Two days travel had elapsed since the USS Century had wrapped up their investigation into several stolen cargo vessels. Most of the crew, with the sole exception of the security department, had returned to their usual duties and were mostly settled back into their routine. The added population of temporary prisoners were somewhat restless in their holding cells, but they presented the crew with no real problems in terms of violence or attempts to escape confinement. 

Sitting behind his desk, Captain Gar’rath went over the last few reports he needed to process prior to their arrival to Gateway Station. One such document was the final inventory of the cargo that they had recovered, as well as all the items their prisoners had been in possession of immediately following their capture. The operations department had consolidated everything into one large cargo container that they would be transporting to the station via a shuttlecraft once they arrived, given the inhibiting properties inherent in Chimerium. There was also the matter of ensuring that the prisoner transfer documents were correct, as well as the list of charges that had been assessed for their criminal activities in Federation controlled space. It was likely that the men who were wanted for murder would be extradited to other systems once they were processed aboard the starbase, but their fate was of little concern or consequence to Gar’rath once he’d relinquished custody.

The Gorn had just completed the task of transferring the required documents to a PaDD when the comm system in his Ready Room invaded the otherwise silent space.

“Bridge to Captain Gar’rath, we’ve entered Starbase 23’s control area and are in a parking orbit relative to the station,” the voice of Commander Peters echoed in the room.

“Understood. Have Lieutenant Khar begin moving the prisoners to the transporter rooms and instruct flight ops to arrange for delivery of the cargo. I will have the transfer paperwork ready in just a moment, and I will also depart for the station,” the Captain remarked as he finished the last batch of authorizations.

“I’ll relay your orders. Peters out.”

Gar’rath nodded to himself and finished the tasks he needed to before departing his Ready Room. Once aboard the turbolift that was positioned at the rear of the bridge along the same bulkhead as the office he’d just departed, the Gorn was carried swiftly down to deck 10, the closest cluster of transporters to the Brig. As he approached, the Captain could see several prisoners shuffling along flanked on all sides by armed security officers, with his Chief Security officer standing just outside the Transporter Room door.

“How is the transfer progressing, Lieutenant?” the Captain inquired, coming to a stop just next to the Klingon.

Lt. Khar glanced up at his commander with a stern look on his face, “This is the last batch. Once they are aboard the station, we shall have an empty Brig again.”

“Any issues?”

The Klingon shook his head, “None.”

“Excellent,” the Gorn said as he watched the last of the prisoners parade through the door of the transporter room. With a curt nod to the officers who had brought them, Gar’rath entered the compartment and watched as the last group of criminals de-materialized into a transport pattern haze.

“If you would accompany me, Lieutenant, we can make this transfer official,” Gar’rath said, waving the PaDD held in his left hand.

“After you, Captain,” Khar motioned toward the transporter pad. Gar’rath took the invitation and stepped up first, taking one of the six positions along the outer ring of the platform. Once Lt. Khar was also in place, the transporter operator activated the device and the world fizzled into a haze of bright white.

A second or so passed before the world dimmed back into the familiar shapes and colors of the material world, though their exact location had shifted from one transporter room to another much larger one. A Lieutenant Commander was standing just off the platform, clad in the same mustard color as his Security Chief. Gar’rath dismounted the platform and approached the man, extended the PaDD he was holding toward him.

“I have the transfer request, as well as the list of charges for each individual based on their involvement with the theft and attempted attack on our vessel,” the Gorn explained.

The man took the PaDD from the Captain and scanned the authentication codes to ensure they were valid. Once he was satisfied, he let his arm drop to his side and flashed the two an amiable smile.

“Quite the band of outlaws you’ve collected, Captain. It’s been a while since we had to take care of so many people from one incident,” the man remarked.

“It was preferable to leaving them on an outpost that was undermanned and unequipped to handle them,” Gar’rath responded, having taken his remark a bit more seriously than the man had intended it to sound.

“Of course, sir,” the man chuckled a little, “We’ll take care of things from here, don’t you worry.”

“We are also sending a shuttle over with the cargo that was stole. Given its unique properties, we were not able to send it via transporters,” the Captain continued.

“I’d heard something about them hijacking some kind of mineral that was dangerous if mishandled,” the officer responded.

“The shipment manifest is included on that PaDD,” the Gorn pointed out, “Along with an inventory of everything confiscated from the prisoners. Some of the items are illicit in nature and will likely have to remain impounded or destroyed, but there is a good number of personal items that can be returned in the batch.”

“We’ll see to it anything that can be returned is,” the security officer said.

“Will you be requiring anything further from us before we depart?” the Captain inquired.

The man looked over the documents he’d been handed one more time before shaking his head, “No, Captain. That looks to be everything we need to accept custody of the goods and personnel. But if something else does come up, the station will contact your ship. Now if you’ll excuse me.”

Gar’rath nodded at the man and watched as he headed out of the door to the transporter room before remounting the pad and returning to his ship.