“Captain’s Log, stardate 76485.9 — we’ve been searching this sector of space for a while now and about three days ago astrometrics reported a new supernova, only about twenty years old, on long-range sensors. I’ve ordered us into a distant orbit around the neutron star it created and fired off several probes to measure the size and extent of the supernova’s impact on the surrounding space. It seems the shockwave has been traveling at about thirteen kilometers per second since the supernova, which means that the shock wave itself has traveled slightly less than a light-year at this point. The crew is busy analyzing the data, and I should have an update soon. But it is official: we are the furthest any Federation member starship has ever been. Truly where no one has gone before. End log.”

After finishing his log, Alexander stood from behind the desk in his personal quarters, stretching as he rose. Tugging his uniform back into place he made his way out of his quarters and down the corridor of the ship. Weaving through its halls he passed a bustle of people as he went. This was his third tour of duty as captain of the Venture, but this was also the first time that the crew had topped over two thousand souls which made the ship seem more lively.

The captain made his way into one of the science labs of the Venture where he slipped into a corner as he often did and watched the bustling science team work on the problem before them. In this instance, it was the Chief Science Officer of the Venture, Lieutenant Commander Enzia Leis, leading a team of a dozen other scientists investigating the neutron star they had discovered. The captain kept quiet and mostly out of sight as he observed, one of Starfleet’s premier scientists and explorers in his own right, to see the process that the team was using.

His observation wasn’t selfless, however. The Venture had been on assignment in this area for a couple of months, including travel time, exploring and mapping the area of space on the leading frontier border of the Federation. Star systems were not particularly dense in this area, and while the assignment has been a bit slow to get started for officers accustomed to more adventurous postings, the scientists aboard have been thrilled with the constant stream of new data. Most of the crew has had plenty of time recently to work on their own projects and hobbies, which Alexander was even growing bored of by this point. However, now that the Venture was truly beginning their mission, he knew from experience that the excitement was just about to begin.

He dipped out of the massive science lab as easily and discreetly as he slipped in. As he walked down the corridors he wondered how the rest of the senior staff of the Venture were holding up with their newfound excitement of this neutron star…

Sparks flew as blade struck blade, providing brief flashes of illumination to the darkened hallway. The clanging sound echoed off of the long bulkhead walls, followed quickly by the aggregated shouts of war cries and sharp exhalations of breath set to the rhythm of the blows.

The figures in conflict were in stark contrast with each other, aesthetically. A burly Klingon male, standing at nearly 7-feet in height, with warrior’s armour clad over his thick barrel-chested frame, wielded a large bat’leth in two hands with a heavy blows and hard blocks.

Facing him, was a svelte figure of a Romulan woman, in an officer’s wrapped-jacket uniform, a long red and black checkered scarf draped around her shoulders and flowing in the corridor as she moved in quick movements to avoid the Klingon’s destructive blows and darted in  and around his blocks and deflections, her curved seinov-style sabre exploring for weaknesses and missteps to exploit.

A horizontal slash from the Klingon’s blade forced the Romulan to duck down, where her legs muscles tensed up to store energy like the coils of a spring. She pushed off the ground and lunged forward into the Klingons lower sternum, sword-tip first…only to be knocked right down to the ground as the Klingon Warrior brought the bat’leth back in close and parried down to deflect her strike to the side….she struck his hip instead, a glancing blow for someone of his species and statue…and was paid back for the blow as the blunt back of the central bat’leth handle was brought down on the top of her head.

Letting out a sharp exhalation followed by a seething intake of air in response to the sudden pain, the Romulan woman quickly recovered from the daze and rolled right, landing on her knee, to avoid the attempted downward killing stroke. Sparks flashed again as the bat’leth marred the deck plating.

Now on an angle to the Klingon’s facing, she wasted no time by lashing out to the wounded leg with a low kick to back of his shin, dropping the Klingon also to one knee.

