“And with that, the first batch of new orbital platform weapons will come online by the end of tomorrow, ma’am.”

Looking up from her PADD, Admiral Jaret’s gaze met the Bajoran woman standing before her and the other senior staff. She smiled at Dalen, appreciating her consistency in being thorough in her work. “Thank you, Marjo,” the admiral said sincerely as she quickly scanned the report in her hands. 

Lieutenant Commander Dalen Marjo, the station’s assistant chief operations officer, was a crucial figure in the station’s operations. Jaret had been proud of Dalen over the years. From the young engineer who joined the construction project to build the station to now, Dalen was a hard-working, highly intelligent officer and an invaluable asset to D-S-Nineteen. Dalen was extraordinarily determined and ambitious with her career goals, and she was often found working long hours and going above and beyond with her efforts. She had wanted the Chief Operations Officer spot earlier in the year, but she had only been the deputy of her department for a few months, and Jaret wasn’t sure if she had the leadership skills needed to manage such a vast team. Dalen had tended to be more introverted. She often kept to herself, focusing intensely on her work. Though Jaret had noticed Dalen’s disappointment in not getting the top job, it had ignited a spark in her to prove she could do it. As such, in the last few months since Anizza Horin had joined the station as Dalen’s new superior, Dalen had gone out of her way to make Anizza feel like she was part of the department and had undertaken more duty shifts with her fellow operations officers and had submitted herself to more training around command. Jaret was pleased to see how much Dalen wanted to run her own department. 

“I notice that the deployment schedule of the platforms will require extra shifts from the operations department,” Jaret stated as she looked up at the PADD.

Before Anizza could respond, Dalen stepped forward. Her short, neat hair barely moved as she reassured their commanding officer. “The operations teams assigned to this are eager to have the weapon platforms operational before we face any further encounters with the Klingon Empire. We need to be prepared for any eventuality. Don’t worry, ma’am; we are closely coordinating our efforts with the Kovar Planetary Defence teams.”

“A show of strength,” Fitzgerald commented from the other side of the table. 

Jaret could see how others perceived that. She looked at Dalen one more time. “Thank you again, Marjo.” She turned to Anizza. “Anything else to add, commander?”

“Only to state that when I leave to visit Coppelius tomorrow, Marjo will be attending our daily senior staff meetings in my place,” Anizza said with a friendly smile.

“Finally sitting at the grown-ups’ table, hey Marjo,” Parin teased the engineer. 

Margo looked Parin in the eye and replied with a wry smile, “Well, someone has to make sure the grown-ups get their work done, doctor, while Anizza is away.”

A round of chuckles filled the room. Dalen’s dry wit was well-known. She thanked everyone for their time before making her way out of the wardroom. 

Jaret turned in her chair to face everyone else. Ever since the incident with the Remans and Klingons two months ago, a tense encounter that had tested the station’s defences and diplomatic skills, she had insisted on a daily senior staff briefing on station and sector operations. They weren’t long, but it ensured everyone was kept in the loop. Though their numbers were light the last week or so with Levy, Sturok, and Hawkins down on Kovar, they still met. 

“Next item,” The admiral insisted as she moved their meeting on, “Fleet Admiral Duncan’s visit to the station.” Jaret looked at Harper. “Jacinta, I take it security prep-”

She didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence when the intercom went off, and the senior officer of the watch in ops requested that she and the others attend ops straight away. Moving swiftly, the admiral led her officers out of the wardroom and towards ops. Thankfully, it was only a short walk down a corridor, and they were in the station’s command and control room.

“Report?” Jaret asked as she noticed the station was taken to yellow alert. 

Jaret’s curiosity was piqued when she was informed that Levy’s runabout had discovered an alien ship in orbit of Kovar, one that hailed from the Delta Quadrant. The admiral turned to Fitzgerald, who had taken her position at the science station and was in the best position to provide more information. “Any clues as to who they are?” she inquired, her voice tinged with anticipation.

Using the interactive holographic displays, Fitzgerald nodded. “Our database is recognising them as Caatati.”

“Caatati?” Taf echoed. “They don’t sound familiar.”

“You wouldn’t know them, Lenara,” Fitzgerald replied, addressing the counsellor’s remark. “They’re from the Delta Quadrant.”

“So how did they get in orbit of Kovar without our tracking stations seeing them?” McCord, who was beside the admiral, asked. 

Fitzgerald squinted at the information before her. “I can’t tell at this range; we need to get closer.” 

“Incoming call from Captain Levy’s runabout,” Anizza said from her station. She smiled momentarily as she recognised the Starfleet ID on the message. Jaret knew it was from her son, Tate, who had joined the team as their pilot. She had authorised his inclusion, a personal request from her communications officer. “The captain is leading a small away team to meet with the Caatati, and she’s requesting further assistance.”

Turning to her first officer, Anizza’s husband and Tate’s father, Jaret looked at Jaxxon. It was clear his Betazoid abilities could sense what she wanted him to do as he started to pull the readiness data on the Formidable. “Jaxxon, take the Formidable and see how the Caatati got here and if we’ve got an issue in our sensor detection grid.”

“Already on it, ma’am,” He answered as he called for his wife, Fitzgerald, Taf and Parin to join him on the turbolift that would take them to the docking port where their Defiant-class support ship was moored.

USS Formidable (NCC-74207) Kovar System, Alcott Sector, Beta Quadrant

Once the ship was underway, Jaxxon told Fitzgerald to start her sensor scans immediately. He stood with his hands on his hips in front of the captain’s chair. The urgency of finding out what was going on with their unexpected visitors worried him not only for the security of the Kovar system but also for their son’s safety. 

