The passenger ship dropped out of warp as it reached the edge of the Nereus system and began its approach toward the third planet. It was immediately spotted by Starbase 415 when the relay satellite picked up the passenger ship’s transponder and transmitted it to the station, so Operations were aware of the approaching ship and relayed the information to Docking Operations so as to reserve a docking port for it.

On board the ship, in the passenger compartment were several officers and enlisted personnel that were obviously heading toward their new home. There were quite a lot of new faces, but there were also some familiar ones as well.

“So you used to serve on board the Aquarius?” Asked Theo Lane.

Utsall smiled. “A beautiful ship, she is. I was only there for a short time. But when I was there, my superior was quite a warrior. The last mission that I remember serving with him was on a planet where their equipment was sabotaged. The equipment was supposed to keep the area from having earthquakes since the area the city was in was plagued with them. Without the stabilizers, the city succumbed to earthquakes and buildings collapsed.”

Mazak hissed, “Sabateours. Disgraceful.”

Utsall growled, “They were, indeed. But Lieutenant Zane Bates and I were able to track them down and arrest them.”

“Where were you since then?” Elidia asked.

Utsall grunted, “Penal colony. Watching over those who’ve been court-martialed and imprisoned for their crimes.” She paused for a moment before she lifted her head as curiosity got the best of her. “What happened to all of you? Weren’t you all serving on board the Sovereign?”

Mizu slowly pushed herself out of her seat and then leaned her back against the side of Ruby’s while she looked directly at Utsall. “You really want to know what happened?”

Utsall nodded her head. “Of course! Every warrior has a tale!”

Mizu smirked and scoffed. “Yeah. Okay. Let’s start with the fact that we were hunted by a pack of Hirogen ships. Think it was like what, four?”

“Nah, eight,” said Ruby.

“Six,” K’Roll corrected. “Was six Hirogen vessels.”

Mizu shrugged a shoulder. “Whatever. Point is, we managed to shake most of them off and what does the Captain do to get rid of the rest? Flies us right in between the two binary stars, one of them being a neutron star feeding off of its companion.”

Ruby shook his head with a chuckle. They managed to coax one of the junior officers that were on the bridge at the time to spill the whole thing.

Mizu continued, “Then while we’re traveling at low warp, we get stopped by a Devore cruiser. You know their whole story, searching ships for telepaths, impounding them if they have any on board. All that nonsense. Well, our Captain decided to send off all the telepathic crew, just because he didn’t want to contend with any bull from the Devore, or whatever else was going on.”

“But that didn’t stop them,” Ruby interrupted.

Mizu slapped his shoulder with a smirk then resumed. “He’s right, it didn’t. They beamed on board because the Sovereign was in no condition to contend with that cruiser and you know what they did? They accused me, me, of being a telepath. But what they didn’t know was that, the second officer, Lieutenant Commander Ward I think it was, convinced me, Ruby, and K’Roll to jump into action when the signal came. Well, when our Captian gave the signal, we jumped on them turds and grabbed their weapons. Some crew was confused but others followed our leads and managed to wrangle the Devore’s weapons out of their hands. We took back the ship with hardly any trouble. Think the Bridge and Engineering were the first to be secured, right?”

K’Roll nodded his head. “They were.”

Mizu smiled, “Anyways. Captain must have said something because the Devore just took off and we went right back on course to our destination.”

Utsall smiled, “Sounds glorious! You all deserve a song!” She roared with laughter.

Ruby sighed, “You’d think so.”

Utsall’s smile faded. “What exactly could have happened to damper your spirits?”

Mizu patted Ruby’s arm to gesture for him to scoot over to the empty seat next to him so she could sit down in his seat and keep eye contact with Utsall. “From the same little birdie, we got the info from about the Hirogen, and Devore told us that somehow these…Orions…found a way to beam our Captain off the bridge. Apparently, after the Sovereign’s refit, some of the new systems conflicted and when the shield frequencies were rotated and rebalanced to strengthen a weakened side, it caused a bit of a gap in the shield bubble. A gap that somehow these Orions were able to find real quick and snatch our Captain.”

“P’tahk!” Utsall proclaimed. “Is he dead?”

Mizu shrugged her shoulders. “I have no idea.” She looked at Lane.

Lane blinked when he realized that everyone was now looking at him. “Oh. Right. I’m not allowed to discuss anything about a patient.”

“Come on Theo,” said Ruby. “We’re not asking for a lot, just want to know if the man is alive.”

Lane nodded his head, to which he understood the request. “He is alive, just…he will be spending some time in physical therapy. That’s all I’m willing to say.”

Mizu clapped her hands together. “So, the Sovereign returned to drydock at…wherever she is now…and is likely undergoing some maintenance and fixing what shouldn’t have happened.”

“I also heard that they were adding another upgrade to the Sovereign, something about doing the same to the rest of the fleet,” said Ruby with a shrug of his shoulders.

Utsall nodded her head. “Well, I am glad to have met you, all of you. I think our time on this station will be less boring than my time on the penal colony.”

Lane chuckled then a thought crossed his mind. “Wait, we know who signed our transfer orders. Do you know who signed yours?”

Utsall grunted. “Commander Lexie Ward.”

Mizu frowned. “Strange. She knows us, all of us, but how does she know you?”

Utsall grunted again, “Don’t know. I don’t know anything about her. Never seen her.”

“Perhaps someone who you know, recommended you to the Commander,” K’Roll suggested.

Utsall nodded her head slowly. “Perhaps.”

Mizu sighed heavily as the conversation came to an end only to spot something from the view port on Utsall’s side. “Wait a minute,” Mizu tried to lean in for a closer look and pointed. “Is that a Klingon K’t’inga class battlecruiser?”

Utsall looked and smiled. “Good eyes! Except it looks to be owned by a civilian freight. It has cargo containers attached to both port and starboard sides of the neck. I doubt its even combat worthy anymore.”

Mizu shrugged her shoulders. “Regardless, if that’s here, then that means there’s a Klingon restaurant!”

Utsall’s eyes began to gleam when the realization hit her. “I knew I’d like you!”

A few moments had passed, the passenger ship had docked with the station and the passengers were filing out, all carrying their belongings, which pertained to either being briefcases full of PADDs up to duffel bags from those who were in Starfleet, Officers or enlisted.

The first thing that the seven Ensigns went to, disregarding that they were told to drop their bags off at their quarters, which they have likely bunked together again, they headed straight for the Galleria. They trekked about halfway through the Galleria until they finally found the restaurant they were looking for. They quickly approached it and set their bags down by some tables, as one by one, headed directly to the counter.

“Plate of gagh, please!” said Lane.

Mizu and Utsall gave him a look before they looked at each other with a smirk on their faces. Mizu slammed her fist down on the counter. “I need gagh for me and my fellow warriors, now!”

