Shelves of rich green sprouts greeted Oyvo as she rounded the corner into a large open bay. Rows of tall grass stalks waved lazily in the gentle breeze produced by the air cycler, their lush green bodies offering up delicate white ears of grains that lolled precariously on the thin stem. Bright pink and yellow blossoms hung between the verdant walls like festive garlands, tied to a thin catenary line, their wide petals sheltering small purple berries that glistened with the ambient moisture. At the far end of the bay, a series of tall ferns stood sentinel in long rows, their bushy helmets dripping lightly in the mist. The rhythmic snoring hiss of the misters situated at the tops of the bay whisked the young Xindi back to her youth, wandering amongst the wide petals of her parent’s deep space hauler. 

“Lieutenant? Is everything okay?” Brynn’s voice pulled from her reverie. “That’s Shyndar rice, specially modified for growth in low gravity environments, as a result it is physically quite delicate.”

As her focus returned to the moment she realised a thin stem of the grain was tight between her fingers, the delicate tube flexing under her gentle grip. “It’s very impressive. Caryopsis fruits?”

A wide smile of surprise spread across Brynn’s face. “Exactly, we can reduce the ears into base organic material, which the replicators use.” Oyvo nodded. “I’ll confess I’m surprised that an engineer would know about botany.”

“My parents we’re long distance haulers, airponic and hydroponics are common on those barges, everyone appreciates fresh greens.” Oyvo wandered amongst the racks, her thoughts chasing the young Xindi girl as she raced through the bay. “It was actually airponics that got me into engineering, I was 10 when my father made calibrating the bay’s systems a daily chore. By the age of 11 it was 200% more efficient.”

“Then I shall welcome your expertise here.” He motioned to the control console in the centre of the room. The round station was assembled from a mix of Borg technology and screens scrolling with an unfamiliar text. 

Crossing to the console she began examining the unfamiliar script. “Another acquisition?”

“Not exactly, a memory in truth.” As Brynn began typing a sequence of commands into the console, sections of the display converted to a more familiar language. “The Brunali are a mainly agrarian society and masters of genetic manipulation.” He tapped the bony ridge that ran the length of his nose into his forehead. “I remember tending fields of grain and corn with my brothers as a child.” Sadness hung at the corners of his smile as the bittersweet memory rolled across his eyes. “It seemed only fair that their expertise should keep ex-drones alive.”

As the console finished it’s translations the script rolled away to be replaced by circular characters, curving arcs reaching out in varying formation swirling in its place appearing like a starfield on the screen. 

“Xindi?” Oyvo blinked in surprise. 

“I thought you might appreciate it.” The two shared a happy smile. “I believe it is also more efficient in the long term.”

“Naturally.” Oyvo returned her focus to the console, manipulating the feed to review the various settings of the make-shift airponics bay. Several minutes passed before Oyvo turned her attention back to Brynn on the opposite side of the console. “You said you had some power issues?”

“Yes, the last growth cycle was lost when we had a failure in the overhead solar units and the water atomisers.” Brynn entered a sequence into his console and a second screen adjusted to show a set of growth charts. “It appears the local power network failed and overwhelmed the crop.”

“There’s a simple answer here.” Brynn looked from his console curiously, his earlier smile now crossed with concern. “I’m not surprised you didn’t see it, the humans have a saying about not being able to see the trees for the forest.”

“They’re not quite trees yet.” Brynn retorted.

Oyvo entered a short command into the console and caused a display near Brynn to illuminate. “You’re using a massive amount of power to support this communications beacon but its forcing all your airponics power through this single node immediately after the power hub. When the systems have a high draw, say when the misters all fire at once, its burning out.” 

Brynn stared at the console silently.

“Well now that we’ve found you, we can deactivate the beacon and restore the power arrays to their normal configuration. No need for a distress beacon when rescue has arrived!” Oyvo threw her hands in the air celebratorily, gleeful in her eureka moment. 

“Could Starfleet not provide us with additional power relays?” Brynn asked, his eyes still turned to the console. 

“Possibly…” Oyvo slowly lowered her hands, confused at his reticence. “We’d need to fit them directly adjacent to the generator, and reroute the power matrix. It’d be an excursion into the unpressurised zone and a significant amount of modifications. ” She eyed him with confusion, her brow furrowing. “But that’s just like adding an extra fuse, it won’t stop the fact that there isn’t really enough capacity in the node for the bay whilst the beacon is active.”

An awkward silence fell on the room, only the slow snake-like hissing of the misters in the undergrowth interrupted the tension. 

“I don’t understand why we can’t just turn the beacon off? I could do it from here.” Oyvo began entering a sequence of commands into the console. In an instant her fingers was crushed by the larger man’s hand, trapped painfully between his firm grip and the unrelenting console. She let out an unbidden yelp, more in surprise at the forceful speed of his interception than in any true pain. 

“Deactivating the beacon is not possible. It must continue to operate at full power. I will not discuss it further.” A flash of something raced across his blue eyes as the grip on her fingers became tighter. Anger? Concern? Oyvo struggled to tell beyond his fierce focus. “Do you understand?” Tears began forming at the corners of Oyvo’s eyes as his vice like grip crushed her slender digits.

“Yes.”

Instantly his grasp released and the fierceness was gone, he returned to his console and began typing in commands as if the last 30 seconds had not shaken the dynamics of the room. Oyvo looked down at her hand, fingers white tipped with a large red hand print across it. The mister continued to hiss aggressively. 

“I need to investigate that power relay to see it will accept our systems “. Oyvo whispered, desperate to hide her panic. 

“I can assure you it will.” Brynn didn’t even look up from the screen. “But if you wish to double check… Do you require directions Lieutenant?” 

“No. I know the way.” She was already retreating out of the room, barely able to stop herself from breaking into a run. Behind her the yellow and pink blossoms shuddered in the breeze and the tall grasses lolled their heads sadly, whilst a young Xindi girl fled a memory forever tainted.