The hour was early for a ‘late’ wake up call, but it was still too early for the executive officer to have been summoned to the bridge. Two hours before his shift meant that Commander Aamin Dahl was looking rather sleepy, leaning on one hand of the turbo lift as it made the short incline to the bridge. Running a hand through his considerable brown locks, the Trill let out an almighty yawn, just in time for the doors to open and for the waiting commanding officer to see his XO’s tonsils.

“Tired, Number One?” Thaddeus chuckled, gesturing to the left with his head and setting off towards the StratOps briefing area. “We’re just waiting on Amiyah and then I’ll fill you in on what’s occurring,” the Terran told, tapping at a console on the port bulkhead. “You might want to check this out,” he suggested to the first officer.

With the second officer having also been called to this early gathering, the XO knew something was up, and so dutifully headed to the display and silently looked it over, trying to make sense of what he was seeing at zero-five-hundred in the morning.

Amiyah had not expected to be up this early and blinked a few times before her confirmation of the orders. She grabbed her cup of coffee and made her way towards the bridge. She had been called to early meetings before but without coffee she would not be functioning. 

She took a sip of the coffee as she walked onto the bridge seeing the CO and the XO present. She knew something was happening for the three of them to be present.

“Commander,” Thaddeus nodded to the younger Terran, a wave of his hand welcoming her into the StratOps suite at the aft of the bridge. “We’ve received orders to investigate a distress call,” the Captain revealed to his second officer.

Such an endeavour wasn’t unheard of, even for a vessel of such significance as Venture, but it was the nature of the distress call that warranted the early wake up call. Tapping the nearby console, the Captain brought up the location of the distress call on the larger wall display. “It’s from a Gorn vessel,” he concluded.

Amiyah’s eyes opened wide and she did a small double-take of the information on the screen. She had interacted with the Gorn once in her career and it wasn’t a great experience for her or the away time. She paused “This sounds like a dangerous situation. As someone who has interacted with the Gorn before…I exercise extreme caution.” She said as she tried to stay calm given the flashbacks in her head.

Aamin scoffed as he folded his arms across his chest. Extreme caution? That much was certain. Everyone received briefings on the Gorn every time so much as an iota of new information was received, such was their complex nature and dangerous history with the Federation. “My worry is what brings them into Federation space. Such excursions are unheard of,” the Trill frowned, looking at the map and making a mental note of the ship’s distance from the Gorn border.

“We’ve got very limited intelligence at present,” the Captain began, “but we should have more by the time we reach their position. My concern,” he stressed as he, too, focused on the screen, “is why none of their people have responded. They could be in and out before any Starfleet asset reaches them, but not one hint of a Gorn response has been received,” he finished.

Amiyah thought closely for a moment trying to think of what to say in the situation. Her thoughts on the Gorn were not like the normal person, as she had encountered them. “This could be a trap to lure our ships in. While I do believe we need to investigate, as it is our duty, I do believe that this needs to be approached with extreme caution.”

Pursing his lips, arms folded across his chest, the Captain glared at the screen for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, he turned to the Trill. “Okay Number One, light the fire,” Thaddeus nodded to his first officer, causing the man to spring into action.

Taking the few steps out of StratOps and onto the main deck of the bridge, the Commander set about giving his orders. “Recall all personnel from the station. Inform the station commander of our change in orders and that we’ll be departing at Captain Scott’s leisure,” the spotted man instructed as he made his way towards the command chair. “Commander Palmer,” he stopped, turning back to the Terran, “have all stations prepare for departure. I want full readiness reports by the start of Alpha shift.”

Amiyah nodded and immediately sent the orders for all departments to prepare for immediate departure. She made sure to add that readiness reports were due by the start of Alpha shift. She checked her department first and checked off the list knowing her department was set. She walked to the Commander “Here is my department’s report. We are ready, Sir. I am getting other reports of readiness as well. I will forward those reports as soon as I have them.”

Returning to the command chair at the center of the bridge, the Captain watched as his people worked. Departing a starbase was as easy a task as a crew could have, but it was essential to make sure everything was in place and ready when doing so under these circumstances. Responding to any distress call was a concern, but from a potential foe inside Federation space? It was enough to explain the tenterhooks everyone seemed to be on. Thaddeus, though, was thrilled to have these people on his bridge, ready to respond.

But what would actually await them when they arrived at the location of the distress call?