Starbase Bravo – Personnel Offices – 0800

It had been two weeks.  He had been to Earth and stood at each funeral.  Some he had been asked to lead.  Others he had simply stood there in dress uniform, in solemnity.  Most of the parents spoke with him and were understanding.  Three refused to look at him and made noise about going up the chain of command to address his failures as a commanding officer.  He had stood there and taken it.  He had accepted his role in the deaths of fifty of his crew.  An astronomical loss.  So much so that he had spent several days being debriefed by several levels of Starfleet Command.  He had been back a day from burying each of them and he’d been summoned to the Personnel Office first thing the next morning.  So he sat, PADD in hand.  Waiting.  He wasn’t sure what awaited him.

“Commander Harris?  You may come with me.”  He walked with her through a door, down a hallway, and into a medium-sized office.  

An officer in command red stood at a desk, reading something.  He glanced up, “Ah, yes.  Please do have a seat.  Thank you, Ensign.”  The escorting officer gave a nod and was gone.  Harris took the offered seat before the desk.  The officer took his seat and returned to his PADD.  He was a Captain, the rank pips showed.  Before Ambrose could ask a question, he was handed a PADD from the captain, “My name is Captain Geronimo Fontana.  My service record is there for your review.  I’ve been assigned to assist you with the command of the USS Edinburgh.”

Harris snapped his head up, “I’m sorry, sir…assigned?”

Fontana nodded, “You’re actions during the final situation lead to the death of fifth souls.  Starfleet feels you need further…mentoring as a commanding officer.  It’s impossible for Command to ignore a situation like this and not do…something.”

Ambrose was stymied.  He searched for the right words but nothing but four-letter words came to mind.  He took a breath and replied, “I’m…trying to wrap my head around this…am I no longer the commanding officer of the Edinburgh?”

“You will be temporarily reduced in role to First Officer.  You will report to me and work with me at all times going forward.  As we work through the mentoring process of ensuring your understanding of the command role, I will be giving regular reports to Starfleet Command.  Their hope is that within a few months they’ll be willing to return the Edinburgh to you and have you back in full command.”  He gestured to the PADD, “The refit and repair work on the Edinburgh will take most of July, so you will still be off duty per Starfleet Command’s orders.  Your expected return date is listed there as well.”

Harris read the contents of the PADD and looked up at Fontana, “Captain…I’m…at a real loss here.  I readily accept the deaths of my officers as my responsibility.  This doesn’t seem like it’s designed to help me…it feels like a punishment.  Where did this order come from?”

Fontana shook his head, “That is not something that will be discussed, Commander.  You have your orders.  I have mine.  I encourage you to use the time off to process what you’ve experienced.  Dismissed.”

Harris stood and walked slowly to the door.  As he got to the doorway he turned to face his new captain, “Sir, I…hope you understand how hard this is going to be.”

Geronimo looked up from his desk, “Commander, if it was easy, everyone would do it.  Dismissed.”  Harris stepped back from the door as it closed.  He turned to face the teeming masses of Starbase Bravo.  

Things had taken a turn.

Otaoko Ryokuchi Park – 0800

The water stretched out in front of them as the day’s light filtered through passing clouds.  Sadie sat on the concrete next to Okada.  The quiet sounds of the park drifted in and out as they sat, drinking coffee as they snacked on the breakfast Okada’s mother had handed them on the way out the door.  Sadie marveled at the warm rice and the elegantly salted salmon.  They hadn’t even broken into the miso soup but the smell was doing wonders for her mood.  The Science Chief’s journey to Nagasaki had started when Okada had asked her where she was going and the response was “I don’t know.”  It had taken Okada some time to get the story out of her crewmate but her status as an orphan in space slowly spilled out until she had simply said, “You’re coming with me.”  They’d attended their ninth funeral together yesterday and today was the last one for Okada.  Fowler had found her place at the side of the Chief Engineer as a comfort and support as the woman had cried through each word, each story, and each lamentation.  They had shared in each other’s pain, and story.  A friendship had grown between them, and they had found ways to laugh and smile in the small moments.

“I’m not sure I want to go back to the Eddie.”  Katsumi spoke, breaking the silence.  She’d finished her rice and salmon.  The homemade miso soup filled her soul.

Fowler was still enjoying the fish and rice.  She’d never had such food in her life.  A moment passed before she reasoned, “Nobody would blame you, Kat.”  Their friendship had fallen into nicknames as they’d spent the hours and days together.

Her friend grumbled quietly, “I’m not worried about other people’s blame or opinions or whatever.”  She sipped at the soup, “I’m worried about myself.”  She shook her head as the thoughts of her future rattled around in her mind.  “I got the job on the Eddie because my Master Chief knew I needed to get out the door and into space.”  She finished the soup with a sigh, “I thought…I dunno what I thought.”  She spent another moment in her head before she finished, “I never thought I’d lose this much this soon.”

Sadie accepted her friend on her shoulder as Okada leaned in, “I don’t think any of us thought this would be how our first few months would be, Kat.  We’ve had so many memories in such a short amount of time…it’s a lot to try and figure out.”

Okada let out another sigh, “I wish I could cry more…but I don’t have anything left inside.  I just…I’m cried out.”  She closed her eyes as the sadness drifted over her heart like dark clouds filled with frigid rain, “I don’t know if I could ever do this again…go through this…feeling this way.”  A whispered sob filtered out, “I don’t want to feel like this again.”

They sat together in the park looking out on the South China Sea, leaning on each other as the sun slid towards the middle of the sky.  Soon, Okada’s badge chirped.  The last funeral.  They got up and disposed of their trash.  Both women took one last look at the water and the peace.  Okada sighed, “I’m glad you’re my friend, Fow.  I couldn’t imagine doing this alone.”  They embraced and soon were transported away.  The peace of the park continued as the water lapped on shore and the wind sifted through the trees.

De La Fontaine Boxing Gym – 0900

“You gotta stay light on your feet, Jules.  Bend the knees, and stay on your toes.” Kondo stood in one of the five boxing rings in his father’s sprawling boxing facility.  He was coaching the Chief Counselor, Juliet Woodward, and showing her the opening pieces of the boxing puzzle.  They had gone to the funerals over the last few days.  Today was the first day coming out of the fog of loss and he’d decided to get her into the ring to see if it would help both of them process through the trauma and tragedy.  They were both in boxing shorts and light t-shirts, armed with gloves on both hands as Kondo went through the various positions in boxing.  As he continued to work with her, he revisited the feeling he experienced with her before.  Something had stirred in him.  She was a sprite and a spitfire in all that she did – as they had traveled from the Edinburgh to the funerals and back home she’d given him comfort and sass in the right moments.  He wasn’t sure how to feel about her, but something was between them.  He just wasn’t sure if it was true…or if the trauma was influencing his feelings.  They continued drills and practice until he called time.  They rolled out of the ring and sat down with their water bottles and snacks from his mother’s kitchen.  The sound of gloves on bags and sparring echoed off the walls and ceiling as they sat.

“Y’all know how to relieve that stress, Kon.  I could do this all day every day.”  She drained her water and went to work on the croissants.  “You gotta lotta pictures up around here.  You seem like some kind of badass.”

The Chief Tactical and Security officer chuckled, “I needed a place for an outlet when I was young.  Finding trouble became my trouble.  My father put me in the ring…helped me put my feelings into a place where they belonged…and was accepted.”  He drank deeply from his water before continuing, “It put me on a path of goodness.  Boxed through the Academy…won a few medals.  I still put on gloves several times a week to keep up my strength.”  He pointed to his head, “…and to help my mind find balance.”

Woodward admired him.  She also didn’t mind looking at him, literally.  “You think you could coach me when we’re back on the Eddie?  I could use some of this balance you talk ‘bout.”

De La Fontaine gave her a nod as he snagged another croissant, “I’m willing to teach…but are you willing to learn?”  He let a sly smile slip his lips.

She cackled, “You flirting with me, Kon?”

He shrugged nonchalantly but inside was worried she was about to turn him down, “It is entirely possible that is occurring.”

Juliet gave him a long look and slipped on her gloves, “Let’s take this banter into the ring.  I like to flirt with my hands.”

Kondo laughed deeply as he put his gloves on, “Let us see what I can teach you.”

Starbase Bravo – Quarters – 0900

Jordan looked up as her boyfriend and CO walked, no stalked through the door to her quarters and started pacing, his face red.  He took a few deep breaths and wordlessly tossed her the PADD as he went into the bathroom to wash his face in an attempt to cool his emotions.  Reid started scrolling through the PADD and suddenly she realized why he was upset, “You’ve been…temporarily reassigned as First Officer?  We have a new captain?  What the hell?!”

He nodded as he stepped out of the bathroom, towel on his face, “I asked who had made the call, but he refused to answer.”  Harris sat heavily on the couch as Jordan read through the PADD.

“I know this name from somewhere.”  She sat down next to him and went to work on the PADD, “It may have been…,” she continued to work until she swore, “Oh shit.”  She handed the PADD back to him, “I knew it.  He worked with my old nemesis Gwenelda Patton at Starfleet Academy.  I knew I remembered his face.  He did assistant work in her classroom while waiting on a command..”  She chuckled, “He was the CO of the Polson for a short while before your mother came in.”

It was Ambrose’s turn to swear, “Shit.  That failed to come up in the meeting.  Theories?”  He sat back, confused and concerned all at once.

“Patton is retiring this year,” she rolled her eyes when Harris looked at her, “…what?  I keep track of the woman,  She was an ungodly terror in the Academy.  Got me to you and the Erigone, so it all balances out.”  She caught his quiet smile and kissed him on the cheek, “You’re welcome by the way.  Point is…I think she’s settling scores.  Her sending me to the Raven Class Erigone didn’t last very long – Starfleet kicked us up to the Eddie.  We got some wins on the board and now…,” Reid stopped and snapped her head to Ambrose, “…she went after you…, not me.  What the hell…how does she know about us?”

Harris thought for a moment and a cold realization swept over him.  Jordan was right.  They had kept it pretty secret, even onboard the Edinburgh.  He didn’t doubt there was some suspicion amongst the command crew, but he had already entrusted them with his life several times.  They had proven their worth.  “Let’s start digging through the crew records.”  She nodded and snagged an extra PADD off the coffee table.

