—- USS Luna, Captain’s Ready Room —-

Captain Adriana Cruz groaned as the doctor scanned her. Being seated hurt, standing hurt. Even laying down came with a certain amount of pain. Doctor Thomas Elordi nodded, “You’re healing nicely, a month and you’ll be as good as new.”

”Thank you Doctor,” Cruz said then held up a hand, “Before you go, given the death of Doctor Va’Tok and our Assistant Chief Medical Officer being away, I’m promoting you to Acting-Chief Medical Officer. When T’Rala returns you’ll be Assistant Chief.”

The young doctor nodded, “Thank you ma’am, it’s not the way I was hoping to move up.”

”No Va’Tok was a friend of mine, and I miss him,” Cruz said, “We will do services for the slain crew members once I’m healed more and some of the victims of attacks are out of the woods. How is Klar?”

”Klar is stable, but not awoken yet,” Elordi said, “He’s the last crew member on the cusp, the rest I’d say have pulled through, or…“

”Not,” Cruz finished for him, “Thank you again doctor. Please send in the Yeoman, I’m sure he’s anxious to give me reports to read.”

The doctor nodded, “You can be reading but I wouldn’t advise much else. You need to take it easy, you’ve suffered serious injury. Take some time off.”

”I’ll try,” Cruz promised, then waved him away.

A young male Bolian entered and set a PADD down on the Captain’s desk, “Reports and also messages from Starfleet for you ma’am. Also Sub-Lieutenant Navan wants to see you.”

”Send her in, and thank you,” Cruz said as he scuttled away. On the USS Seattle she had not had a Yeoman, and was finding it hard to adapt to having someone doing some of the basic things she felt that were part of her job now on the USS Luna. Still he was keen and she did not like sending him away.

As he departed Sub-Lieutenant Navan of the Romulan government entered. She looked more concerned than usual, and she always looked a little concerned.

”Have you read your briefings?” Navan asked.

”No what’s up,” Cruz said gesturing to the PADD on her desk.

”The Klingons are being… frisky. Martok has vanished and they have a new Chancellor, one who promises the grow the empire at the expense of my people,” Navan said.

Cruz nodded, that was an issue, and one that she needed to read up on. If the Klingons were at war with the Romulans, or soon to be, the Federation was going to be pulled in on one side or another. The question was which side, and what role was Starfleet going to play in that?

”For now our mission is the same, we’re meeting up with a science ship from your navy and studying gaseous anomalies,” Cruz said, “But this could change things, particularly with my First Officer.”

Navan nodded, “I suspected as much.”

”I trust Klar, but given this we may need to pivot,” Cruz said, “He’s still in the coma following having his throat slashed, so it’s not an immediate issue, but one we’ll have to address. For now on doctor’s orders most of the science fun will be conducted by Lieutenant Commander Gabriella Miller who I’m making temporary Captain after the welcoming party.”

”You are going to Hallavat?” Navan asked, almost smiling.

”Romulan Risa, how can I not,“ Cruz laughed, “A week of sun, and fun is exactly what the doctor ordered.”

”I will take your word about Risa, but yes it is where Romulans go often to be promiscuous,” Navan said.

Cruz nodded, “Much more fun than gaseous anomalies. Do you want to come? I’m taking the Captain’s Skiff, I have room.”

Sub-Lieutenant Navan considered the offer, “I think you think I am a Vulcan and would turn it down. It does sound better than gaseous anomalies. I accept the invitation.”

“Lieutenant Rebecca Avila is also coming, as a body guard,” Cruz said, “You know, just in case I end up getting stabbed again.”

—- USS Luna, VIP Banquet Room —-

The Romulans were apologetic. Most of them were scientists and they understood, at least on the surface, that one of their experiments had gotten loose and hurt the crew of the USS Luna. While Captain Cruz was not sworn to secrecy she did not expand on that during dinner, or the gathering afterwards. 

She shook the commanding officer of the Romulan scout’s hand, and gestured to Lieutenant Commander Miller on her left, “This is Acting-Captain Miller, I’ll be taking a break on Hallavat starting tomorrow, she’ll run everything in my absence.”

