“So you basically give out help without considering our situation?” Sazra rubbed her template as she sat back in her chair looking at K’Nala who stood before her. “Do you have any idea what position we are in right now?”

“Yes, Captain” K’Nala stood there at attention with her hands behind her back keeping her head up. But the displeased face of her Captain was something she didn’t expect when she stated the conditions of what was explained to her “I did what felt right in the principles of Starfleet”

Silina narrowed her eyes “The principles of Starfleet don’t include providing help to any living soul that calls out for it Lieutenant. It might be ethically different if it was a planet that required our help, but you explained it to be one person that needed our help.” She shrugged looking at Sazra and saw how annoyed she was with this news “How harsh it might sound. We can’t waste our resources on this request”

“Drata, your input? You were there. Did you do any digging on the given information?” Sazra looked over her shoulder at him. “And both you and Asipa can explain per message to me why you didn’t stop Lieutenant K’Nala in this matter.” She looked back at K’Nala.

Scratching behind his ear, he looked at K’Nala with a look of, I told you so. “Yes ma’am, I did do some digging on the information. L’Talia outpost is a trading slash mining outpost on the edge of chaotic space. The place boomed up when the Blood Dilithium incident occurred, and because of its close location to a certain high density of dilithium it was for many blood hunters a home turf”

Miki broke a brief silence. “It is the information that comes after it that concerns me. Based on the information of the Markonian outpost, a month ago L’Talia outpost lost contact with anyone. All long-range communications were unanswered, and the worrying part is that any ship that tried to go there didn’t return. Markonian outpost advised us to stay away from the location as a warning label has been placed upon it.” He shrugged a bit, looking at his console. “But, they would appreciate it if someone went there to take a look”

“Of course, that would appreciate that. That way they don’t need to request Benthan Guard to deal with it” Sazra stated obviously as her eyes were still looking at K’Nala. “Seeing we just volunteered ourselves for this”

“There is a bit to this” Drata looked away from his console. “The outpost is on our route. We just have to deviate a bit to get to the station” Drata looked at K’Nala and gave her a wink.

Tapping her finger on the side of the chair, Sazra took a deep breath. “We can take a peek at the outpost. If they do require our help, then we are there to give them the support. But if they do not require our support, and it is a simple matter of a broken communication array or something else silly, I don’t want to hear about it again”

“Broken array is a bit far fetch, seeing we got reports of at least fourteen ships that have disappeared since the time that the communication has stopped with the outpost.” Miki read up the data that he got in front of him and leaned a bit on the console. “So I do advise we are very careful when approaching this base. We are unsure what to expect, and I would rather avoid another surprise.” He referenced the Avalon Fleet Yards Frontier Day event that was still drilled into him.

Silina glared at him. “Please don’t remind us of that.” An indirect warning to him was given on a friendly note: “But it is good to be careful and better be prepared for anything Captain. I got the new Hazard Team ready to check out if it is required.” A team that she had created in cases that needed specialty. She had discussed it already with Sazra back at Avalon Fleet Yards. This could be a good field test.

“All right, that seems to be dealt with. But Lieutenant K’Nala, I advise you in the future to restrain yourself from spreading our good manners behavior in stations or planets. We also have a plan to stick to and exploration doesn’t get far if we do charity missions for every cry of help that is out there in the galaxy. Heck I don’t think we get further than a star system if we do that”

Miki had a general idea of what his Captain meant with that. The Markonian Outpost was no exception for it. Many smaller requests could have a big impact on the political playground of Delta Quadrant. Many Starfleet Captains had to be careful about how to approach such requests as it might take more on their plate than they could handle.

“Yes, Captain. I shall refrain from offering help immediately to those needing help.” K’Nala felt guilty about the whole ordeal. She tried to do something nice and be a proper officer who is part of the command team, only to be whistled back for her action. She could feel the stares of everyone looking at her. The general vibe was that K’Nala gave them extra work that no one awaited. Great start for a Second Officer in training.

Waving her hand slightly in the air “It is not bad to offer help, but promising to provide help when your Captain has not been included in that conversation is a different story altogether. We are Starfleet Officers and we do what we can. But we are also limited in our ability to do what everyone in the galaxy needs.” Sazra smiled at her. “We are just one ship meant for scientific exploration. Keep that in mind. Get back to your station and the ship ready for departure Lieutenant”

K’Nala nodded to her and turned to her console to sit down trying to hold her tears. This was not going as she expected it to go.