As the blue hue of the transporter washed away from his body, Viran took a step off the transporter pad and looked around the small room, sighing. He tugged his side bag up onto his shoulder tighter and turned out of the room and onto the Promenade. He looked around as the massive open complex encircled the station. His eyes could only see a portion of it and he felt overwhelmed by the bustle of activity that his brain could process as his eyes moved. His mind was racing with thoughts of his new flag posting, his new command, along with taking over the Fourth Fleet’s Task Force 21.

Finally, his wandering was interrupted by the escalating echo in his direction. “… sir? … sir? Admiral?”

Viran took a deep breath as he shifted his focus, “Yes, sorry. I was just admiring this Promenade.”

“Understandable sir. It can be quite a sight. I’m Commander Reuber Feld, your first officer,” the Human man finally extended his arm.

Accepting it, Viran also introduced himself, “Admiral Viran. Thank you for steadying the ship over the last two months after Captain Teg passed. Also, I’m sorry for your loss. I know you were close.” 

“Thank you, I appreciate it. Would you like a tour of the Promenade?”

“Yes, Commander. I’ve been briefed about the situation here on the station by Starfleet Intelligence. It appears there is more than meets the eye and that this Promenade is bustling for several reasons,” the Andorian quipped.

“Yes sir,” Commander Feld started as the two men turned and began walking the Promenade. “The Promenade, as you can see, is huge on Deep Space 2. It encircles the top of the station and includes, give or take, approximately 750 shops and restaurants of various sizes contained on several levels in a ring around the station with the open arboretum in the center. It changes constantly as shops come or go. The Promenade also includes recreational spaces, and, of course, the large viewports where you can see ships coming and going.”

The two men continued walking along the Promenade, Viran occasionally looking at the large arboretum in the center of the large, open space. He was also admiring how many shops the Promenade truly had as they moved along the walkway and how welcoming everyone seemed to be. It was truly a center of commerce and showed that, despite what Starfleet felt, Deep Space 2 was an extremely important station for the area.

“Okay, so that is the official tour. What about the unofficial tour? The one Starfleet Intelligence started to give me before I got here,” Viran asked pointedly.

“That is more complicated,” the Commander responded.

“Uncomplicate it for me,” the Andorian shot back.

“Truthfully? We’re a station that Starfleet has ignored for a long time. Sure, they built this new station a few years ago to replace the old one. But other than that? Our ships patrolling the area are half a century old, our security is woefully unequipped for some of the happenings on this station, and everyone here knows it and takes advantage,” Commander Feld finished with a sigh of relief, almost as if unburdening himself.

“Don’t worry, Commander. That is why Starfleet sent me. Well, and a little arm twisting on my part,” the Admiral shot an affirming glance to his new first officer as if to say the situation would be okay. “What about this Kalva? Starfleet Intelligence believes him to be the ring leader.”

“I’d agree, but we’ve never been able to catch him on so much as jaywalking,” Feld admitted.

“That is why I am here, and I have a specialist from Starfleet Intelligence coming on the James Hutton tomorrow,” Viran stopped and turned to his new XO, “How do you think a direct confrontation would work with Kalva?”

“He’d lie and deny. We have to catch him red-handed. Why? What is going on, sir?” the XO directly asked in a worried tone.

“Starfleet Intelligence believes that Kalva is a higher ranking member of the Orion Syndicate using his business here as a cover to move goods through the Federation and off to Syndicate hideouts and strongholds. Recently, though, he’s landed on their radar because they believe that he has been trying to get his hands on some highly classified technology, including Borg components salvaged from Frontier Day. I don’t think I need to stress how important it is that the Orion Syndicate does not get their hands on Borg technology,” Viran firmly stated.

“That would be bad for everyone. So what do we do about it?” 

“I think I’m going to go meet Mr. Kalva myself…” Viran said as he smirked and wandered off on his own through the Promenade.

Viran stepped through the threshold of the bustling cargo terminal as civilians and Starfleet personnel alike were sorting cargo to its destination. He stood near the entrance scanning the room as transporter pads glowed, security officers stood around holding PADDs with manifests, and business owners stood around waiting to find out where their incoming cargo would be available for pickup. Viran noticed a Ferengi standing around, arms crossed, as if inquisitive surveying each transporter pad as cargo materialized. He recognized the face immediately as Kalva, owner of Kalva Enterprises, which included several shops and restaurants on Deep Space 2.

