Valance had sat on a bridge dropping out of warp a thousand times and done so plenty from even the centre seat. But she was not the first officer holding the CONN on some routine travel any more, and the apprehension tightening her throat as she felt Pathfinder slide to impulse was new, tart.

Drapice rushed up on the viewscreen as the stars stopped streaming, a blue-brown orb of suspicious peace in the quiet of space. So often when they arrived at a system, comms and sensors would chitter and beep as local traffic or defence infrastructure flagged them. Out here, where the natives had not yet broken orbit, the rumble across the bridge was quieter.

‘I detect no ships in this system,’ Gov’taj reported. ‘Including the Kingfisher. Any vessels on long-range sensors are maintaining their speeds and course. Paying us no mind.’

Commander Dashell’s lips pursed. ‘They may have landed the Kingfisher. For all sorts of reasons.’

Valance nodded. ‘Bring us into high orbit, Harkon. Thawn, see if you can find any sign of the Kingfisher or our people on the surface.’ She reached for the controls on her armrest. ‘Commander Riggs, report to the bridge.’

Pathfinder’s deck rumbled only an iota as Lieutenant Harkon brought them into the planet’s gravitic pull, then gently fired the engines to stop them from surrendering to it. But Thawn’s response, after a few taps of her controls and a tightening of the operations officers’ shoulders, was less positive.

‘There’s unusually high ionic interference in the atmosphere,’ she said in a clipped voice. ‘It’s not blocking sensors completely, but I’m having to run a high-energy scan.’

Dashell leaned forward. ‘Filter for something distinctive you won’t find elsewhere on Drapice, like the Kingfisher’s fusion reactor or -’

‘Yes, sir.’ Thawn audibly caught her own snap. ‘Thank you sir, I have it.’ The XO settled back with visible embarrassment at his micro-management of a prickly officer. Valance tried to convey reassurance with only a look.

It took a minute before Thawn spoke again. ‘I have the Kingfisher,’ she said, and while relief loosened Valance’s chest, that just left room for fresh anxiety to creep in. ‘She’s settled in the basin of a mountain range just north of the equator. It’s all but impossible to pick up specific life signs, but I can detect clusters. The nearest settlement of note is some eighteen kilometres away.’

Harkon gave a whistle. ‘In clear conditions, they’re gonna need to have brought the Kingfisher down some distance away and kept to a low-altitude to get to their landing spot to avoid being spotted.’

‘Boost power to the comms,’ Valance instructed and glanced over her shoulder to Kally’s station at the rear of the bridge. ‘Try to hail them, Ensign.’

The young officer nodded, finger pressing to her earpiece, but a few moments later sighed. ‘I’m not getting through this interference. Sorry, Captain.’

‘This isn’t necessarily bad news,’ Dashell mused. ‘If they set down and just had simple mechanical problems with the ship, it could have stranded them here.’ Across from Kally, the turbolift doors slid open and Riggs walked in, rolling his sleeves back down. He had picked up that Valance found that irritating, at least.

‘Let’s not get too far into conjecture, even of the optimistic kind.’ Valance lifted a hand. ‘Thawn, what’s your assessment on transporters?’

This response came much quicker. ‘I’m confident I could get you down there,’ Thawn said without audible pride. ‘But I’m not confident I could pick up your signal to bring you back, and with even less certainty in an emergency.’

‘Understood.’ Valance pushed to her feet. ‘Then we’re taking the Watson, and we’re packing pattern enhancers. Dashell, Thawn, Harkon, you’re with me. Direct Doctor Winters to join us with his equipment for gene-shifting disguise.’ She paused and looked to Gov’taj. ‘And you, Lieutenant.’ Ignoring Kally’s disappointed look, she turned to Riggs. ‘Pathfinder is yours while we’re gone.’

The engineer openly made a face. ‘Skipper, if the Kingfisher’s too dinged to fly, mightn’t she need repairs?’

‘I can handle that, sir,’ Thawn said briskly. ‘Between us, Harkon and I can make a full assessment and determine if we need an engineering team.’

‘Yeah,’ said Harkon with a wince. ‘Sorry, Riggs. Responsibility’s yours today.’

‘If it helps,’ said Dashell with a gentle smile, ‘these chairs are suspiciously comfortable. They might be here to lull you into a false sense of security, but you can enjoy it while it lasts.’

‘No cupholder,’ Riggs complained as he approached, but raised his hands at Valance’s sharp look. ‘I’ll babysit, Skipper, you got it. Pathfinder’s safe with me an’ acting XO Kally.’

While Valance didn’t smile at Kally’s obvious delight at this shift, it was only because she fought hard to keep her expression level. ‘Very good, Commander. Away team, with me.’

‘Oh boy.’ Harkon clapped her hands as they trooped to the turbolift. ‘This means I get to bring us down a distance away and bring us to the Kingfisher at stupid-low altitude?’

‘Cautiously low,’ Valance warned. ‘Not stupid low. We have to stay in one piece to be any use as a rescue party.’

‘Don’t worry, Captain.’ Harkon’s grin hadn’t faded when they stepped into the lift, the doors sliding shut behind them. ‘This is exactly the kind of heroics you picked me for.’