Hearing the same argument repeated more than once was becoming highly annoying and quite a nuisance. Taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, Captain McCallister found himself biting his bottom lip as he remained silent and allowed Captain Nictoles to ramble on for a bit longer. The Brenari man had agreed to the scuttling of his vessel to avoid being caught by the Devore. Despite their best efforts to accommodate him, his crew and his passengers, he was complaining.

“This entire situation is unbearable for my people, captain; we cannot remain here,” Nictoles stated as he paced a meter in front of McCallister’s desk in the ready room. While McCallister was behind his desk, Duncan and Flemen sat closer to the Brenari leader on the other side.  

Nictoles was probably the same age as Flemen, maybe a bit older, and had black hair shaved down to a few millimetres. His chiselled jawline and light stubble made him appear quite fierce. He matched his appearance through his confidence and deep voice. Initially, since they rescued him, he had been quite receptive to the Odyssey crew and understood their predicament. Now, that had changed. 

“Nictoles, we understand how you and your people feel; my crew feel the same way,” McCallister assured him. “However, with the Devore crawling throughout this space, we cannot risk them detecting us if we head back to the Sanctum. I won’t have them follow us, and everything your people have worked so hard to build is lost because we couldn’t hold our nerve.”

“This isn’t about holding our nerve,” Nictoles snapped back as he paused in his pacing to look at the human captain. “You have us wearing these damn cortical inhibitors preventing my people from communicating with each other.”

“Those are needed to protect yourselves and everyone else,” Duncan reminded their guest. “Our telepathic crew are wearing them too.”

“Yes, this blood dilithium that can make us all go crazy!” Nictoles said, raising his voice and throwing his arms up in the arm before placing them on his hips; he ended up spitting up his following remark. “We want to be taken home, now!” 

McCallister stood up after he had been shouted at. “While you are on my ship, you will follow my rules. Am I clear, Captain Nictoles?”

Nictoles didn’t reply.

“Your people are guests on this vessel; however, if at any time we feel you are putting not only your safety at risk but the lives of everyone else on this vessel, then you will find those privileges taken away, and your people will be confined to their guest quarters. Do I make myself clear?” McCallister was almost shouting now. 

Flemen stood up, “I think Captain Nictoles gets the message, sir.” He said, trying to be the calming presence in the room.

The intercom went off, “Bridge to Captain McCallister; we’re approaching the gas giant,” announced Banfield.

McCallister answered his second officer by tapping his combadge but still staring at Nictoles. “Understood, commander. I’m on my way.”

McCallister gestured for them to leave the ready room and enter the bridge. Leading the group, McCallister walked over to the centre of the room and noticed that Flemen had taken their Brenari guest under his wing while Duncan had brought up the rear to ensure there were no more issues. Banfield saw the edgy look across her superior’s face and gave him a supportive look as she stood up from his chair. 

 “We’re just dropping out of warp now, sir,” Banfield said as she rose.

“Thank you, commander,” McCallister said, almost giving out a short sigh as he turned to look down at the helm. “Lieutenant Commander T’Rani, take us into the gas giant’s atmosphere.”

T’Rani nodded in response before an alarm went off beside her at the ops station. Jen looked down at his console and frowned at what he was seeing. Shaking his head, he double-checked his readings and then spoke up. “Sir, long-range sensors have picked up what appears to be a Brenari convoy, and they’re sending out a low-level automated distress signal.”

“Are you sure, Lukiz?” McCallister checked as he walked over to stand right behind his ops manager. 

“I am, sir,” Jen said as he looked over the readings again. “I have no idea where they’ve come from, but there they are. Twelve vessels with over ten thousand people among them.”

Finding that find extremely unusual, McCallister turned around to look at Captain Nictoles, “Captain, are you aware of any convoy entering this region?”

He shook his head and made his way across the bridge. “That can’t be. We would never have that many ships or souls in one group. It’s too dangerous!”

“But there they are,” T’Rani remarked. “Shall I lay in a course for their position, sir?”