The Klingon chef grunted and with his bare hand, he grabbed about two handfuls of gagh for each plate, setting them down one by one on the counter for Mizu and her friends. While her friends started to grab their plates, Mizu and Utsall looked at each other again with a different look before they returned their gaze to the chef.

“You call this gagh?!” Utsall shouted and shoved the plate away from her, which slid right off the counter with much speed and force that the plate clattered onto the floor as the barely alive worms went everywhere. She then slammed her fist on the counter. “That will never satisfy my appetite, I want fresh gagh, now!”

The chef growled at them for a moment before he began to chuckle with delight. He grabbed the pot half full of the barely alive gagh and tossed it behind him. They all listened to it as it clattered loudly onto the floor, as he grunted at the rest of Mizu’s friends to return their plates, which he grabbed and tossed behind him. “I appreciate a female who knows what she wants.”

Utsall grabbed him by the collar and yanked him down as she snarled. “You better not be making a pass at me, because I already have someone else in mind and it is certainly not you. Now get me and my friend’s food! I will not ask again.” She pulled out her D’k tahg from the rear waistband of her pants that was also concealed under her shirt and shoved the tip of the blade into the counter.

The chef recognized the house crest on her d’k tahg and quickly left after she had released his collar. Soon he returned with a pot full of very lively gagh and filled all their plates full of it.

Before Utsall took her plate, she grabbed her d’k tahg and sheathed it back in place, and tucked her shirt and uniform jacket over it, concealed once more. Then she took her plate and stared down at the chef before she went to the table her friends sat at and sat down to join them.

As they ate their food, Lane had a bit of a disgusted look on his face but he still made an attempt at least, Mizu stared at Utsall and the question burned enough that she needed to ask. “That d’k tahg.”

Utsall looked back at her, only to chew and swallow her food before she answered. At least she remembered her manners. “I do not wish to speak about it.”

“I understand but I thought Starfleet prohibits Klingons who serve in Starfleet from carrying those around,” Mizu pushed.

Utsall nodded her head. “They do. Which is why I conceal it.”

“Well, it sure got his attention,” said Mizu.

“As I said, I do not wish to speak about it,” Utsall pushed back.

Mizu raised her hands in an apologetic and defeat manner, which also indicated that she will drop the subject.

“So. Anyone knows who our new commanding officer is?” Ruby asked.

Mazak grunted as he stuffed claws full of gagh into his mouth, one by one. Someone was very ill-mannered and hungry.

“Take that as a no,” said Ruby with a chuckle, which turned into a laugh when he saw Lane’s face as Lane watched Mazak eat in shock and disgust.

K’Roll sighed. “Do any of you ever read your assignment reports?”

Mizu shrugged. “I only read the fine print. Reassigned to this place!” She said before shoving some worms into her mouth.

“I’m the same way honestly,” said Ruby.

K’Roll shook his head. “Our commanding officer is Captain Gerald Hunt. As part of the security division, I did some digging. He is a pretty well-seasoned captain. He has been in command of the starship Kyushu for about five or six years until now.”

Lane pushed his plate away, which Mazak took, and began scarfing down the worms. Lane had to look away or he’d never be able to get a word out. “What would a starship captain be doing commanding a station?”

Mizu shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe he had a change of heart.”

“Or maybe he just follows wherever Starfleet wants him,” said Ruby.

Mizu shook her head. “I don’t know about that. Starfleet needs starship captains. You know what they taught us in history lessons. Battle of Sol, the Borg Cube I mean, and then the Dominion War, the Prodigy virus, the Mars attack.” Mizu explained. “I can go on but the point is, why would they assign him here?”

“Maybe he knows his way around a diplomat table?” K’Roll asked. “We are in a system real close to the territory of the Talarian Republic.”

Mazak stopped stuffing his maw to add, “There’s also the Tholian Assembly several light years from us.” He returned to finish his and Lane’s plate by grabbing them one by one and licking them clean.

“Never knew you liked gagh, Mazak,” said Ruby.

Mazak set the plate down and picked at his teeth. “I didn’t know either. Stuff is amazing.” Mazak looked at Utsall. “I must have more of this.”

Utsall shook her head with a smile, “We really should report in. But next time, friend. Promise.”

Everyone finished their plates before they grabbed their bags and headed for the nearest turbolift. “So, I wonder when we will ever see a Tholian,” Mizu asked out loud.

“Probably never,” said Ruby. “They’re extremely isolationist. Hostile if you set a single toe in their space.”

“But there have been Tholian Ambassadors in Federation space before,” said Elidia, as they all stepped into the large turbolift.

“That is true, and with this station so close to the Tholian border, perhaps they’ll come here for negotiations. Whatever they negotiate about, that is,” said Mizu. “I mean, why go to Earth or Deep Space 9? So far away, and so crowded with traffic. Being extremely isolationist that they are, you’d think that this station be the perfect hub for them.”

Ruby shrugged his shoulders. “I seriously doubt we will ever see one but I suppose the odds are greater now that this station is here.”

“And we’re the lucky ensigns assigned to it!” Said Elidia, while some groaned about that. “What?”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Mizu asked her but continued before Elidia could answer. “We’re going to be stuck with even worse tedious tasks than we ever had been on the Sovereign.”

Elidia rolled her eyes. “Oh come on! It will be fun if you make it fun! Or it’ll be boring and dull if you make it so.”

“Did she seriously just rhyme at us?” Lane asked as the turbolift stopped at their destination.

“Welp! Time to go!” Ruby said as he hurried out of the lift, everyone else doing pretty much the same.

“Oh come on!” Elidia said as she hurried after Mizu and Utsall. “I’m not wrong, you know!”

“We shall see, Elidia. Right now, I just want to see who I’m bunked with,” said Mizu as all three of them stopped at the door to their quarters. “Oh. Well, that answered that. Oh, I hope it is just a three-bunk room.”

“Don’t see why not. The station isn’t that small,” said Elidia.

Utsall entered her code and the door opened for them to reveal just that, three bunks. “Guess that answers that question.”

A month ago.

“Enter.” Said the Gallamite Captain, Burick.

The door split apart to reveal a young man with a face full of stubble, messy style short hair, and dark blue eyes. He stepped through the doorway and as the door reconnected with its other half behind him, he stopped a couple of feet short of the desk with his hands clasped behind his back. “Lieutenant Damien Hill, reporting as ordered, sir.”

Burick stood up from his seat to take a step towards the long slender viewport to take a glance at the stars. It was only a brief moment, as he then turned to look directly at Damien. “How long have you served under me, Mr. Hill?”

Damien grew concerned and began to think back to try and remember if he had done something wrong. “Five years, sir.”

