As Levy plodded through the relentless downpour, the fine mist enveloped her, creating a sense of catharsis as it washed away the accumulated tension and opposition that had consumed her for the past two months. The man walking beside her, who had been a perpetual source of conflict, now seemed to blend into the rain, becoming nothing more than a companion amid the heavy deluge.

“I do appreciate your time and effort with all of this, Dawn,” Governor Thompson muttered. 

Levy couldn’t help but smirk under the hood of her long field jacket, a subtle sign of her satisfaction and triumph over the circumstances. Governor Sean Thompson wore an almost similar heavy-duty coat as he escorted her across the landing pad.

As Captain Dawn Levy and Governor Sean Thompson strode together under the rain on Kovar Prime, she couldn’t help but be struck by the transformation of the man she had convinced to finally accept the deal with the Reman refugees. Despite the stormy political landscape, his tall, commanding figure remained unyielding, his almost entirely grey hair slightly damp and glistening under the soft light. His piercing blue eyes, a testament to the wisdom and experience he’d gained as a former Starfleet captain, remained resolute and sharp. Thompson was no longer just a politician but a leader with unyielding principles and a warmth that endeared him to the colonists of Kovar Prime. They trusted him, and Levy could see why. His dedication to their well-being was not just a duty but a part of his character, a quality that she found profoundly inspiring. 

She felt a sense of accomplishment and respect as they neared the landing pad where her runabout waited. Convincing Thompson had been difficult, but his agreement to take in the Reman refugees spoke volumes about his character. He had never married, dedicating his life to his career and people. It was this selflessness, this unwavering commitment, that made him an exceptional leader. It also kept him focused purely on the system; sometimes, he came across as a bit sheltered. Seeing him walking in the rain beside her was a change of heart for him. He had seen the benefits of allowing the Remans to settle on the Remus Remanent and work through the new mines they were establishing. Also, allowing some of them to set up their settlement on Kovar made a big difference. All of them had become political asylum seekers, and he had eventually agreed to approve their desperate pleas. Levy had advocated for him to allow this, and now that the Remans were settled and reaping from the benefits of having them now part of the Kovar community, it was just the icing on the cake. The Remans’ integration into the community had brought about a cultural exchange and economic growth that benefited all.  

“Thank you, Governor,” Levy said, stopping as they reached her runabout. “I know this wasn’t an easy decision.”

Thompson nodded, a thoughtful look in his eyes. “It was the right one. For them and us.”

“Are you getting sentimental in your old age, Sean?” She probed with a smirk.

Thompson chuckled. “Maybe, Dawn. Maybe.”

“I’ll see you at next month’s summit with the Coppelius delegation?” Levy checked as she took a step up towards the runabout’s hatch. 

“Actually, I’ll be visiting the station in a couple of day’s time,” Thompson replied.

“Ah, of course, I completely forgot about the admiral’s visit,” she said with a smile. “It will be nice having the old team back together.”

“Indeed,” Thompson agreed before he wished her a safe journey back to the station. 

Levy gave him a friendly, reassuring squeeze on his left arm before she entered the cockpit and pulled her hood down. Turning around, she smiled at Thompson as the hatch closed. 

Taking her coat off, Levy folded it and draped it over an empty seat as she entered the cockpit. 

“So, is that it?” asked Hawkins across the cockpit as he twisted the co-pilot’s chair to face Levy.

Looking over at him, Levy smiled and nodded. “The final acts of diplomacy are finished. I hope you three weren’t waiting for me for too long.”

Hawkins shook his head. “No, not at all. Sturok is in the back meditating, and the extra time gave me and Tate to finish off our sightseeing of New Hampton.”

Levy smirked as she looked at the young Betazoid pilot. “I hope Tom didn’t spoil your first visit to Kovar, Tate.”

“Not at all, ma’am,” Horin replied formally. 

Levy knew that since he had joined the station with his parents, Hawkins (along with Parin) had taken the young ensign under their wing. She admired both men for it. Horin, unlike his parents, had been greatly affected by the events of Frontier Day and leaving Starbase Bravo had been difficult for them. Horin, Although he remained formal on duty, still carried the burden, and Levy knew there had been a few incidents where Tate had been caught by his parents behaving in a way that wasn’t healthy while off-duty. She knew that he was still under close psychological supervision with Taf, but everyone knew trauma like he and so many had endured would take time to deal with. 

 “Good,” Levy said, pleased to hear that. “Then, when we’ve got clearance, let’s leave this miserable rain and head back home.”

“Ma’am, are you sure you don’t want to stop by New Bognor Regis? I hear it’s very sunny and warm there.” Hawkins asked with a cheeky grin and glint in his eye.

Chuckling at his cheekiness, Levy shook her head. “Oh, Thomas, I’m not the young woman I used to be. Spending time on a beach isn’t what I consider relaxing.”

“Ma’am, you’re always be young at heart to me,” Hawkins remarked, still grinning at her.

“Such a charmer, Mister Hawkins,” Levy playfully responded. “No, I’m going to go find myself a nice mug of coffee and finish a book I’ve wanted to get my head into since we left D-S-Nineteen.”

“Let me guess, Jane Austen? Charlotte Bronte?” Hawkins asked.

She shook her head. “No, the latest sequel to Fifty Deals of Ferengi Latnium Lust,” Levy called out as she made her way to the aft compartment, leaving Hawkins gobsmacked she was into such titles. 

Making her way into the compartment, Levy stopped in her tracks as she saw Sturok in deep meditation in the centre of the room. Kneeling before a lit candle with his fingers posed together in a normal Vulcan state, Sturok looked like a statue. 

“I assume your final interactions with the governor were successful?” Sturok asked, keeping himself still posed in his meditated state.

Levy walked over to the table where her bag was sitting. “Very successful, Thompson was amenable to everything.”

“A logical outcome,” Sturok said as he opened his eyes, leant forward and blew out the candle before he stood up.

“What do you mean by that?” Levy questioned as she rummaged through her bag to find the PADD containing the novel she sought. 

Sturok raised an eyebrow as he answered Levy. “Governor Thompson had no choice in the matter, and the incentive of Kovar Prime receiving an additional fifty orbital weapon platforms and an upgrade to its weather control systems ahead of their maintenance cycle would only make him more amenable to the deal.”

Levy could hear the cynicism coming through Sturok’s tone, even though he would deny it. “Everyone has their price, commander,” She stated as she took the PADD out and smiled. Noticing that they were lifting off through the aft viewports, she turned to Sturok. “And your remarks on how the Remans’ contribution will continue to help Kovar in the long-term certainly helped, Sturok. So thank you.”

“I am pleased that my assistance was effective,” Sturok said as he approached the replicator. “Tea?”

“Coffee,” She answered as she made her way over to the nearest couch. 

After Sturok ordered their drinks, he brought her mug to where she was sitting. “I am sure Admiral Jaret will be pleased to hear that Governor Thompson is once again supportive of our actions.”

“Especially ahead of Fleet Admiral Duncan’s visit,” Levy chuckled after thanking him for her drink. “How did your discussions with the Kovar Militia go?”

Sturok sat up straight on the opposite end of the couch. “Though their leaders were concerned by the recent increase in tension with the Klingon Defence Force, they, like Governor Thompson, were pleased we were taking the threat seriously by improving the defences of Kovar.”

“It’s not as if we are on the Klingon border,” Levy remarked between sips. “However, General Kurak’s interest in the Remans does mean that at least one of the Great Houses will be watching us like hawks.”

“Chancellor Toral’s unsettled position on the Romulan Republic does not provide the stability that Chancellor Martok’s leadership did for Federation security,” Sturok commented.

“And I’m still not sure how much I trust Senator Valer,” Levy said as she activated her PADD. 

“The Romulan Free State is certainly an enigma,” Sturok agreed. “However, the senator has so far kept to his word with the admiral’s agreement.”

“So far,” Levy emphasised. 

“Indeed,” Sturok stated as he sipped his tea and stood. “I will leave you to your book and ensure Ensign Horin is properly supervised.”

“Sturok,” Levy called. Tom has it. Our trip is only a half-hour long. Nothing’s going to happen between here and the station. It’s a routine journey.”

“Very well,” He said, “I will complete my report instead.”

Levy smiled at him, knowing that his intentions were pure and coming from a good place, but she also wanted to give Horin the space to prove himself.

“I can’t believe the captain reads that Ferengi smut,” Hawkins chuckled to himself as he leaned back in the co-pilot’s chair. He looked over at Horin for a response but was met with silence.

Horin, who had been intently studying the helm controls, snapped out of his trance and glanced at Hawkins. He gave a friendly smirk. “Yeah, I’m not surprised. My mom is into that series, too.”

“I just hope they don’t become mandatory reading for the senior staff,” Hawkins said, grinning.

Horin chuckled softly, shaking his head.

“So, honestly, Tate, what did you think of Kovar?” Hawkins pressed.

“It was… nice.”

“Nice?” Hawkins echoed, raising an eyebrow, almost looking like Sturok in his expression.”

“Yeah, it was nice, sir,” Horin replied, emphasising the last word with exaggerated formality.

“Drop the rank crap with me, Tate,” Hawkins said, rolling his eyes. “We’ve spent the last couple of months getting to know each other. No need to ‘sir’ me with such a short-ass answer.”

“I’m sorry,” Horin muttered, looking sheepish.

“Come on, Tate, let down your shields,” Hawkins urged, leaning forward.

“I’d prefer not to,” Horin replied between a few deep breaths. “I’m on duty.”

An awkward silence filled the cockpit, the hum of the ship’s engines the only sound. Hawkins sighed, breaking the tension.

“Look, I get it,” he said quietly. “But you don’t always have to be on guard. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Horin’s eyes softened, but he kept his gaze on the controls. “It’s not that simple,” he murmured.

Hawkins nodded, understanding the unspoken complexities. “Fair enough. Just know you can talk to me, okay?”

“Thank you,” Horin said, his tone sincere but still guarded.

The silence that followed was more comfortable, an unspoken agreement of trust hanging in the air. The sleek runabout gracefully departed from Kovar’s atmosphere, making its way through the void of space towards the towering Unity-class station, which loomed in the orbit of the Federation world below.

“Do you want a drink?” Hawkins offered as he leant forward, ready to get out of the chair.

“No,” Horin replied almost sharply before he remembered to thank Hawkins for the offer. “I’m good, thanks.”

Hawkins rose to his feet and was about to make his way to the rear of the ship when the ship shuddered to the left and right. “What is that?”

“We’re encountering severe graviton pulses,” Horin replied. “I can’t localise it.”

As Hawkins retook his seat to try and get a scan of the area before them, he heard both Levy and Sturok entering the cockpit with the same urgency that had left his body a moment ago when the commotion happened.

