As the blue hue of the transporter washed away from his body, Viran took a step off the transporter pad and looked around the small room, sighing. He tugged his side bag up onto his shoulder tighter and turned out of the room and onto the Promenade. He looked around as the massive open complex encircled the station. His eyes could only see a portion of it and he felt overwhelmed by the bustle of activity that his brain could process as his eyes moved. His mind was racing with thoughts of his new flag posting, his new command, along with taking over the Fourth Fleet’s Task Force 21.

Finally, his wandering was interrupted by the escalating echo in his direction. “… sir? … sir? Admiral?”

Viran took a deep breath as he shifted his focus, “Yes, sorry. I was just admiring this Promenade.”

“Understandable sir. It can be quite a sight. I’m Commander Reuber Feld, your first officer,” the Human man finally extended his arm.

Accepting it, Viran also introduced himself, “Admiral Viran. Thank you for steadying the ship over the last two months after Captain Teg passed. Also, I’m sorry for your loss. I know you were close.” 

“Thank you, I appreciate it. Would you like a tour of the Promenade?”

“Yes, Commander. I’ve been briefed about the situation here on the station by Starfleet Intelligence. It appears there is more than meets the eye and that this Promenade is bustling for several reasons,” the Andorian quipped.

“Yes sir,” Commander Feld started as the two men turned and began walking the Promenade. “The Promenade, as you can see, is huge on Deep Space 2. It encircles the top of the station and includes, give or take, approximately 750 shops and restaurants of various sizes contained on several levels in a ring around the station with the open arboretum in the center. It changes constantly as shops come or go. The Promenade also includes recreational spaces, and, of course, the large viewports where you can see ships coming and going.”

The two men continued walking along the Promenade, Viran occasionally looking at the large arboretum in the center of the large, open space. He was also admiring how many shops the Promenade truly had as they moved along the walkway and how welcoming everyone seemed to be. It was truly a center of commerce and showed that, despite what Starfleet felt, Deep Space 2 was an extremely important station for the area.

“Okay, so that is the official tour. What about the unofficial tour? The one Starfleet Intelligence started to give me before I got here,” Viran asked pointedly.

“That is more complicated,” the Commander responded.

“Uncomplicate it for me,” the Andorian shot back.

“Truthfully? We’re a station that Starfleet has ignored for a long time. Sure, they built this new station a few years ago to replace the old one. But other than that? Our ships patrolling the area are half a century old, our security is woefully unequipped for some of the happenings on this station, and everyone here knows it and takes advantage,” Commander Feld finished with a sigh of relief, almost as if unburdening himself.

“Don’t worry, Commander. That is why Starfleet sent me. Well, and a little arm twisting on my part,” the Admiral shot an affirming glance to his new first officer as if to say the situation would be okay. “What about this Kalva? Starfleet Intelligence believes him to be the ring leader.”

“I’d agree, but we’ve never been able to catch him on so much as jaywalking,” Feld admitted.

“That is why I am here, and I have a specialist from Starfleet Intelligence coming on the James Hutton tomorrow,” Viran stopped and turned to his new XO, “How do you think a direct confrontation would work with Kalva?”

“He’d lie and deny. We have to catch him red-handed. Why? What is going on, sir?” the XO directly asked in a worried tone.

“Starfleet Intelligence believes that Kalva is a higher ranking member of the Orion Syndicate using his business here as a cover to move goods through the Federation and off to Syndicate hideouts and strongholds. Recently, though, he’s landed on their radar because they believe that he has been trying to get his hands on some highly classified technology, including Borg components salvaged from Frontier Day. I don’t think I need to stress how important it is that the Orion Syndicate does not get their hands on Borg technology,” Viran firmly stated.

“That would be bad for everyone. So what do we do about it?” 

“I think I’m going to go meet Mr. Kalva myself…” Viran said as he smirked and wandered off on his own through the Promenade.