The lights were dim on the Bridge of the USS da Vinci; a little too dim for Commander Mary Anacostia-Bolling’s liking.  It made what few lights there were on the control panels glare too much.  Even the text on her Padd seemed to glow more than it should.  None of what it said made pleasant reading.

The ship was currently running on minimal power and hidden behind one of the larger moons of the gas giant, Simson VI.  They’d been there for just under a day; watching and observing the movements of the Vaadaur Supremacy.  She wished they were able to gather more data than they had; but a detailed scan would most likely be detected and their presence revealed.

They’d only observed one large ship in orbit; roughly 750 metres in length.  Along the side closest to them, they could see what looked to be 36 polaron weapons designed to bombard a planet’s surface; it was assumed there’d be a similar set up on the other side.  Four larger polaron cannons sat at the front of the vessel along with what appeared to be four torpedo launchers.  The ship carried a minimum of six fighter craft; they’d witnessed several change overs, were three of the fights would be launched from the larger vessel and replace those currently on patrol.

Anacostia-Bolling didn’t like how few Vaadaur ships there were.  Those fighters seemed an inadequate number to protect a ship of that size and more clearly designed to bombard planets rather than go up against other vessels.  She had a gut feeling, that something was off; that this was just too convenient an opportunity to attack.

The reports of the devastation on Simson III, would probably make a lot of captains rush in to save its inhabitants, currently estimated at 3.7 million plus may be 8 to 10 thousand tourists and holiday makers.  Her former Captain, Robert Eglin; would have done.  Being a planet not much smaller than Earth and having comparable land masses, it was somewhat an empty planet.  There weren’t anything that could be classed as a major city, and those areas of more dense occupation had come under orbital attack, most likely from the ship currently sat on the view screen.  A number of fires now raged across farmland and forest.  One fire was estimated to have a front covering nearly 34km, fanned by huge gusting winds, its own intensity had helped to create.  Everything in its path had been turned to ash and it had even jumped across a major river in order to reach the other bank and continue its rampage.

The Commander couldn’t help letting out a yawn.  How long had she been here, sitting in the Captain’s chair?  A quick look at the Chronometer gave her the bad news.  She’d been here since the start of Alpha shift; it was now half way through Beta.  She’d sent her XO away four hours ago telling the Trill woman should get some rest and she’d follow on shortly.

She turned to look at Beriev sat working at the Science station.  “You know you could have told me what time it is.” Mary stated in a pleasant rather than annoyed tone.

“I did, an hour ago, two hours ago.” The Saurian replied all the while his face and voice giving little away about his thoughts and mood.  “Need I continue?”

“No, I understand perfectly well when I’m not wanted.” The Commander half smiled back at him.

Beriev tilled his head thoughtfully; humour and sarcasm was something not entirely alien to him, but it still took a little getting used to, even now.  He also didn’t always let on when he did know it was a joke.  There was a mild satisfaction in confusing people that way.  “I can always keep an eye on things until the Gamma shift commences?”

Mary let out a sigh; she should really take the advice she’d given others and get some rest.  “Ok, you win. Just call me the second anything happens.”  The Commander stood and moved towards the door of the

“Winning was never my intention.”  The Saurian science officer replied.

Anacostia-Bolling, merely waved him into the Captain’s seat and said goodnight to Beriev and the rest of those on Bridge duty.  She passed her Ready Room on the left; instead heading to her quarters, that weren’t that much further away as it was.  Inside she removed her uniform jacket and tossed it over the back of the nearest chair; before replicating some drinking chocolate and taking a seat on her sofa.

**********

Lieutenant-Commander Alara Ley had gone to bed as had been suggested by her Captain; and she had slept a couple of hours.  But she was too restless; even the soothing words of her late husband echoing in her mind thanks to the symbiont she carried, hadn’t lulled her back to sleep.

Now she was sat on a stool at the bar of the ships main recreational facility on deck 8.  The bar and adjoining restaurant area had been designed to reflect the architecture and styles of 15^th Century Florence; though some of the modern technology couldn’t be completely hidden from view.  ‘The Palette’ as the place was now called, after its extensive refit, thanks to the woman who ran the place and took inspiration from the artist whose name the ship carried.

Eleanor Trazan or Ele as she preferred everyone to call her was a Betazoid and the only civilian currently aboard the da Vinci, with the help of a mostly holographic staff.  She’d placed a fresh orange juice on the counter top, only a moment before.

“Am I that predictable?”  Alara questioned after taking a sip.

“Well you don’t drink anything alcoholic real or synthetic during missions and you wouldn’t have come all this way just for a coffee.” The Betazoid smiled.

‘She’s good.’ Ley commented in Alara’s mind.

“I could have replicated the juice to.” The XO held the glass up before taking another sip.

“And miss the chance for a chat?” Ele asked; she was cleaning an empty glass with a cloth. She didn’t need to do this, not with all the technology at hand; it was just a way of looking busy and being close enough to chat with; if anyone wanted to talk.  If they ever paid close attention, they’d soon realise she was in fact always cleaning the same glass.  People felt more comfortable sharing things with her than they did the ships councilor, which was at the moment another hologram; referred to as the EHF (Emergency Holographic Freud) by the crew.  The councilor didn’t actually have a name of its own.

“It’s nothing much.” Alara sighed.  “I can’t get used to all this silence and not knowing what’s going on beyond the blackout.”

“I’ve never really know silence.” Ele placed the empty glass down.  “You’re all blurry murmurs in the back ground.”

“Is it really that bad?” Alara asked.

“Trust me, some of you lot can think very loud.” Ele laughed.  It was something she’d grown used to over the years.  But those first few months of feeling the thoughts of others encroaching on her mind had seemed terrifying.  As a young teen, a search and rescue team had found her alone in a small boat, out at sea; such was her desperate need to escape all the noise.  On being brought back to the shore, she didn’t need to read their minds to understand how worried her parents were.  Things got better soon after that.

“I’ve only got the one voice in my head.” Alara replied.  “I’m glad he’s with me though.”

“Glad to be with you.” The symbiont added.