Ensign Justin Brax sat on the edge of his field bunk in the silent darkness of the cargo bay, reading the details of his newest assignment on his computer terminal sent by his mysterious handler, codenamed “Helix”. The cargo bay, located along a long corridor of identical cargo bays, had become Justin’s ad hoc workspace and was far removed from the office he had been assigned deep within the station’s administrative levels. When Starfleet Intelligence assigned Justin to Starbase Bravo, they had created a superfluous billet for him with no assigned duties or supervisor, allowing Justin access to the information nerve center of the station with no one to monitor his activities. On a station with a crew of nearly 100,000 individuals all wearing the same uniform, it was easy for Justin to hide in plain sight on the station. No one gave an ensign a second glance as he wandered the corridors and promenades. 

Justin had also been assigned quarters appropriate for rank and billet upon his arrival at the Starbase, although he spent very little time there- typically only to engage in social interactions which served as both recreational distractions and intelligence gathering. He had found the waitresses at many of the station’s more popular cafes and bars often overheard critical information regarding the comings and goings of the various ships and their cargo throughout the sector. While mundane and uninteresting to the waitresses, the information was of great importance to Justin’s superiors at Starfleet intelligence who were preparing for a possible war between the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Republic- both of which had mutual defense treaties with the Federation. While Justin didn’t have access to the proverbial “bigger picture” taking shape in the nearby sectors, he knew that sometimes the most innocuous piece of intelligence could provide the missing piece of information which could make or break strategies. As such, Justin had formed close relationships with a half dozen waitresses from the station’s most popular watering holes and regularly met with them when his other duties allowed. 

His new assignment, however, had nothing to do with waitresses. 

Ostensibly, Justin was to conduct a strategic survey of several star systems, including the infamous Nimbus system, along the tri-shared border region where Federation, Romulan, and Klingon controlled space met. Commonly referred to by many as simply “The Triangle”, logic dictated it would be the first battleground if the Romulan-Klingon conflict escalated to open warfare with the Federation. In preparation for such an eventuality, Starfleet wanted to have the latest astrological intelligence on the systems in the region where the Klingons may try to advance, triggering the Federation’s mutual defense treaty with the Republic. This intelligence included, at the very least, a cursory scan of all celestial bodies, including moons and asteroids, solar conditions, and nearby nebulas. This would allow Starfleet strategist the most up to date information for logistical bases, supply routes, observation posts, and staging area for quick reaction task forces. 

While the survey mission was important, Justin’s primary mission was also to contact a Romulan officer and scientist on Nimbus III. Centurion Ruval wasn’t just any Romulan scientist. Ruval was a member of the Romulan team attempting to create a next-generation cloak detection system for the Republic. While the Federation was still bound by the Treaty of Algeron with the Romulan Free State, which prohibited Starfleet from developing or using cloaking technology, it was not prohibited from developing the technology to locate and track cloaked vessels. As such, Starfleet had secretly been working with Republic scientists over the past decade to develop the technology to level the tactical playing field between Starfleet ships and those using cloaking technology. Until recently, both the Republic and Starfleet presumed the technology would be used in the event of war with the Romulan Free State, but the recent political upheaval in the Klingon Empire suddenly made the research invaluable to both the Republic and Starfleet. Starfleet Intelligence had decided to move Ruval to a secure location deep within the Federation to protect the research and prevent it from being disrupted, or worse yet, discovered, by Klingon forces loyal to the Duras family. Justin was tasked with completing the first stage of the operation- extracting Ruval from Nimbus III and back to Starbase Bravo, where they would be met by another team to convey Ruval deeper into the Federation. 

Why the secrecy? Justin asked himself. Why not have Ruval travel directly to Starbase Bravo himself? 

It only took Justin a moment to think of the reason for the clandestine mission. The Tal Shiar. 

While the Klingon Empire was never known for the stellar performance of it’s intelligence network, the Tal Shiar was infamous throughout the galaxy for it’s ruthlessly efficient intelligence network. Since becoming the ruling body of the Romulan Free State and unburdened by the bureaucracy of the old Empire, many within the Federation believed the Tal Shiar’s capabilities had reached even new heights. It was a foregone conclusion then, Justin realized, that the Tal Shiar knew about Ruval and his work with the Federation on a cloak detection system. And while not directly involved in the galactic politics engulfing their fellow Romulans and Klingons, the Tal Shiar may very well make an attempt to capture or kill Ruval if they believed he was seeking refuge within the Federation. Ruval’s capture or death would be a significant blow to both the Republic and Federation, doubtlessly setting back the development of the cloak detection system by years, if not decades. 