Burick chuckled. “Five years, four months, and twelve days. You were assigned here as the assistant to our former chief tactical and security officer, Mz. Viam. Then you replaced her a year later when she became my second officer.”

Damien nodded his head. “Of course, sir. After your first officer was promoted to captain and given command of their own ship, you had to adjust the roster to fill in the gaps.” Damien began to feel his anxiety grow more. “Have I done something wrong, sir?”

Burick shook his head. “Of course not, Lieutenant.” Burick then approached Damien and stood right before him just to extend his right hand out to Damien. “Or should I say, Lieutenant Commander?”

Damien blinked for a moment as he tried to process the information. He wasn’t in trouble as he had thought and he received a promotion? When? But instinct had him reach out and grasp the captain’s hand, which was given a couple of shakes. “I don’t know what to say, sir.”

Burick took his hand back only to make his way back around his desk and slowly sat back down in his chair. From there, he pressed a couple of buttons and a holographic display popped up. One more button was pressed and the display was flipped so that Damien could read. “I hate to lose you, Mr. Hill. You’re a fine officer and excellent at your job. But it seems that your reputation has preceded you and you’ve been requested to be the new Chief Strategic Officer on board Starbase 415.”

Damien had skimmed over the orders several times until he decided to read it more slowly to absorb the information and then shook his head. His right hand searched for a seat and once it found the backrest of one, he subconsciously guided himself into the seat as he processed this information. There was a moment of silence before Damien finally looked at Burick. “I had never planned on leaving the Muyushi, sir.”

Burick nodded his head. “I know. I had reached out to this, Lexie Ward,” He said with slight annoyance in his tone. “But she insisted that she wanted the best and she was right. You are a fine tactician, Mr. Hill. The station is near the Talarian Republic and Tholian Assembly borders. I think your skills will do justice there.”

Damien took in a deep breath before nodding his head. “I suppose then, my assistant will be replacing me.”

Burick chuckled. “If you recommend her for the position, then yes, she will be.”

Damien smiled. “I trained her well, sir. She’ll serve you well, almost like I never left.”

Was a heavy sigh from Burick with a small nod. “I certainly hope so, Damien.” He said with sorrow. “I hate to lose good people. But I also know that if you take this job, your career will grow exponentially. I look forward to seeing you with a captain pips on your collar.”

Damien chuckled and stood up from his seat. “I look forward to standing by your side as a fellow colleague, and not as a subordinate.”

Burick stood up with him. “You’re already a fellow colleague to me, Damien. And a good friend. I wish you the best of luck in your new endeavors.”

“Thank you, Captain!” Damien then took his moment to depart from his captain’s ready room and immediately head straight for the turbolift so he could go to his quarters and pack. All he could do right now is think about how much he wanted to contact his parents and let them know that he was moving up and now assigned to probably the most important station in the galaxy. Perhaps not as important as Deep Space 9 or Starbase 72, but from what Damien read on his way back to his quarters, Starbase 415 is a diplomatic outreach to both the Talarian Republic and Tholian Assembly. It was a big deal, huge, in his opinion. He was quite excited that he was going to be the Chief Strategic Officer there, where he will get to help decide on the best course of action for any mission.

As Damien was packing his bags, he heard the chime ringing throughout his quarters, indicating someone was at his door. He smiled and figured it was Ashley, his assistant that will no doubt be his replacement and likely came to give him crap for leaving. “Enter!” He said with much enthusiasm.

The door split open and there was a woman who stood in the corridor, a woman that Damien did not recognize at all. And they were a crewmember, judging from the rank on their collar, a petty officer. Strange. She had a uniform that indicated she was in security but he knew all his security personnel. “May I help you?” He asked as he was determined to answer his curiosity.

“My apologies for disturbing you, sir. But I was just assigned to the ship and I was told to report to you,” She said. “May I enter?”

Damien sighed in relief, and did his best not to show it as he gestured with his arm for her to come in. “Please! I do apologize, I had no idea that we had an addition added to the security team.”

“It was very sudden, sir,” she said as she stepped into his room. Although the moment Damien’s back was turned, she stepped to one side to cover the door panel and reached behind her to press several buttons without missing a beat. The door then closed and locked.

Damien turned to look at her to see her standing right where she was when she first came into his quarters. He had not a single clue of what she had done. “Well, I hate to make you have to run around the ship some more but I will no longer be the Chief of Tactical and Security on board this ship.”

“I know. You’ve been reassigned to Starbase 415 as the Chief Strategic Operations officer,” She said with a flat, emotionless tone in her voice.

Damien frowned at her with a slightly confused look on his face. “How did you know that? Did Ashley send you here to mess with me?”

“Not exactly. I am here to replace you,” in a split second after she said that, she pulled her arm back and then reached out at him, only a long tendril of a strange organic matter reached out and wrapped around his neck. She made one slight grunt look on her face and the tendril around his neck only grew larger and the grip tightened while Damien had grabbed at the tendril around his throat, desperately trying to pull it away as it was cutting off the airflow to his lungs.

Damien began to think that maybe if he tried to step away from her, he could get to his phaser under his pillow but before he could do that, he could no longer feel the deck under his feet as he was being lifted into the air. When his attempts to pull the tendril away from his throat failed, he tried to claw at it, and dug his fingertips and fingernails into the organic-like fleshy tendril to try to harm her or it so as to let him free. But the more he struggled, the more he tried to free himself, the more he exerted his energy and the more his body demanded oxygen, oxygen that he could no longer provide with his airways completely constricted shut. Then the realization of what she was dawned on him when he witnessed her entire body change into him and fear swept over his face before the inevitable death claimed him. His eyes rolled up into his skull, his mouth hung open from the last attempts to try to force air into his lungs, and his limbs went completely limp.

Before she had come to enter his quarters, she had placed a program in the ship’s computer to fake Damien’s life signs, so that when she did kill him and become him, there would be no sound of an alarm. Next, now that she, or they, is him, all they needed to do was dispose of the body properly. First, they packed everything that Damien had planned on packing, so as to not set off any suspicions, and then they found a way to force Damien’s body into a large duffle bag, even if it meant bending some limbs in ways they weren’t meant to bend. Then they slipped a device into the bag so that if the bag were to be scanned, the device would project the usual contents, more clothing, and personal items. Now it was just a matter of patience until they were transferred to a personnel vessel that was already en route to Starbase 415.

As Damien carried one bag off the vessel, he followed the ensigns to the turbolift but instead of joining them in the Galleria, he remained on the lift until it reached the accommodations section, where he went to his assigned quarters and unpacked his things. The other bag, the one with the body, was immediately disintegrated the moment Damien had the chance to do so. He simply needed no loose ends to cause an alarm and potentially reveal his true identity. For now, he stood there in his quarters, itemizing his tasks in his mind. He knew the first thing that needed to be done was to report to the station commander and assume his position. He needed to play the role for now, at least until an opportunity arises or when the order is given.

