An hour had passed as the ship continued on her course to Deep Space 47.  Commander Harris sat in the center chair for the moment as the captain remained in the ready room working through reports and status updates from both the Edinburgh crew and the fleet.  He was reading through a PADD with reports from the station as well and what he was seeing was hopeful.  Several ships from Task Force 47 had been dispatched to the area, and more were expected to arrive in the weeks ahead.  He suspected the strongly worded reports that Fontana had crafted with his help had given a stark message to Starfleet Command.

Ensign Prentice was hard at work at his console.  He was thankful that the two men in charge of the ship had found some way to work together.  The command crew had been concerned about the future of the Eddie with a new guy in charge, and he hadn’t been thrilled with Fontana.  Harris was in the center chair for the moment and the chief helm officer felt some level of comfort that he was behind him – literally and metaphorically.  His console beeped as a priority communication flagged on his screen.  He tapped and read carefully, “Commander, Deep Space 47 is advising us that the USS Osiris has departed the station and is headed our way with orders to work with us on the ongoing situation we’re investigating.”

Harris stood and walked to where Prentice sat, “Osiris..not familiar with her.”

William tapped at his console, pulling the information quickly, “Reliant class.  Captain is Kr’Antren.”  He tapped the console again, pulling up photos to explain the name, “Caitian…rank is lieutenant commander.”  

Harris scanned the officer’s file, “From Bravo to a Raven class to a Reliant class.  An interesting mix of crew, it seems.”  He wondered what kind of captain the Caitian was and how much he had experienced in his time in the center chair.  You never knew the quality of a commanding officer until faced with a no-win scenario.  He’d seen enough of them for himself and had no desire to see more in the near future.  “Mr. Prentice, put that together in a report and send the communication with it to Captain Fontana.”  The young officer nodded and tapped the message and report in and out.  He nodded to Harris, who stepped, tapped the button to the ready room, and was granted entry.

Ready Room – 1155

Fontana glanced up as his XO entered the room, “Looks like we have our backup.”

Harris didn’t take a seat, “Looking at his experience and his crew…I think we’re going to have to keep an eye on them, sir.  I’ve been green like Lieutenant Commander Kr’Antren…it may be helpful to have us alongside to advise them a little.”

Geronimo raised his eyebrows, “You haven’t even read their mission reports, Commander.  You’re assuming a lot, I would say.”

Ambrose stared at him for longer than a comfortable moment and shifted his feet in annoyance at the man’s point.  “I accept the point you’re making, Captain…but I won’t retract my concerns about him.”  He shifted his feet further, “To return your point to you, Captain…I’m not suggesting we take his command way based on my concerns.”

Fontana sat back, considering the words of the executive officer, and decided a chuckle and a wry smile was the best response he had, “Remind me not to debate you on the finer points of Command, Commander.  Your concerns are noted.  We’ll see what we see.”  He chewed on his next words, “You think the Osiris is enough?”

Harris felt the tension leave the room and leaned against the wall, “It’s been on my mind…the Federation and Starfleet haven’t been out here out and about like this in a while…there’s bound to be some kind of response when the syndicate and whoever else is out here figures out that we’re not leaving.”  He nodded to Fontana, “I was going to have us drop from warp and plot an intercept course for the Osiris.”

Fontana gave an approving nod, “I appreciate you asking.”

The former CO and current XO returned the nod, only slightly, “I appreciate you giving me a chance to be back on the bridge, sir.  I’ll get to work.”  He turned and slipped through the door, leaving Fontana to his thoughts, which were many.