Alex rounded the corner, PADD in hand. He returned a polite nod hello from a Lieutenant in an operations gold uniform, not recalling who she was. In the two weeks since the Galaxy‘s little adventure into Underspace, the ship had been in orbit of SB-72 undergoing repairs and some final crew shuffling. As of yesterday, they were at 973 crew, a number he had been updated on daily during the morning command briefing. With Demar MIA, Myers had appointed him as acting executive officer and that was a role he didn’t relish. He had no idea how Gedan did it without repeatedly hitting his head on the bulkhead in frustration.

He rounded yet another corner, stopping at the turbolift and pressing a button to call the lift to his location. He spent the last two weeks pouring over the data they collected when trying to map out the underspace in an effort to locate the missing runabouts. It had been slow going at first; limited by data and a million other things that had to be attended to but over the last six or so days more and more data came in from other ships that had uploaded their data to the main Starfleet Sciences database. 

The doors in front of him opened. “Bridge.” He said as he stepped in.

He finally had a somewhat decent picture of the area around the corridor of space they took to get back home but it still left more questions than it answered. The lift slowed and he stepped onto the Bridge. Normally a bustling hub of activity and noise, it was fairly quiet. A few junior officers manned a few stations as regulations required but for the most part, there wasn’t much going on. The turbolift had helpfully deposited him at the lift doors that were next to the ready room; he turned on his heels and tapped the bell button.

“Enter.”

Captain Clara Myers looked up from the stack of PADDs on her desk, offering a smile to the man as he entered. “Alex, please, have a seat.”

Alex nodded and sat down, sinking into the soft chair, his body letting go of a small portion of his stress as he did so. “Good news and bad news. I have a pretty decent idea of where the Runabouts went.” He paused for a moment. “Ok, well, I have a semi-decent idea of where the Runabouts went. Narrowed it down to two possibilities.” He offered the PADD to Myers.

“And the bad?” She asked as she took the PADD.

“I don’t have anything close to an exact location and the two regions I did narrow it down to? Neither one is surrounded by friendly faces.”

Clara cocked an eyebrow as she viewed the map on the PADD. “So those tunnels led to either the Thomar Expanse, beyond the Rolor Nebula, or no mans land sandwiched between the Tholians and the Cardassians? That’s a pretty wide area in opposite directions.”

All Alex could offer was a shrug. “Sensor data from the Westminister indicated that the tunnel split again after the runabouts pulled off from the main corridor. It’s a Parliament Class ship and was heavily damaged, so they didn’t catch much data but they passed by those corridors roughly 30 minutes before we did and took a nearby corridor out. They ended up popping out near the Talarian/Cardassian border. We also got some data from the Boccaccio as they passed through; they took a corridor just south of the one that runabouts took and they ended up popping out between Free Haven and DS-47. There were also multiple exit apertures detected on long range sensors in both areas.”

Clara sighed and put the PADD on her desk. “So corridors just north and south of the ones taken by the runabouts lead to opposite sides of the Cardassian Union while the one we took dumped us out near the Tong Beak Nebula. The data makes sense but it doesn’t make getting to them any easier. We’d have to get passage through Cardassian space unless we wanted to take weeks to take the long way around to the Thomar Expsanse and I don’t like the idea of trying to traverse through a very narrow passage of open space between the Tholains and Cardassians. ”

Alex shuffled in his seat. The current and always changing interstellar affairs of the day were not his strong suit but he had a hard time believing that there would be objections to rescuing Starfleet Officers. “I know we aren’t on the best of terms with the Union right now but surely they would grant us passage to locate our officers.”

Clara gestured to the assortment of PADDs on her desk. “Most of all the clutter on my desk relates to the Cardassians. It’s a tense situation right now. The truth is, if we want to petition them for passage we need a better reason than ‘we want to do a six-week long search pattern and maybe we’ll find our missing crew.’ Not only is it a tall order to let a capital ship like the Galaxy run through their space, even with an escort, but to ask to hang out in unclaimed space right outside their borders for possibly weeks? It won’t fly with Starfleet or the Cardassians. We need to narrow down that location.”

Alex rubbed his face, exhaustion setting in. “I don’t know how we’d do that. We have access to all the data Starfleet has but it’s not enough. Nobody has data about that specific tunnel. Perhaps the Cardassians would let us take a peek at their sensor data.” He said with a small laugh. 

Clara knew he meant it as a joke but she pursed her lips in thought. She’d spent a few years post-war in the Union when Starfleet was assisting them to rebuild when she had been Captain of the Van Leeuwenhoek and had picked up a few contacts in the civilian government and the military. These days those contacts were few and far between but she still knew a few were active. “I’ll see what strings I can pull. I’ll reach out to Task Force 47 and ask that they keep their eyes open for the Runabouts and then see what I can do about getting some more sensor data. You don’t serve as long as I have without racking up a few favors.”

Alex gave her a small smile. “Sounds like a wonderful plan. I’m just worried we’re running out of time; those runabouts only carry enough emergency supplies for thirty days and that’s if they didn’t take any damage.”

She returned his smile. The stress was visible on his face; new lines showing around his eyes. His hair had been put up into a messy bun; something she’d never seen before in the last decade or so. He was in work mode, not much else mattered. “I promised you we would get them back and we will.”

The doors to the ready room opened with a swish as CPO Westland entered. “Captain, I was able to.” She looked up from the PADD in her hand and stopped in her tracks as she saw Conklin sitting in the chair. “Oh. My apologies.”

Alex waved a hand around. “No worries. I have things to attend to anyway.” He gave the Captain and Petty Officer a nod as he left the room.

Alana watched him leave before turning around and picking up where she left off. “I was able to get you out of that diplomatic reception taking place this evening.”

Clara furrowed her brow. She had forgotten about that. “The one to welcome the Mackdorans?” They were a species that had attained warp technology about 6 months ago and while they had opened to not join the Federation at the present moment, the diplomatic office was still rolling out the red carpet to woo them into a trade agreement for the dilithium deposits present on the planet. 

“Yes ma’am. It’s turning into quite the event; several other governments are now sending envoys.”

Clara cocked her head to the side. Perhaps that stuffy diplomatic reception would come in handy after all. “Not surprising, everyone loves dilithium. Just who is showing up?”

She glanced at the PADD in her hand. “The Talarians, The Ferengi, the Cardassians are sending a few Guls, looks like a few diplomats from the Romulan Republic. Long way out of them but who knows that they have planned. A few other representatives from independent systems will be there as well.”

Clara gave the woman a bright smile as she crossed her hands on the desk. “I have a favor to ask of you.”

Alana remained expressionless. “You want back on the invite list? I had to call in favors with two of Commodore Logan’s aides to get you off the list. Turns out that a forty some odd year Starleet veteran Captain that commands a Galaxy Class ship tends to be in high demand; especially when the brass doesn’t want to show up themselves.”

Clara offered the woman an apologetic smile.

Alana sighed. “Very well. I’ll get you back on the list. I’ll also send you the attire requirements; the Mackdorans are very picky.” With that, she left the room before the Captain could ask for anything else.

