood?”
They all nodded their consent so he continued. “As you all know, eight days ago Earth was attacked by the Breen, signalling their alliance with the Dominion and full participation in this war. This came out of the blue because we don’t have sufficient coverage of the Breen border, every time we send out a surveillance satellite it disappears. Though we suspect the Breen are behind it, we can’t say with any certainty.
“Almost five years ago, the U.S.S. Equinox disappeared near the Delavi System, which Intel believes the Breen are responsible for. As it highlighted how little we know about Breen deployment, a covert recon team managed to set up a small monitoring facility on an asteroid in a field within the Rolor Nebula. It was operational for just over a year before all contact with it was lost as well. Several weeks ago a very faint transponder signal was detected, so it is still there though most likely damaged.”
“That’s where you come in,” stated Reihyn.
“Yes sir. My team and I have ninety-six hours to get the outpost operational again and begin relaying all data it collects back to Starfleet Command.”
Lanali’s eyebrows shot up. She’d had two friends at Starfleet Command at the time of the attack, one was an instructor at the Academy and had been out on a field training exercise with a group of cadets whilst the other, her former roommate Lindsay Rhodes, has been critically injured and was still in a coma. The mission was definitely a crucial one and she could understand the need to send in a small team instead of a full S.C.E. ship, but giving five specialists just four days to get the outpost working was madness. They had no way of knowing just what had happened to it, how badly damaged it was, or just what it might need to get it up and running.
“Sir,” Jachim began, leaning forward in his seat, “whilst I appreciate this is an important assignment, I’m a little confused as to why Lieutenant Lanali and I have been called into this meeting.”
She’d been wondering the same thing.
Sheppard looked at the two of them, then turned his attention to Reihyn. “Captain, I’m afraid for this mission both Lieutenants Jachim and Lanali have been seconded to my team.” He slid a PADD over to the Captain. “Authorisation from Captain Scott.”
Lanali sat up, not quite believing what she’d heard. As Reihyn frowned and picked up the tablet, she and Jachim exchanged a look then focused on the only person in the room wearing a red shirt. It took him a few minutes to read over the information, before setting it down.
“It looks like he’s right, effective immediately the two of you are on Commander Sheppard’s team and will head out with them on the Thames when we arrive at the drop-off point. You’d best get your gear ready.”
* * * * *
“I never thought I’d miss my pokey quarters on the Orion,” Jachim stated as he sat down at the table in the runabouts aft compartment.
Lanali, seated opposite him, paused mid-chew her bright blue eyes wide, startled. “This is a day for the history books.”
He chuckled softly as he set into his breakfast of bacon, tomato and scrambled eggs—once they arrived then they would be working pretty much flat out, so he needed something hearty in him. Though he’d long since come to terms with his assignment to the old Constellation-Class ship, even embracing the considerable responsibility placed upon her and using it as an opportunity to truly test himself, it was still rare he gave actual voice to his fondness for the ship—or those onboard her.
The runabout Thames was essentially three parts, the cockpit at the front, the midsection payload (containing a long cargo hold on one side packed to the gunnels with supplies, with two separate workshop and diagnostics lab modules on the other), and the aft section, which had two sets of bunkbeds, a table and chairs, and a replicator. It was a basic as basic got, so his cramped quarters back on the Orion were almost opulent by comparison.
They were alone in the rear section, the S.C.E. team were all seeing to their last minute prep before reaching the asteroid base. Since leaving the ship, they had been running radio silent, sensors in passive mode and their engine output tweaked to make the Starfleet ship look like a Kybeerian freighter. As soon as they reached the outpost they would run a full array of scans, looking to see just what the situation was like, only after which could they make concrete plans as to what needed to be done. He had never been a fan of jumping into something without knowing just what was waiting for him, but with the support of the Breen Confederacy then the Dominion were even stronger. Without better understanding of the enigmatic species then the Allied Forces stood little chance of countering effectively.
As unknown and potentially dangerous as their mission was, he had managed to find one highlight, spending more time with Enan. He smiled to himself, wondering if the young woman knew just what a reassuring and reaffirming presence she was. As they ate they chatted about all their usual topics, what work needed to be carried out on the Orion, the latest Federation News Service reports, what word they’d had from family and friends—even discussing his old friends Vincent Okonedo, who Lanali was still in contact with (fortunately no further embarrassing stories about their time as cadets had been shared with her). Everything about being in her presence was just easy and made even the bleakest situation feel like it would come out alright at the end.
