“Shall I hail them again?” Nova asked.  

The cheery lilt to her question held the aroma of artifice, like that too-Jacarine flavour of Jacarine liqueur.  Taes appreciated the gesture.  It released the tense silence on the bridge; in moments, the murmurs of soft conversation rose up among the aft bridge stations again.

“We’ve been sitting here for four hours, staring at one another.  They haven’t responded to any of our hails yet,” Taes said, nodding at the Cardassians.  Through the transparent viewscreen, the shape of the Cardassian cruiser evoked a winged mythical beast with a proud chest.  

“They know where to find us,” Taes concluded.

Tiny workpods emerged from the cruiser periodically, swarming close to the mothership.  The cruiser engaged a tractor beam, positioning a length of semicylinder hull plating that a workpod had towed out.  From the science station, Yuulik asked for magnification on the screen.  A holographic frame zoomed in on the cylindrical deep-space platform that was being assembled by the workpods.

“It shows similarities to a sensor platform,” Yuulik commented, “or a defence platform.”

“You think they want to claim this Underspace aperture for the sole use of the Cardassian Union?” Nova asked, clearly energised by the scandal of that theory.  “So close to Federation space?”

Dispelling any distress over imaginary threats, Taes re-directed to what was directly in front of them.  She asked, “Are they constructing more of the navigational buoys they’ve been launching into Underspace?”

“I don’t believe so,” Yuulik said.  Her voice trailed off like it did when she was lost in thought.  She tapped at the sensor reading on her upper monitor and then shared, “The buoys in Underspace measure tachyon flows.  This platform is being assembled in a markedly different configuration.  It’s much larger and… and… that is a far larger power source.”

“Give me a full analysis, commander,” Taes requested.

“Oh?” Nova bubbled up.  She tilted her head and double-tapped on her console.  “Captain, we’re being hailed by the Cardassians.”

“Of course.  The moment we trained a high-power scan on their platform,” Taes remarked.  She took a breath and she planted her heels on the deck, pulling strength from the very spaceframe of the ship and her crew.  

Then, Taes ordered Nova, “On screen.”

The Cardassian who appeared on the viewscreen had close-cropped hair and heavy eyes. The slate-grey colour of her hair betrayed her advancing age, and the scar from her left cheek to her chin told the story of what kind of military career she had carved for herself.

“I am Gul Khem of the cruiser Vorkel,” she said.  Every word came out like a sigh as if Taes were a functionary requesting signatures in triplicate.  Even when she leaned in closer to the visual sensor, Khem couldn’t even make an accusation sound like anything but a trifle.

“Are you spying on me, captain?” Khem asked.

“I’m Captain Taes of the Starfleet explorer Constellation,” Taes responded without answering.  “We’re studying the Underspace aperture in this vicinity.  Much like you, I imagine?”

“Your USS Almagest seems far more interested in me,” Khem stated as fact.

“How so?” Taes asked.  She rubbed her chin in a posture of relaxed consideration, matching Khem’s energy.

Khem replied, “They’ve come through this aperture and circled us at least six times.”

“I believe you misunderstood, Gul Khem,” Taes said, using her title with deference.  “Almagest is a homing beacon for Starfleet ships that have become lost in Underspace.  She’s hailing them to Leonis if they’ve gotten turned around in uncharted corridors.”

“Hmmm,” Khem intoned.  “Leonis is on the other side of the border, inside Federation space.”

Sidestepping what Khem implied, Taes continued with her own gambit.  She raised her convivial energy as she spoke, emphasising her points with gentle waves of her hands.  In moments, she heard herself unintentionally mirroring Nova’s genial warmth.

“We notice,” Taes posed, “the navigational buoys you’ve seeded across Underspace in this region.  Could you tell me if you’ve scanned any star–“

“No,” Khem said before Taes finished the question.

Playfully, Taes asked, “No, you haven’t, or no, you can’t tell me?”

“No,” Khem said.

After a deep breath, Taes said, “Genuinely, I am asking for your assistance in locating dear friends who–“

Khem shook her head slowly. “How could I possibly offer anything to match Starfleet’s majestic scientific prowess? The Treaty of Bajor would hardly allow us to outpace your technological superiority.”

“Those phaser emitters of yours don’t agree,” Taes said plainly.  “They more closely resemble phased polaron emitters.”

Only now did Khem smile.

“How convenient for you to notice at this juncture, so I don’t have to mention it,” Khem said.  “Any Starfleet interference with our deep-space platform will be received as a hostile act against the Cardassian Union itself.”

And the communication channel abruptly closed.