Clara turned to the console on her desk, tapping in a few commands to set up a secure channel and bury it in other comm traffic. Hopefully nobody important would catch onto a comm link that went directly to a Cardassian ship. 

With any luck, a little diplomacy would go a long way.

Clara glanced around the room, taking another sip of the wine in her left hand and was doing her best not to knock the rather elaborate hairpiece off her head. It seemed that the Mackdorans were extremely particular about the attire of those around them during diplomatic functions; women were to wear a wig roughly 11 inches tall and filled with orange ribbons in an elaborate pattern. She had no idea how it was staying on her head but she wasn’t questioning whatever technology was keeping it in place. The dress she was required to wear was bright silver and flowed down long enough to cover her feet, which were not to be visible in any way as the Mackdorans viewed visible shoes or feet to be one of the worse insults in existence. The men had it slightly easier; they had to wear simple red shirts and red pants that covered their shoes. Their hair could not be visible whatsoever and the solution the diplomatic office came up with for that? Berets. Large, somewhat floppy, berets. She would have found it amusing had she not been forced to strap a monstrosity of a periwig to her own head.

“I know we’re supposed to be deeply respectful of other cultures and their traditions and I fully support that idea, but we look completely ridiculous right now.”

Clara turned, slowly so that the weight of her own hair didn’t cause her to topple over, towards the voice behind her, spotting her partner in crime for the evening.

“I’ve been though my fare share of first contacts, diplomatic functions, and negotiations but I do think this takes the cake in terms of going the extra mile to please a species.” Clara downed the last of the wine in her glass. “If the diplomatic attaches come around with the holo-camera, just be sure to run and hide.”

“I will hit any person who attempts to take a picture of me.” Alana snatched a glass a wine from a passing waiter. “I don’t understand why the other delegations didn’t have to dress themselves up.”

Clara glanced around the room and it was true; the Romulan, Cardassian and Klingon delegations all wore their normal formal attire. Most of the other non-Federation representatives didn’t bother to dress themselves up either.

“I don’t think our guests are as concerned with diplomatic protocol as Starfleet tends to be.” Clara’s eye scanned the rather large Cardassian delegation, quickly spotting her target as he made his way to one of the refreshment tables. “At least you don’t have to try and conduct unsanctioned diplomatic negotiations while balancing a wig on your head.”

She heard Alana let out a sigh. “I guess I’ll start drafting up a letter of apology to task force command as soon as we get out of here.”

Clara flashed her a smile. “Don’t bother, if this goes south they’ll have my pips for what I’m about to do.”

She carefully made her way towards the Cardassian she spotted earlier, vaguely hearing PO Westland muttering something about already having a headache as she walked away.

“Gul Nuver, how nice to see you again.”

The Cardassian turned towards her, recognition and slight distain coloring his face. “Captain Myers. What a pleasure to see you again. What has it been? Twenty five years?”

The tone of his voice betrayed the smile on his face; she was likely the last person he wanted to see. “Twenty six, actually.”

He nodded, a soft hum of acknowledgement crossing his lips. “I suppose I have you to thank for being sent here?”

She picked up a glass of something she didn’t recognize from the table and took a sip, smile never leaving her lips. “I still happen to know a few people from my post-war days.”

“That wasn’t a yes or no, Captain.”

“No, it wasn’t, Gul.” She stepped in front of him, blocking his path. “I’m calling in that favor you promised me all those years ago on Yela IV.”

He scoffed, a hard scowl forming on his face. “Don’t be ridiculous Captain, I owe you nothing after twenty five years. The connections I gave you with the government post war were payment enough.”

“Keep smiling Gul. The eyes of both our government are on us right now, especially after that stunt with the subspace corridors.”

His eyes narrowed, voice taking on a hostile tone. “You have no right to question how Central Command responds to a threat in our own space. If they Federation hand’t been so weak and useless that…”

“Smile, Gul.” Her voice dropped to a low hiss, the tone cutting through his rant. “It would be a shame if the Obsidian Order misconstrued our conversation; we’re just two old colleagues catching up on the last few decades.”

She watched as he reigned in his expression, finally realizing that she was correct. “Fine Captain. What do you want to catch up on?”

“I need security information on how to bypass the Union’s sensor nets along the trailing rim-ward sectors near Tholian space, enough to slip a civilian vessel or runabout right along the border.”

Nuver let out a barking laugh. “You can’t be serious Captain. You expect me to just give you classified tactical data that allows you to avoid detection along our own space? I’ve never head anything so absurd.”

This time Myers eyes narrowed slightly. “My crew is stranded, somewhere out there past the Cardassian and Tholian borders. I have to find them. It would take weeks if not months to take the long way around or I could risk an all out war with the Tholian Empire by riding along their side of the border.” She was exaggerating, if only slightly. “We do not leave people behind. You know that just as well as I do; had it not been for myself and the rest of the Van Leeuwenhoek crew you and your people would have died, alone and forgotten on that barren planet after the Dominion turned on the Cardassian people. I saved your people, now help me save mine.”

She could see the wheels turning in his head. She hoped it would be enough so that she didn’t have to bring out her ‘ace’, so to speak.

“No.” He finally said. “I will not compromise the security of the Union for your little rescue mission. The Federation is weak and incompetent. You allow the New Maquis to attack and kill our people, you allowed the Founders to worm their way into ranks yet again, the Borg came within in seconds of destroying the entire Federation. Why would I allow that kind of information to make its way into Starfleet hands? You are weak. Pathetic. Incompetent. The Federation, after two hundred and forty years, is finally on the precipice of faltering altogether. The Cardassian Empire stands strong, powerful, ready. We owe you nothing and need nothing from you.”

Clara did her best to keep her face neutral. She hadn’t expected this from Nuver, of all people. He had always been reasonable and for a time after she rescued him and his crew off of Yela she called him a friend. She knew he had soured on her a bit after she leaned on him a few two many times to gain information and favors inside the Union during the past war clean up period but she had no idea he’d reached this level. If this was the typical attitude that was forming through the Cardassian military then they had a bigger problem than she thought.

She steeled herself for what she was about to do. It went against everything she wanted to be. If made her feel foul but she had come this far and there was not situation in which she was going to let her people die on some backwater planet, far from home.

“I see.” She turned back towards the group of Cardassians, spotting a man close in age to Nuver and whose uniform was ever so slightly different than the rest. “I see Gul Revet is here as well. How is he doing?”

Nuver froze in place, back going almost ram rod straight. “What do you know of Revet?”

She leaned past him, picking up a glass of amber liquid from the refreshment table. “I know you both booked a private villa on a remote island in Risa for the past six years, arriving there under false name on a civilian cruiser. I know three years year ago you called in just about every favor you had left to get him assigned to Venrok Nor as the Obsidian Order liaison and that his quarters were suspiciously close to yours. I know you’ve gone to great and extreme lengths to keep what the two of you have a secret and I know you care for him. Deeply.”