The Romulan nodded, “Ah you were saying she works on the arboretum we toured. Yes that is fine work, particularly the selection of Romulan plants you have.”

Gabriella Miller smiled, “Thank you, I tended to work with them much like I have Vulcan plants.“

”Yes I suspect there are similarities,” the man offered, “I look forward to a scientific partnership.”

Cruz pulled at her dress uniform and found Sub-Lieutenant Navan, “They all seem nice than I’m used to.”

”They are scientists, they are excited to be working with your advanced sensors and capabilities,” Navan said, “They are naive, and guileless, likely they do not even know of the instability in the Klingon Empire.”

”We’re far away from the border, they can remain innocent awhile longer,” Cruz said.

”You look uncomfortable Captain,” Navan observed.

”My injury is hurting and this uniform is too constrictive,” Cruz said, “C’est la vie.”

”I do not know that expression,” Navan said.

”It’s French for ‘that is life’,” Cruz explained, “I can’t really do anything about it.”

“I could take it off you,” Navan said.

”I don’t know if you’re flirting of threatening me,” Cruz said sipping her Champaign.

The Romulan studied her, “Can it not be both?”

Cruz laughed, and then winced, “Well now Havallavat is going to be interesting.”

S’anra Navan nodded, the Romulan eyeing the human, “That much is certain.”

—- USS Luna, Observation Lounge —-

Lieutenant Commander Gabriella Miller was a botanist by trade and profession. Being in Starfleet had offered her the greatest chance to see the widest possible array of plants from various worlds that she could imagine and so she had joined up. Now through no fault of her own she was the acting captain of the USS Luna, while Captain Cruz recuperated from their run in with a murderous Changeling and was hosting a Romulan science delegation studying cosmic gaseous bodies. Captain Cruz had already retreated on her Captain’s Skiff, leaving the Chief Scientist to play nice with the Romulans. 

Thankfully it seemed that Romulan scientists were nicer than their military officers, and the intergalactic brotherhood (and sisterhood) of scientists meant that everyone was getting on swimmingly as much as Chief Security Officer Claudia Jara might be assigning her people to lurk around every corner and hunt for spies.

”Are you happy with the readings we’re getting?” she asked the leader of the Romulan delegation a grey haired man who answered with a nod.

”One is not happy or upset by readings, but yes the readings that we are capturing via your ship’s scanners are far more detailed than our own would have been,” he said, “The readings simply reflect reality, so we try not to have strong feelings about them.”

Romulan teams mingled with their Starfleet counter parts looking out the window, the scanners’ readings projected on multiple screens around the room. Most of it was meaningless of Miller, though she understood the basics but they had never seen anything quite like this in Federation space before. The gaseous cloud acted almost like it was in an atmosphere, which was interesting even if she could not say why that was. She was used to studying airflow patterns on planets with plant life, and thus in some ways this came close.

”This is a fine ship,” the Commander said nodding around the room.

”The USS Luna, yes it is,” Miller agreed.

”I was young when the USS Titan came to Romulus to help us after the government collapsed following the Shinzon incident, my father let me use the family telescope to look at it. This has been my favorite class of your ships since then,” he said, “To be on the first is an honor for me.”

“To humans I suppose it’s usually the Galaxy-class or the Constitution-class that we remember most fondly,” Miller said. Adding, “Those were the two most famous Enterprises.”

The Romulan nodded, “Fine ships, but this one. Our people have not always treated the Federation with respect but twice now in my lifetime you’ve come to our aide. This ship, it represents that, a ship of exploration not war.”

Miller nodded. She had heard some of the rumblings about the Klingon government‘s fall into turmoil but was not fully briefed on the situation so she did not want to comment. This mission was to proceed as if nothing had recently changed, and they were far enough inside Romulan space that only a complete break down of the government’s internal security would lead it to becoming an issue. So while the Luna could, and had, punch back if attacked It was prudent to agree that it was a ship of exploration not of warfare.

—- USS Luna, Engineering —-

“Have you fixed all the damage you did to our shuttles and runabouts?” Chief Engineer James Young asked his younger assistant. 

