Captains Personal Log: I hope the crew don’t realise how worried I am about how this mission is starting to unfold.  Do all officers in command have periods of fear and trepidation, like this? When does bold become foolhardy?  And when does worthwhile become pointless?

For a crew of a ship this small, we’re gone through so much in such a short space of time.  Here I am though, asking even more of them, as we race headlong towards Tatarus II and a rendezvous with either a bunch of hard working miners or a full on Borg invasion!

Whoever said whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, probably never envisioned the Borg.  They have become adept at doing both.

End Log.

**********

As the USS Jaxartes hurtled towards the Tatarus star system and in particular the second planet; Lieutenant Jason Devron gathered the senior staff to pool their knowledge of the system, its planets and inhabitance.

Ensign C’Rren as Science Officer got the ball rolling, by giving a brief account of the location.  The star Tatarus was a Blur Dwarf; small rare and extremely hot.  Orbiting the star where just three planets.

Tatarus I roughly the size of Neptune but that close in proximity to the star that it’s whole surface was basically a molten mass; constantly swirling and warped out of shape by the gravitational forces exerted on it.

Tatarus II was the size of Mars with one small moon; orbiting slightly closer than what’s ideal for supporting life.  Terraformed in 2377 the climate was mostly tropical and well forested across the southern hemisphere, turning to vast endless deserts in the north.  Only 40% of the planet’s surface was covered in water and three quarters of that was in the south.  It was home to roughly three thousand people.  All either working for the same mining company who owned the two transport vessels or being family members of the miners.

Tatarus III was a gas giant on the scale of Jupiter, but rather pink in appearance and had when surveyed in 2371, 27 moon of varying sizes and compositions.

Devron thanked the Caitian for all the information he’d gathered together, before turning to his Tactical Officer for his input on orbital and ground based structures they might encounter.

Being as close as it was to what had once been the Neutral Zone, Tatarus II was reasonable well defended.   Four equidistantly positioned Anvil Class defence platforms provided the majority of that defence.  Despite being civilian designed and build the Anvil was a decent piece of equipment; even if they were now over 30 years old.  Each was equipped with 3 phaser arrays and a photon torpedo launcher with 8 torpedo’s available.  All protected by heavy shielding.  Capable of being controlled from a ground station or acting completely independently, they could feasibly deal with most small to medium threats.

“Thank you Ensign.” Devron acknowledged once all this information had been given out.  “So there you have it.  The basics of what we know.  Any further questions?”

“Yes.” It was his First Officer who jumping in whilst the rest where still absorbing everything. “What are you expecting to do when we get there?”

“A good point.” The captain smiled back. “First off will be to see if the Borg has really captured those transport ships and try to discover what their plans are.”

“Then what?” Lyanna asked. “We’re attempting to make ripples on the water, in the middle of a tsunami!”

“The Lieutenant does have a point.” Tholakath added. “Twenty corvettes couldn’t take out that cube even if it is as badly damaged as our guest implies.”

“I have absolutely no intention of facing off against that Borg ship.” Jason reassured the other officers.  “We’re going in, to scan the star system and report back our findings.”

“Any news on other ships joining us?” Lyanna was again the one posing the question.

“Highly unlikely.” Was the captain’s honest reply. “The Forth Fleet has numerous ships tied up in other Borg related incidents.  Other vessels undergoing repairs and some sitting around in dock without the crews to operate them.”

“Under staffed and under pressure.” The Cardassian sighed solemnly. “Sub staffed et sub pressura, the new fleet moto.”

The others looked at Tholakath, puzzled as to why the Cardassian was quoting Latin.  For his part the young Tactical Officer was just happy he still had one or two surprises under his belt.

Devron stood up. “Believe me when I say I wish it wasn’t us stuck out here.” He announced. “But I know I can count on you all. Dismissed.”

The C’Rren and Tholakath filled out of the room chatting to each other, but Lieutenant Stuart remained were she was. “Something on your mind number one?” The Captain asked his First Officer.

“Oh, always.” She replied matter of factually.  “I just don’t like what we’re running into, and without a Chief Engineer either.”

“Yes not having Lyambo around and now Torf getting attacked has left us in a far from ideal situation.” Devron conceded.

“Have you heard from Dinari?” Stuart asked

“Yes, he’s still training Cadets on the USS Chapel.” Devron couldn’t help but smile at the thought of his friend and one time roommate attempting to train 20 cadets how to operate and maintain the engines on a ship he himself had still been learning about 6 or 7 weeks previously.  “You know they even got him a new trumpet as a way of convincing him to stay and train these new kids.”

“I guess they’d never heard him play?” Laughed the Orion.

“Now, now.  We can’t have dissention in the ranks.” Devron tutted. “I was thinking Dinari and C’Rren could do a duet in the future.”

Lyanna looking at Jason in puzzlement. “Am I missing something here?”

“Our Caitian friend acquired himself a Tribble whilst we were both off ship.” Off ship being a polite way of referring to their time waiting to be cleared for active duty. “And it appears to love listening to him play the flute.”

“Oh, right.”

“Of cause I have absolutely no idea this creature exists.” Devron tapped the side of his nose.  “But you can’t keep things secret on a ship this small.”

Stuart agreed and the two of them left the lounge together.