The journey took some time. They had been in Delta Quadrant now for more than a week. The crew did their regular duties by taking in as many long-range scans as possible. All the information and the extension of the bloom were recorded and sent back to Starfleet Command. Every type of data that could help get the answers were most welcoming in these troubling times.

Walking onto the bridge, Sazra nodded to an Ensign and gave back to her “Status report” She finally gave the order walking to her seat as Silina rose from her chair, and the two met eyes for a brief moment. Sazra felt the warmth of her chest seeing her smile as Silina blushed and gave her a nod to sit down in her chair. Sazra took a moment and then sat down in her chair.

“We will be arrriving at the grid within 5 minutes ma’am” K’Nala spoke swiping a few buttons up on her console “All systems arrre in the grrreen”

Silina looked at her side “Captain, the crew has been working overtime to prepare for this mission. We will be arriving in a hostile area, but rapports indicate that Devore Imperium and other ships are avoiding this grid due to the intense density of the anomaly. Starfleet Command believes that we are relatively safe”.

Nodding to her XO “And if we are not? Ensign, are we able to retreat immediately?”

The Caitian looked over her shoulder with some doubt in her eyes, “The system is quite a hazarrrd by itself. Unknown anomalies can pop up everrry second. We need to carrrefully maneuver thrrrough it, it’s like a minefield?” K’Nala shrugs, “So pulling the Damascus out will be challenging, to say the least, therrre will be a lot of impacts on our hull just to get out of it safely”

“Alright, Lieutenant Shew, is the Damascus able to get herself into safety, and will the shields hold?” Sazra was asking the more critical questions. Sazra wanted to know if they were really ready for an encounter, escape and get to safety within the possible given time. 

He was focused on the console and shrugged a bit, “The systems are green, the shields are good, and the hull can take a pounding. But don’t jump through a minefield without considering that the ship won’t get damaged. The shields can hold out as long as needed, but when that battery is down you will have a fight with Adrián” He looked at his side to Adrián who entered the bridge.

“Fight with me?” He blinked a bit “Why would you get in a fight with me?”

Sazra looked at him “We are doing a check-up on all systems and departments. Lieutenant Shew is a bit of a critic regarding our shielding and hull. It won’t be able to take a long pounding if we need to make a quick exit” Leaning a bit against her chair, “So Commander, is the Lieutenant right about that? Can the Damascus not take the pounding, or can we pull through?” 

He looked at Rami for a second and then crossed his arms over each other, “Basically, he is right. While we are not Orbeth, we are not Akira either. This ship is built and designed for the purpose of scientific missions, and if we get into combat, it is basically run with your tail behind your leg’s situation”. Adrián looked around a bit, seeing some worried faces, “But to come back to your original question, we will be able to survive the potential escape. Just give me a sign ahead of time, so I can boost the shields a bit” 

“We are arrrriving at the location, Captain” K’Nala spoke, looking at the screen as the Damascus jumped out of warp and into the grid they were going to spend most of their time. It looked on the screen as a chaotic place, with asteroid fields as far as the eyes could see. The red glows of blood dilithium were visible across most of the asteroids, and anomalous were visible by large red circles engulfed with the asteroids. It was so beautiful that you almost forget what kind of danger was lurking from there. 

A piercing shot of pain hits Sazra’s head for a brief moment, forcing her to close her right eye, “So what you are saying is that we need to be careful. Glad to know that. But when we need to pull out, I depend on all of you. I depend on K’Nala’s navigation skills, Rami’s shield handling, and Adrián’s magic hands in engineering” She noticed SIlina looking at her as she shook her head slightly.

“Understood, I will keep this boot afloat. We better start getting some readings from those asteroids” Adrián walked to a console and stood next to another officer helping with his readings. “Ensign K’Nala I will give you a green light as soon as I know if its safe or not” 

“Yes, Commanderrr Valerrrio” K’Nala replied, halting the ship’s movement. 

