Being able to finally rest over the past few days after being relieved of duty by Doctor Wishmore to recover from the beating he took by the hands of the Orions, Oliver was in a deep sleep in his quarters. Though it was late in the afternoon and he hadn’t done much, besides taking his dog Paddington for a walk around the ship, the brief sleep was a welcome one. Fynn had dotted on him while he recuperated and for the first time in days the bruises on his chest no longer hurt as much and the deep cut on his lip was starting to heal up. The one above his left eyebrow though was taking longer. 

When the intercom went off, he automatically knew it wasn’t good news coming in. A call from the bridge told him that he was receiving a transmission from Starbase One. Endeavour was planning to be there by the start of the following week and he wondered if it was his old friend, Captain Tom O’Brien, calling ahead. 

“Direct the call down here.” He said as he quickly pulled on a nearby hoodie and soon realised as he plopped his head out of the other end it wasn’t his and it belonged to Fynn. The huge MACO emblem blazing across the front was a big giveaway plus it was slightly tight around his chest and shoulders. He hoped that O’Brien didn’t mind, so he moved himself off from his bed and then over to his desk. 

Paddington, a pomsky breed, looked up from the cushion he was lying on as a way to show he was aware of movement and then decided to place his head back down and close eyes. He wasn’t interested. 

The call came in and Oliver was surprised it wasn’t the skipper of Starbase One, instead it was his former mentor and superior: Diane Paulsen. 

“Commodore Paulsen.” He greeted her with a smile. “This is a nice surprise.”

“That’s Rear Admiral Paulsen,” the red-headed woman said as she pointed to the additional pips on either shoulder. “Starfleet has given me full command of our frontier operations.”

“Well congratulations, ma’am.” He said, still smiling at his seeing his former commanding officer going up in the world. “I hope the new rank hasn’t taken you away from the bridge of the Poseidon?”

“Not completely, but I have made it my personal flagship for now.” She smiled before continuing, “I’m calling in to see how you and the ship are doing? I’ve just finished reading your after action reports. Some nasty business with the Orions there.” 

Nodding in agreement, the young captain told her they were well on the way to being back to their normal selves. “Our planned stopover at Starbase One will be a short one, just some routine maintenance and re-supplying.”

“Well that’s what I’m calling you about, Olly.” Paulsen said, somewhat wincing a bit. “I’m afraid I need Endeavour to take a diversion elsewhere before returning to Starbase One.”

Intrigued with what she had in mind for them, Campbell just said the one word. “Oh? 

“A Tellarite freighter picked up a distress call from a ship that reported it was being attacked by a Romulan ship earlier today. Unfortunately they didn’t feel they could respond and raised it with their superiors at the Tellarite Space Agency. They’ve shared it with the rest of the coalition and it turns out-”

“We’re the closest ship?” Campbell said finishing her sentence. 

Nodding to confirm, still showing her grimace expression. “Olly, if it was any other ship nearby I’d send them but you can be at their location within a couple of hours at warp four. Plus the ship is Risan.”

“Risan?” Campbell repeated. “We’re a few days away from Risa, how come it’s out this far?”

“We don’t know.” Paulsen answered, shrugging her shoulders. “The Risans are a key trading partner with the Vulcans and Tellarites. Earth has tried to open up stronger ties with Risa but due to the distance between them and the Commonwealth, we’ve never been successful so far. So I want you to render aid to them and escort them back home.”

“Understood ma’am.” Campbell said. “Is there anything else you’d like us to do?”

“Obviously determine if the Romulans did attack them and if this is part of some sort of wider plan the Romulans are preparing. If they plan to invade Risa it might give them a new point to launch quicker attacks against other coalition worlds. So I suggest you and your crew spend at least a week there, assessing all that is on Risa.” A wry smile appeared across her face as she was hoping that her former first officer was getting at what she was hinting at. “Do I make myself clear captain?”

“I believe so, ma’am. We need to get a lay of the land, maybe put on a good show to the Risan government? Show of good faith for both parties?” Campbell suggested with a cheeky expression plastered across his face. He knew she was giving him and the crew time to relax on the pleasure world, if their mission allowed it. 

“Exactly.” Paulson’s grin grew. “I’m sending you all of the intelligence and data we have on the Risans, but it’s minimal. I’m sending my orders over, they also include you being reinstated on duty. I expect to hear from you once you’ve made it to Risa. Good luck and also Oliver, next time I call I don’t expect to see you in a MACO hoodie. Starfleet is the only branding of clothing for you. Am I clear?”

About to defend himself, he realised how much she was pulling his leg. “I do ma’am.” He answered back, still smiling.  

“Just tell Fynn to stop leaving his clothes around on the floor. Paulsen out.” The admiral closed the channel.

Leaning back in his chair, he turned around and looked down at his dog. “So Paddington, sounds like we may get a holiday this year.”

Paddington looked up and wagged his tail at his master with excitement. 

The main cabin door then opened, allowing for his husband to enter. Turning around to see him, wearing his MACO uniform (jacket undone), Oliver greeted him home. “How was your shift?”

“Nothing too exciting.” Fynn answered as he sat on the edge of their bed and took his jacket off and started to undo the buckles on his boots. “How are you feeling?”

“A lot better,” Oliver said, with a smirk. “I’ve just spoken to Rear Admiral Paulsen and she’s giving us our next orders.”

“Oh?”

“We’re heading to Risa.” 

“Risa?” Fynn repeated. “That should be interesting. What’s there waiting for us?”

“Besides diplomatic overtures,” Oliver said as he leaned forward and started to straddle his husband, “endless coast lines with the most beautiful beaches.”

“Sounds perfect.” Fynn said as he placed his arms around Oliver’s waist. “How come we’re going?”

“Closest ship.” Oliver answered.

“Well let’s hope the Orions don’t appear there.”  Fynn stated. “I take it though we’ve gotta get underway?”

 Nodding, Oliver planted a kiss on his husband’s lip before leaning over and tapping the intercom panel. “Campbell to the bridge, begin long range scans for a Risan ship sending out a distress call. They should be at least two hours away from us at warp four. The moment we’ve found them, then set an intercept course and engage at maximum warp. Also have sickbay standy by for casualties. I’ll be up the bridge shortly. Campbell out.” He closed the channel with a thump on the button on the panel and turned back to his husband. “I’m afraid our planned quiet evening tonight is going to have to go on hold.”

“As long as I get to have a couple of hours of your time alone on Risa, then I’ve got no qualms.” Trommler said as gently pushed his husband off from him. “Plus, I want my hoodie back. It doesn’t suit you.”

Rolling his eyes at how much he was being badgered about it, Oliver yanked the hoodie off and went over to his closet to get his uniform jumpsuit on before he made his way back onto duty. 

He was determined for this mission to go a lot better than the last one. Hopefully the Risans wouldn’t try and capture them. 

Josh entered his quarters. He had been assisted by one of the orderlies from sickbay, because walking has been difficult for him following his surgeries, 

Once the orderly helped him to the couch, Josh looked at him and said, “Thanks for the help. I can manage from here.”

The orderly, his name was Paul, nodded. “If you need something, anything, feel free to contact him.” Paul turned and walked out of the room.

Taking a deep breath, Josh tried to stand up, but his knee buckled, and he flopped back into the couch. He tried again, this time managing to stay upright. He started walking to the desk, and at that moment, his knee gave out and he fell to the floor. He crawled to his desk and managed to maneuver the chair to support him, and he got up and sat in the chair. 

He turned the computer on, and when it booted, he checked his mail, looking for messages and orders. He quickly dispatched with the messages, and since there were no orders, he went back to the main screen.

“Computer, record the following, and place it in my personal files.” The computer acknowledged the request. “Personal log, Josh Randall. Today I was released from sickbay, having spent the last 6 days there, as a result of the injuries I sustained from the Orion’s.” Josh paused. “At first, the Orion’s started asking me questions about the ship, it’s mission and it’s crew. When I didn’t answer, they started hitting me, mostly in the face and head, sometimes in my stomach. I must have passed out, because when I woke, I found myself back in the area they were holding me in. I kept looking around for any sign of another member of the crew, but I never saw anyone.” He took a deep breath. “The next day, they brought me back to the interrogation area, and started with more questions, and when I declined to answer, they started beating me again. At one point, the chair I was tied to, fell over, so they just started kicking me, all over. I feared I was going to die that day. I had no idea how long they beat me. I guess they got tired and dragged me back to my cell, still tied to the chair.” Randall’s hands shook. “The next day, and days after that, two of the Orion’s game into the room, and started beating me, no time did they ask me questions, so I guess this was just fun for them.”

Josh pressed the ‘pause’ button.

“By the time I was rescued, and brought to a hospital ship, the doctors found that I had, two broken knees, both kidneys and liver damaged beyond saving, factures to both orbital sockets, a damaged ear drum and multiple fractures to my back, hips and legs. I underwent surgery to transplant artificial liver and kidneys, repair both knees, repair the orbital fractures to my face and repair both eyes, repair all the fractures, and insert a new organic eardrum.”

“With therapy, the doctor says I should be back to duty in about a week. We start tomorrow.”

“Computer, close log.” 

