“Sensors active and connected across the squadron.”

“Tactical map online and identifying targets. ”

“All communication channels are processing signals.”

The USS Zephyr’s bridge was a hive of activity. As the squadron flagship, it was the center for the starships, captains, and crews.  Fleet Captain Geronimo Fontana sat in the center chair, PADD in one hand and coffee in the other.  The commanding officer of the Typhoon-class starship sat to his right.  Captain Samson Bradley hadn’t argued when Fontana had given him the news.  He’d seemed thrilled at the prospect of not having to be in charge of their foray into the Shackleton Expanse.  The massive unknown stretched ahead.  Strange new worlds and new civilizations blinked back at them from the depths of the stars.

Fontana waited for the reports.  There was a lot out there.  One of them was the Starfleet scout ship.  That element had him worried.  What would they find?

Across the bridge, Ensign Alayna Bertrand sat at the communications station, earpiece in place.  Fontana had given operational control of the communications teams across the squadron.  That had the endorsement she had secretly wished for, and yet she wasn’t sure she was up to the task.  She shoved those thoughts to the back of her mind as she sent out the various assignments to the team.  The map of the Shackleton Expanse was massive, stretching long and wide into the farthest unknowns.  Her eyes searched the borders that pushed up against it – four groups who historically didn’t find common ground on a good day.  The red outline on the Klingon Empire signified the long and tortured history shared among many of the players in the universe.  It made her nervous.  There was some balance in that nervous energy – they were flying with the IKS Klothos, an ancient K’t’inga-class, captained by someone with a long history.

Captain J’Klast was, until recently, assigned as a diplomatic attaché to Montana Station.  She’d blanched at his history, which had been discussed at the senior staff meeting two days ago.  Alayna had interacted with a few Klingons in her academy days, and the courses surrounding them had left her dizzy.  Major houses, minor houses, and then the rest?  The layers, the connections, and the complex history of honor, dishonor, and redemption had required a tutor.  Her Klingon was serviceable, but it needed work.

And yet, she was the lead.  On the Zephyr, communications officers below decks sorted every piece of communications intelligence from the five ships as Alayna coordinated, delegated, and assigned tasks.  The console screens continued to stream the boundless and raw data that flowed, her hands working the console keys carefully.  Mistakes could lead to misdirection.  Misdirection could lead to misunderstandings, and ‌from there it was a quick trip to a diplomatic incident that would warp right above Fleet Captain Fontana’s head.  She was still an ensign, and blowing open a black hole level of problems wasn’t on her bucket list.

Next to her was Ensign Lita Morrison, Chief Science Officer for the Zephyr.  Her journey to the senior staff had been bumpy.  Settling in with the large science crew who served under her in the department remained an overwhelming concept.  She was thankful to ‌Lieutenant Eseri, assigned as her mentor and ‌on loan from Perseverance.  There had been little time to talk between the two, but Lita suspected something was agitating just below the surface of the Andorian.

Thankfully, in Lita’s mind, the command of the science division across the squadron hadn’t fallen to her or Eseri.  Fontana had assigned the job to the spunky and measured Hazel Wallaker on the Perseverance.  Wallaker’s reputation was that of a taskmaster and overdriven.  She wondered if that was part of why Eseri seemed relieved to be on board the Zephyr with her.  Lita turned her attention back to the data assigned to her from Wallaker.  The work was getting started.

On the Perseverance, Captain Wren Walton stood in front of the command chair, her eyes scouring the viewscreen for clues.  She asked, “What do we see?”  Her XO, Commander Park, sat in the right chair working through the sensor readings.  She was back in the role after her previous command, the USS Nova, had been reassigned.  Park wasn’t unhappy about it, Wren learned.  She was just tired of being bounced around.

At the science station, Lieutenant Hazel Wallaker worked on assigning sectors to the other department heads around them.  She noted, “Telemetry is clearing.” Another tap of her console. “Not showing the USS Runyon on sensors.  Comms?”

Catrin Williams was nervously working the communications console.  Still a cadet, moments like this unsettled her.  She reported, “Checking all frequencies.  Nothing on general channels or the expected ones.”

Walton replied, her concerns rising, “Open a channel to the Zephyr.”

“They were supposed to leave a trail.  We’ve traced the initial buoy trail toward the Vorethi system, but it stops short of the system.”

Fontana stood behind the science station, confirming what Walton was saying.  The Runyon had a veteran captain and a strong survey crew.  “Last contact was less than a week ago.  They were supposed to begin building a map of the asteroid fields of Vorethi.  Suggestions?”  He turned back to face the screen.  Walton’s face was full of concern and confusion.

“I think we need to investigate with care.  The squadron coming into the sector is going to send a message – one we won’t be able to control.”

Fontana appreciated Walton.  Her growing understanding of diplomacy was showing a new side to her usual sarcastic cowboy diplomacy that littered her dossier.  He replied, “I’ll assign Perseverance and Franklin D. Roosevelt.  See what you can find out in the initial investigation.  We’ll remain in proximity.”  Walton gave a nod as the channel closed.  

Fontana walked back to his chair, his nerves settling.  His first time back in command of a starship in what felt like an eternity.  There was a unique energy on a starship bridge that set it apart from a large station.  It somehow felt more…alive.  He turned his attention to the rapidly filling screen of his PADD.

The newest part of the universe was ready to tell its side of the story.