Rushing into sickbay, Captain McCallister was directed by one of the technicians to head to the main triage area. Still wearing his field jacket, he hadn’t bothered taking it off when word got to him about what had happened. Instead, he returned to one of the ground vehicles with Flemen and returned to the ship as quickly as possible. 

Approaching sickbay’s business, McCallister instantly saw Alfie sitting on one of the biobeds with Doctor Forbes treating him. His heart dropped back into its usual place when he saw that Alfie wasn’t seriously injured. Forbes was running a dermal regenerator over his right shoulder. 

“Are you okay, Alf?” He asked his shirtless son, who smiled immediately after seeing his father arrive.

He nodded, “I’m okay, dad.” Alfie replied. “One of the consoles on the Oakhanger exploded after the Remans fired a photon grenade at it. I didn’t have a chance to raise the shields when they hit. I’m sorry, dad, for the damage.”

 McCallister shook his head at dismissing his son’s apology and assured him it wasn’t a problem. “I’m not bothered about a damaged runabout, Alf,” The captain said sincerely. “How is he doctor?” He asked Forbes. 

“Besides his injury from the console, I don’t see any long-lasting damage to his shoulder,” Forbes said as he finished treating Alfie’s shoulder. He pressed his hand onto the cadet’s bare shoulder, “Can you feel that?”

Alfie nodded.

“Good, it looks like he’ll make a full recovery,” Forbes said to the captain before returning his attention to his patient. “However, I am restricting you to light duties to give your arm and shoulder a chance to heal by themselves properly. It may feel stiff for a bit, but any problems, come back and see me.”

Alfie smiled and thanked the doctor before reaching around to pick up the clothes he had discarded earlier. Wincing at the pain he felt as he tried to pull the vest over himself, he appreciated the hand from his father. “Thanks, dad.”

“I can’t remember the last time I helped dress you, though I do always remember you being the ticklish one out of your brothers when I did,” McCallister said with a smirk as he did the work for his son with his comments eliciting a slight laugh from Alfie. “Are you sure you’re okay?” McCallister asked his son in a lower tone.

Alfie nodded slightly. “It happened so quickly, dad; I didn’t have time to look back. Commander Hunsen pushed me to come back and get help. I should have stayed and helped.”

“No, you did the right thing.” McCallister countered back quickly as he laid an assuring hand on Alfie’s left shoulder. “What can you tell me about these Remans that attacked you?”

“Not much; it was pretty dark. As I left, I heard one of them call Commander Hunsen’s name as if he knew him. Some chased me; they weren’t wearing any military uniform—just ordinary overalls. Once I got into the runabout, they fired their weapons at it, and that’s when they hit it with a grenade.” Alfie recounted. “As I lifted off, I scanned the entire facility, but I didn’t get a chance to look and see how they got in or how many were there.”

“Don’t worry; we’ve got this covered,” McCallister assured his son. “We’ll sort it and get everyone back.”

“Doctor Forbes mentioned we lost another team,” Alfie said. “Why are the Remans attacking us?”

“Who knows,” McCallister answered his son honestly. He would love to know right now. 

“Alfie!” called Jorgeh from the other side of the room.

McCallister and Alfie looked over to see Commander Duncan’s eldest son and Alfie’s friend almost sprinting across the room to be with them. 

“Hey, Jor!” Alfie said with a big smile to see his friend just before Jorgeh embraced him into a big bear hug. “Ouch,” He said at the sudden clasp. “Careful, Jor, my shoulder is a bit messed up.”

Jorgeh let go, “Ah man, I’m sorry. When I heard you were injured, I came straight away.” He said. “Are you okay?”

Alfie nodded. “I will be. Do you know where my brothers are?”

Shaking his head, Jorgeh explained he hadn’t seen them. 

“Bridge to Captain McCallister,” spoke Commander Banfield over the intercom. “Our teams are almost back, sir, but we’ve got a new problem.”

Sighing heavily, McCallister wiped his face at hearing that last comment after tapping his combadge. “What is it, commander?”

