Things had been quiet onboard the Knight as they were currently docked at Brahms Station which was above Avalon II. Most of the crew were taking advantage of the facilities that were located on the station, after the events of having to watch what had taken place on Earth during Frontier Day. While they were unaffected due to them being docked at Starbase Bravo at the time, the Gagarin didn’t fair so lucky.

Even though the Jupiter Signal didn’t reach them they still had to purge the fleet formation mode from their system. They also identified a good majority of the younger crewmembers with having nanites in their DNA. Thanks to Dr. Crusher they were able to recalibrate their transporters and send them through the transporters to remove those nanites.

Things didn’t go as smoothly as one would have hoped as some were sceptical and scared to go through the transporter. Though they all went through in the end with some reassurance. While others were on the station Rayu Isha was sitting in her office going over reports trying to get her mind off things. They had a few days before they were scheduled to depart Avalon.

Her door chime went off she looked almost a bit irritated by the interruption, letting out a sigh while looking towards the door. “Enter.”

“I hope I am not disturbing you, sir,” came the voice of Piyu Jaiett her newly promoted first officer.

Shrugging while motioning for one of the empty chairs before getting up from hers and making her way toward the replicator. “I could use a break anyways, care for a drink?” Isha asked as he shook his head indicating that he was alright. “Coffee, black.”

After getting her cup from the replicator she walked over to where Piyu was sitting and sat down next to him. “You have been in here for hours, is everything alright?” asked Piyu as Isha had taken a sip of her coffee with a look of concern upon his face.

“Just needed to get some things finished, it’s been quiet.” Isha replied waving a hand gently, “I just lost track of time.”

“Want to go have lunch?”

“Sure, I could use a break.”

Just as they were getting up from the chairs they had been sitting in the sound of her computer beeping, raising an eyebrow Isha moved around her desk. Turning on the computer she saw the face of Azras Dex on the other end. “Sorry to interrupt you like this,” Azras began with an apologetic look on her face.

“It’s alright,” said Isha as she sat down in the chair. Piyu sat down quietly listening to what was going on. “What can I do for you, sir?”

“I just received a distress call from the SS Valkyrie near Talaran space.” Azras began with a short pause, “their engines seem to be on the fritz and are requesting our assistance in repairs so they can complete their delivery.”

“Any idea of why their engines just failed?”

“They are unable to figure out why or even how to go about fixing it so they called for assistance.” Azras said as she looked at her, “I am sending the Knight to render aid and get them on their way.”

Looking up from her computer she motioned for Piyu to go recall the crew. Piyu nodded and walked out of her ready room before she looked back to Azras. “We will leave as soon as the crew return,” Isha replied as she had just received the coordinates to where the Valkyrie was located.

“Thank you, Commander, good luck,” Azras replied before ending the communication, the screen turning off.

Isha sat there for a while pulling up the information about the Valkyrie that she could find and the coordinates that were provided. It was an Antares-class freighter and looks to be in better condition than some she’s seen. Though it seems to be over twenty years old and has been through a couple of owners throughout the years. Shutting her computer off after downloading the information, she got up from her chair and began to make her way out onto the bridge.

She noticed that her bridge staff had returned, “status report.”

“All crew have returned,” Piyu replied.

“All systems are online and ready for departure,” Jerra replied from the helm.

“Engines are online and operating at a hundred percent,” said Kisha from the engineering station on the bridge.

“Open channel to Brahms Station,” said Rayu as she sat down in her chair. Once she got the nod that the channel was open, “Knight to Brahms Station requesting permission to disembark from the starbase.”

“Brahms Station here you are clear for departure Knight,” came the voice of the docking master replied before the comm channel ended.

Looking at Jerra who was looking back at her, “retract stations mornings and docking clamps. The back us away from the station,” said Rayu as she adjusted in her seat. This was their first mission without the other two ships in the squadron. “Once clear set a course for these coordinates warp nine.”

“Aye sir,” Jerra replied as he turned around with a grin as he tapped a few commands into his console. The mornings detached from the ship and a few seconds later the docking clamps disengaged. The ship began to slowly move away from the station and the other Saratoga and Triumph. Once they were at a safe distance he looked back at the commander. “Course and speed laid in.”

“Engage.”

“Aye,” said Jerra as he tapped a few buttons and the ship went to warp towards its destination.

Tapping the controls on her chair console she opened a shipwide channel. “Senior staff report to the observation lounge in fifteen minutes,” she replied with a quick pause before speaking. “Along with Lieutenant Derohl,” Rayu said before tapping the console again ending the channel. This caused a few turned heads about why a junior officer would be joining a senior staff meeting.

“You have the bridge,” said Isha as she looked at the relief officer as both Isha and Piyu walked towards the observation lounge to prepare for the briefing. Upon entering she could see the confusion in Piyu’s eyes.

“Why did you ask Derohl to join us?”

“One of her previous hosts has experience with Antares-class freighters and would like to get her knowledge.”

“Gotcha that makes sense,” Piyu said as they sat there chatting amongst each other as they gathered all the needed information to prepare for their upcoming staff meeting. “This seems to be a simple enough mission, we should be back in no time.”

“Yeah, we should be though nothing seems to always go as planned.”

Piyu nodded with the statement as things don’t always go as hoped or planned. He could tell something was bothering her, “you alright?”

“Yeah, just feels different going on a mission without the squadron,” Rayu replied honestly, though she knew they were fully capable of handling a mission by themselves. Working her jaw for a brief moment before looking at him. They chatted amongst themselves while they waited for others to arrive.