—- USS Falcon, Bridge —-

“We’re getting reports that Tridus III is under attack sir,” Lieutenant Hume said. He was standing at the tactical controls, reading through anything relevant that came up in regards to their primary mission.

“Full speed Lieutenant Winfield, engineering should give us some extra power, so let’s get there,” Captain Aike said to his Chief Flight Control Officer.

Despite their relative lack of seniority the two Lieutenants were proving to be adapt at being heads of station. While they might not have been who he would have normally picked had he not lost most of his crew when his former First Officer got his own ship, they were talented. They time on the USS Seattle, USS Anaheim, USS Titan, and USS Selene had proven to be a good training ground.

Aike sat down in the center chair, glancing to his left to see his new First Officer Commander Attwell reading reports from Tridus III.

“Attwell, let Captain Radak know we’re heading in,” Aike said.

The Vulcan captain was the head of Selene Division, and a pain in Aike’s neck. Radak had made his office aboard the USS Falcon, which made it seem as if he was the ship’s actual captain. It was an uncomfortable situation, especially when Captain Carrillo of the USS Selene was the junior captain in the equation and yet got to command her own ship without having a pointy-eared babysitter.

“How long until we arrive?” Aike asked.

Lieutenant Thomas Winfield looked back at the captain, “Approximately three hours sir. If we push.”

“Push,” Aike said, “And I want to start scanning an hour out, we don’t want cloaked ships getting past us if we can stop them.”

There was still the problem of one Starfleet vessel up against two Klingon Destroyers. Despite being a new refit the USS Falcon was overmatched and in a fight with two Klingon ships, they were at a disadvantage.

“How far out is the Selene?” Aike asked Hume.

“At least three days,” was the answer, only a day less than the last time he’d asked. Together they stood a chance, alone they were in trouble.

Captain Aike nodded, complaining more about it would not help the situation. They were Starfleet and they could not and would not leave the colonies defenseless.

“Commander Attwell you have the bridge,” Aike said heading into his Ready Room.

—- USS Falcon, Flag Bridge —-

One of the first things that Lieutenant Hume had learned was that you complained upwards. As Chief Security and Tactical Officer he could not vent about how outmatched they were about to be to his staff. He had to appear confident and in control. So he complained to the First Officer, who was his manager. She did not complain to him, but presumably upwards to the captain. Yet so new into his role as CSO he did not want to make Commander Attwell think that he could not hack the job, so he did not complain to her.

It turned out that the only person he could commiserate with was in another department, his sister. She was now the Division’s XO and most often stuck close to Captain Radak helping the Vulcan run everything. Now through a twist of fate they’d both ended up on the USS Falcon, even if she was not officially assigned there but rather to Selene Division.

When he entered the Flag Bridge he saw Captain Radak staring at some data, unmoving. He did not seem to notice the hiss of doors as they opened, or acknowledge the young officer as he entered.

“William what’s up?” Lieutenant Hume’s sister came out of an office and saw her brother.

“Is Captain Radak okay?” William Hume asked,

His sister Lieutenant Commander Victoria Hume shrugged, “He does that, let’s go into my office.”

It was not until the door closed that William Hume asked, “How often does he do that?”

“A few hours a day. It’s one of the reasons he can’t have his own command anymore. His health is deteriorating and he needs to meditate in order to carry on. He’s should have ten or twenty more years, but he’s having a hard time hanging on,” she said. She admired Radak and was obviously close to him. In fact in the months that she’d been his assistant she’d never heard him refer to any friends or family so she reckoned that she might have been the person closest to him.

“Great, love finding out that this whole plan is that of a senile old Vulcan,” the younger Hume said.

His sister frowned, “He’s not senile. And I agree with him. What are we going to do, sit by and not respond to planetary distress calls? We’ve flagged that we’re going in and if the USS Majestic or some other ship can help it will but for now the Falcon is all there is.”

William Hume nodded skeptically. So his sister pressed the point.

“I get you’re scared, we all are. But you don’t accomplish anything wishing the world was different. Your job, and it’s a big one, is protecting us alll once we get there.You go into a fight knowing that there’s no ship in the verse that can beat the USS Falcon. Sure we’re never going to be on an Enterprise, but this is a good ship, and the best you’ve served on,” she said.

Lieutenant Hume looked at his sister and nodded, a pep talk wouldn’t exactly solve everything, but it was better than nothing. He nodded, grateful for the advice.

“You make it back for mom’s retirement party?” He asked his sister.

“No, she seemed to like it.”

Lieutenant Hume nodded, smiling at his sister, “Well thanks for the pep talk.”

“Hey holding men’s hands is what I do.”

—- USS Falcon, Bridge —-

Captain Paul Aike sat in the center chair and watched the viewscreen without saying anything as the USS Falcon dropped out of warp. Tridus III was a prospering mining colony, one that had been paying for itself with its production of dilithium. It had been one of the success stories of these scattered border worlds that neighbored the Triangle. They had even invested in colonial defense batteries, giant guns that could shoot into space with the power of a ship’s phaser array.

“Scans are showing signs of areal bombardment,” Lieutenant Hume said from the security conn.

“Scan for the Klingon ships,” Aike said as he kept his eyes on the main display.

He’d studied Earth’s history and naval warfare in the Academy and this reminded him of naval battles against subs.

It was something that Commander Ashley Attwell thought of as well, vocalizing it, “It’s like the Royal Navy versus UBoats in the Atlantic Ocean.”

Aike nodded, and made a small grunt to acknowledge the statement. The two Mat’Ha class destroyers were likely out there somewhere, hidden behind their cloaks.

“Have Doctor Njord prepare an emergency medical team. Do a full spectrum scan, and prepare to lower shields, but not yet. They don’t come down until the medical team is ready to go,” Aike said. He glanced at Hume, “You go with them, lead the team down and liaison with whoever is in charge down there.”

—- USS Falcon, Flag Bridge —-

“The Klingon ships have left,” Captain Aike reported to Selene Division’s CO Captain Radak.

The Vulcan closed his eyes and nodded, “As I thought.”

“You could have told us that’s what you thought,” Aike said.

“If I was wrong we’d have walked into a trap, better to come in prepared and be wrong then come in complacent,” Radak said.

“We’re not complacent you need to trust me on my ship,” Aike said pointedly.

The Vulcan considered this, “Very well. I hypothesized that the pirates would have left the area. They are used to being outgunned, it will take awhile for them to adjust their tactics to their new reality of two very powerful ships.”

“We’re providing emergency medical care,” Aike reported.

“They will hit one of the nearby colonies next, be prepared to leave quickly, but good job Captain,” Radak said.