“Lies.” His voice was stiff but concerned.

She took a sip of the tart liquid she held, leaning in a lowering her voice. “Come now, you know that Starfleet Intelligence is just as good as the Obsidian Order at digging up the details. They just don’t torture people to do it.”

Nuver remained silent. She could see beads of sweat on his forehead. There was a gnawing feeling in her abdomen, like her conscience was chewing away at her stomach as punishment for what she was about to do.

“It would be a shame if the data Starfleet has collected were to find its way to the Obsidian Order. I don’t know every rule and regulation of the Cardassian Central Command but I do know that they frown upon its officers fraternizing with members of the Order on such an intimate level, especially in these tense political times. Do me this favor Nuver and I’ll do you one; I promise Starfleet Intelligence will bury this data and you’ll never see my face again.”

She held her breath without realizing it. It was gamble, one that made her feel gross from her head to her toes, but it was the last card she held.

“Fine.” He spoke low, his voice tense and quiet. “I’ll have the codes to our border security sensor net sent to you tomorrow. They are changed every 120 hours and don’t know what the next set is. The codes will allow you to bypass the sensors and you won’t be picked up unless a patrol comes into sensor range.”

She smiled, gripping his arm to pull him in a for a half hug; a simple gesture between old friends, if there were any inquisitive eyes upon them. It was out of place with the conversation but she wanted nothing more than to be back on Galaxy. “Thank you.”

“You have made an enemy of Cardassia today. Be sure I, nor my squadrons, ever see your face again because I will not hesitate to kill you.” He meant what he said, the look in his eye confirmation of that.

“That is a price I am willing to pay, Gul.” She released his arm, turning and stepping away, still careful to not dislodge her hair piece. She downed the rest of the bitter liquid in her glass, the alcohol burning as it went down.

Westland quickly spotted her as Myers weaved though the crowd. “Do you accomplish what you wanted?”

Myers grimaced slightly. “Yes. We’re leaving.  I don’t have it in me to keep a fake smile on my face after what I just did.”

Alana sighed. “I see. I’ll start on the letter first thing in the morning.”

Clara waved her hand. “At this point I’ll gladly give them my pips. I’ll deal with it later, I just need to be out of this place.”

The two stepped into small, personal, transporter alcoves near the entrance and input the Galaxy‘s registration number. Clara closed her eyes, a small part of her hoping that it would shield her from Nuver’s gaze. It didn’t. Even with eyes closed she swore she felt his anger, his rage, being directed at her. She didn’t blame him; she deserved it. She wasn’t sure how many more times she could nudge the envelope of her own mortality for the sake of her crew and Starfleet. She would go to the ends of the known universe to bring them home but in the end, she had to ask, what would be left of herself? It was a question she’d save for a later time.

After what seemed like hours but in reality was less that 30 seconds, she heard the whine of the transporter and felt the distinctive tickle spread across the body and she was whisked away in a shimmer of blue and gold

The soft swish of the doors of the stellar cartography lab cut through the silence of the room, Alex Turing his head to see who was walking in.

“Excellent timing Captain.”

Captain Clara Myers walked across the ‘catwalk’ to the small, round, area that was in the middle of the room, a single console filling the space. Around them, in a near floor to celling 360 degree view, was an overview of space along the trailing rimward portion of their territory, not far from the Tholian border. A cluster of small systems near the Kressari system had rings around them, pulsating a light yellow color.

“I take it you were able to dig up something useful in the data?”

“I’d say so.” He turned back to the console. “I’m still not sure how you were able to get the Cardassian to give us access to their sensor data, much less the data about the actual sensor net.”

Clara paused, the unpleasant memory of her outright extortion of the Gul bubbling up in her head. “I’d tell you Commander but unfortunately that is classified.” It was a lie but it was a good enough to keep any of her direct subordinates from asking questions.

“Well, I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.” With a few taps on the console, the area of space with the pulsating rings was moved front and center, zooming in. “The sensor data registers that the aperture that opened near these three system before Underspace collapsed had a Federation duranium signature exit it. The data isn’t detailed enough for me to actually narrow down which system they ended up going to but as soon as we get close enough Galaxy’s sensors will be able to pick up any Federation technology in seconds.”

“Excellent work Commander. How certain on you they ended up on this side of the Empire and not near the Badlands or Rolor Nebula? Lots of Federation ships were caught up in Underspace when it collapsed”

Alex shrugged. “The computer say there is a 68% change they emerged from that aperture. I don’t see much of a reason to disagree with it.”

She gave him a pat on the back. “That should be enough for Starfleet as well. Gather up the senior staff for a meeting on 30 minutes.”

“How in the world are we going to get the Cardassian’s to allow us to cut through their space?” He turned to see her walking towards the exit. “We’re the last people they want to see right now.”

She paused and turned her head a face him, a smile on her face. “You leave that to me Mr. Conklin, that’s why they gave me this fourth pip.” With that she turned back around and left the room.

Alex slumped down in the chair a bit. He could see right though the smile she gave him. She wasn’t particularly good at bravado or lying and he’d worked with her for far too many years to be fooled when she brought it out. He sighed, rubbing his face, before pulling the isolinear chip out of the console, sending the screen in the room back to the generic Starfleet logo next to the Galaxy‘s ship patch.

Whatever was about to happen wasn’t going to be pleasant, that much was clear, but the idea of abandoning Geden and the others made his stomach churn.

-Conference Room, Deck 1-

The senior staff had slowly trickled into the conference room over the last 20 minutes. Aside from Broheth and Conklin, most of them didn’t have much to do compared to their normal duty load. There were a boatload of personnel changes across all departments as Starfleet Command finalized the Galaxys crew compliment. T’Keu had been assembling her list of recommendations for the ships small Hazard Team, Ereth had been overseeing the arrival of the new type 12 and type 14 shuttlecraft, Carter has been trying to settle in and get a handle on just how many people would be required to have weekly counseling sessions due to Frontier Day, and Brex had been overseeing the loading of all the new supplies Starfleet was stuffing onto the ship. They hadn’t received new orders for an extended exploration mission but it seemed Starfleet Command was preparing them for one.

Conklin and Broheth had the most on their plates; Conklin stepping into the XO role with Demar absent and Broheth overseeing the repairs from their Underspace journey along with compiling all the performance reports to send over to the SF Fleet Yards now that Galaxy had been put though her paces after the refit.

“Thank you all for being here.” Myers began. “As everyone is aware, we are missing a few faces around this table. I had tasked Mr. Conklin with leading the effort to find out where they may have ended up and I’m pleased to say, we’ve got a lead.”

Alex held up his hands, trying to deflect any praise before it came his way. “I just followed the data and without the data from the Cardassian’s, I never would have  narrowed it down.”

T’Keu turned towards the Captain, eyebrow arched. “The Cardassians were willing to part with their sensor data?”

