“Captain’s Log, Stardate 79938.34570.

We have finally cleared the outer reaches of the Akaru Drift and rejoined the Shackleton initiative after far too long away from the rest of the task force. For the past few days, the Cardinal has worked with the Akaru people on long-range stellar cartography. We have taken part in an exchange of knowledge that has proven itself exceptionally valuable.

The Akaru are a lattice-structured, photosensitive species whose entire science tradition is based on harmonic resonance and stellar acoustics. Their charts are not maps, but symphonies of gravitational overtones that reveal mass fluctuations, subspace pockets, and filament stress points with an elegance our advanced sensors still struggle to model. Their method allowed us to identify fissure wakes and scars of prior disturbances in the surrounding sectors. Even our long-range sensor pod had a hard time identifying the phenomena. Their calibrations will be essential as we investigate the peculiar subspace behavior in this part of the Expanse.

The Akaru world is several systems spinward of Theta-Khamor. They’re not close, but not distant. Near enough that their models apply to this region; yet far enough that they remain unaffected by the Romulan and Klingon presence there. I am grateful for their assistance. Without them, we would be arriving in Theta-Khamor nearly blind.

I would be lying if I said our time among the Akaru was entirely peaceful.

The Jovian Mind Flu has been a slow-burning torment on this ship since we got halfway along our Trek up the Breen border. Nearly the entire crew required treatment or continuing therapy for the aftereffects. For months I felt as if my thoughts were sloshing through a haze. My vision blurred at the edges. My judgment felt like it ran a half-step behind my instincts. Every night brought some new variation of the same distorted memories, the same shadows wearing familiar faces. Painful thoughts wormed into my subconscious. They soured dreams and thickened waking thoughts with a film of aching disorientation.

Only recently have the symptoms finally begun to clear. The fog has thinned. The horrors that lingered behind my eyes no longer leap so sharply when I close them. For the first time in weeks, I feel as though I can think in a straight line again. I see that same clarity returning to my officers slowly, but steadily.

This is fortunate, because clarity is something a developing situation desperately requires.

We have been diverted to System Theta-Khamor, where a territorial dispute between the Romulan Free State and a belligerent Klingon House is deteriorating by the hour. The Romulans have established a small settlement on Khamor III. The Klingons have maneuvered several vessels around Khamor IV’s mineral-rich surface, declaring it theirs by “ancestral right of passage.” Both claims are based on shaky foundations, yet both sides insist their position is immutable.

To make things worse, the subspace environment around Khamor IV resembles instability patterns that have the Akaru concerned. We see an increase in subspace eddies, harmonic fractures and filament stress points. These distortions are already fueling accusations of sabotage, espionage, and interference between the Beta Quadrant powers. The Akaru believe the disturbances are tied to remnants of an ancient, pre-Shroud society buried deep beneath the rocky surface of Khamor IV.

The Cardinal is expected to talk these two empires down from the precipice of conflict. We also need to find out what lurks beneath the surface of the murky planet the Klingons set their clawed boots upon. It is only hours until we arrive at Theta-Khamor. We stand rejuvenated and ready.

End log.”