Stepping through the airlock, Fleet Captain McCallister led his senior staff through the threshold on what was old but familiar grounds for him and so many of them. Returning to Deep Space 19 had been like a homecoming for the Odyssey. Only a few years ago, the Odyssey was based out of this station, supporting efforts with the Romulans while trying to undertake explorative work in the far reaches of the Beta Quadrant. 

McCallister immediately noticed several modifications to the station. However, what caught him off guard was Commander Layla Fitzgerald’s presence. As always, the chief science officer of Deep Space 19 greeted them with a broad smile and open arms. He had expected to see someone more senior than her, but he was more than happy to see her.

“Welcome back!” she called out, her arms wide in a warm embrace.

“Layla, it’s so good to see you,” McCallister replied, returning the hug.

Their history ran deep, dating back to their days on the Trinity. McCallister, once the ship’s chief operations officer and later its field-promoted captain, and Fitzgerald, the science officer, had weathered many adventures together. 

“You’re looking well,” she said, smiling before teasing him about some grey hairs coming through.

“Well, fatherhood and being a captain for so long does it to you,” McCallister chuckled. “How’s Sturok?”

“He’s doing well,” Fitzgerald replied, her smile softening at the mention of her husband. “He regrets he couldn’t be here to welcome you. He’s busy with the admiral, preparing for the briefing.”

Sturok had also served on the Trinity; as such, McCallister nodded, recalling his role in encouraging Sturok to ask Fitzgerald out years ago. “I suppose the admiral’s summons has something to do with these underspace corridors?” he inquired.

Fitzgerald nodded. “Indeed, the admiral is hosting an important briefing for us all, but Admiral Jaret wishes to see you in her office first, J-P.”

Surprised to hear that, McCallister nodded. “Now?” He checked.

“Now,” Fitzgerald confirmed. “I’ll take your staff to the wardroom.” 

Fitzgerald gestured for them all to follow her down one corridor. Hanging back, Duncan and Reyas approached McCallister. 

“You okay, James?” Reyas asked about her concern for her husband, which was evident in her tone. 

“My gut is telling me something big is coming,” McCallister replied. “Why would the admiral want to see me separately?”

“It’s probably nothing,” Duncan stated with a shrug. “Maybe she’s giving you a preview of the briefing?”

“Well, whatever happens, we’ll face it together,” Reyas assured her husband.

Appreciating their thoughts, McCallister agreed with them and made his way towards the nearest turbolift, letting them catch up with the rest of the group. 

“Come in,” Jaret replied after hearing the chime go off. 

Standing and reading a PADD in her hands, Vice Admiral Jaret had kept her focus on its contents as the doors to her office opened. Hearing footsteps behind her, she spun on her heels and smiled immediately at her guest.

“James,” She greeted.

“Admiral, it’s good to see you,” McCallister said as he walked across the room to close the gap between them.

She extended her arms towards McCallister, just like Fitzgerald had done earlier, and hugged him. “You’re looking well,” Jaret told him as she motioned him to sit on the long, curved navy blue sofa underneath the large viewport. “You still a tea drinker?”

“Aye, ma’am,” McCallister answered as he sat down.

Jaret replicated two mugs of tea before returning to where her guest was and handing him on. “Here you go,” She said before sitting down too. 

“Thank you,” He replied politely. 

Leaning onto the sofa, the admiral took a sip of her tea and rested the mug on her lap with one hand clasping it. “I read your last mission report; it sounded like you and the Bexa were lucky to find that underspace aperture back to the Typhon Expanse.”

McCallister nodded. “We had spent almost three weeks hiding in a class nine nebula making repairs to both ships. We weren’t expecting to find that aperture to take us back so close to the Lioh system.”

“Your report stated it closed behind you after you arrived on the other side?” Jaret checked.

“Yeah, Corella believes the high level of tachyons around the exit aperture forced it to collapse on itself naturally. We left behind a probe for the folks at Deep Space Seventeen to study it; the last we heard, they said they believed the aperture was regenerating.” McCallister said. He looked at the admiral. “Permission to speak freely, ma’am?”

“Of course,” Jaret encouraged. She knew what he was going to ask him, so she let him speak his mind before she shared the next bit.

“Commodore Py’Tellan wasn’t forthcoming with why both ships were sent to Deep Space Nineteen? All she shared was orders from the top brass at Fourth Fleet Operations wanted us here,” He stated. “I’m assuming it’s got something to do with the underspace development?”

