Sadie tapped at her console, her eyes searching the screens for what felt like the fifteenth time that morning.  She was slowly acclimating to the Olympic and the mixture of the old and new crew.  That wasn’t what was on her mind as she tuned and directed the massive strength of the Olympic-class sensors.  There was something out there on the far edges of the system that had been catching her eye.  She’d belatedly studied the profiles of the Dominion ships and was working on comparing their signals to what she was seeing.

“Lieutenant.”  Her boyfriend’s voice pulled her from her focused state as he sat down next to her, offering a cup of steaming coffee which she gladly accepted.

“Hey, Prentice.”  They’d made a conscious effort to both transfer to the Olympic.  Their relationship was stronger, and they’d found comfort in each other’s arms with the loss of Captain Harris.  He leaned in towards her console and glanced at the display.  She answered his natural curiosity, “Picked them up when I extended the sensors…they’re not consistent enough, but… there is something there.”

He frowned, watching the readings.  A moment later, he turned his hands to the console in front of him.  She watched as he worked the ship’s computer, searching for something he knew existed.  He pointed to the screen two minutes later, “It’s fighter behavior. Specifically, Dominion.”

She looked from his screen to hers and back again, a chill sliding down her spine as the two readings began to look eerily similar.  “We’ve got a Dominion force…just…strolling around?  Just a few hours from us?”

Will wasn’t so sure.  He pointed at the readings, “They’re keeping to just outside the general long range of our sensors.  Early reports suggest this is the Lost Fleet – so they’re older.  Probably still operating with that old-school knowledge of us.  They might think they’re out of range of us…but that was 25 years ago.  Oly’s got a serious set of eyes on her – they don’t know we can see that far…at least, not yet.”

Fowler listened, her thinking jumping off from his thesis, “They might be maneuvering in a scanning run – trying to see as much of us as they can without getting close to our sensors. The readings aren’t pointing to large ships.”  He nodded, and she went to work on putting together a report.  “Thank you, Will.  I need to get this to the captain.”

“Well, that’s certainly…not great news.”  Crawford sat in his ready room as Fowler stood, having given her report.  Captain Walton was on the wall screen in her ready room, glancing at the reports from the Olympic science chief.  “They’re a few hours away at maximum warp.  Not a lot of lead time.”  She appeared lost in thought for a moment, contemplating various responses to the information.  “We could take the Mack.  Do a look and see.  Would give us an idea of what’s out there.”

Peter pointed out, “It could also lead them right to us – and we’re not built for a fight, Wren.  We’d tuck tail and run, no questions asked.”  He suggested, “You could always send in a covert operation to see what you could see.  A shuttle or runabout running on low power – find a nebula to hide in?”

Wren chuckled, “I forgot you cut your teeth in the first Dominion War, Pete.  It’s not a bad idea.  I’ll work with my team…come up with something that’ll keep us all a little safer.”  She glanced at her console, “We’re sending you some engineering help for the Cardassian ships, Pete.  Before you ask, no…I don’t have an update on how we’re going to get the people of the planet to work with a group that they view as their sworn enemy worthy of death by a thousand phaser blasts.” She put her hands up, “Their words, not mine.  I’ve got Gul Hasar seeing what he can do.”  They talked for a moment longer before closing the channel.

Crawford turned to Fowler, “Good work, Lieutenant.  Keep an eye on those readings – any change could mean trouble.”  She gave a nod and headed for the door before he spoke again, “And Lieutenant Fowler?”  She turned and listened, “I’m happy for you and Mr. Prentice. You seem happy together.”  He gave a smile and returned to his work, “That is all.”

Her mouth moved, but no words came out.  She headed back through the door to her station on the bridge, where Will sat, waiting for her return.  He caught her blanched look, and she explained quietly, “He knows about us.”  Prentice moved to speak but stopped, and she answered, “He’s happy for us, he said.”

Will thought about it for a moment.  There could have been worse things.  He could have told them to break up.  “I’m happy for us too.”  He gave a broad smile and returned to the helm station, a small skip in his step.