The Romulan took advantage then of her smaller weapon’s greater speed and twisted her whole upper body to one side sharply, to drive her sabre up in a swooping stroke.

Dark pink blood splattered the corridor walls, and three impacts could be heard. The first was the Klingon’s head rolling to the floor…the second, was the clanging from his bat’leth falling out of his grasp…finally, the thud of his rest of body dropping to join the first two objects.

The Romulan, Commander Vaelana t’Kaeyn, let out a long breath of air in slow, controlled, exhalations…she steadied herself and stood back up, flicking her sword swiftly to one side to scatter the Klingon blood from it’s blade across the grisly scene of combat.

Her piercing blue eyes glanced down at the pieces of her defeated foe, strewn about the ground, and she give a sharp kick to the body with the boot of her heel. Satisfied with it’s continuing refusal to be alive, she sheathed her blade and then brushed a lock of her obsidian black hair away from her face and back behind her sharply pointed ear.

”Arch.” She called out, her tone as demandingly sharp as her monomolecular forged blade had been. A brightly lit door appeared a few metres away down the dark corridor, and Vaelana strode towards it and the metal bottle of mineral-infused water that she had left by it earlier that day.

She picked it up and took a swig, once again letting out a sharp exhalation after the rehydrating liquid passed down her throat. “Computer, what is the time?”

”The time is 0553” The computer responded in that standard Starfleet female voice that Vaelana still felt as…alien and unfamiliar, especially compared to the more taciturn vocalizations of the past Romulan vessels she had served on.

”Still time for another round then.” The Romulan mused outloud, putting the water bottle back down. She scanned the display screen to the side of the door as it listed out variants upon variants of the training programs on file. “Hmm…let’s stay with the current theme, but take it to it’s natural ending point. Skip difficulty all the way to Da’har Master and select the stage randomly from the list of available settings.”

The computer chirped in response and then the corridor, with the headless corpse and bloodspray all, vanished…revealing for a brief second the yellow lines upon black space, that defined the old Holodeck in it’s neutral state. This was quickly replaced with snow-covered jagged rocks of a rough mountainous terrain, dotted by fiery pyres that swayed in the cutting blustery wind. The signs of a monastic aesthetic were abound, from the temple complexes made of metal, wood, and stone that could be seen up close in their heavily furnished detail, or just as mere shadows against the cold grey sky in the distance.

“Boreth Monastery has been selected by random generation of numbers associated with holodeck program. Your opponent will be one Klingon female, programmed at difficulty: Da’har Master. You may begin.”

Vaelana rolled her shoulders to loosen her arms back up, before drawing her once again clean sabre. She followed the pyre-lit path towards the doors of the nearest Klingon abbey, and fixed her gaze upon the challenge that laid ahead.

Vaelana had never served on a science or exploratory vessel before…in fact, for most of her previous career in the Galae Command’s Imperial Star Navy, she had actively avoided those posts as much as possible. In the old Romulan Star Empire such billets tended to be some of the most closely linked to the Tal Shiar, even when they were not just straight up Tal Shiar-operated vessels in the first place.

Science after all, required an open mind…and Romulan scientists were especially passionate about their work, leading to a devotion and curiosity that often stepped over the closed off and xenophobic line the Tal Shiar had tried to maintain amongst starship crews…it also had placed the Tal Shiar in a prime position to swoop in whenever a new discovery or advancement was made by these more adventurous crews, and either suppress it or claim it for their own purposes.

In reality, Science officers didn’t last long in the Star Navy, if they were not also politically savvy or at least had the patronage of someone…less easily reachable, by the Way of The Executioner. Many a scientist or researcher had just simply disappeared across the Empire, made to vanish for their discoveries…or recruited directly into one the Tal Shiar’s many scientific divisions. Sometimes, entire science and exploration vessels would vanish under Tal Shiar directives, often times for years without the Galae Command even realizing it: The long distance and solitary missions of these ships and crew covered the Intelligence organization’s actions quite well in the past.

