Captain’s Skyrunner and Rodriguez, both married but chose to not take same last name to keep it quiet, we’re enjoying a quiet dinner together, the first one they have had since Kirok was promoted and transferred off the Thunderdragon. They were catching up and enjoying themselves.

Suddenly the red alert klaxons went off, followed by a serious bone jarring hit the ship took. Kirok and Sophia both got knocked out of their chairs and thrown hard to the deck floor. Kirok got a small cut on his forehead and Sophia sprained her wrist trying to soften the blow when she hit the deck. Kirok immediately tapped his comm badge, looking pissed off.

“Skyrunner to Bridge! What the hell is going on?!”

“Lionel here sir. We just had a collision with a very dense object. It appeared suddenly out of an Underspace aperture off our starboard bow.”

Kirok and Sophia exchanged concerned looks, knowing how serious the problem was now.

“I’m on my way. Skyrunner out.” He tapped his comm badge again, closing the channel. He looked at Sophia. “You ok?”

He helped her stand up, noticing she was favoring her right hand. Kirok took a quick glance at their quarters, shaking his head.

“Well, that was the best romantic dinner I’ve had,” Kirok said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at the situation.

“I’m ok, just a sprained wrist,” Sophia said, then looked around, “yes, this is definitely our best dinner date yet. You better get up to the Bridge. I’ll join you as soon as I can.”

Kirok nodded and nearly sprinted out his door and ran to the turbolift. His mind was racing, if there was an Underspace aperture here, then the Vaadwaur could be coming. His fears of losing his wife, his ship, and his crew, started to rise up. He forced those feelings aside and his mind went to Condition Red. He ran into the turbolift, barely able to stop before hitting the lift wall.

“Bridge!”

The turbolift started moving. His mind was racing of possible scenarios. His mind wanted to go back to thoughts of his wife, but he had to refocus. The lift doors opened and Kirok sprinted out and jumped down to the command chair area, startling Aramis. Aramis jumped out of the command chair, stood next to Kirok.

“Report?!” Captain Skyrunner barked.

“An Underspace aperture opened just off the starboard bow. Its sudden appearance caused some kind of subspace reaction with the quasar, which temporarily caused our engines to stall. A massive sized object then emerged and we fired 4 photon torpedoes at it, hoping to break it up. All they did was dent the object. It collided with us. I did have full shields up before it hit us. Shields took the brunt of the hit, plus the combination of the objects course relative to our position, it just grazed off our starboard shields. We are very lucky it was not a direct impact, or we would not be here now.”

Captain Skyrunner seemed to calm down a bit upon receiving that report. He looked at his friend, gave him a slight smile.

“Very good Commander. You did everything by the book,” Kirok said to Aramis, who took the First Officer’s seat. Kirok tapped his comm badge. “Skyrunner to Engineering, damage report?”

Kirok sat down in his command chair, leaning over towards Aramis.

“Sorry if I startled you. I was in the middle of a romantic dinner with my wife,” Kirok whispered to Aramis.

Aramis leaned over as well. “Ouch, sorry Captain. I’ll try to avoid the next asteroid that pops out of Underspace.”

Commander Lionel sat back in his chair, giving his captain a playful sarcastic look. Kirok returned with his own playful “phasers as eyes” look. They both slightly laughed at each other, then the intercom chimed. Kirok hit a keypad on his chair.

“Bridge here.”

“Sir, this is Lieutenant Williams, temporarily in command of Engineering. Chief Catersha is seriously hurt. She was thrown against a bulkhead when he got hit. There is a medical team here now. I don’t know where Mr. Flummox is, sir. I got heavy damage to the starboard shield generators and one EPS conduit blew. We had a plasma fire down here, but it has been contained and put out. I got a damage control team on the shield generators now. We should have the shield back to full power in a few hours.”

Aramis looked at Kirok, a look of concern on his face. They locked eyes, a silent question was asked. Kirok knew what it was and nodded, giving his approval. He understood what Aramis was feeling. Aramis jumped out of his seat and ran to the turbolift.

“Very well Lieutenant. Amara, what was that object that hit us? Helm, track its course,” Kirok inquired.

Lieutenant Commander Amara checked her scanners and cross checked with the library computer.

“”Sir, that was a fragment from a destroyed world, one that the USS Voyager surveyed over 13 years ago,” reported Chief Science Officer Amara.

“What?! How can that be?” Inquired Kirok.

Tactical Officer Bradley chimed in, “sir, tactical scans show that the asteroid has several thruster modules embedded in its surface, with a simple tracking and navigation system.” He stopped mid reporting. “Checking on something sir. Just a moment…” Bradley’s eyes were locked on his tactical console, then suddenly snapped up to look at the Captain. “It’s Vaadwaur technology sir! They basically installed a simple navigation system and thruster modules and turned a huge asteroid into a mega torpedo.”

“Holy shit! Now that is ruthless. I bet the Vaadwaur destroyed that planet too.” Kirok exclaimed.

Kaelara walked to the auxiliary science station, quickly calling up the scan data. She recognized it.

“Captain, it is one of the many destroyed Borg planets that Species 8472 destroyed. Apparently this rock found its way into an Underspace tunnel,” Kaelara reported.