After everything that has happened and pulling double duty getting the ship back on its feet, she needed a break. Walking into the mess hall she grabbed some food from the food containers, she began to look around for an empty table. She noticed that Captain Campbell had just entered, she decided not to bother him and walked over towards the far end where there was another empty table and sat down. She looked like she was exhausted and in need of a hot shower to wash awake the aches and pains.

Deciding to grab a mug of coffee on his way up to the bridge, Campbell finally felt a lot better after getting back into his uniform. Heading over to the drinks dispenser, he saw his chief engineer appearing disheveled as she sat down by herself on the other end of the mess hall. Taking his mug out of the drink slot after it was full, he headed over to her as he sipped on his hot beverage. 

“Xiang,” He said, calling at her as he approached the table she was at, “you okay?” 

Looking up at the Captain, “I’ll make it, just tired as I have been working to get this ship back in order.” Xiang replied taking a drink of her coffee that she had grabbed with her food.

Appreciating her efforts, especially after making it look like the ship was about to explode while in Orion hands, Campbell offered her a friendly smile. He knew he had been harsh on her since she joined. “Well hopefully once we arrive at our new destination you and the engineering crew can take some time off.”

“That would be nice sir,” Xiang replied with a tired smile.

“I’m heading to the bridge shortly and I’ll be calling the senior staff together within the hour.” Campbell informed her. “Why don’t you take a break from whatever you’re doing and go take a rest for a bit in your quarters?

“Thank you, Captain,” she said with a smile as a nice nap would feel nice about now.

About to leave, he turned away from her and then stopped himself in mid-track and turned back to her. “I didn’t get a chance to say, nice job with the fake warp core breach.”

“Thanks,” she replied as she was just trying to save the ship and crew.

Smirking at her, he raised his mug at her. “Though next time maybe don’t scorch too much of the nacelle housing.”

Chuckling, “Sorry sir I had to make it believable.” She added with a smile raising her glass before taking a drink.

“I’ll see you on the bridge, commander.” Campbell said before leaving her company and making his way out. In the back of his mind he wondered just how much that had gone in repairing their relationship. 

Hopefully it helped. 

Being on the bridge for almost two hours now, Campbell was now pacing around the outskirts slowly becoming impatient at having to wait for confirmation they had found the Risan vessel. Hands behind his back, he found actually moving around kind of good for him. Since his recovery from his encounters with the Orion Syndicate, sitting around and not doing anything had become frustrating for the man who liked to remain busy. Not wanting to grab anyone’s attention, he avoided catching the bridge crew’s eye, except for his first officer. Smirking at Leonov, the science officer returned a similar gesture. Were they starting to warm up to one another? Campbell felt that on some level there was hope. His thoughts were interrupted by his pilot making the welcoming announcement he wanted to hear.

Randall, finally finished with rehab, sat at the helm console. Though he was on medical leave, he kept reviewing the files he had on helm control.

“Drop us out of warp Josh,” Campbell instructed as he moved from standing in front of the helm and back to his chair. “Scott, go to tactical alert and start scanning for any hostile vessels in the vicinity.”

“Dropping out of warp, captain.” He watched the captain while he was standing in front of him, and as he returned to his chair. “We have returned to normal space, captain.”

“Antione, put the Risan vessel on the mainscreen and Number One, commence scans of the vessels so we know what we’re dealing with.” Campbell issued as he took his chair and sat down in it.

There was a gentle hum from Leonov a moment after her scans began. “The ship looks capable of no more than Warp 4, Captain. They’ve sustained damage and I’m detecting major fluctuations in their power grid.” Her tone made it plain the assessment was a work in progress, but it would take some time to uncover the full secrets of such a vessel even from here.

Antione immediately placed the ship on the viewscreen and zoomed in so the Captain could see the damage inflicted and to be able to identify the ship more clearly.

Appearing within a blink on the large screen in the centre of the forward bulkhead of the bridge, the Risan craft appeared. It almost looked like a Vulcan design with two long almost cylindrical shaped sections that were linked together by curved warp nacelles at the end. Various windows dotted either side of the sections. At the forward end of them were two powerful looking deflector dishes. One seemed barely operational as it flickered while the other was completely offline. There was barely enough power running through the ship.

“Open a channel, Antione.” Campbell commanded.

Antione nodded and pressed a few commands “Channel Open and ready for you, Captain”

Campbell cleared his throat, winced a bit as the way he was sitting seemed to have triggered him knocking a bruise or something so he adjusted himself slightly before speaking. “Risan vessel, this is Captain Oliver Campbell of the Earth Commonwealth vessel, Endeavour. We are here responding to your distress call.”

Crackling then filled the bridge speakers before a deep but sensual feminine tone was followed. “Captain Campbell, I am Captain Jarandis of the Risan pleasure cruise ship Furanda. We have a number of casualties, thankfully no fatalities but we are losing power to our primary systems. Are you able to offer assistance?”

Smiling that they arrived in time, Campbell replied to his counterpart. “Absolutely Captain Jarandis. We can dock alongside you and bring aboard medical and engineering teams to assist. Standby.”

“Thank you Captain Campbell, we await your teams.” Jarandis then cut the channel.

Tapping the intercom to his left, Campbell spoke up in it. “Bridge to engineering, Lieutenant Commander Meihui, prepare damage control teams to board the Risan vessel to assist with repairs.

Tapping the intercom to respond, “Aye sir.” Xiang replied as she got up and quickly grabbed a team together that as well as equipment that would assist with repairs aboard the Risan ship.

“Bridge to sickbay, Doctor Wishmore, you and your staff are needed to assist with those who are injured on the Risan vessel.” Campebell instructed his second officer and chief medical officer.

Suppressing a sigh as any hopes Doctor Wishmore had held of some peace were swiftly dashed, there was a mometary pause before his voice returned via the bridge speaker system, “Acknowledged Captain, we’ll be ready.”

“Katya, Scott and Antione you’re with me.” Campbell said as he rose from his seat. “Josh, dock the ship with the Risans and then the bridge is yours. Have Major Caidin meet us in the docking port. Let’s go meet some Risans.”

“Aye sir.” This would be the first time he would be in control of the bridge. He guided the ship towards the Risan vessel, then gently completed the docking maneuver with the Risan ship. “Docking complete, captain.” He tapped the comm button. “Major Caidin, report to the docking port.”

Major Saorise Caidin had already begun moving, having heard the comms with Dr. Wishmore from the biobed, where she had just finished her final scans before returning to full duty. “Acknowledged bridge, which side? Port, starboard, or aft?” She inquired as she made her way to the sickbay exit, her joints and muscles causing her the slightest of discomforts still, even after her injuries had been healed and her implants deactivate once more.

Randall looked at the viewscreen. “Port side, major.”

“A pleasure cruise ship,” Leonov mused as the landing party gathered in the lift. “Odd for someone to pick a fight with it. Odder still to not pick a fight and win.”

Before the door closed, Campbell listened to his first officer’s comment and agreed. “My gut instinct is telling me, whoever is responsible, that this is a symbolic message to the Risan government.” He remarked then sighed. “If it is the Romulans then it’s their way of saying to not get involved in our war.”

The door to the lift then closed.

Taking the phase pistol out of the weapon’s locker and attaching it to the left of his hip, Captain Campbell had considered taking another one to his right side but just felt that was perhaps overkill. That said, their last ordeal with an alien race had almost killed him, so the pondering of taking more arms was not a daft thing for him to consider. Ignoring the idea, Campbell closed the locker after pulling out the tricorder and communicator he would need. Unzipping his pockets in his arms then the ones in his trousers, he put both devices away. Turning around he saw the others doing the same. He wondered what was going through their minds at this point.

For Leonov, it was unclear. She was not an expressive woman at the best of times, and right now she was pulling and equipping her gear without much indication of either discomfort or confidence. At most, it was plain she wasn’t about to strap more weapons to herself, but the snug fit of the phase pistol in her holster was double-checked, the scanner and communicator secured to not come loose, and she made ready without comment.

Antione was not sure what was happening. He had always looked like the person no one could relate to, but he was more relatable than people thought. His eyepatch intimidated people and he wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t a pirate from the past, regardless he strapped his gear on and wondered just what might happen during this mission. He double checked making sure he had all his gear, once he was satisfied he snapped back to the reality around him.

Scott stood there for a minute or two, staring at the phase pistols. Knowing what little he did about the Risans, it was almost unfathomable that they would need to bring weapons aboard a ship with a species devoted to the art of pleasure. However, it was protocol to equip sidearms on missions into unfamiliar territory. If the Risan ship was attacked by Romulans, and after what they suffered through with the Orions, it would certainly help put his mind at ease having it close by.

“Are you guys ready?” Campbell asked after a moment.

“Of course, Captain,” was Leonov’s simple response.

“Yes, Captain,” came the calm response from Ricci

Snapped back to reality with the captain’s query, Scott quickly stuffed a phase pistol into the holster attached to his thigh, and pocketed a communicator, giving an affirmative nod to Campbell.

Before they could leave the confines of the locker room, the door swished open with Major Caidin entering with her detachment deputy one step behind.

Campbell didn’t have a moment to say hello to the major as his husband instantly gave him a death glare and pulled him by his arm to go further into the locker room away from the others.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Trommler questioned.

