“It’s not well known, Lieutenant Brooks.” Commander Thasaz spoke as she walked him through the small corridor leading off her office and down the stairs to a lonely turbolift set far against the wall. “You are one of the few in the know about this.” She stepped inside the lift, and he followed. There was one button, and she pressed it. “Commander Miados is one of the few. She worked on it herself. Captain Ki has a similar arrangement.” The turbolift car raced downwards, accelerating until it seemed to whistle through the shaft. Moments later, it slowed to a halt, and the door slid open without a sound. Thasaz stepped into a small corridor with two doors. One to the left and one at the end of the hallway. She led him to the left door, and inside was a functional briefing room with consoles on the table, chairs arranged neatly around. Hasara sat in one, and an annoyed-looking Ferengi sat in the other.

The Cardassian stood, gesturing to the open sets. “Welcome, Commander. And Lieutenant, nice to see you again.”

Thasaz replied with a nod, sliding into a seat while Brooks sat next to her. His eyes were wide, and he kept glancing at the Ferengi. She introduced him. “This is Hagasi, Chief of Finances for House of Hasara. Been a bit.”

Hagasi grumbled. “I dislike these meetings. As secure as you have made them, and as much as I can not find fault in the arrangement, I dislike them.” Several notebooks were in front of him, and he flipped through them, searching the pages.

Thasaz said, “Lieutenant Brooks is here to learn. I understand there’s been some difficulties.”

Hagasi scoffed, but kept turning his pages, underlining items as he went. Hasara’s mouth curled into something resembling a sly smile. “I felt disappointed by how they handled your previous team, Commander. We enjoyed a good working relationship. This new team is…what is the human word for it?”

Hagasi, the Ferengi grumbled, “Touchy. Unwilling to listen. Arrogant. Out of touch.”

The Cardassian chuckled dryly. “That’s eight words, my friend. The meaning remains. You say he is here to learn, Commander. Is he willing to learn?” The former Gul looked to the lieutenant, who did not respond.

Thasaz did not grit her teeth or tense up. This was part of the feeling out process, and Hasara was good at it. “I’ve made it clear to the lieutenant that learning is the only path he has available to him.” She leaned forward, keen to shift the subject. “You said you had something of interest?”

“Ah, yes. The ongoing kerfuffle between the Orions and the Romulans. What a curious dust-up. Hagasi?”

The Ferengi slid the notebook he’d been working on. He’d added some sticky notes marking pages of interest. Thasaz opened and read while Brooks did so over her shoulder. She asked, “What am I looking at?”

“The Orions are clean. I mean that in the sense that they’re not the reason for the issues. The Orions are never clean. I’m always amused…which you don’t want to know about. The Romulans, on the other hand, are as dirty as, you humans would say, a pig in shit. Or something like that.”

Thasaz cracked, “Something like that. Continue.”

“The Romulans are targeting someone specific in the Orion group. We’ve been able to hack some of their comms and message traffic.” He sat back, waiting for something.

Thasaz took note and read further in the paper notebook until she found what he was waiting for her to read. “You can’t be serious. Tougun has a sister?” Brooks audibly gasped. She pressed on through the notes. “She’s kept herself pretty hidden. How long has she been here?”

Hasara answered, “Not long. A week, maybe two. We’d done some legwork on Tougun’s alleged family and suspected she was still in the land of the living. After he killed himself in transit, we wondered what lengths Selene Voss would go to in order to find anything remaining of his. Hagasi believes that she’s hired either the group of Romulans or some of them to remove her from the picture, or at least get her off the station and into the hands of Voss.”

Thasaz knew what that would mean. ‘“She’ll tear her apart. Tougun’s sister can’t want anything to do with his old operation.”

Hagasi accepted his journal back with reverence, wiping it down with a dry cloth. “No, Trulane is pretty far from her brother’s identity. She’s a petty mercenary at best, and a survivor at worst. She knows Tougun is dead. Something has bothered both me and Hasara. Why did she come to Montana Station?”

Brooks thought out loud, “Safety? Maybe she thought we’d pick her up on a scan or a patrol. Protect her from Voss?”

Hasara gave the young lieutenant a nod of acceptance, slight as it was. “Possible. If she was looking for protection, why didn’t she come to you people? Or me? There is something here for her. We’re going to need to find out. I give the Romulans a few more days before they locate her for good this time, and then we’ll have no chance.”

Thasaz winced. This was going to be tight. “We’ll find her and get her to safety. I need you to rattle the Romulan’s cage and get an idea of who’s bankrolling them and supplying them with intel. Be as gentle as you can, Hasara.”

He stood, a sly smile on his lips. “I am the king of the gentle touch, Commander.” He and Hagasi left the room.

Brooks stared at the door as it closed. “We really are going to have to race the Romulans to find Tougun’s sister.”

Thasaz pushed away and up from the table. “It’s never boring in the rimward, Lieutenant Brooks. And time is never on our side.  Let’s talk plans on the way back.”