Clara offered the women a smile she hoped at least appeared genuine. “I called in a few favors with some contacts I still have in the Cardassian Science Division. Things are strained between our two governments but there are still a few people in the Union that don’t hate it. Any details, beyond that, are classified.” It was a lie. She hated this. There was no other way to do it. If command wanted to come down on anyone after this was all said and done, it would be her and her alone.

T’Keu nodded, leaning back in her chair. Clara let out an almost silent sigh of relief before she continued.

“Commander Conklin was able to narrow it down to three systems.” With the tap of a button, the holo system in the table projected the sector of space.

Conklin tapped a few controls located in front of him, the image zooming in slightly. “Systems KM-223, LK-224, and HG-2345. They all contain Class L, M and P worlds and the closest aperture to all three systems had a Federation signature exit it. The warp signature is long gone by now, but Galaxy has some of the most powerful sensors in the fleet. I’ll be able to pick up Federation technology when we get close enough.”

Brex raised a finger. “At just over two weeks, their emergency supplies are likely depleted or close to it. There is no easy to get to those systems; do we have permission from the Cardassian government to use their space?”

Clara pursed her lips. Here came the next part she didn’t like doing. “Technically, no. Starfleet wants us to take the long way around. Through the Badlands, Rolor Nebula, and around the backside of the Union.”

“That’ll take a month, if not longer.” Ereth offered. “It’s a very complicated route.”

Clara nodded. “Yes, which is why we won’t be taking that route. We have a shortcut.”

“I take it Starfleet does not like the shortcut?” Broheth chimed in.

“Not technically.” It was a diplomatic half truth but at this point she had waded so deep into this pool, she was never getting out. “The sensor data also contains information on how to avoid the detection by the Cardassian border nets. Starfleet does not feel it’s worth risking angering the Union. I disagree.” Lies. More lies. In for a penny, in for a pound. “Relations with the Talarians are good enough that they will allow us passage though their space, with an escort, and then we’ll hug the Cardassian border at emergency warp speeds to avoid angering the Tholians. We have about three and a half more days before the sensor codes change and we loose our window.”

Ereth had been tapping away on a PADD, running calculations. “Once we exit Talarian space, we’ll reach the rescue sector in just over 9 hours at emergency warp. It’d be the same time back, which would put us over the rated 12 hours. Not to mention we’re threading a needle in terms of staying in neutral space.”

“There is no such things as neutral space along the Tholian border.” T’Keu looked at Myers.”It’s a logical to assume that they will at least dispatch ships to monitor a vessel as powerful as ours near their borders.”

Broheth sighed. “I can give you emergency warp, or close to it, for the eighteen hours but it’s going to cause damage. With the overhaul the warp system got during the refit our speed didn’t increase but we won’t sustain as much damage at high warp as we would have before. Twelve hours is the sweet spot, but, I can nudge it. Once we’re in safer waters we’ll have to limp home at low warp.”

Clara nodded. “It’s tight and I’ll be honest, Starfleet didn’t say no to us doing this, but it’s not our official orders.” Lies. More lies stacked atop the rest. “If anyone is uncomfortable with bending the rules please come to my ready room later and we’ll make other arrangements.”

She tapped a button and the holo display vanished. “We’ll be leaving 72 in about six hours. Mr. Broheth, I need those engines in top shape and the wrap field modified to help us avoid detection by the sensor net.”

The Bolian nodded, already working though the precess. “Can do. We have a few cadets on their senior cruise and one of them is damn impressive with warp field theory; I’ll have him get to work on it with our engineers.”

“Excellent. Everyone else, standard departure procedures. If anyone non-essential isn’t ready to go then they can stay back on 72 and we’ll pick them up on the way back. Dismissed.”

The senior staff began to filter out of the room, except for Alex, who remained in his seat.

“So, Starfleet is just going to let us do this? Technically disobey orders with no consequence?” Alex crossed his arms, leaning back in the seat. “I’ve known you too long Clara. You’re a horrible liar.”

Clara closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh. “We aren’t disobeying orders, just modifying them to fit the situation. Captains do it all the time.” Yet another half truth. There were more of those than she could count at this point.

Alex shot her a withering look. “Only Captain’s of ships named Enterprise get to modify orders to fit the situation.” He pinched his nose, sighing. “I’m not stupid Clara and none of the people there were in this room are. The dots aren’t adding up, there is something deeper going on here. This isn’t like you.”

She kept her gaze forward, fixating on the reddish brown door at the other end of the room. “I left them there, Alex. All those people on N-221 III, alone in the Gamma Quadrant, being used in the most vile way possible by the Gorn. I ordered those Runabouts to break off and exit Underspace. I left them there. Hell, I might have killed them. I lost an officer on Beol II because some damn Changelings slipped through our security. I’ll do what’s necessary to try and fix what I can. I can’t save those people on N-221 III, I can’t bring that officer back from the dead. I can bring our people home. Whatever it takes.”

Alex learned forward, concern clouding his features. “You made the hard choices, just like every Captain has done before, just like you’ve done before. We all know the risks of this career. You can’t blame yourself for doing your job and make some difficult decisions.”

She turned her gaze to Alex. “The attack on Mars. The Lost Dominion fleet. The Borg. The Labyrinth Crisis. The Orion syndicate. How many more difficult decision do I have to make? In the decade after the war, I lost six offices. In the last year I’ve lost double that. So much darkness, so much anger. We used to be explorers, now all I do is try and keep the damage to a minimum. How many more times do I have to make that choice?”

He didn’t have an answer for that. There was no way he could. It’s the reason why he avoided command roles like the plague. “I can’t answer that Clara. I can tell you that we all want Commander Demar at the others back but not at the risk to your career or our own. Put us to work, give us a little more time, and we can figure something out.”

“Time is a luxury we don’t have. I’ve taken steps to isolate any fall out. If they come for anyone, they’ll come for me. I’ve already gone too far, almost broken the oath I swore to uphold, if not already shattered it into a million pieces. This damn galaxy has taken so much already; I’m going to fix the one thing I can.”

He knew there wasn’t much more to say. The feeling in the pit of his stomach grew, swirling like a hurricane ready to lash out at land.

Clara watched as the man stood and walked out of the room silently. She remained for a few more minutes before standing, glancing out the long row of windows, shuttlecraft and runabouts flitting around.

No more death.

No more ‘difficult choices’.

No one left behind, never again.

This was the end of the road and she knew it. Whatever happened after this was on her shoulders and hers alone. She didn’t particularly care, not anymore. Thirty years of service and duty tossed out of the window by a galaxy that didn’t care about such things anymore.

Soft footsteps echoed off the walls as she exited the room.

“We’re approaching the edge of Talarian space.”

The trip from Starbase 72 had gone smoothly; if Starfleet had objected to their new routing then they hadn’t bothered to inform them yet. Clara had instructed Ensign Ereth to file a flight plan that was accurate and hopefully that earned her a few brownie points with Starfleet Command.

“Mr. Brex, please thank our Talarian escorts and let them know we’ll handle it from here.”

“Aye, Ma’am.” With a few taps he relayed the message. “They’ve acknowledged and are falling back.”

