“How are you settling in so far, Lieutenant?” 

“The team is in excellent shape, ma’am,” Lieutenant J.G. Cruz reported. “I can’t take all the credit though. My predecessor must have been one hell of a security chief…” His voice trailed off as Commander Lee’s face fell. “I… I’m sorry ma’am.” He should have been more delicate with his words.

“No, Lieutenant, it’s alright… it’s really alright,” Commander Cora Lee assured him as she tried to recompose herself. Lieutenant Commander Gorash had been an excellent department head, second officer, mentor… and friend. Along with Lieutenant Commander Sherrod Allen, they were the two legs that steadied her on her feet. But now Gorash was gone, and it wasn’t fair for her to put that on young Rafael Cruz. This was her trauma to manage, not his. “You were just doing your job and reporting the status of your department. I’m just… I’m just…” It had been three months since Gorath died in the Battle of Nasera, but still she struggled to find the words.

“Just trying to process your reality,” Lieutenant J.G. Cruz filled in. He knew the feeling all too well. He’d been in the same place ever since the Lost Fleet reappeared. First, it was the death of Captain Gilliam, then the fight behind the enemy lines, and then being turned into a Borg drone over Earth. Reality was tough to process these days.

“Yes,” agreed Commander Lee. “Exactly that.”

“I get it ma’am. I really do,” Lieutenant Cruz explained. “Every day when I show up for work, I see his big shoes waiting to be filled. From all the stories I’ve heard, Gorash was a legend. Heroes like him and Captain Lewis and Admiral Reyes, they’re why I got into this line of work in the first place.”

“But why the transfer off the Serenity then?” asked Commander Lee. “Not that I’m complaining, but Captain Lewis is now in command of it. I would have figured you’d have preferred to stay there under his tutelage.” She’d heard larger-than-life stories of what Lewis and Admiral Reyes, their squadron commander, had done on the streets of Nasera, and news had traveled swiftly about their heroics during Frontier Day. She wondered how they did it all. She’d barely held it together for the space battle over Nasera, and she’d been relieved to stay behind at Nasera with Commodore Jori when Admiral Reyes had gone ahead. “I can teach you how the prefire chamber triggers the nadion effect you rely on for your phaser to work, but anything actually done with the tools of your trade, that would be far more Captain Lewis’ forte than mine.”

At the question about his choice to leave the USS Serenity, now it was Lieutenant Cruz’s turn for his face to fall. “I’ll be honest, Commander,” he admitted. “I just couldn’t look the crew in the eye after Frontier Day. Not after I turned my weapon upon them. Not after I… after I killed them.” Those memories haunted him, and he wondered just how many of them looked at him and saw the drone he’d become when he’d been too weak to resist the Collective’s call.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Commander Lee reminded him. The Borg signal affected anyone under a certain age who’d had the coding embedded in their genome. If you were in that susceptible cohort, there was nothing that you could do to resist it.

“I know that, rationally,” nodded Lieutenant Cruz. “But Commander, I’m a security officer. I take my oath to protect and serve very seriously, and in those moments, I did the opposite. I just needed a fresh start.”

Commander Lee nodded understandingly, but before she could respond, a chirp from her combadge drew them from their conversation. She tapped it. “This is Commander Lee. Go ahead.”

“Ma’am, you asked me to let you know when we were two minutes out,” reported Lieutenant Commander Sherrod Allen over the link. “That time would be now.”

“Alright, we’ll be right there,” Commander Lee replied as she tapped the combadge off and rose from her desk. But before she moved for the door, she offered a few additional words to the young lieutenant: “Lieutenant Cruz, regardless of the personal stuff we’re all working through, please know we’re thrilled to have you aboard, and we have nothing but confidence in what you will do here.” She meant it too. Rafael Cruz might have been young, but he had the pedigree with a dossier was full of accolades and proficiency marks off the charts.

The pair walked out of the ready room and stepped onto the bridge. Lieutenant J.G. Cruz relieved the junior officer at the tactical station, while Commander Lee stepped onto the central command island. It was a bit more crowded than usual with Admiral Reyes, Commander Brooks and Lieutenant Balan all present in addition to herself and Lieutenant Commander Allen.

