USS Edinburgh – Ready Room – 0800

“Commander’s log.  We’re finishing up the work at the Larakas Colony.  It was discovered that the mining equipment was substandard and Chief Katsumi was dead set on getting it all in working order…and Starfleet agreed.  It didn’t take long to discover that Patra hadn’t kept much of anything maintained across the planet, the mines, or even the orbital operations so that took additional time.  Much of our crew has now been cross-trained in engineering so that’s been a benefit.  Our medical teams also found a population with some serious health needs, so they’ve been working on upgrading the clinics with equipment and education – Patra’s manner of rule seemed to be on death and destruction.  It took Doc a few days to get them to trust her and the team…all these folks have been used to was being beaten, experimented on, and whatever passed for a level of care in the eyes of the Commodore.”  

He took a drink of his chilled cider, “Patra has vanished off the grid – between what remains of the fractured Romulan government, the Federation, and anybody else – he’s gone to ground.  We’re keeping our eyes and ears open.  Lieutenant Thasaz doesn’t think he’ll ever return here – she thinks her people have had a taste of freedom and life…they won’t give it up so lightly this time around.”  He finished off the glass, “We’re being ordered to investigate reports of attacks a few sectors over…the consensus is that it’s pirates…but not pirates.  We’re scheduled to leave at 1900 hours.  End log.”  The computer beeped.

“You’re cute when you’re serious.”  Jordan Reid sat on the ready room couch, cuddled up with a blanket and a book she was reading.  Their relationship had grown over the last month to the point where she had spent a few nights in his quarters.  They had found they liked each other a great deal and the conversations outside of daily command life had been filled with laughter, running jokes, and a growing adoration of each other.  Harris was the slower mover of the two and Reid found it oddly encouraging – he wasn’t trying to move the relationship faster than she was ready…and he tended to show more care as they talked and spent time together.  She was sorta kinda sure she might love the guy.

“You said I was cute all the time last week.”  He tapped at his console checking the latest department reports.

She smiled quietly, “It is true.”

=^=Commander Harris to the bridge.=^=

He stood and gave Reid a look, “When you leave, it should look like we were meeting to discuss something.”  He entered the bridge a moment later.

USS Edinburgh – The Castle (bridge) – 0810

“Report?”

Kondo spoke from the center tactical station, “We’re receiving a distress call from deeper in the Velorum sector. It’s the Sharpened Cutlass, sir.  They report they are under attack from…Klingons.”

Harris snapped his head up from where he sat and turned around in the command chair, “You said…Klingons?”  A nod was his answer.  “Mr. Prentice, how far we away?”

“We’re surprisingly close, sir.  We could be there in fifteen minutes.”

The CO glanced at Kondo, “Is this a general distress call…or was this only for us.”

“Directly to us, sir.”

Harris took only a moment to decide, “Inform our teams on the planet we are responding to a distress call…and we will return shortly.  Secure all stations in the meantime.  Mr. Prentice, plot an intercept course at maximum warp.  Red Alert.”  The lights faded and the alarms sounded as officers moved to their alert stations while Harris tapped at the consoles on the arms of his chair.

Prentice turned to face his CO, “Course ready, sir. All stations report secure and ready.”

“Let’s get on our way, Ensign.”  The Edinburgh took off in a flash.

USS Edinburgh – The Castle (bridge) – 0815

“They made it clear they didn’t want to ever see us again, Lieutenant.  What’s changed?”  Harris sat in the center chair as the red lights reminded everyone of their alert status.  He had turned to face Thasaz, his science chief with the question five minutes after they had left the Larakas Colony.

She worked to understand it as well.  “The Klingon element may play a part in this, sir.”  She tapped at her console, “Diplomatic relations between the two have been contentious at the best of times as there is some history of alliances and cooperation…”

He chuckled as he finished her thought, “And even then, it was tricky.  What do the Klingons gain from attacking the Romulans?  There hasn’t been any overt action from Qo’noS or call to action that I’ve seen in the intercepts recently…is this a feint?  Are they saying one thing and doing another?”

She turned back to face the commander, “To understand them you must have an understanding of their ways and means, sir.”  She answered his questioning look with, “Klingon culture…Klingon identity is at times complex and simple. In the days at academy we were required to study these things in order to prepare ourselves should we ever meet them in battle.  There is also history at play – the old guard of Qo’noS who rule and run the Empire – the warriors who built it with their own blood for the glory of their houses and the Klingon Empire.  In contrast to them are their children and the generations coming into their own.”

Ambrose appreciated her wisdom, “I’m impressed – you’ve done your homework.”

She scoffed, “When you live through times where the threat of a Klingon war was still very real…you do all of your homework.  Facing them in space or on land was a nightmare for us – the battle is in their DNA, Commander.  Not bloodthirsty…but a deep and abiding relishing the action of the fight…and the blood spilled on either side.”  She shrugged, “As I said, simple yet complex.”

Prentice announced, “Seven minutes to intercept.  Long-range sensors showing three ships in combat but unable to discern who is who yet.”

Thasaz thought for a moment, “We need to be considering this is not an official act sanctioned by the Klingon Empire.”  Harris raised his eyebrows and she explained, “You are correct – communications intercepts and recent observations don’t seem to suggest that the entirety has declared war on the broken empire next door.  It is easy to forget how big the Klingon Empire is – the Great Houses, the Minor Houses, and everyone else – it is a sprawling enterprise…and within such a large operation…”

The CO whistled in reaction, “You might have a few loose screws rolling around on the floor.”

Kondo spoke up from his tactical station, “We studied Klingon battle operations in the academy – along with everybody else.  The Klingon method is far less process-based as we might be in our tactical planning…they’re free from those constraints in the pursuit of glory for their house and empire.”  He mused, “A break-off faction scenario was far more unsettling than a threat from the entire empire.”

Prentice continued working at his station, “4 minutes.  Sensors are getting a better picture – two Klingon Bird of Preys are giving the Warbird a run for its money.”

Harris turned to his tactical chief, his mind contemplating what Kondo had said, “The faction would have fewer rules and no desire to open their ears to listen to the wise counsel from Qo’noS.”

“The old earth saying, ‘A house divided cannot stand’.  There may be a deeper and longer game being played on the border.”

“Two minutes.  All stations report ready, sir.”  Prentice tapped at his console, “We’ve attempted to hail all three ships – all we’re getting is static.  They may be ignoring us…or jamming any communication in the area.”

Commander Harris sat forward in his chair, “They never make it easy, do they.”  The chrono at the front of the bridge clicked ever onwards as the Edinburgh thundered through space at warp speed.  One minute.  He gripped the arms of his command chair, “Mr. Kondo – do not target anyone when we drop out of warp…but be prepared to snap into place.  Lieutenant Thasaz – try and get in touch with anyone on that Warbird – someone onboard called for help.”

“Thirty seconds.  Sensors report the Warbird is disabled…I had the two Klingon ships locked…and then they jumped to warp.”

Harris questioned, “Warp…not cloak?”  A nod from Prentice as he announced a countdown from 10.

9.

8.

7.

Each officer on the bridge took the remaining seconds to gather their courage and strength.  They had tangled with Romulans…and now Klingons…and all in just months’ time.

4.

3.

2.

Harris muttered quietly, “The fool rushes where angels fear to tread.”  The stars on the screen slowed and the image of a battered and bruised Warbird lay just ahead, off-kilter and rotating.  “Report.”

Thasaz’s hands were busy at her console, “Nobody else in the area.  Long-range sensors show transport ships on the far edge.  The Warbird is disabled…life support is spotty at best. Impulse engines offline, and warp engines are blown.   Their singularity core is stable – it appears their power management systems took a pounding from the Klingons.  Their shields are down.  No response on hailing frequencies.”

Rubbing his chin the CO tapped at his console on the command chair, “Bridge to Chief – Can we get most life support restored on Sharpened Cutlass?”

A pause, then, =^=Engineering is fairly stable – these later model Warbirds worked really hard to protect that singularity from blowing them to kingdom come.  I think five of us can get power restored in ten…should get the rest of the ship at least powered and stable.=^=

He turned to Kondo who handed his station to a junior officer and headed for the turbolift with a wave, “Mr. Kondo and a security team will escort you at all times.”

=^=Fair enough, sir.  We’ll meet him in transporter room 1.  Chief out.=^=

The turbo lift door opened a moment later, revealing Doctor Reid who leaned on the tactical arch, “I suppose I’m up next with a medical team?”  She accepted his nod as he tapped on his console, “I could use Lieutenant Thasaz’s expertise over there, Commander.”

At that, Harris looked up at Reid and then to his science chief who said, “If it saves some lives, I’ll do whatever you need, Doctor.”  They both left as Harris returned his attention to the screen.  The attack on the Sharpened Cutlass was particularly brutal as he continued to examine the sensor results that were ongoing. They had targeted parts of her hull and seemed to intentionally try to buckle decks connected to the engines and weapons – causing a cascade of power failures locally that rendered whatever offense the crew was attempting moot.  His science’s chief reading of the situation had an echo of truth – these were not warriors driven by blind rage or blood fury.  They had a plan.  And they had executed it.

Prentice was watching the sector carefully as his console chirped, “Commander, Chief reports they were able to restore power fast than expected.  Life support has returned to most areas of the Warbird.  Doctor Reid and her team are transporting over.  Chief reports they’re moving through the ship to the bridge.  She managed to get some preliminary sensor data from the Warbird’s computer…sending to your console now.”

The data streamed before him and he read until he found something…interesting, “Ensign…is this correct?  The two ships that were identified were the IKS The Ghost and the IKS The Darkness?”

Prentice ran back a check on the data and put it all through a diagnostic check to make sure.  A beep from his console was his answer, “Correct, sir.  Those ship names are accurate.”

“Oddly specific.  Computer, search all historical records for mention of ”The Ghost, and The Darkness.”  The computer trilled and went to work.  It took a few moments for his console to display the matches until he found the one that made the most sense.  “Well, whoever they are – they choose their ship names from Earth history.”  Harris put the information on the main screen and read it, “In 1898 two African lions, known locally as ‘The Ghost” and “The Darkness’, killed a number of workers on the East Africa Railroad at the Tsavo River and halted the project until they were hunted down and shot by a British foreman.”  He frowned, “Forget oddly specific…that’s downright odd.”

Prentice turned in his chair to face his CO, “Intentional?”

A shrug, “It could be something…or it could just be a coincidence.  Maybe there’s a legend in Klingon Mythology centered around something like this.”  He stood and walked back to The Tower stations behind tactical and handed a PADD to one of the science officers, “Ensign Menzie, do some digging into this phrasing within Klingon mythology and history…”, he thought for a moment longer, “…and add the same for Romulans in your search.”  He returned to his center chair wondering just what the Klingons were up to.

Sharpened Cutlass  – 0830

They made their way through the corridors picking their way through the scattered bodies of Romulans.  Reid and her team were going body by body checking for signs of life.  The security chief and his group followed behind them, weapons drawn.  Fires still burned in the corners of the halls and lights flickered as power fluctuated across blown conduits.  They'd restored life support and power but the latter was having struggles getting to all corners of the Warbird.  They'd traveled five decks and found none alive.  They were working their way through the deck below the bridge as Kondo was scanning the blast patterns on the walls.

“These are from Klingon blasters.”  He worked his way to the bodies and back to the walls, “They made it onboard, Doctor.”  He slipped the tricorder onto his utility belt so that it was actively scanning, “We should proceed with further caution.”

Jordan growled, “As if it couldn't get any harder."  They reached an intersection and Kondo motioned his officers to check and clear. 

Lieutenant Thasaz brought up the flank and settled in next to Reid.  “They died fighting, Doctor.  Each of their weapons was completely drained and burned out - the firefight would have been overwhelming.” She shook her head, “This wasn't a fight…this was extermination.”  Reid wondered what it had been like to die this way - Romulans were not warriors in the sense that the Klingons were and a fight like this would have eventually turned on them - the Klingons would have been merciless.  Kondo waved them on and they continued.

=Harris to Mr. Kondo=^=  The security chief tapped his badge and tapped it again to click his response.  His CO reported, "We're picking up Klingon life signs on the bridge…and since we restored power it looks like they're trying to get the Cutlass sharpened again.  Double time your efforts to stop them…we're going to have to raise our shields and distance ourselves.  We're warning the engineering teams as we speak.=^=

He turned to the doctor, “We'll take the lead here - you and Lieutenant Thasaz stay behind us…fire if needed.” He motioned his security team to gather up and they began to plot action.

Jordan turned to the science chief, "The warp drive is shot…could they get the other systems powered?"

Thasaz grumbled as she examined her PADD, “Impulse may just need a reset…shields are possible but they'd be restored to maybe…25%?  It would keep us from getting off the ship…"

Reid finished the thought, “…and keep us as prisoners of war…or better yet bargaining chips.  They're probably counting on our commander not firing on his people.”  She threw up her hands, “What a mess.”

Kondo glanced back at them, “We're going to three-prong the attack.  Two of us on the turbo-lift, one through a conduit on one side, and the other on the other side.  Should be able to knock them out.  You two - come with us and stand behind us.  We fall, you take the lift back down.”  The ship shuddered and alarms began sounding across the ship, “Damn, they're gonna try to move her.  Quickly!”

The ride in the turbolift was silent as Kondo and his officer took up positions in the far corners, crouching.  Reid and Thasaz behind them, weapons drawn.  The doors slid open and all four of them let loose without even waiting.  The Klingons on the bridge turned - the interior sensors had been damaged in the attack.  They dove behind consoles as the phaser fire slammed across the bridge, sending sparks and smoke into the already clouded air.  Moments later the two tube-bound men dropped into the bridge and took up positions, sourcing where the attackers were and firing.  The two in the turbolift slipped out and took cover, firing in the direction of where they had seen the Klingon's dive. 

Thasaz glanced out as phaser and disrupter fire scattered through the air from both sides - she made eye contact with one of the Klingons as he peeked up above his console. She didn't wait.  She didn't speak.  She stepped out, aimed her phaser, and fired on stun.  He shouted a curse in Klingon as he hit the ground and the Romulan science chief dove and rolled to a position beside Kondo who remarked, “Excellent shooting, Lieutenant.  We're down to two more."

Reid remained in the turbolift, her phaser in hand.  There was a shuffling of movement and the figure of a young Klingon warrior bounded backwards into the lift, moving to hit the button for the lift.  The doctor had a split-second decision to make.  She could stun him, and escape…or she could wait until he discovered her as the doors closed and hope this young Klingon warrior gave credence to sparing medics from death.  Even spared, she would be a body shield for him as he searched the ship for an escape route.  She sighed and sent him flying back into the bridge with a blast from her phaser.

Kondo glanced back, “One down.  One to go.”  He shuffled from console to console as the lone holdout fired from his corner of the bridge.  He knew there would be no surrender.  The three other members of his team watched him hand signal to them the movements he needed them to make and as they shifted into position as he crouched into his…waiting.  The warrior came over the edge of his cover, disrupter in hand but before he was able to shoot, the weapon and his arm took a blast from the Starfleet crew's phasers.  He growled and shouted as he went down and Kondo leaped over his cover and charged towards the Klingon who rolled up and stood, hands at the ready.  The weapon lay on the ground smoking.

The young warrior growled at Kondo, “You will not take me alive, Starfleet.  My fists will pummel your human body into pulp. Death will come for both of us today.”

Kondo shook his head, “If we stood alone in a corridor…or on a field of battle…yes.”  He brought his phaser up, “But we're not at war…and I'm not going to kill you today.”  He fired the phaser as the Klingon realized what he was going to do and attempted to rush him…but fell back to the ground with a grunt as the stun setting took him down.

Thasaz scrambled from her position and went to work on the consoles while Reid went to each of the unconscious invaders to check on their condition. The turbolift doors opened as Chief Katsumi stepped into the battered room and gazed in wonder and annoyance.  “You guys certainly know how to throw a party.”

The security chief and his team were inventorying the weapons that lay around the room, “Be glad you don't have to try and fix this mess, Chief.”

Thasaz examined the screens, “The Klingons weren't just here to spill blood.  I'm showing they did a near-complete dump of the ship's computer core - communications, logs, sensor reports - everything.  I think they were looking to find out who the players are out here.”

Okada slid into the seat beside her and coaxed further information from the system, “They went to town…damn.  I'm sending a copy to the Edinburgh.”  Another pause, “Oh….shit.”  Kondo glanced from his work and the others turned to the chief engineer who related what she'd found, “We're in here - rather extensively. The Sharpened Cutlass crew did their research on us.  Like really really well.  They dug into Patra and everyone else.  The Klingons just got a full picture of our efforts and the Romulan situation in this sector and beyond.  Communication from the Edinburgh - they've received our data and recommend we return shortly to discuss what to do with the Warbird."

Sitting next to her, Thasaz wondered aloud, “Why are they here?”  Okada shrugged but sat straight up as the consoles beeped alarms.  The science chief tapped quickly, “Looks like her sister ship heard the noise.  The Clawed Death is entering the system…Edinburgh is hailing them and including us in the channel."  She tapped the console and the flickering screen showed Harris on the bridge and a much better Romulan bridge.

=^=What is the meaning of this, Starfleet?  Why are your officers on the bridge of  Romulan Warbird?=^=  Harris explained the attack by Klingons and had a report and the complete data dump shard with them.

=^=We's stunned three Klingon officers on the bridge of the Sharpened Cutlass - we've completed our investigation and are ready to turn the ship and it's prisoners over to you.  Our Chief Engineer has done a complete workup on the ship's status which we're sharing with you now.=^=

The captain of The Clawed Death stared at both Harris and the crew on the ruined bridge.  A momentary thought crossed his mind and he replied, =^=It is agreeable.  Once you have transported over…you will depart this system.  We must collect and mourn our dead.=^=  

The channel slammed closed and Kondo stood, “I think we should get off this ship as soon as we can.  Whatever happens next will not be good for any of us.”  The other silently agreed and gathered together.  A moment later the bright transporter lights embraced them on their return back home.

USS Edinburgh – Ready Room  – 0930

=^=That is…an odd development, Commander.”  Rachel Harris sat in her chair in her own ready room while her son, Ambrose Harris, did the same as she’d listened to his full report.  She’d shaken her head and replied in disbelief.  =^=We’ve sent your report up the line.  I made some inquiries within my fleet and nobody recognized the ship names you had mentioned.=^=

Ambrose gave a nod, “We’re not sure which house they’re from as well – we followed up with the Romulan captain but he’s not responding to us – we didn’t have enough time to examine the clothing or emblems to make any kind of guess.”  He tapped his console, “We’re keeping an eye out, but they didn’t directly attack us and they took off pretty quickly when they saw us coming.”

A pause before she asked, =^=…and Patra?=^=

“Nothing.  You would expect some rumors or local communications to make their way through the lines…but nobody seems to know where he’s gone…or what he’s doing.  He’s still got a fleet at his disposal and plenty of officers and crew to man them…but his secret is out.  It’s largely dependent on the rest of the fractured empire and if they’re willing to trust him, use him, or whatever else comes of this.  He may have gone deeper into Romulan space…or he’s got another base of operations somewhere.”

Rachel Harris looked at her son wistfully, =^=I never thought I’d have to worry this much about you, Am.  Romulans one month, Klingons the next?=^=

He smiled quietly, “We’re doing the work that’s needed, mom.  We’ve got a good crew and a good ship – that’s all I can ask for.”

=^=Doesn’t make me worry any less.=^=  She tapped at her console, =^=Once you depart later today, Starfleet wants you to see if you can find something.  There’s been a wild tale a few systems over – something about a moon station being haunted.  I know, I know.  Probably just local legends run wild, but it’s reportedly causing issues with the crops on the surface of the planet and Starfleet thinks with your Chief of Science being Romulan, she may be the right person to dig into the situation.=^=  A quiet pause, =^=How is she doing?=^=

“She’s doing everything we’ve asked of her…and more.  Several of her officers have come to me to tell me that she’s the best superior officer experience they’ve had – mind you all they know is from the Academy…but they’re very serious about keeping her around.”  He shrugged, “I think she finds being useful and having a part in the crew the most helpful.  She would have been sent off with the rest of her team to Bravo for evaluation and eventual transfer…this way she can do some work for the good guys.”

Rachel nodded, =^=It’s encouraging.  Some in upper command are watching her as a test case – plenty of the refugees have skills, talents, and knowledge that could be put to good use.  It’d be their choice of course, but Starfleet’s got the Federation mandate behind it – and a federation has to be a place for and of all alien lifeforms.=^= She glanced up at her door chime, =^=My first officer is here – we’ve got our marching orders as well.  Good luck Am…safe journeys.=^=

The channel closed and he sat back in his chair.  He wondered about the future – once whatever shape and size the Romulan population resolved to be in the galaxy – what would the Edinburgh’s mission become?  They were not a warship or a battleship by any stretch.  They were a workhouse that could step into the mix for a moment to shake things up.  They’d proven they could test the mettle of some serious players…but they’d been bruised and bloodied each time.  He wondered what lay ahead for the crew and himself.

USS Edinburgh – The Castle (bridge)  – 2100

“Commander, we’re arriving in the system,” Prentice announced from the helm.  He was feeling better and had been keeping his appointments with both doctors.  He still had work to do, but he felt comfortable being back on the bridge.

His CO stood from the chair, “Put us in orbit of the planet, Mr. Prentice.  Lieutenant Thasaz, open a channel please.”