“Report,” Levy said as she took a position between Horin and Hawkins. She had grabbed the back of both of their chairs, keeping herself stable from the amount of shuddering. 

“Something is emerging from subspace,” Horin replied. “It’s causing intense gravimetric distortions.”

“Full power to shields, Commander Sturok,” Levy ordered as she took her seat in one of the side stations. “Thomas, get a message to the station, telling them what we’ve encountered.”

“Message sent,” Hawkins announced.

“Ma’am, I think it’s an aperture,” Horin declared as he tried his best to stabilise the ship.

“Clarify, ensign,” Levy said as she tried to access the sensors. “An aperture to what?”

“I can’t tell,” Horin replied. “But it looks like it’s forming.”

Then the proximity alarm went off, and a ship appeared in front of them within seconds.

“TATE!” Hawkins said at the top of his voice.

Thankfully, Horin’s fingers raced across the helm controls, and he pushed their small ship into a spin to avoid the incoming vessel. They barely brushed it as the Arrow-class runabout removed itself from the danger of colliding with whatever just emerged.

The distortions quickly reduced, and the shuddering effect on the runabout ceased. 

“All stop!” Levy ordered as she got her breath back. “What on Earth was that?” 

Shaking his head, Horin shrugged. “I’m sorry, captain, I don’t know.”

“The vessel that has appeared is heavily damaged,” Sturok reported. “I’m detecting over one hundred and forty-seven humanoids on board.”

Looking at the ship before them, Horin didn’t recognise it. “It doesn’t look like a ship from this corner of the galaxy.”

“You are correct, lieutenant,” Sturok stated. “This ship is not native to the Beta or Alpha Quadrant.”

“Let me guess,” Hawkins said, looking over his shoulder at his superior officer. “Delta Quadrant?”

“Precisely,” Sturok confirmed. “The Starfleet database identifies them as a Caatati.”

“Caatati?” Horin repeated, not aware of this species. “Not quite the Kazon or Hirogen.”

“Maybe not,” Sturok said, “however, I am detecting a residual weapon’s signature on their hull, which is Hirogen.”

“The Hirogen?” Horin now questioned. “Isn’t that the species that likes to hunt other aliens?”

“Indeed,” Sturok verified. “The Caatai ship is heavily damaged. They are running on what appears to be emergency power.”

“We should help them,” Hawkins insisted as he looked at Levy for direction.

She nodded with him in agreement. “Hail them.”

Hawkins pressed the buttons to activate the comm. “Channel open, ma’am.”

“Caatati ship, I’m Captain Dawn Levy of the Federation station Deep Space Nineteen; please respond.” Levy kept her voice calm and smooth. 

Hawkins gave it a few more seconds and then checked the channel. “They’re not responding.” 

“Maybe they can’t,” Horin suggested. 

“Ensign Horin could be right,” Sturok said. “I am detecting power fluctuations across their craft.”

“Is it safe to beam over, commander?” Levy asked, still looking at the ship before them.

“I believe so,” Sturok answered.

“Then you, me and Tom are heading over,” She insisted. “Tate, raise the station and let’s see if they can get the Formidable out here to help us.”

“Aye, captain,” Horin replied.

Hawkins got out of his chair, as did Sturok. Levy walked over to the nearest equipment locker. 

“What do we know about this Caatati?” She asked Sturok.

“Besides one encounter that Voyager had with them, our knowledge is limited,” Sturok answered. 

“The Borg decimated their species,” Horin replied, bringing up the records on a nearby holographic display. “Admiral Janeway helped them by providing them with the means to replicate thorium isotopes, their main power source.” He squinted at the display. “They were slightly hostile.”

“Wouldn’t you be if the Borg decimated your species?” Levy asked, then paused as she realised what she said and who she said it to. “Sorry, Ensign.”

Horin shook his head and smiled. “It’s fine, ma’am.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Levy replied. “I shouldn’t have said it.”

Waving his hands at her to reassure her, Horin smiled. “I promise you, ma’am, I’m just as outraged as you are about how the Borg treated these people. We need to help them.”

Hawkins noted that Levy was grateful for Horin’s comment. He could see that Horin didn’t want the attention on him but on these people who needed their help. Giving a wink at Horin, Hawkins knew that Horin would be hating himself for being on the mission and making Levy feel uncomfortable with what she said. 

“If any of their power sources are damaged, then we may be exposed to the radiation produced by thorium,” Sturok warned as he placed a tricorder in his belt. His remark was a good distraction from the previous conversation. 

Levy didn’t show relief or gratitude for the Vulcan’s changing topic as she attached a phaser to her hip. However, it was evident as she replied. “Then let’s hope Jowain can treat us for it,” She said as she headed to the transporter platform. “That said, we won’t place ourselves in any dangerous situations over there. We will say hello, offer our help and see what we can do to secure the ship. 

There was a beep from Horin’s station. He looked down at it. “Ma’am, a message from the station. Admiral Jaret is sending the Formidable to us. They’ll be here in fifteen minutes.”

“Good, let’s welcome our visitors and give them a nice introduction to the Beta Quadrant,” Levy said as Sturok and Hawkins joined her on the transporter platform. “While we’re over there, Tate, see if you can find out what brought them here from the other side of the galaxy. I’m sure the admiral would appreciate knowing more. Let’s hope it’s not some alien entity moving ships across the galaxy.”

“Like the Q?” Hawkins asked.

“Or the Nacene,” Sturok stated.

“I wasn’t going for any benevolent races, but knowing our luck, it’s probably one of those ancient civilisations like the Iconians or T’Kon who could be behind this, or someone is using their technology without any idea of the consequences,” Levy stated, a hint of annoyance now entering her voice. “Anyway, Tate, see what you can see. We don’t want it to affect them, Kovar, or us. I can’t do with Governor Thompson getting grumpy if we get pulled across the galaxy ourselves. I’ve finally got him on our side with the Remans and Romulans. I’d prefer not to have to tell him why we are in the Delta Quadrant and dealing with Hirogen, Kazon or even a Borg Cube right now. That’s too much of a headache and paperwork for my liking.” 

“Yes, ma’am,” Horin nodded with a smirk as he walked to the transporter controls. “Ready to beam over?” He asked her.

“Let’s not leave our visitors waiting any longer,” Levy said to both Sturok and Hawkins as she took a breath before turning her attention back to the young pilot. “Energise, Mister Horin,” She ordered calmly as she closed her eyes at the same time that the transporter beam glowed around her and pulled her molecules apart, beaming her to the Caatati ship.

“And with that, the first batch of new orbital platform weapons will come online by the end of tomorrow, ma’am.”

Looking up from her PADD, Admiral Jaret’s gaze met the Bajoran woman standing before her and the other senior staff. She smiled at Dalen, appreciating her consistency in being thorough in her work. “Thank you, Marjo,” the admiral said sincerely as she quickly scanned the report in her hands. 

Lieutenant Commander Dalen Marjo, the station’s assistant chief operations officer, was a crucial figure in the station’s operations. Jaret had been proud of Dalen over the years. From the young engineer who joined the construction project to build the station to now, Dalen was a hard-working, highly intelligent officer and an invaluable asset to D-S-Nineteen. Dalen was extraordinarily determined and ambitious with her career goals, and she was often found working long hours and going above and beyond with her efforts. She had wanted the Chief Operations Officer spot earlier in the year, but she had only been the deputy of her department for a few months, and Jaret wasn’t sure if she had the leadership skills needed to manage such a vast team. Dalen had tended to be more introverted. She often kept to herself, focusing intensely on her work. Though Jaret had noticed Dalen’s disappointment in not getting the top job, it had ignited a spark in her to prove she could do it. As such, in the last few months since Anizza Horin had joined the station as Dalen’s new superior, Dalen had gone out of her way to make Anizza feel like she was part of the department and had undertaken more duty shifts with her fellow operations officers and had submitted herself to more training around command. Jaret was pleased to see how much Dalen wanted to run her own department. 

“I notice that the deployment schedule of the platforms will require extra shifts from the operations department,” Jaret stated as she looked up at the PADD.

Before Anizza could respond, Dalen stepped forward. Her short, neat hair barely moved as she reassured their commanding officer. “The operations teams assigned to this are eager to have the weapon platforms operational before we face any further encounters with the Klingon Empire. We need to be prepared for any eventuality. Don’t worry, ma’am; we are closely coordinating our efforts with the Kovar Planetary Defence teams.”

“A show of strength,” Fitzgerald commented from the other side of the table. 

Jaret could see how others perceived that. She looked at Dalen one more time. “Thank you again, Marjo.” She turned to Anizza. “Anything else to add, commander?”

“Only to state that when I leave to visit Coppelius tomorrow, Marjo will be attending our daily senior staff meetings in my place,” Anizza said with a friendly smile.

“Finally sitting at the grown-ups’ table, hey Marjo,” Parin teased the engineer. 

Margo looked Parin in the eye and replied with a wry smile, “Well, someone has to make sure the grown-ups get their work done, doctor, while Anizza is away.”

A round of chuckles filled the room. Dalen’s dry wit was well-known. She thanked everyone for their time before making her way out of the wardroom. 

Jaret turned in her chair to face everyone else. Ever since the incident with the Remans and Klingons two months ago, a tense encounter that had tested the station’s defences and diplomatic skills, she had insisted on a daily senior staff briefing on station and sector operations. They weren’t long, but it ensured everyone was kept in the loop. Though their numbers were light the last week or so with Levy, Sturok, and Hawkins down on Kovar, they still met. 

“Next item,” The admiral insisted as she moved their meeting on, “Fleet Admiral Duncan’s visit to the station.” Jaret looked at Harper. “Jacinta, I take it security prep-”

She didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence when the intercom went off, and the senior officer of the watch in ops requested that she and the others attend ops straight away. Moving swiftly, the admiral led her officers out of the wardroom and towards ops. Thankfully, it was only a short walk down a corridor, and they were in the station’s command and control room.

“Report?” Jaret asked as she noticed the station was taken to yellow alert. 

Jaret’s curiosity was piqued when she was informed that Levy’s runabout had discovered an alien ship in orbit of Kovar, one that hailed from the Delta Quadrant. The admiral turned to Fitzgerald, who had taken her position at the science station and was in the best position to provide more information. “Any clues as to who they are?” she inquired, her voice tinged with anticipation.

Using the interactive holographic displays, Fitzgerald nodded. “Our database is recognising them as Caatati.”

“Caatati?” Taf echoed. “They don’t sound familiar.”

“You wouldn’t know them, Lenara,” Fitzgerald replied, addressing the counsellor’s remark. “They’re from the Delta Quadrant.”