“A warbird has decloaked in orbit of the planet. They claim to be from the Romulan Republic.” Banfield reported.

“Standby; I’ll be there shortly.” He tapped his combadge and turned back to look at his son. “Alf, will you be okay getting back to our quarters without me?”

Alfie nodded and looked at his friend. “I’ll lean on Jorgeh if I need it.”

“I’ll contact both Theo and Henri on my way to the bridge,” McCallister said before giving his son a quick hug and winking at Jorgeh after letting go. He appreciated how responsible they both were and what good friends they were becoming. Knowing that the two would become officers alongside one another in the near future reassured McCallister that they were doing everything right. 

Moments later, McCallister was walking fastly through the ship towards the bridge when two figures approached either side of him. 

“We just heard.” Commander Duncan remarked as he picked up speed to follow his captain’s pace as he came to be by his right side. 

Court, now on the left, also asked, “Is Alfie okay?”

McCallister nodded as they approached the end of the corridor and headed inside a turbolift. “Bridge, deck one.” He ordered before turning to his first officer and chief of the boat. “He’ll be fine. Jorgeh is taking him back to ours.”

Both men shot a glance of pride at one another before they returned their focus to the captain. 

“How was it with Grand DaiMon Deliaros?” McCallister questioned as the lift hurtled upwards.

Court smirked, and Duncan rolled his eyes before answering. “Pleasant.” 

“Max was a gentleman,” Court added with a huge grin. 

 Shaking his head at not wanting to know the exact details right now on how much flirting had come from the Ferengi woman aimed at his first officer, McCallister gave a small smile at Duncan. “At least she didn’t get those Orion dancers to give you that intimate performance like last time.”

Duncan shuddered at the memory. “Indeed.”

“Orion intimate performance?” Court questioned both Duncan and McCallister with a concerned expression. “You didn’t tell me about that.”

Duncan now showed a smirk. “It must have slipped my mind; all those half-dressed Orions dancing with oil and bubbles flowing everywhere along with the seductive music was a lot to take in and remember.”  

Pointing a figure at him, Court spoke seriously in a deep voice. “We’ll talk about this later.”

“Don’t worry, Tobias; you’ve got nothing to worry about. It was Bexa they were more interested in at the time.” McCallister stated that as the turbolift came to a halt, the doors opened with a swoosh. Stepping out, he looked around to see most of his senior staff were back at their posts. “Report?”

Banfield rose from his chair in the centre of the bridge as he, Duncan and Court made their way over. “We have a Commander T’Lawra in command of the Delvaris wanting to speak to you.”

McCallister looked over to Flemen, “Craigen, see what you can pull up about her from Republic records.”

“Aye, sir.” The Lumerian diplomatic officer began to work straight away.

“Who are we still missing?” McCallister asked as he took his seat.

Banfield turned around as she made her way over to the science station. “Counsellor Horin and Lieutenant Commander Tomaz’s team are still at the orphanage. Doctor Slyvexs has requested to remain on the surface to continue her efforts on the medical front.”

Lieutenant Keli then spoke up from the security and tactical station. “Sir, we’ve got extra security officers on standby, ready to go in and support both of those teams. The remaining forces of Hazard Team Alpha are preparing rescue operations with Hazard Team Beta to get our kidnapped crewmembers back.”

Hearing the update from his acting security chief was appreciated, McCallister nodded. “Where do we stand in Gamma team being prepped and ready to assist?”

Keli hesitated. “They’ve not undergone their last training session, sir.” 

“No time like the present.” He muttered. “Give them the go-ahead to join the others as part of the rescue operation.”

Duncan leaned into his captain, “Sir, is it wise to send Gamma Team? They’ve not had any field experience yet, and they’re a brand new team. Only two months old at that.”

“I know, but I’m not sending people in without having enough force behind them,” McCallister replied in a low voice. “Lukiz, open a channel to the Delvaris; let’s see what our new visitor wants.”

Jen just nodded as he opened the channel to the Romulans above them.