“Just tighten that up there… not much, just a gnat’s knacker… yeah, that’s good.” 

Captain Price smiled at the young engineer as he leaned one arm against the edge of the Jefferies tube so he could see the panel he was working on. “Excellent work, Ensign. Couldn’t have done it better myself.”

The ensign smiled at him upside down. “Thank you sir, I just wasn’t sure about that last part. Sorry, it must have seen a stupid question to you.”

”No problem at all,” Price shook his head. “And no question is stupid. I’d rather you ask about things you’re not sure on rather than get it wrong. Out here… with a secondary ops panel like this, it’s not such a problem… but in main engineering, or in the Forge and on one of the primary systems, getting it wrong is much more dangerous. Which is why you ask, ask and ask again if you’re not sure, okay? Now, I do believe it’s nearly shift change, so how about you get yourself on out of there and head up to the mess. Grab a drink, captain’s orders, okay?”

”Aye sir, yes sir!” 

The enthusiastic response made Price chuckle as he pushed off the wall to stand upright. He resisted the urge to rub at his lower back as he headed through main engineering, nodding to crew as he passed. They were a good, solid crew and he knew most of them by name. 

“Captain to the bridge,” he said as he emerged into the main corridors and turned to head on up to the bridge. “How are we doing with the relays? The last one should be coming online right about now by my reckoning.”

There was silence and he frowned. It wasn’t like McLachlan to be tardy in response. Ever. The Lieutenant Commander was so punctual and perfect at times Price had had to give some serious consideration he was some hitertoe unknown variant of robot or something. Apart from the fact robots tended to have more of a sense of humour.

”Bridge? Commander McLachlan?”

Perhaps comms were down. Price tapped his commbadge a couple of times to test it, but it responded like normal. 

“Sorry captain,” McLachlan finally answered just as Price sped his pace up. 

“Hold the lift!” he called out as the door was about to shut. An enterprising Lieutenant stuck his foot in the door as Price jogged up to it. 

“Thanks. Bridge please,” he mouthed to the Lieutenant—Diaz—and carried on his conversation with McLachlan. 

“No Captain, we’ve had no response from the relays. Investigating the source now.”

He nodded as the lift swept them away. Diaz had ordered the bridge on priority without him asking, which he appreciated. But then, when he appeared with that frown on his face, his crew knew something was going on. 

“How far are we from the last relay location? We can’t be that far away. Let’s head back and check on it. They’re the LM-42 build, aren’t they? I bet Comms didn’t apply the latest patch…”

He frowned, rubbing his forehead. They needed these relays up and running, especially with the current unrest. 

”They are. And we’re doubling back now, sir.” As always, McLachlan had anticipated his order. “I’m checking the installation data but everything seems to be in order. I’m not sure yet why the array isn’t responding. Coming up on the last location now.”

He nodded. “I’m almost to the bridge now.”

“Of course…” There was a moment’s silence as the lift slowed, then he got McLachlan’s voice in stereo as he strode out of the lift. “Sir, dropping out of warp at the last location now.”

Price came to a stop behind McLachlan in the center chair, both their gazes latched onto the view in front of them. 

“Well, I can see the problem,” Price commented. 

The relay wasn’t responding because it wasn’t there. 

Unfortunately, the Klingons were.