It took them two hours of searching, comparing, and making a few requests for transfer paperwork here and there…but they found their answer.  Harris shook his head, “Crewman Tyson Jackson. Trained as a medic with operations experience and worked with Chief on damage control.  Which means he would have had access to the bridge…or just about anywhere.”  He tapped at the PADD, “Worse still…he’s dead.  I was at his funeral three days ago.  His parents were one of three that wanted nothing to do with me.”  He leaned back on the couch, sighing heavily, “I’m guessing she covered her trails well and we won’t find any connection between the two aside from her recommending his assignment to the Eddie.”

Reid growled, “You know she’s told this new captain a bunch of crap already.”  She got up and snagged a drink from the replicator.  “He ain’t going to believe us up against a retiring Vice Admiral…who he’s probably known for years.  No matter how many heroic stories he hears from us.”

Ambrose chuckled, “Ain’t isn’t a word, Jord.”

His girlfriend gently hit him in the shoulder, “Don’t police my grammar, ‘Brose.  We gotta figure out how to get this guy over to our side.”

He thought for a long moment.  They could employ any number of Machiavellian maneuvers to outsmart the new captain.  None of them would end well, he knew.  “I don’t think we do anything other than be ourselves, Jord.  You said so yourself…she probably gave him everything she could about us and our command crew.  He’s a Chief Medical Officer turned command.  Remind you of anyone?”

Reid grumbled and leaned up against him, “You think that was intentional on her part?  Make you feel some kind of connection to the guy?”

Ambrose put his arm around her and pulled her close, “Everbody’s got a story, Jord.  Even this guy.  As mad as I am about it…I still gotta play by the rules.”

Reid sunk her back into his chest, “I hate your rules, sometimes.”

He chuckled, “Sometimes I don’t like them either, Jord.  Just means I gotta work harder to play by ’em.”

They snuggled together and soon were asleep on the couch.

They stood in the space, observing the maintained memories.  Okada had come to this place each year as a child, then a teenager, and then a young adult.  Each moment to remember a time long ago.  Each time she stood in the space, she found something new to think about or to focus on.  Today, Sadie Fowler stood with her, reading the history from a PADD. 

“455 years ago,” Fowler wondered as she searched the grounds around her, “It’s hard to understand the wars of Old Earth sometimes….but then I look at the things we’ve seen…and the horrors we’ve tried to stop.”  She shook her head, “What are we to think of them?”  Okada turned to her and she explained, “What are we to think of the people who did this?  That…made this site needed.”

Okada thought for a moment, “Had we been alive in those days…what would we have done?”  She slipped the PADD from her friend’s hand and handed it back with a profile, “Mutsuhiro Katsumi.  He was an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army…and in charge of several internment camps.  He was a brutal man by all accounts.”  Okada shook her head, “He was unrepentant.  He hid from prosecution until the charges were dropped…then he returned and became a mildly successful insurance salesman.”  She chuckled, “Of all the things for him to do for the rest of his life – selling insurance for life and property.”

Fowler looked at her friend, “I’m sorry.”

Katsumi grumbled, “So is the rest of the family.  My point is that his children would learn of his atrocities when he died…and they began to search for ways to repent for the acts of one monster in the family tree.  They couldn’t change the horrors he had done…and they couldn’t make it better by revisiting his crimes.  They took our family name and worked to balance out the awful with some good.”  She walked to the center of the memorial, “I’ve studied this time period.  Listened to the recordings…watched the videos.”  She turned to Fowler, “It was a terrible time for my people…for the world.  You hear the stories…you can feel the hurt, the anguish…the pain.”  She caught her emotions before continuing, “And yet…over the next fifty years they shook loose from the  Imperial dogma that had directed them for so long…they began to innovate…to create.” Okada mused, “From such terrible times came something great – the technological wonders that pushed up and into the skies and beyond came from this place…and so many around it.”

Sadie stood beside her friend, “Something for you to consider maybe?  Don’t abandon the dream in the face of the terrible…when something great awaits just beyond?

Okada stared at the memorial and turned around, taking in the various statues, “It’s possible.  I haven’t made up my mind…we still have the rest of the month. Lots of memories still to remember…and lots of thinking still to do.”  They walked through the rest of the park as the afternoon sun passed into evening.

Running helped.  It helped better than the beer.  It helped better than staring at the night sky in his parent’s backyard.  It had started out in frustration at midnight five days ago.  He just started running, his emotions fraying at the loss and emptiness that threatened to swallow him whole.  As he ran he found himself falling into a rhythm in his footfalls.  That next day he’d woken up as the sun crested the horizon…and he’d taken off running with an earpiece this time.  He’d run around the lake once over the next two days.  He’d started getting up earlier and running trails around his parent’s town of Cooperstown, New York.  He’d found his way back home and collapsed into a chair on the deck, his father reading the morning news on his PADD.

“You’re getting better at that, Will.”

Prentice glanced at his dad, “Thanks, Pops.  It’s starting to help.”  He sunk into the chair, closing his eyes and finding solace in the quiet of the country home in the backwoods.  They’d moved from New York City years ago and retired on a large plot of land, preferring the quiet and slow life to the busy bulk that had filled their time in NYC.

“You still going back to the Edinburgh?”  His father scrolled through the news, reading each article in detail.

Will opened his eyes and asked himself the same question.  The crew hadn’t spoken since the last day when they’d departed to their various places of rest.  The losses were hard to process, even now.  Fifty crew gone…all of them had been a part of the crew that had trained at the academy together.  He had come to know a few of them…but the family they had built over four years…a wound that deep left marks that never faded.

“Son?”

Prentice pulled himself from his thoughts, “I don’t know, Dad.”  His mother came out and laid out breakfast and coffee and sat down across from them, sipping at her own mug.  “The thing I’ve been wrestling with is…where else would I go?  Who’s to say there won’t be challenges or loss or both in the next assignment?”

Portia shrugged as she pulled some bacon and eggs onto a plate, “We all endure the things we don’t want to, son. Enduring the awful…well, it helps us find some good to hold onto.”  She sipped at her coffee, “You run because you need to.  I paint because I need to.”  She set her cup down and leaned forward, “There’s always something in us that needs expressing, William.  Be it sadness, be it pain…be it anger…whatever it is…it has to be released.”  She sat back as her husband, Matthew gave a quiet nod.

“We’ve told you the stories of your grandfather.”  Will nodded.  Atticus Prentice had been emotionally destroyed when his wife died at 50 years old.  He took to drinking and became a hermit.  Despite the best efforts of his family, he’d died a year after his wife, emotionally and physically wrecked.  “He never accepted the need to find something of meaning in his life.  For him….it was Mildred or nothing.”

His mother spoke up, “You have purpose on the Edinburgh, William.  You talked about it in your messages home.  Don’t let this grief take you away from what comes next in life.”  She nodded to the plate of food, “Get something in your stomach.  That helps sometimes.”

Prentice did as she asked and took a long drink of coffee, feeling it warm his heart and soul.  He looked at his plate full of food and then to his mother, “How long does it take to not feel this way?”

Portia shook her head, “There’s no set timeline, son.  It’ll take time…but I know you, son.  I know your heart.  You can work through it…and your father and I have been down this road before.  We know the way.  We can work through it together.”

William returned to his breakfast with a nod.  He still wasn’t sure what was next in his life, but he knew he would have help getting there.

Harris sat at the front of the table.  He’d taken time to return to Earth and see home.  He and Jordan had spent most of it together. He’d met her parents and had a wonderful time on their Seattle ranch.  She’d showed him the sights and sounds of her world while he’d enjoyed the breath it allowed him to take.  Now it was time for another kind of breath to be taken.  He’d asked his crew to return to Starbase Bravo to meet to discuss the future of the Edinburgh.  Jordan sat beside him, drumming her fingers on the long and wide table.  She was slowly coming to a stronger place of acceptance of the events that had sent them on leave.  The losses weighed heavily on her.  Reid had pronounced each one and completed the autopsies.  The ranch had restored her only so, and both her and Ambrose felt the edge of their situation returning slightly.

The first through the door was their Chief Engineer, Okada Katsumi. Behind her their chief science officer, Sadie Fowler.  They both sat together.  Okada greeted the commander, “You received my message?”  Harris gave a quiet nod.  “I spent a lot of time thinking about my future…and my time so far on the Eddie…and with Sadie’s help I got my answer.  I’d like to remain as Chief Engineer, sir.”

A quiet smile crossed her CO’s lips, “Thank you, Chief.  I’m glad you were able to decide to remain.  Your message seemed like you were thinking of leaving.”

“I…think it was being confronted with the reality of the gig, sir.  On Bravo, I didn’t have to deal with that kind of…thing before.  Seeing it with my eyes open…it shook me up.  I think I need to stay.  Much more adventures ahead.”

Fowler spoke up, “I thought about leaving too, Commander…but with Kat…Lieutenant Katsumi’s help we were able to figure out we’re not done.” 

“Thank you both,” Harris replied, “I am thankful to have you both back with us.  It’s not an easy job.”

The door opened with the Chief Tactical/Security officer Kondo De La Fontaine stepping in followed by Chief Counselor Juliet Woodward.  They took their seats.  Small talk broke loose in the silence and Harris was thankful for it.  Prentice was the last in the room and he slid into a chair by the door.  Ambrose waited a moment before he stood and the silence soon filled the room.  “Good morning.  I’m glad to see you all back with us.  It’s been a hard time for each of us…I’ve kept in regular touch with each of you…I wanted to make sure you found your way through it with the help of others.”  He gave a nod to them all, “And you did.  None of you did it alone…so thank you for listening to my advice.”  He tapped at the console on the table, “Now…there’s been a change in command.”  He tapped again and the image of Captain Geronimo Fontana filled the screen.  “I’ve been temporarily reassigned as First Officer, and Captain Fontana has been temporarily appointed as her Captain.”

The shocked faces and the rabble that soon roused in mutters, whispers, and then open conversation rippled across the table.  Harris put up his hand and they eventually quieted.  He explained the rationale of the assignment and a new bubbling of conversation burst across the room once more until he called for quiet, “It is not ideal for us as a crew, I will admit.  But I will tell you…and order you…to take no action either outright, covert, or otherwise in this situation to attempt to change or address this situation.”  He looked each of them in the eye, “I need to be clear with each of you so that you can be clear with your crew and officers when you reconvene with them to pass on this information.”  He let his words hang in the air for a moment before continuing, “We will prove that we deserve and have earned the right to operate as we have before – but we will do it right and we will do it together.  Agreed?”

