“Hello everyone. I want to thank you all for coming,” Maxwell started as he placed his padd down before him, at the end and on top of the long oak table, before he pressed a button with his index finger to activate the holo emitter in the middle of the table. The holo image was of a star, parent of a few planets. Then some small details in a box appeared next to the star, as some of those details indicated where the star was located, the name of it and the reason it was selected. “It has been brought to my attention by our resident Federation Ambassador, Mrs. Maxwell,” Henry gestured with an open palm, four fingers pointed at her and he watched many of his staff take a brief look, a gaze or even a small smile to acknowledge her presence. “That this star here, has become a scientific importance to the Talarians, for the fact that it is located in their territory and it suddenly began to pulse.”

“Pulse, sir?” Henry heard Bazial and looked at her as she leaned forward into her elbows, her curiosity had peaked.

“Talarians haven’t the faintest idea as to why it began, but it did about two days ago. A strange pulsing emission coming from the sun. Whatever it is, it was detected by one of their observation outpost orbiting the fourth planet. The outpost mission is to observe the plant life on the planet, as the plants seem to have remarkable intelligence,” Maxwell explained and he could see Zina begin to lean forward as well. “They’re just telling us about this now and yes, Ambassador Maxwell will be negotiating with the Talarians in allowing us to send a research team to survey these plants. That is, after we assist the Talarians with this pulsing star. The outpost began to detect the pulsations on their sensors, although with the limitations of their sensor technology compared to our own, they are unable to determine where the pulsations are coming from, nor why is it doing it. All they can say, is that it is like sonar. It pulses and the sensors read it as an wave of energy based signals.”

“They do understand the meaning behind Pulsating Variable Stars, correct?” Bazial had asked and Henry could see Abigail Maxwell answer her question.

“They do understand what that is and from what Ambassador Lydus has told me, it is in a hydrostatic equillibrium, there is no physical change to the star that is occurring during these pulsations,” said Abigail.

“The Talarians gave us the data they have on the start that they have obtained over years of observations and from their own survey satellites. It is indeed, as what Ambassador Maxwell has been told by the Talarian Ambassador, in a hydrostatic equilibrium,” said Henry. “Thus, this is something completely new. Is it natural or is it artificial? That is why we are here, ladies and gentlemen. The Talarians have asked for our assistance in analyzing this star. Sovereign may not be a science or survey vessel, but with Starfleet sensors being far superior to the Talarians, the Sovereign will be able to solve the mystery in a matter of days, where it would take Talarians months.”

Henry witnessed Tagg raise his hand and it left a smirk on his face. “We are not in a class room, Mr. Tagg but go ahead. What is your question?”

Henry heard Tagg clear his throat, likely to clear away the small embarrassment. “Do we know how long we will be away from the station?”

“That is a good question, Mr. Tagg. We will depart from the station tomorrow and then we will be on course to this star system, where we will be met with a couple Talarian vessels. They will transport their ambassadors over, one of them being Ambassador Lydus, as well as their own research teams and security personnel.” Henry then noticed Zanes’ look of discomfort. “I assured them, Lieutenant, that our security is more than capable of escorting their ambassadors but they insisted and because we will be guests in their space, I had no choice but to accept.” When Henry saw a nod of acknowledgement from Zane, he then continued to the next bit of the briefing, where he had not realized that he had not finished his answer to Tagg’s question.

“Now the fun part. Commander Ward, I’m sure you are aware of this already, but you will remain on board the station as Acting C.O.,” Henry informed her, to which he got an ‘acknowledge’ from her. He then looked to James Ryker. “Commander Ryker, as much as I know that you would love to be on board the Sovereign again, I must ask that you and Alpha team remain here on the station. You will also be Acting X.O..”

A sigh came from Ryker and then he just nodded his head. “Understood, Captain.”

“Rowe,” Henry looked at her. “As much as I would love to have you come along, I am taking Lieutenant Beck as Chief Engineer on the Sovereign and the station will need someone with some engineering expertise. Doctor Bates,” Henry turned his head to look at her but before he could continue, she interrupted.

“You’re going to need me, in case something were to happen. If one of the Talarian ambassadors stubbed a toe or ended up with a hang nail, who would be there to save the day and help you gain recognition with the Talarian Republic?” Said Olivia Bates.