Leaning a bit to her side, Silina looked at Sazra “You felt it right?” She looked concerned at Sazra “You have to go towards the doctor to ensure you are not compromised for this mission. Don’t make me pull out the xo card on you” She narrowed her eyes slightly.

Sazra could not escape the keen eyes of Silina, and looked back at her, “It was just a piercing pain for a brief second. If it keeps up, then I will go and get the doctor to investigate my head. You don’t have to pull out any cards to get my attention, as you fully had that already”. She gave her a wink, noticing the blush coming back on her cheek as Sazra looked at the screen, taking a deep breath. It was a stunning image for sure. 

Looking away from Sazra and sitting back in her chair, she was overwhelmed by the flirting behavior of Sazra, but they did accept their feelings for each other. Maybe she needs to talk to her about doing such behavior in front of the crew. Silina felt a bit uncomfortable with the sudden tease, but at the same time it was pleasant as well. Silina looked at her side and saw a young man struggling with the console, “What is wrong, Ensign?”

The Ensign looked up in the direction of Silina and quickly noticed the other officers also looking at him, “I….I am unsure, Commander” He nervously said “I am getting a reading from the asteroid field of an SOS signal, and I am not sure if it is really there” 

Walking at the Ensign side, Rami looked at the readings and tapped a few times, “The broadcast signal is weakened or jammed… I can’t pinpoint the cause of this signal, but there is definitely an SOS signal coming from the asteroid field, Captain”. Rami concluded and looked at the Ensign “Good catch there, Ensign Davids” He smiled softly at the young man. 

Sazra nods to the Ensign “Well done” while looking at the screen “Commander Valerio, can we?” 

“We can’t, but I am running the required scans to make sure we can” Adrián stated “Ensign K’Nala move forward, half impulse. Rami us forward scans to detect the potential dangerous of those anomalous” Looking at his side “Ensign David, send the area of the SOS to Ensign K’Nala and resume operational duties” 

“Yes sir” Both K’Nala and David replied 

“On it, the scans need to be recalibrated for that kind of usage, but…..” Rami taps a few times on the console, “There we go…” He was now able to see what was ahead of them as the Damascus started to move forward deeper into the grid.

“Commander Ruslanovna, get onto one of the science consoles and help out with the range scans to pinpoint the signal,” Sazra orders as she was helping now Adrián with the checks of the outer hull. “Commander Valerio, the outer hull is holding. The density is not strong yet. What is your recommended range?”

“I would say….30% and then do a check what the systems say in regard to pressure” Adrián tapped onto his console trying to keep the ship’s stats in few with the most recent data. 

Meanwhile Silina had walked towards the science console and started to pinpoint the signal “The closer we get, the better view we have on the signal Captain. The SOS is on repeat and the computer is now translating the whole message for us” She taps a few times “The id of the ship is civilian, transportation of people. We are not close enough to get the readings as to how many yet” 

Sazra looked at Silina for a second then back “Put the message on when done in translating” Then a muffled dark male voice came on the speakers of the bridge as Sazra looked up to listen more carefully. 

“This is the Red Lunar, we are in need of immediate help. The ship is stuck in one of the newly formed blooms of the red lotus. We required immediate help. We got 120 souls on our ship, I repeat, we need help!” The message repeats itself after that again.

Then Silina spoke up, “Confirmed, the Red Lunar has 120 people on board. The ship is stuck in an anomaly….but the ship hull is ripped apart and damaged severely” The view screen changes to the damaged ship that was stuck near an asteroid. 

“That ship got some beating to it, but I have to admit that I never saw an anomaly do something this severe to the ship. Captain, I would urge to go to yellow alert just in case” Adrián advised, looking puzzled at the screen and trying to understand what happened to the ship. 

“I had the same idea, Commander Ruslanovna. Please do so. Lieutenant Shew, open a channel to them,” Sazra orders as the light changes to yellow. Sazra heard the channel open up “This is Captain Praugol of the USS Damascus. We are here to provide aid to you, Red Lunar. Please hold on as we are making our way to you right now. Damascus out” Sazra looked around “Alright people get ready for a rescue operation, we need to get them out”