“No, maintain our course,” McCallister ordered.

“Sir, we cannot leave them to the Devore patrols.” T’Rani protested. 

“They would be captured instantly, sir!” Flemen supported her remark. 

“They probably have children on those ships, captain,” Hunsen stated from the engineering station.

Perplexed at the out-of-character triple bombardment, McCallister shut them down. “Until we’ve determined it’s legit, I am not spoiling our chances of being detected by the Devore.”

“It could be a trap set by the Devore,” Banfield suggested from the science station. “Let me check our sensors.”

“Captain, we cannot ignore that call for help,” Samris said from the tertiary command chair. 

Nictoles then joined in on the debate. “Captain McCallister, if that is a group of my people, then I cannot allow them to be taken to a detention camp.”

“I do not disagree, but I want to know more,” McCallister stated.

Duncan then joined in supporting his captain, “It’s too suspicious that just as we’re about to go into hiding, they arrive.”

“Exactly!” McCallister said, appreciating the backing.

Banfield shook her head at not being able to get the scanners to do what she wanted them to do.  “I can’t increase sensor resolution without us being detected by the Devore.” She looked at her captain, “If we launch a class three probe, it could get closer and get a better picture, plus they’re designed not to be detected.”

Court, who was at one of the mission ops stations, piped up, “Better to be safe than sorry.”

“Make it happen,” McCallister said as he started to return to his chair, “T’Rani, get us in the gas giant.”

“Wait!” Hunsen said as he stood up from his station and approached the captain, “Captain, you cannot let those Brenari refugees be caught. We must alter course now and rendezvous with them.”

“No!” McCallister replied firmly.

Flemen then stepped forward and supported Hunsen, “Sir, if we go after the convoy, we will have strength in numbers.”

Turning to look at his diplomatic officer, McCallister was surprised by that remark. “We cannot risk it.”

“Sir, we cannot lose those Brenari on our watch.” Samris stood up, joining the others.

“We are not going to lose them, counsellor. We need to know that’s not a trap, so we don’t lose the Odyssey to the Devore.” McCallister replied back, still in an assertive tone.

“You’re prepared to allow those innocent people to die?” Hunsen said as he got closer to the captain. 

Hunsen’s movements prompted Duncan to stand up and place himself between McCallister and him. “Easy, Tremt,” He reminded his friend.

“I never said that commander,” McCallister said.

T’Rani then stood up from the helm. “Sir, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

“That’s utter Targ manure, every word of it,” Banfield said as she got up from her chair with her hand on her phaser. Court, Lenjir, Jen and Tomaz all came forward with their hands also on their weapons strapped to their sides.  

“And that is the most illogical remark you have ever said, since joining this vessel, commander,” T’Rani opposed. “The captain is putting the needs of others below the needs of this vessel.”

“Which he is right to do,” Duncan said, “that his duties, as much as it is ours.” He looked at McCallister and could see that his captain remained steadfast where he was.

“Are you really that scared you don’t think we can take on the Devore? Scared we’re going to lose the Odyssey?” Hunsen said, in quite a threatening tone to his captain. 

“As I said, commander,” McCallister said severely, “We’re not going to lose the Odyssey, not to the Devore, not to anyone. Not while I’m in command. You have your orders.”

“I must object to this course of action, captain.” Hunsen spat out.

Flemen stepped forward, “Me too.”

“Likewise,” Samris said.

“I concur,” T’Rani added.

“All of your objections are noted,” McCallister said as he looked at each of them. 

“With all due respect, sir, I don’t think you’re getting it,” Hunsen said as the other came to stand behind him. “You don’t know what it’s like to be a telepath and told you can’t use something that comes naturally to you. We are being prosecuted for being slaves to our own biology, and you’re scared to see what may happen if we take these inhibitors off. You don’t want to experience what happened on the Merevek; it’s influencing your judgement. You’re afraid of the Devore. You want to run away and hide like a coward.”

“Tremt!” Duncan shouted at his friend, “That’s enough!”

“Commander Hunsen is right, though,” Flemen said. “None of you get it.”