In contrast, while it was not uncommon for there to be at least a singular Tal Shiar political officer assigned to a Warbird or Cruiser, with operations closer to the heart of the Star Empire and more generalized mission profiles (ironically) made the Tal Shiar devote less scrutiny and allowed Warbird Commanders to operate with less interference. Since such vessels tended to operate more closely to other vessels in task groups and fleet maneuvers, there was more of a chance of a fellow Commander interfering in the Tal Shiar’s place, should a rogue element amongst the group rise up.

So it was, that Vaelana’s current task, helping to organize science teams and prioritize lab and sensor resources, was not one she actually had much experience with…nor was it one that she had actually expected to be doing much of, when she learned she’d been assigned as the First Officer of a Galaxy-class Starship, the USS Venture.

The Romulan adjusted the practically ancient red command scarf, one of the few remaining heirlooms she possessed from her previous alliegence, and strode across the back of the Starfleet bridge to the configurable auxiliary station that was currently being used to monitor long range scans for trace background radiotion. The scarf itself, she currently wore like a bandolier sash around her Starfleet uniform, the ends pinned together at the hip by an emblem of a black and green raptor with it’s wings unfurled…and all together it provided a comfortable sense of weight to her outfit. Starfleet Uniforms, though designed for comfort, definitely lacked the density of the wrapped robes, tunics, chains and broad padded shoulders that went into the Romulan Uniforms she had grown so accustomed to wearing.

Vaelana scanned the console readings and then referenced the PADD she held in her hand, cross checking the gain levels with the resulting findings. “EM Band is a bit lower…” She muttered to herself, as she made a note to have the power to the lateral sensors rebalanced.

Her pointed ears piqued a bit as they became aware of a dull drumming sound that continued to quicken in pace every few seconds. Glancing down, Vaelana traced the sound she heard to the blue-uniformed human male who sat the console she now loomed over. “Your heart rate is a bit high, Ensign.” She stated, her voice coldly measured.

”Er, y-yes, sorry Commander” The young human stammered out anxiously.

Vaelana raised a sharp eyebrow and then moved away to check the transparent free-standing Master Systems Display station instead; She could still hear the ensign’s heartbeat for a time, slowly returning to a normal pace with each step she took to vacate the immediate area.

There was something a tragic irony in the effect the Romulan Commander had on some of the crew that she was now in charge of representing as the Venture’s XO…the heightened anxiety, the smell of instinctual fear, the quickened heart-rates…she had seen similar responses before: in the crew of her former Warbird command, whenever the Tal Shiar “Liaison” was within earshot.

It was one of the contributing factors to nullifying any guilt or regret she might have otherwise felt, in the wake of her personally executing that Agent when her Warbird had cut ties with what little remained of a centralized Romulan state. More so, it was also contributing factor in the catharsis she had felt after committing the grim act.

…as far as Vaelana was aware, Starfleet had only a small handful of acts of capital punishment carried out in it’s centuries of operation…

…probably for the best, in my case, the Romulan thought as she began to enter the power rebalancing orders into the MSD.

Bringing the cup to his lips, Henry took a long sip of the  now lukewarm liquid. His favoured blend of herbal tea this morning was mango and pineapple with ginseng root. It was said to be focusing and today he could certainly use all the help he could get. Sleep had eluded him the past few days, longer if he was being honest. He’d become so accustomed to having the warmth of Dujan’s body next to him that sleeping without him the past few months had been difficult. They’d never been so far apart for so long and he was feeling that distance particularly keenly today.

While the Venture’s science staff had plenty of work to keep them busy studying the neutron star and the effects of the supernova shockwave, there wasn’t nearly as much to keep Henry’s staff occupied. There were a few routine surgeries and the occasional injury that required patching up but for the most part there was little for the medical staff to do. This was the perfect opportunity for Henry’s staff to work on their professional development. Henry’s morning was being spent studying the latest research from Starfleet Medical on emerging developments in immunotherapies.