There were many options for him to choose from to cause chaos in this region. He could take the auxiliary vessel attached to the station and cross into Tholian space, fire on some Tholian vessels and start a war between the Tholian Assembly and the Federation. The best option to do that is to detonate a powerful enough bomb to destroy one of the Tholian worlds near the border. Of course, that was a difficult option. So far, no changeling knows any other worlds besides Tholia in Tholian space and neither does Starfleet. But it was simple really, he could just locate a world similar to Tholia, which would have a very high probability that the Tholians have it colonized, and just destroy it. That would certainly fuel the Tholians rage to go to war with the Federation.

The other option was to start a war between the Talarian Republic and the Federation. But he needed more information first. As far as he knew, the Talarians were not very technologically advanced, and throwing them into a war with the Federation would cause little distraction and devastation. This meant that Damien would have to impose as a Talarian scientist and try to speed up their technological advancements to make them equal to the Federation and by some chance, a worthy opponent.

Another option is to just sabotage the station. Impose as a Tholian, caused some trouble to ensure that security systems had recorded enough footage of a Tholian on board the station and overload the reactor. He could certainly combine this option with the first, to cause some serious chaos in the region. But for now, he needed more information and he needed to wait for the signal and when that signal does come, by that time he will know exactly what needed to be done.

Once Damien had finished processing his thoughts, he immediately left his quarters and headed for Operations. From there, he found an officer to make his inquiry. “Where can I find the station commander?”

She turned to look at him and then smiled lightly. “I’m sorry, but Captain Hunt is not here yet. The first officer is. Would you like to see her?”

Damien nodded his head. “I would, as I need to report in.”

Her smile grew. “Of course, sir! She’s in her office,” she gestured towards the door to which Damien thanked her and headed right through said door which led him right to a room with a few doors. He checked the name tags on each door until he found one that said ‘Executive Officer’s Office’. He then pressed the chime button and waited patiently to be granted access.

“Come,” said Lexie while she was going over reports from a few PADDs on her desk. She then looked up to see a man step through the door way and approached her desk. “May I help you…,” She looked at his collar and saw the ‘Lieutenant Commander’ pips. “…Commander?”

“Commander Damien Hill, your Chief Strategic Officer, reporting for duty, ma’am,” said Damien.

Lexie frowned for a second then smiled when she finally remembered the name. She stood up and held out her hand. “I’m glad to have you here, Commander. Welcome to Starbase 415.”

Damien reached out and shook her hand as he smiled back. “It’s good to be here, ma’am. I was a little surprised by the request.”

Lexie chuckled softly as she took her hand back. “Well, I saw your service record and thought you would be a great asset here in our current situation.”

“Situation, ma’am?” Damien asked with a concerned look on his face.

She waved her hands to put him at ease. “I meant where we are. You know this station just finished construction only days ago?”

Damien nodded his head. “Of course, ma’am. I’m sure the Tholians and Talarians made their concerns to Starfleet.”

Lexie sighed. “They sure did but it’s a good thing we got professionals who know how to handle them. They were able to put their concerns at ease and now, we’re a hub for future diplomacy with both factions.”

Damien nodded his head again and brought his right hand up to his chin, his index finger over and his thumb under his chin as he was in thought. “What about the Sheliak, ma’am?” He asked.

Lexie raised a brow at him. “The Sheliak? I mean, we don’t have a station with the resources to support diplomatic procedures with them in that area and even then, we’re doing fine as it is with the Sheliak. Why would they come here?”

Damien shrugged his shoulders and chuckled. “Was just a test, ma’am. I like to know all of our guests before I get to work.”

Lexie stared at him and then made a small smile. “I see. Well, feel free to view your station and make yourself right at home. Captain Hunt won’t be here for at least another few hours or so, the Kyushu is bringing him here and they’re taking their time.”

“Ain’t that Captain Hunt’s ship, ma’am?” Damien asked.

“Was his ship, Commander,” Lexie corrected.

Damien nodded with a small chuckle. “Of course. I guess the Kyushu has nothing much else to do.”

“It’s the least that they can do, for a crew who served with him and under him for many years,” She added.

Damien sighed with a small nod. “Of course. Only wish my ship could have done the same but they were tasked to chart an unexplored region of space and altering course would have added days to their mission.”

Lexie nodded, “Then yes, Kyushu currently has nothing else better to do. But I’m sure Starfleet Command will give the new captain something as soon as Captain Hunt arrives.”

“Of course, ma’am. Permission to go to my station?” He requested.

“Granted,” Lexie answered and then spoke up before he made it to the door. “Looking forward to working with you, Commander.”

Damien turned and smiled at her, “You too, ma’am!” And then he was gone.

For some reason, Lexie felt a chill run down her spine when she saw that last smile of his. ‘Was it a crooked smile?’ She wondered to herself before she just shook her head and sat back down in her seat. ‘No, with so many reports already coming in, my mind is playing tricks on me.’ She thought. ‘Perhaps I should take a small break, clear my head a little before I get any more strange vibes from anyone else who reports in.’

As Damien returned to the Operations Command Center, he slowly walked around as he examined each and every station, familiarizing himself with the layouts of each one, as well as where they were all located in the room. He made it so as if he was just doing his job, with a few small smiles and head nods to each and every officer and crew member he came across and made eye contact with. Once he had absorbed it all, he made his way to his station and while he stared at the holographic display before him to make it look like he was reading something, he processed the information he had visually gathered. He wanted to make sure he had everything memorized to the letter, for he would need to use all the time he had to set up his plans. Everything has to work perfectly, there can be no mistakes.

Maxwell let out a hefty sigh as he placed the padd down on the desk. He rose from the chair and walked around to reach the replicator, where he ordered his fifth cup of black coffee. With the cup in hand, he made his way over to the furniture just to stand before it and stared at the stars through the viewport from the ready room of the Gemini. He had just finished reading the current reports of the incident on Frontier Day, for the fact that he was not there to be a part of it. Some say he was lucky, others would say it was a coincidence. He chose the only acceptable reason, that he was weak for taking time off when he had a duty as a captain in Starfleet.

Maxwell recalled the conversation he had with a Vulcan on the way back to Starbase 84 from Risa. ‘You humans seem to forget that you cannot be everywhere all at once. Doing so would not make you human, but a unique species of great power. An example would be the Q. To feel guilt of something beyond your control is, illogical.’ Said the Vulcan.

Maxwell took a sip of the hot black liquid as he contemplated those words. ‘Is this why people have a love-hate relationship with the Vulcans?’ He thought to himself as he took another sip. Right now he should be thinking more on the current situation than of one in the past. Starbase 415.