He looked at each officer.  Some nodded faster than others but eventually, he got each of them to consent to his request.  “Thank you for agreeing.  Now, our mission.”  He tapped at the console and the image of the Thomar Expanse faded in, “There has been a rise in pirate and smuggling activity within the expanse…and Starfleet is concerned there’s more to this.  We’re being tasked with investigating the situation and taking action if needed.”  He tapped at the console, “Captain Fontana will have a further detailed briefing onboard the Eddie tomorrow morning.  I asked if I could preview the mission and he accepted…under the condition we all return to duty tomorrow.”  His command team…his former command team gave him a collective nod.  “Questions?”

Okada spoke plainly, “I’m really sorry this happened, commander.  This really sucks.”  The others agreed.  She continued, “When are we allowed back on board to see what they’ve done to her?”

“Tomorrow 0700 hours. Until then you are still off duty and ordered to take advantage of the last hours of rest.  To answer your feelings…I don’t much like it either, Chief…but this is the way things are for now.  I’m going to fight like hell to get back in that center chair and prove to whoever thought this was needed…that it wasn’t.  We’ll get her back.”  He looked around the table one last time, “You are dismissed.”  The crew stood and talked until it was just Jordan and Ambrose once more.

She leaned against the wall, “I could just punch out a vice admiral.  I’d do alright in prison.”

Harris chuckled, “I don’t doubt that.  I’d rather have you watching my back and keeping our crew safe and sound.  Whatever is waiting for us out there in the Thomar Expanse…we’re going to need to be ready…all of us.”  She kissed his cheek and headed out the door, leaving Ambrose alone with his thoughts.

Quarters - 0600

“…we've made it to the Thomar Expanse, and the process of investigating the situation has already begun.  It's been an adjustment being a First Officer…it's a position I've never held. Getting my hands around what Captain Fontana wants of me is…harder than I thought.  It's clear that Jordan's old instructor from the academy had a hand in this.  Fontana hasn't spoken much to me aside from walking me through my new role and putting me to work on the mountains of reports and information he expects.  The crew is doing everything they can to not push back on him.  He's already upset Chief…and Ensigns Woodward and Fowler have been working to repair that damage.”  He sighed and leaned back in his chair, “He's pushed a few buttons with a few others…noticeably in refusing to allow them to choose how they're referred to - Chief Kondo isn't thrilled the mangling of his last name.  He hasn't asked for my help with the crew or even advice on how to work with them…which I find odd.  I've done some reading up on Fontana, and by most accounts, he's a competent commanding officer.  My mother gave him high marks when she stepped into the role on the Polson and that most of the crew got along with him.”  He paused, “He's asked me to meet him in my…his ready room at 0630 hours.  I don't know what to expect at this point.  End log."  Harris stood and gathered himself.

Ready Room- 0630

The door opened, and Harris entered, seeing Fontana at what was formerly his desk.  He'd cleared out his own personal belongings, and the new captain had put up a few things.  It still felt awful, but he had resolved to do his best.  “Commander Harris reporting as ordered, sir.”

Fontana waved him to the chair across from the table.  He tapped at a PADD, sighed, and cast it aside as he looked at Harris.  “It's come to my attention that you have a romantic relationship with Lieutenant Jordan Reid, our Chief Medical Officer.”  Ambrose did his best not to show his annoyance, but it slipped through, and the captain noticed it, “That make you unhappy, Commander Harris?  It's considered improper for a CO to have a relationship with a subordinate officer.  I understand she was your first officer for a brief time.  That's alarming in many ways.”

Harris threw up his hands in surrender, “She was briefly…and then we had a FO in her place until she retired…and until just recently, we had Chief as our FO.  I had Lieutenant Reid report to Lieutenant Commander Katsumi…she handled her operational reviews and any kind of disciplinary actions.  We had established a system to address it.”  He shook his head, “Now I've been reassigned as First Officer.”

Geronimo picked up his PADD and reflected on what Gwenelda Patton had shared with him before informing him of his unique assignment.  She had concerns regarding the commanding officer of the Edinburgh.  She had given him a PADD with fairly explosive allegations regarding his tenure on the Erigone and his continued command on the New Orleans class ship.  Much of it revolved around his relationship with Doctor Jordan Reid and the various improprieties that had occurred in violation of several Starfleet regulations.  She had been clear in her assignment - he was to ensure that Commander Harris was a qualified CO that would pass in her own command classes.  If he did not meet Fontana's expectations, he suggest reassignment to the fleet for Harris…and only Harris.  She had also given him Jordan Reid's history and her performance in the Academy.  He had found most of what she had described as true.  The Edinburgh command crew was doing as he asked, but cracks were starting to show.  The Chief Engineer had nearly had a breakdown in front of him after he'd made several asks of her, and the Chief of Security and Tactical had asked to have Fontana address him differently than the standard manner.  As good as they looked on paper and in reports, he had serious doubts about each of them.  His doubts about Harris were now amplified as he watched the man's response to their discussion.

“Well, that was your system.  Now we have to do it the right way with regulations and the like. I don't see any other way about it, Commander Harris.  You will need to break off your relationship with Jordan Reid.  If you'd like, I can….”

Harris stood quickly, the chair nearly flipping over behind him.  He didn't speak.  He simply stared at Fontana in shock.  The silence bathed the room several times over until Harris reached for his rank pips and communication badge and put them on the surface, his tone calm but focused, “I had hoped for a discussion…or at least a conversation about how it could be worked out.  That wasn't what I walked into this morning, Captain.  You've made your mind up about what needs to happen.  Effective immediately, I resign.”  He pushed the metal forward on his former desk.

Fontana frowned and reached for the pips and badge, pulling them across the desk to him.  He looked to Ambrose and thought for a moment.  He had always been taught if an officer resigns, you accept their final decision.  It wasn't a negotiation or a game to be played.  “Your resignation is accepted, Mr. Harris.  I will note it in the log.  You will be confined to quarters until we are able to return to a Starbase.  Dr. Reid will be allowed visit as you are no longer her superior officer.”  He played with the badge and pips with his hands, “Thank you for your service to the fleet, Mr. Harris.  You are dismissed.”  Ambrose gave the man a curt nod and left.  Fontana placed the metal into a desk drawer.  He wondered what game the man was playing.  Gwenelda had given him some idea of how Reid had played her at the Academy.  He hoped he wouldn't have problems with his chief medical officer.

“You did…what!?”  Jordan stood in her boyfriend’s quarters, her face red with rage and her arms extended in frustration.  She dropped her hands to her side and stared at him, “You gotta be shitting me.”  Harris remained seated as he let her vent.  She paced the room, muttering for a few minutes before coming back to face him once more, “He said the only option was to end our relationship?”  He nodded.  She let out a litany of curse words regarding their new captain and his mother, father, sister, and just about anyone else she could wax poetic about.  Her hands were still at her sides, but clenching into fists and then releasing and then tightening again in anger.  Still, Harris remained seated.  He’d not seen her this angry before.  Another few minutes passed as she took deep breaths in an attempt to lower her blood pressure.  “I’m going to kick his ass.”

Ambrose carefully stood and walked to where she glowered and took her hands in his, speaking softly.  “If he had told me to go be a Chief Engineer, I would have done it.  Anything he’d asked of me to solve this scenario, I would have nodded my head and shook his hand.  He was asking me to give up on you, Jord.  I’m not some lovestruck 19-year-old ensign who thinks the assistant chief is kinda hot.”  A quiet smile broke up the furious scowl that had laid on her face since she’d walked in.  He continued, “I’m thirty-five years old.  I know what I like and what I love…and you fit the bill on both of those things.”  A sigh escaped his lips, “He asked something of me that I couldn’t imagine doing.  I can’t begin to think how that conversation would have gone…for you or for me, Jord.”  He pulled her close, and they embraced tightly, “I’m not about to let some idiot captain break your heart…and mine.” Ambrose kissed her forehead, and they pulled apart and sat down on the couch.  “You can’t kill him…and you can’t hurt him.  My guess is Patton prepped him for you.”

Reid gave him a look, “What is that supposed to mean?”

Harris chuckled, “Imagine saying that to your new captain.”

She considered his gentle warning, “You’re not wrong.  I get a little agitated sometimes.  This whole thing has got me spun up without any idea how to get back in a straight line, ‘Brose.  The rest of the crew is going to lose their minds.”

Ambrose shook his head, “You gotta make sure they don’t, Jord.  They gotta trust in each other and fly right by this guy.  He doesn’t know them, he doesn’t know the Eddie, and he doesn’t know much about what’s out there.  If any one of them fails him intentionally…it’ll hurt more than just him.  It’ll go wrong for all of us.”

She grumbled, “You coulda’ fake broke up with me and then stayed on the bridge.”

He shook his head, “I’m not the lying type, Jord…soap opera machinations are not in my genetic makeup.”

“I can still yell at him, right?”

“Ask for permission to speak freely and as long as you don’t clock him with a haymaker, threaten his existence, or suggest that he shouldn’t be in command…you’ll probably be fine.”

“You’re asking for a lot, ‘Brose.”

He pulled her close to him on the couch and kissed her cheek, “You can do this.  Use your imagination.”

She kissed him back and stood, straightening out her uniform, “That is a dangerous suggestion.”

“Not if you take it within the context of our conversation.”

She stuck her tongue out at him, but an impish smile was forming as she turned and walked out of his quarters. 

Harris had been worried before.  Now he was concerned.

“Permission to speak freely, Captain?”

Fontana considered the young woman that stood before him in his ready room.  Patton had given him plenty of advice on how to handle her, and he was starting to wonder what the truth was in this situation.  Gwenelda had been one of his greatest advocates in his time in the academy, and after - much of his success had come because she had known someone or been able to write a strongly worded recommendation letter.  Her efforts had earned him a captain's chair on a New Orleans class starship, and he'd expected to burnish his credentials with his work in training the current commanding officer.  He had resigned an hour ago when Fontana had told him to break up with his girlfriend.  Who now stood in front of him.  He considered refusing her request.  He relented, “Permission granted, Lieutenant Reid.”

Jordan had been thinking about what to say as she had walked from the quarters of her former CO to her current CO's ready room.  She stared at the captain for a moment before speaking, “I wanted you to know that was a pretty awful move you pulled on Ambrose, sir.”  It was hard not to curse out the man with every four-letter word she knew, but she wanted to keep her position and rank for the moment and had decided to hold her temperament.

“He had a choice, Lieutenant.  He made his.”

Reid shook her head, “You didn't give him much of one, sir.  You didn't even sit down with me to discuss the issue.”