Surprised at his husband’s demeanour, especially in front of others, Campbell pulled Trommler’s grip off from his. “I beg your pardon Fynn? Do you want to try that again?”

“No, I don’t.” Trommler replied bluntly. “You’re about to board an alien vessel and you’re still recovering from the injuries that the Orions gave you.” He then pointed at the mild bruising around Campbell’s eye and below his lip. “So, I’ll ask again, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“My job.” Campbell said, almost growling.

“And I’m doing mine as your husband.” Trommler said, still in a stern tone. “Let Katya lead the team while you monitor from the bridge.”

Shaking his head and keeping his voice low, Campbell declined the suggestion. “The answer is ‘no’.” He was truly annoyed now with Trommler with his entire attitude. “Now don’t make me pull rank on you.”

Sighing heavily, Trommler shook his head. “You’re unbelievable sometimes Olly.” He whispered before exiting the room.

Turning to look at everyone else, Campbell gestured for them to depart through the use of his hands.

“Threatening to pull rank on a MACO, Captain? What am I, chopped liver?” Major Saorise Caidin commented as she turned around from the equipment locker, strapping a hard-cased backpack around her camo-covered torso.

She winced slightly as the added weight on her shoulders caused her neck a mild cramp. “…though given that I just left Doctor Wishmore’s tender ministrations myself, the El-Tee might have a point…” The Major continued, her voice falling back into it’s almost Vulcan-like coldly calculating calm, “…between yourself and both Commanders Leonov and Mitchell, this away team might be a little heavy on the command officers for this vessel, especially for an away team heading into an hazardous scenario filled with too many unknowns and too little advanced recon…Logic would dictate that at least the principal commanding officer remain on board in such a scenario, to better react and issue orders should the wider situation alter…and to avoid the loss of a higher valued Starfleet asset should the worse occur.”

Leonov’s gaze on Trommler had been cool enough, and now it swept to Caidin. “I think the commander of this starship to which we’re all assigned can pull rank as he pleases, Major. On you, as well. And let’s not couch our analysis in ‘logic’ as if debating the captain is a matter of objectivity.” She looked at Campbell. “If you want me to take point on the mission so you can monitor the bigger situation from the bridge, Captain, of course I’ll do this. If you want to personally handle Starfleet reaching out when there are a lot of political unknowns, that’s your prerogative, and your protection’s our responsibility.”

Caidin raised an eyebrow at Leonov’s critical response, but otherwise shrugged it off and began running the standard checks on her pulse rifle. Campbell’s protection was technically Mitchell and her responsibility as the security and combat specialists, not the science officer’s…and the most effective protection against a potentially hazardous situation, was to simply avoid it in the first place. The Major herself had felt the urge to start quoting field team protocols to the Commander, but had stopped when she realised that those protocols were for the Vulcan High Command, not Starfleet or United Earth Forces…the things you pick up out here…

Annoyed that little domestic with his husband had caused some friction between his senior staff, Campbell chose to refrain from what he wanted to say. Instead he turned to his first officer and smiled slightly at her. “Thank you Number One, but if the Romulans did attack the Risan ship then I need to be on the frontline to work out what had happened before we see another world pulled into this war.” He looked at the major, “and next time you wish to debate Starfleet policy on landing parties Ms Caidin, I suggest you have your superiors discuss it with mine.” Taking a breath, he told everyone to carry on in their direction of heading to the docking port. 

Minutes later they were at the hatch where Campbell put the commands in to open the door for them to board the Risan vessel. Unlike the Earth vessel, the Risan ship’s corridors were a lot wider and higher. Unable to determine if the design was by choice or for pure atheistical reasons, Campbell chose not to think too much into it. The corridors were pure white. White-marble like flooring, thick white-marble columns for bulkheads and the walls were white. Though it felt quite clinical in nature, the way the warmer lighting was placed did help keep the environment appear welcoming. Campbell didn’t like it. 

Some of the lights did flicker, showing the damage sustained to the ship’s internal systems. A nearby pair of doors rolled back, allowing for a very tall and slender woman to almost glide in. Wearing a sleeveless pure white roll neck top, which looked like it had a cape attached to her shoulders that moved behind her gracefully as she walked, the woman approached them with a welcoming smile. “Captain Campbell?” She said in a soft tone. “I’m Captain Jarandis, welcome aboard the Furanda.”

Returning with his own smile, Campbell shared his own greeting by introducing his crew before getting down to business. “I was expecting to see more of your ship damaged from what we saw on the exterior.”

Shaking her head, Jarandis explained to them that their cruise ships are designed to have a double hull to ensure the highest safety for their guests. “Our ships are designed to withstand most pressures, they do take a long time to build though.””…I would imagine so.” Major Caidin said somewhat absently. Her eyes had not stopped panning across the interior and it’s occupants since they had boarded…the missing signs of battle was somehow more worrisome for the MACO than if the Furanda had been an actual active kill zone. The Risian cruiser to her, was like the cat in Schroedinger’s Box. It somehow existed in two opposing states at once and that logical disconnect contributed to her unease. The stiffness and micro pains that still flared up across the entirety of her body, did not help in alleviate such feelings. While her carbine was kept low in a secured position, laying flat across her torso, barrel down; “Hex” kept a hand resting on it at all times, just incase.

“Well my crew and I are happy to help in whatever way you need it.” Campbell stated as she suggested they move away from the docking port and towards a nearby long window which had sofas by it. 

She approached a nearby wall panel and called for some of her crew to join her. Jarandis has tanned skin, probably from her time spent under the Risan suns for so long. He reckoned she was in her late fifties but her stunning appearance was mesmerising. In a few seconds they were joined by a Risan man and another woman. The man was extremely muscular, this showed through his white vest like top he wore. His piercing blue eyes were extremely dreamy. While the woman had similar coloured eyes but had long curly blonde hair, unlike Jarandis who had short brown hair. “Captain Campbell, this is my first mate, Carun and my chief facilitator, Havol.” 

Intrigued by the last job title, Campbell turned to Havol and asked her what her job details were. “What does a chief facilitator do?”

“My job is to facilitate every need for our guests.” Havol said, but it almost sounded like she was singing it. 

Carun then spoke up. “Havol is one of the finest members of staff we have. If we have time, perhaps she can show you what services she can provide for you, Captain Campbell.”

”…don’t suppose you’d happen to have a good massage therapist on board.” Saorise commented with an uneasy chuckle as she adjusted the hardcase strap that was starting to bite into the stiff musculature of her shoulder.

The Risan woman indicated with a soft nod but Captain Campbell interrupted that exchange. “We’re here to help them.” He reminded his MACO leader in a stern but low voice. He turned back to his counterpart. “Show us where you need us most and I’ll get teams over at once.”

Jarandis bowed her head and gestured for them to follow her colleagues as they went further into the ship to see what the Romulans had done to them. 

dThe biting cold of the Alaska North winds tore through Tali’s layers as she stood on the oil derrick preparing to put another drill pipe into the head. Even with all the layers of clothes and the work she still seemed cold. It was rare for someone like her to be in such a position, but she ironically loved the job and worked hard to make sure the job was done. She had some cuts and bruises from the dangerous profession, but she had grown accustomed to it. 

She was the lead roughneck and had learned to tussle with the toughest in the field. The people she worked with were rough around the edges and they gave her crap everyday. She was so used to it that now it didn’t even phase her. The replacement of the pipe was that of a well oiled machine and took all of Tali’s strength after a current 14 hour shift. As the pipe was finally set the work alarm indicated that her shift was over. She got off the derrick and walked to the nearest building where her and the crew usually sat and chatted for awhile, especially when they had the next week off.

The heat of the building immediately made Tali pull off her coat and take off her hard hat. She sat down after grabbing a drink the distinctive smell of oil and grease in the room, something that she had gotten used to. As she went to sit down the chair was yanked out from behind her and she fell to the ground. The room erupted in laughter.

“You look better on the ground, Alpha” came the response from the nasally voice of the most rookie of the group. He still used her nickname like everyone else.

“You know, Sam honestly it’s better down here cause I don’t here your annoying voice as clear.” She said not letting the joke phase her, as she got up and pulled her seat back in. She looked over seeing Sam with a defeated look on his face. She took the opportunity to make another jab “Do you need Mommy, Sam?” She said as the group started laughing again.

Sam didn’t let this one take him down though “Only if it’s your mom.” He said with a smirk.

Tali took a deep breath as usually such jokes wouldn’t phase her, but with her mom just passing it didn’t help. The looks from the other showed a look of concern because they knew Tali and if she got heated it usually wasn’t good for any of them. Sam obviously with no idea of what he had done looked around till one of the workers leaned over and whispered in his ear. As the sentence finished Sam’s eyes grew wide with regret. He was about to speak but the person next to him shook his head. 

Tali was tough so she chuckled and looked at Sam “Good one there Sammy.” She looked at the rest of the crew who was still silent and got up from her seat dismissing herself and walking out of the room. She took a quick walk across the facility to an observation room and sat down a few tears flowing from her eyes. She kept a tough demeanor in front of the crew, but this was not something she could easily forget.

