Twenty broken bones that hadn’t healed properly.

Five that were recent breaks and had to be set by hand.

Extensive damage to the muscular structure.

Massive tissue damage.

Doctor Ada Josephs stared at the state of the report as she stood over the unconscious Commander T’saath in the Perseverance, working the console that covered most of the Vulcan officer’s body, aside from her head, which was contained in its own equipment cradle. Ada had added intracranial damage to the list. Multiple concussions were leading the doctor to perform a full-spectrum scan of the brain and skull. That the commander was still breathing was a miracle. The door to sickbay slid open, and Ada spotted the gait of her friend and CO from her periphery. “Hey, Park.”

The captain gave a quiet nod as she joined Ada at the bedside. “Fleet Captain Crawford is finishing up the cleanup on the station and the disabled and destroyed ships. He’s asking for an update on the commander.”

Ada could see the sadness in her friend, and could feel the worry seeping from every pore. The horror of T’saath and her suffering was proving hard to move past. “I’m keeping her under until I know she will not pass out or have a heart attack from the amount of pain she’s experiencing.” Ada closed her eyes as the boiling righteous indignation threatened to erupt again. “Who did this to her?”

The pause in the answer from Park gave Ada pause. She opened her eyes, turning to face her friend. Park bowed her head. “They’re doing a forensics investigation into the computer banks we pulled off the station. It’s looking more and more like Tougun.”

Ada had one question. “Why?” Tougun was an Orion, and had broken off from the Orion Syndicate a year ago, forming his own conglomerate in the rimward. Craven violence, no mercy, and a fastidious attention to causing pain to anyone who stood in his way were his ways. He had left most of the colonies and Montana Station alone before, but something had changed. FNN was running reports on the latest attacks, and it was generating complaints and calls from Federation colonies in the rimward. Unaffiliated groups had made noise as the chaos increased. The fragile peace no longer held.

Park handed a PADD to her. “The forensics is still ongoing, but we think our work and that of other task groups have kept him on the run. Hence a small headquarters in stations. Tougun isn’t one to settle or get the message. Crawford thinks he was trying to get information on Montana Station. Information that would have given him and his people a chance to take the station.”

“The hell?” was her best reply. Inside her head, the implications of Tougun and his network taking over Montana Station threatened to give her a whole additional reason to worry into a panic over what could happen out here in the rimward.

“We’re still working to confirm the finer details. Montana Station is aware as of an hour ago. The order to get back to Montana Station came in a few minutes ago. Departure is in thirty minutes.” Ada caught the quiet fury of her friend displayed in her eyes, a razor-sharp gaze she recognized. Park took a quiet breath and looked into Ada’s eyes. “This isn’t going to be the end. Once we secure the station and the sector, Tougun goes to the top of the most wanted list. I need you to be ready for whatever and wherever we get thrown, Ada.”

Looking around her sickbay, Josephs started making mental notes. “Translation–science and exploration will need to move to the bottom of the list.” A rough grumble thundered in her throat. “Goddamn Tougun.”

Park put her right hand on Ada’s shoulder. “I second the motion. We’ll get the bastard, cuff him, and disrupt his operation. I’d rather be scanning anomalies and cataloging planetoids any day of the week.” She gently put her head against Ada’s. “We’ll get through this. We always do.”

Ada felt a warm smile cross her lips. Their friendship since childhood warmed her heart, and as a side effect, pushed the hope meter a little higher. She repeated their oldest motto, resting her head against her friend. “Seoyeon and Josephs. Back to back forever.”

Park finished with, “Whatever the galaxy throws, we throw it back together.”

They held each other for a moment longer before the captain pulled back, grasping her friend’s hand in a final touch before she left sickbay and headed back to the bridge. Watching her friend head back into the fray was hard, but knowing they were going to face it together helped. She whispered under her breath, returning to the console and T’saath, “We throw it back together.”