The Assistant Chief Engineer Vanessa Constable objected, “The captain told me to do that. But yes it’s all fixed. Except for the runabout the Romulans destroyed.”

”Put a requisition in for a new one so we get it when we get back to Starbase 86,” Young said, knowing that Constable hated doing that kind of clerical work. Still if she was going to progress in the job she was going to have to get used to filling it out.

Constable nodded and tapped a few things on the screen of her PADD to begin the process. The fact that her actions had helped capture (and kill) a dangerous killer Changeling had been forgotten fairly quickly and now was being treated as if her sabotage had only been to cause the Engineering department more grief.

”This stellar phenomea isn’t affecting anything is it?” Young asked, not for the first time. He’d been running scans every half an hour to confirm that.

“Not that I can see. We’re also not all drunk and having sex with each other,” Constable said, a reference to when they had his their last ship the USS Seattle from the Borg in a gas cloud only to be affected by the twin stars in the region. 

“Don’t remind me,” Young said not wanting to think about that.

Chief Diplomatic Officer Lieutenant Diya Acharya entered Engineering and headed straight for them.

”Hey, aren’t you keeping the Romulans company?” Young asked.

She waved and nodded to Constable, “I’m on a break. I can only listen to so many hilarious stories about finding sub atomic particles for one afternoon.”

”You came to the right place we’re not also colossal nerds here,” Constable said. It never failed to surprise her how much her boss seemed to attract women despite having the personality of the well worn carpet in engineering. Lieutenant Acharya could do a lot better than this, at least in Constable’s mind.

Acharya smiled, “Well being nerdy about your job isn’t bad. I could talk hours about treaties and stuff.”

Constable threw her arms up, “We’ll all dorks. Well then nerd out you two I’m going to get lunch.”

”It’s not lunch yet,” Young said.

”My union says I get lunch now,” Constable said walking towards the door.

”You’re not in a union,” Young said as she exited the Engineering department. She was brilliant, but vexing, and her insistence that this was a kind of old times union shop was just part of what made her absolutely baffling to him.

”Let her be in a union if she wants to be,” Acharya, ever the diplomat said.

“There’s not a union,” Young said.

”Well let her pretend,” the Chief Diplomatic Officer said.

”Romulans being good?” Young asked dropping the subject that he no longer wanted to worry about. 

“Perfect guests. I’m sure there’s some military intelligence members in their numbers but now they’re being good. The Luna isn’t a particularly new ship anymore, so it’s not like they’re getting access to secrets that they wouldn’t have gotten by now,” Acharya said, “We have some fancy new sensors but I believe we gave them the specs on that already.”

The two entered the Chief Engineer’s Office and once the doors slid closed they were able to be a bit more frank. 

“You hear about the Klingon thing?” Young asked.

”A few bits here and there, doesn’t affect us yet,” the Chief Diplomatic Officer said.

”We have a Klingon First Officer, and he’s a member of the KDF,” Young pointed out.

”When he gets better I’m sure Captain Cruz will deal with it. Klar’s been a good XO and I trust him,” Acharya said. Young snorted seemingly less convinced, but he had learned at least to trust in the captain’s judgement, and she would know what to do.

”I liked that nobody was blowing holes in the ship,” Young said with a sigh.

”I’m sure we’ll get back to exploring, it’s not like we’re recalled yet,” Acharya said.

”Only a matter of time before we’re getting shot at by Klingons,” Young said, adding, “Mark my words.”

”Come over tonight, I’m making a curry,” she said changing subjects.

Young nodded, “Will do.”

—- USS Luna, Medical Bay —-

Klar sat up confused, the last thing he’d remembered was being in his quarters and now he was under a sheet on a medical bed, stripped of all clothing with a pain radiating from his neck. He looked around to see Lieutenant Sesi Oari sitting beside him reading from a PADD. Noticing the movement she put it down and signaled the nurse who came over. 

“What happened? Last thing I recall we were in my quarters and…” Klar began to ask, his memory was muddled but he recalled that much.