“It’s not his fault he didn’t know. It doesn’t make this any easier, especially when I need someone to talk too.” She thought as she looked out the window as the snow began to fall steadily. The shimmering of the oil field lights present as the sun had set and darkness had enveloped Prudhoe Bay, which was bout how Tali’s heart felt dark and cold without her mom around. 

Tears still falling from her eyes she looked down at the floor and than at her hard hat which had a sticker her mother had given her and her advice from her mothers time in the field “Don’t let them see you cry or bleed Tali, be tough and show them just how tough a woman can be in such a profession.” the words ringing in here ears like the first time her mother told her that.

Her mother was her rock and without her sometimes she felt lost, but she got up and pressed on. Her dad was great, but she had a relationship with her mom that wasn’t the same as that with her dad. She knew it was dark but she needed to shoot something. She got up and slung her bag over her shoulder preparing to leave for her living area. As she left the observation room Sam stood there with his head down. He looked up “I am so sorry…I had no idea.” 

Tali smiled “It’s ok, Sam it’s not your fault. Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you in three days.” She concluded and left heading to her quarters preparing to sleep for a few hours before waking up and heading to the range. 

“Ship’s log, Ensign Josh Randle in temporary command of the ship.” Josh took a deep breath. “The captain is leading a boarding party, to assist the Risan ship that we have encountered. In his absence, he gave me command of the bridge. It surprised when the captain had me assume command. I did take the command courses at the Academy, but I thought it wouldn’t be this soon that I was asked to command a starship.” He looked around the bridge. “All ship’s systems functioning normally.” He closed the log.

Randall stayed in the command chair, watching the screen, showing the Risan ship, and occasionally looking at the other stations on the bridge.  Everyone was watching their consoles for any sign of distress from the captain’s party, or any indication from the Risan ship that they might be targeting the Endeavour with its weapons. 

The captain sent regular updates, as per regulations, so he knew that the captain and his party were well.

Josh liked the chair. He liked being in command. At first it was intimidating, but he soon started feeling comfortable. 

As time went by, he watched the bridge shift relived when their shift changed, but he stayed, wanting to return the ship to the captain himself.

One of the engineer’s requested that weapon systems be shut down, so they could proceed with updates to the systems. Josh and the bridge weapons officer talked it over, and given the current situation, they both felt it was an acceptable risk, so Josh told the engineer, they could proceed. 

Josh moved back to the command chair. He pressed a button, “Personal log. Now I know why only chosen few are selected to be starship captains. They have to decide, every minute, who to send on an away mission, what systems be prioritized and when to use the ship’s weapons. I’ve only been sitting in this chair for about 2 hours now, and I am exhausted. But….I want to do this again…and I will be better next time. Close log.”

He looked around the bridge. 

He now waited the next report from the captain. It’s overdue by 10 minutes.

Fuming at his husband for speaking to him the way he did, Trommler returned to the MACO barracks and kicked over several barrels of supplies as he stormed across towards his locker. There were a couple of MACOs who saw the whole scene and decided not to interfere, instead they carefully left the barracks.

Ignoring those who had left, Trommler just smacked his hand up against his locker, his anger increasing. Ripping his MACO jacket off, he pulled his undershirt off, opened his locker and pulled out a pair of old training boxing mitts he kept. Pulling them on, he slammed his locker closed as he stomped out of the barracks and into the nearby MACO gym. Heading over to one of the punching bags, he started straight away at pummeling it with all of his might.

No-one else was present, Trommler preferred that as he needed to work out his anger issues. Just the way that Oliver thought he could speak to him like that and just pull rank in front of everyone, especially with his new detachment commander. Trommler hated how much he was now feeling belittled by his husband.

Continuing to repeatedly hit the bag, Trommler started to build up a sweat from his intense workout. As he carried on he started to think about the summer before and for once in his relationship with Oliver he thought they had got past this sort of thing.

August 28th, 2156

Rochester, New York, United States, Earth

“Are you sure about all of this room?” Fynn asked as he looked around the huge space that would be the lounge connected with the open planned kitchen and dining room. The place was huge. There was a large bay window that folded in on itself from the main living room that allowed access to a wrap-around balcony. The balcony itself created shelter that allowed for somewhere to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful scenery that surrounded the house.

Oliver came up from behind him and put his arms around his waist. “Yes, I want this to be the home we come back to when we get back to Earth.”

“But it’s so big.” Fynn said again emphasising on its size.

“Then consider it more of a raunch than anything else.” Oliver suggested before he placed a kiss on Fynn’s left cheek.

“I’m not becoming a cowboy.” Fynn jokingly protested as he escaped from Oliver’s grip.

“Yeehaw!” Oliver screamed in his worst Texan accent ever. “Just think, we could just get away from everything and relax here.”

“Yeah but when will that happen?” Fynn countered back with. “I mean, it’s more than likely we won’t be here once Endeavour’s refit is complete.”

“I know, but it’ll be somewhere.” Oliver said, almost pleading with Fynn now to agree to get it. “Come on we can get a dog and it’d be amazing!”

“Just a dog?” Fynn checked.

“Well to start off with, yeah, then I say we start working on making a family.” Oliver remarked as he placed his arm around Fynn’s shoulders and the two of them started to walk out of the room they were in and towards the outside onto the balcony.

“As long as we don’t start adopting the Endeavour crew.” Fynn remarked as the scene of the huge outside was now before them. “This place may be a nice somewhere to raise a few kids of our own.”

“A few?” Campbell said, “Coming from a former pro-soccer player I was expecting to hear we would have a full squad?”

“Five-aside might be easier to deal with!” Fynn joked with. “I can’t be dealing with eleven kids plus you.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad!” Campbell argued back with a smirk.

“We’ll see, Captain Campbell!” Fynn said as he returned his attention back to the view before them both.

It was calm. It was simple. It was perfect.

Smacking the punching bag one more time, Trommler took in one more breath and stopped. Realising that perhaps he had overreacted, he took his gloves off and knew he had to return to his quarters to get himself in a better state before he was called into action. Now he had punched the hell out of a bag, he knew he would be punching himself mentally for being so stupid and reacting the way he did.

Jarandis had led Campbell’s team through several sections of her ship. “Most of the damage we sustained was to our propulsion. The Romulans didn’t seem bothered about anything else.” She eventually showed them into the large long room that was designated their version of main engineering. “Some of my engineers were harmed.”

Walking past a group of Risans, all of whom were sprayed across broken controls, Campbell had taken out his scanner and checked to see what their lifesigns were like. Sighing quietly he pushed the scanner back in on itself as he turned to his first officer. “They’re all dead.” He said solemnly.

“I’m surprised the Romulans didn’t push the issue to finish the job, if they gave them this bad a beating,” Leonov mused, expression as stoic as ever. “But more pressingly, I don’t know how this ship gets back on its feet with this staff loss.”

“Is one of them your chief engineer?” Campbell asked Jarandis.

The Risan woman just shrugged in a sad tone. “We’ve not been able to identify everyone yet, so we’re not sure. I’m without enough engineers.”

Campbell understood as they approached what he believed to be their warp core. “The structural integrity of the core appears to be intact. The injectors appear to be slightly damaged.”

As he was about to take his communicator out to talk to Endeavour when someone from the other end of the engineering room screamed at them and opened fire at them with what looked like a plasma torch set to a high setting. The green flames were huge. Instantly everyone ducked or hide behind whatever they could find. Their attacker appeared to be a Risan engineer who had gone crazy. She was pushing the flames out in all directions.

“Hold your fire! We’re here to help you!” Campbell shouted down the outstretched engineering room.

Screaming an insult back, most likely in Risan, their attacker continued with their assault.

Looking over to his team, Campbell asked for ideas.

Having already been on high alert mentally ever since their run in with the Orions, Scott had been continuously surveying the scene, making mental notes of all the places where not only he, but anyone looking for a place to seek cover could do so if the need arose. If he could stick to the shadows and then get to higher ground he could jump down and take the engineer by surprise.

Being the only suggestion he had in that moment, he explained his plan to Campbell, and with a nod of approval, unholstered his phase pistol, confirmed a setting of stun just in case things went south, and set out.

As the plan started to get underway, Campbell noticed that Jarandis was starting to faint before she collapsed into his arm. Carefully he kept her in his arms as he laid her down to scan her. He was certain she hadn’t been caught by their attacker, so he took his scanner out and checked her. “Theta radiation poisoning.” He recognised the scans instantly. “We need to get out of here, now!” He called out to his team.

With every opportunity that presented itself between bursts of flames being flung at him and his crewmates, Scott silently inched his way closer, ducking behind a console, a conduit or anything that could shield him from the flames and the engineer’s line of sight until he found himself before a narrow ladder that led to an upper catwalk. The catwalk was connected wall to wall perpendicular to the warp core with two branching catwalks running parallel on either side.

Scott knew he had to make it quick, hearing the call from his captain to get out. The engineer was almost directly below him with his back to the core, continuing to shoot flames at irregular intervals of no more than a few seconds at a time. Scott was starting to heat up with each successive burst, or from the increased temperature of the damaged core. He wiped his forehead with the right sleeve of his jumpsuit and then lined up his angle of attack. As soon as the engineer paused between bursts, he leapt over the edge of the catwalk landing squarely onto the engineer, causing him to hit his head and knock him out.

