‘I’ve received an… unexpected message.’

Kharth wasn’t used to Elsa Lindgren sounding uncertain. But the pilot stood before the conference table and not only fidgeted but hesitated so long she had to lean forward and say, eyebrows raised, ‘You called this meeting, Lieutenant. You’re going to need to elaborate.’

Lindgren flushed. ‘Right.’ She had told Valance she had new information that might affect their mission. Rather than gather the whole senior staff or receive Lindgren one-on-one, Valance had gathered the mission’s senior personnel – her, Kharth, Cortez, Logan, and, to Kharth’s surprise, Beckett. But these were still mostly people Lindgren had worked with for years, and so the young officer rallied quickly, drawing a deep breath and pressing on.

‘At Sot Thryfar, I made contact with one of the Three Lost Crows – Gale, my escort when I was watching the runabout,’ Lindgren said, and Kharth nodded in recollection. ‘We talked a little about the situation in the Midgard Sector, and he alluded to what we suspect – that the group’s expansion of pirate operations isn’t because of us, but the Orion Syndicate. He seemed someone who was at least willing to talk, so I gave him my comm frequency and told him to get in touch if Starfleet could help.’

‘And he’s reached out,’ Valance surmised.

‘Is this anything to do with the Borg black market trade at Sot Thryfar?’ said Beckett. He looked a little subdued but not like he was about to repeat his outburst on the bridge.

‘I don’t know. The message is brief. All he says is that he has information about the Borg wreck he thinks Starfleet would want to know and that he’d like to meet. He’s picked a system just spinward of Sot Thryfar, near the Republic border, and says, uh…’ Lindgren checked her PADD. ‘“Don’t bring the whole damn starship.”’

Valance brought a hand to her temple. ‘That’s all he has to say? That he’s got information we’d want?’

Kharth pursed her lips. ‘We know from Beckett and Thawn’s pickup of the AIP and Harrian’s reports that the black market of Borg tech has really been heating up.’

‘And it’d be weird if that were happening right here, right now, without someone having their mitts on something from our busted Cube,’ added Logan. ‘Might be he’s got a lead on something we want.’

‘It might be nothing,’ Beckett pointed out, then shifted at their looks. ‘I don’t, uh, actually think that, but someone has to be on this side of the fence. It could be a trap, it could be a wild goose chase…’

‘We’ve been chasing signals that might lead to Borg data nodes we want, but might be absolutely nothing; this is a mission of wild gooses chases,’ Kharth snapped. Valance might have tolerated him after his outburst, but she didn’t have to.

‘Geese,’ said Logan.

‘What?’

‘Wild – “goose” is one of them words we make weird on the plural. Wild geese chases.’

‘Actually,’ offered Lindgren, the linguist, ‘it would just be wild goose chases. Chase is the plural in this case, not the birds.’

‘Commander.’ Valance’s voice was firm as she pivoted from the discussion to turn to Cortez. ‘What do we have off the Mesea Storm node?’

They had helped the Ihhliae limp to the edge of the plasma field, clearing the danger before the ion storms had swept in. Despite Beckett’s objections, Valance had kept her word and asked only for Cortez to be allowed to send a team to the Borg wreck while Perrek assisted in getting the Romulan ship back on her feet. They had found a secondary data processing node, far more exposed and less integrated into the Borg’s systems, and been able to by shuttlecraft alone extract it from the wreck. From there, the AIP had stripped data from its records without anyone donning a single EVA suit or setting foot on a Borg hull. The Ihhliae had been on its way, Borg wreckage in tow, not long after.

Cortez sucked her teeth. ‘It’s real early to tell yet, Captain. I’d want several days with this stuff at least to know what we’re dealing with.’

Valance nodded. ‘Commander Logan, do we have more homing signals on our sensors?’

‘Nothing we ain’t already accounted for and either dismissed or someone else is dealing with.’

Another nod. ‘Lieutenant Beckett, does the squadron have any further leads for us?’ As the young man shook his head, she straightened. ‘Then we head for this meeting point. High warp can get us there in a matter of days. That gives Cortez time to assess the data we’ve gathered and see if we have a more complete picture, or for us to pick up another lead.’

Lindgren winced. ‘Gale did say -’

‘And when we’re close – or if we find ourselves a new heading – we can send a team on the Excalibur,’ said Valance, raising a hand to forestall further interruption. ‘I assume he didn’t ask for you on your own, Lieutenant?’

‘He didn’t specify.’

‘Kharth, Logan, you’re up.’

Beckett squirmed. ‘Captain, may I – I know the situation in the Synnef Nebula; I need to keep abreast of factions like the Three Lost Crows -’

Valance grunted. ‘You may, Lieutenant. Is that all, everyone?’ At their silence, she stood. ‘Then let’s get underway. Report to the bridge, Lindgren, and set a course.’

‘Back and forth we bounce,’ sighed Kharth as she rose. ‘We only left that sector a week ago.’

But Logan caught her eye. ‘Better hope,’ he said with a crooked grin, ‘we don’t run foul of more wild gooses.’

Kharth was famous – infamous – for her sharp tongue and never very good at being the butt of the joke. Any retort, however, died in her throat before it could form, overwhelmed by the question smacking her in the face. Is he flirting with me?

In the end, all she could manage was a weak, ‘Yeah, I think they might be… dangerous,’ before Logan grinned more and headed for the bridge. Lamely, she followed at a distance but couldn’t get out before Cortez slid up beside her.

‘Is he flirting with you?’ she hissed as the doors shut behind them, and they stood in the alcove at the back of the bridge.

Kharth glowered at her as if she were a telepath. ‘People don’t flirt with me, Isa.’

‘Yeah, ‘cos you’re scary.’ Cortez looked from her to Logan’s retreating back. ‘But he doesn’t seem like he scares easy.’

‘He also seems like he should have better things to worry about than flirting with -’

‘Commanders. Excuse me.’

She’d been so wrapped up in the bicker that she hadn’t noticed someone step away from their station and approach the doors, likely to discuss something with Valance. Kharth was guilty enough when she whirled around, but when she saw who it was, she wished the deck would swallow her whole.

‘Commander,’ she said to Airex, throat tight. ‘Sorry. I didn’t realise we were in your way.’

He did not quite meet her eye as he stepped inside the conference room, then the doors shut, and they were alone again – except for, once more, the entire bridge.

‘Shit,’ Kharth hissed, pressing her hand to her forehead. ‘Let’s just get back to work.’

‘Yeah,’ said Cortez, looking thoughtfully at the door. ‘As that coulda been a real conversation there, and that would have been awful.’

‘How’s it going with Valance?’ Kharth said nastily.

It was Cortez’s turn to glare. ‘Alright. Fine. Decrypting creepy Borg data it is. Enjoy planning your wild goose chase with your chunk of the Appalachians there.’

‘I don’t even know where that is!’ Kharth whispered angrily at Cortez’s departing back.