The ship shifted towards the planet, Glasea.  Silence held on the bridge until Thasaz reported, “We’ve got the planet’s Governer Tasawa responding.”  He gave a nod and an elderly Romulan in ceremonial dress appeared.

“Commander Ambrose Harris of the Federation Starship Edinburgh…we understand there’s something going on with the moon?”

A sigh as the man shook his head, “Not going on…but haunted.  I am Governor Tasawa.  The moon is called Pasari and she has watched over us for hundreds of years – always helping us grow our crops and keeping us safe from the world outside.”  He wheezed and coughed hard before he continued, “A month ago, she changed…she turned a darker red for a few days…then back to her normal hue.  Our crops began to wither…no matter how much we watered or fertilized.”  He shook his head again, “We must have disappointed her or something.  She has always been there to help us and grow our food.  Our best scientists have tried to understand, but we are at a loss.  We heard from a trader about the awful things that have happened to the Empire…and that the Federation was coming to help.”  He endured another coughing fit and drank a cup of something which seemed to help, “We reached out for your help with Pasari…maybe you can speak with her…treaty with her?  We have not had spaceships since we landed here hundreds of years ago – they became our homes…and we have tried hailing her with our equipment but she remains silent to us.”

Harris had many questions.  During Tasawa’s report, Doctor Reid had stepped onto the bridge and taken the seat to his left, her eyes focused on the elderly Romulan.  Ambrose remained standing, “Governor, has she ever spoken back you before?”

“We have never attempted to communicate with her – it was strictly forbidden in our scriptures from the First Days.  We committed the sin in desperation.”  He coughed again, “Our water storage containers are full enough for now, but…our water wells have dried up.  We’ve tried to trace them back into the depths….but we’re afraid of losing more of our people to whatever lives in the deep.”

Reid leaned forward in her chair, “Governor – Lieutenant Jordan Reid – Chief Medical Officer.  I am so sorry to hear of your troubles…”, the Romulan nodded his thanks as she continued, “…what do you mean…lose more people to the deep?”

He grumbled, “We foolishly sent three of our scientists down to the caverns where the wells pulled from – fifteen minutes after they descended we heard faint screaming and shouting…then nothing.  We tried to scan for them…but our sensors are unable to penetrate that deep.”  He coughed again and it took him a moment and a drink of liquid before he could speak again, “We do not often seek outsiders for anything – we’ve lived here on our own with Pasarfi and ourselves living a life apart from the Empire….and we find it pleases us.  Yet – we cannot reach to her ourselves.”

Jordan stood from her seat and stood alongside Harris, speaking low, “Commander, I’d like to request myself and a medical team be sent down there to do some medical care…we can also examine the crops and water supply for clues.” She glanced at the elderly Romulan, “He is not well, sir…and may need some care.” 

Ambrose gave her a quiet nod and she left for SIckbay.  “Governor Tasawa, we’ll go and take…look and try and speak with Pasari.  I’d like your permission to send down Lieutenant Reid and a medical team to make sure you and your colonists are well.”  He turned to his science chief as he saw doubt and concern cross the face of the man, “Would it help if I sent my science chief, Lieutenant Thasaz?”  

His eyes met with a fellow Romulan and searched her face before giving a quiet nod.  “It would help to have a face of our own.  I am thankful for you, Commander.  We have heard much of the Federation and its Starfleet – you have cast doubt on the rumors that are often spread amongst us.”

Harris gave a quiet nod, “Then we’ve done our job, Governor.  Our medical team will be on the surface shortly.” Thasaz left the bridge as he spoke.  The channel closed and he turned to the rest of the bridge crew, “Let’s play this nice and easy – that moon is a God who has been very good to them…let’s take it slow whatever we do.  Mr. Prentice, once the team is on the planet, lay in and engage a course to Pasari. Ensign Fowler?  Take the science station please.”  Sadie looked up from her station in The Tower with a start but made her way to the station and took the seat, hesitantly.  The CO walked to stand beside her, “We’re going to need to understand as much about this moon as possible – you’ll need to assign tasks to those in The Tower and the other science team’s stations on the ship.  We’re going to rely pretty heavily on you because I know you and the rest can do it.”

“Yes…uh…Yes sir.” Sadie felt a little dizzy at the sudden move to centerstage but she’d been practicing her breathing…so it was helping.

“Good.  Welcome to the big show, Ensign.”  Harris returned to his chair as Prentice announced the away team had transported to the planet and the Edinburgh was on an intercept course for the moon.  He took a breath and watched as it grew larger on the screen.

Kaseas Colony – Town Center  – 2115

Reid opened her eyes as the transporter’s glow faded and the team spread out.  She slipped on her field sunglasses as the sun slammed into them from above. A small greeting party stepped forward, their faces worn and burned, but relieved to see some help arrive.  Governor Tasawa trundled forward, his face sweaty and his breath labored, “Welcome to Kaseas Colony, Starfleet.  You must be the medical team they spoke about.”  

Reid accepted his handshake and motioned Thasaz forward, “This is Lieutenant Thasaz, our chief science officer.  She’s a former science officer who worked on a station.”  The two Romulans shared a glance and a handshake considerably more intimate and friendly than the previous, but Reid wasn’t hurt.  She was thrilled.  Thasaz was the friendly face that would help them figure out what they could on the ground.  She glanced around at the dust that seemed to cover everything, “This doesn’t seem to be your normal climate, Governor.”

He sighed, “It is not…it is best we go inside.  Standing in the light of Jasaw can have unpleasant effects.  Come, we shall discuss further.”  The team followed them down a path and into a larger building.  As the doors opened the cool air and humidity flowed over them and brought relief as they walked into a large meeting area with a long table.  Soon they were seated and sipping from the fresh filtered water as the Governor spoke in further detail, “Our land was fertile and green – crops in abundance.  The water fell from heaven and nurtured the seeds we planted every season…and the water from the depths flowed so that we could drink safely.”  He nodded to Reid, “You were right to ask, Doctor.  Our climate changed dramatically a month ago – the rains ceased to flow…the waters underneath our feet went dry – the sun shone brighter than it has ever burned…we all found out the hard way about the sun’s effect on our skin.”  He nodded to a few standing off to the side.

“Dear god…this is what it does?”  Reid had stood and moved to examine them, gently moving her medical tricorder over their body, “These are extreme burns, Governor…these people would be placed in our burn wards or critical care units…how did you care for them?”

He shrugged, “We did the best we could…our scientists are not like yours, Doctor Reid.  They do not have technology or equipment to aid them  We have what we know and what we learned over time – it was the best we could do for them.  They lived…we lost ten in the first week to the effects of the sun.”  He coughed, hard, and drank water to calm his throat, “There are other parts to this…my cough is not just me…we’ve documented over a hundred cases throughout the colony.  It’s not contagious and has not recorded a fatality…but our scientists suspect that it is a slow-moving condition that will eventually lead to death.  It just takes its time.”  He coughed further and took another drink.  “We suspect it is linked to Pasari.”

Thasaz spoke quietly and fervently, “Why did you not seek out help from other Romulans?  Surely there are some that you trust out there?”

Tasawa looked at her for a long time and grimaced as he replied, “We were exiles in the old days, Lieutenant. Spurned from our homes because of our ideas, our dreams…our hopes…our faith…we were not acceptable to those that stood above us.  We have kept to ourselves because as much as we would like to think they have forgotten us…they will not have passed us over.  We kept to ourselves so as to not bring notice to our case…to not bring attention. Our planet was alive for the longest time…we did not have a need for anyone.”  He slammed his hands on the table, “Can you imagine what they would have done had we filed a report of our bounties over the years?  They would have sent people, ships…all in order to glean what knowledge they could from us…and take it away.”  A growl emanated from his crackling lungs, “We kept this place for ourselves because we wanted to finally live without fear…without boots on our necks.”  He sat back in his chair, “We are dying, Lieutenant…and our hope fades each day our food stores grow scarce.”

She bowed her head in recognition of his story and the truth of his words.  Her head came up and she looked at him with new eyes, “I wish I had known your plight.  My station…we could have done something.”  She shared with him her story, of her station, of the attacks, and of how she came to be Starfleet.  She echoed his feelings in her own retelling.  His eyes grew softer as she spoke and on her last sentence he stood cautiously and ambled to her, extending his arms.  Thasaz felt her heart reach her throat as she stood from her chair and embraced him, their hearts beating through their clothing, their shared experiences connecting as never before.  Tears fell from her face, and her sorrow deepened knowing it had been some time since she had cried with such feeling.  They remained embraced for several minutes until they pulled apart, hands holding as they stared into each other, the moment of recognition of a shared pain laid heavy in the air.

They embraced one last time and Thasaz followed him to his chair, pulling it gently back as he uneasily sat down.  She shifted a chair so she could sit next to him, wiping her tears from his face.  Reid had remained silent and wasn’t sure what to say.  She settled on, “I am grateful for Lieutenant Thasaz…her experience has been hard to learn of as we’ve spent time with her on our crew.”  She let the silence fall for a time longer before she sat forward, “Governor…we need to examine as many of your people as we can…to find out all we can about the effects of this…situation.  If this has happened to Romulans – I would hazard a guess we will feel the impact or effects soon enough.  The more we know…the faster we can find a way to fight this and bring healing to your people.”

Tasawa gave a deep bow, “We will do as you ask, Doctor.  We have lived a great long time in this place…I wish for that to continue for generations.  We shall gather who we can.”

Reid and Thasaz shared a look.  They had scanned the entire Starfleet crew.  Something was affecting them.  They would need to run tests.

And they would need to move fast.

USS Edinburgh – The Castle (bridge)  – 2115

Harris sat in the center chair as Prentice guided them into the orbit of the moon, Pasari.  The way the governor had spoken about the thing had the CO thinking as he stared down the spinning satellite of rock.  He turned to face Ensign Fowler, who was filling in for her chief.  “What do you make of her, Ensign?”

Sadie gulped for like the fifth time in five minutes and ran her slightly shaking hands across the console, “It's reading a solid mass with little to no atmosphere.  Nothing unusual on the surface - the expected rocks, sand, and other debris that are found on most moons in the systems around us.”  She took a deep breath and turned to face her CO, nervousness shaking her voice, “I'll continue to scan, sir.”

Ambrose turned to face the moon on the scene and then slid back to face the science officer, “Good job on giving me the rundown, Ensign - steller reading of the results and the pieces of details that the system was able to quantify.”  He stood and walked over to sit at the station beside her, “Science is a game of understanding - taking the scans and details…and transforming them into a theory, thought, or hypothesis.”  He turned in his chair to face the console, “So, you said regular old readings, right?”  She gave a slow nod, wondering if she should be freaking out that her CO was sitting next to her.  Harris tapped at the console carefully and chuckled, “There's always more to the story, Ensign Fowler.  Take a look here”, and he ran the readings from the moon through the computer against other moon and planetary satellites in the database. A second later the computer kicked back with a result and he pointed out, “There - the readings are a near-exact copy of that moon a few systems over.”

The junior science officer frowned, her confusion apparent.  “Why would….that's not a coincidence, is it?”

“The infinite nature of space and the unique nature of each planet, moon, and asteroid suggests that such things are rarely possible.  In this case, I don't think those readings are right because someone copied the readings for us to read and then move on.  MInd you - I suspect the moon was doing its job before so a quick scan wouldn't have given anyone a reason to investigate.”  He turned to Fowler, “This time…”

Fowler nodded along, “Something's gone wrong with the moon…and we're not going to take the initial scan as an answer, are we?”

“We are not, Ensign.  We gotta find a way to cut through whatever is either shielding us from seeing the true picture….or stop the transmission of the moon mask, for lack of a better word.”  He tapped at the console and started a full scan of the system, “Track this scan…see what you can see as it processes.”  He stood and walked to the tactical station where Kondo stood, tapping away his console, “You have the look of a man as confused and concerned as I am.”

Kondo shrugged, “You see what I see - each scan returns the exact results - no change due to the position in space, or its distance from the sun - you would expect some variance in the surface scan results - but there is nothing to indicate anything down there that is in motion.”  Another tap of the console, “Add this to your list of odd, Commander - I attempt to lock on to anything…including the moon…my targeting sensors can't hold on the target - like the moon has oil on its floor and I cannot stay standing no matter how hard I try.”  A pause, “It is a rudimentary defense system and I am closing in on implementing a workaround…but taken with the issues science is having…this is an odd moon.”

Harris tapped his badge, “Haris to Dr. Court - report to the bridge, please.”  He returned his attention to his tactical chief, “Tell me I'm crazy - what if we powered our phasers down to the lowest possible level…and took a shot at the moon?”

De La Fontaine sat back in his chair, thinking through the commander's concept, “Even if I get the targeting sensors reworked, we're still going to be detecting the same thing…so taking a shot at whatever is around the moon might disrupt the field?”  His CO nodded as the FO, Lieutenant Commander Blanchefleur Courtemanche stepped through the turbolift doors and onto the bridge.  “You might be on the right track.  See,” he tapped at a sequence for the two officers to see, “no matter how high we boost our sensors, it's not breaking through.”  He turned back to Harris, “I had heard of methods of disrupting shields using various types of beams.”

The CO snapped his fingers and returned to the station by a concentrating Fowler.  He motioned his FO over and explained the situation, finishing with, “Mr. Kondo is correct - there are numerous types of energy beams that a starship can emit", the hands of the former Chief Engineer worked the console before it beeped and the result displayed, “We can use a small resonance burst to see if it'll knock whatever's covering our eyes off and give us a good idea of what that moon is.”

The FO and Chief Counselor had nodded along but stopped the CO before he returned to the center chair, “Commander…why am I here?”

Ambrose chuckled, “If we figure out what's down there, someone's going to have to go down there.  My chief engineering experience means I'm headed down…Mr. Kondo's on my list along with science officer Fowler." 

She gave an understanding nod, “You need someone with experience to take the CONN.  If I'm honest…I'd rather be here anyway.  Never much enjoyed away missions.”

The CO returned to his chair as the FO sat to his right, “Mr. Kondo, let's modulate the deflector to a low output resonance burst.  Fire when ready.”  A moment passed until the sight of a low-powered burst flew out to the moon, impacting upon a kind of shield….that held.

Fowler spoke up, “Sir, upon impact and disruption of…whatever that was - we detected power systems, an interior to the moon…then the shield closed up again.”

Harris signaled to Kondo, “Increase power of resonance by 15%.  Fire when ready.”  Another pause….and then the beam, a little brighter this time shot out and the shield seemed to hold…for but a moment before collapsing on itself.

The science officer gave a shout, “Ah!  My apologies sir - we've got full view…”, she tapped the console, and the developing reports built on the viewscreen as Fowler described, “There is a significant subterranean system of corridors…I'm reading an engineering section, what looks like the command and control section plus some rather strange…”, she frowned and tapped the console, “…the computer isn't sure what to make of this sir, and I'm not sure either.  We're going to have to get our hands on this to better understand.  As much as we can see, the sensors are still being obscured by lots of rock and assorted stuff getting in the way.”

Harris stood, “Very well.  Mr. Kondo, Ensign Fowler - you're with me.  Dr. Court - you have the CONN.”  She shifted to the center chair as the three officers entered the turbolift, the thrill of the unknown beating inside each of them.

Pasari Moon  – 2130

They worked with the transporter chief to target a location that seemed like an entrance.  They’d suited up and Chief Katsumi had checked and rechecked to make sure they were secure and airtight.  The transporter beam had taken them from the Edinburgh to the surface of Pasari, where they all stood in quiet amazement.  It was like any other moon – dust kicked up when they moved and the sun showed across it as it moved.  But there was something beneath their feet that each of them noted felt…off.  The surface wasn’t quite as deep as it should have felt.  Ensign Sadie Fowler, all of 19 years old, was now in charge of everything science and was making the most of her walk towards what looked to be a door of some kind.  She spoke to the CO and Kondo as she trudged on, “The power readings are really low – barely detectable unless you adjust the scanner.  There’s an odd murmur in the power readings as well.”

Harris stopped and turned, “A murmur, Ensign?”  She shuffled forward and showed him the reading and he watched it for several minutes before turning to his security chief.

“Take a look at this…this look like a heartbeat to you?”  A glance from Kondo and a frown as the reading continued and he looked back to the door and then to the reading and back again.

He grumbled, “I know I keep using the word odd to describe this thing…but I think we’re far beyond odd and getting into weird, sir.”  He pulled his phaser rifle off his back and snapped it into his gloves while tapping the activation switch.  The soft whine kicked on.  “Let us proceed carefully.”  They did so with Kondo and his rifle at the lead, Fowler and her chirping tricorder in the middle, and Harris at the end – his phaser had come out of its holster as he searched the horizons around them.  They reached the door and Kondo went to work.  

The CO sidled up beside the science ensign, “What do you think?”  She gaped at him, words failing her at the directness of his question.  He tried again, “Theories, ensign…what are your theories?”

Sadie took a few breaths and closed her eyes to consider what the readings from the planet were telling her and what the sensors from the ship had told her.  She thought about the comments regarding the heartbeat signal and her eyes snapped open, “They said this happened a month ago…and it had been working just fine since they had come here…what if whatever is powering…or powered this…thing…is dead or dying?  Batteries or power cores will often give off a signal to alert the operators or the engineers that they need to replace or service it.”  She took a breath as the information from her academy classes came flooding back, “We learned that our modern power systems in 2400 have evolved far beyond that – but they’ve been on this planet for hundreds of years, maybe more.  What if…the power system is so old it’s sending a signal that it needs a recharge? Or a new battery?”  She sighed and tapped her helmet, “That’s why you thought it looked like a heartbeat, sir – it’s a constant signal in a recognizable pattern transmitting to whoever was in charge of maintaining this station to come and fix it.”

Harris patted her on the shoulder, “Ensign Fowler – that’s some damn fine work.  The question is…where is the creator?  And why haven’t they responded?”

She thought for a moment – “Well if it’s been hundreds of years since this thing was made…maybe the creator is dead?”  There was an audible click and metal groan and they turned to find Kondo waving them in a large open door.  Carefully they stepped through the door into a small holding area.  Each of them clicked on their flashlight units on the suit as there were no lights present. Harris pulled it closed behind them as his security chief went to work on the door into the moon.  It took a moment but it swung open.  Slowly and hesitantly they stepped into the corridor.

De La Fontaine swept his light over the walls and down the hallways, “Commander, I recognize this design from our history studies – the aesthetics and architecture are Romulan – but old…like 400 years old.”  Dust and cobwebs scattered in the corners of the metal corridors.  He swept his tricorder, “Minimal power is present…but not enough to provide life support.  We’ll have to remain suited…for now.”  They continued down the hallway until they entered a large room.  As their lights searched the room, Fowler gasped.  Kondo and Harris found what she was looking at.

Bodies still at their stations.  Nearly mummified as if the muscles and skin had been pulled or pulled into the body.  Sadie shook herself from the shock and began to move from body to body with her tricorder, “They’ve been dead a long time…,” she stopped at one whose head rested on the console, “Surface scans aren’t showing any blunt force trauma or disrupter readings…”, Fowler clicked at the tricorder once more, “Commander…these people died working at their stations.”

Kondo was standing at the center chair where a body sat, slumped to the side, “Similar readings here, sir.  This Romulan male died of what the computer suggests was old age.  Estimating…200 years old.”

Harris tapped at a console.  Nothing responded.  A light or two blinked, “If these were 200 years old…this would be the second or third generation that lived on this station.”  Turning to face his away team he reasoned, “These systems are archaic – they’d still be functional if powered….we need to find engineering.”  The three of them continued through the next corridor.  Each room – from the mess hall to the quarters they discovered the same.  Bodies in work repose, dead and aged.  They found a room with markers attached to the wall denoting those that had died before.  Using the dates, they were able to discover the station had been around for about 500 years and had gone through at least three commanding officers in that time.  They stood in silent thought, the walls covered in dusty metal plates.  The CO wondered, “They were all old – but they all died in at their stations…what happened to this place?”

Fowler had finished recording the plates on her tricorder, “Perhaps in order for the station to continue the work of supporting the planet…the computer cut life support and conserved what power it had to continue its mission?”

Ambrose shrugged, “Your theory is sound, Ensign…we’ll need to get to engineering to find that out.”  

They left the room and continued on down the corridors turning left, down some stairs, then right…and down a few more hallways until a large room lay ahead.  Kondo stepped out in front and lead them slowly to the entrance.  He swept the room with eyes and tricorder and waved them in.  He gestured to where the core would be, “Weird just became horrifying.”

What had once been a Romulan was strapped into a power distribution system with wires, tubes, and more nightmarish connections coming out of the body and connecting to various conduits and consoles in the room.  Fowler gagged and stayed at the entrance to the room for a moment longer.  Harris snapped out his tricorder and approached the body, scanning quickly before announcing, “He’s still alive.”  Kondo snapped his head up and jumped up with his CO as they began to disconnect the tubes, wires, and connections.  It took then fifteen minutes to do and a little bit longer to find a way to disconnect him from the core stand.  They gently shifted the man to the ground as Fowler slowly approached, her face the color of snow.  Harris checked the pulse of the man and accepted a hypospray from a shaking science officer.  It took a moment but the eyes of the man slid open.

“You’ve come…at last.”  He grimaced at the pain it took to move his head to look at Kondo, and then to Harris, “You’re…not Romulan.”  His face filled with fear.

The CO spoke gently, “We’re not here to hurt you.  We’re here to try to help.  The planet below is having…problems.  They think Pasari…is mad at them…or something has happened to Pasari.”  He motioned to Fowler to scan and examine the room, “What happened here?”  Kondo took over as medical with the away team kit Fowler had handed him.  A few more hyposprays and scans seemed to help bring the man back to them.

