Almost an hour after the captain met with the Hirogen Alpha, Kazlaf found herself working alongside Lonar in the ship’s astrometrics lab. Together, they were tasked with finding these other crashed sites that the Alpha had said existed.

“Do you think the Alpha is telling the truth?” Lonar asked Kazlaf. 

Shrugging her shoulders, Kazlaf was starting to feel more comfortable around Lonar. The notion that she had been a Borg drone a few weeks ago was beginning to become a distant memory. “I’m not sure who to believe, but from what I’ve learnt about the Hirogen, they’re not a culture who feels the need to lie about something unless it gives them an advantage over their prey.”

 Lonar agreed with that assessment. “And I can’t see why the Alpha would make up such a wild story if it weren’t truthful.”

“Exactly,” Kazlaf said as she continued to work on the sensors on the console she was at. “Furthermore, the fact he had also said they had used Krenim technology to by-pass the Sikarian dampening field to beam in during the attack makes me think there are things down there that are worth salvaging.”

 “Which is another point that confuses me,” Lonar stated. “Why haven’t the Sikarians claimed the technology from these wrecks?”

“The Alpha was pretty adamant that they only wanted their databases. Why take tech when you have more advanced technology?” Kazlaf countered back with. 

“True, which begs the next question I’m wondering,” Lonar said.

Before she could say it, Kazlaf had it on the end of her tongue. She had also considered it, especially since the captain had briefed them on his discoveries from his discussion with the Hirogen Alpha. “When will they come after our database?”

“Precisely,” Lonar replied. “Why leave it for so long? Why make a song and a dance out of getting to know us? What are we missing?”

“Whatever they are up to, I fear they will not like it if we find these crashed ships,” Kazlaf said.

A beep went off at Lonar’s station. “Talking of which, I have one of them.” She used the holographic interface to move it from her console and to display it on the vast widescreen that took up most of the main wall in astrometrics. “A Voth research ship.”

“Any life signs?” Kazlaf asked as she stopped her search.

Lonar double-checked before shaking her head. “None, but it looks like most of the ship is intact.

“Okay, that’s one, let’s see if we can find another,” Kazlaf said as she returned to her work. She had been concentrating her scans on the planet’s oceans; something familiar appeared in her readings. A faint energy signature she knew well. “I’ve got a Turei vessel.” Like Lonar, she threw it onto the holographic interface beside the Voth ship. “It’s on the seabed again; no life signs, but the ship is in one piece.”

“Looks like the Hirogen were right,” Lonar said, sounding deflated.

Kazlaf understood why Lonar appeared down about their discoveries. It meant that their early suspicions of the Sikarians could be correct, and they may not be getting access to their technology to return them to where they came from. Kazlaf sighed out in frustration. After cursing under her breath, she tapped her combadge and called the captain down to see them.

Moments later, McCallister was accompanied by Thaustin, Jarata and Oron. Just like Kazlaf had felt earlier, all of them exhibited the same frustration over the finding. Kazlaf watched the captain leaning over the central console in astrometrics, looking up at the scans of the planet. She could see how peeved he was at the revelations. The locations of the crashed sites were now pinging up. It showed the location of the ships belonging to the Voth, Turei and Hirogen. Alongside that, they had detected several others they couldn’t identify.

McCallister then stood up tall and crossed his arms. Kazlaf wondered if he had just decided on what he wanted to do.

“Number One,” He said, grabbing Thaustin’s attention. “Assemble two away teams. You lead one, and Beliere can lead the other. Get down to the Voth and Turei ships, find out what you can about them and see if there’s any other evidence to support the Hirogen’s claim.”

“Yes, sir,” Thaustin replied. 

Kazlaf then had an idea. “Sir, those ships may have technology or records to help us understand the Sikirian trajector or this virus they use.” She stated. 

“T’Penni and Ethav could reverse engineer anything to help us build a defence,” Lonar added.

Liking the lieutenant’s idea, Kazlaf nodded in agreement.

“Alright,” McCallister said, liking it too. “Anything of valuable, bring back here.”

“Understood,” Kazlaf said.

“Great work, dismissed everyone, let’s get going,” McCallister ordered, his determination to get to the bottom was now etched across his face. Kazlaf knew he now meant business and wasn’t afraid to get things done.

Finally, she thought, we’re getting somewhere.