Clara stood up from her chair, making her way around the tactical arch to the engineering station. It was rare to have the Chief Engineer on the bridge but keeping the modified warp field working properly warranted it. A cadet was next to him, Ramirez if she remembered correctly, and he was clearly feeling out of place.

“Mr. Broheth, is the modified warp field ready to deploy?”

“Yes, sir.” Brother pulled up the new warp field on the console. Three green and blue lines waved around a wire framed outline of the Galaxy in an erratic fashion while numbers danced across the bottom of the screen. She didn’t pretend to understand half of it; all she remembered from her Engineering classes was that, indeed, it was a warp field on the screen in front of her. “Seeing as Cadet Ramirez played a pretty big role in helping us calculate the new warp field dynamics I felt he earned a spot up here with it. Great place to learn.”

The Cadet turned to look at Clara, eyes wide. He also looked utterly terrified. “Thank you for allowing me on the Bridge. It will be an excellent and unprecedented learning experience.”

The timbre of his voice made it clear he had rehearsed that one line over and over again. Consdering Broheth was grinning from ear to ear she had a good idea who told him to practice saying that over and over again. She couldn’t help but smile.

“Thank you for your help Cadet, it hasn’t gone unnoticed.”

The young man nodded, slowly turned back to face the console without another word.

“Mr. Erith, drop us out of warp.” The young man nodded, the deck shifting ever so slightly under Clara’s feet as the ship went to sublight speed. “Load the new warp profile into the system, Commander.”

“With pleasure.” It didn’t take long; more of a formality than anything. Broheth had informed her they had to be a sublight for a few moments while he put the new warp field profile into action. “And it’s done. Speeds up up to emergency warp are available.”

Clara nodded, making her way back to her seat. “Excellent. Black Alert.”

The lighting on the bridge dimmed to its lowest level while a warbling klaxon sounded three times; it was both annoyingly loud and disconcerting. Whatever frequency it was made the hair on Clara’s neck stand up. Throughout the ship non essential system powered down one by one; recreation spaces, science labs, empty quarters, seventy five precent of all the replicators on the ship, the list went on and on. Non mission critical staff returned to their quarters to await permission to resume duties. The ship made itself ‘silent’; at least as much as it could while blasting through subspace at warp 9.6.

“All decks and stations report black alert status.” Reported T’Keu.

“Our energy profile has dropped by 88.3% Captain. We’re as quiet as we can be.” Brex tapped a few commands into his console. “If you anything more than that we’ll need to shut down entire decks.”

Clara gave her uniform tunic a tug as she sat down. “No need. Set your planned route Ensign.”

Kellen nodded, brown furrowed as she ran over the course one last time. It was just inside the edge of Cardassian border, following it just beyond Kressari at which point they would peel off and into more open space. It was a tight fit and he had to ride the Cardassian border to avoid getting closer than advised to the Tholians but as long as the sensor nets didn’t pick them up it’d be a smooth ride. “Course loaded and ready. Warp speed available at your command.”

“Engage.”

Eight and a half hours had passed in near silence. The plan was working so far; zero response from the Cardassian side of the border despite the fact they were technically violating their space. Brief blips has come across the sensors from the Tholian side but without sending more power the sensor suite up it was impossible to know if they were being followed by them.

“We’re passing Kressari, pulling away from the border and changing our heading to the area Commander Conklin identified.” Ereth casually tapped in the new heading, letting out a small sigh of relief as they peeled away form the Cardassians.

“Warp system holding steady but the coils are running hot, so to speak.”

Clara turned to Broehth. “Any cracks?”

The Bolian shook his head. “Not yet but it won’t take much more before micro fractures start to appear. I still think she’ll get us home, but not much further.”

“Shit.”

Clara whipped her head around to Conklin, who had for far been relatively quiet. “That’s not the word I was hoping to hear, Commander.”

Alex’s eyes were focused on his console as he slid his fingers across the screen. “There is a Tholian surveillance satellite 2.4 light years away. That’s close enough to see everything in the systems the away teams could have ended up in. Not to mention seeing us.”

Brex turned to face the Captain. “We aren’t in Tholian territory; they might not see us as a threat.”

T’Keu raised an eyebrow. “As far as we are aware we are not in Tholian territory. Their claims on space and star systems are often illogical and change, particularly in open space away from the Federation.”

Clara cleared her throat. “Then let’s find our crew before the Tholian’s find us. Alex, are we close enough to scan the systems?”

Alex let out a frustrated sigh. “Yes but I’m not picking up anything with a Federation signature.”

“Perhaps they also detected the Tholian surveillance satellite and tried to hide themselves?” Offered Brex.

“That would be logical. Are there any systems with high levels of minerals or rock formations? Such things could block long range sensors.” T’Keu stood, walking over to the science console. “Such a tactic is taught as a first line priority when stranded in hostile territory.”

Alex expanded the sensor sweep, pulling in more power. They were so close he didn’t care much if he made Galaxy a bit more noticeable. “There are two Class M planets in the second star system; both had large rock formations across multiple continents and naturally occurring elements that hamper sensor scans.”

T’keu leaned down, sorting though the scan on the science console without bothering to ask Conklin. “This planet seems like a logical choice; I have identified three separate areas that I would choose if I needed to conceal myself or equipment.”

“I agree Captain. I’m not reading any Federation technology on either planet but if we broadcast an open hail, they’ll hear us.”

T’Keu glanced between Conklin and Myers. “As would any Cardassian and Tholian ships or monitoring satellites. We would reveal our position immediately.”

“With that Tholian surveillance satellite a few light years away I would argue the Tholians see us already.” Brex’s tone, normally one of complete calm, had shifted to concern. “It’s just the Cardassians that would spot us.”

Ereth turned to face the others . “We have to consider the possibility that they aren’t even located in these systems. If we send out a signal and get nothing in return we blow on only chance of rescuing them.”

T’Keu nodded at the Ensign. “Ensign Ereth’s point is sound. We loose all tactical advantages. If the Cardassians spot us, we no longer have the ability to slip past their territory unnoticed on the way back to Federation space.”

“What you all decide to do, do it fast.” Broheth tapped a button on his console causing small timer to appear on the upper left of the view screen; it read 11:03:44 and began counting down. “That’s how long before the codes on the Cardassian sensor net change and no amount of tinkering I do with the warp field will hide us from them. The sooner we do this the more wiggle room we have if the warp engines don’t hold up on the trip home.”

In for a penny, in for a pound.

Clara turned to Lieutenant Brex. “Send a wide band signal across those two planets. Mr. Ereth, if we get so much as a ping from either one I want you to drop the ship out of warp practically in orbit.”

Ereth’s eyes widened. “Ma’am, as ship as large as the Galaxy could cause…”

She held up her hand to stop him. “I’m aware of the risks. I have faith you can do it. Mr. Brex, send the signal.”

Gavarian took a deep breath and pressed the flashing icon on his console. “Here goes nothing.”