“We were to keep them alive.  Protected.  This station was built to watch them…observe them.  Contain them.”  He coughed, wincing at the sharpness of the pain, but he kept going, “They were exiles…they called them traitors.”  He sighed, “We got to know them over time…we came to understand them as real…as true…as…Romulan.”  He growled, “We sent only what the Empire asked for – between our parents and grandparents we discovered the intentions of the Empire were to use them for experiments…to find out how to make a better warrior…a better fighter…a better force to defend against the enemies of the galaxy.”

Harris shook his head, “Why were you hooked up…”, he gestured to the nightmarish contraption.

A grim smile passed across the man’s face, “We were hooked into the sensors…so that we could provide what they needed as the conditions changed.  We became familiar with them watching them…feeling them…supporting them…we came to care for them.”  A cough, “The Empire did not expect us to care.”

Kondo sighed, “How many of you were hooked up to this…thing?”

“I was the fourth…and the last.  We agreed to cut life support to keep the people below alive for as long as possible.  It was hard to know my friends and family were going to die.”  His voice faltered, “We had long accepted our fates…but it is not easy to push the button condemning them, even if they had consented to such a thing.”  His eyes went misty as he worked to control his emotions once more, “The Empire stopped responding to us years ago…we were forgotten…the experiment no longer held the value needed.”  His breath became shallow as he coughed harder this time, “You will need to find a way to power this moon without us…those people below us must be allowed to live.  They must live.”  He waved off another hypospray from Kondo, “I know I am dying, sir.  Do not prolong my life here…I have lived long enough to learn enough about life…to know I have spent more than enough time alive.”

Fowler returned, her tricorder in hand, “I think I may have some solutions, Commander.”  She stared at the dying Romulan, “You did a good thing, sir.”  

The man smiled quietly, “We did what was necessary.  Will you stay with me as I pass?  I do not wish to die alone.”

The three of them remained with the man as his breathing became heavy and then labored, the pallor of his face falling until his eyes stopped moving and his breathing faded into a final sigh.  Silence held in the room as each of them processed the death of the man.  Harris stood, “We’ll mark his death as they marked the others…we’ll need to do the same with the rest of the bodies.”  He turned to Fowler, “Let’s see what we can do to get this place working again…he didn’t die in vain for us to not fulfill his final wish.”

Pasari Moon  – 2230

They had spent an hour working on the station and its systems.  Harris had called Chief Katsumi over to help them work on restarting the power to the base in order to restore the planet’s ecosystem to its original settings.  She’d went to work in engineering while he’d returned to the command center with several generators and his science officer.  While Okada worked in the depths, they worked on the base computer to export any and all data they could.  It had been a challenge given the archaic nature of the ancient computer systems the Romulans had never upgraded.  

Sadie Fowler had found it rewarding – part of what she had focused on in the Academy had been the various technologies of the past with various alien species.  Her fellow students had dismissed her interests and even made fun of her on occasion.  There was a familiarity with the consoles and how they worked. Ever since she’d stepped on board the Edinburgh it had felt overwhelming – so much to learn, so much to know, and so much to figure out as she was on the move constantly – her friendships with other graduates hadn’t been strong.  She’d been looking for those connections since she’d been assigned to The Tower stations on the bridge but most of her fellow crew had retained those connections from the academy.  She tapped the last switch and watched as the information began to transfer to the external unit she’d attached.  Harris was working on the station next to her.  She turned to him, “Sir…what do you think you will do with the assistant chief positions?”

Ambrose turned to face her question and leaned back in the chair, “Well, I don’t have much to do with it, honestly.  Each Chief holds an open application process and then they evaluate each applicant on talent, skill, performance, and everything else.”  He glanced at his console as the transfer continued.  They were still wearing their suits and he was ready for the life support systems to return to normal.  “You thinking of applying for Assistant Chief Science Officer, Ensign Fowler?”

She glanced away from the commander and focused on her console in an attempt to slow her stress at being asked such a direct question.  She replied, “I’ve found being on this away team mission…that I really do enjoy science, sir.”  She turned back to him, a look of concern on her face, “But I’m not sure I’m good enough…sir.  There are plenty of talented officers in the science department.  Sir.”

Harris chuckled quietly, “You don’t have to sir as much, Ensign.”  He thought for a moment, “I asked you to take over for your chief on the bridge because I thought you would be good in the chair.  That you were good enough.  Surely that has to mean something to you?”

She looked at him dumbly for a long moment.  Her mind moved to catch up and she sat up in the chair as she made the realization, “You…were purposeful.”

The CO frowned at her, “You thought I was just reaching into the pile of science officers and grabbing whatever one I got my hands on first?”

Fowler shrugged meekly, her face reddening as she admitted, “I…may have been mistaken.”   She swallowed, “I don’t think I’ve known you as a commander long enough to…know that, sir.  Chief Thasaz and the rest of the command crew…they work with you every day…I’m just on the sidelines or in the backfield…or whatever sports metaphor works for you….sir.”

Ambrose leaned forward in his bulky suit, “If there’s one thing you can take from this conversation, Ensign Fowler…it is that I am intentional in everything I do.  Some commanders and captains are brash…cowboys…or they rush in without waiting to ask the important questions…”, he sat up, “There’s nothing wrong with that kind of command officer…but I made a decision when I made Chief Engineer the first time – I needed to decide what kind of command officer I was going to be – Chief, Commander, or even Captain.  I’m a thinker…a questioner…I’m always asking the questions before I leap where angels fear to tread.”  He nodded awkwardly in his helmet to Fowler, “You’ll have to start thinking about that as you climb the ladders through science…or wherever else you study as you go.”

Sadie felt, for the first time, that a command officer was talking to her…instead of yelling at her.  All through the academy, she’d endured it.  This ship had been different.  Her chief was intense.  And now her CO was revealing himself to be a steadfast rock standing tall in the choppy seas.  She looked him in the eye, “Thank you, sir.  I needed that today.”

“Anytime, Ensign Fowler.”

=^=Chief to Commander Harris=^=

“Go ahead, Chief.”

=^=I’ve managed to cobble together a reactor that’ll work with their power systems.  We’ll need to recharge it every month until we find a more permanent solution, but I’m ready to engage the system on your command=^=

“Let’s power up the moon, Chief.”  There was a shudder deep within the base as the reactor kicked on.  Lights began to flicker as consoles began to power slowly but surely.  A few alarms started ringing out as each respective system powered up and began to once more do the work it needed.  Harris and Fowler watched as the command center soon returned to functional and the view screen flickered on with a view of the planet.  Harris checked the console, “Life support is coming online.  Wait for it…”, he tapped at the aging console switches until the screen displayed a green status, “We’re clear to change.”  He popped off the helmet and breathed in the fresh air as Sadie did the same, her smile revealing her relief.  They removed the suits and went from station to station to ensure the systems were working once more.

Fowler leaned over the main console that controlled the climate and weather operations, “Commander, I’m engaging the control systems.”  She flicked the switches back to online and waited as a deep rumble echoed through the station until there was a consistent thrumming beneath their feet.  Checking the screens confirmed it, “Control systems are nominal.”

=^=Edinburgh to Commander Harris=^=  The voice of Lieutenant Commander Courte spoke from his communications badge.

“Go ahead, Edinburgh.”

=^=We’re showing a power surge in the station…and a transmission of…energy now being sent to the planet?=^=

“We’ve got the base up and running.  Have our teams analyze the transmission from top to bottom.  Any word from the away team?”

=^=Last report was that the medical situation was dangerous and that our crew was feeling the impact from whatever was going on, sir.  Given the restoration of the moon, this may soon be alleviated.=^=

Harris glanced at Fowler, “I’m coming back to the ship…I’m leaving Ensign Fowler and the Chief here to continue ensuring the station is operating.  Signal the planet away team that I’m on my way to explain.”  She confirmed and closed the channel.  He picked up his suit and helmet, “You know what you’re doing Ensign Fowler.  Connect with the Chief – when we leave here eventually we need to make sure this place will support them until we get back here with a power solution.”

Sadie stepped forward and extended her hand to shake his and he responded in kind, “Thank you, Commander…for having the faith in me.  I think I got assigned to the right place.”

He stepped back and sent a message for transport, “I think so too, Ensign.”  He vanished in the bright beam of the transporter and she turned to the empty but alive station.  She quickly moved off to find the Chief.

Kaseas Colony  – 2330

“The air feels cooler already, Commander.”  Governor Tasawa sat at the table in the meeting room.  Doctor Reid and Lieutenant Thasaz sat together, their skin slowly looking better.  “You said you bring news of Pasari?”

Ambrose gave a slight nod, “The issue that was causing the moon to stop providing the resources has been corrected.”  He glanced at Reid and Thasaz before continuing, “You are the highest-ranking official on this planet, Governor…I need to know what you know about Pasari before I choose to elaborate or not.”

Tasawa paused as he looked to each of them carefully and finally back to Harris, “The traditions of Pasari have been passed down from generation to generation of our people, Commander.  Yet I think you are asking a bigger question.”  He stood haltingly and gestured to an alcove in the far corner of the room, “Come with me.”  The three Starfleet officers looked at each other and shrugged as they followed the older Romulan.  He pressed his hands against the wall, muttered something in an ancient tongue, and waited a beat before a sudden doorway slid open silently.  The three officers were just as silent as they followed him through the door and it closed behind them.  Down two flights of stairs, they entered a small cavernous room filled with old computer banks, consoles, and equipment that flickered and beeped lightly.  He turned to them, “You have a prime directive for a reason, Commander Harris…and I would not wish you to violate it.”

Ambrose walked from console to console and stared each screen, “You knew what had happened?”

Tasawa found a chair and sat slowly as he sighed, “I wondered.  Each of us governors was taken under the wing of the previous and shown this secret before they stepped into the role.  Nothing had gone wrong in those hundreds of years…but it choose to go wrong in my time.”  He nodded, “We used to be able to communicate with them…but the second governor…he found out the plans of the Empire from his predecessor….and murdered him…covered it up that he’d fallen into a mine on patrol…but that began the revolution down here.  He destroyed the communications equipment – not wanting to speak to our overlords.”  He chuckled, “If only he’d known that our overseers would actually join our revolution themselves.  It brings me peace knowing that you found our answers, Commander.”

Reid spoke up, “You will continue the traditions?”

He turned to her, “It has been the traditions that have kept us at peace with each other all this time.”  He nodded to the equipment, “A month ago it all went dark.  I became worried my people would abandon their faith in Pasari and we would lose all that we had accomplished here.”  He stood, “They held stronger and harder to their faith in the face of what had happened.  They believed in each other more and believed in our future more.”

Thasaz glanced back from the console she was gathering data from, “Faith can be a powerful thing…yet also just as dangerous.”

The governor hobbled over to where Harris stood, “It is the tale as old as time, Lieutenant.  I strive each day to steer us down a path of powerful hope and grace for my people.  Your work to repair Pasari will help us stay the course.”  He stepped over to a side console and tapped at it quietly, “You mentioned you are searching for a Romulan…a Patra?”

Reid and Thasaz both explained to a concerned Harris that they had shared with him their encounters.  “I’ll accept you felt the need to share…and since it’s out there already…you seem to think you know something?”

Tasawa finished tapping his console and sound crackled out of old speakers.

=^=We were not able to finish the job, Patra.  The Federation came to their rescue.=^=  The voices were Klingon and Harris stepped closer to the speakers, slipping out his PADD and making notes as the voices continued, =^=It was this Edinburgh ship that came when they called…very quickly.  They left their crew behind.  We could have taken them.=^=

A pause.  And then the voice all three of them knew sprang to live, =^=You did well.  Your reward of more ships awaits you.  Reach out to one of your fellow warriors…see if they can follow them under cloak.  Track their movements.  Have them send it to you – we must keep this between us.  Do what you will with the Velorum Sector – I do not care what happens.=^=

The channel cut and Tasawa turned to face them, “We have the ability to monitor communications channels – even encrypted Romulan ones.  This equipment, as old as it is…still a marvel.  I spend my time here making sure our isolation continues.  This came off my long-range investigations.  He does not sound like someone I wish to meet.”

Harris agreed, “We wish we hadn’t met him if we’re honest.”  They discussed what was left to be done and Tasawa led them back up and out into the meeting room where they made plans for the next day.

USS Edinburgh – Quarters  – 0700

“You’re worried.”  Jordan Reid sat on the couch in the living room of his quarters.  Harris sat at the desk at the far end of his quarters reviewing the transmission file that Governor Tasawa had given to them, along with whatever else he’d managed to gather.  He’d sent the transmission file to the science department but was still staring at the file markups he’d done.  

He turned to face her, “We haven’t beat him…once.  Jord, he gave us a thrashing, we gave him a surprise or two…we’re constantly looking behind us for him or his people…and now we have to worry about the Klingons?”  Turning his attention back to the screen, “Our crew is learning…and they’re doing incredible things…but you can’t make a battle-hardened crew out of a bunch of ensigns who graduated from Starfleet a month ago.”  He closed the console, “The other harsh reality is…as strong as the Eddie is and as flexible as she is…any fight with Patra will grind most of her down to dust.”  Harris left his desk and snagged a chilled cider as he moved to one of the comfortable chairs across from Reid, “It’s a no-win scenario…and I don’t enjoy them – in simulator form or staring at me through space.”

Jordan took a drink of her iced tea, “What’d Starfleet have to say?”

A chuckle, “They’ve been made aware of a growing and increasing presence of Klingons in the Velorum Sector and beyond.  Apparently, when an empire falls apart, a group of Klingons was getting tired of table scraps…and they decided to pull up a chair with blasters drawn.  There was only so much they could tell me, but it came with a warning – don’t engage unless engaged and all diplomacy has failed.”

She sat forward, “And when you told them about Patra and the Klingons?”

Harris sighed, “They weren’t aware that such a thing was possible…or had occurred.  We’ve been advised to avoid Patra and his newfound friends.  I asked them what we should do if that became impossible…they encouraged us to cut and run back as fast as we could to Federation space.”  Another drink and another sigh, “They’re not wrong.  Even with our weapons modules, we’re not a battleship or a warship.”  They fell silent and sipped on their drinks.  The door chime rang and Harris walked to the door speaker, “Commander Harris here.”

=^=Ensign Alanna Menzie with the requested report on the naming iterations, sir?=^=

Harris nodded and tapped the console, opening to reveal the young woman nervously startling as she found herself staring at her CO.  “Come on in, Ensign Menzie.  Doctor Reid and I were just working on some theories about Patra.”  He gestured to the couch where Reid sat, “What have you uncovered?”

She sat cautiously and pulled out a PADD which shook slightly in her hands, “I…uh…I’m not sure what to make of this…but it is becoming a very…weird thing, sir.”

“Mr. Kondo used that word when we were working on the moon a lot.  We seem to be gaining a reputation on the Eddie for weirdness.”  He motioned for her to continue.

“Right.  Yes.” She scrolled through her report slowly, “IKS The Ghost and the IKS The Darkness are not the ship’s original names.  We were able to get some records from Starfleet and the Klingon Empire in an effort to attempt to identify the House or Houses involved…”, she felt she was losing the point so she quickly course-corrected, “There were no records of ships with those names…but their identification information matched with two ships – The IKS Johor, and the IKS Erasas – both ships in the service of House Wov’Sech.  The thing is…”, she tapped at her console again, “those ships were on the far edges of that House and what Starfleet Intelligence was able to say is that the captains of these two ships are more vagabonds than strictly tied to a House…”

Harris sat forward in his chair, “Which makes them outliers…reports across the wires are that it’s a mix of major and minor houses that are involved in…whatever this is – most of them are holding to their House identities…these two represent an opportunity for Patra.”

Reid spoke up from beside Menzie and looked from the CO to Menzie, “Ensign do you think Patra used these two ships and their disconnectedness to his advantage?”

The science ensign tapped at her PADD once more, “That brings us to the finale if you will.  We did extensive research into Klingon and Romulan history – there is nothing remotely close to the concept of ‘The Ghost and the Darkness’.  Our theory is that Patra has some knowledge or access to Earth’s historical records…and he uses this name as a way to show us that he knows…and probably to create a fear of him in the process.  It wouldn’t take much to rename the ships and complete the disguise to confuse us as well.”

Ambrose grimaced at the last bit, “He is quite a smart one, I’ll give him that.  I think we’re the last piece to his puzzle of digging deeper into Romulan space.  As long as we remain alive – we taunt him with our existence.  He can’t fade away into the darkness without getting us off his trail…for good.  Thank you, Ensign Menzie…solid work.”  She gave a nod and left the room.  Harris and Reid returned to the silence.

Until the Red Alert klaxon shouted them out of it and =^=Commander Harris to the bridge!=^= sent him running straight out the door and to a turbolift.

USS Edinburgh – The Castle (bridge) – 0730

He walked onto the bridge and Dr. Court stood from the center chair as officers continued to shift to their battle-ready stations.  She gestured to the screen, “One minute ago, we detected a power malfunction followed by a surge within the sector.  Lieutenant Thasaz identified it briefly as a Klingon Bird of Prey before the cloak slammed shut.  Within thirty seconds we detected a Romulan Bird of Prey headed our way on long-range sensors.”

Harris frowned, “Not cloaked?”

His first officer shook her head, “No cloak.”

The CO thanked his FO and she moved to the right seat as he moved to stand behind Prentice at the helm, “Send a priority one encrypted signal to the Clawed Death – urgent assistant requested.”  

Prentice tapped at his keys, “They don’t like talking to us, sir.”

Harris grumbled, “I don’t like talking to them much either, but we did try and save their friend…and we’re sure as hell going to put down the dog that’s been on the loose too long.”  He returned to the center chair, “Mr. Kondo, power all module weapons systems.  Inform Chief she’s got her work cut out for her…and Ensign Prentice…apprise Starfleet of our situation.  Be ready for evasive action…and possibly an emergency warp course home.” Prentice turned in his chair to face the commander as did a few other officers.  Harris glanced up at the attention and spoke plainly, “We’re not going to die today.  I will not let him have that honor.  We still have a lot of work to do here, there, and everywhere else in our lifetimes.  Let’s get to that work.”  The officers quietly nodded as they processed his words and turned back to their consoles, the red lights above the screens flashing red in warning of what was coming.

USS Edinburgh – The Castle (bridge) – 0745

The bridge shook as the Warbird’s fire slammed into the saucer section of the Edinburgh.  Prentice pushed the impulse engines and inertial dampeners to the limits as he worked to avoid the disrupter fire and torpedoes flinging across space.  Patra’s arrival had led with the sound and fury of his weapons, not words.  Kondo had activated his two secondary officers on either side of the bridge and they were trading fire with the Warbird.

“Shields at 80%.  Warbirds are at 95%.” Prentice announced as he sent the Eddie into a swerve and dive.  Working with Kondo at tactical he quickly positioned them into a passable firing position and they let loose with torpedoes from the modules and the ship.  “Direct hits to their shields and weapons – shields at 85%,” Prentice reported as he pulled the ship away from the fire that was coming their way and the ship shuddered as the shields struggled to keep up. Harris gripped the arms of his command chair.  The two Klingon ships hadn’t shown their faces yet and he was starting to wonder if Patra was holding them back in case his crew got lucky with their fire.  He had promised his crew they wouldn’t die today.  The bridge shook again as the Warbird pounded the Edinburgh.

“Shields at 70%!  They’re focusing on the modules.” Prentice was tapping wildly on the console, trying to escape the growing fierceness of Patra but the Romulan Commodore was wily and battle-tested.  Kondo sent him another course correction and he grunted as he slid the ship into the space the tactical chief had asked for and watched as phasers and torpedoes arced through the blackness of space into the Warbird’s shields. The helm officer shifted the ship away from the line of fire, but the Edinburgh was a big ship, and she didn’t move as fast as a Raven class.  The blasts scattered across the Edinburgh, causing consoles to flicker and the deck to shake slightly, “Shields at 65%  Warbird is at 80%!”

Ambrose gripped the arms harder as the ships traded fire back and forth.  Sparks flew from consoles and the decks continued to shake and shudder as the dance of battle continued.  The Eddie let loose everything they had while the Warbird returned in kind.  Prentice shouted, “Shields at 50%, Warbird at 65%” as he directed the Eddie to fly away from the Warbird.  A conduit exploded over the turbo lift as the Warbird blasted away with disrupters.  The lights above flickered and the crew braced themselves as Kondo tapped at his console and returned the favor.  Another volley from the Warbird shook the deck and several consoles exploded, sending debris and smoke into the air.  Prentice shouted as he worked hard at moving the Eddie out of danger, “Shields at 40%, Warbird at 55%.  Engineering reports warp core is stable.  We have multiple reports of injuries on multiple decks.  Sickbay is responding and damage control teams are examining possible damage to several decks.”

Harris shook his head, “Mr. Prentice, get us away from them – lock in our escape course and engage when…”  The bridge lurched and the lights above exploded as a new kind of weapons fire pounded into the ship.

Kondo growled, “Two Bird of Prey decloaking – they have opened fire!” Smoke filled the bridge more as the fans shorted out at the next impact from the Bird of Prey’s torpedoes. “Shields at 35%.”

“Get us out of here, Mr. Prentice.”  The officer nodded as he finished the command.  Just as he was about to send them at warp speed he frowned, “Commander, multiple signals inbound…reading two Warbirds…and two Bird of Preys…hail incoming from Patra.”

