The floating citadel of Starbase 72 glided gently as a mobile over the vast tan surface of Minos Korva, gently spinning as if pushed by the hand of a celestial giant. Beneath its vast mushroom lid, speckled with the shadows of the base’s flock of shuttles and workpods, the lights of thousands of rooms twinkled as the towering watchtower crossed the planets meridian and silently sailed into the night orbital. In his office near the bow of Daedalus, Captain Tanek sipped from a tall glass as the small ship floated near the glittering spacedock. As the starbase and its small shoal of waiting ships effortlessly fell into the shadow of the large planet the base was momentarily silhouetted against the distant star, a dream-like tableaux suitable for any of Starfleet’s recruitment posters. Unable to stifle a smile as a swell of pride chased its way up his back and across his face, he let out a contented sigh. 

‘Almost worth it.” he mused to an empty room. Casting a glance to the dozen assembled smiling Denobulan faces that watched from a wide picture on the shelf. “I only wish you could all see it.” It had been several years since he had even spoken with some of his family virtually, let alone been able to see them face to face. He had considered doing the digital rounds following the events of Frontier Day but he had spoken to his first wife and de facto leader of the family, Kalek would see to it that everyone was updated. The aging Denobulan had other concerns with his newest family, several of the crew had requested transfers off the ship; some to help with the rebuilding effort, others to help fill out other crews who now suffered in numbers, some away from Starfleet entirely. The tragedy of Frontier Day, so soon after the difficult return of the Dominion had simply been too much for some people. As he took another deep mouthful of the fruity concoction in his hand he scrolled through the manifest rolling across the padd in his hand. More than he hoped but less than he expected, only a dozen crewman had found their paths diverging from Deadalus’s, one had almost been Dil’s. The young Bajoran had been offered an XO post aboard one of the larger ships of the line as they needed experienced crews but he had refused, citing that he preferred the ‘race-car’. Truthly, Tanek suspected, he didn’t feel ready. A chirp from the intercom interrupted his train of thought. 

“Dil to Tanek, just to let you know that all outgoing transfers are complete. We’re just waiting on Captain Varen’s shuttle to dock. It should only be a few minutes and then we’ll be ready to head out.” 

“Join me for a walk to the shuttlebay Commander?”

“Of course Captain, I’ll swing by and pick you up.” 

Placing the padd alongside his now empty cup Tanek took a moment to enjoy the view once more. Their mission to return to Deneb Sector was going to be fraught with tension and a fair number of difficult decisions, it would pay to have a mental reminder of what was at stake. The chime of the doors interrupted his light reverie and with a quick turn on his heel he strode through the doors towards the turbolift. 

The needle nose of the Type 9 shuttle Laika fizzled with blue energy as it pierced the electrostatic forcefield across the small portal of the shuttlebay. The field continued to hiss angrily as the long body of the shuttle glided effortlessly into the landing bay and alighted with less noise than a feather onto the grey lift platform in the centre of the small bay. As the external doors rolled shut and the low hum from the shuttle melted away as it powered down, Tanek and Dil waited expectantly for Captain Varen. The taskforce’s XO had taken the opportunity to catch a lift with Daedalus en route to the Deneb Sector, where portions of the Fourth Fleet were being deployed to follow up on the recent Dominion Invasion. With the recent losses of Frontier day a significant number of line vessels were being recalled to fill vital roles in the Federation’s core services, as a result other vessels had to fill in the gaps.

“You don’t think he slipped by us in the rush?” Dil whispered from the corner of his mouth. 

Gesturing around the open space, “It’s easy to get lost in all these people.” Tanek answered, spying a small grin spreading on a nearby ensign’s face, save for the two senior officers there was only 2 other crew members in the bay. The echo of footsteps cut across the spacious room as the two shared a smile, the figure of Captain Varen appearing from behind the shuttle. Arms full of padds, bags slung across his shoulders the middle aged man stumbled slightly as he picked his way across the decking over the minefield small bumps of tractor emitters, recessed deck lights and storage boxes. 

“I wasn’t expecting a welcome wagon.” Varen announced, pushing the glasses up his nose with a finger as he struggled to balance the stack of padds in his arms. 

“I can have an ensign grab those if you want?” Dil offered, stepping forward to steady the man. 

“No no Khos, it’s okay. I wanted to bring it. I should carry it.” With another shuffle the stack found a new equilibrium, man and luggage seemed to be once again structurally safe. 

“Welcome to Daedalus, Captain. I’m glad we can be of service.” Tanek offered a hand then fumbled awkwardly as the young Bajoran captain glanced downwards to his arms, laden with padds. “Are you sure we can’t help you?”

“No thankyou Captain, I think I’ve found a nice balance. Thankyou for accommodating my unusual request as well.” The man tilted his head towards the shuttle. “I read one too many articles about the philosophical implications of transporters and that was before all the business on Frontier Day…” the man tailed off. No doubt he wasn’t the only person feeling uncomfortable around the idea of using transporters across the Federation at the moment. 

“I hope Kaya didn’t give you too rough a ride.” Tanek could spy the young woman through the shuttle’s window, completing her post-flight checklist. 

“Smooth seas Captain.” A furrowed brow from the older Captain called for clarification. “Something the boss says.” 

“We should get underway, we’ve got quarters on deck 2 for you and then a scheduled briefing with the senior staff.” Tanek motioned towards the double doors at the centre of the bay, leading deeper into the ship. 

“Please lead on, I might need some help with the doors.” Varen smiled and wiggled his trapped fingers. 

“I wasn’t aware that you knew the Commander personally?” Tanek began the mandatory small talk as he extended an arm behind the other man who tottered precariously towards the doors. 

“Oh yes, it was when he was serving on the Annan, they were assigned to support us at an awkward incident in the Doylan system…” Their voices disappeared into the corridor as Dil smiled. 

“I’ll need to keep an eye on that.” He muttered, catching another smile from the eavesdropping Ensign. Reaching up to his chest he tapped the delta that hung there. “Dil to Bridge, Captain Varen is aboard. Lets get going to Deneb, we don’t want to keep them waiting.”

“Of course not Commander” came the cool voice of the Betazoid science officer as Dil raced towards the door, chasing after the two captains before too many embarrassing stories could escape their lips. 

The sleek hull of Daedalus turned away from the grey citadel, its impulse engine flaring to life as it manipulated the energies of the universe. Emerging once more into the sunlight as it crossed to the planet’s day side, the small vessel hummed as its long nacelles swelled with energy and catapulted the nimble craft towards Deneb, away from the thousands of people going about their day aboard the station. Had any of them cast a glance out one of the station’s many windows they may have noticed the gentle shimmer, like heat hovering above the ground. A shape that hovered in the corner of the eye and caught the sunlight for an instance, before with an almost imperceptible flash, it was also propelled to warp.