Henry also took the chance to give his staff a little more downtime to rest and relax. Many of his staff had used the extra time to pursue their hobbies and Henry had been no different. He’d spent more time on his yoga, playing the cello and doing some long overdue non-medical related reading. For his last birthday, Dujan had given him a copy of a retelling of Greek mythologies from the early 21st century and Henry was finally getting round to reading it.

“That’s the third time this week that Ensign th’Rada has been in here.” Henry looked up at the source of the voice to find his head nurse lowering herself into one of the visitors chairs.

Henry dismissed his holographic display with a swipe of his hand and met Tola’s gaze. “At least he’s keeping us busy.” He told her with a grin. “What was it this time?”

“Dorek syndrome.” The Bajoran nurse replied with a roll of her eyes.

An interesting self diagnosis, Henry thought. “Is the Ensign aware that Dorek syndrome only affects Ferengi?” He asked.

“He believed that it had jumped species.” Dorem told him. 

Lieutenant Dorem Tola had been at the Academy the same time Henry was there but their paths never crossed. In the few months since they’d arrived onboard, she had become a valued friend and sounding board. “Were you able to assuage Ensign th’Rada’s fears?”

“I ran the standard test for Dorek syndrome and every scan I could think of.” She replied. “I think I put this mind at ease, this time.”

The Ensign was the first Andorian he’d encountered who suffered from hypochondria and his seemed to be a particularly acute case. “I’ll refer him to the Counselor.” Henry made a mental note to make the referral. “I know he was seeing one at the Academy but I don’t think he’s spoken to the Venture’s counselor since arriving onboard.”

“Good.” Dorem pushed herself to her feet. “What are you doing for lunch today?”

The question caught him off guard and it took several seconds for his brain to process the question. “Uh, I hadn’t really thought about it.” He told her. “I’ll probably just have something at my desk.”

“How about you join me in Ten Forward?” Dorem asked. “If you have lunch sitting here you’ll only have your nose stuck in some report or some research or something.”

Henry smiled. She’d gotten to know him pretty well in the short time they’d served together. “Okay, sounds like a plan.”

Dorem led the room without another word. Once she was out of sight, Henry reactivated his desktop terminal and quickly fired off a counselling referral for Ensign th’Rada. Despite the separation from his husband, Henry was really enjoying his new assignment and was looking forward to seeing what adventures awaited them out on the frontier.

Alexander had been sitting on the Venture’s bridge for the better part of 6 hours now with his position almost entirely unchanging. The bridge around him was a different story: a bustle as the different departments were carrying out their duties helping with the exploration of this new system and the neutron star that is contained within it. However, Alexander was waiting for confirmation from one of the officers on the bridge before giving his next order.

“Sir,” it finally came from one of the stations along the back of the bridge, “the communications buoy is deployed. We’ll receive all information from our probes for a while once we leave orbit.”

“Very well then,” the captain stood, “Not much to see here. A star went neutron and destroyed the planets within its own system. We’ve seen it thousands of times. Helm, turn us about and continue us on our original trajectory, warp 2.”

“Aye, sir,” the young female Human at the conn responded.

Many of the senior officers were taking the time to indulge in their own hobbies, as encouraged by Alexander. This gave many of the junior officers a chance at bridge duty that they may not have otherwise had. Knowing that Alexander remained on the bridge, not having much else to do in his own right. He had learned that there was a lot of downtime before boldly going where no one had gone before, and this was just a boring reality of multi-year missions.

Several hours had passed and the Venture was getting ready to enter night mode. Just as Alexander stood from the central command chair a chime at several different bridge stations went off. Without waiting, Alexander asked, “Something interesting from the probes?”

“Negative, sir. Ahead of us. Some… object…” the officer at the back reported seemingly confused.

“Object?” Alexander pressed a few commands into the arm of his chair to see the sensor read out. “Interesting. Looks like it is losing orbit, too. Helm, adjust course to intercept.”

Tapping his comm badge the captain ordered, “All senior staff report to the bridge.”