”Just relax, that wasn’t me it was the Changeling, he… it, whatever slashed your throat and left you for dead,” the Lieutenant said pushing him back down toward the medical bed. Klar resisted and even in his weakened condition was stronger than the security officer and Nurse Rachel Smith who was trying to run scans and keep him from moving.

”Doctor,” she called, “Klar is awake.”

A young dark haired human came over and nodded, “Ah you’re awake, good. Can you just remain laying down, you’re not healed yet.”

”Where is Doctor Ta‘Vok?” Klar demanded the ship’s former Chief Medical Officer.

The man‘s lips went tight and he looked upset, “He, umm, died from an attack like yours. Which is why you should relax. Lay back, let us do our jobs.”

”Where is Captain Cruz,” Klar asked standing, quite naked. Neither medical professional made a big deal of it but Lieutenant Oari blushed.

”I sent her on a recuperative vacation, she was injured in a similar attack. Now sir, please lay back,” Doctor Elordi said firmly.

“Sit back and I’ll tell you about the Klingons and the war with the Romulans,” Oari said.

”The what?” Klar asked.

Oari went white now changing from a deep red, it was explained that telling Klar about the current situation was not a good idea, particularly with the captain off the ship and a hundred Romulan scientists on it studying space phenomena. 

“You should stay here,” Doctor Elordi said shooting Lieutenant Oari a look.

Instead of listening Klar left the medical bay and with the three trying to talk him back. A trio of blue suited scientists and Romulans passed by and the sight of an angry naked Klingon was not what they were expecting. They stared at him and moved out of the way as he stomped towards his quarters with the trio from Medical Bay in tow. 

“We can’t have a naked angry Klingon running through a ship full of Romulans,” Doctor Elordi said, feeling rather helpless, “Nurse get a sedative.”

Klar disappeared into the turbo lift, and the three had to wait for another one. By the time they reached his deck he was in the room that had been assigned to him as the ship’s First Officer. 

“Alert the acting Captain,” Elordi said, as he called the bridge on his comm badge, “Klar’s out of sickbay.”

—- USS Luna, Bridge —-

“It’s been four days, Klar hasn’t left his quarters,” Lieutenant Jara said. The Chief Security officer was in charge of keeping track of the Romulans and had feared that an angry Klar could pose trouble, but if all he was going to do was rest, well then the Captain would handle him when he got back.

“Good,” said Chief Diplomatic Officer Diya Acharya with a sign, “We don’t want to ruin this study with the Romulans. It’s good to build relations and given everything the idea that a Starfleet vessel as a KDF First Officer on it right now would be difficult to explain.”

”Do you think he understands that he’s been demoted and removed as XO,” asked Acting – Captain  Gabriella Miller the Chief Science Officer who was overseeing the study on the Starfleet side of things. 

“We’re getting some strange readings off the port side,” Jara said, glancing down at her tactical station.

”Strange how?” Miller asked, moving to the rear of the bridge where the tactical conn was.

”Strange, flickering not quite,” Jara began and trailed off as three Klingon ships decloaked.

Klar entered the bridge, he glanced at the officers and said, “Hail the Klingon ships.”

”I don’t take orders from you,” Jara said.

”Klar while you were out, Captain Cruz reassigned you to an advisory role I’m currently the Acting Captain, so how did three Klingon ships get this far out into the territory of the Romulan Free State?” Miller asked.

”Captain Cruz did not inform me, and I called them. As the First Officer of this ship I’m taking command as of now hail the ships Lieutenant,” Klar said.

”Klar she couldn’t inform you, you were in a coma,” Miller said.

Klar seemingly anticipating the resistance grabbed Miller by the neck and they her over the tactical conn and onto the floor, “Do you wish a fight to the death blue suit?” 

Seeing Lieutenant Commander Miller thrown like a rag doll enraged Jara who jumped at the Klingon and the former First Officer. He stuck anticipating the attack, doubling her over and then delivering a follow-up blow to render her unconscious. He tapped the console as the rest of the crew remained frozen, unsure of what to do.

”This is Klar to KDF forces, beam me onboard,” he said. To the others on the bridge he said, “Be thankful that we do not go deck by deck exterminating the Romulans.”