Fontana frowned, “Why would I sit down with you?  Mr. Harris is the one who was breaking the rules as a commanding officer with a first officer and then his chief medical officer.  The one who had to answer for the issue has answered.  I'm not sure why talking to you would have been necessary.”

She raised both her eyebrows, “Because I'm one half of the relationship, sir.  Instead of involving both of us to talk about the issue and how to solve it…you went in with a hammer and sledged your FO into an impossible choice.”

The captain shrugged, “Nothing is impossible, Lieutenant.  Sometimes you have to make a decision that is best for you and your crew…and not someone you think was cute.”  Geronimo instantly regretted his choice of words and moved to speak.  

Reid's face nearly turned purple as she stepped on his attempt, “How….dare…you.”  She flared her nostrils and felt the hot blood from her heart flooding her body as she desperately sought to regain some control of her mind and body.  “You don't know me.  You didn't even try to get to know Ambrose.  You think those rank pips and this room make you special?  That you can pass judgment from that chair?”  She stepped forward and rested her hands on the desk, staring into his eyes,  “I may be young, but I've learned a lot in my short time on the Erigone and the Eddie - we don't assume anything about each other on this crew.”  She pushed off the desk, “I won't quit.  I'll start my transfer paperwork to be filed once we've completed this mission.  I'll do my duty, and I'll do my job.”

Fontana pushed up and away from his chair calmly, “Look, I'm sorry for the phrasing…”

She stopped him again, “Apology not accepted, sir.  That's what you think of our relationship.  Don't try and polish it up with a ‘phrasing’ apology.  The truth is what matters on the Edinburgh, sir.  We don't know any other way of operating.”  Reid gave him one last look, “I'll be in sickbay if my services are required, Captain.”  She turned to leave.

“You are not dismissed, Lieutenant Reid.”

She spun slowly on her heels, “Do you imagine if we keep talking, it'll improve things, sir?”

Fontana went to speak but stopped.  He had expected a fight.  He had expected her to do…well, whatever Patton had said she would do.  He hadn't expected that question in the mild tone that had delivered it.  “I don't imagine it would, Lieutenant Reid.  You are dismissed.”  He watched her leave, and as the door closed, he began to wonder about much of why he was here.

The bridge was quiet as he sat in the command chair.  He’d spent most of his time in his ready room thinking on his encounter with Doctor Reid.  She’d surprised him.  Fontana wasn’t sure how he was going to explain to Starfleet Command the resignation of a first officer and a transfer request from a chief medical officer.  He wasn’t sure Patton would have advice on how to proceed either.  He focused on what lay ahead.  The news of the resignation of the first officer had spread throughout the ship as he had quietly updated the official roster on the ship’s computer.  He had caught glances from the bridge crew when he’d stepped from his ready room to the command chair and the relative silence on the bridge gave him a fairly good indication that this wasn’t going to be a walk through the stars mission.

Fowler at science spoke up, “Captain, sensors are picking up several transport ships coming out of Cardassian space at Septimus.  Current course has them headed for Moroga.”

Fontana leaned forward in his chair.  The orders from Starfleet had been specific.  “Ensign Prentice, open a hailing frequency with them.” 

The helm officer tapped at his console, watching and waiting for a response. A moment later a beep signaled they were responding.  “They’re responding – audio only.”

=^=This is the SS Heru with the Palasa Transport Group.=^=

“This is Captain Geronimo Fontana of the USS Edinburgh, SS Heru.  We’ve been instructed by Starfleet to ensure any and all transport operations are escorted to ensure safe travel.”  There was a pause on the other line and Prentice checked to make sure the connection was still there before looking back up.

=^=Your offer is appreciated, Starfleet…but we do not require an escort.  Thank you.=^=  The channel cut and Prentice glanced down at his console and then back up again.  He wasn’t sure of this new captain, and he had decided silence was his better option.  The rumors of his old CO resigning had been confirmed and the rest of the crew was wary of the new man in the center chair.  They still had a mission to undertake.

Fontana leaned forward in his chair, “Mr. Prentice, hail them again.”

He tapped the hail command and this time the channel was rejected.  He frowned and tried again.  Rejected.  “Captain, they’re…blocking our hails.”  The helm officer didn’t turn in his chair as he would with his former CO.  He’d felt comfortable discussing these kinds of moments with him.  Fontana had been notoriously independent in his decision-making since stepping aboard and it had and continued to rankle the crew.

“Helm, plot an intercept course.  Maximum warp. Let’s go.”  Prentice once more resisted the urge to turn in his chair.  He had to remind himself that the only CO he’d had was Harris and as his academy instructors would say, ‘There’s all kinds of CO’s out there.  Gotta get used to ’em’!’.  He tapped .in the command as the Edinburgh jumped to warp.  The bridge remained silent and the officers looked at each other while the captain remained in his chair, working the consoles on the arms.  The silence remained and after glancing at each other across the bridge they slowly turned back to their stations and the work they were doing.

The tedium continued until Prentice announced, “Arriving at intercept point.  Dropping from warp.”  The screen showed five transport ships moving at full impulse at first glance.  At second glance, however…

Fowler was the first to report, “Captain, sensors are registering multiple weapon modules on the transport ships…more so than usual.  Power levels are also spiking from the usual energy readings from comparable ships.”

Prentice was next, “Captain I am detecting multiple power surges on all five ships.”  Then, “They’ve raised their shields!”

Fontana stood, “Red Alert.  Tactical – ready with firing solutions.”  The klaxon rang as the lights dimmed to their ruby setting.  Kondo’s eyebrows furrowed as he lightly tapped the console.  He’d never been told to target a civilian transport in his life, no matter how much they appeared to threaten.  The tactical chief had at least expected the captain to hail the lead transport. Fontana stared at the five ships.  What had he stumbled into?  And why did it feel like he was on a runaway shuttle? The helm officer spoke up that they were being hailed and he nodded, “Go ahead.”

The speakers burst to life with, =^=What is the meaning of this, Captain!?  We told you we did not need to be led like dogs through this part of space…yet here you are with your shields raised and weapons charged!”

The captain replied, “We were instructed to ensure safe passage by Starfleet.  We merely wanted to make…”

=^=You came upon us unannounced in your large ship without reason or need.  I say this for the second time.  We do not require your services, Starfleet.  Leave us to our business.=^=  The channel slammed shut and Fontana watched as the ships hung in the air for a moment before speeding out of the area at warp.

Prentice spoke up, “Their course remains to Moroga, sir.”

Fontana bit the bottom of his lip, frustrated.  He turned to science, “Track them on long-range as much as you can, Ensign.  Put on a search pattern for the immediate area and beyond for any kind of ships.  We’ve still got a mission.”  Fowler nodded and returned to her console.  She wasn’t sure how to feel about the new face in the command chair but she hadn’t been impressed so far.  The captain returned to his center chair and tapped at the arm chair consoles.  This command felt different than his previous work and he wasn’t sure what it meant for him or for his future.  With Harris resigned, he was the highest ranking officer besides the chief engineer.  Had he somehow managed to find himself stuck in command of a ship?  And was he sure he even wanted this one?  He supposed that only time would tell.

“I need you to tell me what to do.”  Captain Fontana sat across from his chief counseling officer in the counseling office. He’d asked to meet with her after stewing in his juices on the bridge for an hour or so.  

She let her eyebrows fly up in surprise, “You want me to tell you what to do, sir?”  She scoffed at his question, “That’s a pretty loaded question your throwin’ at me with an itchy trigger finger.”

Geronimo leaned back in the chair, “Ensign, I’m in a tough spot.  I’m starting to wonder if I’ve been given…the wrong information.”

Woodward blinked a few times before she found the words to speak, “You’re just startin’ to wonder?  The resignation of your first officer wasn’t enough to make you think twice?”  She shook her head, “Look, I don’t know where you come from, and for what it’s worth – I don’t care.  You walked into my office and asked me… an ensign of all people, what a captain should do.”  She pointed at him, “Take a step back and look at yourself in whatever passes for a mirror in your world, Captain…and think about where whatever got you into the center chair has taken you.” Fontana moved to speak but stopped when she put her hand up, “I said…take a step back.  That means you stop talkin’, and you start thinkin’.”  She sat back and stared sharply at him until he did the same in his chair, resigning himself to thinking about what she had said. He thought long and hard.  She leaned forward after ten minutes, “Now’s when you start tellin’ me ’bout what your thinkin’.”

A sigh as he spoke, “I…”, he stopped and tried to find the right way to start off his admission.  “Gwenelda Patton was my instructor in the academy.  She’s been a mentor, a guide, and a helpful hand along the way.”  He touched his captain pips as he mused, “She’s part of the reason I got these.  She’s also part of the reason I was assigned to the Edinburgh and…well, you know the rest.”

Juliet chuckled, “Patton is a legend…but not in the way you seem to see her. She’s known as the ‘Gate Witch’ and…”, she explained as he looked confused, “She gate keeps.  She doesn’t think you deserve to be an officer?  She’ll push you harder, make things challenging for you…find a way to grade your assignments lower.  She’s been doing it for a long time…and someone must have finally talked into the right ears.”

Fontana gave her another curious look, “She’s retiring because she’s 75 years old and has been doing the job for years on years.”

The Chief Counselor chuckled dryly, “If you say so, but if you really believe that…I’ve got a sector or two in the Romulan Neutral Zone I’d like to sell ya.”

He shook his head, “I have a hard time believing that Patton is really that bad.”

She pointed out, “You were probably one of her favorites – the golden children we called them.  Some of ’em figured it out towards the end and felt terrible.  Rumor has it that something changed in the command structure, and the complaints finally made it to a desk or two…thus, she retired.”  She shrugged, “I kept my head down and hands inside the ride at all times, so I managed to stay the hell off her radar, ya know?”

Geronimo sat back in shock.  “I suppose you’re going to tell me I should ask some others about her and see what they tell me.”

Woodward put her finger on her nose, “You got it one, Captain.  You’re the doubtin’ type, I suspect.  You need to hear from a few others before you start tearing down the statue of her in your own mind.”  She sipped at her glass of apple juice, “How you feelin’ about all this?”

He glanced up from staring at the floor, “What, my entire world being rocked by the revelation that my mentor and hero is nothing more than a vindictive and punitive queen of her castle?  Feeling pretty shitty.”

She nodded, “Those feelings are important.  Don’t try and ignore them or be ashamed of them.  Sit in that feeling for a moment…but know that whatever you do with that feeling…and the need to do something about it – that’s what matters.  That’s the difference between murder and just walking away.”

