Vausees and Debrah stood together on the main lift as he headed for the bridge. They both kept looking at each other and then away as if it was a sin for them to have feelings for each other, as if the Captain should keep her emotions locked away. As the lift started to slow, Vausees allowed a sigh to escape her lips, “This is stupid,” she said as she moved over to Debrah, “I am the fucking Captain and if I want to have a relationship I damn sure will,” she said as she leaned over and kissed Debrah just before the doors opened. She then walked off the lift, leaving a blushing and shocked Debrah standing there. 

Cody looked at the door of the lift and cocked his head to the side. As he moved to investigate a hand stopped him, as it was on his arm. He looked up at Vausees who shook her head. “Give her a moment,” she said in a lowered voice. He nodded as he looked into the lift from where he stood and saw Debrah trying to collect herself. He looked back at Vausees and shook his head, “What did you do?” He asked. Vausees motioned for him to follow and he did. 

They entered into Vausees ready room and Cody waited for the door to close. He gave her a go on look and for the first time Vausees was at a loss for words. Cody crossed his arms over his chest as he waited. Vausees looked up at him and her cheeks started to turn red as she could tell that he was waiting for her answer. Clearing her throat she told him about what had just happened in the lift and a little bit about what had happened a few hours ago. Cody stood there with a shocked look of his own on his face. He shook his head and smiled, “It’s about damn time you moved on Vausees,” he said as he placed a hand on her shoulder, “We were all worried about you,” he stated as he referred to the bridge crew, mostly referencing her friends.

“Don’t worry Cody, I think things are about to get interesting on this ship,” she said with a wink. She had heard the rumors of how he and Zyvia had been seen together last night in the Senior Officers Lounge, and she approved of this new Cody that stood before her.

After a moment she straightened herself out and informed Cody of the orders that she had been given, omitting the parts that she couldn’t tell him. Cody nodded and stated that he would inform the crew while she continued to prepare for the mission at hand. She thanked him and sat down at her desk. Cody exits the ready room and walks over the Trever.

“Mister Nief, make the ship ready for departure and inform the station that we will be departing.”

Trever nods as his fingers float over the console before him, “Aye, Commander.”

Cody looks about the bridge at the crew. He can see excitement in their eyes. He takes a breath and smiles, “We have our orders, and we are heading back to the Gamma,” he states

The bridge suddenly feels as if it is buzzing as the crew begins to smile, a couple of the younger Junior Officers whoop amongst themselves. Cody nods to the crew and turns to Debrah. 

“Miss Fergouson,” he looks at her for a moment as she looks back, waiting for his order. “Will you open the ship wide intercom please.

“Aye, Commander,” she replies as she presses a glowing icon on the console before her. “There you go Commander,” she states as the intercom activates. 

“Attention crew,” he says, “I have just gotten word from our Captain that we have orders to return to the Gamma Quadrant,” he states as he looks about the bridge. “We have been ordered to locate a world that isn’t on any known charts. A world that was once inhabited by a race known as the Tkon,” he states as he lowers his eyes to look at the bridge crew. All of them are holding the same expression, except for Debrah. He looks at her for a moment and dismisses it for the time being. He then continues to inform them that they are going to have a long journey ahead of them, and that it is not going to be a simple matter as much about what they are looking for is unknown to him. He then thanks the crew for the work that they have done so far before he looks back at Debrah and nods. She closes the intercom as the door to the Captain’s Ready Room opens and Vausees steps out. She looks over at Debrah for a moment, who has looked up from her console, and smiles with a nod.

She walks over to her chair and takes a seat, “Mister Neif, have you been cleared for departure?” She asks Trever.

“Yes, Captain,” he says, “Just waiting on your orders.”

“Take us out and back to the Gamma Quadrant, Mister Nief,” she orders.

Trever’s fingers glide over the holographic console before him as he sets in the course for the Bajoran wormhole, “Course plotted in, Captain,” he states as the Heracles begins to leave Deep Space Nine and head out into the area where the entrance to the wormhole is.

As they grow nearer to the spot a bright flash is seen as the mouth of the wormhole appears. The Heracles enters into the wormhole and disappears from view from the station. A few seconds later the exit of the wormhole appears and once more the Heracles enters the Gamma Quadrant. Trever turns and looks at Vausees, who is focused on the viewscreen.

“Where to, Captain?” he asks as he looks at her.

She continues to look out the viewscreen and her thoughts are on where to head. That part had been left out of the Admirals message to her. Vausees thought about it as she looked at Trever and smiled, “Pick a star and plot a course,” she said as she leaned back and looked to her right at Cody, who nodded. “Let’s see what secret’s this Quadrant holds, and take them for the fleet.” She states as she turns back to Trever.

A smile crosses Trevers mouth as he turns back to his console, “Aye, Captain.” He looks out into the coldness of space and then without looking at the console, brings up the navigation portion. Taking a glance down at what the sensor logs had given him he finds a system in a sector that is just outside of the known area of charted space and taps it. “Sensor logs have detected an unknown sector just outside of the star charts,“ he says as he lays in the course. The computer gives him the time of arrival, which he sends to the Captain, and turns to look at her. “We should arrive in about a week.”

‘Perfect’, Vausees thought as she stood up, “Good work, Mister Nief,” she said as she walked over and squeezed his shoulder. She then looked about the bridge and nodded. Her eyes land on Cody, “Mister Bettencourt the bridge is yours.” With that she exits the bridge into her ready room.