Calm down, Imzadi. 

Jaxxon looked at his wife, who was at the engineering station. He heard her thoughts and realised how much he was thinking aloud for her to hear. 

I’m sorry. 

She looked over at her should at him and smiled sweetly. They had remained a strong family since Frontier Day, and having their son away from them for such a long time had concerned them. However, they trusted both Levy (a former counsellor) and Lieutenant Hawkins to watch Tatuemm and ensure he didn’t spiral out of control as he had done on Starbase Bravo. They hadn’t heard anything since they had gone, so they had assumed no news was good news. 

Taf, who was at the helm, announced they were clear of the station.

“Ahead at full impulse, commander,” Jaxxon ordered.

Relying on one of her past hosts, who was a pilot, Taf pushed the Formidable to its top sub-light speed.

At that point, Doctor Parin entered the bridge. He had a PADD in his hand and approached Jaxxon, “Captain Horin, I’ve just pulled this from our database before we left the station; the Caatati are small in their numbers after the Borg assimilated most of their race.”

Hearing that alarmed Jaxxon, and he noticed Anizza’s back stiffen, too. “Thank you, Jowain,” The captain said as he skimmed the PADD’s contents. “I’m sure there will be some who are injured. Is sickbay ready?”

“We’re ready,” Parin confirmed.

“Knowing Captain Levy, if she knew that about the Caatati, she’s probably boarded their craft to break the ice with them,” Taf suggested. “The scars of the Borg may have made them distrustful of others.”

“Maybe,” Jaxxon slightly agreed. He looked over at Fitzgerald. “Commander, anything yet about what brought them here?”

Fitzgerald nodded. “I’ve linked up with Tate on their runabout; he is sending me live sensor feed.”

A sense of relief washed over Jaxxon after hearing that; Anizza shared the same thing with him. I told you not to worry about him, she said to him. 

“Anything helpful to explain how the Caatati got here?” Jaxxon asked. 

Fitzgerald shook her head. “Nothing from initial scans and the runabout’s sensor logs indicate they detected gravimetric distortions, but I’m not seeing anything like that now. Just a few stray tachyons. Whatever it was, it has disappeared for now.”

“A wormhole?” Jaxxon guessed.

Fitzgerald shook her head. “I’m not detecting neutrinos, but I could be missing something. I’d need to run more detailed scans.”

“That Caatati ship is a mess,” Anizza announced. “It looks like they took a beating before they arrived, and whatever dropped them off here caused more damage.”

“Captain Levy is hailing us, audio only”, Taf stated.

“Put her through,” Jaxxon ordered.

“Formidable, it’s good to see you here,” Levy said cheerfully over the channel. “We’ve made contact with the Caatati leader, Calhmin, and he is requesting further help with his injured and repairs.”

“Tell him we’re happy to take them back to the station, and we can beam over any of those seriously injured now for Doctor Parin to look at,” Jaxxon replied.

“Thank you, Jaxxon, they will appreciate it,” Levy stated.

“Dawn, do we know how they got here?” Jaxxon asked.

Levy’s response was quick. “Calhmin has said they were being chased by a Hirogen ship, and as they engaged their warp drive, they found themselves in what they thought was a subspace corridor, and then they got deposited here. Calhmin has agreed to share their sensor logs with us to help find a way to get them back.” 

“I’m sure Layla will appreciate that,” Jaxxon stated. “Tell them to prepare for us to lock a tractor beam onto them.”

“Captain Horin, Commander Sturok here; sorry for the interruption, but the Caatati hull is severely compromised. I am concerned that a tractor beam may cause further damage if the ship is not properly piloted.” Sturok declared.

“He’s right, Jaxxon,” Anizza stated as she showed a holographic display of the Caatati’s damaged state. “We need to extend our structural integrity field around them, and with the thrusters they have left, we would need to depend on them and a low-powered tractor beam to get them back in one piece.”

“Understood,” Jaxxon said after studying the scan. He turned his focus back to the away team. “Dawn, can the Caatati pilot their ship back to the station with us?”

“Unfortunately, their pilot died during the Hirogen attack; I’d like to bring Ensign Horin over to help Commander Sturok. He’s expertise is what we need here. I’ll send Lieutenant Hawkins back to the runabout to fly that back to the station.” Levy stated.

Knowing he couldn’t deny the idea, Jaxxon agreed and told Levy he was sending Anizza over with an engineering crew to begin repairs.

“Thank you, captain. I’ll remain here to continue to work with the Caatati to understand what happened to them,” Levy shared.

“Good luck, Formidable out,” Jaxxon said as he closed the channel. He gave Anizza a nod, giving her permission to go over to the Caatati vessel. He looked down at Taf. “Lenara, bring us alongside them and stand by with the tractor beam.”

“Aye, sir,” The joined Trill replied before looking back at him. She dropped her voice. “Sir, it is good that Tate is doing more.”

Appreciating the comment, Jaxxon nodded to her and hoped her sentiment was placed correctly. Returning to his chair, he looked at Parin. “Jowain, if the Caatati are in a bad state, you may want your staff on the station ready to receive several traumas.”

“We’ll be ready, sir,” Parin confidently said before leaving the bridge. 

Captain Horin sat down and tugged on the ends of his jacket. He wondered how bad it was over there as he looked at the Caatati ship on the viewscreen before them. He closed his eyes briefly and tried to find his son to send him a supportive thought.