With the threat now under control, it was time to follow his captain’s orders and get out of there. With as much strength as he could muster, he lifted the man off the ground and threw him over his shoulder, and in a slow weighted waddle, made his way down the length of the room and out of engineering.

As soon as they were outside, Campbell had carried Jarandis in his arms and carefully lowered her onto the deck. “Theta radiation must be leaking from the damaged injectors.” He looked at everyone else. “We’ll need to be inoculated,” He looked to his first officer. “Number One go find Captain Jarandis’ first officer and tell him we’ll need to evacuate everyone off their ship and onto Endeavour.”

“It’s going to be a tight fit; we’ll likely have to clear space in one of the cargo bays for an emergency shelter,” Leonov pointed out, but gave a terse nod. “I’ll get everyone organised.” She headed off.

He looked over to Ricci, “Antoine, go find Havol and see if she can help you start to move people off as well.”

Antoine had already been shaken up by the crazy events that had been unfolding, but he composed himself and nodded “Will do, Sir! I will report when I know more.” Antione rearranged his pack and sprinted down the corridor heading for the living area of the ship trying to find Havol. He ran into a few Risians and motioned for them to follow him. He was about to move to another area of the ship when he saw Havol pinned down he motioned for the Risians to wait and went to save her or try to. He slid under cover beside her “Did you call for assistance M’lady?” He said with a small smirk.

Havol looked over at the officer and shook her head “I did not, but I am glad you’re here. Not sure what’s going on, but I could use a quick escape.”

Antione nodded “Allow me.” He said as he fell back to her side and offered a her hand.“Glad to see your safe Havol. I am not sure if we have had the pleasure but I am Lieutenant Antione Ricci.”

Havol smiled “I have noticed you, Lieutenant.” She winked and turned looking at the Risians who had waited in cover “Did you find them?”

Antione nodded and motioned for them to follow him with Havol beside him “Let’s get them off the ship shall we?” He smiled again he knew Risians were beautiful, but Havol was something else.

She had to admit Antione was easy on the eyes, but right now the job was to evacuate and he was her help in that matter. After a small amount of time they have evacuated quite a few of the Risians and crew on the ship.

Antione decided to report to the Captain, “Ricci to Campbell, I found Havol and we proceeded to evacuate the majority of the Risians and crew on the ship.”

“Well done lieutenant, we’ll see you back on Endeavour.” Campbell said after he pulled out  communicator out, he then called for his chief engineer. “Campbell to Meihu.”

“Xiang here, what’s going on?” She asked as she could tell something was wrong by the sound of his voice.

Endeavour NX-06

On Endeavour the chief engineer was climbing down the stairs from the upper level to the main area as the captain spoke to her.

“Xiang, the Furanda was heavily damaged. Get over here with an engineering detail. We have work to do.” Campbell ordered.

“We’re on our way Captain,” she replied before ending the channel she looked over to Khadijah and a few other engineers. “We have a situation over on the Furanda I need you and a few others to grab your gear. We will be heading over to assist with repairs,” Xiang ordered.

Khadijah nodded grabbing a few of the engineers, “understood sir.” Khadijah replied as they all went and got their gear and then together headed over to the Furanda.

Furanda

Back on the Furanda, Campbell turned to Mitchell, he called for his armoury chief to take Captain Jarandis to Endeavour at once. “Get her to sickbay at once.”

“Understood.” Scott replied, and proceeded to pick up the female captain, cradling her in his arms and make his way back to the docking port.

Calling back to the Endeavour he raised for Lieutenant Randall, “Josh, tell Doctor Wishmore to prepare for mass casualties, all with theta radiation poisoning. Then start work on preparing one of our cargo bays to hold some new guests we have coming over.”

“Understood, captain.” Josh replied.

Endeavour NX-06

While on the bridge of Endeavour, Randall tapped the intercom. “Bridge to sickbay. Dr Wishmore, prepare for casualties with theta poisoning from the Risan ship. Recommend you initiate radiation protocols.

Josh tapped the intercom a second time. “Bridge to security. Start prepping one of the cargo bays for individuals from the Risan ship.”

After hearing acknowledgement from his pilot, Campbell then looked over to his MACO leader, “Major, is there enough alien modifications left in that body of yours to hold out a bit longer to theta radiation? I wondered if we could find a way to vent it.”

”Theta? Not sure…I’ll probably bounce back quicker though, assuming I don’t hit ‘walking ghost’ levels of saturation…” The Major pondered as she surveyed the area, mapping out the most efficient path and movements to take. “…in theory, I can probably shave off a few seconds of how long I have to be exposed though, reflexes and all. Definitely going to need a sick bucket and an iodine martini after this…what exactly do you have mind?

Studying the levels of theta radiation, Campbell changed his mind. “No levels are increasing. We’d need to send a team over in EVA suits to do the work. Ignore that idea.” Campbell then signalled for those left with him to make their quick departure at once. The Furanda would need more delicate hands to fix it before they towed it back to Risa.

“Captain’s starlog April twelfth twenty-one-fifty-seven. For the last four days we’ve been repairing the Furanda while hosting its crew and passengers. Captain Jarandis has been particularly grateful for our efforts. As we arrive in orbit of Risa, she has offered to organise a short break for the whole crew. We’ve also been given the opportunity to dock at one of their repair yards to conduct maintenance on the damaged systems we sustained from the Orion attack. Though I am reluctant to accept her offer due to the war, Rear Admiral Paulsen has had other ideas.”

Standing in his ready room and looking out of his window down at the planet below, Captain Campbell wondered how much of a diplomatic catastrophe rejecting the Risan offer would be. The door to his office went off and without looking behind him, he replied. “Come in Number One.” 

Leonov stepped in, head already tilting at the way the captain stood without turning. “Captain.” She clasped her hands behind her back, waiting before the desk without presumption in the face of his obvious distraction.

Turning around after sighing quietly, Campbell offered his first officer a mug of tea. “It’s fresh and pretty warm.” 

“‘Pretty warm.’ A sterling report. Thank you.” She sounded wry rather than ungrateful as she took the mug, eyebrow quirking. “You didn’t ask me here for tea.”

Gesturing for her to sit in the armchair in the corner, Campbell took his own chair by his desk and spun it around. “I need your counsel.” 

“That is apparently a key part of my job,” she said, sitting down and watching him, gaze level.

“Rear Admiral Paulsen believes we should take the Risan’s offer of having us take a vacation at their pleasure resorts.” Campbell remarked, slightly adjusting himself he picked up a wooden statue that was sitting on his desk. “Captain Jarandis even gave me this gift, it’s called a horga’hn. She said it’s a symbol of good luck or something.” He waved it around as he spoke. “My point I’m trying to get across is, I don’t like the idea of us sitting still for so long and enjoying ourselves while there’s a war going on. Admiral Paulsen thinks not only will it cement further relations with the Risans but the crew, including me, need a holiday especially with what happened with the Orions. She thinks we all deserve to take a break from the war effort. Her exact words were: ‘You’re no good to the war effort if you’re still traumatised’.” He exhaled a heavy breath as he looked at Leonov in the eyes. “I want your honest thoughts and when I say honest, I mean honest. ”

There was a silence as Leonov sipped her tea, thinking. “Honestly?” Another pause, before she wrapped her hands around the mug. “I’ve spent enough time with pilots who thought that if their egos were big enough, they didn’t need petty things like mental health care or even breaks. And I think you know as well as I do that every single one of those officers burnt out. Some sooner than others, but the problem with burning out later is it’s usually more catastrophic and at a more critical time.” She shrugged. “You wanting to get back to war as soon as possible isn’t you being dutiful, sir, because you know perfectly well you’d advise a different crew to take a break after what we’ve been through. It’s vanity. You don’t want to be seen as weak – if only to yourself.”

Chuckling to himself, he appreciated her candour. “Are you certain you’ve not been talking to my husband?” He joked as he tugged on his ear before picking up his own mug of tea. “I suppose you’re right. A burnt out crew isn’t as effective as a well rested one. Plus none of us have truly had time to stop in the four months.”

She merely tilted her head at the mention of his husband, a dry acknowledgement of the joke with so little amusement it was unclear if this was her own sense of humour or a polite indulgence. “The ship will benefit from the repairs. It’s a fine opportunity for us to recharge as well. Important work is still being done in the meantime, and then both craft and crew return to active duty in top condition.”

“Captain Jarandis has offered for us to have eight days at their most luxurious resort. She’s suggested that we split the crew in half, so that one half has the first four days there and the other half has the final four.” Campbell shared. “Thoughts?”

“That sounds sensible. Enough time to wind down, with enough crew on-hand to help supervise the repairs.”

“Can I leave it with you to organise the roster and shifts to make it work?” Campbell wondered. 

“Of course,” said Leonov with her usual brusqueness, sounding almost insulted at the idea this was a question. Then her brow furrowed and she straightened. “I’ll liaise with the Risians on our downtime as well. I’m sure you’ll use this opportunity to build bridges with their leaders and people, Captain, and I would expect nothing less. But leave the management of the crew’s shore leave in my hands.” So you can rest, was the unspoken remainder of that argument, and her eyes fixed on him with cool certainty.