“So how did they get in orbit of Kovar without our tracking stations seeing them?” McCord, who was beside the admiral, asked. 

Fitzgerald squinted at the information before her. “I can’t tell at this range; we need to get closer.” 

“Incoming call from Captain Levy’s runabout,” Anizza said from her station. She smiled momentarily as she recognised the Starfleet ID on the message. Jaret knew it was from her son, Tate, who had joined the team as their pilot. She had authorised his inclusion, a personal request from her communications officer. “The captain is leading a small away team to meet with the Caatati, and she’s requesting further assistance.”

Turning to her first officer, Anizza’s husband and Tate’s father, Jaret looked at Jaxxon. It was clear his Betazoid abilities could sense what she wanted him to do as he started to pull the readiness data on the Formidable. “Jaxxon, take the Formidable and see how the Caatati got here and if we’ve got an issue in our sensor detection grid.”

“Already on it, ma’am,” He answered as he called for his wife, Fitzgerald, Taf and Parin to join him on the turbolift that would take them to the docking port where their Defiant-class support ship was moored.

USS Formidable (NCC-74207) Kovar System, Alcott Sector, Beta Quadrant

Once the ship was underway, Jaxxon told Fitzgerald to start her sensor scans immediately. He stood with his hands on his hips in front of the captain’s chair. The urgency of finding out what was going on with their unexpected visitors worried him not only for the security of the Kovar system but also for their son’s safety. 

Calm down, Imzadi. 

Jaxxon looked at his wife, who was at the engineering station. He heard her thoughts and realised how much he was thinking aloud for her to hear. 

I’m sorry. 

She looked over at her should at him and smiled sweetly. They had remained a strong family since Frontier Day, and having their son away from them for such a long time had concerned them. However, they trusted both Levy (a former counsellor) and Lieutenant Hawkins to watch Tatuemm and ensure he didn’t spiral out of control as he had done on Starbase Bravo. They hadn’t heard anything since they had gone, so they had assumed no news was good news. 

Taf, who was at the helm, announced they were clear of the station.

“Ahead at full impulse, commander,” Jaxxon ordered.

Relying on one of her past hosts, who was a pilot, Taf pushed the Formidable to its top sub-light speed.

At that point, Doctor Parin entered the bridge. He had a PADD in his hand and approached Jaxxon, “Captain Horin, I’ve just pulled this from our database before we left the station; the Caatati are small in their numbers after the Borg assimilated most of their race.”

Hearing that alarmed Jaxxon, and he noticed Anizza’s back stiffen, too. “Thank you, Jowain,” The captain said as he skimmed the PADD’s contents. “I’m sure there will be some who are injured. Is sickbay ready?”

“We’re ready,” Parin confirmed.

“Knowing Captain Levy, if she knew that about the Caatati, she’s probably boarded their craft to break the ice with them,” Taf suggested. “The scars of the Borg may have made them distrustful of others.”

“Maybe,” Jaxxon slightly agreed. He looked over at Fitzgerald. “Commander, anything yet about what brought them here?”

Fitzgerald nodded. “I’ve linked up with Tate on their runabout; he is sending me live sensor feed.”

A sense of relief washed over Jaxxon after hearing that; Anizza shared the same thing with him. I told you not to worry about him, she said to him. 

“Anything helpful to explain how the Caatati got here?” Jaxxon asked. 

Fitzgerald shook her head. “Nothing from initial scans and the runabout’s sensor logs indicate they detected gravimetric distortions, but I’m not seeing anything like that now. Just a few stray tachyons. Whatever it was, it has disappeared for now.”

“A wormhole?” Jaxxon guessed.

Fitzgerald shook her head. “I’m not detecting neutrinos, but I could be missing something. I’d need to run more detailed scans.”

“That Caatati ship is a mess,” Anizza announced. “It looks like they took a beating before they arrived, and whatever dropped them off here caused more damage.”

“Captain Levy is hailing us, audio only”, Taf stated.

“Put her through,” Jaxxon ordered.

“Formidable, it’s good to see you here,” Levy said cheerfully over the channel. “We’ve made contact with the Caatati leader, Calhmin, and he is requesting further help with his injured and repairs.”

“Tell him we’re happy to take them back to the station, and we can beam over any of those seriously injured now for Doctor Parin to look at,” Jaxxon replied.

“Thank you, Jaxxon, they will appreciate it,” Levy stated.

“Dawn, do we know how they got here?” Jaxxon asked.

Levy’s response was quick. “Calhmin has said they were being chased by a Hirogen ship, and as they engaged their warp drive, they found themselves in what they thought was a subspace corridor, and then they got deposited here. Calhmin has agreed to share their sensor logs with us to help find a way to get them back.” 

“I’m sure Layla will appreciate that,” Jaxxon stated. “Tell them to prepare for us to lock a tractor beam onto them.”

“Captain Horin, Commander Sturok here; sorry for the interruption, but the Caatati hull is severely compromised. I am concerned that a tractor beam may cause further damage if the ship is not properly piloted.” Sturok declared.

“He’s right, Jaxxon,” Anizza stated as she showed a holographic display of the Caatati’s damaged state. “We need to extend our structural integrity field around them, and with the thrusters they have left, we would need to depend on them and a low-powered tractor beam to get them back in one piece.”

“Understood,” Jaxxon said after studying the scan. He turned his focus back to the away team. “Dawn, can the Caatati pilot their ship back to the station with us?”

“Unfortunately, their pilot died during the Hirogen attack; I’d like to bring Ensign Horin over to help Commander Sturok. He’s expertise is what we need here. I’ll send Lieutenant Hawkins back to the runabout to fly that back to the station.” Levy stated.

Knowing he couldn’t deny the idea, Jaxxon agreed and told Levy he was sending Anizza over with an engineering crew to begin repairs.

“Thank you, captain. I’ll remain here to continue to work with the Caatati to understand what happened to them,” Levy shared.

“Good luck, Formidable out,” Jaxxon said as he closed the channel. He gave Anizza a nod, giving her permission to go over to the Caatati vessel. He looked down at Taf. “Lenara, bring us alongside them and stand by with the tractor beam.”

“Aye, sir,” The joined Trill replied before looking back at him. She dropped her voice. “Sir, it is good that Tate is doing more.”

Appreciating the comment, Jaxxon nodded to her and hoped her sentiment was placed correctly. Returning to his chair, he looked at Parin. “Jowain, if the Caatati are in a bad state, you may want your staff on the station ready to receive several traumas.”

“We’ll be ready, sir,” Parin confidently said before leaving the bridge. 

Captain Horin sat down and tugged on the ends of his jacket. He wondered how bad it was over there as he looked at the Caatati ship on the viewscreen before them. He closed his eyes briefly and tried to find his son to send him a supportive thought. 

“Tate!” a familiar voice called after him amidst the commotion of sparks flying in all directions, the sounds of people weeping or crying out in pain, and the sense of being in an overcrowded space. Looking around what was meant to be a transporter room but could have been a barracks with the number of people lying on temporary bunk beds, Ensign Horin had to recompose himself. He could sense their despair, their sadness, their anger, their hurt. He could hear their nightmares, their trauma, their terrors. It was so much. Closing his eyes, shaking his head and refocusing, he pushed through the crowd both literally and mentally. The situation here was dire. Horin’s heart went out to these people. 

“Lieutenant Hawkins,” Horin said through the hustle and bustle. “Captain Levy said you would return the runabout to the station.”

Hawkins nodded, his grip on Horin’s shoulder tightening as he guided him out of the transporter room and into the corridor, a sea of suffering. For now, Hawkins chose to ignore their plight. “Yeah, I’ll head back shortly, but she needs you on their bridge. Their pilot perished in the attack, and the ship is adrift without a helmsman. We need you, Tate.”

Horin could hear Hawkins holding back what he thought about the ship. It wasn’t state of the art and looked like it had suffered as much as its occupants had. It was held together more by hope and desire. The Caatati were indeed prepared to take whatever it took to stay alive. It wasn’t the nicest situation to be in, and the sooner they got them to the station, the sooner they could give them the care and help they deserved. “I’m happy to help where I can,” Horin answered, trying to remain positive. 

As they approached the bridge doors, they were confronted by two tall Caatati armed with particle rifles. Noticing their uniforms, they let them in, and once again, they were confronted by a packed room. In the centre of the room, Levy and Sturok were with the Caatati captain, Calhmin. 

 “Ah, Captain Calhmin, may I introduce Ensign Tateumm Horin, one of our finest pilots,” Levy introduced.

“Horin?” Calhmin repeated before looking back at Levy. “Didn’t you speak to a Captain Horin a moment ago?”

Levy nodded. “I did; Captain Jaxxon Horin is Tate’s father.”

“Like us, do you work with your families?” Calhmin asked.

“We do,” Levy confirmed. “In fact, Tate’s mother is our chief operations and engineer.”

“Excellent,” Calhmin said with a smile. “Family is important.”

Putting his best diplomatic tone forward, Horin spoke up. “On my homeworld of Betazed, our family house is important to us, sir. I promise you that you are in good company.”

“Excellent, excellent,” Calhmin said, appreciative of hearing that. He pointed towards an empty station to his right. “Here is the helm.”

Horin smiled at the Caatati leader as he made his way over. He overheard Hawkins saying his goodbyes as he called to the runabout to beam him back. As he started reviewing the controls, Horin began to work out what each button did when he felt a presence come closer to him. 

“Are you able to operate this craft, ensign?” Sturok asked in his usual analytical tone.

Horin could not only sense Sturok’s presence behind it but also feel his breath on his neck. He wanted to tell his superior to stop breathing down his neck, but he knew the Vulcan was only being cautious as he supervised Horin’s attempts.

“I believe so, sir,” Horin replied as he took out his tricorder and started to decrypt the Caatati language. Ready to try, he pressed a few buttons, and before anything else could happen, an alarm rang out across the bridge. The lights got dimmer, and every Caatati tensed and took out a weapon from their side. 

“What’s going on?” Levy asked, looking towards Calhmin.

“That’s the Borg detector,” He replied, taking his scanner out. “It’s the computer’s way of telling us that a Borg drone is trying to access our systems.”

“Where?” Sturok asked; he took out his handheld phaser.

Horin was confused at the moment. What the hell was happening now? Borg? Could he really deal with another round with them? He started to feel close to his chest. The sensation of anxiety was beginning to build up within him. He was getting hotter and starting to become flustered. 

Calhmin approached Horin with his scanner and squinted at it. “This can’t be right; it says you’re Borg.” The Caatati leader examined his device one more time and looked at Horin. “It’s detecting trace amounts of Borg resequence DNA. Are you a drone?”

Horin felt his throat tighten up as he tried to respond. 