Harris stood, his bridge lit by emergency lights and smoke.  “On screen.”

The smug face of Commodore Patra filled the screen.  “So, we come to it at last.  The moment where you submit to me…and die.”  He sat back in his chair, “It is good to face you once last time, Commander.  One more chance for me to look you in the eye and tell you that you will die.”  A dark chuckle as he stood and stepped closer to the viewer’s camera, “You will die.  All of you.  Including you, sub-commander.  You…most of all.  Ready your souls.”  The channel closed and Harris shook his head, “Prentice – can we still get out of here?”

The helm officer tapped at the console, “They’ve blocked us in, sir.  Ships arriving in thirty seconds.”

The CO grimaced, “Well, that’s something.  Mr. Prentice, get ready for some fancy footwork…if we have to punch our way out…that’s what we’re going to have to do.”  He turned to the bridge crew, “I promised you we wouldn’t die today.  I’m going to do everything I can to do just that.  Mr.  Prentice – order all hands to crash stations – all saucer personnel need to move from the saucer section to shelter stations.”  The klaxons took on a new sound, an urgent sound that told the crew – they needed to move.  The computer’s voice echoed through the corridors as crew and officers scrambled through the ship guided by damage control and operations officers.

Prentice confirmed, “Crew movement is underway, sir.  Ships arriving in 10….9….”

The bridge crew worked silently at their stations making last-second preparations.

“5….4….3….2…..1”

Harris sat roughly back in his chair and shared a look with his first officer.  On the screen two Warbirds with two Birds of Prey loped through space towards them.  He gripped the arms of his chair for the third time that day.  He prepared to give his orders…until Prentice interrupted.

“Sir!  The new arrivals are targeting Patra’s fleet!  They are firing!”  They all watched in shock as Prentice’s report came true on the screen.

Harris waited a beat as Patra’s fleet turned to face the new threat before he ordered, “Let’s help our new friends – Prentice get us behind them.  Kondo – firing solutions – see if you can coordinate with them – whoever they are on the attack.”  The Edinburgh limped around and away.  One of the Bird of Prey ships peeled off from Patra and began taking potshots at the Edinburgh, the bridge shuddering as the impacts spread across the weakened shields.

Prentice grunted from his station, “Shields at 30%!  Engineering reporting structural damage to the lower module system.”  

Kondo continued to fire as they moved and the Bird of Prey that had followed slowed its pursuit, earning a quiet cackle from the chief tactical officer, “Patra’s shields are down to 40% – looks like he’s trying to run.”

Harris stood, “Prentice…”

“On it, sir.”  The helm officer went to full impulse as the friendly fleet continued to fire on Patra and his fleet.  As Prentice put the Edinburgh in the path of Patra’s Warbird, Kondo fired with phasers and torpedos, nearly shattering the ship’s shields as he went.  Patra wasn’t done either and fired directly into the Edinburgh, shattering the shields. The bridge rattled with a massive shudder as every console sparked.  Conduits in the walls exploded and fires started burning on the bridge as the emergency lights flickered.  Several of the bridge crew tumbled to the ground as the ship quaked again from the impact of disrupters on an unshielded ship.  Harris crawled back to his chair and sat roughly in it, the bridge an unholy mess.  Wires and piping had flung out of the ceiling as steam sprayed out.  Prentice was still at his station, “Shields have failed.  Main power has failed.  We’re on auxiliary power – engineering reports the mains should be back in five.  Sickbay reports widespread and serious injuries.  Multiple decks reporting possible buckling and serious hull damage.”  He wiped the blood out of his eyes as a cut on his brow sputtered. “Patra’s ship is disabled…the two Birds of Prey are being engaged by the other two…the two Romulan ships – Clawed Death and Renegade Justice are assisting in the attack.”  He turned in his chair to Harris, “Warp engines are offline…impulse is offline…we are stuck where we are sir.”  

A medical team arrived on the bridge and went to work in the flickering darkness.  The fires on the bridge still burned until two damage control officers found their way to the bridge and started their own work.  Lieutenant Thasaz spoke up from her station, “Commander, The Clawed Death is hailing us.”  He nodded, remaining in his seat.

The face of the Romulan captain appeared on the fuzzy screen, “We have boarded Patra’s ship.  We are prepared to turn him over to your custody for interrogation and investigation.”  He nodded to Thasaz, “We did this for you, Sub-commander…and only you.  A bond once formed cannot be broken…and we have fulfilled that bond today.”

She turned to her CO and he met her gaze…and nodded, “We accept the conditions, Captain.  We ask for some time to repair our ship…we will then accept Patra into our custody.”  A mild bow was his response as the channel closed.  Harris stood, shakily.  “Gather your damage reports.”  He shifted over to where the damage control team was slowly working and joined their repair efforts. 

USS Edinburgh – Main Engineering – 0815

“He didn’t just bust up our lip or knock us in the nose.” Chief Engineer Katsumi stood in engineering with her CO as she walked him through the damage.  The lighting was still flickering as the damage control teams wrestled with the power grid.  Main power hadn’t been restored and there was a sense of urgency among the engineering teams as they worked feverishly.  Turbolifts were running slow, and most of the crew had turned to Jefferies tubes and other assorted bypass methods to get where they needed to go.  “Decks 17 and 18 were hit pretty hard – 18 buckled under the pressure.  17’s interior is jacked but we’ve got a team making their way through.  We’ve confirmed the brig is secure – but it’s taking time to get through the mess.  Decks 3 and 4 took the hits without shielding so we’ve lost containment there completely – thankfully it had been evacuated.  We’ve got minimal forcefields up and we’ve sealed them for now.  Deck 1 and 2 are pretty bad – deck 2 also buckled and we lost containment – the briefing room’s going to need rebuilding.  Minimal forcefields there as well – until we get main power restored, I’m not sending my people into those areas.”

Harris nodded along, “Agreed.  What’s keeping us from restoring main power?”

Katsumi grumbled, “We took a gamble when we installed the weapons modules – we did some creative engineering to power them a little more than they normally would be – and it worked.  They hit as hard as they kicked…but that came at a cost to the power grid…”

He picked up, “EPS conduits, energizers – the whole lot couldn’t process when we were getting hit so hard – created some serious power imbalances.”

“We thought we could push the Eddie just a little farther, sir….but we redlined the meter one too many times.  I’m sorry sir…she just couldn’t take it.”

Ambrose looked her in the eye, “You did this with my permission, remember?  I signed off on all this.  We knew the risks…we needed something to help us balance the scales and it did that.  We just have to pick up more pieces and figure out how to compensate for this the next time.  Good work, Chief…keep me updated.”  He turned and walked through the remains of Engineering as officers scrambled from station to station to get the Edinburgh’s heart beating again.  He stepped out into the corridor as the lights continued to flicker.  He made his way to a turbo lift and thought better of it as he searched for a Jefferies tube and found one, climbing his way from deck 15 to deck 8.

USS Edinburgh – Sickbay – 0830

He entered a crowded but calm sick bay as various orderlies, nurses, and volunteers continued to triage the injured.  He found Reid in the critical care area working on an engineer with severe burns.  She glanced up, “Commander.  Give me a moment.”  She slid the bridge cover unit over the young man and gave instructions to the nurse before returning her attention to her CO by handing him a PADD.  Her uniform like everyone else was dirty, bloody, and generally a mess.  His own uniform was an amalgamation of dust, debris, and whatever else he had crawled through on his ship to get her working again.  “Total of fifty injuries.  That’s 25% of the crew.  Ten are serious – those are the ones in our beds.  The rest we’ve got in adjoining rooms here on deck that we set up as emergency facilities.” She walked from bed to bed slowly checking the vitals and status updates as she gave her report, “Two of our serious are critical – we’re going to be busy monitoring and working on them for the next 24 to 48 hours.”  She finished with the last bed and turned to him, “We took a beating, Commander.  That fifty doesn’t account for the bumps, bruises, cuts, or whatever else is walking the halls – they’ll come in later.”

The lights suddenly flickered on…and then off…and then kicked on for good.  The computer announced, =^=Main Power Restored=^=

Reid sighed, “Finally.”  She caught his concerned look and quietly appreciated the glance of her CO…but also that within that glance was a boyfriend concerned for his girlfriend.  It was an odd feeling, but one she had become OK with.  “I’m good, Commander.  We’ve got a lot of work to do before we can get back out there…but thank you for keeping us all alive.”

Harris shrugged, “I had nothing to do with it…we made some friends in the last few months that paid off when we needed the help.”  She rolled her eyes slightly at him and he smiled as he left sickbay and headed back to the bridge, this time being able to use a turbolift.

USS Edinburgh – The Castle (bridge) – 0845

“Shields are still offline, but engineering confirms that’s next on the long list.  Phasers are operable, but targeting is a bit of a problem with sensors needing repairs and realignment.  Torpedoes are also operable, but targeting isn’t going to help us.  You’ve heard the engineering report from Chief…,” Prentice sat in his chair, a bandage across his head, right hand, and ankle.  Many of the bridge crew sported similar signs of first aid as the medical team continued to work through the bridge crew.  “Operations reports they’ve begun moving crew back into the evacuated areas that are available as well.  Warp drive is still offline but impulse is online as one of the positives.”

Harris made notes on his PADD as the helm officer spoke, “Thank you, Mr. Prentice.  Any word from our Romulan…or Klingon friends?”  The helm officer reported that they were ready to transport Patra to the brig whenever it had been cleared of debris and secured.  He confirmed that their prisoner, Saho, had survived and was currently keeping her guard alive as the damage control teams closed in on the brig.  “She didn’t try to escape?”

Prentice turned to face his CO, “She promised the damage control team that she wouldn’t.  Said something about us keeping her alive meant she should return the favor.”  He chuckled, “She used…different language than that but the meaning is the same.”

“Let me know when they secure the brig.  I suspect our Romulan friends want to be rid of Patra as soon as possible.”  He looked around the bridge.  The lights were being replaced and powered back on by the damage control officers and conduits were being installed while some of the burnt-out consoles were getting taken apart and checked for further issues.  The carpet was awash in burns, blood, and debris.  The ceiling remained ruined in parts and wires, pipes, and everything else remained exposed – a temporary monument to the efforts they had undertaken to put a stop to Patra.

Prentice turned, “We being hailed from one of the other Birds of Prey, sir.”

Harris stood, motioning for the channel to be open and a middle-aged Klingon captain filled the screen.  “Commander Ambrose Harris, Federation vessel USS Edinburgh. What can I do for you, captain….?”

Silence held as the eyes of the warrior searched the bridge until they settled on Thasaz, “You have a very…eclectic crew, Commander.”  His eyes held on the Romulan officer for a moment before returning to Harris, “I am Captain J’Klast of the Klingon Empire.  I am collecting our two wayward daughters and returning them to Q’onoS.  I won’t apologize for their warrior intentions.  I will tell you this isn’t how it should have been.”

Ambrose resisted the urge to frown.  There were four Bird of Prey out there in the system and well within weapons range.  Instead, he went with, “I have studied my fair share of your world, Captain…and I accept your explanation and terms.”

J’Klast laughed heartily, “You sound like a diplomat, Commander Harris.”  He let the moment hold before he said, “I suppose in these days we’re all diplomats”, with a sigh.  “We’re warriors, Commander.  Spilling blood and conquering the galaxy will always be a part of us.”  He stared at Harris a moment longer, “There is always a chance we shall meet on the battlefield again, Commander Harris.  Seeing you fight these Romulans…it would be something to battle with you someday.”

A small smile crossed the CO’s lips, “I look forward to meeting you again…in whatever role fate has for us to play, Captain.”

A nod from J’Klast, “Qapla’, Commander.”

Harris responded in kind, “Qapla’, Captain.” The channel closed and Harris let out a long breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

Prentice spoke up from his station, “Four Bird of Preys are departing the area at full impulse.”  He turned to face Harris who was sitting down in his chair, “We made it, sir.”

He chuckled, “We still have a Romulan prisoner to bring aboard and sort out…not to mention get this ship to a station for repair.  Making it…that’s the long game.  Getting to get out of things alive to keep on that road to making it…now that’s a worthy goal.”

Prentice smiled, “Then we’ve come out alive.”  He glanced at his console, “Commander, security, and engineering report the brig is secure and repaired enough to receive Patra.”

The CO stood, “Inform the Romulans to transport him to a brig cell.  Mr. Kondo, Lieutenant Thasaz, with me.  Dr. Court, you have the bridge.”  They left the bridge and entered the turbolift, all three thinking about the meeting they were about to have.

USS Edinburgh – The Brig – 0915

Two chairs sat in front of the cell that held Commodore Patra.  Both chairs stood empty.  In the darkness of the recesses of the brig stood Commander Harris, Lieutenant Thasaz, and the security chief, Ensign Kondo De La Fontaine.  Harris stepped forward and stood beside one of the chairs.  Patra sat in the center of his cell as rage, anger, and furor played across his face.  His eyes simply stared ahead, hands balled tightly at his sides.  The silence of the room held as both men remained still.

Harris spoke first, “I’m Commander Ambrose Harris of the Federation Starship USS Edinburgh.  You have been transferred to our custody by a representative of the Romulan Empire.” Patra spit at the floor when he heard it and his face remained full of fury.  The CO continued, “We have not yet…accepted your transfer.  You are currently…in between jurisdictions.”  

At that, Patra slowly stood and approached the shimmering forcefield, “You cannot kill the ideas I’ve created.  The Romulan Star Empire is no more…and the rest of it will become a shattered disaster of infighting, and disagreements…violence will eventually overrule negotiations, deals, or treaties.”  He sneered at Harris, “You think you can end what I’ve started?  The suffering…the pain…the power…it is an intoxicating smell to any and all who desire to lead.”  Patra growled, “The Klingons were so easy to tempt…so easy to ply with promises of glory, battle…and more ships.”  He pointed sharply at Harris, “You would be dead in the darkness of space…your body drifting in space like that of your crewman.”  He returned to his seat, “I will kill you eventually.  You may put me on trial…or maroon me somewhere far from here…but I will find you…and your crew….and I will cut at you until nothing but pieces of your skin remains.”  A menacing smile flicked across his face, “You can ask your friends, the traitorous group that they are – I am never long for a cell.  I always find my way back to carve out the hearts of my enemies.”

Harris was smart enough to know much of this was true.  They had asked and been denied a full history of the Commodore from the Romulan ships that had arrived to save Thasaz.  Patra’s influence would not soon fade from the planets he had operated and controlled.  Images of him being led into a prison or a courtroom would only encourage his followers and it would put considerable pressure on any new government that formed from the ruins.  The same insidious snakes would find their way in the doors and take up positions where they could wield influence and power.  “I do not doubt any of that.”  He sat in the chair, “But I don’t think you were listening…your transfer to our custody is not yet…complete.”

Patra frowned, “What do you mean by this?”

Lieutenant Thasaz stepped out of the darkness and sat down in the chair next to her CO, “What he means…is that you are not under the protection of The Federation.”  She leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms, “Hello, Commodore.”

The older Romulan stood and slammed into the forcefield, not wincing as the feedback shocked him, “You presume to speak to me?  You…inconsequential little worm?  I should have ordered your death sooner.  Ended the streak of your family’s incompetence.”  He watched her face react and chuckled deeply, “Ah, yes.  The secrets I know…you wouldn’t dare kill me now.”

Thasaz didn’t speak and simply stared fire into the skull of the Romulan Commodore.  Harris turned to her, “We can make him talk.”  

She stared at the monster a moment longer before turning to him, “I do not know what he’s speaking of – both of my parents were always outsiders in the Romulan Empire.  My father was a failed soldier turned scientist while my mother found diplomacy a spider’s web with too much focus on catching flies and destroying lives.”

Patra remained standing, “Your father was not just a failed soldier…he lacked the qualities for anything aside from studying plants,” he spat as he said it, “He lacked anything resembling manhood.”  He sneered at Thasaz, “Your mother was ineffective at everything she did…simple missions eluded her.  Too soft.  They shuffled her away.”  He clapped his hands with glee, “I still remember the day they died.”  He stared at her now, “Do you?”

Harris looked to his science chief, “You don’t have to do this, Lieutenant.”

She narrowed her eyes, the tears being held back by her own seething rage.  She shook her head, “I remember them being taken into the streets.  I remember them resisting until the very end.  I remember they knew they were innocent.  I remember their deaths because it changed me.”  She stared at Patra, “What do you remember?”

“I remember ordering them dead.  I remember watching the disrupter fire.”  He chuckled, “If I had known you would have become such a problem for me in the future…I’d have ended you just as well.”

Thasaz stood from the chair but didn’t move closer, “Why didn’t you?  Why didn’t you kill me?”

Patra shrugged, “We had a whole list of people that day.  You would have slowed us down.  My men weren’t ready to kill a child anyways.  You have to build up to that.”

Harris quickly tapped the console on the chair, muting the cell as Thasaz sunk back into her chair, her hands mirroring Patra’s clenched fist.  The older Romulan smirked and walked to the back of his cell and sat, waiting.  “You didn’t have to do that, Lieutenant.”

Through tears, she growled, “Yes, I did.  Did you record it?”  He gestured at the PADD showing the session recording.  “They did eventually build up to it.  There were school-age friends that simply stopped coming to school…their families disappeared.”  She wiped the water from her eyes, “They say killing for justice doesn’t bring you peace.  That it only twists your further.”  She faced her CO, “It’s hard to imagine that any of that is true…in this moment, Commander.  They say you only understand the urge to kill someone when someone’s done the unspeakable to someone you know.  I knew a lot of those Romulans over the years, Commander.  I knew a lot of them.”

Harris leaned forward, “My mother has been working on our behalf with the various pieces of the Romulan government that are slowly forming.  Each of them agreed to revoke any diplomatic standing he has with them.  Most of them were onboard with revoking his Romulan citizenship as well.”  He tapped the PADD, “Once I sent out that last bit…everyone at the table agreed.  You’re looking at a Romulan that’s been forcefully exiled.”  He looked into her eyes, “He’ll never see the light of day.  Maximum security.  Orders for transfer just came through.  He’ll be in a hole in the ground for the rest of his life…however long that lasts.”

“You’re not going to let me kill him?”

Ambrose shook his head, “It would feel good in the moment, Lieutenant, I’m sure.  Then you’d have to accept that you’d killed someone.  You’d question if you should have let him fight fair.  You’d wonder if you’d done the right thing.  That he’d suffered enough.  You’d have too many questions.”  He stared at Patra’s smug look, “Where he’s going…it will not be a kind place.  Diplomacy means nothing.  Treaties mean nothing.  It’s where the monsters go to be locked in the depths of space, never to return.  He’ll run out of voice screaming for someone to remember him.  The Romulan’s records will indicate he died today at the hands of the crew of the Clawed Death.”

She stared at him, frowning, “And our records?”

“We will receive notice from the Captain of the Clawed Death and revise our records to reflect.  Anyone comes looking for the bastard…they’ll find a dead end.”  He gestured to him, “Is that an acceptable compromise?”

She motioned for him to tap the console and he did.  She stepped to the edge of the field as Patra bounded up the barrier, chuckling, “Did you commander tell you of the pain that killing me would bring?  That you would become just like me in the end?  That’s my favorite version.”

Thasaz smiled and watched as the Commodore’s own grin faltered, “I am not going to kill you, Patra.  I’m going to tell you that every single functional Romulan and Reman government has revoked your diplomatic status…in addition…and this is my favorite version,”  She moved close enough that the field buzzed lightly against her skin, “Your citizenship has been revoked as well – everywhere where there is someone who has the power to make such a decision…you are no longer recognized.”  Her grin went wider as his faded, “You will die today according to the ships out there.  They will report your death to the Federation and that notice will be transmitted everywhere and anywhere.”  She stepped back, “You will be transferred to a maximum-security prison in the far reaches of some part of empty space and live the rest of your life…in a hole.”  Thasaz gave a slight bow, “You will go where the monsters go…and be buried alive in the emptiness of space.  I wish you suffering and pain.”  She stared at him a moment longer, “Justice has been served for the blood you spilled.”  Patra began to shout at her as she left.

“I WILL NOT BE HELD IN A CAGE!  YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ME!  I HAVE POWER!  I HAVE SHIPS!  I WILL FIND YOU AND…”  Harris tapped the console and he screamed and pounded on the forcefield in silenced and spittled rage.

Harris rolled his eyes and stepped to the next cell in the brig where Saho stood, her eyes wet with tears.  “You have a choice, Saho.  You can come with us and we can find you a home…a place to start over…or you can join him.”

She shook her head vigorously, “I have had much time to think on my sins, Commander.  That…was hard to hear.  To think I once followed him.  That I worshiped his words…his commands.”  She cried, “It has been a hard month of being in my head, sir.  Remembering who I was…and how much I never want to be that again.  I ask for your forgiveness, Commander…and the forgiveness of your crew.”

The CO replied, “You have done more than anyone in your position would.  You saved a crewman from death.  You’ve looked at yourself and found yourself wanting something more than this. Forgiveness is granted, Saho.”  He stepped towards the barrier, meeting her eyes, “We’re going to put you under house arrest…you’ll have a pair of security guards with you at all times – outside our quarters and walking with you wherever you go.  Mr. Kondo will explain where and what you’re allowed to do.”  He signaled to Kondo at the control station and the forcefield that had incarcerated her for a month fell.  Her eyes went wide as she realized what had just happened.