“Report?” asked Commander Lee.

“Beta Serpentis III, bearing zero zero three mark one, forty AU,” came the call from the conn. At their present speed of warp 8, they’d be upon the colony in twenty seconds.

For a moment, there was a pause on the bridge. Any final preparations that needed to be made? “Yellow alert. Shields to full, and bring the weapons to ready,” Admiral Reyes ordered. If Commander Lee wasn’t going to do it, then she would. Sure, Administrator Thoss had insisted that nothing was wrong, and sure, sensors had turned up nothing of concern, but the words of the distress call still echoed in her head. A little extra caution never hurt anyone.

“TAO, weapons, shields, aye,” confirmed Lieutenant J.G. Cruz as his fingers dancing across the console, bringing the ship to yellow alert, raising the shields and rerouting additional EPS power to the phaser arrays. In the back of his head though, he knew full well that, if the Borg were involved, these were just token gestures. Their only real option would be to run. The USS Ingenuity was nothing more than a research cruiser, and they’d have little chance in a direct confrontation with the Borg.

“Coming into view now,” reported the flight controller. 

Everyone cast their eyes forward as the stars streaking by began to slow. Before them, the class P world of Beta Serpentis III came into view, the detached binaries of the system’s A-type main-sequence star and its K3 V binary pair twinkling in the distance beyond it.

“TAO, full scan, all spectra, all wavelengths,” Admiral Reyes ordered, her eyes narrowing as she stared ahead.

“I’m detecting activity consistent with Androrian agriculture and mining operations on the planet below,” reported the TAO after a couple tense moments. “But other than that, I am detecting nothing of anthropogenic origin within the system.”

“What about Beta Serpentis IV?” Admiral Reyes asked without explaining why. Due to the classified nature of the facility, it was likely that, aboard the USS Ingenuity, only she and Dr. Brooks had any foreknowledge of it.

Lieutenant Cruz didn’t know why the ask about the fourth planet, but it also wasn’t his place to question. He scanned it again and reported his findings: “Nothing out of the ordinary, ma’am. Just a dense mixture of hydrogen, helium and ammonia consistent with a class I gas giant.”

Curious, thought Admiral Reyes. Even with three decades of technological improvements, their sensors still could not detect Salvage Facility 21-J. But she knew it was there. She’d confirmed with Beckett’s office just last night that, while manned operations had been shuttered decades ago, the facility was still present and managed by an automated system. The fact they couldn’t see it was either a testament to the Corps of Engineers in constructing such a well-concealed facility, or it meant something had happened to it. She’d send a shuttle over later to confirm that it was still in working order.

“Stand down yellow alert,” Admiral Reyes ordered. Shields raised and weapons active would hardly set the aggrieved colonists at ease. “But maintain full band sweeps of the system at least once every fifteen minutes. If it moves, I wanna know about it.” Given the distress call, and more generally the reports of increased Borg activity, they needed to remain vigilant. Just in case there was a wolf stalking around out there somewhere.

“Yes ma’am,” Lieutenant J.G. Cruz acknowledged. He didn’t need to be told twice. There wasn’t a chance in the universe he’d ever become a drone again. He’d sooner turn his phaser upon himself.

“Comms, get me a line to the surface,” Admiral Reyes ordered. “Let’s see if we can’t get some answers about that distress call.” She looked over at Lieutenant Balan, her ever-optimistic cultural affairs officer. “And hopefully mend some bridges while we’re at it.”

A few moments later, the now-familiar face of Administrator Thoss appeared on the screen. He looked just as surly and aggrieved as the last time they’d spoken. “Reyes,” he snarled. “I thought I told you everything was fine.” His tone left no doubt that he was unhappy to see Admiral Reyes and the USS Ingenuity in orbit over his colony.

“You did, but we thought, since we were in the neighborhood, we might just swing by anyways,” Admiral Reyes responded, her smile warm but her tone firm. “Just in case there was anything you could do.”

