Emerging onto the bridge from the aft turbo lift and leading an ensemble of senior staff, the newly crowned commander of Venture instantly made her way towards the command chair. She hadn’t even allowed the team to take the time to return to their quarters and get out of their dress uniforms, each member of the team wearing their pristine dress whites, which surprisingly complimented the decor of the command center.

Mason emerged from the turbolift right behind Captain T’Prynn, walking behind her as she made her way towards her seat. He couldn’t believe he was again living this nightmare that seemed to never go away. First, the Enforcer, and now the Scarborough… they had to find them. He had to find them, especially if he was ever going to find any peace from all of this. 

As more of the crew came out of the lifts and took their stations, Mason started giving orders, “Helm, lay in a course for the Scarborough‘s last known position, warp nine.” He looked towards the captain, ensuring she approved of the orders before engaging.

A nod from the Vulcan provided the approval he needed.

Lt. Mike Radford made his way out of the turbolift and toward his station at the Helm. A mad shuffle of postings had left him in the Chief Flight Operations Officer spot aboard the Venture and he couldn’t be happier, in spite of the mission at hand. 

He was taking his seat as the XO began giving orders. “Laying in a course,” Mike replied from his station, his hands dancing over the console with practised speed. “Course laid in, warp nine,” He replied, looking back at the CO for the go-ahead. 

Before she could reply, a voice piped in over comms. “Lt. Zel to the bridge: Captain, the warp core’s not warmed up yet! I’m rerouting the deuterium and warming her up right now; I can give you warp nine in five minutes, or I can give you warp five in sixty seconds and keep pumping the fuel as we accelerate. So to speak.”

“Let us warm up the engines,” T’Prynn responded over the comm, “warp five in sixty seconds and then cycle through,” she confirmed, a nod towards the helmsman indicating her adjustment of his orders.

“Yes, ma’am,” Mike replied, “Course laid in, adjusting speed to Warp 5,” The pilot announced, his fingers making a quick run across the console again. “On your order, ma’am,” He said, turning back to the captain and giving her a grin.

“Hal-tor saris,” the Vulcan instructed in her sultry mother tongue, her clearest indication that the helmsman should ‘engage’ at his leisure.

Mike’s Vulcan was a little rusty, but he remembered enough to follow that one, “Yes, ma’am. Engaging.” He smiled as he slid the warp speed indicator up to 5 and watched the stars stretch out in front of him.

Mara sat at the science station, still tugging at her collar. The whiskey from the celebration was welcome, and the Lieutenant could hold her own, but she was a little self-conscious about her breath. She smelled like a distillery and was surprised no one had noticed or was polite enough not to say anything. Once Shepard prepped and checked the console, she was ready. “Science is online, Captain. We’re ready when ye give the word.” 

Oliver stood at his station, looking over the tactical systems and ensuring that all systems were green. “Captain,” he spoke awaiting a response. “All weapons are green. If we would need to attack then we are prepared,” he stated plainly to the Vulcan.

“Prudent,” she nodded in response, “but let us hope we do not require them.” Turning slightly to her first officer, the Vulcan gave her next orders. “Commander Henry, access the LCARS database and obtain any records and mission logs pertaining to the Scarborough mission.”

Mason nodded, acknowledging the captain’s orders and started away at his console to find the appropriate information. A few seconds went by before the reports came across his screen, “U.S.S. Scarborough; primary mission, salvage operations for U.S.S. Enforcer. Last known location is the Mutara Remnant.”

He then turned towards the captain and continued, speaking not as loudly now and only to T’Prynn, “The Scarborough is a California-class ship, not much firepower there. If they encountered a tactical situation involving the Gorn, they would’ve been even more outgunned than the Enforcer was and a highly tempting target for another raid.”

T’Prynn remained silent, still, as she listened to the concern of her first officer. Perhaps she would have been wise to remove him from his position, given his attachment to his previous command, but that would insinuate he was incapable of carrying out his duties professionally.

“Venture will continue to the Mutara Remnant at yellow alert,” she called out, to any who were listening. “It is my intention to resolve this situation today. The Gorn can no longer be allowed to terrorise the borders of Federation space,” her voice cracking a little as she spoke. A hint of emotion to her words, perhaps?

A moment later, Kazjra shot through the turbo lift doors and made a beeline for the engineering station. Her persistent cheerfulness had been transmuted into determined energy. 

“We should be hitting warp nine right about now?” It sounded like a question, but she didn’t wait for an answer. “The deuterium is flowing and the dilithium matrix is stable; we can push it all the way up to nine point nine-five for the next twenty-four hours at least.”

“Lieutenant Radford,” the Vulcan looked to be ignoring the exuberant presence of the engineer, apart from the reference she made next. “Warp 9?”

“Aye, Captain. Warp 9,” Mike replied, sliding up the throttle indicator with a grin. 

As the USS Venture, majestic and pristine, stood poised at the edge of the vast unknown, its hull gleaming with the promise of new horizons, the ship’s crew prepared to embark on a new adventure, unaware of the impending challenges that awaited them in the uncharted regions of space.

Together, they would unravel the mysteries of this new frontier, reaffirming their place in the vast tapestry of the cosmos. But first, they had a ship to find…