“This…is real?”  He nodded.  She stepped carefully over the threshold gingerly, cringing at the expected forcefield impact.  There was none.  She took another step.  And another.  She stepped until she was arms-length from Harris,  “Uh…sir…May…I…hug you?”

Kondo chuckled and Harris leaned forward, “Permission to hug is granted.”  She rushed into his arms and held her captor-turned savior tightly, tears flowing at the first real physical contact in some time.  

She eventually pulled away, her face awash in her relief.  As she sobbed lightly she bowed slightly to him, “Thank you, Commander.  I am thankful for you and your crew.”  She looked around and he pointed her towards the door as two officers walked her out the door and down the corridor.

Harris noticed Patra was speechless in his cell and he unmuted the man and spoke evenly, “You think you can destroy people…control them…make them bend to your will…and send them to die simply because you wanted to spill blood on the board to make a point.  Saho is her own person now, Patra.  She is the proof of life against your culture of death.  I want that image to be the last you see before we ship you away.  Life finds a way to be lived despite the best efforts of monsters.”  He signaled Kondo to close the walls over the forcefield.  For once, Patra was silent.  Harris waited until the metal wall clicked into place.  He turned and walked out, leaving behind a still stunned Patra who crawled into a corner where he remained for the rest of his time on board the Edinburgh.

Starbase Bravo – Repair Dock – 0700

“Good morning, Commander.”  The dock master accepted his PADD and scanned it into the secure system. It beeped and he gestured him on through.  They had arrived late last night after limping their way home with Chief Katsumi working her hardest to keep the ship functional without tearing the buckled decks or the damaged parts of the hull apart.  She’d refused to leave last night and slept in engineering to make sure none of the Starbase Bravo crew would do anything to her Edinburgh.  She’d formed a fast bond with the ship, and it brought Harris a measure of joy to see her smile grow when she talked about the ship.  He walked along the corridor and caught glimpses of other ships in station for repair or even resupply.  He slowed to take in the various other classes.  A massive Galaxy class was departing the station while an Excelsior II class had just slipped into its moorings.  The latter class was a thing of beauty, he thought.  She was a direct descendent of the class of ship that had names like Sulu attached to them in the past.  He pulled away from the portholes and headed down to the Edinburgh.

USS Edinburgh- Bridge – 0715

Stepping onto the bridge he found it in chaos and repair – the carpet was being ripped apart as consoles, stations, and the ceiling was swarming with engineers from both the ship and the station.  He gave a nod to those he recognized and entered his ready room to find his first officer standing before his desk in civilian clothes, nervously holding a PADD.  She turned and gave him a nod, “Commander.”

He gestured to the couch below the window with a hesitant smile, “Dr. Court…I didn’t think you’d beat me to my ready room.”

She looked at him for a long time before handing over the PADD, “I wanted to do this as quickly as possible, Commander Harris…I’ve come to realize there’s a reason why I retired.”  Blanchefleur Courtemanche stood and snagged an iced lemonade from the replicator before returning to her seat, “I’ve seen more action on this posting than anywhere else.”  As he attempted to speak, she put up her hands, “I hit that deck pretty hard when we went toe to toe with that Commodore…I wasn’t prepared for what was in store for me.”  She pulled her communications badge and the rank pip container out of her pocket and handed them to him, “You won’t talk me out of this, Commander.  Better men than you have tried…and failed.”

He accepted them and stared at her for a moment, “It’s my first resignation.  A little hard to figure out where to go from here, you know?”

She smiled warmly, “Commander – we all find where we’re supposed to be in life.  I thought coming back was the way I could help…but I’ve found out my heart just isn’t in it… there are younger and battle-ready officers out there.”  She finished off her lemonade, “You’ve got a great crew on the Eddie, Commander.”  She stood and he pushed off the couch as she extended her hand, “It’s been a pleasure serving with you, Commander Harris.  I wish only the best for you and your crew.”  

He returned the handshake with, “You were exactly what I needed as a first officer, Dr, Court.  Thank you for your service.”  She gave a nod and left the room, the door closing out the sounds of chaos on the bridge, leaving Harris to fiddle with the badge and pips in his hands.

Starbase Bravo – Quarters – 0800

“That’s all she said?”  Jordan Reid sat at the table working her way through a sausage omelet as her boyfriend and CO worked at the desk with his PADD.

“You didn’t like her, I get it.”  He tapped through a list of applications for Chief Counselor.

Reid shrugged, “That’s fair.  It’s hard to work with someone who’s been at it for so long…makes it hard to learn together as you go.”

Ambrose highlighted five names and tapped at the PADD, “Take a look at these.”

She picked up her PADD and scrolled through, “Number 1’s too academic and book smart.” She read further, “#2 and #3 would not do well on a starship.”  Another glance, “#4 looks solid – no-nonsense, seen some action in her practicum hours on a starship while earning a combat support badge.  #5 looks like everybody else you don’t want on your command team.”  Harris made a note to call in the 4th candidate in a few hours’ time.  Reid returned her dishes to the replicator, “You figure out what you’re going to do for your first officer?”

Harris collected his PADD into a case, “I’m thinking of offering it to Chief Katsumi.”

Reid considered the idea, “She’d need a rank bump.  First officers are usually Lieutenant Commanders or above.  Yea, I was the brief exception to the rule.  I think it’s the best you got – finding a command officer outside of your crew can make for trouble.”  Ambrose thanked her with a kiss on the lips and dashed out the door.  Jordan smiled quietly.

USS Edinburgh- Engineering- 0830

The room was still chaotic and officers moved quickly and with purpose.  In the midst of all this stood thirty-five-year-old Okada Katsumi, Chief Engineer, and second officer.  She tapped calmly at her PADD as officers passed near her for instructions and updates.  She noticed her CO a moment later wandering around, looking at consoles.  “Commander!  Over here, sir.”  She called him over and he slipped to her side.  “What can I do for you, sir?”

Harris chuckled, “Well, I’d hoped to do this another way but…everyone!  I need your attention!”  His voice got loud and booming, sending the others skittering into silence.  He smiled, “Chief Engineer’s gotta have a big voice…I still got it.”  The current Chief smiled in appreciation while he continued, “Lieutenant Okada Katsumi, Chief Engineering Officer as well as Second Officer, it is my distinct pleasure and honor to promote you to Lieutenant Commander.”  He held up the rank pips as the gathered crew applauded wildly until the CO motioned them to stop, “Now, you all may know Chief Katsumi has repeatedly turned down this promotion in the past.”  She gave a sheepish nod as he spoke further, “It also comes with a promotion in officer status.  Lieutenant Commander Okada Katsumi, it is my distinct pleasure and honor to confirm upon you the role, duties, and responsibilities of the First Officer of the USS Edinburgh.”  The clapping and cheering were louder this time as Katsumi blushed in complete embarrassment at the spectacle in her engine room.  Her crew eventually quieted down to watch the CO add the pin to her uniform and shake her hand, “Congratulations Chief.”

Her smile was wide as she played with the new rank pip on her uniform and she spoke at last, “Thank you, commander.  It is a sacred duty and honor.”  She shook his hand and leaned in, “Now could you please get out of the way…please?”  He laughed out loud and gave her a nod as he waved goodbye to the gathered crew.

Now all he needed was a chief counselor.

Starbase Bravo – Personnel Department – 0900

“I heard about the Erigone towards the end of my time on my Raven class.  Y’all were a bunch of badasses.”  Juliet Woodward sat across the table from Harris, her eyes excited as her hands moved as she spoke, “And then the Edinburgh?  Damn.”  She sat up, “I apologize, sir…I curse a little.”  She was young, Harris thought, but she had seen as much action over the last year as they had in the few months they’d been together.  Her attention to detail as he’d talked to her and her awareness of the fleet was unusual but appreciated.

He tapped through her file and application on his PADD, “Long as you don’t curse on the bridge, in front of your crew, or in dress uniform – I think I can handle that, Ensign.  You note here that you were looking for a bigger ship…talk to me about that.”

Juliet sighed, “It’s hard to lose yourself on a Raven, you know?  There’s no dilution between you and everybody else – you figure out if y’all are gonna get along or not.  There are only so many places to go running and only one holodeck.”  She sat back in her chair, “I’m a runner, Commander Harris.  I need to run to clear my head and get my body back into the work.”

He made a note or two, “Your previous commanding officer’s recommendation…”

She leaned forward and sighed, “We did not get along.”  She chewed at her top lip for a moment as his questioning glance and finished with, “He didn’t want me really…talking with the other crew regularly.  He thought I was better suited for science.”  She wrinkled her nose as if remembering the conversation, “A year into his great experiment, I am glad to say he was wrong.  Counseling and Science are not the same.”

“Did he admit his error?”

Juliet laughed and then covered her mouth with an apologetic look, “I…that was a bit unprofessional.  No, he didn’t.  He wasn’t someone who could admit his mistakes or really even talk about them.  I worried about it my first few weeks but thought it was going to great better.  It did not. I realized I had found myself in a backwater assignment.  I drank a lot of synthehol.  Wasn’t the same.”  She shrugged at his look, “If you knew him, Commander…,” she whistled.

Harris tapped at his PADD and found the ship she’d been assigned to and the captain of the vessel.  It was his turn to raise his eyebrows and chuckle, “Your former CO has been on this ship for two years?”  

She nodded and chuckled, “He cycles through command teams every six months it seems…I think Starfleet is getting tired of it.  They told me I’d never have to see him or a Raven class again in my life.  He’s peed in too many people’s cereal bowls.”

“A colorful metaphor, Ensign.”

She sat back up, “Is it gonna be a problem, sir?”  She eyed him carefully.

Harris returned her eye contact, “Long as you keep to my ground rules, no.  Your academy track record speaks about your working well with others and organizing events and places for the crew to relax and breathe.  Given the messes we seem to find ourselves in the middle of…I’m keen to have someone like you on board.”

Juliet asked, “Me or someone like me?  You’re playing the word game with me, Commander…and I’m not particularly a fan of games.”

Ambrose returned with, “Then don’t play games with your words and my ship, Ensign.  You can be free with your mouth in virtually every corner of the Edinburgh…but you have to remember time and a place – because one of those times could mean life or death for someone.”  He tapped at his PADD, “Is that a fair request?”

Woodward had to give this guy credit – he’d figured her out pretty quickly.  He wasn’t like other command-level officers she’d dealt with in the past.  This one actually listened a little…and wasn’t afraid to push back with a little fire.  “I can accept those terms, sir.”

Harris pushed out from his chair and walked over to her and extended his hand, “Ensign Juliet Woodward, I am offering you the position of Chief Counseling Officer aboard the USS Edinburgh.”

She looked at his hand, “I heard from someone y’all call her The Eddie.”

Harris chuckled and revised with, “…aboard The Eddie.”  She shook his hand and thanked him.  He handed her a PADD with her quarters and instructions on their first meeting later today.  She saluted and walk out of the room.  Harris felt relief as he collected his things.  Soon they would be back out in the blackness of space on the next mission.

He couldn’t wait.

USS Edinburgh- Engineering- 2200

“….I am now a First Officer…which is weird to say out loud.” Okada paused and sat back in her corner of main engineering, “Although if you asked my old boss he’d probably tell me I shoulda been farther up the ladder yada yada.”  She pulled out another PADD, “Repairs are going well – the bridge is halfway complete – they’re bringing in new consoles first thing in the morning.  The sensors system is getting refit at noon and the shields are getting their rebuild started first thing in the morning as well.  They’ve taken a look at our buckled decks and have assured me they’ll have it done in 5 days, but I’m going to get out there to see if they’re right.  The hull work has already started and they’ve got a night crew up there even now doing all the work they gotta do.”  She scrolled through the PADD, “They’ll take a look at the power system as well and we’re going to figure out how to best compensate…but you can only do so much with a ship that’s not built to stand up to what we stood up to…damn Romulan Warbirds.”  She snagged her cup of hot tea and slammed it down before continuing, “I’m hopeful we can The Eddie back out there again – I spent over ten years working in Bravo…after all this…I’m not sure I want to ever come back to stay.”  She thought for a moment longer, “I’m hoping for some holodeck time…but we’ll see.  Computer, end log, and file in ship’s log.”  The computer beeped and she returned to her PADDs and the ongoing status reports on the repair and refit work going on.  She sipped from her non-alcoholic Moscow Mule until the doors to Engineering sprang open.  She leaned over to look past the humming warp core and found her CO walking her way.  “Commander?”  She nearly fell out of her chair but recovered and set it back down as he approached carrying a large bag.

“Good evening, Lieutenant Commander.”  He pulled up a chair and pulled two glasses and set them on the railing, “And congratulations on making it through your first day as First Officer.”

She smiled widely, “Thank you, Commander…it still feels weird to say that with my name.  First Officer Katsumi….or Executive Officer Katsumi.”  She looked from the glasses to the bag and back to him, “What is this?”

Harris gave her a long look as he explained, “You were remiss in your questionnaire that I had you fill out.  You did not reveal that your parents own and operate one of the best…if not the best sake sakaguras in the world.”

She stared at him, “How did you…”

He put his hands up, “I do my research on my crew – learned it from a previous CO.  I always do a background – that questionnaire is part of the process.  I learned from him that the best way to work with your command crew is to get to know them through food, through drink…and sometimes both.”  He pulled out a bottle of sake, “It wasn’t easy getting a bottle of SuHan, but I called in a few favors.”  He poured his cup and hers and put the bottle on the floor, “Now…the other thing I learned is that you have a love of all things Chicken Tempura Don with a special kind of dipping sauce.”  He pulled out of the bag two containers and handed one to her, “Tentsuyu with wasabi, which sent me on a search for good wasabi.”

She popped open the container and was immediately overwhelmed with the smell of her home kitchen.  She stared at the meal and then at her CO who had already started eating.  She pulled out the chopsticks and slowly brought a chunk of the meal to her mouth.  It tasted as if she had never left home.  Her heart was filled with warmth and she held back a tear or two as she chased the bites down with sake from her parents sakagura.  Okada shook her head at her commander in disbelief, “You got it just right, sir.  How in the hell did you do this?”  She took another bite and closed her eyes as the nostalgia for her hometown just outside Nagasaki flooded her senses.

Ambrose took another bite of the Chicken Tempura Don and took a draw from the glass, “I asked around.  May have even reached out to your parents.”  He chuckled, “They had stories to tell about you, Chief.”

Okada groaned, “Which one did they tell?  I can guess.  Either the one where I took apart the family shuttle overnight or the one where I installed some upgrades to the home oven.”

Her CO laughed, “No, but they alluded to some incidents and accidents in that area.  No, they told me the story about how you found out one of your neighbors was having trouble with their new refit apartment…all that technology apparently was driving…what was his name?”

She chased several bites down with a pull of sake before explaining, “Mr. Matsa.  His wife had died years ago and he’d gone on living in their apartment.  Progress being progress they came in one day and refit the entire place when he was out riding his bike.  Came back and they tried to explain it all to him…but Matsa threw them out.  They’d taken everything that reminded him of his wife – all the old equipment…the color scheme…all gone in an instant.”

Harris waited for her to continue the story.  She chowed down on the rest of her meal and looked up with a ‘What?’ look on her face.  He prodded her, “So you did something amazing.”

She refilled her sake and sipped at it, “I don’t know about amazing.  I talked to Matsa the next day and he seemed off.  Like something was missing.  So asked and asked until he just told me..through tears and all that.  So I got a little pi…upset.  I went to the guys who did the refit and got them to reinstall the entire old apartment.  I don’t think I’d ever seen Matsa that happy.”  She chuckled, “We went on walks every morning and he invited us over for dinner once a week.  I loved that old man.”  She sat back in her chair, “That was some damned fine food, sir.”

Ambrose chuckled, “You left out the part where you threatened to beat those guys into, I think your mother said, ‘A billion bastardy pieces’ or something like that.”

Okada cringed but smiled in the end, “I’m not proud of it…but it got the job done.”

Silence held as they sipped at the sake for a moment longer before Harris stood, “I should head back to the station.  Thanks for letting me crash your engine room, Chief.” 

“You’re always welcome here, sir.  Once an engineer…always an engineer.  Thanks for dinner.”

He gave her a nod and headed towards the exit but stopped and turned to face her, “I’m really glad I have you as my first officer, Okada.  I need people who are willing to stand up for others.”

She sat forward, sensing the serious compliment being given, “Thank you, sir.  I promise to elevate my threats in the future.”

Ambrose laughed and waved goodnight as he headed back to Bravo.  Okada sat, thinking over their conversation.  She wondered what the next mission would hold…and how it would test each of them.

USS Edinburgh- Briefing Room – 0800

The command crew sat around the table catching up with each other.  The repairs on the Edinburgh had taken longer to complete after the damage to the decks had been fully examined and Okada’s concerns about long-term stability were taken into account.  They had each found things to do both off duty and on duty.  Reid had volunteered to work with the medical side of things while Thasaz had taken a few days to help with refugees.  Kondo had pulled his tactical and security team to do drills and team building in the various holo decks.  Juliet had met with her new counseling team and they’d made a plan to begin seeing crew and scheduling off-time activities.  Okada had remained on the ship to assist in the continued repairs and to get a better understanding of her first officer duties.

The door opened and their commanding officer stepped into the room and took a seat at the front of the table, “Good morning, everyone.  We’ve got our orders…and we’ll be departing shortly after I brief you all.”  He stood and tapped at the screen, “We’re returning to the Kaseas Colony.  It’s not the moon that’s cause for concern this time…it’s the sun.”  He tapped at the screen, “Starfleet sent a science vessel to do a routine scan of the system after we left and at first…things seemed stable.  As they circled through the area, they detected something from the sun…Jasaw, I believe is the name.”  He moved to the next image, “Jasaw is experiencing a renewing of it’s power.  The USS Potena reports they’re seeing energy spikes beyond what would normally be expected from the sun.  Part of the reason why the moon and its base exist was to balance out the environment and the influence that the sun throws at the planet.  However – the Potena science crew is worried that even if we installed a warp core…or even a Romulan core in it…it’s not going to be able to keep up with the sun.  There’s concern the sun could go supernova in six months to a year.  The Potena is staying on-site and will be assisting us with figuring out just what we can do.”

Thasaz stared at the screen, “Commander…has the possibility that this particular phase of the sun may not be a natural part of its process been discussed?”

Harris replied, “It’s been discussed…and there’s not enough evidence to say either way.  Part of why we’re involved is your experience within your former group’s study of stars and suns.”  He handed her a PADD, “Starfleet has asked for you to identify twenty of your crew that you would trust to come along – they would operate under your command as guests on the Edinburgh.”

She felt a quiet smile slip across her lips as she quietly accepted the PADD, “Thank you, sir.”

He turned to the rest of the crew, “We depart within the hour.  We’ll need three-man teams from engineering, operations, and counseling ready to go down with the away team.  Science and medical will be sending most of their crew along with our security teams to assist.  Dismissed.”  The crew cleared out until it was just him and Jordan Reid.  He gathered his PADDs and slipped them into a bag, “You stuck around for a reason, Jord?”

She had stayed in her seat, “You didn’t stay long in the bed this week…you were out the door by eight am.”

He paused in his packing up, “I have responsibilities, Jord.  Sometimes those get in the way of us…I’m sorry that’s the case….but I can’t do anything about it.  I was honest about wanting to get that captain rank pip.  That takes work…and time.”

She sighed and pushed out of the chair, “I know…you’ve always been honest about this thing.”  She grumbled, “Doesn’t mean I have to like it, ‘Brose.”  She reached out and fixed the collar of his uniform, “I’m gonna have feelings about this…I was honest about that, wasn’t I?”

Ambrose reached out and put his fingers over hers, “You were.  Remember what I told you?”

Another grumble, “Your feelings aren’t wrong…what you do with them…that’s what matters.”  She clasped her hands in his, “I want this to keep working, ‘Brose.”

He kissed her fingers, “I do too, Jord.  We’ve got a balancing act to keep learning as we go.”  He kissed her forehead and pulled away, finishing his packing, “Speaking of going…we’ve an hour before The Eddie’s on the next mission.  I’ve got a bridge to command…”

Reid smiled a little, “…and I have a sickbay to run.  Fine.  Let’s get to work.”  They both left out the door of the briefing room a little lighter than when they entered.

USS Edinburgh- The Castle (bridge) – 0915

Harris sat in his command chair.  The bridge was back in order.  They’d installed a few more lights to brighten up the corners and some of the consoles sported new improved control interfaces.  He tapped at his console until his helm officer entered the bridge. “Mr. Prentice, a moment before you take your station.”  He stood from his chair and handed Prentice a PADD for him to sign, “Based on your valiant efforts onboard the USS Edinburgh and your incredible exhibition of both talent and professionalism within the helm department, I am promoting you to Chief Helm Officer of the USS Edinburgh.  The department is yours, Ensign.”

Prentice was speechless as the others around the bridge turned and applauded – some even cheering!  He accepted the PADD and signed it, shakily.  He shook his CO’s hand, “Thank you, Commander…I’m very…humbled.”

“You earned it, Ensign.”  

Prentice slid into his chair and took a few breaths.  Chief Helm Officer!  He’d have to write home about that, for sure.  He went through his status reports quickly.  “All stations report ready for departure.  Our science guests have been welcomed aboard and are secured in quarters.”  Another tap on the console, “Course laid in for Kaseas Colony.”

Harris sat back down in his chair, “Make it happen, Ensign Prentice…let’s get on our way.”  The Edinburgh flew into the unknown.