“If there was nothing of concern, then why the scans?” Administrator Thoss asked suspiciously. “Let’s just say, the last time one of your ships scanned our colony, it was because you didn’t trust that we were in compliance with that foolish Synth Ban.”

“Well, that ill-conceived ban is thankfully just ancient history now,” Admiral Reyes replied, trying to separate herself from those who’d come to the colony to enforce the Synth Ban back in the nineties. “But, you know, it never hurts to be extra diligent with the Borg stalking about.”

“There are no Borg here,” Administrator Thoss insisted, just as he had when they’d called the last time. “As I’m sure you see now.” He gestured around his utilitarian facility, which, while very industrial in construction, was very clearly not assimilated. “If you would have just listened, it would have saved you all a trip. And the taxes we pay. It’s not lost on me that a cut of our salaries go on to fund all the deuterium you’re burning in coming out here.”

Admiral Reyes did not point out that last time Beta Serpentis III assured Starfleet of something, it was proven demonstrably false when the compliance team showed up and found active synths still hard at work all across the colony. She had no reason to trust him.

“But since you’re here, let me give you some advice,” Thoss continued, although his tone and expression hardly made it seem like the advice was meant to help. “Ever since Frontier Day, you all have been jumping at shadows. I see the erratic movements of Starfleet ships on our long range sensors, and I hear stories and rumors from weary traders. It’s making the locals nervous, and it’s scaring away business.”

The recent Borg fears were most certainly not why Beta Serpentis III was struggling, but Admiral Reyes did not point that out. Instead, she took advantage of the door he’d just opened. “Well, if you’re worried about that, then let us come down and help you figure out who sent the distress call,” she offered. “Because if I was at the helm of a merchant ship, what we heard from that distress call would have caused me to flee the sector at maximum burn.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Thoss said firmly. “We went and checked up on it after your call. We found no evidence of a distress call having been made, but unfortunately, our systems are so antiquated that merely attempting to verify your story damaged them further.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Admiral Reyes feigned a frown. What a convenient excuse. “You know, since it sounds like we’re to blame, we’d be happy to come down and help fix up your comms gear… if you’ll have us?”

There were only so many ways he could try to dodge the Admiral’s advances before he’d have to give some ground, Administrator Thoss realized. And there was actually an opportunity here. “I think that might actually be very helpful,” the Andorian conceded as his expression softened. But then he added, just to salt the wound: “It has, after all, been quite a long time since your Federation did anything for us besides collect taxes.”

“We’ll be down in the next few hours with the equipment, supplies and specialists to get you sorted,” Admiral Reyes replied, ignoring the snarky shot at the end. It was also not lost on her that he called it her Federation. That’s how deeply dissociated the colony felt. It would take time to fix that, but it started with baby steps like this. “Is there anything else you’re in need of when we come down?”

“We’ll send a list.”

No ‘thank you’ or anything, but at least it was an opening. Plus, gracious or not, they were a Federation colony, and that meant they deserved support. “We look forward to being of assistance in any way we can,” offered the admiral kindly. Even small gestures could build goodwill. It would also let her put boots on the ground.

“And while your crew helps us out,” Administrator Thoss added, a smile creeping over his face. “Why don’t you and your command staff also stop by for a bite? I cannot promise a fine dining experience, but we do make the best icefish this side of Andoria.” 

Admiral Reyes quirked her brow. She could not conceal her surprise over the offer. 

“You’ve come all the way out here to make sure we were alright,” Administrator Thoss continued. “And you’ve volunteered your men and your supplies. It’s the least we can do in return.”

“That would be absolutely lovely, Administrator.”

“Then until later,” the administrator said, and then he cut the link, leaving everyone on the bridge standing there in a sort of stunned silence.

“Well, that went better than I expected,” noted Dr. Brooks, his arms folded across his chest as he played back the dialogue in his head.

Commander Lee looked over at her mentor incredulously. “You offered him a few supplies and got a dinner date out of it,” she chuckled. “Someday you’ll have to teach me how you do it.” But then she remembered she was talking to an Admiral, so she added, “Ma’am.”