Fontana chuckled a little, “That is a helluva comparison you just made, Ensign Woodward.”

“I am the only one of my kind, Captain Fontana.  They don’t allow more than one of us to be alive and kicking in the universe.”

He stood and extended his hand, “That I believe.  Thank you for this conversation.”

She rolled her eyes at him and moved quickly in for a hug, “I’m not a hand-shaking counselor, sir.  I’m a hugger.”

He was startled by her move, but after a second, he put his arms around her gently.  She pulled away after a moment and gave him a nod and a smile, “Now, get to work on finding out that everything you’ve ever known is a lie.  Good luck, Captain.”

Fontana gave her a nod of thanks and left out the door, his heart heavier than when he’d arrived.

The door chime rang out as Ambrose looked from his couch, a book in hand.  “Enter.”  His eyes widened as Captain Geronimo Fontana stepped into his quarters.  He returned to his book, “What can I do for you, Captain.”

The current CO of the Edinburgh did not move from where he stood, keeping his distance for the moment.  “You’re choice of Chief Counselor gave me an earful two days ago.”

Harris glanced up with a quiet smile, “She fills a space in our halls and in our hearts…and you can’t ask for much more from someone in that position.”  He returned to his book.

Fontana took a step forward, “She told me that I should ask the crew about Gwenelda Patton.”  He winced as the head of the former CO snapped up.

“In no uncertain terms, I’m guessing.”  Harris held Fontana’s gaze before he broke off and returned to the pages before him.  “She’s got a fire, they would say, in her belly that can’t be put out no matter how hard you try.”

He took another step forward, “You don’t seem too interested in the name, Mr. Harris.”

Ambrose lazily looked up to him again and shrugged, “You didn’t seem too interested in the Edinburgh’s story as told by the ones who survived, Captain Fontana.”  He waited for the man to answer.

“That’s…a fair point.  I asked around.  I found stories that shook my faith in my mentor and champion.  two days’ worth of those stories…your ears start to detect a pattern.”  He took another step forward, “It’s become clear to me that I was not sent here to help you.  I was sent here to hurt you.  And Dr. Reid.”

Harris shook his head, “A little late for reality to hit, Captain.  You were incredibly blind…in ways, I cannot fathom any kind of understanding.”  He tossed the book aside, “If you’re here to tell me that I was right and you were wrong…fine.  Have you peace of your piece in all this…and get the hell out of my quarters.”  Fontana didn’t budge.  He didn’t move.  Harris stared at him, “Whatever else do you have to say, Captain Fontana?”

Geronimo chewed on his lips and slipped out of his pocket a case that he set on the table.  “I never communicated with Starfleet regarding your resignation.  I updated the ship’s list…but I didn’t take that next step.”

Ambrose stood quietly and walked to the table, his fingers brushing against the case, “Why wouldn’t you send it to them?”  He shifted his gaze to meet the captain’s eyes, “What kept you from doing your duty?”

A shrug, “I couldn’t tell you…I’m a medical doctor, and a damn good one at that.  I couldn’t quantify or qualify why I held off.  Something inside me…just didn’t want to.”  He sighed, “I made a terrible mistake and error, Mr. Harris.  I’ll submit to Fleet Command to answer for this…,”

Harris waved him off as he clicked open the case, “No…as pissed as you made me…and as close to murdering you as Jordan came…you know who did this to you…to me…to us.”  He admired the gold with a hint of a smile, “If you’re offering me this back…I’ll take it under one condition.”

Fontana eyed the man.  “Name it.”

“We burn Patton, and whoever else helped her in this…we burn them to the ground.”  He paused and slipped the rank pips into his hands, “I won’t forget what you’ve done, Captain Fontana…but I’ll find it in me to eventually forgive you.  Not today…and probably not tomorrow…, but eventually, I’ll figure out how to let this go.”

“I understand…and I’m agreeable.  I’ll leave you to it.”  He stopped at the door, “Computer – reinstate Ambrose Steven Harris to USS Edinburgh, rank Commander…and position of First Officer.  Voice authorization Captain Geronimo Fontana, authorization code GeronimoDoctor2001.”  

The computer chirped back a moment later, =^=Reinstatement complete=^=

“Commander Harris, I’ll see you on the bridge.”  The door closed behind the captain, leaving Ambrose alone in his room, the silence biting at him as he considered what came next.  Fontana seemed agreeable to bringing the heavens down upon his former mentor.  As he returned to his closet and changed into a fresh command red uniform, he wondered what there was to learn from Fontana?  He suspected there was something within the man to learn from – he just needed to find it.  Attaching the rank pips and communications badge injected a feeling of purpose back into him.  There was hope for what came next.

Commander Harris was back on deck.

“Here’s what we were able to get, sirs.”  Sadie Fowler sat at her station with her current CO, Captain Fontana, standing beside her on one side and her former CO, Ambrose Harris, on the other.  The new CO had asked her to pull every bit of scanning details from their encounters with the SS Heru and the Palasa Transport Group.  

Fontana stared at the data as it streamed across the monitors and console, “Ensign Fowler, you said the weapons you detected were more than should be on this class of ship – explain.”

She tapped at her console, nervously working the words in her mind before she spoke them.  She had talked with Juliet, the chief counselor, about her nervousness.  They’d come up with a way for her to gather her words in the split seconds she had between question and answer.  “Most ships in this sector have to travel through The Badlands.  It’s a tricky thing with a trained Starfleet crew, but we’ve done a lot of work on ship’s systems.  Looking at what they had attached to their hulls…those kinds of weaponry options would need to be stowed below and powered down to ensure the transports had all the power available to make the journey, never mind the risk to the equipment.”  She tapped the console again, “They also came from within Cardassian space, which isn’t odd on the surface, but if you examine the weapons configuration…,” she nodded to the screen, “…those weapons are not standard.  We weren’t able to get as close a look as I’d have liked but given what we know and what we can suppose…those are Cardassian weapons on an independent transport.”

Fontana kept his stare while he frowned, “Percentage of accuracy on the supposition, ensign?”  Harris kept his mouth closed.  He may have been back on the bridge, but he was still outranked by Fontana.  Calling him out on the bridge wasn’t something he was about to experiment with or gamely attempt to see what it caught when he tossed it out.

Sadie nearly choked but counted her breathing for three seconds as she tapped at her console, ostensibly to run a report or something.  The truth was it was a stalling tactic to wrestle her anxiety into a closet and slam the door for a precious few seconds while she answered, “75%, sir.”

The captain turned and stepped away from Fowler and gestured for Harris to join him, “I’m not confident in those numbers, Commander.”

Ambrose, for once, agreed with him. “I’m not either, sir.  The thing here is…something’s up.  Those weapons having a strong resemblance to Cardassian blueprints is a little out of the normal.  Normally the transport companies will build their own or source their equipment through multiple groups or organizations – they can’t afford to line the ships with the Cardassian’s systems…or anyone’s for that matter.  Starfleet mentioned that there was some suspicion about something more than just random pirate attacks.”

Fontana quietly considered his first officer’s words.  “You think we’ll see the Heru and her group again?”

Harris shrugged, “It’s a best guess.  We’d need to get more information on what is happening out here.  They know we’re here, and they’re aware we’re not afraid to show our cards…they’re not stupid.  They’ll try and find out why the Edinburgh is really here…and try and stay out of our way.  She’s a ship that can give as good as she takes.”

The CO turned to Fowler, “What’s the nearest colony to us?”

Sadie keyed in the search terms, “Dozaria system, captain.  One colony on a livable planet with a mixed biome, two suns, a moon, and three planets.  Last reports have the colony at over 1,000 Cardassians.”

Fontana returned his attention to Harris, “We might have to do this your way, detective.  Ensign Prentice set us a course to the Dozaria System, maximum warp.  Commander Harris put together an away team…we need to find out what they know about our friends.”

Ambrose gave a nod and sat down in the station next to Fowler, who side-eyed him as he worked to pull rosters, “Welcome back, Commander.”

He smiled quietly, “Good to be back.  I need your best science officer on the ground.  Scrappy.  A little scary.”

She looked at her roster quickly, “Ensign Alanna Menzie.  She’s got a good mind for science but fists for security.”

Harris raised his eyebrow, “I’ll take her.” He stood and gave her a tap on the shoulder, “Keep looking, Ensign…we’ve got a mystery on our hands.”  He stepped away and was in the turbolift before she could say much, so she returned to her station.  They would be closing in on Dozaria Prime…and they would need her eyes and ears.

Harris blinked as the bright light of the transporter faded, and the dust-filled world of the Dozaria colony rose ahead of them in the distance.  He glanced to his chief of security, “What do we see?”

Kondo De La Fontaine had his tricorder tuned to look for security concerns and had just finished sweeping it around them, “Nothing unusual, but the dust and distance aren’t helping.”

The science officer next to him grumbled, her tricorder finding similarly.  “The atmosphere won’t kill us, and the sand isn’t toxic.  Beyond that, we’re going to have to feel our way step by step,” Ensign Alanna Menzie groused as she looked around, her eyes squinting in the glaring sun.

The commander turned to the Assitant Chief Medical Officer, who shook his head in the glaring sun, “The sun’s rays are not good for us to stay in longer than thirty minutes or so – we’ll need to innoculate when we return to the Edinburgh for a few other things.”  Ensign ACMO Muramoto Yoshiyuk was a practical man.  It was his first away team mission, and he wasn’t about to mess about.  He was responsible for the crew and the first officer.

Ambrose nodded and started walking towards where they had been told the Gul of the colony would be waiting.  They walked for fifteen minutes before arriving at a cavernous and worn tent with a bulky wood table that had been scratched and stained over the years.  In the seat opposite them sat a tall and slender Cardassian, Aviator sunglasses perched on his nose as he looked over each of them as they arrived.  He stood lithely and bowed to each of them, his deep voice thumping in his chest, “Gul Hasara of the Cardassian Union and what you would call the governor of Dozaria Prime.  Welcome to our corner of hell.”  He gestured to the seats in the shade of the wind-whipped tent, “Please, sit.  We have water on offer.  Our replicator system is on…as you humans would say, the fritz.”

Harris took a seat, as did the rest of his away team  Hasara was tall and thinly built – the commander wondered if that was by choice or necessity living out beyond the reaches of the Cardassian Union.  “We’d be willing to assist in any way we can, Gul Hasara.”