Not only did Justin have to worry about being intercepted by Klingon patrols in the area, some of whom may be loyal to the newly risen Chancellor Duras, but also the most efficient clandestine intelligence agency the quadrant had ever seen. And that wasn’t even taking into account the rogues, revolutionaries, pirates, and outlaws who notoriously made their livelihood within the bounds of The Triangle. 

While he had briefly considered conducting the mission alone, Justin had quickly dismissed the idea as near suicide. For starters, Justin did not know much about astrometric sciences, and while the survey mission was a pretense for the recovery mission, the information gathered would be useful to Starfleet’s strategic planners. As such, Justin wanted the survey conducted properly by an expert in the field rather than rely on his own amateur abilities. Conducting the survey properly might also belay any suspicions regarding a Starfleet vessel- even a runabout- being seen in the star systems along the Klingon-Romulan border. Should the mission be intercepted by Klingon, Republic, Tal Shiar, or pirates, few would question the validity of a Starfleet craft and crew conducting a scientific survey. Exploration, after all, was Starfleet’s primary mandate. 

Knowing he needed an astrometrics officer, Justin searched through the station’s crew manifest, including the “Classified” files his Starfleet Intelligence clearance gave him access to. It didn’t take him long to find what he was looking for. A science division lieutenant, distinguished scientist, parents who both obtained flag rank, siblings in billets of responsibility, and most importantly, a wife working as a case officer with Starfleet Intelligence. Requesting Lieutenant Gideon Johnson lead the survey mission would certainly make it seem credible to anyone who might ask questions. Also, as Gideon’s wife worked in Starfleet Intelligence, it likely made him more likely to support the covert recovery of Ruval as a part of his duty to Starfleet and his family’s legacy. Being fluent in Klingense may also prove beneficial should the survey mission run into a Klingon patrol. 

In addition to a lead scientist, Justin also determined he needed a pilot for the mission. While Justin scored near perfect marks in his academy flight training class, he also knew his limitations and relative lack of “real world” experience. If the recovery mission required a quick escape under fire, Justin wanted an experienced combat pilot at the controls of the runabout to ensure the best likelihood of survival and completion of the mission. 

Again, Justin searched through the station’s manifest, this time focusing on the combat pilots who had commendations for quick thinking and inherent skills. After narrowing the list of candidates to a half dozen, Justin settled on Lieutenant Junior Grade Camden “Cam” Solari. The young pilot seemed to meet Justin’s criteria- anxious, talented, experienced, and with a bit of a competitive chip on his shoulder which drives him to excel at whatever mission he is assigned to. While Cam’s family did not have the deep rooted connections to Starfleet Gideon’s did, Cam’s family appeared to have instilled in him the “salt of the Earth” values of selflessness and coming to the aid of those in need which drove him to a career in Starfleet. Those values, properly encouraged, could drive Cam to push the limits of himself and his craft to ensure the mission’s success. 

Being junior in rank to both Gideon and Cam, it would be improper for Justin to order them to go on the mission with him. He could, of course, request his superiors at Starfleet Intelligence order the two to partake in the mission, but that would reveal the true nature of the “survey” mission too soon. Justin intended to fully brief the two, but not until they were underway and far from the Starbase. Additionally, Justin believed the two promising officers would volunteer, if given the opportunity. That initial willingness to participate may prove useful should the mission face difficulties. 

As such, Justin composed a personal communication to both Gideon and Cam. Justin kept the message short and as ambiguous as possible:

TO: LT. JOHNSON, G. AND LTJG. SOLARI, C. 

FROM: ENS. BRAX, J. 

RE: SURVEY MISSION, NIMBUS SYSTEM.

REQUEST YOUR ASSISTANCE OF ASTROMETRIC SURVEY OF NIMBUS SYSTEM. WILL INCLUDE CONTACT WITH ROMULAN REPUBLIC OFFICER FOR SCIENTIFIC EXCHANGE. SFI ADVISES POSSIBLE KLINGON PATROLS ITA. HOSTILE CONTACT POSSIBLE, BUT UNLIKELY. PLEASE ADVISE ON ABILITY TO PARTICIPATE ASAP. MISSION TO COMMENCE NLT 24 HOURS AFTER CREW SELECTION FINALIZED. 

Justin reviewed the message briefly, nodded to himself in satisfaction, and hit the “Transmit” button. While he hoped Gideon and Cam would volunteer for the mission, Justin knew it was a possibility one or both men would decline. So, Justin returned to the station’s crew manifest to search out other potential candidates while he waited on the reply from Gideon and Cam.