For the next few moments he watched the black square on his console, waiting for something to pop up. What seemed like hours, but was in reality just a few minutes, went by before a small pulsating ring appeared. “Got it! Federation emergency distress beacon just kicked on. Third planet of system Beta.”

She didn’t have bother telling Ereth; he quickly tapped in a set of coordinates and the ship jumped to warp 1 for all of a twenty or thirty seconds before it dropped out of warp inside the system. The ship groaned, its bow tipping forward as it was suddenly in the grips of the gravitational field of the planet.

“Come on.” Ereth nudged the RCS thrusters on the bow to halt the ships tilting movement, the parking brakes firing shortly after to counter the pull of the planet. “There you go. Establishing a locked position orbit over the distress signal.”

“Opening channel.” Much like Ereth, Brex didn’t have to be told to do so.

“This is Captain Myers of the Federation starship Galaxy. We are here to launch recovery efforts, please respond.”

“Galaxy?!” It was clearly the voice of Dr. V’Rel. “You took your damn time in getting here. Been playing hide and seek with the Tholians for weeks now.”

Clara let out a sigh of relief, as did everyone else on the bridge. “My apologies doctor. It was a bit like finding a needle in a haystack. Are there any casualties or fatalities on the away teams?”

“Commander Demar was injured two days ago. Some big ass bug bit him and it’s venom and his Trill physiology didn’t get along. He’ll be ok if I can get him to Sickbay ASAP. Everyone else is fine. Hungry, dirty, dehydrated, but fine.”

She nodded to Brex. “Excellent doctor. We’ll beam you and Demar to Sickbay and then send down teams to help recover the Runabouts and get everyone back up here.”

“Thank you Captain, V’rel out.”

Commanders Demar and V’rel’s commbadges just came up on sensors along with the rest of the away teams. Beaming the Commanders to Sickbay now.” Brex slide his fingers across the top of the bow. “Transport successful.”

Clara turned to Alex. “Commander Conklin, I need you to gather an away team and…”

A shrill beeping from the tactical console interrupted her. T’Keu quickly walked back over. “Sensors are picking up three Tholian ships on an intercept course. 27 minutes to intercept.”

Time was up.

“Brex, began emergency beam outs of everyone on the surface.”

The Betazoid nodded, fingers working furiously. “Yes ma’am. Unfortunately I’m not able to beam up what remains of the Runabouts; sensor interference is making it difficult. However the commbadges are breaking through the interference isn’t doing the same for our ships or equipment.”

“They likely have a local damping field that enhances the minerals natural damping abilities. I suggest using photon torpedoes set to a level 1 yield to destroy the equipment and runabouts; I can triangulate a likely strike areas based on the sensor stat from the beam outs.”

Normally Clara wasn’t a huge fan of T’Keu turning to torpedoes for everything but in this case, it was surpassingly logical.

“Are our people out Mr. Brex?”

“The last group has been beamed up.”

She turned to T’Keu. “Fire.”

With a sharp trill from the tactical console, three bright red photon torpedoes burst from the launcher. They maintained a tight pattern as they streaked toward the surface before slamming into the surface in a brilliant explosion.

“I am unable to fully confirm destruction of the Runabouts but there a high likelihood of success.” Another series of shrill beeps sounded from T’Keu’s console. “Two squads of Cardassian warships have appeared on sensors. They are still on their side of the border but they are heading towards the system.”

“Red Alert. All hands to battle stations!”

With Clara’s command, the bridge lights shifted to a blood red; obnoxious klaxon wailing. The systems that had previously been powered down to aid in concealing the ship for enemy sensors rapidly came online as personnel emerged from their quarters to take up their stations. The cover had been blown; nothing to do now but run as fast as possible.

“Get us out of here Ensign. Plot a course back to Talarian space. Keep us as far away from the Tholians as you can while avoiding Cardassian space. Let’s not poke the bear anymore than we already have. Take us straight to emergency warp speeds and yes I am aware we are still in the solar system” Clara sat in her chair, crossing her legs. “Punch it Mr. Ereth.”

The massive ship tilted up as it broke orbit, its Conn officer taking a few seconds to try and put a little distance between his ship and the planet it orbited.  With a groan heard only by those in the hull closest to the warp nacelle the Galaxy’s nacelles began to glow blue, the intensity going high and higher until the ship leapt to warp almost faster than the naked eye could perceive.

[Eight hours and 57 minutes later]

The ship rocked back and forth slightly, her hull groaning, as another console in the pit emitted a shower of sparks as it died. They had crossed the 12 hour limit on the emergency speeds hours ago; the ship was finally starting to file complaints about it.

“We need to drop to out of warp soon Captain. We can’t maintain this velocity for more than another 30 minutes.” Broheth gripped the hand rail next to his console as the ship shook again. “If you can’t drop out of warp then no faster then warp 3.”

That wasn’t an option. Tholains to the right of the them, Cardassians to the right. They’d gotten lucky when after they jumped to warp. One of the Cardassian squadrons maintained their heading to the system they had left but the other squad had broken off and chased after Galaxy. Thankfully they had a head start and Galaxy could go warp .5 faster but the luck was running out. The Tholians gave chase as well, quickly matching the ships speed, but she had a sneaking suspicion that they had little appetite for conflict; their xenophobic tendencies outweighing their drive to protect their borders in this instance. They hadn’t ever left their stated territory so hopefully they were just making sure Galaxy was running back home. Even if the Cardassians were the only ones to challenge the Galaxy it would still be three against one; odds that even a Galaxy Class ship would not overcome easily.

“How long to the Talarian border Ensign Ereth?”

“Six minutes.”

Threading the needle yet again. The story of her life these last few months.

“Talarian border control is not answering any hails, Captain.” Brex looked at the screen perplexed. “The signal is getting though as best as I can tell.”

“Our speed is interfering with sensor scans but I do see ships near the border.” T’Keu had been monitoring sensors; Conklin had gone down hours ago to speak with the away team and check on Commander Demar.

“The second we cross the border we drop out of warp. With luck the Cardassians and Tholians won’t invite open conflict.”

“Crossing the border now. Decelerating to sublight speeds.”

She practically felt the ship breathe a sigh of relief as it slowed; happy to no longer be pushed to its limits.

“The Tholians are breaking off and staying on their side of the border.” T’Keu cocked her head to the side. “The Cardassians are slowing but still on an intercept course.”

“Any sign of the Talarians?” Clara tapped her fingers on the chair. Something was off.

“I am reading three Talarian warships.” She cocked an eyebrow. “And two Federation starships; the USS Resnik and USS Horsehead. They are approaching at high warp.”

Clara closed her eyes. She knew what coming. “And the Cardassians?”

“They have dropped out of warp and are holding position at the Cardassian/Talarian border. I am detecting an active comm signal between the lead warship and the Resnik.”

“I see.”

The view screen lit up as the 5 ships dropped out of the warp; the Gagarin and Nebula class ships taking the lead.

Brex let out a small whistle. “That’s a heck of a welcoming committee; guess they thought we needed backup with all those ships on our tail.”

