“So, what’s the plan, sir?”

Raan looked up as Burton joined him in the small observation room off the bridge. The Resolute had sucessfully returned to the alpha quadrant a few days ago and after a short layover and leave at DS47, had set off again.

He sipped at his coffee as he slid a padd over the table to Burton. “Second contact. The powers that be want us to get out there and make nice, remind everyone in the expanse that we’re the good guys.”

Burton arched his eyebrow. “I presume we’re keeping Bennett under wraps then? If we want them to think we’re the good guys. Maybe Kovash too. And we definitely don’t need to let anyone meet Allen. That glowy-eyed shit was freaky.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right, and it was,” Raan admitted, rubbing at the slight stubble on his jaw. It was barely an hour into shift as well. Perhaps he should just grow a beard, it would be easier and he wouldn’t annihilate razors on a regular basis.

“Doc and Armstrong say Allen’s alone in his head now, so we shouldn’t have any issues on that front. And, just to be sure, the species we’re checking in on, Volar, are non-telepaths. So we shouldn’t hit any triggers.”

“So what do we know about the Volar?” Burton said, already reading. Raan didn’t need the padd back to recite the details.

“Last contact was a couple of decades ago but the Volar are a long lived species, so they should remember us. They’re humanoid, similar in appearance to humans but with brightly coloured facial markings. A warp-capable civilisation, they hadn’t ventured much beyond their local systems but I suspect that was more to do with being stuck between the Breen and the Cardassians.”

Burton nodded, his dark blue eyes assessing as he scanned down the information. It was a small file, not much to go on, and had this region been more volatile or had they not been in something like the Resolute, Raan would have been a lot more uncomfortable.

“So we’re dropping in, making nice and giving them a signed invite to DS47?’

“Pretty much,” Raan nodded. “And offering whatever assistance we can if they have problems. Prove that they can rely on the Federation if they need us.”

“Perfect,” Burton smiled as he slid the tablet back over the table. “We should go over away team protocols at some point soon, sir. Especially if we’re keeping certain key members of our crew aboard, like Allen. Callahan is certainly ready for the challenge.”

Raan nodded. Even though the doc and counsellor had cleared Allen, the sight of the Chief science officer being carried back aboard, his eyes glowing green was enough to make him very wary. “Let’s do that then, and ensure we have trained backup personnel in case our primaries are out of action for any reason. Anything else we need to discuss?”

Burton shook his head so Raan levered himself out of his seat. “In that case, I’m going to do a walkabout. Call me when we’re an hour or so out.”