“Craigen, you need to calm yourself down,” Tomaz said as he pulled his friend back, which in return caused Flemen to spin and thump Tomaz straight in the jaw.

Lenjir and Court jumped across the room, and both grabbed hold of Flemen. The security chief proceeded to call for extra security to the bridge. 

“You are all relieved of your duties,” McCallister said to the group opposing him. He squared up against Hunsen, “Get off my bridge, now!”

Hunsen remained still for another second before he soon noticed that everyone had pulled out their weapons and were directly aimed at him and the others. “You won’t get away with this.”

The turbo lift doors all opened, and Keli arrived via on lift with a security detail with phaser rifles, while Jisaraa arrived with another team, also armed. 

“Escort Commanders Hunsen, T’Rani and Lieutenant Samris to their quarters,” Duncan ordered. “And have Commander Flemen taken to the brig.”

Banfield had knelt down to help Tomaz up, who was still in shock at having his friend punch him the way he did. Rubbing his chin, Tomaz thanked the science officer for helping him up. 

“So, is this how the great Starfleet deal with disagreements? They go into a brawl?” Captain Nictoles commented as he watched those who opposed the captain’s decision be taken off the bridge.

“Commander Lenjir would escort Captain Nictoles to his guest quarters,” McCallister ordered, not wanting to turn around and look at him. 

“With pleasure, sir,” Lenjir replied as he put his weapon away and gestured for the Brenari to head towards one of the free turbo lifts.

Once the commotion on the bridge had disappeared, McCallister gave Tomaz a gesture to see if he was okay. Tomaz just nodded. “Tobias, take the helm and get us into that gas giant.”

“Aye, sir,”  Court said as he put his phaser back into his holster and took over the flight controls.

“Corella, launch that probe,” McCallister said as he sat back down in his chair. 

“I’m on it,” Banfield replied as she 

Tapping his combadge, Duncan called for Slyvexs to check the cortical monitors of those recently involved in that altercation. Slyvexs confirmed she would get on it straight away before closing the channel. 

Duncan looked at his captain, and for the first time, he could see that McCallister was highly bothered by what had just happened. No one had ever questioned him like that publicly. 

“Are you okay, sir?” Duncan asked quietly.

“Fine,” McCallister snapped back and kept his focus fixed on the viewscreen as they entered the gas giant. McCallister then stood up. He looked over at Tomaz, who had taken over at tactical for the moment. “Tomaz, get yourself checked over in sickbay.”

Tomaz just nodded, rubbing his chin and where a bruise now forming where Flemen had floored him. 

“Number One, the bridge is yours,” McCallister said as he marched across the bridge back into his private sanctuary. 

Duncan and Banfield exchanged a look of concern with each other, thinking the same thing and realising that their captain needed some space. 

“I can’t believe I’m hearing that correctly?” Forbes said as he ran the dermal regenerator over Tomaz’s chin. “Commander Hunsen actually squared up against the captain?”

“Believe it,” Tomaz said as he tried to remain still as he was treated.

“What was that?” Counsellor Horin asked after stepping out of her private examination room with a mug of hot chocolate. 

Realising she must have heard it, Tomaz remained still while he let Forbes deal with the counsellor. 

“It’s nothing, ma’am,” Forbes said, “You should go back and rest.”

“No, tell me. What was that about Tremt and the captain?” Horin said as she stepped closer and saw the massive bruise on Tomaz’s chin. “And who the hell did that to you, Tomaz?”

Slyvexs walked into the room to save Forbes. “It would appear Commander Hunsen and several others are not behaving themselves, Louwanna.”

“Explain,” Horin asked as he placed her mug on one of the side consoles. “Is it the blood dilithium?”

Slyvexs shrugged her shoulders as she double-checked Forbes’ work to ensure that Tomaz’s breathing apparatus hadn’t been damaged. Not that she didn’t trust Forbes, it was standard procedure to have more than one physician review such devices. “That looks fine, Remi,” She turned her attention back to Horin. “I’m about to check the readings from his cortical inhibitor to see why Hunsen got all angry and behaved in a way that was unbecoming of a senior officer.”