“I take it you’ve not been read in on our little tunnel through the stars?” She asked, using her thumb to point towards the windows behind her. 

Shaking his head, McCallister denied all knowledge.  He didn’t know that an aperture had been found at Kovar. “No, but we detected the warning buoy as we approached the station. I also noticed the station has moved, and many orbital defence platforms are in the system.”

“I’m glad you’ve not lost your observational skills, James,” Jaret said almost jokingly. “I’ll brief you and the others in more detail soon, but I can confirm we’ve got an underspace corridor aperture here in the Kovar system that leads to the Delta Quadrant.”

Instantly, she saw the pieces fall into place across McCallister’s expression. “Let me guess. You want us to investigate what’s on the other side.”

With her eyes widening alongside her big grin, Jaret nodded. “You got it in one, James!” 

McCallister sighed slightly as he rested his mug on the glass coffee table before them. “Though my crew will be eager to get back to exploring the Delta Quadrant, we’ve still got some hull damage after our incident with the Entharans.”

Jaret knew what McCallister was saying. “We’ll get the Odyssey fully repaired while you’re here, but James, it’s okay.” She assured him with a soft smile. “I read the reports about what this Korvain guy was like. He sounds like a ruthless son of a bitch.”

“Ruthless doesn’t give him enough credit, admiral,” McCallister stated. “After we went into hiding, we discovered he has many ties with other worlds in the Swallow Nebula region. Anytime we tried to seek help from someone, somehow, one of his scouts would be nearby. It’s no fun playing cat and mouse with an Odyssey-class ship and a Ross-class ship.”

“Then it’s good you’re safe here and that he hasn’t found out about the Kovar aperture,” Jaret replied.

The sudden realisation then hit McCallister like a Borg Probe at transwarp. “Are you telling me that aperture links us to the—”

“The Swallow Nebula region?” Jaret asked before nodding. “It does. One of our long-range probes confirmed it a couple of weeks ago, along with sensor logs we obtained from some Caatati refugees.”

McCallister appeared to deflate at hearing that. He didn’t get a chance to say anything else before Jaret carried on talking.

“And we’re not sending just you and the Themis back,” She said, sounding commanding. “You’ll go in with a few others.”

“Ma’am, we’ve still not heard from the Constitution. Isn’t Starfleet spread too thin to mount such an operation?” McCallister quizzed.

Shaking her head, Jaret’s smile remained. “I’ve got some good news for you,” she paused as she looked out her window. “It should be arriving anytime soon.” Jaret tapped her combadge and asked ops if their next guests had arrived. An affirmative response came back, and Jaret looked out of the large bay window. 

Her words made no sense until McCallister also looked out of the window. Dropping out of warp and in close formation were three vessels. All of them were approaching the station at high impulse. Instantly, the colour in McCallister’s face went completely white. 

“Is that…” He stuttered before composing himself. “Is that the Constitution?”

Jaret nodded, still smiling. “Along with the Bellerophon and the—”

“The Triton,” McCallister interrupted. His smile got wider. He turned to Jaret. “How? What? When? How?”

Chuckling, Jaret was pleased to see their arrival had improved his mood. “Repairs to both the Bellerophon and Triton were completed a month or so ago. They’ve been undertaking some shakedown cruises, but their crews have been reassigned elsewhere. And the Constitution, well, I’ll let your brother explain how he got back to us via the Barzan Wormhole a few weeks ago.”

“So are you sending all five of us through the aperture then?” McCallister asked.

“Not five,” Jaret corrected him. “Seven.”

“Seven?”

“Seven,” Jaret said with a nod. “The Destiny and the Orion are joining you too.”

A wider shocked expression now appeared across McCallister’s face. “That’s one hell of an exploration squadron!”

“And you’ll remain in command of them all, James,” Jaret stated. “With one little change.”

From being surprised and startled, McCallister now appeared confused and worried. “I knew something was going to happen.”

“It’s all good,” Jaret said as she stood up and walked over to the door that linked her office to the small meeting room on the other side. Jaret noticed that McCallister hadn’t followed her and gestured for him to follow her. 

Seconds later, he jumped off the sofa and was beside her. She opened the door and soon took him into the room. 

Sitting at the head of the table with a mug of tea in one hand and a collection of PADDs around him was Fleet Admiral Luke Duncan. Immediately after hearing the door open, the senior flag officer smirked and looked up from his work. “James, it’s been too long.”