The Cardassian eyed him carefully as he tapped his fingers to an internal beat on the table for a moment before answering, “I shall take that under advisement.  The Union and the Federation have had a…complicated past and present…not to mention the future, Commander.  Your communication said you were looking for information.”

Harris chuckled, “You make a fair point, Gul.  We’re looking for information about this transport group.”  He slid a PADD across the table, “They came out of Cardassian space.  First impressions weren’t great on either end…but we noticed some…interesting things.  You’ll see them…”

Gul Hasara read through the details, images, and conclusions before shaking his head, “Why is it the Federation goes where…what is the expression…goes where angels fear to tread?”  He scrolled back through the report, “The meaning is that as powerful as the angels of your Earth God were, there were places they would not even go for fear of destruction at the hands of the darkness that was older than them.”  He slid the PADD back to Harris, “There are things out here older than both of us, Commander.  We keep to ourselves here on Dozaria Prime and trade with who we must out of necessity.”

Ambrose accepted the PADD, “I get the reference, Gul.  You’re a student of Human history?”

The Cardassian shrugged as much as a Cardassian could, “When you live this far from home for as long as we have – you seek out the knowledge of those beyond our borders in the chance they ever darken my doorstep.”  He smiled wryly, “The Federation seems to end up at our door more often than others.  Make of that what you will.”

Harris returned the smile, “I see your point, Gul.  I take it that whoever these transporters are…they’ve been here longer.”

Hasara leaned back in his chair, “They are like the dinosaurs of your Earth, Commander.  Hard to kill and dangerous at all hours.  They survive because that is their nature…their instinct.  Even when your beasts were wiped out in a cataclysm, they survived in your crocodiles and the like.”

The first officer leaned forward, “If they’ve been here longer…it would suggest they have their nests…or even places to rest while away from home.”

The Gul gave a slight nod, “It is a complex ecosystem out there, Commander.  Many species fight each other and cooperate at the same time.”  He pulled himself out of his chair and stood, “Would you like a tour of our colony?  I think your help with our replicators would be most beneficial.  Your officers may explore as well with an escort.” Harris caught his security chief’s eyes but waved him off.  His gut was telling him to trust the Gul.  Kondo, the assistant chief medical officer, and the science officer walked one way while the Gul and Harris took another path.

They walked through the streets silently, Harris observing the state of the home and buildings.  They managed well enough, it seemed.  They neared the end of a street, and Gul Hasara led him around a corner and into an open area just outside of the colony limits.  He turned to Harris, “You are taking on a very dangerous enemy, Commander.  My walls have ears…and this far away, they cannot hear or see.”  His posture fell away, and he found an outcropping of rocks to sit against.  Ambrose joined him.

“You’re trapped.”

The Gul gave Harris a grim look, “Between this syndicate and The Union…it is an impossible place.  We’ve remained out of their minds for the most part…but recently, the activity has begun to accelerate.  As if something is forcing them to action.” He grumbled, “We don’t have the means to find out what that ‘something’ is or if it’s more…or less than that.  All I know is they are increasing their activity with us and beyond.”  He turned his eyes to the Federation officer, “It is an odd situation to be in, asking for your help without really asking for your help, Commander.”

Harris chuckled dryly, “Strange bedfellows these times make us, Gul.”  He met the gaze of the Cardassian, “I’ll take it to my captain, and I’ll do everything in my power to find a way to bring peace to your lives.”

Hasara stood, and Harris did the same.  “I know you cannot make promises or guarantees, Commander.  It is the same with us.  I cannot promise you we won’t meet in battle in our shared future…but for this moment, we may find cooperation as a way to reconcile or even prevent that possible future.”

“The greatest possibilities exist within these kinds of moments, Gul.”  Hasara’s stature straightened, and he led Harris back to the colony where the Starfleet officers regrouped.  An engineering team had come down in the meantime to assist with the replicator repairs and resupply.  Harris watched with hope as the transporter beams lit up his vision.

The future was possible.

“Something more?”  Captain Fontana sat at the head of the table as Harris stood at the screen giving his report.  The Chief Science officer sat, her PADD at the ready.

“The Gul is concerned about whatever is pushing the syndicate around or pushing them to bolder action.  Our engineering teams are halfway done with the replicator system repair.  Chief Katsumi is doing some additional training with the colonists to help them keep it online.”

The Captain asked, “You said they’d stay out of our way, Commander…you still hold to that theory?”

Harris looked to the display and then to his captain.  “The more we learn about this syndicate, the less I like being out here alone.  Given how Hasara talked about them…we may need to be ready for something.”

Ensign Fowler spoke up, “Captain, I’ve been reviewing the reports that Starfleet received that got us out here in the first place.  Whoever they are, they fight dirty and rough.  Enough ships were boarded, and fatalities were recorded that some trading operations stopped sending ships out here.  That may be why the colony is seeing more attention paid to them recently.”

Fontana was quiet as he looked to the screen by Harris and then back to Fowler, “What’s tactical’s evaluation of their ships?”

Sadie tapped at her PADD, “What little we know is..well, limited.  Given the power surges we saw on the ships we encountered, they’re not lightweight.  Put enough of them in the mix, and they’d push us around a little.”  She paused for a moment, considering her next point.”

“You have more, Ensign Fowler?”

Another pause as her mouth worked out the words, and she was free, “This crosses into theory, sir…but if they’ve been here awhile…they’ve got to have either more of those ships…or bigger ships somewhere.  In the academy, the prevailing warning was the old school pirates would cut and run, but there’s new breeds of bad out there looking to carve out pieces.”

Harris confirmed, “Especially out here.  The scraps they’ve been fighting over are suddenly drying up, and now they’re hungry.  Bad place to be.”

The CO sighed, “This situation doesn’t seem to be improving.  If nothing else, it just seems to be getting more complex.”

Ambrose tapped at the screen, “It’s a feature of this section of space, Captain.”  The screen readout showed the mission information from their Task Force, 47.  Harris read it as it displayed, “Starships of TF47 are charged with bringing back key early intelligence about the Thomar Expanse. Through scientific surveys of nearby phenomena, observation of foreign military movements, or negotiation for information from local sources, these reports will shape the future of the Federation’s involvement.”  He returned to his seat, “The Gul was making a joke when he said The Federation had been on his doorstep more than anyone.  This section of space has largely been left to the Breen, the Cardassians, and the Tzenkethi.”

Fontana shook his head as he read further on the PADD, “I am starting to wonder why I’m here, Commander Harris.  Putting a medical officer in charge of a complex situation in a complicated piece of space seems like a terrible idea.”  He gave a nod to Fowler, “My apologies, Ensign.  You are dismissed.”  Sadie stood and walked quickly out of the room.  Geronimo sighed deeply, “You know a lot about this sector, Commander.”

Harris shrugged, “Part of my job as commanding officer was making sure I knew as much as I could about everything I could find about where we were being sent.  I never wanted to be on the bridge and not be able to give my officer’s the confidence that I had read into the situation we were facing.”  He sat back in the chair, “I’m not perfect, Captain…but I rely on my crew’s knowledge and suggestions.  They’ve been used to being asked what they think, or even what they might know.”  He glanced at the captain.

Another sigh from the CO, “You’re doing a damn fine job of dancing around suggesting that I don’t listen to my crew, Commander.”  He held up a hand as his XO sat up to reply, “After talking to the crew about Patton, I had some time to think.  I’m not the greatest at reflection…maybe it’s why she used me as her pawn in this mess.  Your suggestion stands on good merit.”  He chuckled as he leaned forward to take a sip from his glass, “I don’t think I’ve had this much feedback on my job performance in years.”

Ambrose remained silent.  He wasn’t sure what their next step was, but he knew he had some ideas.  He took a moment to consider his words carefully, “We could ask for help from other Starfleet vessels coming into the sector, sir.  Part of the review and report on Task Force 47’s mission in the area is that more ships from Raven class on up are expected to be assigned or requested here.”

Fontana raised both eyebrows, “You think the Edinburgh needs help?”  He caught a strong stare from Harris, “Fair enough.  I read the reports on her last few dustups.  She’s scrappy, but she’s no Excelsior II or Sovereign class.”  He caught himself about to sigh and instead stood, “Well, we have to do something.  Have communications signal any and all Starfleet vessels in the area to meet up with us at…” he snapped his fingers, “…have the helm plot us a course to Deep Space 47 at maximum warp.  Update the station on our read and observation of the situation.”

Harris stood, “Thank you for hearing me out, Captain.”  It was a rare compliment to the CO who had driven him to self-sacrifice his career.

The CO grunted, “Don’t thank me yet, Commander Harris…our plate is going to get more full the longer we stay here poking and prodding the darkness around us.”  Harris gave him a nod and left the briefing room.

Things were going to get…interesting.

An hour had passed as the ship continued on her course to Deep Space 47.  Commander Harris sat in the center chair for the moment as the captain remained in the ready room working through reports and status updates from both the Edinburgh crew and the fleet.  He was reading through a PADD with reports from the station as well and what he was seeing was hopeful.  Several ships from Task Force 47 had been dispatched to the area, and more were expected to arrive in the weeks ahead.  He suspected the strongly worded reports that Fontana had crafted with his help had given a stark message to Starfleet Command.

Ensign Prentice was hard at work at his console.  He was thankful that the two men in charge of the ship had found some way to work together.  The command crew had been concerned about the future of the Eddie with a new guy in charge, and he hadn’t been thrilled with Fontana.  Harris was in the center chair for the moment and the chief helm officer felt some level of comfort that he was behind him – literally and metaphorically.  His console beeped as a priority communication flagged on his screen.  He tapped and read carefully, “Commander, Deep Space 47 is advising us that the USS Osiris has departed the station and is headed our way with orders to work with us on the ongoing situation we’re investigating.”

Harris stood and walked to where Prentice sat, “Osiris..not familiar with her.”

William tapped at his console, pulling the information quickly, “Reliant class.  Captain is Kr’Antren.”  He tapped the console again, pulling up photos to explain the name, “Caitian…rank is lieutenant commander.”  

Harris scanned the officer’s file, “From Bravo to a Raven class to a Reliant class.  An interesting mix of crew, it seems.”  He wondered what kind of captain the Caitian was and how much he had experienced in his time in the center chair.  You never knew the quality of a commanding officer until faced with a no-win scenario.  He’d seen enough of them for himself and had no desire to see more in the near future.  “Mr. Prentice, put that together in a report and send the communication with it to Captain Fontana.”  The young officer nodded and tapped the message and report in and out.  He nodded to Harris, who stepped, tapped the button to the ready room, and was granted entry.