Their plates clear, he was just finishing off his coffee when the intercom chirped. “Stations. We’re approaching the outpost.”
They shared a confused look as they stood. “I thought we still had an hour until we reached the asteroid field.”
“Either they increased speed or our co-ordinates were out,” she suggested as they headed through the midsection, towards the cockpit.
It didn’t take them long to reach it, finding Sheppard at the helm, Rell at ops, and Watanabe at the portside station. They moved to the freestanding console in the middle of the deck, quickly ascertaining that the co-ordinates they’d been given hadn’t been 100% accurate—not surprising in such a dense nebula like Rolor.
Dalzou and Krenn stepped in and immediately the Arbazan quickly took the vacant post, whilst the Skorr, who needed to stoop so he didn’t hit his head, moved to stand behind Watanabe. Though not unpleasant (except for Dalzou) the team were far from friendly, it had only been the Trill computer systems specialist who had made any effort to welcome them—but they weren’t there to make friends.
He quickly ran a cursory scan and noted that no ships were in the immediate area, which wasn’t surprising as most avoided the nebula. All of the team were busy with the sensors, most of them focused on the monitoring station. It didn’t take them long to determine that the base was structurally sound, not that there was really much to it—perhaps twice the size of the runabout, and four levels high, though it would be tight as most of the base was dedicated to communications, computer and sensor equipment, with little in the way of habitable space. The asteroid, one of the largest in the field, had pockmarks from numerous impacts of smaller objects, one of which had damaged the main connectors between the arrays and power core.
From the outside the work would be fairly straight forward, though would require a team in EVA to conduct the repairs, so long as all the systems remained operational inside the base then they would be finished with time to spare.
Sheppard turned from his console. “We’ll connect to the docking port, once there we will proceed with plan alpha.”
They all confirmed the instruction. Though they didn’t know exactly what they would face, they had laid out plans for any foreseeable possibility. With the base in better shape than they’d assumed, once they connected with it, they would split into three two-man teams, with Krenn remaining behind to monitor things. He would be working with Lanali, given their familiarity with one another, and would check the second and third levels, making sure there was no damage and checking support systems. Sheppard and Watanabe would head down to the lowest level and get to work on the power generator, leaving Dalzou and Rell to work from the control room and get full diagnostics underway.
Though they would all be going in armed, there was a part of Jachim that wished they’d taken a security detachment with them. Something about the reconnaissance outpost was unsettling, or perhaps it was the fact that is they ran into trouble there would be no one coming to help—if the Breen weren’t responsible for damaging the facility then Starfleet couldn’t risk alerting them to it by sending in a starship.
It took only a few minutes for the runabout to dock with the base, then the cramped ship was a flurry of activity as the three teams got into EVA suits. Though the base was intact and was capable of holding a small crew, it was designed to be unmanned so the life-support systems would be off-line, the suits would be needed until they got the environmental systems booted up—which would be one of the jobs he and Lanali would need to see too.
As they headed through the airlock, Jachim kept his hand on the grip of his phaser, just in case, whilst Lanali already had her tricorder open and started scanning. Sheppard and Watanabe were ahead of them whilst the two other lieutenants were taking up the rear, though they were going over some last-minute details with Krenn.
Stepping onto the outpost he began to feel a sense of claustrophobia, the passages were barely wide enough for a single person, the ceilings were lower than the runabout, and the bulkheads had an unfinished look to them with conduits, junction boxes and all manner of equipment jutting out. He was about to head down the passage that would take them to a ladder, when he realised that Lanali had paused at the airlock. He turned and looked at her. She stood by the entrance, scanning the bulkhead.
“Everything alright?”
“I picked up micro fractures in the airlock as we were coming through, they won’t harm the integrity whilst we’re here though. I’m also picking up a blow seal servo. It looks like this airlock has been forced open at some point,” she told him.
Immediately he drew his sidearm. “Jachim to Sheppard.”
“Go ahead.”
“Sir, it looks like we’re not the first ones here. There’s evidence the docking port may have been tampered with.”
There was a pause. “Are you sure?”
Jachim locked eyes with Lanali. He knew that she wouldn’t have brought up her findings unless she was sure about what she’d found and what it meant. “Yes sir, I am.”
“All teams proceed with extreme caution. Krenn, start scanning for life-forms other than our own, and keep a closer eye on external sensors. Whoever was here before may decide to come back. But remember we only have four days here to get this facility operational, and it may very well give us the edge we need to win the war.”
Lanali followed his lead and armed herself as they headed deeper into the covert recon outpost.
* * * * *
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