Chapter One: New Orders

Earth Spacedock

A woman stood looking out the wall-sized window. The stress had left this woman’s beautiful raven-black hair disheveled. Her crimson outfit indicated that she worked in some type of command-level department. Anyone could tell that something was bothering her as she stood there looking out the window at the passing runabouts and other transports.

Vausees gazed out into the void that was space. Even though the Federation had long been established in the Alpha Quadrant, and some of the pinpricks of light she could see were, in fact, homeworlds and homesteads of Federation citizens, she couldn’t help but be sad that her feet were now planted on a Spacedock rather than the bridge of her ship, the USS Akira.

She turned around and stared at everyone, both Terran and alien, who came within her line of sight. As she moved her gaze from being to being, she sought to figure out what they were doing and where they were going. She realized, however, that her perceptions of them were based only on her previous experiences. She understood that if she was correct about any of them, it was only due to her training and experiences.

She sighed as she looked over to the main elevator that led to the upper level of the ESD. Where the majority of the top brass were deliberating her next orders. She despised waiting for these men and women to reach their judgments and longed that her current fate was still in her hands, but this was different. She had been given instructions to return to SOL and had been withdrawn from the Fourth Fleet and her Taskforce for the time being.

Moments later, her gaze was drawn to a movement traveling down the spire that was the elevator shaft, and she realized that her time was about to change. As the elevator doors slid apart and a single person exited, clad in the attire of a Captain, she knew they’d be looking for her, and she was correct as their eyes fixed upon hers. She rose up from the window as they approached, having leaned up against it as she turned around to look at the people on the promenade.

She came to a casual attention while straightening out her uniform.

“Captain Vax?,” a young man in his mid-20s approached Vausees as she stood there.

Vausees bowed her head and said, “Aye, Captain.”The Captain nodded and handed her a PADD, saying, “Sorry for the wait, Captain,” as he stared at her.

Vausees gazed at the PADD with her head inclined to the side. “What are my orders, Captain?” she inquired, looking up from the PADD and into the Captain’s eyes.

“All will be explained once you and your crew have left the ESD,” he said before turning around and returning to the elevator.

This perplexed Vausees even more because this kind of message might have been sent to her as a low-level priority one message, but recalling her from the field and having her wait for hours on end only to hand her a PADD was the most frustrating to her. She sighed and tucked the PADD into the crook of her arm, heading for the nearest transporter pad, which would beam her back to her ship.

U.S.S. Akira

The controls of the transporters that had locked on to the captain’s combadge were in the hands of a teenage Ensign. Her superior stood on her left, watching the ensign transmit the captain’s life signs from the ESD to the Akira. She nodded to her subordinate as a brilliant light began to appear on the room’s transporter pad.

As she moved through, Vausees nodded to both of them and laid a hand on the ensign’s shoulder. The ensign looked up at her supervisor, who smiled and nodded to the ensign. “She’s pleased with your performance.”

But neither of them realized that Vausees was outraged inside at the way she and her crew, let alone her ship, had been treated as a result of the lack of communication concerning their orders. Hell Vausees had no idea what their orders were as she marched out of the transporter room and into the nearest lift that would take her to the bridge and, eventually, her ready room.

As she leaned over to seal the room, a chime rang from the closed doors of her ready room. She groaned, aware that she could ignore the incoming chime, but she had an open-door policy and hadn’t informed the staff that her ready room would have to be left alone for the time being. “Enter,” she stated aloud, placing both hands on the desk in front of her and looking toward the door.

A woman entered the ready room and gazed at Vausees as the door moved to the side. Her stunning emerald green eyes pierced her captain’s. Her pale skin seemed to shimmer in the dim light, giving her an otherworldly appearance. Even the way she moved her body enticed those who were inexperienced. Vausees, on the other hand, knew this woman. She stood there watching as this woman moved to stand in front of her. Vausees’ eyes travel up toward her face as she gets closer and closer. ‘Enticing as always,’ she thought to herself as her wife approached her. Vausees only muttered, “Commander Ves,” as she glanced at her.

Debrah faced her wife and the commanding officer. “Captain,” she murmured as she took a seat. After seeing Vausees secure the room, her body calmed. “What does the top brass have to say now?” Debrah inquired, her voice slightly dissatisfied with the brass, having had a history with several of them in the past.

“I’m not sure, and we won’t know until we leave ESD,” Vausees responded, her fingertips gliding over the PADD she was still clutching.

Debrah cocked her head to the side as she noticed the movement. “Why wait?” she questioned, returning her gaze from the PADD to her wife’s face. To keep herself from leaping over the desk and smothering her, she had to bite the inside of her cheek. Her reward for her restraint was a twinge of pain and a quick taste of copper. “You know I follow orders…” Vausees said, ‘Even ones I don’t agree with,’ she thought to herself, “to the letter, darling.”

Debrah nodded, knowing her wife was correct. “So, should I have Mister Nief take us out of ESD?” she inquired, already knowing the answer.

Vausees grinned as she looked up at her wife. She was aware that Debrah had already informed Trever that she had received approval from the station’s control tower to pull the Akira away from its moorings. She also knew that the intercom would chime within minutes to notify them both that they were free of ESD and that a destination was required.

Almost like clockwork, the intercom chimed and the sound of Trever’s voice could be heard requesting a heading. Both women laughed at the same time, knowing Trever was going to do what he had done. Vausees reached over and tapped the intercom on her desk, saying, “Hold fast here, Mister Nief,” before turning off the intercom. Her gaze never left Debrah’s the entire time she talked.”I think it’s about time we figure out what we’ve gotten ourselves into this time,” Vausees stated, setting the PADD on the desktop and tapping the dormant screen to bring it to life. For a brief duration, the picture of Starfleet Headquarters rotated on the monitor before disappearing and reappearing on the holoprojector in the center of the desk. There was no audio, only the image of the known universe and a blinking red question mark in the Delta Quadrant’s unknown.

Vausees looked up at Debrah, who wore the same confused expression as she did.

“What is the point of ordering us into the Delta?” Debrah inquired, her gaze returning to the bright red question mark.

Vausees looked back at the question mark. She knew something was going on and she knew that it was in the Delta. What it was she currently didn’t know.

“I am not entirely sure, but I don’t think we would have been pulled out of our fleet if it wasn’t of the utmost importance,” Vausees pointed out trying to sound optimistic at the same time.

“It’s not the importance that is bothering me. It’s the species that we are bound to find in the Delta Quadrant,” Debrah said as she leaned back in her chair.

***

A guy in all red stood high on the spire of ESD, watching the USS Akira idle outside the now-closed docks. As he gazed down at the hovering ship below, his face was obscured by darkness. He felt confident that his orders would be carried out precisely because he knew the Captain of the ship. A smile broke his lips as he saw the nacelle’s engines light brightly and the ship move away.

“Until we meet again, Captain Vax,” the man muttered quietly to no one.