USS Edinburgh-Ready Room – 0830

The door chime rang and Harris looked up, “Enter.”  Thasaz sat up from her place on the couch under the windows as Ensign Sadie Fowler stepped into the room.  She glanced at her chief and then at her CO as the door to the bridge closed behind her.

“You had asked to see me sir…ma’am?”  She wasn’t sure who she was supposed to look at and decided on Harris since he was the ranking officer in the room.  Harris gestured for her to sit and she did, hesitantly, “Am I in some kind of trouble?”

Thasaz chuckled, “No, Ensign Fowler.  You know I’ve been working my way through the applications for the position of assistant chief science officer.”  Sadie nodded, her eyes growing wide as she understood why she was here.  This was where she found out that she didn’t get the job.  Her chief went through her list of qualifications and she blushed a few times at things she hadn’t really thought about.  “Finally…you were asked to step into my role both on the bridge and on the away team.  Commander Harris and Ensign Kondo were impressed with your performance…not to mention Chief Katsumi as well.”  She tapped at her PADD, “You’ve proven yourself as a valued crewmember, and as someone willing to listen and learn.”  Thasaz stood and Fowler did the same as her science chief stood in front of her, hand extended, “It is my honor and privilege to offer you the position of Assistant Chief Science Officer on the USS Edinburgh.”

Sadie let out the breath she’d been holding, “You mean I got it?!”  She slammed her mouth shut and blushed a deeper shade than earlier, “I mean to say…thank you Lieutenant for believing in me.”  She turned on her heels and awkwardly put out her hand, “Thank you, Commander.”  

He stood and shook her hand, “You established yourself amongst your fellow science officers and crew.  My only words of advice are to understand those that serve under your command are not numbers or pieces on a chess board.  They’re living things, Ensign.  Remember that in the easy times…but most importantly…remember that in the rough times.  You are dismissed.”  She squeaked with joy and then turned read again as she returned to the bridge, aglow with good news.

Ambrose returned to his seat as the door closed and he glanced at his chief science officer, “They’re a young crew…I forget that sometimes.”

“They continue to amaze, Commander.  I’m more worried about the sun at the Kaseas Colony.  The more reports I’m getting from Potena the more concerned I grow.  I’ve had my team looking over the data – there is a reading in the data that suggests something in that sun is artificially acting as an agent of change.  We are unable to confirm our theory, only that something is operating as…you would call it a ‘bad actor’ or something similar to that.”

Harris leaned forward, “Worst case scenario?”

She sighed, “The sun goes supernova and explodes in eight hours…or less.”

He grumbled, “Well…shit.”

“I have expressed a similar sentiment…but in Romulan.”  Harris raised an eyebrow and she relented, “The Romulan word is hnaev.”

“Well, hnaev then.  What’s the best-case scenario?”

She studied her PADD, “The sun does not, as you would say, go boom today…or tomorrow…but eventually…boom.”

Harris cackled and laughed, “You’ve been watching Babylon 5, Lieutenant!  I’m proud of you.”

The Romulan cracked a sly smile, “You recommended it to me, so I decided to give it an attempt.  I have grown fond of Susan Ivanova in my viewings.”

The CO realized they had wandered and grumbled to himself, “Well, back to business.  I’m guessing you’re going to want to get a closer look at the sun when we arrive?”

She nodded, “Bravo installed the sensor pods in all three of our modules, so we will see far better than the Potena.” 

Ambrose’s badge chirped, =^=Commander Harris to the bridge, we’ve arrived sir.=^=  They both stood and entered the bridge – Harris to his command chair and Thasaz to relieve her recently promoted ACSO.

USS Edinburgh- The Castle (bridge) – 0845

Harris sat in his chair, “Report?”

Prentice spoke from his station, “The Potena is located near the sun.  Governor Tasawa reports he is ready to receive our teams.”

“Lieutenant Thasaz?”

She shook her head and turned to face him, “It’s looking far more unstable since the last scans we had, sir.  I would recommend that Dr. Reid and the team begin the process of preparing the population for evacuation.”

Harris asked the inevitable, “Population size?”

“1,000, sir.  Our emergency capacity.”

“Damn.  Get word to Doctor Reid in the transporter rooms and relay that information to Governor Tasawa as well.”  He chewed on his lips.  The Eddie could take the colony’s population…but time was the unknown.  How long and if they had long was now the biggest fly in the ointment.  “Prentice, is our team on the ground?”

Prentice tapped at the console balancing several different objectives.  The air on the bridge had suddenly become quite tense as the worries of each officer and crew in the room were now focused on the planet below…and the sun that was now threatening to blow it out of the sky.  “Almost complete.”  He waited a few more moments before the console blinked green.  “All teams transported, sir”

Harris continued to chew on his lips, “Prentice, full impulse to the sun.  Tell Potena we’re on our way.  Update them on what we think we’re seeing.”  He sat back in the chair, his mind working through every engineering solution he knew to the current problem.  There were not many, and he suspected none of them would be the simple answer.  Space was complicated and messy.  

He quietly hoped there wouldn’t be as much clean-up this time around.

Kaseas Colony – 0900

Jordan had spread her and the science teams out among the outbuildings to ostensibly do medical checks on the colony citizens.  She walked back into the main building as Chief Katsumi was sitting down at the table with Governor Tasawa, explaining the dangers of what was happening out in the darkness of space, “We expect a report from the Edinburgh shortly, but the overall situation is not looking great, sir.”

Reid sat down, “Your people are healthier and stronger, Tasawa.”  She looked at him for the first time and found herself concerned.  He was looking more haggard than the last time they had seen him and his eyes drooped, his breath ragged.  “Tasawa…?”

He sighed deeply, “I am not well, Doctor.  I will not bother you with the details – you will scan me and have your answers soon enough.  I have lived a long time, Doctor…but it seems my time is coming to an end.  My people will live on…but I will need to select a new Governor.”  He shook his head, “The trouble is…I have no good candidates to select from!”

Okada asked, “You said…,”

A grumble was her answer, “I said that the old Governor would select one to lead…but there are none capable within.  I’ve looked, believe me.  In a thousand faces…I’ve yet to locate someone who can do this job well.”  He sat back in his chair, “I have one answer, but I doubt she would listen.”

Reid sat up, “You said there’s no one in your group who could…,”

“It is someone among your group, Doctor.  Lieutenant Thasaz.  She would fill this role with great wisdom and decisions.  She is still yet young enough to keep the people going.  Yet…I do not know how such a request would be handled…or made?”

Jordan looked to her first officer and Okada spoke up, “Governor…if we must move your people…will they leave?  Led by you…or whoever….?”

Tasawa shrugged his shoulders, “My people have known the moon as a God for enough generations that the ideas of the world outside us are…theoretical at best.  Your arrival a month ago was a shock – the revolutionary medical treatments you did pushed them to start asking questions about the past…and the future.  I began to tell them of how we came here…and what lay above us in the heavens and beyond.”

The engineer inquired further, “Do they…believe you?”  It was her turn to shrug at his askance look as she explained, “It can be hard for people who believed the bright shiny thing in the sky and the moon were gods to translate to understanding traveling through space.”Tasawa accepted doubts, “What you will find interesting, Chief Katsumi…is that within their family groups they told stories from the first who had come here…in secret.  They submitted to the rules, the practices, and they believed – that was not a lie…but stories passed down from generation to generation that told of a time when they would fly through the stars in ships…and that they would fly faster than anything they’d ever seen…when you left a month ago and I began to share pieces with them, many turned to each other and nodded – they had known the truth this whole time!”  He chuckled and coughed hard for a moment but sipped at his water and kept going, “Once you’ve traveled the stars like you do, it is hard to repress or remove that discovery from within your soul.  The first ones who came here…their stories have been silently burning in everyone’s hearts with each generation that is born and grows – it’s become a bonfire to us all…and your arrival lit the match.”

Okada was amazed and amused, “So if they must leave this place…”

Tasawa grinned, “They will not hesitate to follow whoever leads them into that next great space above them.”

Reid stood, “Then I think we’d better at least have them start preparing to depart, Governor.  I have a chair I can give you that will allow you to move about more freely?”

Tasawa hesitantly stood, breathing heavily until he let out a long sigh, “A month ago I would have refused you for fear of what my people would think of me…but in this moment, I will accept whatever you can do for me, Doctor.”  Reid left the room to get the chair and he turned to Okada, “I wish to die on my planet, Lieutenant Commander.  I wanted to make that known.  I do not wish to struggle in my last moments.”

She rolled her eyes as Reid came back with the chair, “Three things Tasawa – you’re not dead yet – I’m pretty sure Doc Reid will find a way to keep you alive.  Two, it’s Chief or Chief Katsumi.  And three?  You sure as hell have to hang on long enough to see space…because boy howdy is that something you don’t miss getting a chance to see for the first time.”

Tasawa stared at her for a moment before relenting with a growl, “I’ve heard the stories of Starfleet Engineers.  I should have known better than to try and argue with one.” 

Kaseas Colony – 0915

“You are good to go.”  Kondo De La Fontaine held a medical tricorder in one hand and a hypospray in another as he sat on empty crates they had unpacked upon arriving.  A table of hypospray vials lay to his left as he tossed empty containers into a bucket at his feet.  Behind him in a similar setup was Juliet Woodward, their new chief counselor.  She was far more discussion-oriented with the Romulan patients than he was.

“How are y’all doin’?  Good to see you.  I’m new to this, that’s why you didn’t see me last time.”  The young Romulan girl looked at her wide-eyed as she spoke, “I know – the accent’s a weird one.  Born in Montana but mom and dad were as southern as you could get without jumping state lines.”  The girl’s eyes frowned as she turned over the words in her mouth.

“Mont…ana?”  She furrowed her little brows and tried again, “Montana.” A smile of success showed off her uneven teeth and Woodward put her hand out for a high five.  The girl startled a little and the Starfleet officer chuckled, “Oh, we don’t hit.  Least I don’t think we do.  No, it’s a high five.”  She explained to the little Romulan what a high five was and why you should do it more.  After some intense thought, the girl nodded vigorously when asked if she wanted to try it again.  The first time it was “too soft” by Woodward’s judgment and she further advised the girl on the importance that you hear the sound of the high five.  She turned around, “Mr. Kondo, I could use your assistance if you please?”

He put the hypospray down and turned to her, “You want me to practice a high five and make it…”

She put her hand up in the starting motion, “It’s gotta slap and smack.  Those are the rules, I didn’t make ‘em up.”

She was odd, he decided.  Counselors always seemed to run the gamut of stuck in professionalism for too long or damn near clinically insane.  It was a wide spectrum and he wasn’t sure where he’d place Juliet Woodward but she was amusing the kids in the line and keeping the parents smiling and laughing at her antics, so he was happy to oblige her in a measure.  He put his hand in the same motion and they high-fived, the slap and smack of the collision of their palms echoing through the lines, startling some but then the laughter smoothed it over.  He looked to the grinning Romulan girl, “Beat that.” She narrowed her eyes at him as if sizing him for a fight.  She turned to Woodward and put her hand in the position she had watched them perform.  She sent her hand into the chief counselor’s hand and a resounding crack was the result.  The girl was so excited she seized Juliet in a hug and ran off to tell her waiting parents about what she had just learned and done.

Woodward smiled a smile that moved something inside Kondo.  He return his attention to his line as Juliet shouted out, “Okedokee.  Next in line!”

Kaseas Colony – 1100

“You’ve never had jambalaya?”  Juliet shook her head at Kondo, “I’m sure the food in France is nice and all, but you haven’t eaten until you feasted on some down homemade jambalaya.”  She pulled out an extra bowl and poured some of hers into it and handed it over to him, “I make it fresh and full – no replicator crap for me, no sir.  I ain’t about that life.”

They sat under a shaded tree taking a lunch break from the immunization process.  Kondo sniffed at the bowl and eyed Juliet carefully, “I am amused with the slam on French food considering that…”

She rolled her eyes at him, “Yea, I know.  The French had their time in Louisana and all that.  I spent summers in Nawlins…but you gotta admit the French influenced the already banging food they had down there as it was.  Less talkin’ – get you some of dat.”

Kondo surrendered and dipped a spoon in with care and tasted jambalaya for the first time.  His eyes went wide at the flavor that proceeded to assault his mouth – the explosion of meat flavor together with the complex mix of spices and stock – he couldn’t find the words to express his feelings.  He took another spoon full and found it tasted even better the second time.  He leaned back against the tree and looked at Juliet, a guilty look on his face, “I may have misspoken regarding the quality of jambalaya.”

She laughed out loud and slapped his shoulder, “I told you!  You gotta try all the good food in the world..and no replicators.  They’ve gotten good at it but it still ain’t the same, man.  You know what good food tastes like – when it’s made fresh and in front of you. Boy howdy does it shake your soul.”

He finished the bowl and handed it back to her, “That was…something else.  You’re going to have to teach me how to make that creation.”

She took the bowl and packed it away, “I can do that, forsure.  You gotta teach me about the French and their food, though.  I know there’s some bomb breads and desserts they’ve been perfectin’ since the ages of the kings.”

Kondo held out his hand, “I can agree to those terms.”  

She did the same but spit in hers and laughed again at his perplexed look, “It’s an old tradition, Kondo.  You spit in your hand because it’s an oath – a promise.”  She explained, “Look, it used to be a blood oath back in the day – each person would cut a line in their hand and shake, the blood intermingling and it being a blood oath.”  His look of horror caused her to chuckle again, “Yea, it can lead to spreadin’ of diseases and the like – so you just both spit in the hand and make sure you wash thoroughly after, you know?”  Kondo looked at her, and then to her hand…and sighed.  He spit in his hand and shook hers.  She announced, “Now we are agreed.”  She glanced at the line that had started again, “We should get back to work.  Lots of lives to save.”  They returned to work with a little more smile and a little more sparkle. 

USS Edinburgh- The Castle (bridge) – 0905

Harris stood in the center of the bridge as Lieuentant Thasaz oriented the scanners and sensors both on the ship and the additional sensor utilities installed on the three modules built into the USS Edinburgh.  She signaled to The Tower stations behind tactical that the data was going to be coming their way.  It took a moment as she adjusted the sensors as the data flow began but eventually she was satisfied enough to turn to her CO, “We’re getting a full scan underway and should have a full picture by 1100.”  The Romulan tapped at the console and Harris walked to stand behind her as she spoke, “It’s looking more and more like we’re going to lose the system, sir.”  She pointed at the readings coming off the sun, “There is more turbulence in those data points than there was the last scan the Potena did – and it’s moving at an abnormal speed that’s not usual with most supernovas or suns that die out.”  She tapped at the console again, her screen shifting, “We did a significant amount of research on my former team.  I’ve been feeding them this data and they’re suggesting we run a probe as close as we can get to the sun – some of the data we need isn’t within range of standard or even our extended sensors.”

The CO looked at the data and concurred with her, “I’d set up a spread of three probes.  Work with engineering to see what additional shielding you can find to keep it alive as long as you can.”  She responded with an ‘Aye, sir’ and he returned to his chair, puzzling.  “Prentice, hail the Potena.”  The chief helm officer tapped away and soon the image of Captain Wilson appeared on the Grissom class bridge.

=^=Commander Harris, a pleasure to meet you.  Captain Jack Wilson, USS Potena.  We’ve sent you what data we’ve managed to get…but I’m not coming up with much beyond something something sabotage on this sun.=^=  He cracked a quiet smile.

Harris returned the mild smile, “Our science team is looking at a similar scenario – which begs the question – who did this?  When you got into the system there wasn’t anybody here?”

=^=We’ve started going back to our sensor readings when we dropped into the system and nothing unusual is showing up.  The trouble is whatever it was hadn’t started before we arrived.  It started a few days after we got here.  And before you ask, yes.  We checked everything on our end to see if somehow we did this…but nothing’s coming back showing the Potena with a causal relationship to the situation=^=

Ambrose rubbed his chin, “Damn peculiar.”  He sat back in his chair as Wilson conferred with his crew.  A moment passed until the other captain spoke up.

=^=There is something.  My chief of science has had some of our crew working on something…they picked up a…well, the best way they can describe is a ‘something’ out there.  We’re sending you the scans now.=^=

Harris stood from his chair and walked back to Thasaz who pulled up the data on her console.  She dug into the taxonomy of the data and separated out the signals while shifting some of the sensors from the sun to the new target.  She worked at it a moment and then sat back, her mouth wide open, “That…Commander…is a ship of some kind.  Not Federation…and not Klingon.”  He went to order Red Alert but she stopped him by pointing at the screen, “Pardon me sir but hold that thought. Most Romulan ships cannot be detected because they’ve streamlined the power systems from…you would say head to tail.  They’ve learned from the Klingon’s past mistakes and have made sure of this in every Warbird – any large ship you see out there.”  She pointed to a data point, “This isn’t a large ship…and it’s not traditionally built for a cloak – otherwise we wouldn’t have found it.”  She turned to the screen and Captain Wilson, “Whatever this is…it’s not big…and it’s not moving either.”

Ambrose turned to Wilson, “We’re gonna try and shake her loose from her cloak.  If she appears – don’t fire.  Raise your shields in case we wake up some poor Romulan scout pilot.”  Wilson turned to his bridge and cut the channel.  He turned back to his science chief, “Can we do something like what we did with the station?  Shock the system and kick that cloak to the curb?”

“An interesting metaphor, Commander,” she mused.  “I shall see about, ‘kicking it to the curb’.”

He thanked her and returned to his chair.  He worked through several department reports and updates on the ongoing sensor work with the sun on his PADD while Thasaz worked on her end until she spoke up, “Commander, I have approximated the required beam frequency from the deflector and the power level required.”

The CO turned to Ensign Dalman at tactical, “Ensign, let’s give it a shot.”  The officer in place of Kondo input the parameters from science and tapped the command function.  The deflector streamed out across space and impacted…something.  It shimmered for a moment and then was gone…and then shimmered again until it took shape.  It was a medium-sized Romulan scout ship that would have been blown apart by two torpedo blasts.

Thasaz spoke up, “Cloak disabled.  Its shields are also down.  I am detecting no life signs at this time.”  She turned to face her CO, “Permission to lead an away team with a security escort.”

“Granted. Take Ensign Webb and Ensign Palmiotto with you.  Have the transporter room have a lock on all three of you at all times…and open a hailing frequency when you get over there.”  She left the bridge with her two security officers as Harris returned his attention to the screen.  He looked closer as he waited for word from his Chief of Science, “Ensign Dalman, zoom in on the ship.  More towards the front.”  The screen shifted and a grid soon overlaid as Harris stood and moved closer to the screen, “Zoom in on row D, column 5.”  The tactical officer did so and Harris scoffed, “That…mad bastard.  Take a shot of that and send it to our science chief once she’s over there.”  He returned to his seat, “Reset magnification.”

Prentice turned to him, “Sir, the name of the ship…?”  His CO nodded.  “What…,” he was interrupted and explained, “Lieutenant Thasaz  hailing us now, sir.”  He gestured to the screen and the Romulan Science Chief appeared, an annoyed and shocked look on her face.

=^=Commander…the name of this ship is Patra’s Revenge?  How…what?=^=  She was speechless and Harris shook his head, agreeing with her.

“I think he knew this place was precious to us…and that they were our friends.  We figured with him reported dead but away, his fleet dispersed, and under new management…he couldn’t throw anything at them.”  He rubbed his chin, “I keep saying this…but this is damned peculiar.  What do you have other there?”

She was moving about the cockpit as the two security officers scanned the cabin, =^=It’s all on autopilot, sir.  Everything is automated – Chief would have a field day.”  She went back to reading the consoles and screens while Harris wished they’d killed Patra when they had the chance.  How had he done this?  How had he…

=^=Well, that’s interesting=^=  She looked up to the viewer, =^=According to this and what the security team is reading, this ship is carrying a modified Romulan deflector ray…built into the entirety of this ship.  It’s on a schedule of some kind…and you can guess where it’s targeted.”

“There are days when I wish hadn’t made a rule about cursing on the bridge.  This is one of those days.”  He returned his attention to the screen, “Can you tell when the next scheduled blast is for?”

She was ahead of him and examining the consoles, afraid to touch anything less she set it off or even alert the ship to self-destruct. =^=Looks like…fifteen minutes.  And it’s the last blast.  Given what the Potena has been observing, this last blast would accelerate whatever’s happening to the sun.=^=

The officers on the bridge turned to their CO at the center of the bridge.  He took a few deep breaths, “Chances of stopping it?”

A shake of the head =^=I don’t know enough about how this was all done to even begin.  He was a dangerous man under normal circumstances…I don’t want to think how he would have this thing act if we started pushing buttons.  The sensor sweeps this ship is doing… are alarmingly specific.=^=  She leaned into the screen, =^=I’m would be worried if we targeted this thing with weapons systems it’s going to pick that up  – it would set off the blast with our help. And we don’t have time to figure that out, Commander=^=

He thought for a moment longer.  Ensign Dalman spoke up from the tactical station behind him, “Sir, what would the effect of such a beam be on the ship?  With shields raised?”

Harris looked back at the officer and snapped his fingers in appreciation, “Why this engineer didn’t ask that question, we’ll never know…but that is the question, Ensign Dalman.”  He turned to Thasaz, “Thoughts?”