Thankfully, Sturok stepped in. “Ensign Horin was taken over by the Borg several months ago.”

In a flash, every Caatati aimed their weapon at Horin. Immediately, he raised his hands in surrender. “I’m not a drone!” He screamed at the top of his lungs.  

“Once a Borg, always a Borg!” someone shouted from the other side of the room.

“Get him out of here!” Another shrieked.

“Protect our children!” cried someone else.

Sturok placed himself in front of Horin, almost covering him with his own body. “Ensign Horin is not a drone!”

“Calhmin,” Levy said in the sternest tone Horin had ever heard her use. “Enough, tell your people to lower their weapons. Tate is not a drone; let us explain!”

“Never!” Calhmin said, aiming his weapon at Levy. “You don’t understand what it’s like to lose everything to the Borg! I won’t allow this abomination to remain on my ship!”

Joining Sturok’s side, Levy protected Horin further with her own body. “You have nothing to fear here, I promise you, do not harm him. Tate is not a drone; he and many of our young were infected by a Borg virus months ago. They have been cured. What you detected is the residual aftermath of us curing them.”

“No!” Calhmin yelled, “I won’t allow it, take him!” He ordered his crew. 

Sturok and Levy tried to push the incoming Caatati off from Horin. Sturok even raised his weapon and fired. Horin could shield himself from the many hands and fingers that were now gripping at him. They pushed and shoved Levy and Sturok to one side. Some held them back as others picked up Horin by every limb. Calling out for his superiors, Horin felt like he was reliving his worst nightmare again. No longer was it the Borg pulling him away, but others that had suffered at the claws of the cybernetic collective.

“Take him to the stocks!” Calhmin declared before he aimed his weapon at both Sturok and Levy. “You brought that monster on board; how dare you!” He fired at both of them and within seconds, both Levy and Sturok fell to the deck plating.

Not knowing what to do, Horin screamed at the top of his voice and, with his mind, called out for both of his parents and even reached out to Hawkins. Someone had to hear him as he was dragged through the Caatati ship. The entire mob that had him had ripped his combadge off him, his weapon, tricorder, and as they pushed him down the corridor, hands were yanking at his uniform. One of the guards that had been protecting the bridge had now picked him up and was dragging Horin by his feet across the deck while others either spat at him, kicked him or shouted abuse at him. All of them hurled swearing aimed at their hatred for the Borg. 

They then entered a large room where there were many Caatati. From what Horin could see, it looked like a huge mess hall. In the centre of the room was a large fire pit. Perhaps this was their way of cooking their food. What the hell were they going to do to him? He pondered every single scenario, and all he could think of was they were going to eat him. Were the Caatati cannibals? 

Seconds later, Calhmin entered the room. “You are Borg; you took everything we had so that we will take everything from you!” He shouted at Horin as the guard picked Horin up from his feet. Others around him cheered as the guard tied Horan’s hands together and then pulled him up onto some hook that hung above the burnt-out fire pit.

As the guard roughly tore off Horin’s uniform, revealing his bare chest, it became painfully apparent that he was not just exposed but also helpless. His arms, bound and stretched above his head, strained against the weight pulling down from the hook in the ceiling. 

Horin’s chest heaved with each laboured breath, the strain evident in the taut muscles of his arms and shoulders. His skin was marked with fresh bruises from those who had kicked him and scratched him as he was dragged through the Caatati ship. Sweat trickled down his forehead. His eyes, wide with fear and pain, darted frantically around the room, searching for any sign of reprieve.

There wasn’t any. Every man, woman and child in the room was filled with anger, all aimed at him. He couldn’t comprehend how they had gone from this frail-looking race, and now they were lusting to hurt him. 

The metallic taste of fear filled his mouth as he hung suspended, his whole body trembling under the strain.

“You created our hell, so welcome to it!” Calhmin said with the utmost distaste in his voice aimed at Horin. Horin didn’t know how to convince them he wasn’t a Borg. Not anymore. He wasn’t even a real Borg. He was a puppet of the Borg Queen’s last-ditch attempt to seek revenge against the Federation. 

Horin screamed, asking to be let go, saying they didn’t understand what had happened. The guard then took hold of a rag of Horin’s former uniform and shoved it in his mouth, stopping him from being able to talk anymore. 

Calhmin approached Horin and sneered at him, “You brought us here to assimilate us all. We won’t let you. We will send a message to your Queen. We won’t bow down any more!”

Before Horin could prepare himself, Calhmin raised his fist above his head and came down hard against Horin’s face. Horin felt the pressure from the punch. The agony and pain ringed through his body, and then Calhmin did it again, this time punching against his bare chest before spinning around and kicking him in the stomach. He screamed out in pain. All alone—no one to help him. 

Horin felt the tears roll down his face as he screamed more.

And more.

And more. 

Anizza was making the final adjustments to the tractor beam systems when she felt a cold chill go down her spine. Then, the loudest sense of pain, extreme pain, overwhelmed her. She felt dizzy as she knew exactly what it was. In fact, it wasn’t a what but a who.

Tate.

She turned around in her chair on the bridge and saw her husband, Jaxxon, with the same expression plastered across his face as he wiped his face with his palm. It was almost like motion sickness. It was overwhelming for them both, and in that instance, Anizza could feel her Imzadi, her soulmate, drowning in the same sensations as she was. It was too much. They locked eyes and knew what they had to do.

They had no time to waste. Their little boy, their prince, was in grave peril. Every second counted, and they had to act swiftly and decisively. 

Something was wrong, and she knew it. Straight away, she stopped what she was doing and started to scan the Caatati ship. As her scan initiated, she overheard Jaxxon get out of his seat.

“Something’s amiss with the away team,” Jaxxon observed, his voice laced with deep concern as he moved to stand between Taf at the helm and Anizza’s station. Anizza could sense his heart racing with worry about Tate, mirroring her own anxiety.

Taf looked up at him. “Sir?” She questioned, confused by what he meant.

“Tate, I’ve just sensed something,” Jaxxon replied. “He’s in trouble.”

“No, he’s in pain,” Anizza corrected her husband, her voice firm with determination. Her motherly instincts were in overdrive, and she was ready to do whatever it took to save her son. 

Everyone on the bridge turned to them, and soon, they became worried, too. 

“What can you sense, captain?” Doctor Parin asked as he moved from the aft console towards where the captain was.

“He was calling out to both Anizza and me,” Jaxxon replied before looking at his wife, whose determination to find out what was going on was now itched across her face. “But I think he reached Anizza first.”

Though she half-heartedly listened to her Imzadi, she focused more on discovering what was happening. Her scan results were now coming in.

“Anizza,” Parin called towards her. “What did you feel?”

“Jowain, no offence right now, but I want to focus on this scan,” She replied bluntly as her fingers danced across the console and the holographic display. She cursed herself as the sensors told her something was interfering with her scans. “The Caatati have put up a scrambling field around their ship; sensors are being deflected.”

Fitzgerald, who had noticed how much panic was now covering both Jaxxon and Anizza, stepped up. She had moved over from the science station to stand beside Anizza. If something had gone wrong with Tate, something could have happened to her husband, Sturok. “Formidable to Captain Levy, please respond,” she said after opening a channel to the away team.

Nothing.

She opened the channel again and called for Sturok. 

Nothing.

Anizza noticed Fitzgerald tensing from that. She didn’t stop. “Formidable to Ensign Horin, come in; this is Commander Fitzgerald.” 

Nothing. 

More panic was setting in. Taf looked at all three senior officers and spoke up. “I don’t mean to be out of line here, but all three of you are affected by whatever is happening. If you can’t make the decisions as you’re emotionally compromised, you must let me and Jowain take over.”

Noticing the anger build up in Jaxxon, Anizza shot him a mental reminder to keep calm. He was the captain; he had to keep himself in check, or no one on the station would ever follow him again if they thought he was making decisions as ‘Jaxxon the father’ and not ‘Jaxxon the captain’ when it came to Tate. Instantly, he looked at her and nodded. “Let’s find out what’s happened first, and if we need to defer, then we’ll tell the admiral and Lenara you’ll need to take command.”

They all agreed, and then Jaxxon ordered them to hail the Caatati ship. 

The hail went unanswered for a few seconds before Calhmin’s face appeared on the viewscreen. 

“Captain Horin, you infected us!” The Caatati leader said with mixed desperation, panic and distress.

“I beg your pardon?” Jaxxon replied, trying to remain calm. He stood behind Taf’s chair. “I don’t follow.”

“Your-your s-s-son,” Calhmin stuttered. 

“What about him?” Jaxxon probed. “What’s happened?”

“He’s a Borg!”

Anizza felt her heart drop into her stomach, and then Fitzgerald squeezed her shoulder gently. Had Tate’s former link with the Collective from Frontier Day re-manifested itself somehow? Had the Borg buried something deeper into him that they missed when he was treated like every other young person in Starfleet? 

“He isn’t Borg,” Jaxxon argued back. “He is a Starfleet officer.”

“Our scanners detected the remnants of Borg resequence DNA in him. He is Borg! How dare you trap us here and then try and assimilate us!” Calhmin protested. 

“We didn’t bring you here, and we have no plans to assimilate you,” Jaxxon returned. 

“Sir, let me explain to you that Ensign Horin and many others in the Federation were infected several months ago by a Borg virus that caused a temporary partial assimilation of them, but Starfleet stopped the Borg from assimilating us all, and we found a cure to that virus,” Taf explained in her calm counselling voice. She looked over at Parin and gave him a quick look before focusing back on Calhmin. “Doctor Parin, our chief medical officer, is transmitting that cure to you now so you can compare it to Ensign Horin’s current DNA. As you said, you’ll see that whatever your scanners picked up are remnants. Ensign Horin, I promise you, has never been fully assimilated by the Borg. We don’t want to assimilate you or cause you any harm. We just want to help!”

“Lies!” Calhmin replied as he pointed his finger at them. “We won’t allow this abomination and those who brought it to us to remain!” He then cut the channel. 

“My god,” Fitzgerald said the moment the Caatati leader was gone. 

Anizza couldn’t keep the tears back. “Jaxx, we can’t let them kill Tate, Sturok or Dawn.”

“Agreed,” Jaxxon said after taking a deep breath and mouthing a thank you to Taf for trying to provide a neutral response to Calhmin. “Suggestions, people?”

“We need to get our people back,” Fitzgerald said, determined as she returned to the holographic display to look at the scattering field further. “But this isn’t going to be easy. That field is stopping us from beaming our people back.”

“There’s over five hundred Caatati over there. Can we distinguish Betazoid, Vulcan and Human life signs?” Parin asked. 

“Yes!” Anizza said instantly. “It looks like Tate is at one end of the ship while the other two are on a deck below him at the other end. Their life signs aren’t stable, though.”

