The Sequoia moved cautiously through the nebula at one-tenth impulse, its three-man crew tense as the gravitational eddies tugged at the ship’s hull. Cadet Jeremy Ryan monitored the shuttle’s systems inside the cramped cockpit, sweat beading on his forehead while Lieutenant Amri handled the conn. Every flicker of sensor distortion sent a jolt through his nerves.

“Status?” Commander Mehta asked in a low voice, his gaze never leaving the forward viewport.

Ryan exhaled slowly, steadying his nerves. “Following the impulse wakes, but it’s leading us deeper into the nebula. The gravitational eddies are making navigation tricky.”

Amir grunted, maneuvering around a large chunk of rock floating within the nebula. “And we still don’t know what we’re heading into.”

Ryan’s eyes narrowed as he examined the readings. “Wait… I’m detecting open space ahead. The turbulence is dropping off… something’s there.”

Mehta frowned. “All stop. Cut main power. RCS thrusters only.”

Ryan’s fingers danced over the controls, and the Sequoia powered down, drifting forward in near silence, using only short bursts of thruster control to maintain course. They floated like another piece of debris, their sensor profile vanishing into the surrounding noise of the nebula.

A few moments later, Ryan’s voice tightened. “I’m getting faint readings ahead. Structure of some kind. It’s massive.”

Mehta leaned in. “A ship?”

Ryan shook his head. “No. It’s an installation. Looks like an asteroid base, it’s massive.”

A moment of tense silence filled the cockpit before Mehta made his decision. “Alright. We’ve found our target. Keep power low and let’s see what we’re dealing with.”

Amir’s brow furrowed as he studied the forward display. “What can we determine about the installation?”

Ryan tapped at the console, “Definitely Cardassian in design, but it’s been heavily modified. I’m picking up multiple overlapping energy signatures… old fusion reactors, a residual antiproton field, and even trace amounts of Dominion polaron emissions.” He shook his head. “It’s like a patchwork of different technologies. Some of this is decades old, but other systems look recently activated.”

Mehta’s expression darkened. “Can you get a read on life signs?”

Ryan adjusted the sensor parameters, forcing the scanners to compensate for the nebula’s interference. “Picking up Cardassian biosigns… at least a few hundred spread across the base. Most are clustered around central command nodes and engineering sectors.” He fine-tuned the filters, his brow furrowing. “Wait… I’ve got a second group. Human, Bajoran, Andorian, Sir these match Vallejo’s crew. They’re confined to a reinforced lower compartment, likely a detention block. Security fields are active, and there are localized power surges… could be automated restraints or environmental controls.”

Amir frowned. “If the crew is on the station, where’s the Vallejo?”

“Cadet, are you detecting any Starfleet power signatures?” Mehta asked.

Ryan’s fingers moved across the console as he pushed the sensors to their limits. The interference from the nebula and the station’s shielding made it difficult to get a clear reading. “There’s something… I’m detecting Starfleet power signatures, but they’re faint and erratic. It looks like the Vallejo is inside the base, but I can’t get a solid fix on its condition.”

Mehta’s eyes scanned the viewscreen, calculating their next move. “We need more data, but we can’t risk detection. If we’re caught, it’s game over.”

Ryan swallowed, his fingers hovering over the console. “We could…uh, maybe adjust the sensor sweep to a subspace harmonic frequency, like a… like a ghost signal. The interference from the nebula should mask our signature. It would blend into the background noise, keeping us off their radar. That’s how Kor and the IKS Klothos snuck up on the Romulan base at Korma VI.”

Amir glanced over at Ryan, then back to the controls. “You mean we’d use the nebula’s natural interference to hide our sensor emissions?” he asked, more for clarification than approval.

Ryan nodded, although the uncertainty was clear in his voice. “Yes, Sir. If we match the frequency of the turbulence around us, we should be able to make it look like background radiation. The station’s sensors wouldn’t be able to distinguish us from the nebula.”

Mehta crossed his arms over his chest, thinking. “That could work. But it’s risky, if we drop out of alignment even for a moment, their sensors might pick us up. We need to be precise.”

Amir shifted in his seat, keeping his hands light on the controls. “We’d also need to keep the shuttle at minimal power, use thrusters only when necessary. The moment we make any significant power surge, we’ll light up like a beacon in the darkness.”

Ryan frowned, a bit unsure of himself. “I… I think I can adjust the modulations to keep the emission patterns low, but I’m not sure if it’ll be enough to stay hidden with all the interference.”

Mehta turned his sharp gaze to Ryan, then back to the viewport. “We won’t know unless we try. Amir, take us closer, slowly. Cadet, adjust the sensors and give us a burst scan, not a constant sweep. The less time we spend sending out emissions, the better.”