She spent a moment thinking of it, =^=I’m not sure we have other options.  The power expended is enough to set the final steps of a sun going supernova in motion…if we disable all systems aside from shields, life support, and inertial dampeners…throw everything into shields…we’ve got a chance.  We can’t pull enough people off the planet in fifteen minutes to save them all…even with Potena’s assistance.=^=

Harris grumbled, “Another moment where I’d like to curse Patra’s existence but will have to wait until I’m in my ready room.  Even in defeat, he’s taunting us.  Gather what data you can without touching anything and get back to us.  Harris out.”

He turned to his crew, “Clear the bridge except for needed personnel.”  He tapped the console on his chair and a shipwide channel opened as the officers shifted stations around him.  “Attention crew of the Eddie…this is your Commander.  We’ve got a situation that needs resolving – a scout ship is programmed to fire one last blast at the sun to set into motion the destruction of our friends below…We don’t have time to try and disable it…and firing at it will put the plan in motion prematurely.  There is only one option available to us…and that is to place our ship in the way of the blast with shields raised and most everything disabled.”  

He paused for a moment, “This is not what I had planned for us today…and I’m sure it wasn’t on your list of things you wanted to experience.  The trouble is that badge we wear…those rank pips that sit on our collar.  This is the job – to stand in the breach for those that cannot stand in it themselves.  Today, we’re going to be doing that for real – in order to protect a people we just met in a system we’ve saved once already.”  He chewed on his lower lip before continuing, “The Federation entrusts its ships to us as command and crew – to be the hands and feet of their ideals.  You are a part of that deal, that agreement.  We all are.”  He looked around the bridge, “You know your duties.  You know your job.  You know what you must do.  The Federation trusts you…and so do I.  So let’s get to work.”  He spoke with a little more force for the next part,  “All non-essential crew are to report to crash stations.  All hands are to be in brace alert and secure for crash stations.  Harris out.”

He sighed and returned to his chair, “Mr. Prentice – put us in the way of the scout ship’s blast.  Activate shields and engage power modifications.”  The lights flickered to a lower level as the changes went into effect across the ship and the power to the shields increased.  Across the 18 decks crew strapped in, held on, and prepared for whatever was coming next.  They had found comfort in their CO’s words, and a challenge within them as well.  Most of the cadet crew found themselves reflecting on final words from professors that held the same message.  They had come aboard the Edinburgh believing in what they were doing.  Now it would be tested once more.

Prentice secured his belt as he maneuvered the Eddie into place, “Away team has returned.  Lieutenant Thasaz is headed our way.  Estimated time to firing…four minutes.”

Harris secured his belt and glanced around the bridge to see that everyone else was buckled into place.  The science chief entered the bridge and took her station, securing the belt around her tightly.  The sound of each station’s beeping was the only thing the bridge crew heard.  Each was reflecting on the moments left and what might still be to come.  Prentice announced, “Estimated time to firing…two minutes.”

The moments ticked by as Harris ran through data on his chair arm console, trying to find something…anything that would give them another way out of this situation.  He had to face the possibility that the blast would destroy the Edinburgh but save the planet.  He did not want to imagine what the crew still on the planet would experience if that was to be their fate.

Prentice spoke up, “Estimated time to firing…one minute.”

The crew on the bridge sat up in their chairs as Harris did his best to breathe.  Prentice announced thirty seconds.  

Twenty seconds.

Ten seconds.

5.

3.

2.

The bridge lights flickered as the deflector on the shuttle fired directly at the top of the Edinburgh – Prentice had positioned them so the blast would hit the center point of the shields.  The rumbling of the energy slamming into the ship increased as the deck below them shook slowly at first but then became more jarring as the weapon began to roar.  Prentice worked to keep them in position through maneuvering thrusters and impulse.  “Shields at 80%!”  The deck shuddered now as the ship took the brunt of the past.  Lights no longer flickered, they sparked as the shields pulled the power they had put in reserve and threw it into the protection of the ship.  “Shields at 70%!”

Suddenly the lights above and around them exploded one by one in grand fashion as Prentice reported, “The blast is overpowering our power support and EPS conduits systems!  We’re taking in more than we shou…”  The turbolift door exploded outwards and across the bridge in pieces as the turbolift itself slammed into the bridge, supercharged and out of control – a fire now burned on the inside of the lift, filling the shaking and shuddering bridge with smoke.  Prentice gripped his console, his face sweat-filled, his body aching from the pounding it was taking being jostled around in the moment.  “Shields at 60%!”

Harris growled.  They’d been down this road…but they had friends come to save them on that path.  There were no friends around this time…the Eddie and her crew would have to do this alone.  The science stations in The Tower all exploded in a hail of smashed consoles, screens, and busted chairs as fires littered the floor.  Prentice grunted, “Shields at 40%!”  The bridge pitched and yawed now as the Chief Helm Officer shouted in frustration as he fought to keep the Edinburgh in place as the shield against the blast.  Further consoles exploded as the deck’s vibration had become a tempest of an earthquake and the crew held on as best as they could.  Harris could see Thasaz’s station smoking and her strapped-in body not moving.  He didn’t dare move or ask anyone else to move.  They would have been smashed up against the walls or the ceiling…and died where they stood.  Prentice wiped wet blood off his face – the left part of his console had blown, burning his face in the process.  “Shields at 25%!  Power from the scout is decreasing slowly!”

The viewscreen had been sparking for most of the time and suddenly flames began to appear at the bottom of the screen as the massive power overload was searing through the conduits and systems.  Harris shouted, “Cover your fac…”

The viewscreen exploded.

The boom rippled through the bridge before the glass, debris, and fire flew from the screen, skittering across the skin and body of the bridge crew.  A fire erupted in the smoking hulk where the screen had sat.  The world was full of sound, shouts, and fury as the bridge went to ruin.

Moments passed.

Prentice lay in his seat belt, his hands dripping blood.  Silence held on the bridge as the lights flickered…and then died.  With precision, the emergency floods clicked on…and into the fluttering eyes of Ambrose Harris as he picked himself off the floor, his body aching from being thrown to the ground from his command chair.  It was a slow process as he heaved himself up and nearly fell down again.  He glanced down and gasped.  His good leg had a shard of viewscreen pierced through it.  “Shit.”  Harris looked around the bridge, “Anybody hear my voice…?”

A groan or two responded.  He heaved himself over to the space where his command chair had sat and slammed open the medical kit space under the tactical station.  “Goddamn viewscreen.”  He opened the kit and readied his hands on the glass.  “This is gonna hurt like a son of a…”, and he pulled slowly but surely cursing everyone from his very alive mother to his very dead father to Patra to the Klingons and back again.  The glass was out and the blood began to flow as he quickly sprayed hardening glue into the injury, grimacing and grunting at the pain…but the blood slowed…and then stopped.  He leaned back against the tactical station, “Anybody out there?”  He stood, carefully.  He leaned on his mechanical leg and listened.  The groans were louder as he walked to where Prentice lay in his chair.  His hands had taken the brunt of it and the CO went about wrapping them in gauze as he tried to check the officer for other injuries.  His face was wet with blood, but Harris couldn’t find the source – the wounds must have cauterized after the blast.  He checked his pulse using his hand.  It was thready, but it was there.

Thasaz startled awake and glanced around, the adrenaline still running through her body.  She slapped at the belt and it released.  Her right hand and lower arm had been scored with fire, her uniform stuck sickly to the skin.  She knew the pain was coming.  She had to move quickly.  The Romulan pushed herself out of her chair and grasped onto the railing, seeing Commander Harris move away from Prentice. “Commander.”

He looked and approached with the medical kit.  She waved him off, but he dosed her with some hypospray pain killers which she didn’t protest.  He looked around the ruined bridge and then to her, “This may seem like a terrible time to ask…but report?”

She chuckled, “Ship’s torn to hell, sir.”  She looked around for a functioning console and found one down the way.  Harris slowly and painfully moved to the unmoving bodies with his med kit and began to work.  Thasaz tapped at the console with her one functioning hand and groaned at what she was seeing, “Main power is offline…auxiliary is offline…we’re barely hanging on with emergency power.  Those batteries will go dead in an hour.”  She checked one last thing, “As far as the few functioning sensors we have available…the scout ship is out of power and disabled…and the sun’s condition is unchanged.”  She fell into the chair, “At least there’s something.”

Harris felt the tears in his eyes, “I’ve got an officer down, Lieutenant.”  She grunted as she stood and ambled over, leaning on Harris.

She shook her head mournfully, “Ensign Sebastian Wolfe, science.  One of mine.  He was manning the station next to me.  Goddamn it.”  She inched her way across the bridge nudging officers awake and they began to pick themselves up.  

Harris pushed his sadness away for a moment, “We’re dead in the water.  I need volunteers to get down to engineering.”  A few raised their hands and numbly headed to the Jefferies tube.  

Thasaz haltingly returned to the working station, “Potena is hailing…communications still works. Audio only…obviously.”

=^=Commander Harris, please respond.  Repeat…Commander Harris, please respond.=^=

He spoke up, “Harris here, Captain.  We could use some help over here.”

=^=Understood.  I am glad to at least hear your voice…you took a helluva pounding.  I’m sending the kitchen sink, Commander Harris…I’ve alerted Starfleet to our situation.  Wilson out.=^=

Harris continued to struggle from body to body.  The rest were alive and slowly getting up.  Suddenly the bridge was full of transporter beams as a gaggle of officers from the Potena appeared, medical and engineering kits in hand.  He pointed to the Jefferies tube, “Two of ours went that way.”  Three engineers went in that direction while the remaining ten went to work on the injured.  

An officer stepped up to the CO, “Sir, I need to get you to our sickbay…that leg…and the…”

He pulled himself up, grimacing as the pain stabbed and shot hot all over him, and looked the officer right in the eye, “Lieutenant – I stay on the Eddie.  Get me to my sickbay or work on me here…but I am not leaving this ship.”

She contemplated knocking him out with a hypospray but resisted the urge.  He and his crew had just thrown themselves against the power of a sun.  And lived.  “If you’ll sit down, I can work on your leg and figure out the rest, sir.”  Harris sat down. 

USS Edinburgh- Sickbay – 1200

Harris lay on the bed as an orderly worked on his leg.  Reid stood above him, angry, annoyed, and sad  – her face holding it together as much as possible.  They had rushed back to the Edinburgh with the help of the USS Potena’s working transporters as soon as word reached them.  She’d had to climb Jefferies tubes to get to an overloaded and inundated sickbay where she’d found her boyfriend and commanding officer with innumerable injuries – the most concerning was his good leg.  He grimaced as the pain continued to pound through his body, “How bad are we?”

Reid had a PADD in her hand as she kept her eye on him but also worked with her team and the teams from the Potena to sort out triage.  She turned to him, “We’re still working deck by deck, sir.  Katsumi just made it to engineering and reports they’re working on stabilizing the warp core right now – her crew managed to keep it from breaching and the coolant flowing.  She’s working on sorting out the injuries.  We managed to get auxiliary power back online a few minutes ago.”  She sighed, “We’ve got three dead so far, Commander.  I’m sorry.”

Harris cringed as the orderly slowly removed the first aid measures he’d slammed onto his leg, “We lost Ensign Wolfe on the bridge.  The Eddie wasn’t built to do this.  Hell, we’ve pushed every red line this class has.  Damn!”  He shook as the last of it was removed from his leg.  The orderly didn’t apologize – she didn’t have time for such things.  She handed the medical tricorder over to Reid and stepped over the shivering shuddering bodies to continue with the next one.

Reid went to work, her mind focusing on the man on the table.  The tricorder kept beeping as she tried to scene again.  She handed it to Harris, “Commander…I’m sorry.”  The CO looked at the screen and his eyes focused on the burned ceiling above.

“I wondered…I couldn’t feel anything in it after a while.  Damn.”  He looked over to her, “Hope you can be with a guy with two mechanical legs.”  She couldn’t hold it in any longer and her tears began to flow. He reached out and gripped her hand, “Hey…it’s my only defense mechanism – I gotta find a way to laugh about things sometimes.”  

She shook her head as she attempted to recover her emotions.  That wasn’t it.  She pulled a stool so she sat down next to his head, “Brose…when they transported me aboard…I started on the bridge.”  She swallowed and looked him in the eyes as he turned his face to her, “I saw your chair…I saw the blood.  I didn’t think anyone survived that place.  I thought you were dead, Brose.”

He gently tightened his grip on her hand, “I’m sorry, Jord.  I don’t want you to have to experience that again.”

She whispered as she squeezed back, “You better damn well make sure it doesn’t.”  She composed herself quietly and pulled her hands back to her lap as her voice returned to that of the Chief Medical Officer, “We’ll have to amputate the leg, Commander.  We have temporary prostheses we can install…you’ll probably need a cane of some kind to get used to it.” She gave him a halfhearted smile when he looked at her in thanks, “I know even I wouldn’t be able to keep you in this bed.”

He laid his head back, “Thank you, Doc.  Let’s get this done as quickly as possible.”  She nodded and went to work assembling a team.

USS Edinburgh- Main Engineering – 1245

The CO hobbled his way into the room with his new cane and temporary leg prostheses.  He found it in chaos with officers not just running…but sprinting in and out of the room as the warp core thrummed at an uneven pace.  He teetered his way to where his first officer and chief engineering officer stood, checking her PADD, tricorder, and console readings every moment.  She wordlessly passed orders to officers from the Eddie and Potena as they scrambled to identify the warp core issue.  She spotted him out of her peripheral, “I would hug you, Commander but all of my hands are occupied.  You might be able to help me here.  You hear that?”  She nodded to the core.

“Heard it the minute I dropped to the deck.  She sounds off, Chief.”  

Katsumi handed him a PADD, “It’s more than off – something in the massive beam that came off that shuttle mixed in with the intermix in the chamber…and we’ve been trying to identify just what the hell got in there.”  She tapped at her tricorder, “We sent someone over to the shuttle ten minutes ago to see what they could find but so far they’re coming up with bupkiss.”  She leaned on the railing, taking some deep breaths, “If we don’t it stabilized, we’re going to have to shut down the warp core and take it apart…probably even clean and reset the chamber.  It keeps on at this pace and rate – a warp core breach is in our future.”

Harris felt the seriousness of the situation as he continued to read the PADD, “If we don’t have a functional warp core and the sun goes supernova…”

She finished it for him, “We won’t be able to get out of here in time.  The Potena would have to start pulling us via tractor beam…like now.”  Okada accepted the PADD back from him, “So, anything you got…I’ll take.”

Ambrose pulled his engineering tricorder out, “Let me see what I can see, Chief.”  She nodded and returned to her work with the gathered officers.  He awkwardly stepped around the group and ran his scans, looking for patterns.  She was right – the intermix wasn’t mixing correctly.  The plasma was holding but the compensators were starting to struggle.  He stepped under the railing cringing as the pain sparked all over his body.  He got close to the thrumming core, and put his hand against it.  A few officers stared at him as he closed his eyes and ran his hands against the container.  The sound echoed in his mind…and it sounded familiar.  He had heard the rhythm before and it had been bothering him since he stepped onto the engineering deck.  He opened his eyes and looked up to where the chamber disappeared into the ceiling.  A faint memory was at the back of his mind.  He whispered to the core…but also to himself, “Come on girl, what’s wrong with you?”

Then he realized where he had heard the sound before.  “Chief!”  Okada snapped her head up and found her CO waving her over to the core where he stood.  She wasn’t surprised to find him there – she’d done such a thing many times before as an engineer.

“Whatcha got, sir?”

He pulled out his PADD and went in search of his old logs and reports from the USS Watership.  It took him a moment and then he handed the tablet over, “When I was Chief on the Watership we had a new cadet crew cycle in early on in my time there.  Someone was performing maintenance on our chamber and somehow slipped something that wasn’t supposed to be in there – to this day I do not know how he did it.  The solution was that we suspended the chamber by slowing down the reaction and interaction…we were able to pull out the incorrect mix using transporters into plasma containers…and then at the same time…”

Okada nodded along, “Transfuse the fresh and proper intermix into the chamber as you went.  That’s…that’s…you thought of the ship as a living thing needing living medicine.”  Her appreciation for her CO grew in that moment.

For his part, he shrugged, “If one way of looking at a problem isn’t working…look at it in an impossible way…and sometimes you get an answer that works.  Put the plan in place and get your team assembled.  It’s going to wreak havoc with our power systems for a little bit while you do the work…make sure you alert departments on what’s about to happen.”  She thanked him and headed off to her team to call them to order.  Harris hobbled back out the door.

USS Edinburgh- The Castle (bridge) – 1330

Harris pushed himself up and onto the bridge from the Jefferies tube and got his first real look at the bridge.  The body of their fallen officer had been removed and the injured triaged and spread around the entirety of sickbay’s deck.  The command chair lay on its side behind the helm station.  Blood stains scattered across the carpet as he pushed hard on the cane and himself forward.  The helm console was shattered and leaning forward.  The chasm at the front of the bridge was startling to him, even as he knew and had witnessed what happened – any bridge in the fleet had the screen in the front.  Certain things remained from ages, echoing the voices and stories of adventures had heroes long gone.  He spotted a lone figure at the only working console and was not surprised to see the new Assistant Science Chief officer doing what work she could.  He slowly made his way towards her and she turned to see who had come to the bridge.  A quiet relief filled her face, “Command Harris…it’s good to see you up, sir.”  She sported a bandage across her forehead, arms, and legs.  She winced as she worked, but her hands kept moving as fast they could.

“Ensign Fowler, you should probably be…,”

She interrupted him, “With respect sir…half of our team is in triage, and the rest of them are working with engineering and medical…someone needs to hold this station…sir.”

Ambrose didn’t respond for a moment but pushed himself up the lip of the deck and gently sat down next to her and he turned to the ACSO, “Well, at least you didn’t curse me out.”

Sadie felt a little smile on her lips, “I can fulfill your request for that type of language anytime, sir.”

“I have no doubt that you can, Ensign Fowler.  Since you’re here, what’s the latest?”

Thasaz’s screens had survived so she put up what she had been able to gather, “The Eddie’s taken a solid beating.  We’ve got reports of buckled decks, hull damage from the intensity of the energy of the beam…impulse is still offline and warp speed is shot as well – word is the warp core issues are gonna be fixed soon so we should have main power soon…but the EPS conduit issues are a big problem so even if we get main power…getting that power to the systems that needs it – that’s a whole other issue.”

Harris nodded along, “We may end up running mobile EPS conduits and breakers from points where the power is flowing.  Haven’t done that in ten years.”  She gave him a look and he explained, “One of the aging Miranda classes I was assigned to – had to snake the cords up turbolift shafts, Jefferies tubes – the only way we got home was because our CO had thought to keep that stuff around when he took command.  Learned plenty from that man.” 

Fowler asked, “He still alive?”

A shake of his head, “He was an old man when I served with him…he told me he’d rather die in the chair than be anything more than a captain of a starship.”  He leaned back in the chair, wincing at the pain and aches that resulted, “He retired five years ago to his family’s ranch in Nebraska – he was starting to struggle.  He would send photos of his cattle and horses with reports on the wheat he was growing.  He may not have been in a captain’s chair on a starship…but he was the captain of that ranch.  He passed away last year.  Lotta folks showed up to say goodbye to him.”  A pause, “It’s corny to say this now…but he wasn’t made to be a captain…he was born to be a captain.”  He nodded to her station, “What’s the sun look like?”

She tapped at the console, the scorched sensors doing the best they could.  She frowned as she read the report, “I…this is odd.  Look here,” she pointed at the spectrometer readings compared to the ones they had gathered, “They’re…on the rebound?”

Ambrose leaned in, “I wonder…with the scout ship being the cook that started the sun on its path…could it be that without the final ingredients to throw in the soup…it won’t be able go supernova?”

Sadie shifted the scans with a few taps on the LCARS and pursed her lips, “The sun’s vitals are trending more towards the original status when we were here a month ago…without the final dose…the sun is returning to a regular cycle.”  She outlined what she had found, “The problem is…the regular cycle that it’s trending towards…,”

The CO grumbled, “Is going to increase the temperature on the planet ten-fold within ten days…and continue until the planet will be an oven.  The moon’s systems won’t be able to keep up.  Damn.”

Fowler looked at the data once again and agreed with her CO’s hypothesis, “It seems no matter what we do…the planet will have to be evacuated.”

Harris pushed himself up from the chair, groaning at the strain, and brushed off the young woman’s concerned look, “I’m fine.  Doc made sure I wasn’t going to follow apart.”  He looked over the bridge, his heart heavy at the loss of life they had endured, “I really wish I would have let her kill Patra.”  

The ACSO snapped her finger as she remembered, “That reminds me – I did a work up on the scout ship both from the scans they came back with and with what little I can get from here – there’s a receiving transmitter on the ship…but not a sending.”  Harris turned to face her as she pulled up the scans on the screen at the console, “I was able to access the ship’s logs now that it’s inert.  As best as I can tell, the only inbound communication log shows a transmission shortly after we captured Patra.”

Harris frowned for a moment.  Then, “Son of a bitch.  He programmed this thing to do what it did in case he died.”

Sadie shrugged, “I can’t say for certain, Commander…but best guess given the target and intent behind it – he may have intended for us to get caught in the midst of a rescue with the sun going supernova – taking us out just like he promised.”

“Damn.”  He stood in that realization for a moment.  “File that information and send out an update with that information to Starfleet Command.  Any word on relief ships?”

Another nod, “They have dispatched the USS Polson and a small support task force.  They’re arriving in three hours.”

Harris chuckled, “Leave it to mom.  Keep an eye out there, Ensign Fowler.  I’m going to see the condition of my ready room.”

