The lights and colors of the vortex shimmered off of the sleek slender body of the Sovereign-class vessel as it traversed through the transwarp conduit. The Sovereign traversed through this conduit among many other vessels of the Fourth Fleet as they made their way to fill and pump the heart of Starfleet. Exploration of the Unknown. The sheer excitement could be felt all over the ship, and then some. It was a glorious sight to behold.

It was unfortunate that she was the only one in the division that could make it out here to the Shackleton Expanse. The Echelon and the Decker had to remain to patrol the borders of the Federation with the Talarian Republic and Cardassian Union. Something about rumors of another Maquis cell, or perhaps just some drunkards who pretended to be one, for they had announced themselves over subspace like amateur fools. Nevertheless, Fleet Captain Hunt of Starbase Four-Fifteen wanted them there just in case.

On top of that, the Tokyo had to remain as it was, a support vessel for the station. Apparently the diplomatic talks with the Tholian Ambassador has become a little heated and at the moment, Tholians have purposed an indefinite recess with Ambassador Abigail Maxwell. Although, she claims that this ‘indefinite recess’ is never truly indefinite. They just needed time to themselves and away from all the noise on the station. But the reason the discussions got so heated, was because after the Tholians had assisted with the Vaadwaur assault on the station, their sensors had picked up a very old distress signal from one of their own on the planet that the starbase orbited. Apparently the Tholians have demanded to send a team down to the planet to investigate but there was some issues with that.

Nothing that Henry Maxwell needed to worry about. His concerns not need be at where he ain’t, but where he is now, today. He stood there in the center of the bridge with his arms folded across his chest. He stared hard at the viewscreen, as his heart pumped with much anticipation. All he could remember for the past year so far, was that the Sovereign was in constant conflict. She had the opportunity to do some diplomatic investigation for the Talarian Republic before, until she was pulled into an Underspace aperture and thrown into the Gamma Quadrant.

It was just incidents after incidents. Loss of life support lead to the evacuation of the crew. A crystal spike pierced through the saucer of his beloved ship. Returned home to the Alpha Quadrant just to deal a series of punches to the Vaadwaur. Then his own stupor of need and greed to get his ship to Avalon Fleet Yards, where he knew she would be treated well and repaired quickly, by use of the Quantum Slipstream Drive rather than be towed to Starbase Seventy-Two. That of which he had no choice but to do when his ship returned from the universe that it was propelled into because apparently the crystal had some adverse reaction to the quantum slipstream vortex.

So much conflict. And what orders did Art hand him when they arrived onto the Bridge just mere days ago? To rejoin in full service to the Fourth Fleet, to Task Force Eight-Six, in the exploration of the unknown that has been opened up to them. Maxwell had announced this mission to his senior staff yesterday in their morning briefing, to which was difficult for him to hold the info from them up until that day, and he saw the sheer relief and excitement on all of their faces.

Maxwell could even tell that their new Chief Engineer, Grak, was very excited to have the engines run at peak efficiency. And if they weren’t, Maxwell felt that Grak would find it to be a pleasant challenge to tweak the engines to make them more efficient. Whether it be to standards or beyond.

“Captain,” Tagg announced. “We are about to leave the conduit in five seconds.”

“Follow the trajectory given to us, Lieutenant.” Art ordered. “Don’t want us to be bumping heads with anyone this early in the game.”

Maxwell grinned and shook his head. “Don’t even joke about that, Number One.”

“Exiting now!” Tagg announced. “Trajectory plotted, course adjusted. We are now en route to the Framheim Station.”

“Why can’t we,” Bazial questioned from her station. “Just simply go straight into the expanse?”

Maxwell smiled. “While the idea of exploring the unknown has peaked all of our interests, I just have a feeling in my gut that there is going to be something much better to explore and unveil.”

“Besides,” Riov stood up from his seat to be at Maxwell’s left side. “We must check in with Framheim Operations first.”

Maxwell turned slightly to look at Riov with a smile. Riov was the newest addition to the crew, recommended by the Commodore of Starbase Seventy-Two. Riov was a Romulan who had chosen his path to join Starfleet than the Republic Navy. Riov had a PHd in anthropology and for whatever the reason, it just seemed the perfect fit for this mission. Truth be told, Maxwell had already known where the Sovereign was going to be dispatched to. It was already in the orders and he had studied what information there was available about the desert planet. Thus, Maxwell had approached the Commodore in recommendation for a new officer with such skills, especially since they desperately needed a new Chief Operations Officer. On top of the Commodore’s recommendations, Riov’s records proved he could be a valuable Second Officer. So at the moment, Maxwell and Art had chosen to propose the experiment with Riov, to get his feet wet.

“The Commander is correct,” said Maxwell. “We should notify the Framheim Operations that we made it safely.”

“Speaking of,” Tagg spoke up. “We are approaching the station now, sir. Traffic route has been given and reducing speed to one-sixth impulse power.” Tagg then looked up from his display and whistled. “Look at all those ships.”

The Sovereign had arrived just in the peak of the operation where majority of the ships had arrived from the transwarp conduit and reported to the Framheim station. It was a majestic sight to behold. Maxwell had not seen so much of the fleet gathered in one place in a very long time, or ever for that matter. It was a shame that it was only going to last for a few minutes.

Maxwell turned at his waist to look at Riov and then nodded his head to him to proceed with the plan.

Riov returned to his seat as instructed, where he signaled the Framheim station that they had arrived. “Framheim Operations confirms our arrival, Captain.” Riov left a pause to give hint that they received their orders. “Captain. The Framheim wants us to proceed to the K-8716-Gamma System. Apparently there is a planet there that greatly peaks Fleet Command’s interests.”

“See!” Maxwell smiled as he slowly spun around in place to look at his officers. “What did I tell you? My gut never lies.”

Art had to hold back a snort, when he knew that Maxwell was…slightly full of shit. Maxwell even took notice of the look on Art’s face and gave the man a cold smirk.

“All right,” Maxwell started as he went to plop right down into his chair. He slapped his hands down on the arm rests and firmly gripped the ends. His excitement started to become difficult to contain. “Riov, if you would please give the those of the fleet who are still here at Framheim a general greeting and farewell. Tagg, you should have the course updated to your console, please plot it and proceed at warp seven.”

“General greeting and farewell has been sent, Captain.” Said Riov.

“Course plotted, Captain.” Said Tagg. “Following plotted trajectory out of Framheim’s traffic zone. Will proceed to warp seven once we are able. Estimated distance is about forty-five light years, with travel time at warp seven…” Tagg paused as the system calculated and displayed it for him, where he read it off. “We are looking at twenty-seven days at warp, give or take a couple hours.”

“What?” Art asked. “No precise timing down to the nanosecond?”

Tagg swiveled his seat around to look at Art. “I’m not a Vulcan, Commander.” Then his console alerted him that they had cleared traffic, which Tagg looked and reported. “We are clear to go to warp, sirs.”

Maxwell couldn’t contain his smile any longer. “Punch it!”