There was no doubt that Starbase 415 was affected during the Frontier Day incident. How much damage the Starbase endured, was unknown to command. No one was talking. Not the Talarians and not the Tholians. Especially the Tholians. The only conclusion aside from the neighbors not talking, was that the starbase communication systems were offline. But it has been at least a week and the incident was barely a day. What troubled him more was that some of the crew stationed at Starbase 415, were his former crew when he commanded the Sovereign. A communications blackout for this long is usually not a good sign.

”Captain to the bridge.” said the Operations Officer over the intercom.

Maxwell could only guess that they were about to arrive and his guess was solidified when the streaks of light faded away and the hum of the warp engines went quiet.

Maxwell made his way and stepped through the doorway when the sensors were triggered and the door slid apart. As he headed for the chair, he took a look at the view screen. “Report.” He ordered as he could see one of the satellite relays slip from the viewer, which indicated they were at half impulse towards the Starbase.

”We arrived at the Nereus system, sir. No contacts on sensors so far but we’ve yet to pass the asteroid belt.”  Replied the helmsman.

”The satellite relay system appears to be operational. I just triggered a quick diagnostic program and no errors have returned from the network.” Reported operations. “Captain, we are picking up a short-range broadcast from the station.” They transferred the audio to the bridge’s intercom.

‘Caution. Caution. A lockdown has been initiated. Civilian craft are recommended to avoid the station at all costs. For any other craft, if you would like to assist, please contact the station’s operations center. This is not a drill.’ And the message repeated until the operations officer terminated the audio from the intercom.

”Divert power to the forward sensor array. I want to know what’s going on around the station right away.” Maxwell ordered. He wondered why a Starfleet starbase would be transmitting a warning message such as that in a short-range transmission. Its own subspace relay communication systems should be able to link up with the main subspace relay system and contact Starfleet with no issue. But if long-range communications are out, then with a short-range system, they could use the satellites to re-establish link to the main subspace system and contact Starfleet. So why haven’t they?

”Just a moment, sir.” Said OPs. “Sensors are picking up several small objects outside the station, a couple of cargo vessels, and…sir, I got two Talarian cruisers with their weapons trained on the station’s reactors.”

”Red alert. Helm, full impulse.” Maxwell ordered. ‘This could explain why the Talarians weren’t talking. Could they be willing to jeopardize years of peace between the Federation and their government? Or could this be a simple reaction of fear because of the incident? Fear that the station was under enemy control? There was only one way to find out.’ Maxwell watched as the station appeared on the main viewer and began to grow more closely. He began to notice the reduction in speed as the station expanded on the main viewer slower than before. He then got a good look at the crafts around the station.

The cargo ships were just floating there, dead in space. As for the small crafts, they were a bunch of workbees and shuttles, all with sub-designations that indicated they belonged to the station. At another glimpse at one of the cargo ships, Maxwell could see scorched marks from weapons fire. “What do the sensors tell us about those crafts?” Maxwell requested as his eyes turned to the two Talarian cruisers that were just at the level of the mushroom top of the station where it caps off before the stem but they were angled nose down where their weapons had a direct line to the reactor housing of the three fusion generators.

“The shuttles and the workbees appear to be abandoned and unpowered. Trying to establish a power link to restore power and get information from their computer banks but so far no luck. Cargo vessels are adrift in space, with minimum life support, and life signs appear to be stable but I am reading concentration of Co2.” Ops reported.

“Someone coordinate with our transporter techs and have those cargo vessels evacuated. Have teams at the transporter rooms to assist in guiding the crew to sickbay.” Maxwell ordered.

“Something else, sir.” Ops continued. “The scorch marks were caused by phasers.”

Maxwell turned at his waist to look at the Ops officer. “Our own fired on civilian ships?” Obviously because of the affected crew during the incident but more information was needed.

“Yes, sir. They appear to have come from the small crafts.” Said Ops.

“I can concur, Captain.” Tactical chipped in. “More accurately, the phaser marks are from the shuttle crafts.”

After he had twisted to look at the officer at tactical, he relaxed to look back at the view screen. A plan of action was needed. “The hell was the workbees used for then? They don’t have weapons.” He thought out loud before he moved on. “Ops, I want a full scan of the station. I need to know what is online and what is not.” And while they wait for that information. “Tactical, I need an analysis of the Talarian cruisers. Have they fired on the station?”

“There appear to be no scorch marks on the reactor housing that would indicate the Talarians had fired. But their weapons are charged. Nevertheless, however primitive their weapon system may be, enough of their torpedoes will do significant enough damage to cause the fusion generators to overload.” Tactical reported.

“Except the fusion generator behind the housing that their weapons are trained at is offline,” Ops chipped in. “Generators one and three are offline. So far only critical sections of the starbase have power. Sections A, G and I are currently being powered. Shields, weapons, and as we suspected, long-range communication systems are offline.”

That would be operations, computer cores, and sickbay. It was rather self-explanatory as to why those three sections were still powered. The station would need its computer cores to function properly and sickbay was obviously to treat the wounded. But if operations were powered and online, then why have they not been able to coordinate repair efforts to restore communications and return the station to full power? Something was not right. But first. “Hail the Talarians,” Maxwell ordered.

“No response, Captain.” Replied Ops.

“Well, that’s too damn bad. Open hailing frequencies.” Maxwell paused to give Ops the acquitted time to do so. “Talarian cruisers. I am Captain Maxwell of the Federation Starship Gemini. I know you have your weapons locked onto the station’s fusion generators and I know you have your fingers on the trigger. I must warn you, that any acts of aggression towards Starfleet property, will be considered an act of war against the Federation and I will use every instrument this ship has to stop you from destroying the station.” Maxwell paused once more to give them time to weigh the consequences if they were to commit. He then changed his tone. “Now, we’re all friends here. But friends do not ignore each other, especially in the middle of a crisis. So if you would kindly explain yourselves, I will consider forgiving you and not report your aggressive stance to the Federation Council.”

The instant the word ‘council’ left his lips, the screen blinked to reveal a Talarian captain. “We were merely prepared to defend ourselves, Gemini. When one of our cargo ships left this system, the vessel reported that the station was launching several small crafts to attack other civilian vessels. When we got here, everything was silent. We were not sure if the station was preparing to attack us. We would rather be ready for a fight than not at all.”

Maxwell smirked. “Fortunately for you, Captain, if the station were to fire on you, you wouldn’t be able to get a single torpedo out. But I assure you, we are here to investigate the situation and would greatly appreciate it if you would not be pointing your guns at it.”

“We will take your request into consideration, Captain.” The screen blinked, the face of the Talarian captain replaced with the two Talarian cruisers on the main viewer.