“Let me come with you,” Horin pleaded, and Slyvexs nodded as they crossed the room. 

Pulling the latest records from Hunsen’s inhibitor, Slyvexs was going to react surprisingly but didn’t at first. “Commander Hunsen has not been wearing his inhibitor at all times,” She pointed to the logs, “look, there are gaps in its usage.”

“That’s the same for some of the others,” Horin pointed out. “Samris, Tierra, Flemen, hell, T’Rani has the longest gaps in not using her inhibitor, but why?”

Shaking her head in, unable to see a pattern initially, Slyvexs studied the logs closely. “Look here, there are instances where T’Rani is not using her inhibitor at the same time that Samris doesn’t use his, then the same for both of them with Flemen a bit later. Look, it happens again with all three of them simultaneously when Hunsen stops using his. Then later on with Tierra and several others.”

Forbes and Tomaz then approached both women from behind.

“Have you found something, doctor?” Forbes asked his superior. 

Slyvexs nodded and indicated for her deputy to read what she was reading. 

“For us, non-medical people, does this explain why Flemen decided to punch the living life out of me earlier?” Tomaz inquired. 

 “It does, and it doesn’t,” Slyvexs responded. “The inhibitors should have prevented their telepathic powers from being caught, if that’s the best terminology to use here, by the effects of the blood dilithium, so I can’t figure out the rationale for them to remove their inhibitors. They all understood why and Commander Horin hasn’t removed hers.”

“Hey, I’m a good patient; I listen to my doctor, especially when it comes to ensuring my baby’s wellbeing,” Horin said. “What about everyone else who is wearing an inhibitor? Are there any gaps in their usage?”

Slyvexs turned to Forbes and got him to check the logs while she ran a scan over Horin. “I’m just checking to see if there’s anything else I’ve missed here.” 

“Go ahead,” Horin said as she stood straight. 

Slyvexs shook her head in despair, “I’m not detecting anything out of the ordinary that would make you want to take the inhibitor off.”

“I’m not in any pain or discomfort,” Horin shared.   

“Doctor,” Forbes said, calling for the attention of his superior, “we’ve got an issue. Most of the Brenari and pretty much everyone, besides a few of the younger members of our crew, has disengaged their inhibitors at least once in the past twelve hours.”

“How did the sickbay systems not register them?” Tomaz questioned, concerned at the computer not alerting them. 

Forbes pulled up additional files to justify what had happened. “Someone has tampered with the sensors.”

“Who?” Tomaz asked immediately. 

“Initially, it looks like Lieutenant Commander T’Rani, then Commander Hunsen,” Forbes said, looking at the console. 

“What are they playing at?” Horin asked. 

Concerned that something more could happen, Tomaz attempted to trace the dots in this situation that presented them. “It doesn’t make sense, any of it. Who from our younger members has not had their inhibitors touched?”

“I’m loading up the manifest now, sir,” Forbes said as he pushed the data up into a holographic display. “But, the list is starting to grow short. Someone is trying to hack into the system.”

Straight away, Tomaz felt his heart drop as he saw one of the names. He tapped his combadge immediately, “Lieutenant Commander Tomaz to Cadets McCallister and Duncan-Court.”

Alfie immediately replied. “Go ahead, sir.”

“Alfie, are you and Jordan still together studying?” Tomaz checked, pleading quietly to himself that he would say yes.

“We are, sir; why?” 

 “Get to my quarters straight away and get S’Tem for me. Bring him to sickbay on the double. Do not stop for anyone unless it’s either of your fathers.” He ordered.

“We’re on it,” Jordan said before closing the channel.

“Where is the hack coming from?” Slyvexs then asked as she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. 

“Main Engineering,” Forbes quickly said as he attempted to find more data. “The codes being used are those associated with Lieutenant Tierra.”

