“They cannot be serious.”  Captain Wren Walton sat at the head of the briefing room table. At the same time, Diplomatic Officer Charlie Hargraves leaned against the wall, watching his two cult escapees slowly nourish themselves from the grand selection the hospitality crew had assembled.

Charlie held up the PADD that held their exhaustively detailed reports, “They are and probably will be in their efforts to take over the Mack and throw her into the planet.  It’s not without precedent – the Devore attempted and nearly succeeded previously.”

The captain looked at the two they had rescued from within the cult within the last half hour.  One of them downed an entire glass of water and let out a long sigh as she recovered, “They know Federation and Starfleet Tech – they were studying and watching the Task Group forces when they were here.  We heard that some people on the inside at some point were feeding them information…but we were never able to get that verified.”  She accepted another water and drank hungrily.  She grinned sheepishly, “They don’t feed folks very well.”

Walton scoffed, “Hunger is a terrible motivator when the one giving it to you says he’s going to save the world…or end it, in this case.  Which leads me to ask…what the hell is the endgame here?”

The young man looked up from his plate, blinking.  He took a moment to think and then spoke, “He said the ones who followed him…the ones that were chosen…we would be taken up into the light and saved…that we would live forever and fly through the stars with him.”  He shrugged, “I knew he was cracked the minute he started talking.  If he crashes the Mackenzie, there’s no ship to pick us up.”  He returned to the slow process of reintroducing solid food to his body.

Hargraves hung on his words, his mind wandering.  The words he was using suggested a ship.  Then it hit him.  “He’s got a deal with somebody.  Whoever he’s working with…will give him a ship or come and pick him up in exchange for dropping the Mackenzie on Janoor.”  A chill ran down his back and into his toes as he finished speaking.  “Holy shit…who would have the balls to consider it?”

Wren held her hands, counting off her fingers one at a time, “You want the shortlist or the long list?  We’ve made our share of enemies, and plenty of folks don’t want us here in the first place.  Not to mention the usual suspects like The Syndicate, any minor Klingon house with nothing to lose…the Romulan Separatists, the Vulcan Fundamentalists…or your garden variety human maniac or scumbag.  Or pirates.  Or anybody with a grudge and some funding.”  She grumbled, “The Universe has a habit of finding ways to toss a black hole or two into our best-laid plans.” The door opened, and Commander Park Seoyeon entered the room, her face a mixture of annoyance and frustration.  Walton cracked, “You look like you have the best news of the day.”

She didn’t, “We’ve gotten reports of the Future of Janoor having taken over Morgan Township.  It’s a small town of about 1,000.  Our security officers report seeing from their vantage point that whoever in town didn’t profess belief in the group was forcibly thrown out and chased away.”  She glanced at her PADD, “The original group has grown from 1,000 to about 1,500.  They’re gaining followers.”  The XO grumbled, “Crackpots.”  Seoyeon added, “And the best news is that they’ve managed to take two of our shuttles and hold them at the township.”

Walton stared at her XO, “Next time, lead with that.”  She took a moment to process and walked through the logic of what was coming next, “I’m anticipating they’re going to take those two shuttles, stuff ‘em with people, and force their way onto the Mack.  We don’t dare shoot ‘em out of the sky, and they’ll be smart enough to raise their shields to keep us from yanking ’em out with transporters.”

Hargraves was working through the plot with her, “They get into the shuttle bay and storm the ship from there…they have to know we’ll shoot to stun, won’t they?”  He glanced at the XO and the CO, “They’re not going to get very far.”

Seoyeon shook her head, “No, something is missing.  Counseling did a work-up on their leader, suggesting a thoughtful, intelligent, and meticulous mind regarding planning and organization.”  She slid into a chair, “He’s going to have backup plans for whatever he’s thinking.”

Wren was chewing on her bottom lip, primarily out of nerves.  Not having enough information to prepare for whatever was coming next was her least favorite scenario.  “We’re going to have to…”

The communication channel sparked over the speaker in the room, “Bridge to Captain Walton…we have two shuttles that have launched from the planet and are en route to us…we don’t have flight plans or authorizations for them.”

Walton stood from her chair, “Go to yellow alert, Mr. Reede.  Have all senior staff report to the bridge.  We’re on our way.”  She stole a glance at the face of Hargraves.  There was a flash of panic, and she felt a similar feeling creeping over her nerves as she headed for the bridge.