Approaching the Ferengi who was looking down at a PADD, the Starfleet Admiral cleared his throat to grab his attention.

And again.

Finally, Viran reached over and turned the PADD off.

“Hey, who do you think you are?!” Kalva screeched.

“Admiral Viran, Commander of Deep Space 2,” the Andorian introduced himself.

Kalva’s entire demeanor instantly changed as he straightened his posture, “Our new station commander, eh? I’m Kalva, owner of Kalva Enterprises. I’m one of the business leaders here on the station.” 

As the Ferengi extended his hand, Viran accepted, “It’s good to meet you Kalva. Your Starfleet Intelligence file doesn’t do you justice. I wouldn’t have imagined you’d be down here yourself checking your incoming inventory.” 

Kalva withdrew his hand and smirked, “Starfleet Intelligence? Little me? I am but a humble businessman trying to make a living, far from Ferenginar. Surely Starfleet Intelligence has more things to worry about than me.” 

The chess game had started. Viran knew mentioning the file would put Kalva on notice. Kalva knew that Viran was onto him. The pieces were moving across the board without much having to be said.

“I know,” Viran leaned in, “And I will be looking forward to you assisting with the leadership of this station. I expect all civilian leaders will be helping me as I turn the page to the next chapter of Deep Space 2.” 

“Of course, of course, Admiral. Anything I can do to help,” the Ferengi quipped back unassumingly. 

“It was great to meet you Mr. Kalva, but if you’ll excuse me I need to get to Operations and check-in. We have specialists coming from Starfleet Security tomorrow morning to inspect the station and help tamper down on criminal activities,” Viran turned and exited the cargo terminal, making his way back to the turbolift.

[Deep Space 2, Station Commander’s Office]

“… not to question your methods, Admiral, but it sounds like you told him everything he’d need to know?” Commander Feld questioned with a deflated tone.

“I told him everything he needed to know,” Viran said as he lounged further back in the chair behind his new desk, his comm badge laid out on the desk between them. “Kalva is a creature of habit, but he’s also a coward. He’ll try and move his most dangerous cargo off the station temporarily as soon as he can.”

“We will have to be ready for him,” Commander Feld added.

“Perhaps, but for now what is the status of the ships in the area?”

“We have two ships docked here at the station for resupply. All other Starfleet vessels are out patrolling the border,” the first officer replied.

After a pause, the Andorian asked, “And the ships here, they’re old buckets, yeah?” 

“One Freedom-class starship and one Centaur-class starship,” the sound of defeat was palatable in his voice. Deep Space 2 had so many older starships patrolling the border between it and Starbase 611 that it was almost embarrassing to mention the ships.

“Perfect. Tell their captains to be ready to undock and engage with hostile ships attempting to escape the station. Could be an hour from now, could be days,” the Admiral ordered.

“You really are expecting him to run with his loot?” Commander Feld responded with obvious surprise. 

Viran turned in his chair to the giant window on the side of his office. Watching as ships passed by and small work bees flew around, he cleared his throat. “As I said, Commander, I expect he’ll try to move his most dangerous cargo. We will also need anyone who is experienced in handling Borg technology until we can get it back in the right hands.”

We should have some specialists. I’ll get a few together,” Feld responded. “Is there anything else you need from me, Admiral?”

“No, Commander. Thank you for all of your help so far. For now, we wait for Kalva to make his move,” Viran affirmed. Without a word, Commander Feld nodded and turned about, exiting the office. Viran sat back down and leaned back towards the desk, putting his face up to his comm badge, “Did you catch all that, Lieutenant?”

“Loud and clear. We’ll be ready,” a disembodied voice echoed back.

A loud chime permeated the Station Commander’s Office as the comm activated and broke Viran’s concentration from the reports he was reading on his PADD. 

“Sir, we have a ship attempting to undock without authorization,” came an urgent voice echoing through the room.

