==Viridian Expanse – Bridge ==

It was fairly unusual for the bridge of the Expanse to be fully manned. Under normal conditions, only one or two of the command crew would normally be on the deck to make sure things were operating normally. However, as they were approaching their destination and given the surrounding circumstances, Keren thought it best to have all hands available. Shiren and Grokka were seated in front of him at the helm and operations console, the latter fidgeting in the seat as the station was not designed for someone of the Nausicaan engineer’s size. Timek was behind him to the right at the tactical station and Livanna behind to the left at the main sensor console. Keren, for his part, was watching several data streams on holographic displays in front of him with a tactical and sensor display to the side.

As they traveled deeper into the Deneb Sector and neared their destination, they started getting more and more reports of what was going on there. Actual reports, not whatever the media was putting out. Since information had always been a part of his business, Keren paid attention to whatever was going on and had been reading everything he could decrypt. Battle reports, supply requisitions, casualty lists, and more than a few desperate calls for help were streaming across his console on the bridge. While it was still unclear exactly what was going on in the area, it was clearly more than a few isolated raids. Whole colonies were being overrun, fleets being destroyed, and all manner of destruction was occurring.

And there was nothing Keren could do about it.  

That was something that was becoming rather commonplace for him, getting into places where people were dying all around and all he could do was make sure he wasn’t caught up in it.  He’d dodged having to pick a side in Psi Valorum by using a loophole, but in the end, there wasn’t anything he could really do to even make a dent in what was happening, all he could do was make sure he didn’t suffer. He avoided the risk rather than face it. Freecloud, well that was different, but again his actions were more driven by staying out of a bigger situation. It was so much easier when the hardships were distant and when other people were at risk. This time, he was going to be in the line of fire at, if things went as he suspected, there would be staying out of this conflict.

While still watching the data stream on one monitor, he noticed something on the long-range sensors on a nearby monitor. Switching his full attention to the sensor display, Keren stared at the screen and his eyes went wide.

“Shiren, do you see what I’m seeing? Zero-one-five mark fifteen.” The pilot keyed a command and then nodded. “Yes boss, massive debris field at the edge of sensor range, just off our course, though not far from our rendezvous coordinates.”

Keren nodded and responded. “Slow to impulse and check the cloak.”

As the Expanse dropped out of warp, Keren’s fingers rapped against his console for a moment before putting the sensor images on the main viewer and keyed off his holo displays. Keren’s jaw went slack as he surveyed the carnage. Images of scorched metal and broken hulls filled the display. Fires and sparks from damaged power relays added specks of light to that of the surrounding stars. No one on the bridge spoke for several seconds before Timek spoke up.

“Boss, while we can’t use all our sensors under cloak, I have determined that the debris contains both Federation and Breen hull composites. Can’t tell how many ships, but this was a rather large engagement.”

Keren nodded. “That tracks with what I’ve been reading. Both sides are operating near the Vadlox Nebula.”

“But what could they have been fighting over out here?” Livanna asked in a curious but concerned tone. “We’re quite a ways from any major colony or station.”

“General engagement probably,” Shiren chimed in as he deftly maneuvered the Expanse through the debris. “Two patrols spotted each other and engaged most likely. No specific target, just a chance encounter as both sides were scouting.”

“Shiren is probably correct but…” Timek seemed a bit put off by something he was seeing. “Boss, I think there might be…Dominion ships here as well.”

Keren didn’t immediately respond as his eyes were fixed on the screen. He simply took several deep breaths. It had been a long time since he’d been in a situation like this, not since the supernova. He’d done his best to avoid scenes such as these. Sure, he’d run into a wreck every so often in the regular course of business, but not a graveyard like this. The young hybrid was being pulled into a memory he’d rather not be and he was having a hard time shaking it. He could barely hear the talking around him as he processed what he was seeing, but there were words that got his attention.

“Have you all ever seen anything like this?” Livanna asked from her station.

“Once. Last job with Orions.” Grokka said. “Hiding from spoonheads after transport raid. Wasn’t fun, pilot was bad, broke ship.” The Nausicaan didn’t talk much, but she had seen her fair share of unpleasantness.

“Of course.” Timek replied. “It’s not something you readily forget. Chin’toka was the worst. Looked exactly like this, only bigger. Your eyes only see the metal, the inorganic masses, but your mind can’t help but see the spirits of all those who manned those inanimate objects. Was even worse for those who had keener minds.”

Livanna gave an understanding nod. “I can’t imagine. Keren, I know you were too young in to be in the war, but what about you?”

Timek tried to cut off Livanna before she directly asked Keren, but it was too late. Keren for his part tried to remain calm as his mind swirled, his eyes still locked on the screen. It took a moment for him to speak, but when he did, only one word came out.

“Mars.”

