—- Bridge —-

“Ten degrees to our starboard, ahead ten light years,” said Lieutenant Commander Jake Dornall the Starfleet Intelligence officer only giving out their destination a few light years at a time. 

The fingers of the Vulcan helm officer moved swiftly over the console and the ship adjusted course. 

“Still nothing on long range sensors,” reported Lieutenant Claudia Jara at tactical. 

The USS Seattle was deep within Cardassian space, not a place to be if you wanted to survive. Only the fact that the Rhode Island-class had some of the best long range sensors in the fleet was keeping them from being seen. They could pickup any Cardassian ship and adjust course before being spotted, or at least that was the theory. Dornall joked that it was as good as having a cloaking device, though pretty much everyone else on the bridge would have taken a cloaking device.

”If you told us where we’re going we’d be much better at this hide and seek nonsense,” Captain Adriana Cruz pointed out, annoyed that her ship was being used in this way. They were explorers and not meant to be doing… whatever they were currently doing. Dornall‘s Intelligence Team was being tight lipped so nobody in the ship’s crew knew what they were actually doing.

Dornall seemed to consider this and then finally nodded, “Alright Captain I’ll tell you and Commander Th’risris in your Ready Room.“

— Ready Room —- 

About half and hour later he and his assistant Lieutenant Syvia Voosha an Ardandan female were in the Captain’s Ready Room. Also there was the Captain and First Officer.

”We are going to a Cardassian penal colony, here,” he gestured at a blank bit of space on the map he’d brought up on the screen across from the Captain’s desk, “When we get there my team with elements of your security team will beam down and start a riot, and in the chaos retrieve a Cardassian spy who aided the Federation during the Dominion War.”

”There’s not planetary bodies there,” Cruz pointed out.

”No but there is a station. It gets resupplied monthly, if out timing is right we will be in and out before any Cardassian ships come near. We do our thing and head to Federation space,” Dornall said, “If we’re seen, then it’s a cause for war which we want to avoid.”

”So why do it,” Commander Shara Th’risris asked. 

“We owe him, he’s in there for doing what he did to aid the Federation, it’s taken years but we need to honor our promise to get him out,” Dornall said.

Cruz nodded, “Fine. I’ll give Pr’Nor the actual destination, and we can play cat and mouse ‘till we get there. Thank you for sharing that at last.”

”War with the Cardassians, you kind of get why I didn’t,” Dornall smiled.

—- Lounge —-

The forward lounge was not the big popular one that most of the crew used. It was an officer’s only affair and had no staff, relying only on a handful of replicators and a personal stock mostly of wine supplied by the Captain who now found herself owning half a winery back on Earth. 

Lieutenant Commander Dornall sat in it sipping a bottle of the Captain’s red wine, pouring himself glasses and drinking those, when the ship’s Counselor Doctor Yuhiro Kolem entered.

“Counselor, I didn’t realize we had a date,” Dornall said.

”Drinking alone, you realize that’s a sign of alcoholism,” she said.

”Then you’ll have to finish this bottle with me, so I’m not alone,” Dornall said.

”Your staff have been missing their therapy sessions,” Kolem said taking a glass.

”My staff aren’t all as capable as I am around telepaths,” Dornall said.

”I’m not a telepath, I’m empathic,” Kolem said.

Dornall nodded, he knew the difference, and he knew the Counselor’s limitations. 

“Then Counselor what do I want?” he asked.

Kolem looked at him as if she was reading a book, “I don’t know your mind is a puzzle. One I’d have to work at to open.”

The Intelligence Office nodded, “I bet you like that. Us men are usually so obvious around you in what we want.“

”I must admit the change of pace is nice,” Kolem said, “Though I doubt your interest in me is no less base, just better hidden.”

Dornall smiled, “Oh I assure you part of my interest in your is base, but there’s more to you than that. Your mind for example, I love that.”

Kolem nodded and took a sip of wine from her glass, “And what about my mind?”

“You’re trying to unravel my like one of those knit sweaters as we speak. You’re smart, clearly smarter than me, and either the Captain or the First Officer. Yet you’re a bit of a prude, despite your history. Betazoid customs scare you, and so you embrace your human side harder,” Dornall said, “The idea of being so free as your people tend to be, frightens you.”

”You’re just saying all of this because you’re from Risa, and thus have be hide your own inner hedonism,” Kolem said.

”You got me, I’m a big sack of lust,” Dornall said finishing his glass, “Good night Counselor. Until tomorrow.”

—- Stellar Cartography —-

Chief Diplomatic Officer Diya Acharya watched human body sized planets swing by. She stepped out of the way and looked at the star map that was now all around her. She was not an expert at reading locations from charts alone, but she could tell they were definitely deep within Cardassian space. Getting caught out here, well she had no idea what would happen but she was pretty sure that a Diplomatic Officer was not going to get them out of trouble.

Lieutenant Akane Sone was the Stellar Cartogapher and so knew exactly where they were, this was an exciting chance to study Cardassian Space, but the implications of where they were were not that comforting. Any minute she expected a warship to appear on long range scans heading towards them.

”What would the Cardassians do to us?” Sone asked, making an adjustment to the sensors.

”We’ll probably kill the senior officers, those intelligence people we picked up. We’d probably get spared and either bartered back to the Federation or be assigned to forced labor camps,” Acharya explained, “I doubt they’d declare war, they’re too weak right now for open war against us.”

”No war, just torture,” Sone said, adding “Cool.”

“Let’s hope we’re not caught then,” Acharya said.

Sone nodded, the stellar cartographer thinking that this was a long shot, but then there was not much for them to do other than trust in the ship’s pilots and hope that the sensors kept them one step ahead of any Cardassian ships. Capture was not an option that she was looking forward to.