“Keep an eye on those cruisers,” Maxwell ordered as he headed for the turbolift. “I want an away team to meet me in transporter room one. We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”

Maxwell observed the rays of light from the transporter beam disappear and leave him in the darkness that was unshrouded by the constant flash of red light from the lamps encircling the ceiling and under the consoles that encircled the entire room. There was also the faint haze of light from the active consoles but were overtaken by the red light with every flash. Maxwell could see several crew members either in their chains while resting on a console or sprawled out on the floor. Aside from them, there were quite a few still active and they stared at Maxwell and his away team. One of them was a familiar face. “Commander Ward.”

“Captain! You have no idea how good it is to see you!” Said Ward. “When we saw the Gemini on sensors, we were quite relieved but certainly did not expect you.”

Maxwell smirked, “Oh you know. Just happened to be in the neighborhood.” With his eyes having adjusted, he could see the woman rolling her eyes.

“Please. Starfleet sent someone, that someone being you because we’ve been out of contact. Surprised it took this long.” Said Ward.

“Obviously you are in dire need of assistance, otherwise you would know that what happened here on the station, happened everywhere else too.” Said Maxwell, as he watched Lexie sigh before she placed a hand on the edge of the large console in the center of the operations center and put her weight into it.

“Yeah, we’ve been living on rations and I’ve tried to sleep but it is hard to sleep on the floor as the section with our quarters has no power and no life support,” Ward told him. “Luckily, life support is still operational in other areas of the station. Just haven’t been able to divert it anywhere since we’re locked out…”

“Computer, disengage lockdown sequence. Starfleet Command authorization, code Zero-Alpha-Two-Two-Omega-Zero.” There was a pause then a response from the recognizable feminine voice of the computer, “Authorization recognized. Lockdown disengaged.” With that, the entire room went from being dark and gloomy to bright and blinding. Maxwell frowned and as his security team checked on everyone else, he tried to make sense of the situation but figured he was better off just to ask. “Why haven’t you disengaged the lockdown sequence?”

Ward sighed once more but in relief. “You think we haven’t tried? Someone scrambled the command codes. I don’t know who, but we’ve been trying to force the lockdown to disengage but so far no luck. Lucky for us, we had a team of engineers in sickbay reach the computer room, since going from Section G to I is better and faster than A to I. But so far no success.” Ward explained. “At least until you showed up.”

Maxwell took a quick look around before he looked back at Ward to ask the obvious. “The code was given to me by Starfleet Command in case of something like this. Your captain should have known the code. Where is Captain Hunt?”

“Yeah, about that. He’s in sickbay, likely still unconscious.” Ward told him.

Maxwell nodded his head, as that was one of the thoughts he had. “What happened to him?”

“He saved my life. We had some young officers in the operations center and when Frontier Day happened, it turned into a bit of a brawl. We lost a few, and one of the young officers grabbed a phaser from security. During the attempt to grab the phaser, the security officer tried to bash it out of their hand but instead, they were bashing the phaser against the wall.” Ward explained.

Maxwell watched Ward pull a phaser out of the holster on her hip and set it down before him. He assumed it was the phaser she referred to, to which he picked it up and examined it. “Doesn’t appear to be too damaged.”

“No, but try to max out the setting.”

Maxwell turned on the phaser and swiped the power setting to max but it stopped short of a few bars. “Seventy percent but still in the kill range.”

Ward nodded her head. “The affected young officer then aimed it at me and Hunt happened to have been standing next to me when he pushed me out of the way. So the young officer shot him instead when they missed me. The blast pierced through his abdomen and destroyed two, three, and four of his lumbar vertebrae.”

Maxwell shook his head. “Jesus. He survived?”

“He was in critical condition but the doctors were able to stabilize him several days ago. I mean, aside from his lower back, their focus was on the damaged organs in his abdomen.” Ward told him.

“Well, that certainly explains a lot. What about restoring communication systems? Or the two fusion generators?” Maxwell asked.

“Aside from being completely locked out and unable to disengage the lockdown sequence by someone we don’t know right now,” Ward repeated with a slight annoyance in her voice.

“I know you’re sleep-deprived but no need for the attitude,” Maxwell told her.

“I apologize, just the same reason we could not disengage the lockdown, is the same reason we have no access to critical systems. I don’t know who the saboteur is but they really screwed us.” Said Ward as she pulled out a chair and sat down.

Maxwell smiled, “Lucky for us, that code I used should release the entire station back into our control.” Maxwell looked for it on the center console and once he found it, he activated the station-wide intercom. “Attention all personnel. This is Captain Henry Maxwell and I am to inform you that, in case you haven’t realized, the station control has been restored. I recommend that security teams and medical teams search the station for anyone in need of assistance. Engineering teams and damage control teams to begin repairs on critical systems. Most importantly, do it in shifts. Those who have the energy, do their best to get as much work done. As for those who need sleep, get some rest, because your assistance in restoring this station to full functionality will be very much needed.” He paused as he thought about how his motivational speech was. “I’ll see to it that Starfleet Command commends you all.”

After he had turned off the station-wide intercom, he could hear a snicker from Ward. “You know, I used to remember you being a strict and by-the-book kind of gal.”

Ward looked at him. “I’m going to bed. If you don’t need me.”

Maxwell shook his head. “No. No. Go right ahead.”

“Henry?!” A sound of surprise and shock came from a woman’s voice. When Maxwell looked at where the voice came from, he saw a familiar face that he was quite surprised to see. The woman was Abigail Maxwell, married to his brother James. She’s one of many Federation Ambassadors but he had failed to read the entire station’s manifest to realize that she was assigned here. “Abi!? What are you doing here?”

“She’s assigned to be our ambassador with the Tholians,” said Ward.

The next thing Maxwell knew, was that Abigail practically ran towards him and threw her arms around him in a tight embrace. “I am so happy to see you!” He felt her pull away just to find her eyes locked with his. “I’ve been trying to get in contact with James, is he okay?”

Maxwell smiled and nodded his head. “Yes, my brother is just fine. As the old saying would go, he dodged a bullet.” He heard a large exasperated sigh of relief come from her.

“Thank god. Now that worry is out of the way, we have a much bigger problem.”

Maxwell frowned. “Bigger than making sure your husband is alive?”

“At the risk of a war breaking out. Yes.” Said Abigail.

“With the Talarians?” Maxwell asked with slight amusement.

Abigail did not look amused. “No. With the Tholians. The Tholian ambassador is missing.”

Everything seemed to have been going so well. From all their efforts in attempts to manually override the lockdown so that they could regain control of the station, to forcing the lockdown to disengage by creating false emergencies to trigger the safety protocols had failed. And then Maxwell showed up and saved the day. Ward had always known that Starfleet Command would send someone to investigate as to why they had not contacted Starfleet. But Ward had not expected her former commanding officer of just a few months. Granted, those were fun and yet stressful months on that ship but regardless, she learned to ease up a bit. Going from a strict, by-the-book, captain to a laidback captain has certainly changed her perspective. Although some would question, why would she allow herself to change so quickly from years of conditioning from one captain to mere months with another? Perhaps deep down, she just needed someone to tell her that it was okay to bend the rules a little bit to get the expected results.

