Captains Log Supplemental:

We’ve been trailing the Orion Pirate vessel identified as being one of two known ships, belonging to the mysterious Navaar Orci; for the past two days.  It is hoped our undercover asset has convinced the Captain of that ship to take him straight to the stolen USS Stavanger and possibly the Orion Leader herself.

There is so little known about this Orion woman.  Who, despite her seemingly young age has rapidly risen to such a prominent position as leader of her organisation.  We have just as little information about the group itself; which until Navaar took over, had only even been involved with a few attacks on ships and slave trafficking.  They’d certainly never try anything as major as stealing a starship.  She was undeniably trying to make a name for herself and get noticed; but possible this escapade had got her too noticed.

On a personal note, I wonder what turns a dedicated Starfleet officer into a criminal, what happens to change them so dramatically?  Or were they always bad, and we didn’t always see it?

<End Log>

Commander Anacostia-Bolling, rotated her chair slightly, so she could gaze out of the window.  It was nice to have small moments like this.  A chance to reflect and take stock of the situation.  They’d certainly covered some distance so far during this mission, and it wasn’t over yet.

With her first officers help organising the shift rotas; she’d tried to make sure everyone in the crew had at least some time to relax.  It was hard to know when they might suddenly all be needed; and the last thing she wanted was any of them to be off their game, because they’d been on duty too long.  She’d seen that happen, a Captain keeping the crew on full readiness for hours on end; leading to fatigue and mistakes being made at the vital moment.  She’d only been an ensign then, too low down the ladder to make much of a difference, but she understood the consequences.

She stood up and took the few steps to the window, as if being just that bit closer would make any different to what she could see.  Yes stupid, Mary knew, but people had a habit of doing things that didn’t completely make sense when you looked closer.  Somewhere out there in the distance was an Orion pirate ship, on board amongst its normal crew, Chameleon and Petty Officer, nurse Sarah Folland.

The Commander could still hear the ringing from the ear bending rant from her Tellarite Security Chief.  He was supposed to have been the one that went; but apparently the Orion captain didn’t like his face.  She was never going to hear the last of that.  Doctor Sunny was also annoyed with her for letting the nurse go on the pirate ship; as if she actually had control over events.  Firstly the girl volunteered for the mission and to accompany Chameleon, who was now playing the role of Ambrose Nichols.  Rather convincingly, judging by the reaction they’d received.

The three Nausicaan had been handed over, along with their vessel.  It was now another captain’s job to look after them.  Lieutenant Stuart had certainly enjoyed flying the craft and had been sad to let it go.  She’d proved herself a skilled pilot more than on just this mission, and Commander Salan was lucky to have her.  But if the Lieutenant fancied flying anything just a bit bigger than a Raven, Mary would find a way to squeeze her in on the da Vinci.  Not that there was anything to grumble about those that already flew her.

Commander Anacostia-Bolling headed to the Bridge; there were no whistles, fanfares, shouts or proclamations.  She’d nipped that one in the bud right from the off.  There was no need for everyone to know she’d just stepped back on to the Bridge, because in her opinion a good crew should work just as efficiently, whether she was there or not.  So having some sort of signal basically saying ‘look lively the boss is watching’ was a no go.

“Anything to report, number one?” She asked her XO.

“Other than a couple of minor course changes by our Orion friend in the last half hour; nothing of note has happened.” Answered Lieutenant-Commander Alara Ley; getting up out of the captain’s chair.

“Well I’ll keep an eye on everything for the next couple of hours.” Smiled the Commander; taking the chair.  “So go grab something to eat and whatever.”

“Very well, I’ll be back at 19:00 then.” Alara confirmed.

As the door on the turbo-lift closed and the Trill instructed it where she wanted it to take her, she heard the familiar voice of her husband.  ‘So what are we having?’

‘Oh you speak!  Thought you’d wondered off it had gone so quiet.’ Her ability to think a reply to her symbiont, rather than say it; was getting better.

‘I’ve got a lot on my mind.’