Most of the crew, all aside from Timek and maybe Shiren, were not aware that a teenage Keren had seen the attack, or more accurately its aftermath, on the fourth planet of the Sol system. He was just a cadet in the merchant vessel training program at the time. He was among a group of cadets traveling with a diplomatic and technical delegation to review plans for the evacuation of the home system. The goal was to reassure the youth of Romulus that the Federation was helping and that they would have a future. The actual outcome was quite the opposite.

When the actual attack happened, Keren and the other cadets had just finished touring Jupiter Station and were getting ready to head to Utopia Planitia. When word got out as to what was happening above Mars, the cadets were all paying attention to the system’s media feeds and were, like everyone on board the transport, trying to figure out what happened. Keren sat transfixed to the monitors, much like he was now, simply staring at the destruction. His thoughts then and now swirled much like the shattered debris. The difference was that then, in the Sol system, his thoughts weren’t just on the many who had died in the attack but with the millions more that would likely die two years later as a result. It was a thought no mind should ever have to bear, never mind one so young.

Keren was numb the whole trip home, unable to fully comprehend what he’d seen. All he could do was simply watch whatever stories came through to the transport and try to understand. So much death in the present, so much more in the future, and no time to really grieve as the Star Empire had no choice but to resort to other means to try and save their people. It would fall to all Romulans, even the young Keren to pull together without the Federation’s help.

These weren’t memories that were easily shaken loose.

The crew’s reaction to Keren’s words were mixed. Shirren simply gulped at the thought. He was younger than Keren and was just a child when the Mars incident occurred. He still appreciated the gravity of what happened there and didn’t have much difficulty figuring out that Keren was most likely being triggered by what he was seeing. Grokka was still quiet, but whipped around and gave Livanna a steely glare. She didn’t know nor care to know much about Keren’s past, but she could tell Livanna’s question had triggered something in the captain and that it wasn’t good.

It was Timek though that finally broke the silence on the bridge. Standing up to his full height Timek looked right into Livanna’s eyes and spoke sternly.

“The boss has seen more death than even I have, even if his experiences were indirect. I advise you don’t pursue this topic further at this time.” Once he finished, Timek moved to Keren’s side.

“It’s why we no do salvage,” Grokka added.

“But I just, I didn’t,” Livanna responded meekly, but a glare from Timek stopped her cold. “Understood.”

Keren didn’t react to Timek at first, he was still frozen in thought. The Reman simply left one hand on Keren’s shoulder while reaching over to shut off the main viewer. Keren made no move to stop him and an instant later the image of the debris field disappeared. He then looked to Shiren.

“Are we at the coordinates yet?”

Shiren nodded. “Yes. Right where we should be.”

“Breen comm relay detected at zero-four-five mark two-five. Ninety-five thousand kilometers.” Livanna added in.

“Then let’s get this over with. Shiren, station keeping please.” Keren finally snapped out of his trance when Timek touched him. Keren keyed up some commands on his command station and after a confirmatory beep from the comm system, he spoke again.

“Signal sent. Everyone stay alert.”

Keren took the next few moments to regain his composure. His mind still wanted to dwell on what he’d just seen, but there was a job to do, and he needed his focus. There was plenty of time later to dwell on the past. Timek always knew the right way to snap him back into the present, though how he did it was still a bit of a mystery. Keren took a few deep breaths and then keyed back on his holo displays. As he did so, Livanna shouted from the back of the bridge.

“Ships coming out of the nebula boss, big ones.”

Multiple ships were not the expected norm for something like this, but it was a warzone so whoever they were delivering to probably hired escorts. But Keren’s face grimaced a bit when he got a better view of the sensor display.

“Timek, are those what I think they are?”

The Reman seem just as surprised as Keren as he stared at the monitor in front of him. “I believe so. A Dominion battle cruiser and four Jem’hadar fighters headed this way at high impulse. Time to intercept, four minutes twenty-one seconds.”

“Dominon ships? Well that fully confirms the rumors.” Shiren chimed in. “Time to bail?”

As Shiren almost instinctively started plotting a course away from the area, Keren seemed to have a revelation. He’d already begun to suspect that the reason Nasir had been so coy about the client of this delivery had been the Breen had been involved. It wasn’t much of a stretch based on the reports they’d been seeing that the Breen might have been working on the Dominon’s behalf. Keren looked back at Timek with an a look asking for confirmation and the Reman responded with a slight nod. Keren simply sighed. 

“Not necessary Shiren. I get the distinct impression that these are our clients coming to get their merchandise.”

The only way that more air could have been sucked out of the room this quickly is if there had been a massive hull breach. No one spoke for several seconds before Grokka, oddly enough broke the silence.

“A deal is a deal.”

Keren just sighed in response. When a Nausicaan quotes Rules of Acquisition, there really is nothing left to say.