When the Gemini showed up on sensors, she was relieved that their predicament was finally over. When she saw the familiar face, especially with the smug look she remembered from the first time she met him, she was ecstatic. The first time she saw Maxwell and Ryker, she was unsure as to why they seemed so laid back and relaxed. But then the last time she saw them, Maxwell was overstressed, overworked, and unsure of himself, while Ryker wanted nothing more to do with being first officer and preferred being in charge of a Hazard Team Department more than anything. So when Captain Hunt requested her to be the first officer on board this station, she gave him her recommendation for such a department and his exact words were ‘That sounds like a brilliant idea.’ With the history of research and science teams always getting themselves into trouble, it just seemed like a good idea at the time to have a hazard team on standby to save their skins.

But now, from what Ward has heard from their Federation Ambassador, everything went from going well to a new crisis and it sounded like they are going to need Commander Ryker’s team more than ever. The Tholian Ambassador going missing is not a good sign at all. Worse if it was the changeling pretending to be one of them. “The Tholian Ambassador arrived at the station just a day before Frontier Day,” Ward informed Maxwell as she watched him pooling what leads they had off to one side. They were still standing before the large console in the center of the station, holographic display fully operational and in full use by officers on all sides. The word of the Tholian Ambassador being missing has ignited a new spark in the operations staff. The tragic day which was Frontier Day, was no longer lingering on their minds. The need to rescue a species so isolated that only so few people have seen a Tholian, has really changed the mood in the room. It made her believe that there was still hope left on this station.

“Well that’s definitely not good,” said Abigail. “The whole incident on board the station lasted barely a day. If there was indeed one of those new changelings on board-”

“-before Starfleet sent the update to all ships and facilities that would allow internal sensors to detect these new changelings. Then yes. They got a week head start on us.” Maxwell chipped in with a clear tone of annoyance. “That makes the search grid incredibly large. Too large for a search party.”

Ward sighed softly as she crossed her arms over her chest in thought. There had to be some clue that they could use to find them. She looked up at the holographic display of the station in the center, with several small dots moving about, along with a few of those small dots working together to pull the cargo ships in to conduct repairs. Then there were the two large holographic silhouettes that were the Talarian cruisers, still in the same position as they were before. Ward had requested the chief in shuttle hanger and cargo ops to get people back in the shuttles and workbees, return any damaged, and do what they could for the cargo vessels. ‘Wait a minute…’ She thought as a clue formed in her head. “Oh come on, Ward!”

She then saw the eyes of everyone at the center console fall upon her. She smiled apologetically. “Sorry. I just can’t believe I didn’t think of this. Although, once I mention it, I think a lot of us are going to be pretty embarrassed.”

“Spit it out, Commander,” Maxwell’s tone indicated he was in no mood for games right now.

Ward cleared her throat and pulled up a list before them. The list was the support crafts, specifically the runabouts. “This station has a complement of four runabouts. One specificity designed for VIP use.”

“The Albano Lacus!” Abigail chipped in.

Ward snapped her finger and pointed at Abigail. “Precisely! The Albano Lacus was configured with a pod that can handle extreme internal temperatures. So that nothing were to become damaged or anything of the sort from the intense heat for long periods of time. Which made it perfect for any diplomatic meetings closer to home if the Tholians requested it.” She then requested the computer to locate all four runabouts and the name Albano Lacus turned red on the list. “And now we just have to find it.”

Ward saw a light bulb go off in Maxwell’s eyes. “The Talarian cruisers. They said one of their crafts that had left this system, reported what was happening to the Talarian government. Including, small crafts being launched.”

Ward smiled, “So they may have sensor data on a…oh, I don’t know, New Atlantic class runabout leaving the system.”

“As long as it was leaving in a direction that their sensors could keep track. If the runabout went in the opposite direction, it’ll be a very short blip on their sensor logs.” Said Maxwell.

“But we have to try! The Tholians will not be too happy if we don’t get their ambassador back,” said Abigail.

“Is that why they haven’t been accepting any calls from Starfleet Command?” Maxwell asked.

“It’s hard to say. If they realized that their ambassador went missing, and then heard what happened on Frontier Day, it is possible that they were not sure whether or not they could trust anyone at Starfleet Command.” Abigail explained.

“Then I wonder what is keeping them from launching a full-scale attack?” Ward asked.

Maxwell sighed. “Time. We did lose a lot of good seasoned officers, but we still have a large fleet. Not to mention, if the Tholians had heard about Frontier Day, then they would know about the formation system. They have no idea whether it has been fixed or scrapped. Nevertheless, that leaves them at a clear disadvantage. But that does not mean the Tholians can’t form every single ship they have, or build more for that matter, in an attempt to match our forces.”

Ward nodded her head as she understood what he had said. “Then there’s that crazy energy web. Do they still use that?” Ward watched Maxwell visibly shrug his shoulders.

“No clue. As isolated as they are, we haven’t seen how far they’ve come in terms of technology or tactics. In a sense, we would be fighting an enemy we have little knowledge of, which puts us at a disadvantage.” Said Maxwell.

“Then we better get that data from the Talarians before the Tholians do sum up enough forces to launch an attack.” Said Ward. Just before Maxwell or anyone could say any more, they heard the chirp of the intercom.

“Sickbay to Ops.” The voice of their Chief Medical Officer, Olivia Bates.

“Commander Ward here. Any news on the Captain, Doctor?”

“Just what I was about to inform you. Captain Hunt is awake and wishes to speak to you.” Said Olivia.

“I’ll be right there. Ops out.” Ward then sighed. “I was afraid of this.” She saw the frown on Maxwell’s face and answered before he could ask. “He’s going to make me take full command of the station.”

“Well, you are the first officer and he’s out of commission. Regulations state that you would be the one next in line until Starfleet Command says otherwise,” Maxwell told her.

“I know that. When do you plan on sending your report to command?” She asked.

He sighed, “I was going to, but after Abi told us that the Tholian Ambassador was missing. Likely not until after we save them.”

“Could you send it now?” Ward asked. She then saw the frown return on his face.

“You’re not getting out of this one, Commander. Besides, I have Gemini to take care of and from where this is going, we will most likely be needing the Gemini to find the Tholian Ambassador.” Maxwell told her.

Ward sighed again and then began to head for the turbolift. She looked over her shoulder to see Maxwell and Abigail tailing her. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”

“And that’s the situation so far, Captain.” Ward had just finished her explanation to Captain Hunt. The man was lying there on the biobed, the monitors that showed his vitals indicated that he was doing fine. However, he is under strong pain-neutralizing agents, considering his situation. “The doctor told us that you’ll be out of action for a while.”