She exited the lift and stopped. ‘You’re worried aren’t you?’

‘Yes’

‘Because the last time we found that ship, Mar got killed.’

The symbiont didn’t answer, but Alara could sense the turmoil.  There was still the instinct in there as a husband to protect his wife, even after death, mixed with the sense of honour and duty.  That part of him that still existed within the memories of Ley, loved her and that would never change.  But she was an officer in Starfleet, as he had been, as they’d both been.

‘It’s going to be ok, I trust Mary to do the right thing.  Otherwise I wouldn’t have come back.’

‘I trust her to.  Besides you’d get too board talking to yourself at home all day!’

Alara smiled. ‘Let’s grab a Chinese.  You may have somehow got me hooked on coffee, but you’ll never diminish my love of Asian foods.’  The response as she headed off towards the main restaurant was loud laughter.

**********

Down on deck 8; two of the other science officers were enjoying a quick drink at the bar, which was a resent addition to this part of the ship.  Giovanni Agusta was another veteran of the USS Valparaiso, the ship on which Alara’s husband had been killed; nearly half the officers and crew on the da Vinci had served aboard the old Excelsior-class on that fateful final mission.  His name could have easily been amongst the dead; and he’d work with a few of them closely.

His current companion at the bar was an Andorian called Ithran, who was part of the Life Science department.  There topic of conversation had been meandering from one subject to another with no set pattern; if anyone other than the Holographic Bartender had been close enough to listen in, they’d probably be rather confused.

“So hold on, let me get this straight.” Giovanni continued. “You’re an Andorian, yet you’ve never once set foot on Andoria?”

“Yes that’s true.” Ithran replied.  “But how many Humans have never set foot on Earth?”

The Italian thought about that for a moment.  “Ok, you may have a point there.”

“Change of subject.” The Andorian announced out of the blue.

Giovanni took a sip of his Limoncello. “We’ve been doing that the last half hour.  But go on.”

“Have you noticed how our bartender friend here keeps looking over my shoulder, but there’s no one behind me.” Ithran commented.

The Italian looked at the hologram then around the room; true enough, the two of them were the only ones there.  Then he caught a slight movement out of the corner of his eye and looked up.  Nudging his friend the two of them looked up at one of the ships Dot’s on the ceiling.  “I think you’ve got you answer.” Giovanni announced, before tapping badge. “This is Lieutenant Giovanni. I’m in ‘Down Under on deck 8.  Can someone from maintenance come check on a Dot, it might be faulty?”

The pair didn’t have to wait all that long before someone from the maintenance section of engineering arrived; in the form of a young cheerful red head.

“That was quick.” Ithran noted.

“I was on the deck above or below depending on your point of view.” She smiled back. “Somebodies K177 replicator would only do toast.”

“Just toast?” Giovanni questioned.

“Well muffins, tea cakes, buns, baps, baguettes and bagels.” She continued.

“Sounds like a bad joke.” Ithran added.

“I’m Ensign Hayley Green by the way.” They shock hands.  “So where is this Dot?  I don’t see one.”

The two science officers pointed up. “There.”  They said in unison.

“Now how do you know there aren’t a few cobwebs up there?” She giggled. “Question is how do I get ‘Henry’ down to check him out?”

“Henry?” The Italian asked, perplexed.

“Apparently it was the name given to hoovers back in the 20^th century.” Hayley offered as an answer.

The young Ensign climbed up on a table, and reached out to the Dot after it had ignored any verbal commands she’d given it. Unfortunately hitting the emergency shutdown had the effect of disengaging the magnets helping to hold the machine to the ceiling; and it crashed to the floor. “Oh bugger.” Green exclaimed as a few pieces of Dot went flying off and bounced across the floor.

She was about to ask them to help her down and search for the missing bits; when the lights went red. “Red Alert, all crews to your stations.” Came the voice of the Captain. “Medical and emergency repair team to standby positions.”

Giovanni and Ithran both rushed out. “Guys, don’t leave me up here in the dark!” Hayley shouted after them. “Guys!”