Whizzing past at high warp, the Odyssey was like a cheetah running through the wilderness making its way towards its next target. The large exploration vessel was making its way towards Turei territory where they would meet with the designated liaison officer from the Turei Alliance. They would confirm their flight path and enter underspace to make their way to their first mission. Now sat in the large conference room, Captain McCallister was briefing his senior staff on their new orders.

“So it may come to surprise you all that Starfleet is sending us quite deep into the Delta Quadrant.” The fierce leader said as he stood by the large wall monitor and tapped on the console underneath it as he brought up the ship’s current navigation logs. It also showed a map of the Gradin Belt and a flight path. Their journey extended beyond Turei territory and towards an area the crew were all familiar with.

“Wow, talk about a complete full circle.” remarked Commander Cambil. “Starfleet wants us to pick up from where Voyager left off from?”

“Sort of Bexa.” McCallister answered his Bajoran first officer as he pressed another button and the map zoomed into a particular star system that was almost on the edge of it. A star system then appeared with at least nine planets and it then zoomed into the sixth planet. “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Uxal Seven and it is home to the Uxali civilisation.” Activating a holographic projection of a Uxali man and a woman either side of the wall console, the captain allowed their frozen holograms to spin slowly.

Squinting her eyes, Doctor Sylvexs looked at the two photonic examples before them. “Yes, I remember this species well from my reading. They’re the ones who your ancestors almost annihilated by giving them antimatter technology.”

“They didn’t give it to them willingly.” Counsellor Duncan corrected his colleague. “Our ancestors sent out a series of probes in all directions of the galaxy shortly after Doctor Cochrane’s famous warp flight. It was hoped that they would be able to invite other races, besides the Vulcan to visit.”

“I’m confused, what happened to the Uxali?” Lenjir wondered aloud.

It was Jen, the joined Trill ops officer who filled in the gaps. “From what Voyager discovered, their level of expertise, scientific understanding is probably a better way of looking at it, was not advanced enough to truly use antimatter safely. As a result of this they almost killed one another with antimatter weapons and they ruined their planet’s ecosystem from the fallout radiation.” Jen looked at the captain. “I thought Admiral Janeway saved them all with a cure to their radiation poisoning and clearing their atmosphere up, does Starfleet want a follow up mission?”

Nodding to confirm, McCallister went on to tell them their orders. “They do. The Federation Council, in fact the president themselves, feels that even though Voyager did its best to deal with the matter as best as they could, Earth has some responsibility in helping these people. From what I’ve been told by Commodore Bennet, the United Earth government is keen to fully resolve the matter in helping the Uxali as much as they will let us. The United Earth Parliament petitioned the Federation Council to take further action.”

“Great, so we get left with second contact duty and muck up schedules.” Reyas stated.

“Sort of Karyn.” McCallister went on to explain, even though he was annoyed with his wife’s unhelpful comment. “We’re probably one of the best ships to undertake this mission. We have the expertise from helping thousands of refugees from the Romulan Empire and the largest capacity this side of the quadrant. So we have full authorisation to provide help if the Uxali want it and to get an update on their status. Any questions?”

Hunsen raised his hand slightly from where it rested on the conference table. “Sir, even though Voyager did a good job in cleaning up their air we should still be cautious that even after twenty plus years there will be residual radiation on the planet.”

“Indeed, so the away team will need to be in full EVA gear.” McCallister answered. He looked to Cambil, “If we cannot establish contact from orbit then I will lead a heavily armed away team down.”

“Captain-” Cambil was about to start but McCallister interrupted her.

“I get your objections Bexa, but this one requires the captain to lead on as we can’t leave this planet in a mess. These people, yes, need to take responsibility for their own actions, but it was from Earth that the reason why this happened to them starts from. We need to clear up our ancestors’ mess.”

“How long is Starfleet giving us to complete the mission?” T’Rani asked from her chair.

“No time allocation has been sent on this one as they want us to take our time in repairing any unfinished damage.” McCallister replied as he sat down. “Karyn, I need you to place a filter on the sensors so they can by-pass any more radiation in the atmosphere.”

His El-Aurian wife nodded in acknowledgement of her orders. “Understood, but with the doctor’s help we should see if we could adjust them too to detect Uxali lifesigns.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” McCallister said and he looked to Slyvexs to be involved. He then gazed over to his chief engineer. The Betazoid engineer was already writing things on his PADD as he could probably hear McCallister’s thoughts. “Tremt, I want the Aquarius ready to be launched once we arrive. Have T’Rani lend you a hand.”

“Aye sir. Perhaps activating the metaphasic shields around the ship may prevent any damage from any lingering radiation.” Hunsen suggested.

“So to it.” McCallister ordered. “We have a journey ahead of us which includes a trip through subspace, so Lukiz I am leaving it down to you to make the suitable adjustments for our trip.”

“Understood captain.”  Jen said as he took notes. “I know the underspace corridors are filled with debris. We may want to reinforce structural integrity.”

“Make it happen.” McCallister commanded. “This may be our first assignment in the Delta Quadrant and it is a challenge, but I am confident we can bring some help to these people.” He took a breath. “Dismissed.”

As everyone got up, James called for Cambil and Duncan to remain. As everyone left, he looked at them both. “We’ve got several days before we arrive at this planet. I want you both to become experts about them and anything else we may need to know. Is that clear?”

“Sure.” Cambil replied with.

“Clear as the Opal Sea sir.” Duncan answered with.

“I want a detailed breakdown of everything by tomorrow afternoon.” McCallister ordered. “Ideas on how we are going to be able to convince them we are here to help and not invade will be greatly received.”

“Leave it with us James.” Cambil said as the captain dismissed her and Duncan from the room.

Once he was on his own, James smiled with a big grin. They were finally doing something worthwhile.