USS Edinburgh- Bridge – 1630

“Commander’s log.  I spent the last few hours going deck by deck with our medical and security teams to find survivors and wounded.  We were able to clear most decks, but there are five that have experienced severe buckling.  Thankfully, they were evacuated before things got worse so we’ve sealed them off.”  He sat in a temporary chair where his command chair would have been as engineering officers worked to get the bridge at least functional for the remainder of the mission.  The Tower area had been declared a total loss and closed.  “Main power was restored just in time.  Chief Katsumi was able to follow my recommendation and get us back up and running.  We’ve had to use plasma cables running from engineering to other decks to ensure power is restored since over half of our EPS conduits have been rendered inoperable.  A standard repair is impossible to the damaged units and after looking at them…I’m surprised we managed to only lose half.  The Eddie’s a strong ship and she’s carried us through everything we’ve faced.”  He accepted a PADD from a passing medical officer and felt his heart grow heavy.  “Updated numbers from Doc Reid…our casualties stand at forty members of our crew.”  He paused the recording and sat back in his chair, wiping the immediate emotional reaction to the report he’d just read.  The engineers on the bridge audibly gasped and paused in their work to look to their CO, who had bowed his head.  He looked up at them, “Sorry…I wish I could find a place to do this without…that part.”  They gave him a quiet nod and returned to work.  Everyone knew someone on the list he was looking at and word had spread through the ship as bodies had been discovered and the injuries claimed more from sickbay.

After five minutes he tapped the button to continue, “Each of them had a story of why they died…and we’re going to make sure those stories are told.  Each of them mattered to us…and to their family.” He sighed, the emotions running just beneath the surface.  He carried on, “Our medical and security team is working on the last few decks now and Doc will have a final medical report later this evening.”  Another tap on his PADD, “Our command crew is not without injury.  Ensign Prentice is in critical condition but expectations are high that he’ll recover.   Lieutenant Thasaz is resting in her quarters.  She had significant burns on her arms and face.  Currently, our injured count who cannot return to duty is at 100…given our losses that leaves us with 60 officers and crew to handle repairs to the ship and medical care.  We’re waiting for the arrival of the USS Polson to help in that area – Doc’s words to me regarding her staff and recruited staff were that they had passed the emotional and physical breaking point an hour ago.  Science reports we have five days to evacuate the colonists from Kaseas before the sun and its temperature reach harmful levels.”  Harris looked around the bridge, “We’re back on our feet at least…and we can start walking eventually.  End log.”  The computer beeped as it filed the recording.

“Commander?”  It was Sadie Fowler, the Assistant Chief Science Officer at her console, “The USS Polson has arrived and is hailing us.”  Harris gave her a nod and sat forward in his chair.

The speakers sputtered for a moment and then the voice of Rachel Harris spoke clearly, “Commander, we’re here to assist in your repair and recovery…permission to come aboard?”

“Permission granted, Captain.  I’ll have your report on the bridge.”  The channel closed and a moment later a large group appeared the glow of the transporter and in the center, the mother of Ambrose Harris stood, searching for him.  

She found him and held her emotions in check as she ordered her crew to disperse around the Eddie to offer support and direct additional crew from the Polson aboard.  They scattered down the Jefferies tube, leaving the bridge empty sans the Harris family, and Fowler crouched over her console, working away.  Rachel stepped forward and hugged her son tightly and he returned the embrace.  She felt tears at the edge of her eyes as she quietly thanked the stars that her son had come back to her.  She pulled back and looked at the prosthetic leg and she held onto his hands, “Amb…I’m so sorry.”  She hugged him again and he returned the embrace.

“It’s OK, mom…Doc got me fixed up well…and we’ve already started the process of creating a permanent mechanical leg.”  

She pulled back and kissed him on the cheek, “I am glad I get to hold you in my arms again, son.”  She stepped back a few inches and her posture adjusted slightly, “Now, Commander…what’s your status?”

Ambrose focused himself as well and handed her the updated report on his PADD, “We’ve got main power in most of the ship, and impulse engines are expected within the hour.  Chief says she’s got crews in the warp nacelles now checking connections and running plasma cables where the EPS conduits are blown…she thinks by tomorrow afternoon we’ll have warp 5 available.”

Rachel nodded as she read the heartbreaking casualty report and updates on the injured, “You’ve done a good thing here, Commander…I’m sorry that you had to pay such an awful price to save the colony…and this system.”

The commander kicked at the ground, “I never asked science to run the numbers on the effect the sun’s explosion would have had on the system…or beyond.  That wasn’t an option for me…and it wouldn’t have been for this crew.  I don’t think Patra thought or cared about it when he put this plan in motion.”

She nodded, her voice carrying an ounce of acid, “Your consolation is that he’s deep in the darkness of space in a small cage for the rest of his life.”  Rachel glanced up as one of her officers climbed out of the Jefferies tube and handed her a PADD.  She glanced it over, “Make it happen.”  He tapped his badge and was gone in a blast of transporter light.  “I’m moving all your patients – injured and critical to the Polson.  Your remaining crew is so ordered to rest overnight on board the Polson.  Don’t think about arguing with me – I still outrank you, for now.  We’ll get our support teams to work on the Eddie overnight so you all can rest for a moment.”

Ambrose sighed.  He could feel the stress, the pain, the sorrow…all of it in his muscles and bones.  They needed to breathe.  “I accept.”

A quiet smile, “Tomorrow is another day, Commander.  Don’t worry – there’s still plenty for you to do.”

She walked off and he returned to his temporary chair, eyes gazing over the bridge.  His bridge.

Tomorrow was another day.  He rested his hope in those words.

USS Polson- Officer’s Lounge – 0800

Harris sat at the large table reading the reports from the overnight crews on the Edinburgh.  He’d tried to get over to the ship earlier, but the transporter officer told him he was under strict orders from Captain Harris to keep them all on board the Polson for now.  He’d suggested the officer’s lounge and that’s where Ambrose had found himself.  The coffee was incredible and breakfast had just started so he was sampling the menu.  His body was still sore and the aches from the day before groaned as he moved but he wasn’t going to complain.  The complete medical report had come back.  They had lost fifty crew.  The names were hard to read.  Harder still was that the losses spanned every department – everyone knew someone on the list.  There would need to be funerals, notices sent to families, and the most challenging task at hand – bringing the dead home.

Ambrose wasn’t sure how to process the losses.  It had been a split-second decision.  Had he tried to grab as many from the planet and then fled – he and the crew would have had to accept that they hadn’t done enough or made a way for all those on the planet to survive.  He didn’t know what the families would say once the messages from him and Starfleet Command were sent.  He hoped they would see their sons’ and daughters’ loss in the light of what had been saved, and what had been prevented.  He wasn’t sure what Starfleet would say or if they would promote him with such a heavy loss of crew.  The doors to the lounge opened and Jordan Reid stepped inside and spotted her CO, and headed his way.  She grabbed a cup of coffee and a plate from the line and sat down across from him.  The silence in the room held until she spoke, “How you holding up?”

“I don’t have a great answer to that question, Jord.”  He finished reading the report and gently tossed the PADD onto the table, “I’m not sure I’ll ever have an answer to that question…at least for a while.”  He stood and took a plate from the line, and hobbled back to his seat.  He took a bite and sighed, “25% of my crew is dead.  How in the hell do I…work through that?”  Another bite.  “They taught us about losing crew in the academy.  We went through the steps…heard from captains and commanders who had endured it…you never can understand the stories they told until…well, you live it on your own.”

Reid nodded.  She was feeling it too.  Three of her orderlies had died.  The shock was still resonating in her heart.  One of her nurses was in critical condition after rushing to engineering to reach the injured.  She sipped her coffee.  She didn’t have the words.

The door opened and Ensign Juliet Woodward entered, finding her way to the table after snagging a cup of hot earl grey tea.  She gave her CO and FO a quiet nod as she stirred the one lump of sugar into the steaming mug.  She glanced at Reid and Harris, “I’ve been asked by Starfleet to put together a plan for the crew through counseling services.” She took another sip, “Loss sucks.”  She had lost two counselors.  She had just started to get to know them.  The remaining counselors were working with her to assemble the plan.

Reid took a bit from her plate, “The funerals are going to be the hardest part.  How does this crew move on when they’ve lost so much?”  

Woodward shook her head, “I wish had the answer.  Grief is a shitty monster that never leaves.  It takes your heart, grabs it, squeezes it, and then throws it in a blender until it’s pureed.  Then you’re supposed to put it back together.  Hardest shit you’ll have to do in your career.”

Jordan gave her a look, “That’s supposed to help?”

The Chief Counselor raised her eyebrow, “Did it?’

Reid stared her down for a moment and chuckled, “I’ll admit…it did.  Hearing someone talk honestly about it…it helps.  There’s so much hurt twisted up inside…you have to be able to release that pressure somehow.”

The next officer through the door was Okada.  She shuffled to the drinks, listlessly picked up a coffee and a plate, and dragged herself to a seat beside Woodward.  The eyes of the First Officer were red, and her face wet from further tears.  She had lost 10 of her engineering crew.  For Chief Katsumi, her engine room was a family.  She had just lost ten brothers and sisters.  Woodward pushed her chair closer to the Okada and pulled her gently to herself as her tears intensified into sobs.  Reid stood and moved around the table to the other side of the Chief Engineer and leaned into the woman.  Harris felt his heart tremble.  They were each raw from the losses of yesterday.  It was going to be a hard day ahead.  A necessary day, but a hard day.

Kondo entered next and slowly made his way to the drinks and food counter.  He meandered to a seat next to his CO, setting the plate and cup down with a deep sigh.  He’d lost 4 tactical officers and 2 security officers.  He took a sip of his orange juice and took notice of the three women officers huddled together in tears.  “The first day after a death, the new absence, Is always the same; we should be careful, Of each other, we should be kind, While there is still time..”  Kondo let out another sigh as he recited a poem from memory, “I had hoped it would never come to me…this moment.”  He turned to Harris, his eyes glistening, “We cannot bear this burden alone, they say…”

Harris finished it, “…but together we may vanquish the rain for a day or more.”  He put his hand on Kondo’s shoulder, “We’re all in this together.”  

Kondo nodded as he took another drink of his juice, “I wish I could throw a punch or two at it…they look like big, good, strong hands, don’t they?”  He shook his head, “Damn it hurts.”  Harris moved his chair closer to Kondo and they sat, leaning on each other.   The door to the mess opened and Lieutenant Thasaz stepped in, her hands and arms gloved with healing but flexible material.  She picked up coffee and a plate and sat down next to the three others huddling together.  She didn’t speak.  She didn’t need to.  She’d lost five officers from her Starfleet crew and five officers from her Romulan group.  Her eyes had cried raw, and she leaned slightly up against Woodward, sipping her coffee in silence.

They remained together quietly, but together in the moment of pain and loss.

The door opened for the last time that morning, revealing Captain Rachel Harris.  Some of them started to stand and she waved them off, “Don’t even think about standing on my account, everyone.”  She pulled a seat over and sat amongst them, setting a large bag on the ground.  “I am here to extend to you the official and complete condolences from the Federation and Starfleet Command at the depth and width of your loss on the USS Edinburgh.”  She sighed, “You will be granted time away to properly mourn them.  Many of you this was your first command team experience…your first time sitting on that bridge…and your first time working with people who count on you…and that you come to count on.”  She took a drink from the coffee she had grabbed from the table, “People will tell you that they wish they could make it all better…but that’s the biggest lie.  In this moment…your heart needs that emptiness to echo around your soul.  You need to feel the absence of that which filled it…and start to understand how to someday fill it back up again and why this process will happen again.”  She stood and put the bag on the table, pulling out a bottle of Glenmorangie Signet, “The first step in the process is to recognize the loss we’ve experienced…and wish them rest and peace in their passing.”  Ambrose stood and gathered glasses from the table and put on gently down in front of each of his command team.  Rachel handed him the opened bottle and he poured a generous shot into each.

He returned and stood, offering his own glass up, “To those we’ve lost…may their memories be a blessing…may we never forget the space in our hearts they hold…to absent friends.”  They all lifted their glasses and drank the whiskey carefully.  Harris sat down and looked to each of them as he spoke, “I am humbled by each of you.  The last few months…you’ve done incredible things.  I wish for better days ahead for us all.”  They each nodded to the sentiment.

As the group sat officers began sharing stories of the lost hesitantly at first but soon each was sharing a funny memory or a touching moment.  Tears flowed both from laughter and also at the sadness of never being able to hear that joke in that tone of voice or that expression of frustration that became a punchline once it was said at the academy.  Stories of heroism, hedonism, and hapless hilarity soon flowed from each of them as they related the tales of the lives that had been taken away.

An hour later they had fallen back into silence.  Rachel Harris stood, “This officer’s mess is yours for the remainder of this mission.  You may remain here…I would almost order it.  Being together…I now know why Commander Harris speaks so highly and fondly of each of you.  There is a unique power in this.  Stay as long as you need.  We’ll reconvene at 1400 hours to update you on the Edinburgh and your crew.”  She gave a nod and was out the door, leaving them all in silence.  

It was Fowler who broke the silence this time with a smile as she drawled, “I just like that you speak fondly of us to people, Commander.”  They all burst out laughing and Harris rolled his eyes but chuckled as his face turned shades of red.  They stayed together, poking fun at each other every so often, huddled together against the wind of grief as they built each other up to eventually rise again.

USS Edinburgh – Bridge – 1600

The carpet still held the bloodstains, debris, and burns.  It was a stark reminder of what had been lost and gained in the last few days.  Ambrose smiled at his command chair back in place, a grinning engineer from the Polson standing beside it, “Chief…I mean Commander Harris – I’d like you to try it….if I need to adjust it I will.”  Ambrose looked closer at the young officer and snapped his finger in recognition, “Ensign Daniel!  Well, a lieutenant now, I see.”  

The officer reddened, “I didn’t think you recognize me, sir.”  

Harris sat carefully into the chair and scoffed, “You were one of the all-stars on the Garrison – always willing to take on a challenge. Plus nobody calls me Chief anymore…it’s mostly just Commander.”  He nodded appreciatively at the feel of the chair, “That’s a damned fine job, Lieutenant Daniel.  What are you doing on the Polson?”  He turned in it to make sure it moved where he would need it.

“I’m…uh…Assistant Chief Engineer.  When I heard it was your ship, I asked my chief if I could lend a hand…and they put me in charge of the bridge so I figured the chair was the one thing I could put my hands on while working with everyone else, you know?”

Harris jumped out of the chair and shook the startled officer’s hand, “That’s…incredible!  I’m so glad to hear you made assistant chief…you enjoy it?”

Phil Daniel grinned widely, “I love it, sir.  It’s what I’ve always wanted to do, you know?  Like…this is what I was meant to do.”  He glanced at the chair, “You really like it, sir?  I can tune it up a little more if you need.”

Ambrose shook his head, “Ensign Daniel, I love it.  Don’t change a thing.”  He shook the young man’s hand again, “Thank you for doing this for me…and my crew.  The bridge looks like she’ll fly again.”  They exchanged a few more words and the ensign was off to the newly repaired turbolift.  

Stepping out as he went in was Lieutenant Thasaz, her arms and hands still gloved, but her color was returning. “You wanted to see me, Commander?”  He gestured to her station and took the seat next to it as she let out a long sigh as she plopped down, “They don’t warn you about the tiredness, do they, Commander?”

He agreed, “Grief takes emotions and emotions take energy – sometimes more than a workout in the gym.  Everyone’s off duty for the rest of today and tomorrow.”  Harris paused and looked at his hands before he told her why he had called her to the bridge, “I don’t know if you’ve been told…but Governor Tasawa has nominated you as his successor to the Governorship over his people.”

Thasaz stared at him, “He…nominated…me?”  Harris explained the situation – there were no qualified members of the community who would be able to replace him without serious training and mentoring.  He ended the explanation by shrugging his shoulders at her.  Thasaz continued to stare at him, “Can he…do that?  Do I get a choice?”

Harris chuckled, “You have all the choice in this situation – your agency remains intact, Lieutenant.”  He looked at her, “What are you thinking?”

She turned to her console, running her hands absentmindedly over it as she answered, “I have found this season of my life with this ship to be…something extraordinary.”  She sighed, “I wasn’t sure I’d ever return to my people, Commander.  I…there was too much hurt there…too much betrayal to consider returning to Romulan proper.”  A moment passed, “But…they are not like the ones who hurt me.  They…are free of the sins of my past experience.”  She turned to him, “What do you think, Commander?”

Ambrose leaned forward, the aches in his body fading, “I think you should think on it.  It’s a powerful statement on you that he asked for you…but I am not surprised you’re the one he sought as a replacement.  You’ve seen much of the darkness that lurks within your people, Lieutenant…maybe he thinks you deserve to see the goodness and brightness that shines within them.”

Thasaz gave him a faux annoyed look, “You’re not doing a great job of preventing me from leaving the Edinburgh, sir.”

Harris gave a serious look, “Lieu…Thasaz.  You should never stay somewhere because you think you have to – loyalty should only be to yourself and the path you carve out for yourself.  Thasaz is the one that needs to do the persuading or preventing.”  He motioned to her head, and then her heart, “There is real power in there, Thasaz…and you have to decide to unlock it.”

She sat back in her chair, “You should have been a counselor.”

He cackled and shook his head, “I couldn’t talk to patients all day.  I preferred warp cores and EPS conduits.  Got me here, didn’t it?  What’s gonna get you where you need to be, Lieutenant Thasaz?”  He tapped her lightly on the shoulder as he stood, “Let me know within the next 24 hours what you decide.  Don’t stay here long – you’re still off duty.”  Harris left her to sit on the bridge, the silence resonating in her as her mind contemplated her next moves.

USS Polson- Officer’s Lounge – 0800

They were all gathered together, one last time.  Talking, sharing, still mourning…but still laughing at a joke or two.  Smiles were more frequent now as they gathered together again.  Harris sat at the head of the table, knowing this tradition would continue – his old CO had been right.  Breaking bread breaks down the walls that surround our hearts and souls.  Prentice had recovered enough to be with them, and the scars and remaining bandages were a testament to his sacrifice. The conversation continued for the better part of the hour before Harris stood and the crowd quieted as he spoke, “We’re gathered here to wish our friend Lieutenant Thasaz the best of everything.”  He gestured to her and the gathered command crew applauded loudly, whistling and cheering.  He continued once they’d quieted again, “She will be taking over the position of Governor for the Kaseas Colony group.”  Another round of cheers.  “Now, for the part that is a surprise.  Starfleet was contacted by a private transport organization when the story of the Kaseas people was heard.  They’ve offered a civilian transport ship to be contracted to the Governor of the colony group.  An Olympic class transport the NAR Journey.  You would be named Captain of this vessel and the Kaseas people would be trained in her operation…under the proper supervision of this transport organization, of course.”

Thasaz’s mouth had dropped open and she was in shock.  She found her words, eventually.  “Thank…thank you, Commander.  They will be…incredibly thrilled to experience space and be able to learn and travel.  This is…I’m not sure what the word is.”

Harris grinned, “It’s something good.”  He turned his attention to the others, “The Journey will be here in two hours to begin processing the colonists onto the ship.  We will escort them back to Federation space with the assistance of the Polson’s group as well.  They will return with us to Starbase Bravo for loading of supplies and equipment while we go into dock for needed repairs.”  He paused, “Once we arrive at Bravo we are all on leave for a minimum of 30 days.  Ships will be made available to get you back to Earth, or wherever you need to go.  All of our funerals are being scheduled with the families on Earth and we’ll have that information for you by the end of today.”  He pulled out his PADD and checked to see what he had missed, “You’ll need to let Starfleet know where you’re going and a flight plan for your return.  They can help you with any of that if you need it.”  He slipped the PADD back to his belt, “Any words, Lieutenant?”

Thasaz stood shakily, “I have spoken to each of you to let you know what you have meant to me.”  She looked around, “I do not know why I deserved to have human friends like you…but I am glad I was here with you for this time of my life.  I will watch for you in the stars, and I hope you’ll keep an eye out for me as you journey from place to place.”  She gave an awkward nod and sat to raucous cheers and applause.

Harris pointed to the table full of food and refreshments, “Let’s get to it, then!”

USS Edinburgh- Bridge – 1200

“Commander, Captain Thasaz reports all passengers are quartered.  She reports her stations are at keeping.”  Prentice felt the relief at being back at his console, even as the walls, carpet, and ceiling around him reminded him of what had been days ago.  He was still upright, and that’s all that mattered.

The bridge was alive with beeps, voices, and movement. It brought Harris a sense of normalcy.  He turned his chair to the front, “All stations, report status.”

Sadie Fowler, now the Chief Science Officer smiled quietly at her excitement, “Science reports ready and clear, sir.”  Her heart pounded in her ears as she breathed quietly trying to calm herself.

Kondo tapped at his partially repaired console, “Tactical and Security is stable and online, sir.”

Reid spoke from beside the turbolift, “Medical ready and able, sir.”

Juliet Woodward spoke up from a station to his right, “Counseling locked and loaded, sir.”

He turned to his first officer to his left and Chief Katsumi smiled, “Engineering in one piece and ready up through warp 5, sir.”  He looked to Prentice who turned to face the front and the holographic viewscreen that had been installed.

“Course to Bravo is laid in – all ships report ready for warp speed.  Your orders?”

Harris waited a moment.  They were going home.  To mourn. To remember.  To hope.  To return.

“Put us in gear, Mr. Prentice…let’s get on our way.”

The Edinburgh shuddered for a moment…and leaped to warp speed.