 “Computer, this is Commander Slyvexs, medical emergency alpha-one. Secure all sickbay systems onto the independent backup systems, lock out all controls from outside of sickbay until further notice, voice authorisation Slyvexs-Two-Two-Beta-Charlie.” 

“Command codes acknowledged, sickbay systems locked out and now running on independent backup systems.” The computer announced.

“It’s worked,” Forbes exclaimed.

“For now, but why the hell is Tierra trying to disable the inhibitors?” Tomaz asked as he crossed his arms. “We should inform the captain-”

He was interrupted by Horin, “Slyvexs, is that what I think it is?” She pointed at several scans that the Denobulan doctor had left open while she stopped Tierra from hacking the systems. 

Slyvexs turned around to see what Horin was pointing out, and she couldn’t believe what she was looking at. “My goodness, how did we miss that?”

“Miss what?” Forbes said as he joined the two women with Tomaz. He looked at the readings, “That can’t be; you’ve not started running the tests for it yet.”

“That’s not mine.” Slyvexs pointed out.

“Again, for those of us who are not medical professionals, can you tell me what I’m looking at?” Tomaz requested. 

“That commander is a low-level neurogenic field directed at our telepathic crew and guests,” Slyvexs answered.

“Meaning what?” Tomaz was still unsure what they were going on about. After asking the question, the main entrance to sickbay opened up, allowing Alfie and Jordan to enter. Jordan had S’Tem sat on his shoulders. Tomaz, relieved to see his son safe, thanked the cadets for bringing S’Tem to him. 

Slyvexs then checked her sensors and finally answered Tomaz’s question. “It’s not just the blood dilithium that is affecting our fellow crewmates, but someone or something is producing a neurogenic field that is controlling them.”

Tapping his combadge, Tomaz called for the captain, but his combadge was not working. The others all tried the same with their own. Nothing. The ship then went to red alert. 

“This isn’t good,” Horin said, “And I don’t need to be a telepath to sense that.”

“Computer, where did the red alert originate from?” Tomaz asked. 

“Main Engineering.”

Tomaz guessed that Tierra was up to something, but he wanted to be sure. “On whose authority?” 

“Lieutenant Tierra’s. A ship-wide red alert was issued after issues with the intermix chamber were discovered.” 

“I bet that’s a lie,” Forbes guessed.

“We need to get to the bridge, warn the captain what is happening, and secure engineering,” Tomaz said.

“Wait a second,” Slyvexs said as she took over from the console that Forbes was working on. She punched a few more commands. “Okay, I’ve separated the remaining active inhibitors from the main system. No one can disable them remotely unless the user removes them.” She looked at Horin, “Louwanna, if you take it off, then I don’t know what could happen to you or your child.”

“Then I need to make sure nothing happens,” Horin said as she walked over to the sickbay’s weapon locker. She inputted in her clearance code, and the locker swivelled around. She pulled out a rifle and threw it towards Tomaz, followed by doing the same to Slyvexs and Forbes. “Remi and I will head to the bridge to warn the captain about what is happening.”

“While Commander Tomaz and I head to engineering,” Slyvexs suggested. As both women were the ranking officers, it was right for them to assume command. Slyvexs looked at Tomaz, “If you think that’s the right tactic to take?”

“I couldn’t agree more,” He said as he armed his rifle. Tomaz turned to Jordan and Alfie, “Guys, I’m not sure what’s about to take place, but do me a favour and find somewhere safe to hide with S’Tem. I don’t want anyone trying to get their hands on him. Make sure that inhibitor stays on.”

They both agreed just as Forbes handed them both a weapon each. 

“My dad’s yacht,” Alfie said as he put his phaser against his hip. “It’s always powered down; no one will suspect we’re there.”

“Great idea,” Tomaz said before he gave S’Tem an assuring hug and promised him he would be safe with Alfie and Jordan while he went to sort out the ship. “See if you can use the yacht’s onboard independent communication system to set up a secure channel for us to use. With the internal com system down, we need an alternative.”

Both cadets agreed to the plan before the group eventually left sickbay to head out to find out what was happening to their ship.