“What the hell is going on?”  Helena Dread was pacing the conference room while her executive officer, Leopold Halsey, sat, his concern matching her level on the inside.  They’d been recalled to Starbase 72 along with the Mackenzie.  The call to return to their home station had been direct and immediate.  When they’d arrived, they’d been informed Daedalus and Mackenzie were being reassigned, and they had just a few hours to vacate the ship to await further orders on the station.  The command crews had been dispersed to other waiting areas.  Dread repeated her question to the air, “What in the hell is going on?  I don’t understand.  If it was just us, fine.  But us and the Mack?”

Halsey wasn’t sure what to make of it either.  It felt unusual, but things hadn’t been very usual since Frontier Day and the following Borg experience that the Fourth Fleet had found themselves chasing.  “Well, either we upset a fleet captain, admiral, or higher…but we haven’t really had enough time to do that.”

Dread scowled at him.  He had a habit of being too good sometimes, and while she played by the rules, he seemed to cherish celebrating them.  The problem was that he was a damned near perfect XO, and she’d be lost without their daily breakfast meetings every morning.  She scoffed, “I’m getting better at not pissing off the people above me.”  She rolled her eyes at his side glance, “I said getting better, not perfect.”

Leo smiled, “You do good work, Helena.”  The door to the room opened, and a nameless captain stepped in and handed Dread a PADD.

“You and your crew are being reassigned to a better-equipped starship to assist with the ongoing issues in the demilitarized zone.  Captain Walton remains the Division Commander.  She will meet with you shortly.”

Dread read through the PADD, her eyes widening at each step.  She handed it to Halsey, “You’re giving us a Constitution III?  We’d barely gotten to know the Daedalus.”  There was a quieting thought that they trusted her with a bigger and better ship.  She looked to her lips and held the rest of her thoughts inside.

“You and our crew have proven in short order you’re qualified for the assignment, Captain Dread.  With your experienced command team, we have no doubts you’ll be successful in your mission.  Good luck to you both.”  He stood at attention, and they returned the favor, and he walked out the door without another word.

Halsey read through the orders twice, “There’s a lot of praise for you and the rest of us in here, Helena.  I know you don’t always believe it, but they’re right on this.”

She scowled, “I don’t have to like it.  Let’s get together with the senior staff – we’re taking on a bunch of ensigns and a few cadets according to that – we’ve got some work to do.”

“How’s the new ship?”  Dread stood in her bare ready room, her annoyance still pronounced on her face.  Wren Walton was on the screen in front of her.  She still had a look of shock on her face.  They had been reassigned to the Obena class Dragonfly and with that came an additional layer of new crew similar to the loadout on the Douglas.

“Well, it’s bigger.  And lots to learn.  Bridge is where it should be.”  Walton sighed and leaned back in her ready room chair, “I’m still not sure what’s going on – we’re being sent back out to our previous assignments.  Your ship won’t have any problems with the Connie III, but the Obena class has a reputation.  I’m not sure we’re going to make much progress when we fly back in this thing.” Dread asked, and her CO answered, “It’s earned the nickname ‘Empty’ Promise’ in some of the border worlds, and given our operating theatre – we’ll be getting a lot of guff from folks.  The Dragonfly isn’t a ship you ignore, so that’ll help, I think.” 

Dread shifted into her chair, “It is good that we’ve still got plenty of work to do out there…but we’re going to be carrying a load of ensigns…and they even gave us some cadets.  Not sure how I feel about that.”

Wren chuckled dryly, “Well, we were all cadets once, Helena.  I don’t know about you, but I remember my cadet cruises.  Hard to forget bring put in the middle of something that reminds you how brief this life out in space can be.” Her eyes went distant for just a moment, and Dread watched her wrestle her focus back, “We’ll depart in the next hour to get back on station.  Let’s get updated department head reports in four hours and take stock of what we have below decks for people and skills.”  The channel closed.

Dread turned to Halsey, “We’ve still got to deal with the Pandora Crawford situation.”

Halsey groaned, a rare statement of annoyance from his usual optimistic persona.  “I know this goes against my doctor’s creed and oath, but we might have to kill her.  She’s shown her willingness to do it herself.  I don’t think she goes quietly.  Reminds me of a few of my patients back home – convinced they were right no matter the cost or pain they inflicted.”

Helena leaned back in her chair, “I don’t disagree with you, Leo.  We’re going to have to do something.  She won’t give up trying to get to Carolyn or Pete.  Something’s got to give.”