“Fleet Admiral Duncan,” McCallister said, grinning. “It’s good to see you, sir.”

They closed the distance between each other to shake their hands. Duncan was the reason why McCallister was a captain and how he got the Odyssey. He wasn’t expecting to see the Director of Fourth Fleet Operations be here.

“Max will be happy to hear you’re here,” McCallister expressed. 

“Please don’t tell him yet,” Duncan said. “I want to surprise him and my grandsons.”

“My lips are sealed, sir,” McCallister promised.

Another person stepped forward from the other side of the room. McCallister immediately recognised him. “Commander Sturok!” 

The tall Vulcan officer bowed his head after placing his hands behind his back. “It is agreeable to see you, Fleet Captain McCallister,” Sturok said formally. 

Jaret then caught McCallister had considered something, and before asking him what was wrong, he spoke up.

“Now what Layla said makes sense,” He stated.

“What did she say?” Jaret probed. 

“Well, she indicated that Sturok was busy with the admiral getting ready for the briefing, but she didn’t state which admiral,” McCallister said, still smiling. 

“That’s my doing,” Duncan said as he leaned against the long wooden polished table. “What we’re going to talk about is critical to the defence of not just the Federation in this region but also our interests in the Delta Quadrant.”

“That sounds concerning,” McCallister remarked, crossing his arms.

“Hopefully, we can avoid any issues,” Jaret assured him.

Duncan turned to Sturok. “Commander, can you go ahead of us and ensure everyone is ready for us.”

“Of course, sir,” Sturok replied with another slight bow of his head before he swiftly left the room.

“James, I’m afraid I can’t remain on Deep Space Nineteen as long as I’d like to,” Duncan stated. “Once we’ve briefed your squadron, I’m heading to the Devron Fleet Yards to see what other assets we can move out to help with this new situation we find ourselves in.”

“I understand, sir,” McCallister said. 

Duncan turned around and picked up a wooden box on the table. “James, as you know, with our losses from Frontier Day, Starfleet is still recovering, and we need good leaders now more than ever.” He turned back, handed the box to McCallister and gestured for him to open it. “As a result of the current situation and with the Odyssey Squadron being expanded, I hereby promote you to the field commission of Commodore.”

Jaret was so pleased for McCallister that she gave him a small clap as she congratulated him. He was in pure shock as he looked at his commodore pips.

“I don’t know what to say,” McCallister uttered. 

“Thank you?” Jaret suggested.

“Of course,” McCallister said, trying to excuse his initial response. “It’s just not expected, especially with me only being made a fleet captain earlier this year.”

“Well, it’s not the norm; you’re right there, James,” Duncan confirmed. “But as I said, with so many experienced officers being killed by the Borg and now with underspace corridors opening up across the entire galaxy, Starfleet needs to respond and that needs well-tested field officers doing their bit.”

“You can use my office in a minute to replicate a new uniform, but you need to know that your promotion does come with one change,” Jaret said, changing her tone slightly.

“I don’t like the sound of that,” McCallister replied.

The two admirals looked at one another before looking back at McCallister. 

“You’re going to be at the forefront of our operations in the Swallow Nebula region, and you’ll be in charge of seven ships, which includes over five thousand officers; you will have a lot on your plate to deal with,” Jaret said. 

“We need your focus to be on the mission and the entire squadron, James,” Duncan added. “Do you understand?” 

McCallister nodded. “Sure.”

“That means that the Odyssey will be your flagship, but you won’t be in actual command of her,” Jaret remarked. The moment she said that she saw McCallister’s face drop again.

“Then who will command the Odyssey?” McCallister quizzed.

“Max!” a familiar voice called out.

After leading the rest of the Odyssey’s senior staff into the enormous room that was Deep Space 19’s primary wardroom, Captain Max Duncan wasn’t expecting to hear anyone call after him. The room was busy with not only the Odyssey’s senior staff and the station’s senior staff (whom he knew) but also others he didn’t initially recognise. 

The voice that had called him was his long-time friend and Odyssey’s former chief engineer, Tremt Hunsen. 

“Tremt, I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” Duncan said as he made his way over. His husband, Court, had stayed by his side as the others all moved towards one of the tables on the other side of the room that Fitzgerald had motioned for them to go towards. It was filled with pastries and other refreshments. 

Captain Cambil stood with Hunsen. The Bajoran woman held a mug of raktajino tightly. “I don’t think any of us was expecting this,” Cambil said, motioning to the large crowd of officers. She then noticed the door through which the Odyssey lot had come through was closed, and they were missing someone. “Where’s James?”