“Something like that.” Muttered Clara. Nobody heard it but her.

If she was correct it would only be a few more moments before the main event kicked off.

She was, indeed, correct.

Consoles across the bridge started trilling as the Starfleet emblem appeared on each one, locking its user out.

“I’ve been locked out.”

“So have I. Helm is offline but the computer is keeping the ship at station keeping.”

“I have lost all tactical control.”

Clara stood, smoothing her uniform as she did so. “I want all of you to know it has been an honor to serve with you. You have demonstrated the best of Starfleet and I can only ask that you remain that shining beacon of hope; the galaxy needs it now more than ever.”

The staff exchanged glances that ranged from confusion to dread except in the case of Cadet Ramirez who just looked frightened and also deeply lost.

The ships intercom came to life with a whistle. “This is Captain Aakon Keacen of the Federation starship Resnik. All USS Galaxy crew is to remain at the current location until told otherwise. All systems have been locked out. Security teams from my ship and the USS Horsehead will begin beaming over in moments. All instructions given by them are to be followed to the letter. Keacen out.”

Within moments the wine of transporter filled the bridge as Keacen and a heavily armed security team materialized.

Keacen was young, probably mid to late 30’s, good looking and likely a Frontier Day baby. 10 or 20 years ago he’d be XO on a Steamrunner or Intrepid for a decade or so before nabbing a small frigate. These days he’d been vaulted to a Gagarin with barely any time in the XO chair. She had no doubts he was competent but it was another reminder that era of Starfleet she knew was long over.

“This is definitely bigger than I thought it would be.” He looked around the bridge. “At least it has carpet.” he rubbed the heel of his shoe across the carpet, almost amused by it.

He took a few steps forward, closing the distance better him and Myers. “Are you Captain Clara Myers, commanding officer of the USS Galaxy?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you Captain. By order of Starfleet Command you are charged with dereliction of duty, colluding with a foreign power, filing false reports, misuse of Starfleet property, namely USS Galaxy, lying to superior officers and espionage. Do you understand these charges?

She nodded. Time was up. It didn’t matter. Her crew was safe.

“I do, Captain.”

“Very well. Captain Clara Myers, I herby remove you from command of the USS Galaxy and place you under arrest by order of the Starfleet Judge Advocate General.”

The fragile house of cards she had built over the last few months in her effort to rescue her crew had finally come tumbling down.

Previously….

He took a few steps forward, closing the distance better him and Myers. “Are you Captain Clara Myers, commanding officer of the USS Galaxy?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you Captain. By order of Starfleet Command you are charged with dereliction of duty, colluding with a foreign power, filing false reports, misuse of Starfleet property, namely USS Galaxy, lying to superior officers and espionage. Do you understand these charges?

She nodded. Time was up. It didn’t matter. Her crew was safe.

“I do, Captain.”

“Very well. Captain Clara Myers, I herby remove you from command of the USS Galaxy and place you under arrest by order of the Starfleet Judge Advocate General.”

The fragile house of cards she had built over the last few months in her effort to rescue her crew had finally come tumbling down.

“Do you have anything else you wish to add?”

Clara glanced to her left; one the Admirals on the panel staring intently at her.

“No.”

She’d just spent the last hour recounting her side of the events; a grand story in 4 parts that would show how baseless the chargers were is what her defense attorney had billed it as.  She thought it was a load of crap and that he was a pompous ass but it was what it was. If anything she sealed her fate, which was fine with her. She knew just as well as anyone here that imprisoning her was unlikely. She had a nearly impeccable record for over 40 years and, quite frankly, locking up a decorated Captain while the Federation was still dealing with the aftermath of Frontier Day was press Starfleet didn’t really want.

She hated how cynical that train of thought was. It as true that the charge of espionage was rather outlandish. She assumed it was to appease the Cardassians; who had demanded she that she be extradited to the Union. Starfleet had swiftly shot that down but did lean into some of the more outlandish charges to keep the wolves at bay, so to speak.

Regardless, she was ready for this to be over. For nearly six months the Galaxy and her senior staff had been grounded. She had free rein to roam Starbase 1 during her ‘home arrest’ but had a sub-dermal tracker implanted in her left thigh to make sure she didn’t try and slip away and had been denied access to the ship and its crew. The rest of the senior staff had remained on Galaxy, helping with repairs to the ship and submitting to interviews and everything else under the sun. It took awhile t0 interview over 900 people, apparently.

“Very well. Does either council wish to make a closing argument?”

The Commander representing her stood. “We rest your honor. The Captain’s words speak for themselves.”

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. How that man successfully defended anyone was beyond her.

The Captain at the prosecuting table rose. “We wish to, your honor.”

Clara re-situated herself in the chair. This would at least be good. The Captain was smart, well spoken, and knew her stuff. She also didn’t come across as aggressive; it was clear on some level she understood the motive behind Clara’s actions even if she didn’t agree with those actions.

“I don’t think anyone in this room would argue that Captain Myers is a bad person or even a bad captain. We have thirty plus years of service records to show that. She cares deeply for her the safety of those under her. That caring, however, does not override the actions she took while in command the USS Galaxy in August of 2401. Her near extortion of Gul Nuver not only violated every principle we uphold as Starfleet officers but it resulted in the death of Guls Nuver and Revet.”

Clara closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. The only casualties of all of this. It didn’t take the Obsidian Order long to trace back her contact with Nuver; as the Galaxy speed along the border, the Order was hunting him down. They had taken him to some Order location and damn near tortured the information out of him in short order; by the time they reached the away teams the Cardassians had already known of everything. The new Order operated with brutal efficiency. He died four days later. The Cardassian Government quickly passed along their information, minus their treatment of Nuver, and that set into motion all of this. Details about how they got that information out of Nuver arrived a few days after his death via an anonymous transmission; Revet ended up dead a few days later so it wasn’t a shock as to who sent the details. The final twist of the knife from a man in the throws of grief over the loss of his lover; he just happened to catch the end of that knife as well. She’d never forgive herself.

“By taking the Galaxy, against orders, along the border with the Cardassians she invited conflict with not only them but the Tholians. She placed over 900 lives in danger to save a dozen. She lied to Starfleet and her crew every step of the way. At a time when Starfleet’s ship levels are still recovering from the Frontier Day attack she took a high profile and valuable asset, unnecessarily, into hostile territory and risked its destruction. None of this is acceptable. Captain’s blur the lines between duty, the law and their reasonability to their crew all the time. We know this. We accept that it is part of the job and do out best to balance the needs to justice against the needs of Starfleet and it’s officers but the actions taken by Captain Myers go well beyond that balance. I implore the court to render a fair judgment that restores it.”

The second of the three Admirals turned to Clara. “Do you wish to make a personal statement?”

Clara shook her head. “No, I do not.” She didn’t see the need. At worst she would end up kicked out of the fleet, at best she would be stuck on some Reliant class ship. She honestly preferred the former over the latter.

“Very well. This court martial is in recess until tomorrow at 0800 at which time we will announce our ruling.”

