Commander Max Duncan sat in his quarters, surrounded by reports from across the USS Odyssey. Within the personal confines of his study, he was trying to do what he usually did when the ship wasn’t on a war footing. Duncan didn’t have his standard duty uniform jacket on. Instead, he was sitting wearing just his undershirt. He sipped on his tea, enjoying the peace and quiet. Then, suddenly, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist, and he turned to see his husband, Master Chief Petty Officer Tobias Court, standing behind him.

“Hey, babe,” Court said, pressing a kiss to Duncan’s cheek. “What are you doing here?”

“Just catching up on some paperwork,” Duncan replied, smiling at his husband’s unexpected appearance. “What brings you by?”

“I heard from William,” Court said, referring to their teenage son. “He made it safely to Earth and is settling in with my parents. I thought you’d like to know.”

Duncan breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness,” he said. “I was worried about him.”

Court could tell that his husband was still a bit tense, so he decided to distract him. He leaned in and began to kiss Duncan’s neck, trailing his lips down to his collarbone.

Duncan groaned softly, his body responding to his husband’s touch. “You’re going to make me forget about all this paperwork,” he murmured.

“That’s the idea,” Court said, grinning. He pressed his lips to Duncan’s, and their kiss intensified. For a few moments, they lost themselves in each other; their bodies pressed close together. Duncan rushed his fingers tips through Court’s dark hair while Court pushed his husband against one of the bookshelves. Their sudden bump knocked a few books and items from their usual places. Ignoring the tumbling objects, they continued their kissing.

Duncan was trying to pull Court’s jacket off him while still trying to kiss him. Noticing what his husband was trying to do, Court quickly yanked his jacket off and threw it to the floor within two seconds. 

But then, they both remembered the briefing about the Divinium colony that was coming up soon. So they reluctantly pulled apart, their breathing heavy.

“We should probably get going,” Duncan said, his cheeks flushed as he leaned his forehead against Court’s.

Court nodded, his eyes still dark with desire. “Yeah, we don’t want to be late for that,” he said. “But we’ll have to continue this later.”

Duncan smiled, feeling a warmth spread through his body. “Definitely,” he said. “I love you, Tobias Finlay Duncan-Court.”

“I love you too, Maxwell Jack Duncan-Court,” Court replied, quickly kissing his husband one more time before they headed out the door, hand in hand.

The senior staff of the USS Odyssey had gathered in the aft section of the bridge, just in front of the MSD and the Mission Ops stations. Lieutenant Commander Tomaz was leading the briefing as holographic models of the Divinium star system were displayed in the centre of the room. As he spoke, everyone listened intently. 

“I have to say, I don’t see any strategic value in this colony,” Tomaz began. “It’s a standard colony on an M-class world with just under one billion lives. Most of the population is Betazoid, while others include Humans, Bolians, Bajorans and Caitians. The colony is peaceful, with no signs of conflicts or disputes with any nearby powers.” Tomaz pressed a button to move the holograms onto the next section he wanted to show them. The actual world where the colony resided came into view while a high amount of dots all appeared around the planet and its four moons. “Apart from a sophisticated defence network and a Presidium-class station in orbit, I don’t see what would have interested the Dominion in attacking the Divinium system.” 

“What’s the colony’s largest export?” Flemen asked as he stood beside his friend.

Tomaz turned to answer. “Mainly agriculture, but they have a few mines along their seabeds and within the moons. However, nothing you wouldn’t find elsewhere. There’s no dilithium or any other rare material that would tempt the Dominion.”

Slyvexs stepped forward. “You mentioned agriculture is their biggest export? Could there be something that could help them create ketracel white?”

“What do you mean?” Tomaz asked the Denobulan doctor. 

“Slyvexs has a point,” Banfield said in support. The Human/Klingon science officer had a PADD in her hands. “I read somewhere about one of the active ingredients in ketracel white being found on a Federation world during the war.”

“Yridium bicantizine,” Slyvexs stated as she crossed her arms against her chest. “Not many worlds in the Alpha Quadrant could create it, apart from the Son’a; I don’t think the Dominion had much success in making it naturally on this side of the Bajoran Wormhole.”

Banfield nodded in agreement with Slyvexs as she searched her PADD. “Yes, you’re right, doctor.”

“Tri-nucleic fungi,” Flemen announced.

“Come again, Craigen?” Tierra asked from the opposite side to him. The Deltan chief engineer was confused by his random outburst, just as much as everyone else was.

 “During my training at the academy, I remember reading the peace treaty the Dominion offered the Federation shortly after Starfleet retook back Deep Space Nine, but it was rejected. One of the concessions the Federation would have to give up was a world with tri-nucleic fungi.”

“Yes, Craigen, you’re right!” Slyvexs said, sounding really pleased that the diplomatic officer remembered that fact. “If you broke the fungi down, you can produce yridium bicantizine.”