“He was told to see the admiral,” Court answered.

Duncan saw both Cambil and Hunsen look surprised to hear that. “Do you know why?” he asked.

“No,” Cambil said, shaking her head. “However, do you know who that is?” She said, pointing towards the other side of the room with her index finger, which was initially wrapped around her coffee mug. 

Duncan and Court looked over their shoulders to where Cambil was aiming. Standing almost in the opposite corner was a tall man wearing a red command uniform who initially had his back to them. He was talking to a woman wearing a similar uniform. She was an Efrosian who had long, curly white hair.  The man then turned around. 

“Captain Zack Marshall-Bennet,” Duncan commented. 

Captain Zack Marshall-Bennet was a commanding presence in Deep Space 19’s wardroom. His short sandy-brown hair, sharp blue eyes, and well-kept beard gave him a refined yet rugged look. His Starfleet uniform, with a bold red command stripe, accentuated his athletic build.

“I heard after Starfleet Intelligence found him that he turned down a promotion to the admiralty,” Cambil said in hushed tones. 

“Really? Why?” Court asked in a similar quieter manner.

“He never wanted to become an admiral,” Cambil replied. “He was given back command of his old ship, the Destiny.”

“Whose that with him?” Duncan asked, without gesturing to the Efrosian woman who chuckled at something Bennet had said. 

“Captain Mo’Lee-Krabreii,” Cambil said through almost gritted teeth.

“You know her?” Hunsen inquired.

“You could say that,” Cambil said with a sigh.”

Turning back to her, Duncan was intrigued. “Don’t leave us there, Bexa. Do you two go back?”

“We do,” She said. “We served on the Crazy Horse together back in the late seventies. She was a pilot; I was in security and tactical.”

“And you weren’t the best of friends?” Hunsen guessed.

“That’s putting it mildly,” Cambil remarked. “She could give the Borg Queen a chill with her sharp wit.”

Duncan, Court and Hunsen turned their attention back to Krabreii. She appeared to be an extremely confident woman. Her skin had a pale, almost light tan hue common to her species, contrasted by her deep-set, expressive eyes that carried a sense of wisdom and intensity. Her hair was a cascading mane of snowy white, worn long and flowing freely, which added to the regal and authoritative presence that she projected.

“She can’t be that bad,” Duncan stated, looking back at Cambil. “Can she?”

“She’s a veteran pilot with so much confidence,” Cambil answered. “She rose through the ranks quickly after the Dominion War, like so many of us. She’s fiercely independent.”

“How come she’s still a captain then?” Court questioned.

“She’s made a few remarks that have upset the brass,” Cambil said. “Last I heard she has pissed off Admirals Dahlgreen, Beckett and Dowd.”

“That doesn’t seem like many,” Hunsen stated.

“Oh, that’s only the recent count,” Cambil said. “Before the attack on Mars, she once told Admiral Picard that Earl Grey tea tasted like Klingon bath water, and about ten years ago, she broke Admiral Janeway’s favourite coffee mug.”

“Damn, how comes she’s like that?” Duncan wondered aloud. “Surely she’s been put in her place?”

“Oh, she has,” Cambil confirmed. “But she’s never done anything to really get her booted out of the service. She’s too good. I’ve heard that Fleet Admiral Ramar had to step in to keep her from walking away after the Klingons killed her husband during the Archanis Campaign.”

“Well, I suppose that’s one way of getting yourself noticed by the top brass,” Duncan remarked.

“Talking of the top brass,” Hunsen gestured with his head to the main doors to the wardroom opening.

At that moment, everyone stopped and turned around after hearing someone call out for everyone to come to attention at the arrival of the three figures who entered. “Admirals on deck!” 

Duncan felt his stomach jump up as he saw his father standing at one end of the group. He hadn’t seen him for a little while, and a smile appeared across his face. Quickly, the fleet admiral caught his son’s attention, and he gave him a knowing wink. Duncan’s attention turned back to see Jaret leading the group, but it wasn’t her that his focus remained on. His commanding officer followed behind the two admirals, but James Preston McCallister was not in his usual uniform. 

Duncan turned to his husband, and straight away, he saw that Court had picked up on it, too, as much as Cambil and Hunsen had.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d like to introduce you to the newest member of the admiralty,” Fleet Admiral Duncan said, addressing the entire room, “Commodore James Preston Harvey McCallister.”