The Gagarin was within formation with other ships that had come to Earth to join in on the Frontier Day celebrations. They had arrived a couple of days before giving some crew time to visit Earth. Frontier Day was finally here though the main celebrations weren’t for a few more hours, the crew was starting to return to prepare for when things start.

Tilana was sitting in her office staring out the window at all the ships that had gathered, she stood there lost in thought. She was trying to wrap her brain around Aarven, or the Changeling Aarven. Shortly before they arrived at Earth the Changeling had screwed up and ended up getting killed, she began to think of what had happened to the real Aarven. She wondered if she was being kept somewhere as a prisoner or if she was killed, those thoughts haunted her thoughts when she should be enjoying the beginning of the festivities.

She was so lost in thought she didn’t even hear the door chime go off several times before the person behind the door gained access. “I hope I am not disturbing you, sir,” Aleish said with a concerned tone in her voice.

Tilana jumped a bit at the voice before she turned around, “oh no.” Tilana waved a hand in dismissal, “I was just lost in thought I guess so much so I didn’t hear the door.” She added with a slight chuckle.

“The party is about to start,” Aleish said looking at her.

“Right, I suppose I should go huh?” Tilana asked with a sarcastic tone to her voice followed by a small laugh.

“I am sure they would like a bit of a speech,” Aleish countered.

“Oh right that,” Tilana replied. “I suppose you’re right, I’ll be down there shortly,” Tilana said with a smile as she wanted to freshen up as she looked a bit of a mess.

“Very well though I must warn you that if you’re not there in twenty minutes I’ll send a search party,” Aleish said with a wide grin and laugh before she turned to leave the ready room.

“I’m sure you will,” Tilana replied just before the doors closed behind her.

Standing there a bit longer she let out a sigh before exiting her ready room and heading towards her quarters to freshen up before she made her way to the gathering. It didn’t take her very long to get cleaned up and changed into a fresh clean uniform before walking out of her quarters and heading to the lounge where the festivities were being held.

Upon entering she saw most of the crew that weren’t on duty talking amongst themselves and having refreshments. She walked in making her way to one of the servers walking around with a tray of different types of drinks and grabbed one for herself before making her way towards the front of the lounge where Aleish was standing waiting.

“Attention!” Aleish called out as everyone quieted down and looked toward the two.

“Thank you all for coming here today to enjoy some festivities,” Tilana began looking at everyone. “I know we have all been through a lot over the last month with the war with the Lost Fleet and Breen,” she continued. “We have lost some good officers along the way, but we did it we came out of it intact. We worked together not only as a crew but as part of the squadron and come out on top.” Tilana replied looking at everyone who listened intently to what she was saying.

“Here we are at Earth to join in on Frontier Day celebrations, the 250th anniversary of the launch of the NX Enterprise,” Tilana said as there were erupts of cheering from those gathered. She raised her glass, “here is to many more years of exploration!” She said as she finished her toast and speech. More cheers were heard as they all raised their glasses and drank as did the Tilana and Aleish.

“Now enjoy the party as the actual celebrations will start in a few hours, which will be the first test of the new fleet formation mode” Tilana added before she walked to the bar again to grab something to drink before making her rounds around the lounge mingling with many officers.

“This is great,” Zain said looking at Zilan who he had been chatting with.

“It is, I am glad that they put this together. It gives everyone a chance to unwind and join in on the celebrations before the real celebration starts.” Zilan said with a smile.

“Agreed,” Zain replied.

Dedre and Kriia were off to the corner of the lounge watching the festivities from afar, they weren’t much of the party type but didn’t want to seem rude for not attending. They both had drinks in their hands though they hadn’t been touched. “What do you think of all of this?” Kriia asked looking at her friend.

“It is nice that the captain and first officer organized something like this to give the crew a bit of relaxation.” Dedre replied, “though I can’t get the changeling out of my mind. I keep wondering how long was it impersonating Aarven,” she added looking at the doctor.

“It’s hard telling,” Kriia responded. “I hope we find the real Aarven and hope she’s still alive,” she added with a heavy sigh.

“Agreed,” Dedre added before finally taking a drink of the champagne. The two continued to chat amongst themselves for a while trying to enjoy the celebrations instead of dwelling on things they couldn’t change.

“You did a good job with organizing this party,” Tilana said as she looked at Aleish for a brief moment before looking back at the rest who seemed to either be talking amongst themselves or dancing to the music that was playing.

“The crew deserves this, a chance to unwind from everything and it seems they are enjoying themselves,” Aleish said before lifting the glass to her mouth and taking a drink.

“Indeed,” Tilana replied.

The party would continue for a couple more hours before some of the senior staff would return to the bridge in time for the real celebrations to start. The others would probably continue throughout the day as there would also be a feed being directed in their of the festivities once it started for the fleet that was assembled at Earth.