There was a slight pause from everyone as they considered their options. Anizza wanted to arm the ship’s forward pulse-phasers, target the power source of that scrambling field, and beam her son and the away team back. However, the same thought she shared with her Imzadi came to the forefront of her own thoughts. She couldn’t act like that. She was a Starfleet officer, but on the other hand, she was a mother. Anizza just knew she couldn’t stand going through the same trauma they went through as a family, like what happened on Frontier Day. She wouldn’t cope. She just knew it. Taking a breath, she knew she had to stop, or she would drown in her worries.  

“If we can’t beam them out, can we beam in?” Jaxxon questioned.

Hearing her husband consider their options aloud kicked started a thought in her own mind. Anizza knew she could make something work. She had to. “If we narrow the confinement beam, I think we can get three people over there,” Anizza said, her tone becoming more positive as she weighed up their options. Knowing that she had to get over there, her eagerness now took over her train of thought. “I’ll lead the away team,” she offered, standing up eagerly.

“No, Anizza, we can’t go,” Jaxxon said, emphasising that neither she nor him could go. 

Deflated at hearing that cold splash of verbal water, Anizza sat down. She knew her Imzadi was right. 

“That rules me out, too,” Fitzgerald added. “Plus, Sturok would kill me with logic if he saw me there.”

“We’ll go,” Parin volunteered as he pointed towards him and Taf.

“Absolutely,” Taf agreed. She looked at the helm. “Also, Tom is still on the runabout near to us. He can join us as he knows the layout better than us.” She looked up at the others with confidence she could do this. With so many life experiences behind her, Taf knew how to undertake this mission correctly and could be more professional with it than the others. 

“How’d you get back?” Jaxxon asked.

“If we all use emergency transporter units, will that be enough to cut through the scattering field?” Parin asked.

Anizza checked her scans one more time before smiling. “Yes!” She was so pleased a plan was quickly forming.

“Then I suggest we use some holographic trickery to disguise ourselves as some Caatati, get ourselves over there and get our people out of there. We don’t want to cause any more trauma to the Caatati,” Taf advised. 

“Lenara’s right; they’re so traumatised from their experiences with the Borg and the Hirogen that they see enemies everywhere,” Fitzgerald stated. “We need to de-escalate the situation.”

“Then get going,” Jaxxon ordered them. “I’ll inform the admiral of what’s happened.” 

Anizza looked at him and knew that she trusted the others to bring her son back to her. “I’ll start working on modifying the transporter.”

“I’ll get the portable holographic mask emitters sorted,” Fitzgerald offered.

“Jowain, let’s get Tom over here and get our clothing sorted,” Taf suggested. 

“Oh, Tom is going to love that he gets to go back over there!” Parin said as he and Taf made their way off the bridge. 

Jaxxon looked at Anizza and, without hesitation, pulled her into a hug. It was all that was needed to get them through this. “I’ll start work on the transporters,” she said one more time before leaving the bridge. 

She was going to get her little boy back. 

Feeling a mix of anticipation and caution, the away team quickly checked their surroundings after materialising in an empty but cramped storage room. Taf, her heart pounding, had her tricorder out and was flooded with relief to see that they had found a place to use to sneak in quietly. 

“I’ve located our away team,” Parin relayed, his voice tinged with worry. “But Tate’s life signs are fading.”

Feeling the weight of the situation, Taf swiftly stowed her tricorder away into one of her pockets. “Alright, you and Tom, move out and save him.”

“What about you?” Hawkins, his voice filled with concern, checked.

“I’ll go find Sturok and Captain Levy,” Taf replied, her voice laced with a heightened sense of urgency. She pressed a button on her tricorder and activated her holographic mask. Her appearance as a Trill instantly vanished, replaced by a female Caatati. “Let’s get underway,” she ordered her words carrying a weight of importance and haste.

The other two activated their holographic disguises, and with it, their appearance as Caatati refugees was complete. 

Moving in the opposite direction of her colleagues, Taf made her way through the crowded corridors of the Caatati ship. She could hear a range of voices but couldn’t discern any one specific conversation. Pressing through, Taf, with a profound sense of empathy, knew from many lifetimes how difficult things could become when an event could flip the entire galaxy on its head and force people into uncomfortable situations where their lives hung in the balance. She felt deeply for these people. The harshness of their reality was unfair and deeply upsetting. She was driven to help these people; Taf knew that the Federation would be open to helping the Caatati without hesitation if they weren’t in this current situation. However, taking a Starfleet captain and her away team captive would not help them. Nevertheless, she was hoping that Admiral Jaret would be able to pull some strings. 

Climbing up an access ladder, Taf looked around the new deck and was pleased to see there weren’t as many Caatati. Checking her tricorder discreetly, Taf found where her two colleagues were being kept. It was a small room with one person standing outside, most likely another storage cupboard. Continuing to make sure she was not noticed, Taf tapped the subdermal comm unit that was placed under the palm of her hand. 

“Taf to Parin,” She whispered.

“Go ahead, Lenara,” Parin replied in a similar hushed tone.

“I’ve found the room where Sturok and the captain are being held; how are you getting on with finding Tate?” She asked. 

“We’ve found him, but we’re going to need to think carefully how we don’t make a scene,” Parin replied.

“Or we make a scene to get out,” Hawkins offered.

“Either way, get him out of there as quickly as possible. I’ll see you back on the Formidable,” Taf told them before closing the channel. 

Pausing to consider her options, Taf wondered how she would get past the guard. Noticing no one else was around, she went for the old classic that she hoped would be brand new to the Caatati. Moving slowly past the guard, Taf pretended to feel faint. The guard, witnessing her actions, stepped forward to help, and within a few seconds, Taf smirked and pinched the Caatati guard’s shoulder. He fell to the ground instantly. Several lifetimes ago, one of her hosts had a Vulcan Kolinahr master as a mentor, so knowing the famous Vulcan nerve pinch had become something she had known since joining. A few times, Sturok had given her pointers on her practice. The moment the guard fell, she opened the door to the storage room and dragged the guard in before closing the door behind them. Searching around the room, she found both Levy and Sturok behind some containers. 

Rushing over to tend to them, Taf removed her tricorder from her hidden pouch and deactivated her holographic disguise. She crouched beside Levy first, her fingers working quickly to untie the ropes that bound the captain’s wrists.

“Dawn, it’s Lenara,” she whispered urgently. “I’m getting you out of here.”

“Counsellor,” Levy said, in a hazed but relieved reaction. Levy was barely conscious.   Her injuries now stained her usual crisp and diplomatic presence. Her uniform, usually pristine, was torn and stained with blood and grime. A deep gash stretched across her forehead, and blood had matted her dark hair to her skin. Her face was pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes, evidence of the pain and exhaustion she had been battling. 

Sturok was in a similar state. It was clear he was struggling to stay conscious and alert. 

“Tate,” Levy groaned as Taf finished untying the two officers. “Where is he?” She struggled to ask.

Taf placed a reassuring hand on Levy’s shoulder. “Jowain and Tom are rescuing him.”

Levy exhaled heavily. “We need to find a way to calm the situation down with the Caatati,” She pushed herself up as Taf helped Sturok get to his feet.

“Captain Horin is dealing with them; we need to get you out of here,” Taf insisted. 

Levy shook her head. “No, we’ve got to make sure they see that all that’s happened here is a misunderstanding.”

Taf sighed. She knew that Levy only wanted the best, and Taf wanted the same. “We’re trying, but they’re not listening. We must remove you, Sturok and Tate from this situation to help calm everything down.”

Levy was in no state to argue. She just nodded at Taf.

Taf contacted Hawkins and Parin and told them she had rescued Sturok and Levy. “Do you need an extra pair of hands to get Tate?” She asked.

“No, I think we’ve got an idea,” Parin answered.

“Good, don’t be too long, Taf out,” She closed the channel after tapping her palm.

“How are we escaping from here?” Sturok asked groggily. 

Putting her hand in her pocket, Taf pulled out the emergency transporter units. Within a few seconds, she attached them to both Levy and Sturok before placing one on herself. Tapping the controls on her tricorder, she activated all three. They beamed instantly back to the Formidable.

Parin tapped his subdermal comm unit once more before looking up at Hawkins nervously. Even through their holographic disguises, Parin could see the same look of concern that he had was plastered across Hawkin’s expression, too.

“Do you really think deceiving Lenara is a good idea?” Hawkins asked in a low hush tone. 

“We’re not deceiving her,” Parin whispered half-confidently. “We’re still assessing our options.”   

Hawkins rolled his eyes as he looked out of the small alcove they were hiding in. It was a close, cramped nook near where Tate was being held. They had pushed themselves into it after following a large crowd heading towards the larger room where Tate was being held. Now, they were more stuck, not just in this cavity but also in how to free Tate with a huge audience watching them.

“We could come back when it’s quieter,” Hawkins suggested as he looked over to where Tate was being held. 

Parin peered around the edge to look at Horin. From where he was standing, he could make his own visual diagnostic. Horin was hanging from a metal hook; his wrists were bound tightly with a rope that appeared to be rubbing harshly against his wrists. His arms were stretched above his head, his weight pulling at his shoulders. The pain was itched across the young man’s face. Blood trickled down from the abrasions, mixing with the sweat and dirt covering his body. His head lolled forward, barely conscious, and his breaths came in ragged, uneven gasps. One eye was swollen shut, and a deep gash ran along his cheek, seeping dark blood. His lips were cracked, and with every shuddering breath, he winced in agony. Bruises and cuts marred his bare torso, displaying the relentless brutality at the hands of the Caatati.

Shaking his head, Parin knew they had to act now. “He hasn’t got time.”

“So what do we do?” Hawkins asked.

Parin surveyed the room one more time. Everyone was cheering as others prepared to have another ‘go’ against Horin. They were chanting several anti-Borg slurs. 

“We rush him,” Parin decided.

“Rush him?” Hawkins asked. “And then what?”

Parin pulled out the emergency transporter units in his hands. “I say we run at him, tackle Tate to the floor and activate the units before they realise what we’ve done.”

Hawkins chuckled. “You really think it will work?”

“You got a better plan?”

Hawkins shrugged. 

“Follow my lead,” Parin told his friend as they left the confines of their nook and moved through the crowd. 

The two men passed through the crowd, shouldering between those who wanted to hurt Tate further. Eventually, they got to the front of the crowd. There was only one armed guard. 

Parin nodded to Hawkins, and they ran forward in the blink of an eye, tackling Tate. Grabbing hold tightly around Tate’s torso, Parin yanked him off the hook and with a thud, Tate landed on the floor with both Hawkins and Parin on top of him. In their haste, their holographic disguises disappeared.