Henry smirked at her then he gave her a single nod. “I was going to say that you were coming along, but you do make a fair point. Then that leaves me to tell Zane Bates that he needs to stay here on the station. Anyone you have in mind that you would recommend for Sovereign‘s tactical?” Henry asked as he gazed at Zane.

“I do and I will forward their record to your personal padd before I give them the news,” said Zane.

“Excellent!” Henry then looked at Tagg. “Yes, Tagg. You’re coming along,” and he witnessed a similar ‘yes’ excitement that he had seen from before from Tagg when he had shown everyone the Sovereign had arrived. “Obviously, Ambassador Maxwell will be with us. And Bazial, Zina, you two will be needed. Lastly,” He looked at Maya. “I will need Hazard Team Bravo on the Sovereign. I have decided that any time the Sovereign were to leave the station, one of the Hazard Teams will be with her at all times. We never know when we might need you, but the chances on this mission are slim in this case.”

“I will get them ready and transferred over, sir,” said Maya.

“Perfect!” Henry said one last time before he smiled, he finally remembered that he had a question to finish. “Oh that is right, I am so sorry. To complete your question, Tagg. After we pick up the dignitaries, we will proceed to survey the star to determine what’s going on, so you’ll be given a set of coordinates to input so that we are in safe orbit of the star. The system is just on the other side of the border, not too far at all but if we add in the travel time, picking up the dignitaries, moving into place while we settle everyone in, doing the survey which was estimated to take perhaps a couple of days if not more…” Henry paused as he thought it over in his head, his eyes directed towards the ceiling before they shifted back down towards everyone else to give them all the answer. “We are looking about a week, two tops. Because of our upgraded diplomatic suites, among…oh I don’t know…updated holo programs to the holodecks and holosuites on board…” Henry could hear some of them begin to whisper, whispers of excitement, no doubt to the new holoprograms available to them. “We will probably be spending more time entertaining the ambassadors than anything else. Plus, once we fully survey the star, we have the labs we need to analyze the data and figure out what’s going on, so that could take more time as well. Worse case scenario, we could be away from the station for about a month. Does that sound good with everyone?” Henry got either a ‘yes,sir’ or ‘yeah’ or some other form of acknowledgement. “Good. Again, thank you all for coming and you are dismissed.”

As most of the staff began to depart, Henry watched Abigail come up to him. “Not often I hear a Captain handing out ‘thank you’s for a briefing.”

Henry smirked at her remark. “This wasn’t an ordinary briefing. We didn’t receive orders from Command, so it wasn’t as formal. This was simply a request from the Talarian Government through proper channels.”

Henry watched her roll her eyes at him. “Yeah, through me. Ambassador Lydus asked me if there was a chance that you could help, and I said I would only ask. I didn’t promise him anything. James has told me about his little brother and how much you love the Sovereign. You accepted their request because you want to take her out again.”

Henry chuckled softly with a contented sigh. “I have served on board that ship for the entirety of my career. I started out as an Ensign, three years after she was completed and launched and I worked my way through the ranks. I was even her pilot for many years before I moved up into the Command Staff.”

Henry watched a smile form on her face and saw it grow more by the second from his words before she opened her mouth to talk. “And here I thought it was normal for officers to jump ship to ship.”

Henry shrugged his shoulders. “I mean. It depends. Not everyone does but by doing so, you learn more about the ship you’re serving on. For those who jump ship to ship, it usually be a different class and it could be for a number of reasons. Maybe they plan to design a new ship for Starfleet in the future of their career? Or someone wants to command some day but not sure what kind of ship they want to command. But then you have those who are satisfied with where they are. The Sovereign was my home, and always will be. I have so many memories on that ship, that I just cannot see myself on another.”

Henry felt her hand on his right arm and then he felt a squeeze from her hand. “Well I am glad that you got her back. You may just be my brother-in-law, but it is good to see how happy you are. Now, James and I wanted to talk to you about this one gal-”

Henry pulled away from her. “Oh no. You two are not setting me up on a date. We talked about this and it is not happening!” He said as he made his way for one of the doors to escape but despite that his stride was fast, hers was faster and she kept up with him with ease. “Henry! Come on!” He heard her say as she chased after him.