“Well, what is your answer, Captain?” The voice came over the communication as Captain Primer looked at him calmly. Time was of the essence for him, and he let that out briefly in his facial expression that he was starting to get impatient. 

The ring of being called Captain was something that Towalr was enjoying. He shook his head and tried to focus on the problem at hand. His crew and Captain were still on the cube, and these scavengers were looking to push them out of their terrain. There were not many possibilities that could help him. Towalr was racing more than usual. He shrugged a bit.

“Captain, I need an answer.” The impatience grew with Captain Primer as he gave a side nod to a fellow crew member while looking back at the screen. 

“Commander, I am noticing a raise in weapons from the fighters,” Sujian confirmed as he narrowed his eyes, looking at the screen and seeing a shimmer of a smile on Primer's face. “I advise you to respond now, or we will have an issue soon.” His mind was focused on the issue at hand, but at the back of his mind, his sister's well-being was nagging at him that he needed to do something. Why did they not respond yet? Did something go wrong?

Nodding to that confirmation, Towalr shrugged. He had to do it, play the wild card. Looking at Primer, he said, “We have an away team on the broken cube behind you. We are investigating something that, as you might have noticed, recent developments in the galaxy.” He had to play the honest card. Deception would have led to combat, and that was something he was not going to face again. 

“Commander…." Tamaz replied with a shrug. It was a dangerous gamble to rely on something like that. It could be hazardous to the away team and them. They were in no condition to face these ships in combat.

Even Padgok looked over his shoulder, but he held his opinion to himself and looked back at his console. He tapped a few navigational systems to turn on the thrusters for potential quick maneuvers. Then Padgok looked back at the screen, where Primer's face was unchanged.

“Are you interested in my loot? Why would Starfleet suddenly show interest in this abandoned part of space?” Primer felt he was missing some information. Starfleet never showed interest in Borg tech before. 

“Then you must have slept under a rock.” Towalr bites back and bolds his fist to remain focused. “For last week, Borg activity has spiked in various regions. For example, in the Delta Quadrant, they have crossed the chaotic space into the Gardin Belt. Their objective is unknown, but we are here to investigate, which led us to this graveyard. Or, more specifically,” He points in the direction of the cube, “The broken cube.” 

Sujian looked carefully at Towalr. Did he actually read the mission debriefing? It surprised him, but at the same time, the summary of what was going on didn't explain what they were trying to do here. Investigation can be anything, but it could also be the magic word to earn trust with these Malons. Looking back at the screen, Sujian had difficulty reading the emotions on this Malon's face. 

A shrug appeared from Primer as he looked at his side for a second and ordered something muted from the communication. He looked furious about the reaction he received. Taking a deep breath, he looked back at the screen. “It appears that our fieldwork has cut us off from the recent news in the galaxy. We seem to be in a pickle with this.” The mute was restored, obviously, “As it would explain why specific signals went active and inactive within a few hours a few times. We couldn't locate the signal in time to take it out, but the behavior of some movable ships has changed as if they received new orders.” 

Finally, Towalr could feel like he was able to breathe again. However, the given information posed some problematic developments. Looking over his shoulder to Tamaz, “Lieutenant Alavidze, how accurate is the information we received from the DEI regarding this location?” 

“Three to four weeks, why?” Tamaz looked confused at the given question. 

Looking back at Primer, “When did this change happen?” 

“A week ago, it repeated every three days or so,” Primer replied calmly.

“Meaning it received partly information on newly found orders. Changing its directive and situation” Looking at Sujian, "Commander, how would this impact our away team at the cube with this new-found information and angle?' Towalr concern was about to get confirmed, but he hoped it wouldn't.

Taking a deep breath, Sujian looked puzzled at the given question, trying to connect the dots himself. “It would mean that the information given is outdated, we are walking in the dark and have no exact idea of what the Borg are aware of or their current purpose is…" He looked up from the console and back at Towalr. “They are walking into a more unpredictable situation than before?!” 

“If you said true, your away team might be gone already. We will be pulling back from the location from now, but we are keeping an eye on your activities.” Primer replied with little remorse to the bridge crew “Good luck.” With that, the screen changed back to the cube view.

“The scavengers are pulling back from our location," Tamaz confirmed.

“Hail the away team,” Towalr orders.

Tamaz let his hands go over the console while tapping the screen. “No response. Interference is too high. We need to get closer to the danger zone" 

“What about transport?!” Sujian asked, looking concerned at Tamaz.

“No communication means no way I can get a lock on them. I cannot even pick them up from the given location they went to. Commander, your orders?” Tamaz looked from Sujian back to Towalr. 

Tapping the side of his leg, Towalr shrugged and knew he had to give the order. “Lieutenant Padgok, move us closer to the cube. Lieutenant Alavidze keeps hailing and scanning the cube to find our members. Commander Deem, focus on any weapon activity from the cube. Keep your hand on the trigger of dropping shields so we can transport them.” He sat down in the Captain's chair and took a deep breath.

“Aye, Commander” Came a reply from the three of them.