Ryan nodded, fingers trembling as he made the adjustments, but Mehta wasn’t done yet. He turned to Amir. “Can we get a better read on the base’s communication systems? If we know how they’re talking internally, we might be able to find a weak point.”

Amir’s brow furrowed. “A full scan might alert them. But we could try a passive comms sweep. If we tune into their frequencies using a low-power burst, we might catch some of their conversations without alerting them. It’ll be like listening in on a conversation across a crowded room.”

Mehta considered that for a moment. “Alright. Go for it. We need to know what they’re saying. Even a snippet could give us an edge.”

Ryan quickly adjusted the comms array, his voice a bit more confident now. “Passive comms scan underway, Sir. I’ll try to minimize any trace emissions. If they’re using encrypted channels, though, we might still miss some signals.”

___________________________

The air was thick with the scent of stale metal and recycled atmosphere. The dim light in the jeffries tubes flickered intermittently as Vex adjusted the small, battered comm device. Her hands trembled as she pressed the device against the wall, hoping it would transmit beyond the interference.

“We’re running out of time,” Anari whispered, her voice strained but steady. She crouched beside her, her breath shallow, eyes darting to the ceiling every few moments. Her fingers brushed against the phaser in her lap.

Vex gave her a quick glance, her expression tight with determination. “I know. But we’re not giving up yet.” She lowered her voice, knowing their time was limited. “If this doesn’t reach someone…”

“It will,” Anari cut in softly, her hand resting on Vex’s shoulder.

Vex’s emerald eyes flicked over to the nearby storage lockers, half-hidden in shadows, the place where they had taken refuge. The sound of distant footsteps echoed faintly through the bulkhead, but there was no sign of the guards. They had to stay silent, stay hidden. She keyed in the encryption code, the same one she’d used during training, the one that would allow them to mask their signal just enough to hopefully slip through.

Her fingers moved with practiced precision, but each press of the keys felt like a countdown. Sweat beaded on her brow, mixing with the grime on her face. It had been hours since their capture, and the exhaustion was beginning to settle into her bones.

“It’s active,” she muttered under her breath, looking at the small blip on the comm unit. “Now, we just have to hope it reaches them.”

Anari nodded grimly, glancing over her shoulder again. “We’ve already sent the first part. We can’t keep the transmission going too long.”

Vex’s hand hovered over the device. “Just enough… just enough to let them know we’re alive. That they’re coming.”

She hit the button to send the distress signal, watching as the encrypted message blinked through the device and vanished into the ether.

They glanced briefly, both knowing this was a long shot at best. “Now we wait,” Anari whispered.

Vex nodded, but her mind was already racing. It wasn’t over yet.

___________________________

As Ryan worked, the cockpit was filled with a moment of tense silence. The Sequoia floated out of the nebula’s perimeter.

Then, as Ryan fine-tuned the settings, the console beeped… a faint encrypted signal flashing on the screen. His eyes widened in surprise. “Sir… I’m picking up something. It’s faint, but it’s definitely coming from inside the station.”

Mehta’s eyes narrowed at the readings on the console.

Ryan got to work, already working to decrypt it. “Sir, it’s an SOS… encrypted, but I can make out part of it. It’s Vex.”

Amir’s hands tightened on the controls. “How is it possible for us to pick it up and not the base?”

Ryan’s brow furrowed as he analyzed the signal. “The station’s internal relays are using outdated encryption protocols, something from the old Federation days, I think. It’s not the tightest security. The encryption is weak, but it’s enough to avoid triggering any alarms. The transmission is bouncing off the internal relay systems inside the station and slipping past their comms sensors, but we’re catching it because of the nebula’s interference.”

Amir glanced at Mehta, a mixture of skepticism and caution in his expression. “So, they’re hiding their signal by bouncing it around inside the base, and we’re catching it because their security doesn’t recognize the old encryption.”

Mehta’s tone turned hard. “How long before they catch on?”

Ryan quickly scanned the data. “If they haven’t already noticed, the signal is barely escaping the interference from the nebula and the shielding. But it’s weak. It won’t last long unless we act fast.”

Mehta’s mind raced. “Alright, we’ve got a lead. Let’s hear it.”

Ryan adjusted the frequency and played the message through the shuttle’s speakers. The voice crackled with static, but there was no mistaking it.

“*** hurry… they’re moving… we can’t hold out much longer. Anari is ***” The transmission was interrupted by a burst of static. A few moments passed before a distorted voice returned. “Help us… please.”

Mehta’s jaw clenched. “They’re alive. We’ve got to get them out of there.”

Amir’s hands were already adjusting the shuttle’s course. “I’ll start heading toward the station’s perimeter. We’ll need to stay under their detection threshold while we look for an entry point.”

Mehta turned back to Ryan. “Cadet, keep monitoring that transmission. If anything changes, we need to know.”

Ryan nodded, focusing intently on the console. “I’m on it.”