“Detecting inoperable Borg technology on the asteroid sir,” Amara reported.

“Any of it usable,” Kirok asked, stepping towards the science station.

Both Amara and Kaelara conducted their own scans to cross check the other’s work. They both looked back at him.

“Yes. Looks like the technology is still in good condition but shut down,” reported Kaelara.

“We might be able to salvage it sir,” Amara suggested.

Kaelara stepped towards Kirok.

“I recommend we salvage what we can there while we prepare the Cube. At the very least, we can use the technology to further enhance the USS Carlsbad.”

Kirok thought it over for a few seconds.

“Sounds good,” Kirok said, just as the turbolift door opened and Sophia walked out.

“What sounds good,” Sophia asked as she walked from the lift to stand next to her Captain.

“What collided with us was a fragment of a Borg planet that was destroyed by Species 8472 in the Delta Quadrant. Apparently, this asteroid found an Underspace tunnel and exited here, but not by chance. The Vaadwaur have a new toy. They installed a basic navigation system with thruster modules to this asteroid, turning this asteroid into a monster torpedo,” Kirok brought Sophia up to speed.

“Is that Borg tech usable,” she asked.

Kaelara answered, “yes it is.”

Sophia had a plan in mind already. Kirok saw that look in her eyes. He turned to her.

“Babe, I know you got a plan of action? I see it in your eyes,” Kirok asked her.

Normally he stuck to Starfleet protocols when referring to other officers. He felt a pang of guilt for breaking regulation when he openly called his wife, his Executive Officer…‘babe’. Honestly he didn’t care at this moment. This whole Vaadwaur invasion reminds him of the great exploits of his mentor, Captain James T Kirk. Captain Skyrunner felt that this situation required ‘the Kirok touch’, by bending the rules just to the point of breaking. Captain Rodriguez smiled at him.

“Yes, I do have a plan,” she said to everyone, then looked at Kirok with a stern look, but had a touch of playfulness in it. “It’s ‘Captain’, Captain. Understood?” Then she addressed everyone again. “This can be a two prong salvage/recovery operation. One part can be a salvage operation using the runabout we have. A selected group can go to that asteroid and salvage what we can. The Carlsbad proceeds to the Borg ships and gets them ready. We need every advantage we can get. More functioning and intact Borg technology we can get, the better.”

Everyone on the Bridge considered her plan carefully. Kaelara informed her people of the proposal and she stated their position.

“Captain Rodriguez, that plan is acceptable with my people that we brought and we have already selected a group of us that can go on the salvage operation.”

Captain Skyrunner looked at his Second Officer, Chief Tactical Officer, Assistant Chief Engineer, and Chief Science Officers, each in turn. Flummox showed up in the Bridge just before Sophia gave out her plan.

Commander Lionel spoke first. “The plan looks solid sir. I like it.”

Assistant Chief Engineer Flummox commented. “I agree sir. I went over the data from our previous fight with that Vaadwaur patrol ship. We can use the enhancements for shields, weapons, and power systems.”

Lieutenant Bradley suggested, “I agree sir. It sounds like a good plan.”

Kirok looked at Amara. She nodded in agreement.

“Very well. Captain Rodriguez will lead the salvage team mission. I will still command the Carlsbad and proceed to the Borg ships. Number One, choose your salvage team. You leave in ten minutes.”

Sophia nodded acknowledgement. She looked at Kaelara and Flummox.

“I’d like Aximo and Sorvath to join me. Flummox, you’re with me. Also, grab Engineering team Bravo with full gear. Assemble in the Shuttlebay in ten minutes.”

Flummox nodded acknowledgement and went to the turbolift. Kaelara nodded and told Sophia she informed them both and they will be waiting in the Shuttlebay. Kirok went to stand next to Sophia.

“Babe, I don’t need to tell you to be careful. I love you,” he whispered to her.

She looked him in the eyes, giving him a warm, loving smile.

“I know,” is all she said back. She knew exactly how he was feeling right now. “We still have our romantic dinner date to have.” She winked at him and headed for the turbolift.

Captain Skyrunner smiled to himself, then returned his focus to the mission.

“Helm, plot a reverse course back to the asteroid then match its course to give the runabout a safe route. Once the runabout is safely away, plot the quickest course to the Borg ships.”

“Aye sir, changing course,” Ensign Nguyen replied.

The USS Carlsbad banked to port, circling back to the asteroid and slowly closed on it from behind. Captain Skyrunner sat in his command chair, thumping his fingers on his command chair, concerned about the salvage team. As he watched the viewscreen, he saw the runabout fly in front of the Carlsbad from above. The runabout entered the viewscreen from the top and flew towards the asteroid.

“Be safe, love. Come home safe,” Kirok whispered to himself.

“The runabout is safely away Captain,” Ensign Nguyen reported.

“Thank you Ensign. Change course and take us to the Borg ships. Two thirds impulse power.”

“Two thirds impulse. Aye sir.”

The USS Carlsbad banked again, this time up and to the starboard, accelerating away. A dense field of nebula gases and energetic particles were in front of the ship and hopefully, several rogue Borg ships…the possible key to the safety of the Federation.

“How ironic…” Captain Skyrunner said to himself at that thought.