Ready Room

“It’s good to have you back, Mister Hok,” said Captain Kirby.  “I mean that sincerely.  You did good work in the short time you were here.”

“Thank you, sir,” said Hok.

“Command questioned allowing you to come back, but they left that to me.  You fit in here, but you’ve got to make a decision.  Either you’re a Starfleet officer or you’re not.  If you leave again, there’s no coming back.  Understood?”  Kirby gave Hok a hard stare.

Hok shifted uncomfortably.  “I understand, sir.”

“Good.  You can return to security duty now.  See Lieutenant Iziraa for your shift and work assignments.  Dismissed.”

“Sir!”

As a condition for Hok returning to the Eagle, he had to tell Kirby the full story of what happened.  After he had left the room, Kirby wondered if the Ferengi officer actually did.

Mess Hall

“So you mean to tell me, after everything that happened, no one figured out that the princess was behind it?” said Hok.

Iziraa scowled, but before she could say anything, Doctor Weaver began choking on a bite of her meal.

“Lori?  Are you all right?” said Ohtani.

Through watering eyes and several gulps of tea, Weaver cleared her throat.  “I’m okay,” she rasped, wiping her eyes with her napkin.

The others looked at her to make sure, but after a few moments passed and everyone was satisfied Weaver was fine, they went back to talking about the missions Hok missed.

“No one even considered the princess,” said Iziraa.  “She had an impeccable reputation for kindness and helping others.  Besides, she never set foot in Equamar during the attempt on the prince’s life.”

Hok scoffed.  “Rule of Acquisition 6: Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity.  She wanted to marry a different man, so she did what she had to do to make it happen.  Easy-peasy, as Hewmons say.”

Iziraa scowled again.

“Makes sense to me,” said Ohtani, “but what do I know?”  She chuckled.

“That’s a nice theory, but we’ll never know,” said Weaver.  “I need to get back to sickbay.”  She started to get up.

“You still have ten minutes,” said Iziraa.

“Busy day.  See you later.”

Before Weaver started walking away, for a split second, she locked eyes with Hok.  It was obvious she knew something and it was bothering her.

Hok watched the CMO leave.  Maybe he could talk to her later.

“I’m just glad I wasn’t here when the Borg showed up,” said Hok, returning to the previous conversation.

“Yeah, that was bad.”  Ohtani shivered.

The ship jolted.

“What was that?” said Iziraa.

“Senior staff to the bridge.”  Captain Kirby’s voice urged over the ship-wide intercom.

Ohtani and Iziraa got up.  “Are you coming?” said Iziraa.

“Me?  I’m not a senior officer,” said Hok.

“You man the secondary tactical station on alpha shift.  Let’s go.”

“Yes, ma’am.”  Hok smiled.

Bridge

As Hok, Iziraa, and Ohtani filed out of the turbolift, they could see an anomaly on the forward view screen.  It resembled an open wormhole; round, with swirling colors, funneling inwardly to a black space in the center.

“Any idea what it is, Haia?” said Kirby.  “We were in our patrol sector and suddenly it was there.”

“Scanning now, sir,” said Ohtani.

“Helm, keep us a safe distance away.  If it starts pulling us in, get us out of here fast.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Captain, this is a subspace corridor,” said Ohtani.  “The science database has an extensive report on it from the USS Voyager under Captain Janeway.  It’s called, Underspace.  It’s a network of corridors that can be navigated to travel great distances in a short time.  The odd thing is, it was thought to exist only in the Delta Quadrant.”

“Why is one opening here?” said Kirby.

“Unknown,” said Ohtani.

“Captain, something is coming out of the opening,” said Iziraa.

The bridge crew watched as a small vessel emerged.  It was the size of a Starfleet shuttle, with a similar design.

“Scanning now,” said Iziraa.  “There’s scoring on the hull from energy weapons fire.  One life sign inside.  There’s a build up in the engine core.  An explosion is imminent.”

“Transporter room, lock onto the person in that ship and beam them out.  Iziraa, sickbay,” said Kirby.

Iziraa raced off the bridge.  Hok replaced her at main tactical.

“Transporter room, do you have them?” said Kirby.

“Yes, sir.  They’re in the buffer.  No weapons or pathogens detected.  Waiting on your order to finish the transport.”

“Shields up.  Security will give you the okay once they’re posted in sickbay.”

“Aye, sir.”

Who was coming to see them?

Sickbay

“Transporter room, we’re ready,” said Iziraa.  With antennae bobbing in anticipation, she glanced at Doctor Weaver, who nodded in return.

The transporter hummed and an image began to form on the floor.  Ready for anything, Iziraa held her breath.  This could be first contact from someone incredibly far away and she was part of it.  When the transport was complete, Iziraa gasped, her eyes wide in shock, her antennae rigid.  She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

Bridge

“Sickbay to bridge.”

“Go ahead, Doctor.  Is everything all right?” said Kirby.

“Yes, we’re okay, but we have a situation.  You need to come down here,” said Weaver.

Kirby paused, wondering what happened.  “I’ll be right there.  Roger, you have the conn.”  Standing, he looked at the opening to the subspace corridor on the screen.  What have you brought us today, he thought.  Nodding to his XO, Kirby went to the turbolift.  Time to find out.