Before Viran could muster a response, he bolted up out of his chair in excitement. “On my way,” he said, already moving towards the door. The doors swooshed open revealing the station operations center, the skeleton night crew working in the dimly lit command center. Viran looked up at the view screen as he approached the center of the room and the situation table at its center. Immediately he ordered, “Notify the Arimathea and Freedom to go to red alert. Prepare a tractor beam.”

“Admiral, it appears the tractor beams are down. I’m not sure why,” one of the dozen voices in the crowd of ops pierced through the commotion.

“Sir,” another voice spoke up, “The Arimathea and Freedom are both reporting critical failures in their systems. They’re dead in the water.”

Viran’s jaw tightened, but his voice remained steady, “How long before we could scramble some runabouts to intercept?”

“A few minutes, but the ship is undocking now. It looks like a small Ferengi cruiser on lower pylon four.”

As Viran absorbed that information and began processing what to do next, Commander Feld stepped off the turbolift and into Ops, fastening his uniform jacket as he walked to join Viran. “Admiral,” he said, “I’m pretty sure that cruiser is carrying those goods we were worried about.”

“Perfect,” Viran said as he turned from the situation table at the center of the room back to the view screen. “They don’t seem to be in any hurry.” The Ferengi vessel was moving slowly, as if daring the station to stop it.

Commander Feld brushed his hand along the commands on the table trying to bring systems to life. Defeated, he submitted, “You would be too if you disabled our ability to stop them. Phasers are down, too.”

Viran reached back to the situation table and pressed a few commands, activating the comms, “Ferengi vessel, this is Admiral Viran. Return to the station immediately or prepare to be disabled.”

After a few tense moments, the face of a Ferengi appeared on the screen. Viran wasn’t familiar with the face, but it wasn’t Kalva. Undoubtedly, one of his underlings was doing the dirty work and keeping Kalva far from danger. Finally, the Ferengi screeched over the viewscreen, “What do you want Andorian?”

“Return to the station immediately and prepare to have your cargo searched.”

The Ferengi scoffed, “You don’t have the authority to do that.”

“I do, and the second you undocked without clearance you violated at least seven Federation laws. Return immediately or I’ll be forced to stop you and then we’ll take our time searching our cargo,” Viran was ever confident, perhaps unjustifiably so.

Calling the bluff, the Ferengi captain smirked, “According to my sensors, you’re having a little engineering trouble. I’m not sure you could make good on that threat.”

Viran looked at Commander Feld who looked up from the console he was monitoring and whispered, “We have two Arrows heading out right now to intercept.”

The Ferengi captain looked down and then back up at the viewscreen, “You’re going to have to do better than that, Admiral.” With a mocking wave, the Ferengi cut the transmission, his ship continuing to creep along, almost daringly.

As the Ferengi’s face disappeared from the viewscreen it was replaced by the runabouts leaving the station to intercept. Commander Feld added, “The Ferengi ship is charging weapons.”

Viran tapped a few commands into the situation table, activating the station’s comm, “Lieutenant Idrin, have you been listening?”

“We have, Admiral. Captain Ashcroft is awaiting the word,” the female voice came back over the comm.

“The word is given,” the Admiral retorted as he turned himself back to the viewscreen. Within seconds, the viewscreen was nearly filled with the sight of a Federation starship dropping out of warp directly in front of the much smaller Ferengi vessel.

The comm in Ops activated as the Starfleet vessel hailed the Ferengi vessel, “Ferengi vessel, this is Captain Elizabeth Ashcroft of the USS James Hutton. Stand down and prepare to return to Deep Space 2. Fail to comply and we will disable your vessel by force.”

Viran allowed himself a satisfied smile as the Ferengi vessel came to a halt.

Feld turned to him, incredulous. “The Hutton was here the whole time?”

Viran turned to Commander Feld with a smirk on his face, “The Hutton actually arrived much earlier. I just ordered her to hide deeper in the Tormerac system, ready to jump to our location when the time was right.”

“You knew that Kalva would try to move the goods as soon as you tipped him off?” Feld sighed in relief. “Respectfully, Admiral… that was a bold gamble, sir.”

“When dealing with the Ferengi, I find it’s best to remember the 62nd Rule of Acquisition: the riskier the road, the greater the profit. I’m sure Kalva felt the same way about that cargo haul we’re about to confiscate.”