Ready Room – 1155

Fontana glanced up as his XO entered the room, “Looks like we have our backup.”

Harris didn’t take a seat, “Looking at his experience and his crew…I think we’re going to have to keep an eye on them, sir.  I’ve been green like Lieutenant Commander Kr’Antren…it may be helpful to have us alongside to advise them a little.”

Geronimo raised his eyebrows, “You haven’t even read their mission reports, Commander.  You’re assuming a lot, I would say.”

Ambrose stared at him for longer than a comfortable moment and shifted his feet in annoyance at the man’s point.  “I accept the point you’re making, Captain…but I won’t retract my concerns about him.”  He shifted his feet further, “To return your point to you, Captain…I’m not suggesting we take his command way based on my concerns.”

Fontana sat back, considering the words of the executive officer, and decided a chuckle and a wry smile was the best response he had, “Remind me not to debate you on the finer points of Command, Commander.  Your concerns are noted.  We’ll see what we see.”  He chewed on his next words, “You think the Osiris is enough?”

Harris felt the tension leave the room and leaned against the wall, “It’s been on my mind…the Federation and Starfleet haven’t been out here out and about like this in a while…there’s bound to be some kind of response when the syndicate and whoever else is out here figures out that we’re not leaving.”  He nodded to Fontana, “I was going to have us drop from warp and plot an intercept course for the Osiris.”

Fontana gave an approving nod, “I appreciate you asking.”

The former CO and current XO returned the nod, only slightly, “I appreciate you giving me a chance to be back on the bridge, sir.  I’ll get to work.”  He turned and slipped through the door, leaving Fontana to his thoughts, which were many.

“Gul Tikbe Onot?”  Fontana looked from the center chair, a PADD in his right hand.  He looked to his right, “They apparently knew of our visit to Dozaria Prime.”

His executive officer shook his head as he glanced over the proffered PADD, “I don’t Gul Hasara sold us out.  You’ll notice the accusation doesn’t give specifics beyond our efforts to repair their replicators.  Whoever is sending information up the line isn’t well connected to him – or they would have at least menaced the Osiris with some suggestion that they knew we were trying to push the governor around – but they didn’t.”

The CO considered, “So they don’t know about your conversation with him…or if they know you talked to him, they’re as blind as anyone would be.  Do you think they’ll make a visit to Dozaria?”

Harris nodded quietly, “They’re probably on their way already.”

Fontana frowned for a moment, “You’re not worried about Gul Hasara?”

Ambrose chuckled wryly, “Gul’s are a dime a dozen, Captain.  The position covers a lot of places, pieces, ships, stations, and more.  You run the gamut of competence and intelligence…much like our own fleet.  There is always a strand of really strong commanding officers who hold the rest of the fleet to a standard…or did at one time.  I think Hasara isn’t a man to be trifled with or messed with.  Given the reports on the tone and posturing from Gul Onot…I think she’s just another empty suit.”  He thought for a moment, “The Guls you have to watch out for are the quiet ones… they’re deliberate in just about everything they do.  You don’t know your life is forfeit until they’re the ones swinging the knife at your throat as they stand at your side.”  He shrugged at Fontana’s visible shock, “I don’t think Hasara’s someone we should worry about when it comes to us.  I’d be worried for Gul Onot.”

Geronimo sat back in his chair, thinking carefully. “You think we should swing by and check on him?  Just in case?”

Harris tapped at his PADD, “I think we swing by on our way to investigate some of the information that Captain Kr’Antren sent.  Get him riding side saddle with us – help remind folks we’re not alone out here.”

Fontana considered it, “Send USS Osiris a priority message – meet us at Dozaria Prime to prepare to investigate this syndicate and more.”  He stood and thanked his FO, “I think we’ve got a path.  You have the bridge, Mr. Harris.”  The CO returned to his ready room as Harris eyed the center chair.

“We’re nearing Dozaria Prime, commander.”  Ensign Prentice nervously dropped them out of warp and kept his hands ready in case something terrible awaited them.

Harris leaned forward, “Report.”

Sadie frowned at her science station, “I’m…sir, I’m not detecting life signs on the planet.” She tapped at the sensors for a moment longer before shaking her head, “Second scan confirms.” 

The XO tapped at the arm console, “Captain Fontana to the bridge.”  He stood and moved to stand beside Prentice, “Get us closer to orbit but hold off on engaging.”  The young officer nodded as Ambrose turned to face the CO as he stepped out of his ready room, giving him the rundown as Fontana moved to the center chair.

Geronimo turned to Ensign Foster, “What do we have in the sector?”

She had started that scan and found herself shaking her head again, “Nothing on sensors.  Analyzing warp trails, but it’ll take a moment.”

Harris walked slowly back to the XO chair and sat, his mind working through whatever implication was before them. Where had Gul Hasara gone?  Had he been surprised by Gul Tikbe Onot?  The former CEO found that unlikely.  And where was that Gul and her ship?  “Captain, I think we need to back off.”

Fontana glanced sideways to his XO, “What are you thinking?”

“I think the absence of Onot is telling.  I think we’re alone at the site of a disputed Cardassian Colony, and things could be imagined about our…involvement in this.”

The CO turned his attention to the screen and spoke to their Chief Helm Officer, “Ensign, full reverse.  Put some distance between us.”  The Edinburgh rumbled backward as the planet retreated.

A warning beep from Ensign De La Fontaine‘s console jarred the bridge and he spoke quickly, “Cardassian Cruiser inbound, arriving….now.”

Fontana stood and hesitated on calling yellow alert.  He had found his quick cowboy style hadn’t earned him much in the way of friends or admirers among the sector and his crew. Holding his tongue on the alert level, he instead led with, “Hail them.”

Foster tapped at her console, “They are responding…”

The screen filled with Gul Tikbe Onot, her scowl filling her face, “What have you done with Gul Hasara!”

The CO remained standing, “I’m not sure I take your meaning, Gul…?  I’m Captain Fontana, Federation Starship USS Edinburgh.”

She growled in response, “Gul Tikbe Onot.  You know who I am.  My meaning is, what have you done with Gul Hasara and the colony?  You will answer!”

Harris felt her anger through the screen and wondered if he had misjudged her based on the reports from the Osiris.  That or it was desperation that soaked her words.  You don’t get to have a ship out here without having some level of responsibility for your people – be they exiles or pariahs.

The CO shook his head, “We haven’t done anything with the colony, Gil Onot.  We arrived moments ago and found the planet empty of life.”

She stared him down through the viewscreen, the start of a snarl appearing on her lips.  “I will confer with my crew and command.  Do not leave this sector.” The channel abruptly cut, and Fontana returned to his chair and turned to Harris.

“Odd.  She doesn’t seem to know where he’s gone.  We don’t know.  Which leaves…”

“The Syndicate…or even Palasa Transport Group.  Something’s been bothering me since we ran into them.”  Harris tapped at the console in front of him, “The Palasa Transport Group ships had Cardassian weapons and pretty strong armor.  Ensign Fowler had mentioned that other transport companies had been driven out by the danger involved in getting goods and people across this part of space. What if…Palasa Transport Group, is the syndicate going legal?”

Fontana considered the idea.  “In order for Palasa to get all the lost contracts, the syndicate would have to drive out all competition by force, leaving their new shiny legal company to operate, earn and expand.  If someone doesn’t like the way they do business…they throw a punch or two to get them in line.”  He shook his head, “Reads like those Old Earth stories of organized crime and the like.  You said they were getting desperate…desperate times call for desperate measures.”

Kondo spoke up from tactical, “If the syndicate becomes the only transport operations in this section of space…and they expand and improve their ship’s weapons and armor…or even establish a base somewhere….”

Harris grumbled, “They’ll be more of a force to be reckoned with than before.  I think the Cardassians must have an inkling of this – they wouldn’t be desperately trying to find Hasara and his people if it didn’t have larger implications for them.”

The CO stood, “The Cardassians probably have enough troubles at home, and in this disputed sector…a rising rebellious syndicate that’s getting bigger and uglier is going to make things harder for them.  Let’s see what we can shake loose.  Ensign Fowler, hail them.”

The scowling visage of Gul Onot returned to the screen, “What do you want?”

Fontana ignored the tone and pressed on, “Gul, I think we have a common enemy.  We’ve been working on an idea over here that the syndicate and Palasa Company might be the same thing…and that you’re not worried about Gul Hasara or his people…you’re worried why they’re gone.”

Onot’s face remained placid, “Go on.”

The CO continued, “The Federation and Starfleet would be just as concerned with the bigger threat of Palasa and Syndicate working together…and what it means when that grows beyond the borders of this section of space.”

There was a twitch in the eyes of the Cardassian, “What do you propose?”

Geronimo allowed a thin smile, “We would be willing to search for your missing Gul and his people – we’re uniquely equipped with science and medical equipment.  Whatever we find along the way that has anything to do with Syndicate or Palasa, we’d immediately share with you…and invite you and yours to the party.”

Onot considered his words and was silent as she stared at the captain.  A moment later, she relented, “I will provisionally agree to these terms.  I will, of course, need to transmit this to my command.”  She paused, “I suppose you’ll want the USS Osiris included in this…deal.”

Fontana smiled wider this time, “That would be preferable, Gul.”

A snort, “I’ll get back to you.”  

The channel slammed shut, and Fontana let out a long sigh as he returned to his chair, “I will be glad to give this chair back to you soon, Commander.” Harris turned in his own chair, surprise on his face, and the CO chuckled, “I’m not a diplomat. I’d rather heal the sick and save the injured.  I’m learning what I love and what I don’t.  She’ll be yours again soon enough, Commander.”  He stood, “Helm, work with science to see if we can track where ships have been going around here the last few hours.  Let’s find our friendly Gul.  Mr. Harris, you have the CONN.”

“I think I have something.”  Sadie Fowler turned in her chair at the science station, her eyes weary from reading the various amounts of scans and reports the science teams were collecting and sorting.

Ambrose glanced up from the consoles in his chair, “Something good, I hope.”  He stood and walked to stand beside her.

She pointed to the screen, “We’ve been tracing warp trails, impulse remnants, and whatever else we could find.  There is something…interesting in the patterns we’ve found.”  She tapped at the console, and the screen showed various paths through the sector.  She highlighted two of them, “These two are the most recent, and while one goes off in a random direction…this one made a straight line out to here.”  Another tap revealed a sector that hadn’t been mapped recently.  “It’s about two hours from here…but there’s a good chance we’ll find an answer there.”