“Tom?” Tate checked as he tried to focus on his friends on top of him. He was in agony. “Jowain?”

“We’re here, Tate, hold on,” Hawkins told him as he pulled out his transporter unit.

“Quickly, Tom,” Parin warned as he noticed the crowd around them was now enraged by their actions. 

They activated their emergency transporter units without hesitation and were beamed off the ship instantly.

USS Formidable (NCC-74207), Kovar System, Alcott Sector, Beta Quadrant

The moment they appeared on the transporter platform, Hawkins and Parin stood up. They helped Tate get up to his feet. Hawkins placed Tate’s arm over his shoulder. 

“Bridge to transporter room, status report?” Captain Horin asked over the intercom.

Parin tapped his combadge. “Mission accomplished, sir, we have Tate. We’re taking him to sickbay now.”

“Is he…is he okay?” Horin asked.

“We’ve got him, sir,” Hawkins assured his superior. 

“Sir, we’ll deal with Tate; you deal with the Caatati,” Parin said as he helped Hawkins carry the young man to sickbay. “I’ll keep you posted.”

“Thank you, gentlemen,” Horin replied.

Tate looked at both of his comrades. “Thank you,” He coughed up in between tears.

“We’ve got you, Tate; you’re safe,” Parin promised as they carried him from the transporter room to sickbay. 

Nodding at them, Tate let them take him. Parin knew the ensign would recover from his physical injuries, but the mental injuries would be long-lasting.

“We’ve got a couple of patients who insisted on coming to the bridge,” Taf declared as she walked through the port hatch after the door opened. Her voice was tinged with her usual sense of cheekiness as her presence placed the attention on the bridge on her.  

Horin, standing on the raised platform in front of his chair, turned to see Levy and Sturok following her out. Behind Sturok was Fitzgerald. Horin had allowed her to go see her husband the moment Taf had got back with him. Only moments ago, he had given his wife the nod to go and see Tate in sickbay.

Smiling at his colleagues, Horin welcomed them back to safe shores. Both of them had been injured, and after being treated by Parin’s medical staff and the ship’s EMH, they ignored the holographic doctor’s orders to remain in sickbay for further observation. Levy knew it was crucial she was with Horin to help deal with the Caatati crisis, especially after overhearing how Parin and Hawkins had made quite the public scene in rescuing Tate. 

“We need to de-escalate the situation, Jaxxon,” Levy asserted, her voice filled with unwavering determination. “We can’t let the Caatati think our offer of help is off the table. These people are traumatised, and what they did to Tate is not excusable, but we can’t let them think the galaxy has abandoned them.”

Horin appreciated Levy’s remarks, especially around Tate, and he knew having her with him would ensure that whatever happened next with the Caatati would be a fair and reasonable response. “Funnily, the admiral said the same thing,” He shared.  

Deep down, though, he was seething. He was not just cross at how the Caatati had treated Tate, Levy and Sturok but also at the Borg. Once again, the echoes of their past actions continued to ripple through everyone they had burnt, and now it was pitching others against others. How could anyone move forward?

Feeling that everyone was sharing his sentiments, Horin updated them all on the current status of the Caatati. “All they’ve done so far is raise their shields.”

“Any weapons?” Sturok asked curiously.

“One particle cannon, but it’s barely operational,” Horin replied. “I’ve kept our shields raised ever since Parin and Hawkins got back.”

“No answer to our hails?” Levy checked.

Horin shook his head. “None.” Immediately, he sensed what Levy was thinking and gave her the approving nod. Though they were both captains, he knew letting her take the lead at this moment might help the situation. 

“Lenara, back us off, slowly, thrusters only,” Levy ordered the counsellor who had returned to the conn. 

Taf nodded as she used the Formidable’s thrusters to ease them slowly backwards. 

“Layla, is their scattering field still up?” Levy asked next. 

Sitting back at the science station, Fitzgerald nodded. “It is, but it’s not as powerful as it was.”

“They’ve probably diverted power from it to their shields and operational cannon,” Sturok assumed. He made his way over to the tactical station. 

The starboard bridge door then opened, allowing Hawkins to enter. The young lieutenant smiled at Captain Horin. “Sir, I’m happy to report that Jowain has stabilised Tate. He expects him to make a full recovery from his physical injuries.”

Appreciating Hawkins’s positive attitude, Horin nodded to him. “Thank you, lieutenant.” He didn’t say what he wanted to say, which was that treating Tate’s mental injuries while captured by the Caatati wouldn’t be as simple. 

Hawkins moved to the communications console to help further with their situation. 

“Maybe we should try one more call,” Levy gently insisted to Horin.

He agreed and motioned for her to continue to take the lead. 

Hawkins opened the channel, and Levy took a deep breath before speaking up. “Calhmin, it’s Captain Levy. Please respond.”

Nothing. 

“Calhmin, we need to talk. We are in a tricky situation, one that has placed your people further in danger if we do not sort all of this out,” Levy’s tone was fair and measured. “You are the last of your people, and you are here now. Do you honestly think you will be able to survive without anyone else helping you? We did not know your ship was equipped with ways of detecting Borg; otherwise, Ensign Horin would not have beamed over. You have seen from our own records what the Borg did to us. We, as a people, are still hurt and recovering from it. We have a lot in common, and our offer to help still stands, but if you ignore us and continue with this anger, the Borg will win, and your people will be lost forever. Is that what you really want? If you do, you are giving in to the Borg and letting them win.”

Levy’s speech was powerful and direct. It sent chills down Horin’s spine as he listened to every word. She wasn’t pleading for them; she was pleading for the Caatati. 

“We’re getting a response,” Hawkins declared.

“Onscreen,” Levy ordered quickly. 

Calhmin’s sombre face appeared on the view screen. His shoulders were slumped. “We are sorry,” He whispered. He was a broken man, and Horin felt for him. He could feel the anger, the resentment, the heartbreak the Caatati leader was carrying. “This is not who we are as a people. We have lost our ways. I am ashamed of letting my fear, our fear, take over. I will take full responsibility and surrender myself to you for our actions against Ensign Tate. Please, though, have mercy on my people.”

Horin stepped forward. “Your people have endured enough, Calhmin. We can sort out the finer details of what happened with my son; in the meantime, let us help you.”

“You are too generous, captain,” Calhmin bowed his head. “I still wish to surrender myself to you. What I did, what I allowed, my wife and children, if they were still here, would be ashamed of me. I cannot lead my people.”

Looking at one another, Horin and Levy exchanged a glance of understanding. Nodding at her, Horin let Levy take the lead on this. “Calhmin, your offer is generous and one we will take up further with our superiors, but under the circumstances right now, I am sure you need to lead your people. You are taking a new step in understanding how to grieve for what you have endured from the Borg and from the Hirogen, and now, where you find yourselves far away from your home territories. Your people need someone to show them the way. If you can find the strength to admit your wrongdoings, then that shows your people that there is a chance of recovery. Let us tow you and your ship to our station, and while we allow our people to investigate what happened, we can help you and your people.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Calhmin replied in between sobs. He pulled himself together. “I am truly sorry, Captain Horin, for the hurt I have caused to your son and your family.”

“Thank you, Calhmin,” Horin said sincerely. His anger towards him slowly went down. 

“Prepare for the tow,” Levy told the Caatati leader before they ended the call. She turned to Horin. “That wasn’t easy.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Horin agreed bluntly, placing his hands on his hips.

Levy reached out to Horin’s shoulder and squeezed it gently. “Go to sickbay, go see your son. We’ve got this.” She guaranteed him.

Horin nodded and quickly exited the bridge. It didn’t take him long to get to sickbay. The moment he reached the doors, he could hear and sense both his Imzadi and son on the other side. Relief washed over him, glad to know that Tate was alive. Stepping through the threshold once the doors had parted, he smiled immediately at the sight of his son lying on the biobed being treated by Parin. Gliding a dermal regenerator over Tate’s torso, Parin was slowly healing the bruises and cuts that the Caatati had inflicted on him.

Rushing to be by his side, Horin immediately grabbed his son’s hand, who smiled at his father’s arrival.

“Hey, Dad,” Tate weakly said as he tried to sit up.

“Relax, don’t get up,” Horin told him in a caring but firm tone. He looked at Parin. “How bad is it?”

Parin smiled at his superior. “We got to him on time, a few cracked ribs, bruises, cuts, and some internal bleeding, but nothing I couldn’t handle and fix. I expect him to be back on his feet in a couple of days.”

Horin was pleased to hear that as he looked to his wife. Anizza had perched herself at the end of the biobed where there was room. 

“This doesn’t mean your father and I are going to bring you food to your room like when you were little,” She said, trying to lighten the mood. 

“Nah, it’s cool, thanks,” Tate replied with a sheepish smile. “I’ve got my two heroes to help me out,” he gestured towards Parin.

Parin chuckled. “You really don’t want Tom bringing you food.”

“I do appreciate you two rescuing me,” Tate said between breaths. 

“Hey, it’s not like every day the doctor and communications officer gets to go undercover on an alien ship,” Parin remarked. He looked at Horin. “How are things with the Caatati? Did Tom and I piss them off with our little rescue stunt?”

“More like we should be pissed at them,” Anizza snapped.

Horin shook his head. “Dawn has been able to sort things out with them,” He replied.

“I’m surprised you didn’t blow their ship up, Jaxxon,” Anizza remarked.

“Their leader has surrendered to us for what’s happened,” Horin reaffirmed his Imzadi and son.

Tate struggled to sit up as he shook his head. “No, I don’t want that.”

“Tateumm Andreus Horin, are you mad?” Anizza said, using her son’s full name sternly. “They hurt you for no reason whatsoever.”

“Mum, they’ve been hurt badly by the Borg; they’re as traumatised as I was after Frontier Day,” Tate stated. “I could hear and sense every feeling while I was over there. These people don’t know what they’re doing. They’re lost. They need our help. We can’t turn our back on them.”

“They hurt you,” Anizza said, holding back tears. “They hurt you bad, Tate. We almost lost you.”

“But you didn’t,” He insisted. “I know you want justice for what they did; however, if you were in their shoes and dealing with what they have to deal with, you would get it.”

“I think it’s best we let you rest, Tate,” Parin insisted, stepping in to prevent any more upset.

Horin took the cue and told his Imzadi they had to let him rest. She resisted him initially. She wanted to stay with her son. 

“Commander, I must insist you leave to let my patient rest,” Parin stated in a firmer tone.

She relented and agreed to leave. Taking her hand into his, Horin escorted his Imzadi out of sickbay. When the doors were closed behind them, Horin could feel Anizza’s anger rising to the top again.

“I’m his mother; I’m allowed to be with my little one,” She remarked firmly.