Appreciating the offer, Burton nodded with her suggestion and thanked Leonov for her time. “Just make sure you take a break too.” He ordered before bringing their chat to an end. 

When the captain returned to the Endeavour, and was cleared by medical, he resumed command, making my time in the captain’s chair memorial.

The ship is now presently orbiting the planet Risa, in one of their shipyards. I’ve been helping with repairs. I helped reroute power to the helm, then assisted where I was needed. I did assist down in engineering with trying to restore power to the bridge stations.

Now, I was back at the helm, running diagnostics on the helm. While that was going on, I did some research using the ship’s computer to find any information about the people of Risa. They seem to have some slightly different ideas of “pleasure” then I’m used to. The captain said that the captain of the disabled ship had asked the crew to come down while our ship is being repaired. 

I wondered if I might skip this invite.

I had been thinking about asking the captain if he would be willing to allow me to organize a party, party might be the wrong word, something more of a casual gathering of the crew, on a weekly basis, so the crew might be able to meet the rest of the crew. Myself, I’ve been here for weeks, and I barely know anyone.

My senior year, at the academy, someone organized a weekly party, with the approval of the Commandant. It would be usually held at one of the mess halls. There would be food, drink and music. Dancing was encouraged. I was hesitant, but I was talked into dancing with another 4th year cadet. I had taken dancing lessons when I was younger…my mother’s way of getting me ‘out of my shell’. I must have been alright cause I would usually end up dancing with many female cadets. 

A few people hooked up and left the party together. I didn’t. I was shy around the female cadets, so I never ‘hooked up’. 

I think something along these lines might increase the moral of the crew….I certainly would like to get to know the rest of the crew.

Josh woke up, to find himself in the cockpit of a shuttlepod. The last thing he remembered was going to bed in his quarters.

Josh reached over and picked up a scanner off the floor. Once he made sure he wasn’t injured, a concussion could have caused him to imagine this, he looked around. Looking outside through the forward view port, he could see that the pod had come to a landing in a field. He stood up and could see dirt piled up from where the shuttlecraft plowed through the field as it came to a stop.

Next, he looked around the pod, and didn’t see any other crewmembers. Then return to the cockpit, sat down, and found that main power was offline. So were the engines and the comms. He checked the status of the emergency beacon, to see if he could launch it….offline. 

Things were not looking good. He saw that one of the pod windows had broken, probably on impact. “At least that means that this planet has a breathable atmosphere.” he muttered to himself.

He opened up the cargo hold, found an emergency kit, containing cold weather gear, food and water rations, and a phase pistol and a holster. He attached the holster to his side, checked for more rations and more power cells. Then he found an emergency transponder, in a carrying bag. He put the bag on his back, pulled the straps tight, picked up the ration bag and tossed it over his shoulder.

The hatch was jammed, so he blew the emergency escape and exited the shuttle. He walked around, inspecting the damaged…looked for evidence of possible weapons fire…or signs of anyone being caught as the shuttle crashed.

He climbed on top of the pod to survey the terrain. Using the scanner, he determined which way was north. To the north there were snow covered mountains. Northeast, more mountains. East, a vast desert. The desert extended to the southeast and the east. To the southwest, an ocean. West, more farmland, and to the northwest, a vast forest.

He decided to start walking in a westerly direction, hoping he’d find some farmers or a town. 

He started walking. 

It was only now that he noticed that this a binary system, with 2 suns. When the primary sun set, the smaller sun gave the landscape an eerie site. Plus with the primary sun down, the temperature started dropping quickly. He pulled out the cold weather gear and put it on. He found a suitable place to make camp, gathered some firewood and used his phase pistol to start a fire. He hadn’t seen of heard any animals in the area. 

He didn’t sleep. 

When the primary sun rose, Josh put away the cold weather gear, had a ration bar as his breakfast and opened a water ration pack and drank it. He put out the fire, then started heading west again.

5 hours into his walk, his scanner detected life signs about 2 miles ahead. He picked up his pace, and when he got closer, he located the area that the scanner detected the life signs. He approached and hid, and waited.

After 30 minutes passed, someone vaguely humanoid walked out of what can be best described as a farmhouse. Josh watched as the alien using a large animal to harvest his crop. Josh watched intently, then decided to show himself and started walking towards the humanoid. It appeared to be almost 2 meters tall, seemed somewhat skinny, had 6 fingers on each hand it’s facial features were almost bird like. 

When the alien spotted Josh, he starred for a few seconds, then made a noise, and more creatures emerged from the structure. Once they saw Josh, they picked up some what appeared to be clubs. They didn’t approach, so Josh started walking slowing towards them. As he walked, he spoke softly, and kept his hands to his side. 

The aliens seemed puzzled and afraid, but they didn’t move towards him and away from him. As he drew closer, they seemed calm….when suddenly, riders on what could be described as horses, appeared. The aliens disappeared into the structure. The riders move towards Josh. He could now see they were carrying long spears. The riders surrounded Josh. Josh pulled out his phase pistol and kept it lowered. 

2 riders started towards him. They started urging their mounts faster. Josh held his ground and when they were 3 meters from him, he raised his phase pistol, shot one rider then turned and shot the second.

One rider, Josh assumed that ‘he’ was the leader, started shouting. Was it to his riders, or was it to Josh. If only his UT was working. 

Another rider charged at Josh….and when it got closer, Josh shot him. The others now seemed afraid. Josh walked over to the fallen rider, and removed their helmet….it was a human woman!!

The leader, dismounted, handed ‘his’ lance to one of the others, and walked toward Josh. Josh kept his pistol lowered. When the rider was 1 meter away, ‘he’ removed his helmet. He was a human male. He started talking but Josh couldn’t understand him. Josh kept pointing to his ears, hoping that the alien would understand.

While he was distracted, one of the riders had managed to sneak up to Josh and knocked him out.

When he woke, Josh found himself in a room, in a bed. The door opened and a woman brought a tray of food and drink. She placed it on the bed, then left. Josh sampled the food and found it was tasty.

15 minutes later, the door opened again, 2 guards walked in and took position on either side of the door. And when the door opened again, a human female entered and walked to the bed. “My name is Corena. I am the leader of this place.” She spoke in English. “You are human, correct?” 

Josh stood up. The guards watching him closely. “Yes I am. I am Joshua Randall.”

The woman moved closer. “Our ancestors were human, brought here millennia ago by the old ones.”

“The old ones?”

Corena nodded. “They brought my people here as slaves, but we rose up and destroyed them.” She moved closed to him. “We have prayed for us to be found, and you have arrived.”

“I crashed on this planet. My ship was damaged.”

Corena smiled. “It does not matter…you are here now. You will be my side. Our males can no longer give the women children. With you, that will change.”

“How many women are you talking about?”

Corena smiled. “Hundreds.”

“WHAT???”

Josh sat up in bed. Sweat covered him. He looked around, found that he was back in his bed, in his quarters. 

“No more caffeine before bed.” he muttered. He pulled the covers over his head, and went to sleep.

For the first time in ages, Oliver felt relaxed. The Risan tropical air was soothing. Lying on a sunlounger, padded with extra cushions, he was enjoying the duel Risan suns. It was early morning and instead of lying in at the luxurious Risan villa he and Fynn had been given, they had decided to head down to the nearby beach. Clear, crystal water lapped calmly against the pure-white sandy shore. After going swimming for a bit together, Oliver had decided to leave Fynn to carry on with his snorkelling antics while he returned to the beach. Now enjoying the warm gentle air carasse against him, Endeavour’s commanding officer was no longer feeling guilty about leaving his ship and half the crew behind while it was in high orbit receiving minor repairs. Leonov had to almost practically push Campbell onto the Risan transport that was used to bring the first half of the crew down to the pleasure planet below. He was starting to warm more and more to her. 

Resting on the Risan beach reminded him of his time when he was a teenager and his parents had moved him and his brother to Los Angeles for a few years. His mother, being a famed author, had been approached by film producers to turn one of her famous novels into a big Hollywood blockbuster. Oliver had hated change and enjoyed living in Ayr in Scotland, so when he did move to LA, he wasn’t the most accommodating teenager. Reluctantly he engaged with his school work and found some enjoyment in the team games he played. The one thing that had helped him was spending time on the beach. Sometimes it would be with his friends, or his brother but most of the time he preferred his own company. That said this beach was something else. There wasn’t a soul around beside him and Fynn. It was perfect. It was bliss. 

An hour had passed and Oliver had dozed off. Wearing just his sunglasses and blue swim shorts, he was in a carefree mood. That was quickly interrupted by Fynn’s sudden return from out of the water and throwing a handful of water over Oliver. Swearing at him at the sudden wake up call, Oliver stood up and chased after Fynn who had quickly sprinted off knowing that his husband would have his revenge. The two were in the middle of wrestling one another, after Oliver had caught up with him and tackled him to the floor, when they just stopped and laughed at each other. With Oliver straddling on top of Fynn, they soon let go and continued to chuckle.

“This has been the best two days so far.” Fynn remarked after Oliver had helped him stand up from the sand as they walked hand in hand back to where they had based themselves earlier. 