Taking over the tactical conn Acharya said, “Klingons are powering up weapons, raising shield.”

Miller staggered to the Captain’s Chair, “Move us between them and the Romulan ship.”

”They’re firing,” Acharya said and the bridge watched as the Romulan scout ship, a scientific vessel was hit by a torpedo from each ship and then exploded. There was quiet on the bridge as the Klingon ships sat there for a moment then vanished, re-engaging their cloaking devices.

”How many Romulans just died?” asked Miller.

Unfamiliar with the tactical conn it took a moment for the Chief Diplomatic Officer to figure that out, “We have on hundred and twenty on the Luna, there were another hundred on the ship.“

”Set a course for the nearest Romulan military outpost. Maximum warp,” Miller told the conn. 

“I trusted Klar, he seemed so…” Acharya began.

”Human?” Miller asked, Klar had been an important part of the crew and had made friends and won the crew over. They had been a ship with a Romulan advisor, a KDF military official, clearly a ship of peace and of the future and now that was lost. They had been betrayed for trusting in that future.

”Even humans can betray you,” Miller said using the controls of the captain’s chair to call for a medical team for Jara, “Shakespeare knew that. I have to inform Captain Cruz, we’ll need to pick her up soon.”

—- USS Luna Captain’s Skiff On The Surface of Hallavat —-

It might have been nice to have gotten a hotel, was a thought that Captain Adriana Cruz had as she entered the Captain’s Skiff which was acting as her home away from home on her recuperative vacation to the Romulan planet of Hallavat which had been described as Romulan Risa. As it was though she had to assume that the Romulans would be listening into her broadcasts back home, and staying at a Romulan operated hotel would have just made that easier. Besides it was nice to keep the skiff a bit cooler than the average temperature that Romulans seemed to prefer, particularly on a warm planet like Hallavat.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Rosa Flores stood as she entered the skiff, half to protect the skiff if anyone unwanted were to enter and half out of respect for the captain. 

“How are you feeling Ma’am,” Flores asked, eyeing the fading scar where Cruz had been stabbed on the senior officer’s abdomen. 

Realizing that a two piece bathing suit was not suitable to contact her ship the USS Luna, Cruz threw on a uniform coat over top of it, covering her wounds. She smiled at Flores, “Sun is helping. Rest is what the doctor literally ordered, and that’s been nice.“

”Priority communication from the Luna,” Flores said, ”they wouldn’t tell me what happened, so it’s for you only.”

Cruz nodded, “I’ll take it in my bedroom.”

In her room on the skiff she settled into her chair in front of her desk and contacted the Luna. Within a moment she was connected with a somber looking Chief Science Officer and Interim Captain Lieutenant Commander Gabriella Miller. The woman gave Cruz a tight smile, but it was clear that she was not happy.

”Miller, what’s up?”

”We’re on our way to Romulan Starbase 354 with the survivors of the attack,” Miller said.

Cruz blinked in surprise, “Whoa start at the beginning, what attack.”

”Klar woke up, and he contacted the Klingons. A three ship envoy arrived to pick him up and on their way back home they attacked and destroyed the Romulan scout that we were studying gaseous anomalies with. We have about a hundred Romulan scientists on board who survived but,” Miller trailed off.

Cruz inhaled and closed her eyes, her wounds throbbing as the rest and relaxation of the trip was rapidly fading, “But Klar, or his Klingon brethren committed murder.”

MIller nodded, “We attempted to position the Luna in the way to protect the vessel but it happened so quickly.”

Cruz nodded, “Don’t blame yourself. It was Starfleet command that gave us Klar, and he was a valuable member of the crew. Nobody knew this situation was going to kick off, and nobody could have anticipated that he’d betray us. Or that three Klingon warships could get so deep in Romulan space.”

Miller seemed unconvinced that it had not been at least partially her own fault but did not press the point. She nodded.

”Come and get us as soon as you’ve handed over the Romulans. We’ll be returning to Federation space immediately. We need to talk to command, need a new first officer and refitting for this new world,” the Captain said. 