Ward saw Hunt try to nod but visibly he winced as if he was struck by a sharp pain from the attempt. Apparently, he was not completely out of pain. “I’m sure you all already know the story of my condition or the condition that I was in.. Thank god for the medicine of today.” He cursed under his breath when he exhaled after he took a long inhale. “Luckily, there was still some tissue left from the destroyed organs, otherwise regenerating them would have been impossible. Although replacement was not off the table. As for my spine, they didn’t need to replace the whole caboodle thankfully, but it’s going to take a while for my system to adjust. And then there’s the physical therapy. Hell. I can’t even eat solid foods right now.”

“For what you did for Commander Ward, we can only be thankful that the phaser was damaged enough that it didn’t vaporize you,” Maxwell told him.

“I had always thought good deeds would be rewarded. Although, from what I’ve read that’s happened across the fleet, I only wish others were as lucky as me.” Hunt sighed. “Do you have any leads on the Tholian Ambassador?”

“We have one so far, and I believe Captain Maxwell is about to follow it.” Ward looked at him, who nodded his head to confirm that she was right.

“I will be returning to the Gemini and request our friends to lend us a hand. If not that, then at least the sensor logs.” Maxwell smirked.

Hunt then looked at Ward. “If that is the case, then you know what has to be done.”

Ward nodded her head, “Yes, sir.”

“Until Starfleet Command says otherwise, you are now in full command of Starbase 415.” Hunt slowly raised his right hand towards her. “Congratulations, Commander.”

Ward hesitantly and carefully shook his hand. “Thank you, Captain. Now please, get some rest.”

“To that, I insist.” Doctor Bates chipped in. “His body is still suffering from the trauma and he needs his rest.”

As they began to walk out of sickbay, Ward had wondered if that man would ever be back to one hundred percent. He could still serve, and the Starbase would technically be his desk job. But as he and Maxwell had said, it was up to Starfleet Command in the end.

“Before I return to the Gemini, there is something that’s been bothering me. The station was broadcasting a warning with the short-range transmission emitter. Are the satellites not supposed to link with the station, in case of long-range communications being offline?” Maxwell asked. 

Ward frowned at the question because it only meant the system was tampered with and she was going to need to send a team to investigate one of the satellites. “In cases of emergency and scenarios like we just had, yes. The system is designed that, if either long-range sensors or communications were to go offline, say maintenance or damage, the station, and satellites are supposed to link up so that the station can still have long-range capabilities.”

“Then we don’t have any more time to waste. This changeling has done this to establish a huge lead against us. We need to find them and save that Ambassador, or that changeling will find a way to eliminate the Ambassador and make it look like Starfleet did it.” Said Maxwell.

“Understood. I’ll order Commander Ryker to get his team to the nearest transporter and beam over to the Gemini at once. And I’ll have a team run a level one diagnostic on one of the satellites.” Ward told him her plan, in the hope that she had taken her command well.

“Don’t forget to organize repairs. More generators and shields would be a good place to start.” Maxwell suggested before he tapped his badge. “Gemini, Maxwell. One directly to the bridge.”

With that, and a beam of sparkling light, he was gone.

On a barren rocky world in between two asteroid belts, just 0.33 AU away from the sun, that belonged to a neutral system just between the territories of the Tholian Assembly and the United Federation of Planets. On the planet, around the equator area was a New Atlantic-class runabout with the name Albano Lacus on the ground a few meters away from an entrance to a cavern. The cavern corridor led from the entrance, down into a subterranean level of the planet. The subterranean corridors tunnels were wide and the tunnels were vast and would branch off of several arms. It was also quite humid and the temperatures were quite high. Perhaps not at a temp that a Tholian would enjoy but it was enough to keep one alive and conscious. If it were the first time for anyone to come down and explore the tunnels, they could potentially get lost.

Not for Damien Hill. During the Dominion War, some Dominion vessels had reached out this far and a Vorta had chosen to visit this very planet and explore the subterranean level for a potential base. But they never got the chance to do that. Nevertheless, when he was among those on the Alpha Quadrant side of the war, he reviewed the data and chose to keep such information stored in case it would become useful. Always be prepared for any kind of contingency, he told himself. Deep within the subterranean level was a large cavern with several hollowed-out ‘rooms’ in the walls, one was being used as a containment cell with a portable generator that powered a portable forcefield. The only thing that would possibly terrify anyone who tried to explore the tunnels now, would be the noise the Tholian was making.

“I told you to be quiet!” Damien yelled at the Tholian after he stepped closer to the forcefield. He stared at it in discontent and anguish. He had thought the plan was going to work without a hitch, that they would finally be rid of their enemy. But instead, it ended almost as soon as it had begun. He was forced to improvise. He scrambled the command codes so no one could disengage the lockdown on the Starbase, at least not until Starfleet Command sent someone. He knew the Captain had been critically injured, so that bought him more time than he had predicted. Not that he was going to complain. He had also planted a virus in the six satellites that when a simple diagnostic was performed, everything would look perfectly fine. But the satellites will not be doing their job as intended.

But with all that time he had bought himself, a whole week to bring the Tholian Ambassador to a place to hide it, to formulate a plan, and to initiate it. He had found a slight snag. Even if he were able to show the Tholians government a Starfleet Officer shooting and killing their Ambassador to start a war, Starfleet Command could easily disprove the whole thing. Even though Damien did sabotage Starbase 415 to buy himself time, he didn’t cover his tracks. They will figure out that he used his command codes to scramble everyone else’s, and that he was the one who planted the virus in the satellites. They will also find out that he took the Albano Lacus, along with kidnapping the Tholian Ambassador, and provide evidence to the Tholian Assembly to prevent the war from happening. That was the snag.

Out of desperation to find another solution to destroy the Federation, he made mistakes and those mistakes were going to cost him unless he found a solution. Damien stared long and hard at the Tholian. “I swear, on my life, I will find a way to force your government to launch an all-out war against the Federation.” And then it came to him. He realized that they were going to potentially find him anyway, but this gave him ample time to set up his plan. He was going to put on a show, make it appear that he made an attempt to bring the Tholian Ambassador back to the Tholian Assembly, was forced to land the runabout, and was protecting the Tholian from the ‘affected’ Starfleet. If he can make it so appear that Starfleet has fallen and succumbed to the original plan, then the Tholian Assembly would refuse to believe any story that comes from Starfleet Command and retaliate for the death of the Tholian Ambassador.

Damien snapped his fingers. “I got some equipment to get from the runabout. I need to prepare for the whole thing and make it as believable as possible. And you, my Tholian friend, are going to be my star.”