“Anizza, you’re not just his mother,” Horin reminded her. 

She snapped. “I know my duties as a Starfleet officer, Jaxxon, don’t give me that crap. Our boy has just been violated again, and you want me to walk away from it. I can’t, Jaxxon! I can’t!”

Stepping forward as she started to sob, Horin wrapped his arms around Anizza. “I know, I know,” he said, comforting her closely. Closing his eyes, Horin knew this recovery would take some time, not only for his son and wife but even with the Caatati. 

“I need to do something, Jaxxon; I can’t stand by and let this happen again to our little prince,” Anizza sobbed. “Not again,” She added.

“We won’t, I promise,” Horin said with conviction. He felt the tears in his eyes now. “Let’s do it the right way, though. For Tate.”

“For Tate,” She agreed with tears rolling down her face.

Vice Admiral Jaret sat behind her desk, her brow furrowed with concern, as Doctor Parin passed her the PADD. “How is he?” Jaret checked, her voice filled with genuine worry before she looked at the device now in her hands. 

Parin wobbled his head from side to side, a small smile playing on his lips, “Physically, his injuries have healed nicely…”

“There’s a but there, Jowain,” Jaret remarked, encouraging the younger office to spill more. After knowing him for so long, Jaret knew how to read Parin. She didn’t need to be a Betazoid to read his mind. Parin was obvious with his expressions. 

“What Jowain is trying to get to is the mental scars that Ensign Horin has been inflicted with,” Taf added. “Well, that’s going to take longer to heal.”

“Yeah, the trauma he has endured is significant,” Parin agreed.

“What’s the plan, Lenara?” Jaret probed as she started to review the report from Parin in her fingers.

“Close counselling support,” Taf replied. “Which is something that is already in place for him post-Frontier Day.”

Jaret nodded in acknowledgement. “Is light duty for him being recommended?”

“For the next few days, while his body responds to the treatment,” Parin replied with a nod. “However, we may need to consider relieving him if he does not cope.” 

“And I want to take it one day at a time and keep that under review with his psychological recovery,” Taf said. “Also, he’s not the only one we need to be watching and helping.”

Jaret looked up from her PADD. “Sturok and Dawn?” She checked. She knew that the Caatati had captured the two more senior officers, but from what she had been told, they hadn’t been treated as badly as Horin. 

Parin shook his head. “No, their injuries weren’t as significant as Tate’s.”

“I’m worried for our first officer and chief operations officer,” Taf stated bluntly. 

Jaret sighed; she had always wondered if bringing the Horins onto D-S-Nineteen was the right choice, the right decision, but the better side of her told her that it was the right choice (at the time). “That’s the danger of wearing this uniform, Lenara,” Jaret said, trying to sound supportive of her senior officers. 

“I agree wholeheartedly, “ Taf said with a nod. “But, they’ve had to balance being parents with being senior Starfleet officers in quite distressing circumstances. We can’t ignore the impact it has had on them.”

“Your suggestions?” Jaret asked, intrigued to know what Taf would recommend to help them come to terms with what had happened to their son.

“Give them the space and time to support their son,” Taf answered. 

Jaret nodded. She had no issue with doing that and had already told Jaxxon and Anizza to be with their son. She was about to ask them how their Caatati guests were now settling in when the door chime went off. Peering through the transparent aluminium was Commander Fitzgerald. Surprised that her science officer was visiting her, Jaret asked Taf and Parin to stay where they were while she invited Fitzgerald in.

“You okay, Layla?” Jaret asked. 

“Sorry to disturb you, ma’am, but we’re detecting something in ops that I think you need to see,” Fitzgerald answered. 

It took a lot for Fitzgerald to be that concerned and disturb a meeting, so Jaret nodded and asked the other two to join her in ops. Leading them down into the main operations centre, Fitzgerald gestured for the others to join over by the science station. 

“I was conducting further scans of the area where we found the Caatati vessel, and I’m detecting an increase in gravimetric distortions and tachyons. It’s not high, but it is growing.” Fitzgerald said as she pushed the holographic reading of her scan so that everyone could see it. 

“Any guesses as to what it is?” Parin asked. 

“The Caatati haven’t shared their sensor logs with us yet,” Fitzgerald said. “I’m still trying to understand what dumped them on our doorstep.”

“Why haven’t they shared with us their logs?” Jaret questioned. She was concerned that after rescuing the Caatati, who had traumatised one of her officers, they weren’t helping her and her crew now. 

“Captain McCord reported that her and Captain Levy’s legal and diplomatic attempts with the Caatati leadership has been…” Fitzgerald paused her sentence as she considered her next word carefully, “challenging.”

“In other words, they want our help, which we are offering freely; they’re not so receptive to our hospitality and are holding out on us,” Jaret stated with a heavy sigh. 

“Keeping their cards close to their chest, ma’am,” Fitzgerald confirmed.

“Very well,” Jaret said as she considered her next move. “Keep monitoring these readings; let’s launch as many probes as we need to help with this. Let’s also set up warning buoys for other ships to avoid that area. In the meantime, let me go and see Sandra and Dawn to see what they’ve achieved so far.”

Jaret dismissed her officers to get back to their work while she left ops at a quick pace, making her way towards the docking ring to where two of her senior officers were working on working with their latest guests.

Admiral Jaret stepped through the heavy doors of Deep Space Nineteen’s docking ring. The docking ring thrummed with its usual mix of activity of various civilian crews loading and unloading. Visitors walked through and made their way towards the habitat module, but today, the air was charged with an extra layer of urgency. She couldn’t quite work out what was stopping the Caatati from sharing their logs with them. In return for providing medical support, repairs, food, and shelter, all her team had asked in return was for access to their sensor logs. Why the resistance? Had the whole incident with Tate Horin made them completely distrust them? Were they expecting more from those who were helping them? Jaret’s heart felt for these people. She understood their plight. Her own people’s past was similar to the Caatati – millions suffering after another, more dominant race had attacked them. The only thing that made them different was that the Bajorans still had a homeworld to return to. These people only had the ships with which they had escaped from the Borg.   

Captains Levy and McCord were waiting for Jaret in one of the smaller conference rooms. As Jaret approached the conference room, she took a moment to compose herself. Her silver hair was pulled back in a no-nonsense style, and her eyes, rich with the experience of countless missions and negotiations, scanned the bustling corridor with practised ease. She nodded to passing officers, each acknowledging her presence with a mix of respect and curiosity. It was rare to see the admiral in this area of the station. The increased level of security was also paramount and evident. Numerous armed guards stood at certain sections. 

The doors to the conference room parted smoothly at her approach. Inside, the two captains stood from their seats at the sleek, polished table. Both women mirrored Jaret’s own alert readiness, their expressions serious but respectful.

“What’s the latest?” Jaret asked the moment she stepped over the threshold.

“The Caatati do appreciate our help,” Levy started. “But aren’t budging on sharing their logs.”

“I know that Dawn. Is there anything we can do to change their minds?” Jaret probed as she took a seat at the head of the table. 

“Admiral, I don’t think we should push it,” McCord replied.

“Why not?” Jaret questioned.

McCord and Levy glanced at each other, and it was apparent to Jaret that her two friends had already discussed this matter before her arrival.

“Come on, spit it out,” Jaret encouraged. 

“Ma’am, the Caatati have no reason to share anything with us,” McCord started.

“They don’t trust us,” Levy added. “I would go as far as to say they’re intimidated by us.”

“Even though we’re helping them, and they brutalised a member of our crew?” Jaret checked. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Even with that,” Levy said, and then she raised her hands up, pre-empting what the admiral was about to say. “And before you suggest we take back our aid, I don’t think that’s going to convince them.”

“We’re now of the view that we need to work on rebuilding their trust, focus on repairing their ship, treating their injured and feeding their people,” McCord advised.

“And then after we’ve done all that, we ask for the logs?” Jaret asked.

“Hopefully, they will give them to us,” Levy said. “I know it’s not what you want to hear, but even trying to explain to them if they share their logs so we can understand what’s happened and how they got here so we can send them back hasn’t convinced them.”

Jaret let out a big sigh. “So, they don’t want our help to get back?”

“The incident with Ensign Horin and then with their leader surrendering to us has caused a lot of tension,” Levy answered.

“Tension they caused,” Jaret reminded her officers. “And remind me if I’m right here, Dawn, but they imprisoned you and Sturok too.”

“Dawn and Sturok understand that,” McCord said, coming to Levy’s defence. “And no one is saying what they did is wrong here, but their perception of us is not positive.”

“As long as Ensign Horin doesn’t want to press charges, then we’re recommending we release Calhmin,” Levy shared.

Jaret was surprised to hear that. The Caatati leader, Calhmin, had surrendered to them the moment the Formidable had tractored his ship to one of their docking ports. No one had enforced it; instead, he walked up to Jacinta, fell to his knees, held his hands out, and begged to be taken away. To avoid a scene, they took him to one of the holding cells and questioned him about what had happened to Horin, Levy, and Sturok. 

Standing up and walking over to one of the large bay viewports, Jaret crossed her arms as she stared into the Kovar system. “Do we know where Tate sits on this matter?” She heard McCord sigh. “Sandra, your sighs get louder each day; come on, tell me what it is.”

McCord sat up in her seat and turned around to face the admiral. “Ma’am, Ensign Horin doesn’t want any charges pressed-”

“But?”

“Commander Horin does.”

“Anizza is obviously distraught about what happened to him,” Levy added.

Jaret turned around. “Where does Jaxxon stand on this?”

“He’s with his son on this one,” Levy answered. “It’s caused some friction between him and Anizza.”

Jaret turned to McCord. “Where do we stand on this one legally?”

“They’re not Federation members, and as the victim of the crime, which is Tate, does not want to pursue any legal action, Anizza does not have any say on the matter,” McCord replied.

“That won’t please her,” Jaret said as she walked back to her chair and placed her hand on the back of it. She drummed her fingers along the top of it. “Okay, release Calhmin, provide the Caatati with guest quarters and provide them with as much as they need.”

“Can I make one more suggestion, admiral?” Levy asked.

“Sure.”

“Kovar has several equatorial islands that Starfleet owns. We use them mainly for training purposes. Why don’t we offer the Caatati a place to stay down there?” Levy suggested.

“Why?” Jaret asked, intrigued by Levy’s idea.

“A bit of sun, fresh air and warm weather may make them more amenable to our requests,” Levy suggested. “I can have my department make sure they’re well treated.”

Jaret considered the idea for a second and then nodded. “Sure, go right ahead.” She nodded to them both with thanks and started to make her way out of the room. Behind her, she heard McCord comment that pampering the Caatati might cause them more problems, with Levy dismissing the idea. Jaret chuckled to herself as she approached the doors, but that chuckle was soon stopped by the intercom going off.