On the screen Miller nodded and then was gone. There was a silence and a stillness that hung over the room now, Cruz felt very worried. A first officer was meant to be someone who had your back and whom you trusted and hers had betrayed her. She knew that the changing political landscape would mean that Klar needed to leave the ship, but not that he’d betray them all before he went.

As she exited her quarters she nodded at Flores again, “Keep scanning the skies, I want to know immediately if any Klingon ships arrive.”

Flores seemed surprised, “Do you anticipate any?”

”I don’t know what to anticipate any more,” Cruz said honestly.

—- Hallavat Beach, Hallavat —-

Cruz ran her hand over the sand that was still warm from the day’s sunlight and glanced at Sub-Lieutenant S’anra Navan. The Romulan officer sat on the sand beside the captain and looked out at the ocean of water before them.

”I was briefed on what happened with the Klingons,” Navan said simply. Cruz was not sure if that meant Klar’s role in the attack as well, or that the Romulans were listening in to her communications with the Luna but she nodded and also looked out at the ocean.

The two officers sat for a long while without anything being said. Though Navan was a member of the Romulan Free State Navy she had been supportive of the scientific interests of the Luna and its crew and Captain Cruz had felt that she had offered a lot to a leadership team that had included Klar. After the initial period of settling in both former enemies of the Federation had proven to be valuable officers and Cruz even thought of them as friends.

”When the Luna comes I will retrieve my belongings and depart,” Navan said. 

Cruz shook her head, “No, unless you’re needed now for the defense of the realm. Klar’s choice isn’t yours and doesn’t reflect on you. I still value your input, and unless either of our respective commands say otherwise I’d like you to remain on the Luna.“

”I assumed that you would not want to be… influenced by a Romulan my loyalty is to me people,” Navan said.

”And mine is to the Federation, that doesn’t mean we don’t work well together. If your government agrees I’d like you to stay on in an advisory capacity,“ Cruz said.

Navan nodded, “Very well. Thank you, I do not know Klar’s mind but he believed you had honor.“

”Just like we’re loyal to our governments, he was to his, or is,” Cruz said, “I’m sure he felt bound by that.”

”You would not have fired upon an inferior ship that was not a threat to you,” Navan said. 

There was a long silence again, stretching on as they both were consumed by their own thoughts. Navan shifted closer on the sand to Cruz’s position and the human put her head on the shoulder of the Romulan. The two had been exploring the idea of physical intimacy since their arrival, though they both understood that this was a temporary arrangement and neither woman was throwing her life and career away to join the other. 

“You are changing color,” Navan noted, “You humans call it a suntan.”

”I tan well, come from a hot region of Earth,” Cruz said, “Mexico City. This is temperature wise like that. Though not as populated.”

”Is that near San Francisco?” Navan said, knowing only the city of Starfleet Academy and the city of New York as Earth population centers. 

”Sort of yeah,” Cruz said not knowing the exact distance, “But not really. I went to the Academy, I was a unique entrant. Not a legacy student, and I had no previous plans to explore the universe. I was actually pretty lonely at first.”

”You seem socially well adjusted now,” Navan said.

”I’m a captain, everyone on the crew has to be nice to me. It‘s also a title that hides the street rat in me,” Cruz laughed.

”Street rat?” Navan asked.

”I grew up more hard scramble than most Academy entrants. If it hadn’t been for Starfleet I’d probably be dead by now,” Cruz said, not thinking that this was an exaggeration. She believed that she really did owe her life to the Academy and to Starfleet as a whole.

Navan nodded, “My father was in the navy. Romulans, even today, view service as an important part of holding our society together.”

“With the bit in between their teeth, the Klingons may make it more than just a symbolic sacrifice,” Cruz said. War was coming to the galaxy, and there would not be many more nights like this for Captain Cruz and Sub-Lieutenant Navan in the near future, that much was certain. 

“We’ll then us Romulans will make that sacrifice,“ Navan said, “we always have and we will once more step up.”

”You sound like a recruitment poster now,” Cruz teased, sitting up. She looked at Navan and then kissed her pushing her down onto the sand. War was coming, but it was not quite on Hallavat yet.