“So, does the planet grow Jem’Hadar-friendly mushrooms?” Counsellor Horin asked. The pregnant Betazoid woman was sitting on one of the chairs while everyone else was standing. 

Her question prompted Tomaz to check his records while a few laughed at her joke. He quickly looked through everything he had before he shook his head. “I can’t see any mention of anything that could do what you are all saying, but we should run more detailed scans of the system to be certain.”

“We could send out probes to help speed up the process,” Banfield advised. 

Keli then cleared her throat and pointed to the orbital weapon platforms. “If I’m not wrong, those are state-of-the-art platforms.”

“You’re right, Keli,” Tomaz confirmed. “They’re all armed pulse phaser cannons, quantum torpedoes and regenerative shielding. In addition, the colony has planetary shielding and several phased ion cannons in key strategic locations.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of firepower for a planet that isn’t meant to have any strategic value,” Lieutenant Marova commented. “How comes their armed to the teeth?”

“It’s the post-war planetary defence bill,” Flemen replied before elaborating further. “The Federation Council passed a massive infrastructure bill sometime after the war that required Starfleet to upgrade almost every planet’s defence systems. The Federation didn’t want to repeat what happened when member worlds were viciously scared because their planetary defence networks were antiquated.”

“Like Betazed,” Horin said solemnly.

“Indeed,” Flemen nodded. “It’s also why the Attack on Mars caused so much damage. The systems the Synths used against the planet were the best of the best.”

“Is there anything else we should know?” Jen asked as he grasped both hands behind his back. 

Tomaz shook his head at the joined Trill officer. “Nothing of importance; as I said, it’s pretty much a standard system that was colonised almost a century ago.”

Lieutenant Commander Rosle cleared her throat. “So, what is our plan as we enter the system?”

Everyone went silent as they turned to Fleet Captain McCallister. He had remained almost silent since the briefing had started. “We’ll drop out of warp on the system’s edge and begin a sensor sweep to determine if there are any remaining Dominion forces. The squadron will remain close together.” He looked at Rosle, “I want all starfighters launched, ready to fight whatever is there. We’ll separate the Odyssey and Themis too.”

“Strength in numbers,” Court remarked from behind McCallister.

McCallister nodded to the master chief. “Yes, something like that. I’ll command the chevron section with Tomaz acting as my first officer; Max, you’ll have the stardrive with Craigen, while Corella will command the Telemachus with Louwanna.”

All six commanders nodded in understanding their orders.

“If we do engage any enemy vessels, then I want to see if we can force them to chase us within the network of orbital weapon platforms.” McCallister pointed to the grid, showing the platforms connected with one another. “Hopefully, they’ll be operational to help us.”

“If not, we have their access codes,” Tomaz shared.

“We secure the system and determine the status of the colony,” McCallister stated. “Slyvexs, your priority will be to assess their health care system and ensure the colony has the support it needs for those injured. Use every medical personnel onboard every ship in the squadron.”

“Aye, sir. We’ve already got our medical wards ready for mass trauma operations.” Slyvexs confirmed.

“Reuben, the talents of the Corps of Engineers will most likely come into need. I want your people using our shuttles and transporters to respond to those areas of the colony that require our help. The top priority is planet-side defence and power systems. Make sure you liaise with their emergency response teams.” 

The former Borg drone had also remained quiet during the briefing. Lieutenant Commander Gray just nodded before speaking up. “We’re ready, sir.”

“Tierra, we don’t know what state Divinum Station will be,” McCallister said as he pointed to the Presidium-class starbase. “I want your teams ready to go over and provide repair teams.”

“Understood, captain.” Tierra acknowledged. 

McCallister looked over to Keli. “Lieutenant, we’ll need to ensure that no Jem’Hadar troops have landed on the planet. If we do, I want the Hazards team ready to deploy to begin hunting them down.”

“They’ll be ready, sir,” She replied. “What about securing key locations on the planet?”

“Have security teams ready to deploy if the colony’s governor requests it,” McCallister answered. He looked behind his right shoulder at Court. “Tobias, you’re going to be my liaison officer with everyone in the squadron. I want you overseeing everything so I know what is going on.”

“Consider me all over the squadron,” Court said with a smile.

“He’s good at being spread everywhere,” Duncan added with a cheeky wink.

That broke the tension in the room, and even McCallister chuckled at that tongue-in-cheek comment made by his first officer. Then, he looked over to Jen. “Lukiz, I want you to work with the other operations officers in the squadron to ensure whatever supplies the colony needs are ready to be shared.”

Jen nodded. “I’ll ensure our industrial replicators are fully operational, and the food stores on the Themis are ready to share what we have.”

McCallister appreciated everyone’s efforts and contributions. “Let’s do this,” He said before dismissing them all.