With a loud bang the Admiral at the center position struck the gavel.

[Following Morning] [0800]

The Admiral in the center position, an older Andorian who had said little during the entire ordeal, cleared her throat. “This panel thanks all parties for being here this at this early hour. We felt it was best to not delay this any further. We appreciate the cooperation of the USS Galaxy crew in this matter. We are aware that the long timeline of this investigation and tribunal was a burden but we felt it important to gather the appropriate information.”

She pulled out a small PADD, placing a finger on the biometric reader. “On the charge of espionage, by a vote of 3-0, we find Captain Clara Myers not guilty.

Clara felt her shoulders relax slightly. If there was anything that caused her concern, it was that particular charge. She could easily live either the rest.

“On the remaining chargers, by a vote of 3-0, we find Captain Clara Myers guilty.”

It wasn’t an unexpected outcome nor was there anything dramatic accompanying it. It wasn’t like the holo-novels where a hush fell over the court room before the verdict, the assembled spectators murmuring while the defendant openly wept until someone in the back stood up and launched into a dramatic defense of the freshly convicted. No, this was a boring affair from start to finish.

The Andorian Admiral tapped a few commands into her PADD; likely submitting the verdict officially to Starfleet Command. “In regards to sentencing, this tribunal does not wish to impose an imprisonment sentence upon the defendant; with her history of service and lack of conviction on the espionage charge we do not see the need to do so. It is the ruling of this tribunal that you will be stripped of your rank and commission within the Starfleet, with prejudice. This discharge shall take immediate effect. Former Captain Myers is also barred from serving on any Starfleet vessel in a civilian capacity. It is so ordered.”

The Admiral raised the gavel before striking in against the desk with a bang.

[Conference Room][USS Galaxy]

Alex felt the color drain out of face as they watched the video feed of the verdict. He felt cold; numb. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. He had pleaded with her, damn it. He had told her to let them fix this together before they launched themselves out into the unknown. Now he had to watch his closest friend and confident be stripped of her rank and tossed out of the fleet like yesterday’s replicator waste. He didn’t know what to do.

He glanced over to Gedan, who had been watching with him. He looked pale; his normally tan skin taking on an ashen color. Maybe it was just the light. Over the last few months he’d started to grow closer to him as they navigated ships repairs and the months long investigation into Clara; nothing overtly romantic but he’d become a good friend. The tendrils of attraction and affection had ever so slowly crept into his thoughts though he doubted Gedan felt the same way. Even though they’d grown closer there was still a stubborn brick wall that Gedan kept up between him and everyone else; Alex had tried and tired to chip away at it but hadn’t gotten anywhere. In this moment Alex felt like he was further away than ever.

“That’s it, I guess.” Alex said softly.

“Yes, it is.” Demar’s voice was rough, like he’d forgotten to drink for the last few days. “I need to inform the senior staff and crew.”

As the two highest ranking command members on Galaxy they’d gotten the privilege to observe the trial but everyone else was left in the dark. They called it a conflict of interest.

The chime sounding from the overhead speakers made them both jump a little.

“Commander Demar, there is a priority communication from Fourth Fleet Command for you.”

Gedan stood with a sigh. “Thank you. I’ll take it in the ready room.” He glanced at Alex, the barest hint of a smile on his face. “It seems like it time to find out if we all go our separate ways.”

Alex could only nod as Geden left the room.

[Commanding Officer Quarters][USS Galaxy][1635 Hours]

Gedan stood in the middle of the massive quarters. He’d been there for only five minutes but it felt like an eternity. He wasn’t sure what, exactly, he was supposed to do. All of Myers things were still here; left in place by order of the JAG. It didn’t feel right to touch anything, much less start packing.

The doors swished open and Geden turned to see Clara Myers in the doorway, a smile on her face. She seemed tired but finally unburdened. Two security officers stood behind her, phaser rifles in hand. It was ridiculous.

“Excuse us, Captain Demar. Ms. Myers is allowed 60 minutes to secure her belongings but you will be required to leave while she does so.”

Geden cocked an eyebrow. “I’m aware of the regulations. Give us five minutes then I’ll leave.”

The larger of the two guards stepped forward. “You will leave now, Captain.”

“Five minutes!” Barked out Gedan. “My ship, my rules. I don’t have an issue ordering security to throw you off the ship and monitor Ms. Myers themselves.” He was pretty sure he had the right to do that; the whole officially being in charge thing was still new.

The two guards stepped back without another word, the door swishing closed.

Clara stopped forward, a grin on her face. “Captain? I see they wasted little time in giving you that fourth pip.” She walked forward, placing her hands on his shoulders as best she could considering the height difference. “You’ll make an excellent Captain.”

He gave her a half smile. “That remains to be seen. This feels like Starfleet’s options were slim so they just gave Galaxy to me and hope it all gets swept under the rug.”

She gave one of his shoulders a squeeze before moving to sit on the couch nearby. “If that’s what it takes to keep the crew together then that’s not a bad thing. I have faith you can do it. I have faith this entire crew can do it.”

“Thank you ma’am, that means a lot.”

She waved her hand. “Don’t ma’am me, I’m not your superior any longer or even in the fleet. Have they given you a new assignment? I know you aren’t supposed to tell me but I figured I’d ask anyway.”

Geden placed his hands in his pockets. He felt the need to make himself smaller; he still felt as if he shouldered part of the blame for this end result. “We have. Orders came down two hours ago. Tomorrow morning we’ll depart for Starbase 72 to take on a few supplies and drop some people off. After that we’ll make our way to the Bajoran Wormhole and begin a three year exploratory mission of the Gamma Quadrant.”

She nodded, another grin spreading across her face. “Good to see them pushing the ship out into the unknown. It’s where she’s made for; it’s what this crew is made for. Can I offer you one price of advice?”

“Of course.” He spoke the words with no hesitation.

“Keep this crew together as best you can. Lean on them. Rely on them. Together you can achieve more than anything you thought possible. You aren’t in this alone and while it’s going to be the hardest thing you’ve ever done, you’ll get though it together.”

He nodded. “Thank you. I’m leaning that day by day.” He glanced up at the chronometer on the wall. “And my five minutes are up. I’d better leave you to it unless I want them bursting down the door.”

Clara stood from the couch. “They are rather good at that.” She extended her hand and gripped Gedan’s. “Congratulations and godspeed Captain Demar. May the winds of the sea always be at your back.”

“We’ll do you proud ma’am, I promise.”

“Of that I have no doubt.” As Geden turned to leave she spoke once more. “Oh, and one more thing, I’ve already talked to Alex and I know he’s rejected the XO role but do keep him close. He’ll keep you afloat just as he’s kept me afloat all these years; he’s something special. Take the time so see that.”

Gedan turned and give her a nod; confused. He walked through the doorway and walked down the hall, various crew members nodding and saying ‘good afternoon captain’ as he passed. He still had a cold, tight, feeling settling into his stomach but there was no turning back now. A new journey awaited and it was time to meet the challenges head on.