“I’ll admit that went better than I expected,” Admiral Reyes agreed. “There’s way too much history between us for the frosty administrator to have warmed so quickly. There’s almost certainly something more at play.” Her decades of experience, both in intelligence and diplomatic operations, made her confident in that assessment.

“Oh, he was absolutely not being truthful,” Lieutenant Balan chimed in. The cultural affairs officer was relying on more than intuition for her assertion though. “There were clear signs.”

“How do you figure?” asked Lieutenant Commander Allen skeptically. Admiral Reyes and her lot seemed overly suspicious of everything. Like the supposed Borg signal. They’d spent a week searching the graveyard of Wolf 359 for it and turned up nothing. The Ingenuity’s executive officer was beginning to get a sense that this whole Borg scare had been dreamed up by people like Reyes. “He could totally be a gruff backwater administrator and still recognize the importance of maintaining ties. It doesn’t mean he’s lying.”

“It’s his antennae that give him away,” Lieutenant Balan explained. Contrary to what Lieutenant Command Allen assumed about Lieutenant Balan based on her association with Admiral Reyes, the optimistic young cultural affairs officer didn’t have a suspicious bone in her body. She wanted to believe everyone was good. But no one could argue with the administrator’s antennae.

“Come again?” Lieutenant Commander Allen asked.

“Didn’t you notice their movement during the latter half of the conversation?”

“I’ll admit I did not,” the executive officer conceded. But even if he had noticed it, he wouldn’t have known how to interpret it.

“Primitive arthropods rely on olfactory receptors in their antennae for a basic sense of danger,” Lieutenant Balan explained. “While the Andorian species has evolved far beyond a reliance on such primordial mechanisms, they instinctively exhibit a subconscious tic when uncomfortable – it’s a subtle movement, but it was absolutely there with Administrator Thoss from the moment he started getting nice with the Admiral.”

Lieutenant Commander Allen still looked skeptical, but another voice jumped in from the science console in the corner of the bridge. “Lieutenant Balan is absolutely correct,” Lieutenant Sh’vot offered. And he would know. He was an Andorian himself. “Administrator Thoss was lying through his teeth.”

“So what’s the plan?” asked Commander Lee. “If he was lying, we’re not just going to go down there… are we?”

“People lie for many reasons,” Admiral Reyes replied. “We are absolutely going down there. Send an engineering team down on the double for the comms gear, and once we get a list of supply needs from them, Lieutenant Commander Allen, you’re on logistics to coordinate delivery.” The executive officer nodded, and then Admiral Reyes turned to her cultural affairs officer. “Lieutenant Balan, you’re with me. Let’s see if we can rebuild some bridges,” she ordered. “And you too, Lieutenant Sh’vot.”

The Andorian at the science terminal looked up with surprise. “Ma’am?” He was more of a white coat in a lab sort of guy. Whiteboards, not boardrooms, were where he made his discoveries as a staff researcher with the Advanced Science, Technology and Research Activity.

“You seem to have a certain familiarity with the mannerisms of the locals, Lieutenant,” Admiral Reyes winked at him. “I’m hoping you can help us if anything gets lost in translation.”

“I would be honored,” nodded Lieutenant Sh’vot.

“Respectfully Admiral,” Lieutenant J.G. Cruz, the Chief Security and Tactical Officer, said as he jumped in. “Since we are uncertain of their motivations, might I suggest that you remain on the ship while we…”

“You may not!” Admiral Reyes interrupted as she spun around on him aggressively. Then she remembered herself. She wasn’t going to heed his advice, but she didn’t need to chew the young man’s head off. He was just trying to do his job. “But what you may do is send a couple of your people with each of our away teams – as long as their weapons are not visible.” It was a reasonable precaution, as long as it didn’t make the colonists any more wary than they already were.

“Yes ma’am,” Lieutenant J.G. Cruz agreed.

“Alright, then let’s get prepped. We head down at 1100 hours,” Admiral Reyes said as she stepped off the command island. “Oh, and Commander Lee, Dr. Brooks, can I speak to you both for a second?” The pair nodded and followed her off the bridge into the ready room. She had a mission for them.