“You’re right.” Oliver admitted. “It was needed.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that you’ve been carrying the weight of this war on your shoulders for too long.” Fynn stated.

“I’m not the only Starfleet captain feeling that way, Fynn.” Oliver responded, “there’s a lot at stake here.”

Placing his arm around Oliver’s waist, Fynn got closer as they carried on walking and talking. “Ja, I know that but the way you were before about it not being right for us to enjoy ourselves while here was not a healthy outlook, Ollie.” 

“It’s not as if the Romulans have made it easy for us to relax.” Oliver countered back with.

“Ollie, I’m not saying that. What I’m trying to say is we’ve gone from one battle to the next without only taking a breath when Endeavour was heavily damaged after Draken. Then it took Starfleet to tell you the ship was being upgraded and refitted for you to take a moment to breathe.” Fynn defended his point. 

“Four months isn’t the best time not to be away from the frontlines.” Oliver said.

“It was because it gave you time to stop, rest and recover. Just like you’ve needed after dealing with the Orions.” Fynn told his husband.

Oliver nodded, as he knew that Fynn was right. He just couldn’t shake the guilt off so easily of enjoying himself while others were out there putting their lives in danger while they were frolicking about on Risa. 

When they approached where they had been lying earlier they were surprised to see Captain Jarandis standing there. Wearing a long flowing white dress, the Risan woman was stunning to look at. Seeing them approach her, she smiled sweetly.

“Captain Jarandis, this is a lovely surprise.” Oliver said as he and Fynn stopped just before her. “Is everything okay?”

“Absolutely and I’m sorry to disturb your time but I have been sent to pass on an official dinner invitation from the Chief Curator of the Risan Hedony to you both.” Jarandis handed them a circular shaped piece of paper that was written in English, inviting them to travel to the Risan capital city of Nuvian and join the Risan leader for dinner that evening. 

Looking at Fynn and then back to Jarandis, Oliver was surprised. “We are honoured, but we weren’t expecting anything like this.”

“I understand, but Curator Kevis is a former…friend of mine and he was interested in meeting with you when we found out from other guests that you led the negotiations in forming the alliance between Earth and Kreetassa.” Jarandis mentioned. 

Hearing that there was some political motivation behind the invite, Oliver wondered where Jarandis was going with this. “So is this a formal meeting between our people?”

“Let us call it an opportunity to discuss further relations between our people.” Jarandis said, still smiling sweetly. “It does not require formal wear, but I will have a steward sent to measure you both up for clothing that you will find comfortable to wear in the curator’s presence.”

Oliver could sense Fynn tensing at the invite. “The curator is very kind and we’d be happy to meet with him.” He finally said. 

“That is great, we will have an executive transport come and pick you both up. In the meantime, please enjoy the rest of your day and don’t forget we have a number of Nuvian masseurs we can send over to help you relax further.” Jarandis offered. 

Oliver chuckled nervously and turned down Jarandis’ suggestion but said they would be available later for the dinner. 

As she walked away from them, Oliver looked at Fynn and straight away he knew Fynn wasn’t impressed. 

“Oliver Harris Campbell, I swear I don’t know why I love you so much but you are  hopeless at trying to put yourself first instead of the uniform.” Fynn teased while shaking his head and suppressing a smirk. 

Shrugging his shoulders, Oliver wasn’t sure what to say at first. “If the Risan leader wants to discuss informally with me what we can do to improve relations then I’m happy to listen.”

“Let’s hope that’s all he expects from us. I hope he doesn’t expect us to join him for jamaharon to improve relations.” Fynn quipped as they laid back on the sunloungers. 

Chuckling at Fynn’s comment, Oliver sat down and wondered if he should call his superiors about this. Knowing it would annoy Fynn, he changed his mind and called Leonov instead to update her about what had happened. 

He wasn’t going to create a diplomatic incident without his first officer knowing his whereabouts. 

Most of the crew went down to Risa for shore leave, courtesy of the Risans. Not everyone could go down at once, so Josh volunteered to allow the crew to go before his turn. He took the time to find out what Risa offered, besides what the crew was saying.

There was nothing in the ship’s computer, so he requested permission from Risa if he could link with the planet’s computer, which was granted.

The first line of the info was that anyone coming to Risa, was ‘to simply enjoy yourselves. All we have is yours.’ seems to be the planet’s motto. 

Pristine beaches were mentioned, a lot. Cabanas. Private coves. Scuba diving. Snorkeling. Shipwrecks to explore. 

Games were next, something that sounded like racquet ball. Boat races. Surfing.

Mountains where a person could go skiing. Mountain climbing.

Scenic paths where a person could walk for as long as like.

Private suites where a person could completely rest.

But what caught Josh’s eye was….a visit to the environmental controls that control the planets weather. Now that was what he was looking for.

He put in a request to visit the orbital control center, and after a few seconds, he was granted permission.

So when he turn came around the second time, he boarded one of the pods that had been ferrying crew back and forth from the planet, to the ship and vice versa. When he got to the planet, he checked in at the information booth, where he was told his quarters assignment, and that if he was eager to get started, they could make sure his luggage, which was just one bag, would safely arrive. Josh handed his bag over, got his room assignment, and headed to the direction, that the woman behind the desk, told him to go. When he got there, it was just a woman, sitting behind a table, waiting for him. 

She stood up. “Greetings. Welcome to Risa. All that we have is yours. My name is Karina. I am You are Josh Randall?”

“I am.” 

“We don’t get many people wanting to see the weather systems, but I will take you to the shuttle that will take you there.” She placed her arm in his and they walked to the terminal. 

They reached the shuttle terminal, where she handed Josh off to another woman. “If you require anything else, feel free to contact me.” She turned and walked away, moving seductively. Josh turned to the other woman. “I am Luna. Welcome to Risa. All that we have is yours. Are you ready to leave?”

“Yes, I am ready.” She took his arm and they walked to one of the shuttles sitting at the terminal. Josh entered. “We will leave as soon as you are ready.” Josh looked at the empty seats. “What about the other passengers?’ Luna smiled. ”There are no other passengers.” She turned, left the shuttle, and the door locked.

The shuttle lifted off, and in minutes, they docked with the station. The shuttle doors opened, and Josh walked out. Another beautiful woman approached him. He wondered to himself, ‘are there only beautiful woman on this planet.’ “My name is Dr Bianca Taylor. I head this facility.” 

Josh looked her. “You’re not from Risa?” 

“No. I am from Earth. The Risan people contracted me to build and maintain this facility. You are actually the first person to ever want to see the facility.” She started walking.

As they walked, she told him about the history of the facility, that it was built in orbit, and that the scientists that build and programmed the controls were from Earth. 

Josh would ask questions as they walked.

She found his questions intelligent and that he was well informed. 

It took 2 hours to tour the facility. It took that long to see everything, and Josh looked at every detail.

Dr Taylor brought his back to the airlock for the return trip back to the surface. 

“I enjoyed myself immensely. Thank you for taking the time to guide me.”

She responded. “You asked interesting and knowledgeable questions.  I didn’t expect that.”

Josh moved to the airlock door. “Mr Randall. If you’re not busy tonight. would you be interested in getting dinner?” 

Surprised, Josh responded. “I would like that a lot.”

“See you later then.” She smiled, then turned away.

“Later,” he said to himself.

Walking up a set of marble-like white steps towards the Chief Curator’s residence, Oliver was hand-in-hand with Fynn after they had left the executive transport. Their evening with the Risian leader was just starting and Oliver couldn’t deny the fact that it continued to be an impressive array of high-quality service from their hosts. Speaking with Leonov earlier on that day, he had sought her counsel on meeting with the Risian leader. Both agreed it was worth the opportunity, as long as Oliver didn’t commit Earth to anything that would get them into hot water back home. 

Both Risian suns were now settling down on the horizon, as such the tropical evening was beginning. The sweet aroma that was present on Risa continued to bring a calm atmosphere. The steps that the human couple were taking were flanked on either side by numerous lit candles and a stream of water that headed out into a nearby fountain and pond feature that was located at the main gates of the property. 

Wearing extremely thin silk shirts (Oliver in navy blue and Fynn in a deep dark maroon), white three quarter length trousers (that were skin-tight) along with open-toed sandals, the couple appeared almost Risian in their appearance. The fact that Risians were not too keen on buttons had not evaded them either, their shirts were done up halfway, revealing their bare chests as intended by the design. Fynn had commented back at the place they were staying that the Risian people appeared to have jamaharon on the brain all of the time, even with their fashion. 

Finally reaching the main doors they were greeted by what they guessed were servants for the Chief Curator, both of them were women and wore little clothing too. As part of the greeting, they sprayed both men with what smelt like a sort of mild zesty perfume and proceeded to place a loose silver chain around both of their necks. “All that is ours is yours.” They said before walking both men through to the main hallway and into a large state-like room. Waiting for them at the bottom of a large and wide staircase was a Risian man that wore similar clothing to them, while Captain Jarandis was by his side. Wearing a more formal evening gown, she wore her hair up in a large beehive-like style and had a lot of jewellery on too.

Jarandis started by making formal introductions between the two parties.