The FO pointed to the other line, “Are you sure that’s as random as you say?”

Fowler frowned and felt her heart rate pick up speed suddenly.  She looked at the trace and followed it until it faded.  “I’m not sure what you’re…oh.”  She zoomed in on the last few parts of the trace, “There’s a sudden turn there.”  She glanced back at Harris, “You think there’s something that way too?”

Ambrose contemplated for a moment as he wondered if he was reading too much into what he was seeing.  He answered with, “Gul Hasara is a smart Gul.  He’d never put his people in danger.  Some Guls, sure.  But he struck me as a different kind…I wonder if he sent them away and did his best to hide their trail.  Anyone looks at that, and they might dismiss it out of hand as some random ship coming through the sector.  But you see the seemingly random changes in course?  There’s an odd symmetry to it if you spend a second more looking at it.  There, there…and there.”

Sadie nodded slowly as she began to see what the commander was seeing, “That makes sense.  So you think the colonists are in one direction and Gul Hasara is in the other?”

He shrugged, “Or the other way around.  What I do know is that eventually, whoever took Hasara is going to get tired of trying to get the information out of him, and they’re going to come back looking for answers.  They might take a closer look at this and make the connection we did.”  He returned to the center chair, “Set a course for the random trail.  Let’s see where it takes us.  I’ll advise the captain of our progress.”

Soon enough, the Edinburgh jumped to warp speed on the hunt.

“That’s where it ends, Commander,”  Sadie Fowler gestured to the screens in front of her as she recounted what she had found.

Harris sat at the station next to her, eyes reading through the report several times.  ‘There’s nothing in this system.  Just a moon, an asteroid belt, and a dying sun.  The trail just…ends.  I’m an engineer, not a scientist, but even I know there are always traces of something left behind.”

The Chief Science Officer agreed as she ran the scans again, “It’s unusual.  If we had seen fading in and out, there might have been a possibility that the ship cut its engines and found another way to travel, but the results are consistent – no deviation or artificial deviation was detected.  Whatever came this way got here..and just…vanished.”

Harris shook his head, “Cardassians don’t have cloaking technology, and neither do our pirates.  If they did, we’d have been dead or damaged long ago.  Helm, bring us closer into the sector.  Ensign Fowler, pull your team back together – wherever they went, they’ll have left something for us to see and follow.”

Sadie nodded as she swallowed hard.  She had her orders.

The science team was hard at work at the stations as their chief walked from station to station, PADD in hand.  They had been at work for two hours now, trying to find any kind of link, connection, or trace of whoever had come through the sector.  With the help of Ensign Prentice, they had hopped, skipped, and jumped from place to place using the sensors to define, detail, and discover – but nothing concrete had come through the scans and reports.

Sadie felt her blood pressure rising as she went from one station in The Tower section of the bridge.  They had run scans, amplified more, and dug into the various parts of the sector several times over.  They were starting from scratch for the fourth time.

“Ensign?  I have an idea.”  The voice belonged to Portia Linwood, a fellow ensign.  Fowler gave her a nod, and she tapped at her console, “We’ve scanned this moon three times.”  She displayed the results that had been the same each time. “The results are pretty clear – there’s nothing there…but I’ve been thinking – what if that was the intent.  What if…everybody looks at the moon and makes the same conclusion…and passes it by.”

Fowler nodded along as she began to understand, “The moon is hiding something.”  She stepped onto the main bridge and looked to Prentice at the helm, “Can we get as close to the moon as possible?”  He tapped at his console and gave her a thumbs up.  The Edinburgh moved closer, the moon on the viewscreen growing to a point where it nearly filled it.  Sadie returned to her crew as they began to retask the sensors.  

Then Linwood chuckled, “There it is.  A small deviation.”  She pointed to the screen, and Fowler let out a slow sigh.  the science officer suggested to her chief, “I think we throw a probe at it.”

Within moments Harris had returned to the bridge, and the probe operation was arranged.  The Captain stepped into his role from the ready room, and they watched…and waited as the probe flew through space and impacted against the moon with a bright flare.  Fowler checked her readings and then gave a shout, “Scanners are picking up an interior structure…and lots of life signs!”

Captain Fontana stood from the command chair, “Security – full strength team with a medical escort.”  Kondo was out the door and on his way.  A moment later, Prentice confirmed the away teams had transported over to a less populated part of the base.  The bridge crew held their breath until the helm officer said the team was hailing, “Open the channel, ” ordered the CO.

=^=Captain, we’ve found the colonists.  They’re mostly good – a few injuries, but our medical team is working on them.  They were dumped here by the people who took the Gul.  They were told they would never see light again after they had consorted with us.=^=

Geronimo stepped forward, “Do they know where they took their Gul?”

=^=Negative, sir.  They did identify them as our growing pirate band.  They seem more worried about what the Gul was going to do to his captors, if I’m being honest.=^=

The CO glanced at his XO, mild amusement present on his face, “They seem to share your evaluation of the man.”

Harris wasn’t sure he agreed with the captain or the colonists, “He’s a very capable Cardassian officer, sir, but up against these pirates…I’m not sure where I’d hedge my bets.”

Fontana spoke up to the away team, “Let’s get them sorted out and treated.  We’ll start….”

Prentice nearly shouted, “Contact coming into sector…awfully fast.  It’s not Cardassian or Federation.  Reading full weapons power and shields….”

The CO didn’t sit in caution this time, “Red Alert – all hands to battle stations.”  The klaxons rang out as the lights on the bridge and across the Edinburgh faded into a dull ruby as screens across the command center flashed with the red alert signal.  Crew shifted off, around, and into the bridge as the chief helm officer called out a countdown on the arrival of the target.  Ten seconds, he was warning.  Fontana resisted the urge to return to his chair and was rewarded by his first officer taking up a stance at his side.

Harris mused, “Could by anybody.  We’ve job done a good job of upsetting a few people around here.”

Five seconds, Prentice intoned.  Fontana smiled thinly, “Maybe it’s time someone upset us.”  Harris gave him a curious look as the arriving ship dropped out of warp.  It was a larger transport ship, Prentice confirmed.  And it was armed, shielded, and scanning wildly in the sector.  “Hail them.  Tactical, pick something to target while we talk.”  Harris gave his captain a look of approval.  The man was a doctor, but he was starting to figure out how to handle things from the center chair.

Prentice held one finger on the evasive commands while his other hand opened the channel.  A pause. A  crack.  A fizzle.

The entire bridge held its breath.

Gul Hasara stared back at them as the screen cleared.  Harris let out the breath he was holding, a short laugh rippling from his lips as stepped back in relief.  Fontana was struck for but a moment but recovered, “Gul Hasara, I presume?”

The Cardassian had looked batter.  A smattering of blood splattered across his face.  Looking closer at the bridge beyond, there were bodies, some still moving.  Heavy smoke filtered around him, and he let out a bitter sigh, =^=You are a welcome sight, Captain.  I was concerned they had sent someone to kill my people.=^=

Harris returned to face the screen, his shock and awe subsiding, “How did you…?”

Hasara stared at Harris, and it looked as if he might not answer.  He pursed his lips, finding the right words, =^=They underestimated me, Commander…at their peril.=^=  He turned as one of the bodies was struggling to stand, and he blasted the wounded human once and then a second time, waiting to see if the body dared twitch again.  It did not.  =^=I have a long history they did not account for in their…attempts to turn me…or whatever it was they thought they were going to get out of me.=^=

Ambrose gave the man a mild bow, “You continue to intrigue us, Gul.”

Hasara let a mild smile creep across his lips before returning to his straightened face, =^=I suppose you’ve alerted whoever came looking for us from Cardassia?=^=

Fontana nodded, “Gul Tikbe Onot…and yes, she was alerted when we arrived.  She should be here soon.  I presume with a fleet.”

The Cardassian Gul actually chuckled, =^=Well, this will be a reunion for the ages.  We are not…friends.  But as you humans will say, ‘Needs must’.  We will be keeping this ship, Captain…and interrogating her crew=^=

The CO didn’t disagree, “It’s your backyard, Gul.  You captured her; you rescued yourself…I think you get the fair claim on the results and the rest.”

Hasara paused for a moment and regarded the crew of the Edinburgh, =^=You have been something of an anomaly in my experiences with the Federation and Starfleet, Edinburgh.  I will remember this.  Hasara out.”=^=

The channel closed, and Prentice turned to his CO and XO.  Fontana let out a small sigh, “I think we’ll stick around until at least Onot gets here.  We’ve all got some heavy reports to write for Starfleet.”

“I am glad I am the one that gets to do this, Commander.”

Harris stood in the ready room on the USS Edinburgh, at attention.  Captain Geronimo Fontana stood across from him, a quiet smile on his lips as he spoke, “You have persevered under circumstances that were beyond your control…and at times beyond mine.  You have led under pressure, and you have served as my first officer with such grace in the midst of a stormy beginning…and you’ve been instrumental in calming the waters these last few months.”  He hands his XO a PADD, “You are returned to the position of Commanding Officer, USS Edinburgh, immediately.  Ships logs and Starfleet database has been updated to reflect your status.”

Ambrose allowed a small smile, “Thank you, Captain.  I appreciate that we came to an understanding early on, sir.  I’m not sure we would have lasted long with sharpened knives out for each other.”

Fontana chuckled, “I think we’ve learned a lot from each other, Commander Harris.”  He extended his hand, “I’m thankful for what you taught me.  You’re a good CO…and you’ve earned that center chair.”

Harris returned the handshake, “Learning is like living and breathing – without it, we’re just lumps of clay in a clueless master’s hands.”  Geronimo gave him a questioning look, and the CO of the Edinburgh chuckled, “Old family saying, sir.”

The captain took one last look around the ready room, “I wish you the best of luck, Commander Harris.  She’s a good ship…and you’ve got an incredible crew to fly with.  Godspeed.”  He left the ready room and the door closed quietly behind him.  Harris held his posture for a moment…but then silently celebrated with a fist pump and dance celebration.  Until his badge beeped.

=^=Commander Harris, Starbase Bravo is requesting your presence on the engineering deck.  Something about Chief Katsumi’s list of equipment.  Said they need a word.=^=

Ambrose chuckled, “They need a word.  I have a feeling I’m going to have a word for them as well.  Let them know I’m on my way.”  The channel closed as he looked around the ready room…it was his ready room once again.  He would never let anyone take it away from him again.

Ever.