“Ops to Admiral Jaret,” spoke Fitzgerald.

Tapping her combadge, Jaret stopped walking as she answered. “Go ahead, Layla.”

“Ma’am, sensors are detecting the arrival of four more Caatati ships. They’re sending out a distress call.” 

Jaret looked over at Levy and McCord; both women heard the announcement, knowing this would change everything for them. Jaret held back her sigh. “Let’s prep the Formidable and other runabouts to leave to tow them to the station. Maybe one of them will give us a better picture of what’s happening here.” 

“Aye, ma’am.” 

Jaret looked at Levy. “Dawn, you better ensure your new resort has plenty of rooms.”

Though early in the day, Levy felt quite excited about what was happening that day. An old friend of the station was visiting, and it was a nice distraction from the events of the last two days. The sudden arrival of the Caatati had been unexpected; what the station’s crew had achieved in the past forty-eight hours was nothing short of a miracle. 

Walking down the corridors of the docking ring, Levy tugged on the ends of her dress uniform. She had worn different versions of the Starfleet dress uniform many times over the years. With its familiar feel and close fit, this one was just as comfortable as the last one. Approaching docking port one, she turned down one more junction and saw the rest of the senior staff all standing there, talking quietly. 

“Am I late?” Levy asked the group.

Sturok turned to face her, “The admiral’s ship has just docked.”

“Which ship brought him?” Levy inquired.

“The Destiny,” Sturok replied. 

Jaret moved through the small group and approached Levy. “Ready to see the old man again?”

Levy chuckled. “Just make sure that he doesn’t hear you say that.”

Jaret smirked back as Harper announced that the final docking procedures were complete.

Turning her attention back to see everyone else, Levy noticed that their first officer and chief operations officer were absent. She couldn’t blame them for not being there. In the last two days, they had full hands to help their son with his recovery. The noise of the airlock opening made her snap to attention just as the honour guard played the boatswain’s whistle. 

“Admiral on deck,” Harper called out. 

Fleet Admiral Luke Duncan stepped through the airlock with an almost towering figure. His almost silver hair, impeccably styled, framed a face that was both rugged and refined, with piercing blue eyes that missed nothing. They were eyes that had seen countless missions and witnessed the triumphs and tragedies of deep space exploration. 

Duncan’s gaze swept over the assembled officers. He paused, allowing the silence to build before he broke it with a firm and reassuring voice. “At ease,” he said, his tone rich with authority yet warm.

“Welcome back to Deep Space 19, Fleet Admiral Duncan,” Jaret said, her voice steady but friendly, filled with the crew’s respect and admiration for the admiral.

Levy smiled at this moment. The admiral had once been the first commander of this station. He had served among many who stood before him now. Levy was one of them, and their shared history was a bond that couldn’t be broken. They had served together on the Galaxy, the Odyssey and Deep Space Nineteen. She was pleased to see him, especially after they were all led to believe he was dead over three years ago. A victim of the rogue changeling and Borg conspiracy that had been unearthed recently, the admiral had been captured and replaced by a shapeshifting infiltrator who then orchestrated the admiral’s death. When news reached D-S-Nineteen that the real Fleet Admiral Duncan was found, a sense of joy swept through the station. 

Levy caught his eye after he had greeted Jaret with a brief hug. “Dawn, it’s good to see you,” He said in his thick, gravely British accent. Duncan leant in to give her a short embrace, too. 

“It’s good to see you as well, sir,” She returned as they hugged. 

“It’s good to see you all,” Duncan said to everyone as he greeted the likes of Sturok, McCord and Fitzgerald. The others present had either heard of Duncan’s legacy from the others or knew his reputation. 

The other person who joined him was his wife, Captain Nicola Duncan. She stood poised just behind her husband, exuding a blend of elegance and strength. Nicola Duncan had a tall, athletic frame, her auburn hair framing a face marked by calm determination. Her green eyes sparkled with intelligence and depth, reflecting years of service and command. As a former science officer, she had made her own career over the years. She had turned down many promotions to become an admiral and even the opportunity to command Deep Space Nineteen. After her husband’s apparent death in 2399, she retired from Starfleet service but was asked to return to duty during the Archanis Campaign and hadn’t stopped since then. Levy and she had been friends back when they had all served together, so she was pleased to see her. However, seeing Nicola standing beside her husband reminded Levy what a power couple they both were. They complemented each other so well.

Jaret then gestured for them to make their way towards the main wardroom, where they had organised a small event to welcome the Duncans. As the two admirals led the group, Levy grinned at Nicola, and they fell into sync immediately.

“It’s lovely to have you back, Nic,” Levy said as they linked arms.

“It’s lovely to be back, Dawn,” Nicola replied with a smile on her face.

Not wanting to pry too much, Levy looked at her friend. She was pleased to see the happiness she had lost a few years ago splashed across her face. “How are you doing anyway?”

Nicola immediately knew what Levy was indicating and responded positively. “I was planning to retire fully and give up the uniform for good on Frontier Day,” Nicola shared. “However, the news of Luke’s discovery changed everything.”

“I see you’re still pushing back on those admiral pips,” Levy remarked.

“Right back at you,” Nicola said. “Being an admiral isn’t something I want right now, and joining Duncan as part of the Fourth Fleet Operations seems like a decent opportunity. Trying to rebuild what was lost to the Fourth Fleet from Frontier Day has been a challenge.”

“Tell me about it,” Levy said with a smirk. 

An hour later, the small gathering to welcome the Duncans back to Deep Space 19 was well underway. Levy had observed both of them mingling with the entire senior staff. The Horins had also arrived and were introduced to them by Admiral Jaret. 

“So, how long are you guys here for you?” Fitzgerald asked Nicola. 

Levy stood close to the station’s chief science officer and the captain, enjoying their time catching up. Fitzgerald had been Nicola’s protege/deputy years ago, so all three women had built a strong bond.

“Shorter than Luke would like,” Nicola replied between sips of her glass of orange juice. The catering team had provided this reception with a breakfast spread. As such, most of them enjoyed pastries and diced fruit and drank coffee, tea, and fresh juices. 

“Oh, I thought you were here for a few days; I’ve got Governor Thompson joining us later,” Levy stated.

“With what’s happened here with the Caatati and elsewhere, Luke and I’s plans have changed,” Nicola replied.

“What do you mean by elsewhere?” Fitzgerald asked. “Do you mean with the subspace tunnel?”

“Make that a plural, Layla”, Fleet Admiral Duncan said as he approached the three women with Jaret beside him. 

“Come again, sir?” Fitzgerald inquired. She was intrigued by what he meant. 

Duncan smirked at his wife and then looked at Jaret. “Taila, you don’t mind if I take over this gathering and turn it into a briefing?”

Jaret was just as intrigued as the others. She gestured for the fleet admiral to proceed. 

After gathering everyone around the central table, Fleet Admiral Duncan excused the interruption to the reception, thanked everyone for welcoming him and his wife back to the station, and explained that his visit wouldn’t be as long as planned. Pressing a few buttons on the table’s console, he activated several sensor logs, and they all appeared in front of them, floating in the air. 

“What you have discovered with the Caatati isn’t an isolated incident,” Duncan explained. He pressed another button, “These subspace corridors are, in fact, an extension of Underspace.”

“Underspace?” Hawkins quizzed. 

“They are a network of subspace corridors linking vast quantities of the Delta Quadrant. The Turei Alliance manages them,” Sturok clarified. 

“Commander Sturok is correct, but for some reason, that network is now appearing across the galaxy,” Duncan reported. “For example, while on patrol in the Setlik sector, the U-S-S Columbia has discovered a small flotilla of alien ships native to the Gradin Belt region of the Delta Quadrant. Starfleet assets are reporting a number of similar incidents taking place not just in the Delta Quadrant but in all four quadrants.”

“That’s alarming,” McCord said dryly.

“Indeed it is, Sandra,” Duncan confirmed. 

“And you think what brought the Caatati here is the same, sir?” Fitzgerald checked.

“They are,” Nicola confirmed. “We’ve compared your analysis to the readings based on what other ships have encountered, and they’re a perfect match.”

“The arrival of alien ships in our space threatens Federation security,” Harper stated.

“Indeed, but we are hoping to prevent any escalation from our side,” Duncan said.

“Is there any other data we have on these new underspace corridors?” Jaret asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

“Some are starting to stabilise,” Nicola replied. “We expect the one in the Kovar system will start stabilising in the next few days, allowing for two-way travel.”

“We could send the Caatati home?” Anizza said quickly.

“Potentially, commander,” Duncan replied. “However, for now, we want this aperture to be secured in case other visitors come through.”

 “The Hirogen?” Jaret asked the superior flag officer.

Duncan nodded. “Yes, and any other hostile races from the Delta Quadrant.”

Nicola pressed another button, and more sensor scans appeared, showing what looked like a rudimentary map of the underspace corridors. “We’re still trying to understand which apertures open where and how they’re connected.”

“What are orders then, sir?” Jaxxon asked.

“Secure the aperture by moving Deep Space Nineteen out of orbit of Kovar and then prepare for reinforcements to arrive.” The admiral replied.

“Reinforcements?” Jaret probed. 

Duncan nodded. “I’m sending several ships to the station to bolster defences and prepare to explore what is on the other side of the aperture once it has stabilised.”

Fascinated by this new approach, Levy wondered what this meant for their visitors from the Delta Quadrant. Ever since they had relocated them to Kovar and repairs to the ships were now underway, the Caatati had become almost insufferable with their demands. Levy had to remind her staff that they were helping a traumatised people and that giving in to their requests would not harm them in the long term. She was trying to rebuild their strained relationship. It didn’t help that a particular local politician was upset by their arrival on his colony without prior warning. Taking a breath, Levy spoke up.

“What about the Caatati on Kovar? They’ve made an official request to become asylum seekers within the Federation.”

“We’re right in the middle of legal proceedings, and there’s over two thousand of them we must process,” McCord added. “It doesn’t help that Governor Thompson is making the situation difficult.”

“I will visit Governor Thompson later to inform him that the Federation Council has approved the Caatati’s request to stay. In return, make them feel as comfortable as possible.” Duncan ordered. “Furthermore, the fact that the Destiny will be unpacking another hundred orbital weapon platforms for Kovar’s defence should keep him happy.”

“That should definitely help,” Levy said. “Are all Federation worlds affected by these apertures having similar approaches with defence upgrades?”

“In some form or another, yes,” Duncan confirmed. “The station will be designated the homeport for this new squadron.”

That piqued everyone’s interest further. 

“What squadron, admiral?” Jaret asked.

Duncan smirked. “The Odyssey.”