“Captain Campbell, First Lieutenant Trommler, welcome to my home.” Chief Curator Kevis said with a huge grin as he extended his hand toward them. 

Oliver wanted to blink away at the brightly white his teeth were. Smiling at him, Oliver and Fynn walked up to them and shook their hand. Oliver was now getting over his astonishment at how just beautiful the Risian people were. Kevis had short brown hair that was styled into a sort of quiff, his chiselled jawline could probably break through the Endeavour’s hull plating and if that wasn’t strong enough then his huge muscular frame would do it. Noticing his husband was also almost gawking over the Risian leader, Oliver cleared his throat to give Fynn a verbal dash of cold water to focus on their task here. “Chief Curator Kevis, thank you for inviting us to your home this evening.”

“All that is ours is yours,” Kevis said in his deep husky voice with his winning personality. “When I heard we had a celebrity among our guests, I was eager to have you join us. Jarandis spoke very highly about you and your crew’s efforts in saving her.”

“I’m not sure we would go as far to say we’re celebrities, but we were pleased to render help to your people,” Oliver said smiling at Jarandis. “We’ve certainly appreciated the hospitality you’ve shown us in return though.”

“We certainly have,” Fynn confirmed. “The Nuvian masseurs you sent over this afternoon were extremely…flexible and accommodating with our needs.” 

“I’m glad to hear that.” Jarandis returned.

“Gentlemen, why don’t we start dinner and see what else the evening brings us?” Kevis suggested and then proceeded to gesture towards another room that had a large circular table.

Entering the room as a group, Oliver and Fynn found that one side of it was opened to the large gardens that surrounded the chief curator’s residency. What looked like another water feature at first glance turned out to be a pool instead. It was filled with an almost clear, white liquid. Fynn shot Oliver a worried look, showing he was hoping their hosts were expecting them to join them for a swim or any other water-based activity. 

After being seated down together, both Oliver and Fynn faced Kevis and Jarandis. The first course of their meal came out and it appeared to be a salad of sorts. Drinks were handed to them and they were given a glass each of a Risan mai-tai, Kevis went on to make a toast to his guest and the future of relations between Earth and Risa. In the corner of the room a young Risan man, who was barely wearing much, was playing gentle music on a Risan lute.

“So Captain Campbell,” Kevis said as he started to tuck into the salad, “may I call you Oliver?”

“Please,” Oliver returned before he used the fork-like silverware to put what looked like an orange leaf of lettuce into his mouth. 

“That is very gracious of you,” Kevis spoke, “I hear from Jarandis that you led the efforts on behalf of your people to formalise an alliance with the Kreetassans and you did so in such a short amount of time. That is impressive, the Kreetassans are a difficult people when it comes to diplomacy and wanting to relax.”

Appreciating the compliment, Campbell finished his mouthful and answered back. “We were fortunate enough that our actions in rendering aid to them after the Romulans brutally attacked them made them consider the need for such an arrangement. So far our partnership has brought further stability.”

“It also helped that we agreed to be involved in some ritual of theirs that required us to show them who we were as a people,” Fynn added. “Their leader pretty much put the two of us back together.” 

“You were both injured?” Jarandis asked, confused and concerned at Fynn’s words.

Chuckling somewhat at the misunderstanding, Oliver cleared up what had happened and how the Kreetassans required him to show what type of man he was and how important they viewed partnerships. He explained how the mission had brought him and Fynn back together as a couple. “Chancellor Manazol was very convincing and I’d like to consider him a good friend of ours now.”

“I hope you’d consider Risa and myself one of them,” Kevis said straight away before he took a sip from his beverage. “We are keen to request military aid from Earth.”

“Military help?” Oliver questioned. “I wasn’t expecting to hear that tonight.”

Kevis placed his glass down and looked at both men. “Risa is not like any of your worlds, it’s not like Vulcan, Andoria or Kreetassa. We do not possess weapons to defend ourselves or the people who want to wage a war, but we are not fools either captain. We know that with the war raging between your people and the Romulans, we will be dragged into it.”

“The attack against my ship is only the beginning.” Jarandis commented.

“So are you looking to join the Coalition of Planets?” Fynn asked outright.

Sitting up more straight in his chair, Kevis looked between Jarandis and his guest before answering. “No, as I said the Risian people are not war-like. We do not possess an army. Our safety ministry is the closest thing we have and even still their primary objectives are providing security for our guests.” Kevis spoke candidly. “We cannot join your coalition as we do not have the resources to be a part of what your alliance stands for in regards to security.”

“Are you referring to the mandate, that ‘an attack on one is an attack on all’?” Oliver checked.

“Indeed, we would not be able to fulfil that, but what I am hoping is we could perhaps work together on other matters.” Kelvis offered. “Our weather control technology and our understanding and research of atmosphere science, like meteorology and climatology, outshines anything from any of your worlds. We’d be happy to share all of our knowledge in these areas and others.”

“And in return, what Earth and its coalition partners provide military aid packages to Risa?” Oliver asked as he leaned forward to take his beverage. “That’s a lot from our end Chief Curator, we’d be diverting vital resources to your planet that could be used to end the war with the Romulans sooner.”

 “We’d be prepared to provide access to our repair and maintenance yards as well as our numerous and first-class health system.” Kevis was now trying to negotiate with Oliver. “You must understand and appreciate our dilemma. My role is Chief Curator, not President, Chancellor or Prime Minister. My people opted for the title of Curator as we wanted our government to reflect that those in leadership roles remember they are the keepers, the guardians and caretakers of what we have built here on Risa. My administration cannot be the last one and I cannot be the one who ends up surrendering my world to the Romulans.”

“Do you honestly believe that it will come to that?” Fynn asked in a baffled tone. He couldn’t believe that the Risan leadership genuinely believed that they were next as a target for the Romulan war machine.

“How can we not be when they have done so much damage to so many other worlds, most of them have been conquered. In time they will come for us, my people are not equipped or able to defend what is ours.” Kevis admitted. “Surrender may be our only option.”

“Maybe not.” Oliver quickly replied.

“I do not follow,” Kevis said back looking at Oliver with a confused expression. “What else could we do? I cannot see the Klingons wanting to come to our aide and the Vulcans or the Andorians are not interested in our practices. The United Earth Commonwealth is the only power in the region that shares similar values with us. Hence my proposal.”

“Our people are probably more alike than those you speak of, Chief Curator, but I think you don’t give your people the credit they deserve.” Oliver shared before explaining his idea further. “You said it yourself, your scientific research is extremely advanced. It’s what has made your planet the idyllic place it is. Use that to your advantage.”

“I don’t follow,” Jarandis stated. “How can we use our weather control technology against the Romulans?”

“By using it against them, don’t make Risa an easy target you are making it out to be,” Oliver remarked. “You turn the weather control system and all of your science against them so they see that if they did try to take your world from you they would find it a hard location to keep a foothold in. Make your stand on the beaches your guests relax on, fight them back with your knowledge of your world and that will be your advantage. If you can create a perfect sunny day, then surely your systems can be made to create powerful thunderstorms that cause trouble for their vessels to land any transports or powerful cyclones in the upper atmosphere that make it difficult to select a target. You and your guests may have to endure a bit of rain here and there, but that’s one consequence of keeping your homes.”

“The Romulans, to date, have not shown any interest in a world which can cause them more problems. They want worlds that will actually help their war machine,” Fynn indicated. “But that’s not to say they wouldn’t attack or try something.”

“Your proposal is interesting, but we do not have the minds or the experience to consider how to use our technology against them in the manner you’re speaking of,” Kevis countered, “we wouldn’t know where to start.”

“We could start your off.” Oliver offered. “Perhaps that could be the beginning of our partnership. Long-term, we may not be able to provide full public backing but I’m sure we could find a way around it.”

“Perhaps for some time, we need to consider reducing our galactic profile with our neighbours and guests,” Jarandis said. “If it means saving Risa then a reduction in our tourism may be required for a short-term purpose.”

“And I’ll do what I can to speak to our military leaders in seeing if we could avoid bringing further conflicts near to your space,” Oliver added. “How does that all sound?” He looked straight at Kevis.

“I think it’s a start,” The Risan leader said with a slight nod, “let’s continue with these ideas as we start our next course in our feast. I think we have a lot to discuss, plus we would be bad hosts if we did not treat you to an enjoyable reyamilk soak.” Kevis gestured to the pool behind his guests.

Oliver and Fynn looked at one another sheepish. 

“How does one enjoy such a soak?” Fynn asked.

“Without clothes,” Jarandis replied, “obviously.”

“Obviously.” Oliver repeated and looked at Fynn with the same concern his husband had plastered across his face. “When in Risa…” He whispered before they returned to their meal after a deep breath.  

“Captain’s starlog, April Eighteenth, Twenty-One-Fifity-Seven, we are preparing to depart from Risa after a relaxing four days and four nights visiting the various resorts. Our time with the Risans has helped further with relations between our worlds, perhaps more than I had expected. To support further continued relations, my chief engineer and chief armoury officer have volunteered to remain on Risa as cultural attachés. Their expertise will greatly aid the Risian people as a way of exchanging ideas between our two people. Starfleet Command has ordered for the Endeavour to return home at maximum warp at once to discuss the latest developments in the war.”