Got older log pried free of the bouy, sir. Putting it on now.”

Captain’s Log Supplemental. Stardate 2402.04.01.1802.34 hrs.

We’ve just departed Thalora. Our hope is to try and see if we can isolate the source of the blackout somehow, free of the background noise of the Thaloran system. My brother thinks there’s a pattern there, he just hasn’t sussed out quite how it’s shaped. So Mr. Vossk has asked we run a standard winding patrol away from the Thaloran system to gather sensor data. We’ve been in the black for a few weeks now and the tension is riding high. 

It was easy to ignore when we only had the problems on the colony to focus on. Now we’ve got this large anomaly to investigate. Along with the underyling fear of what’s causing it. There’s an old saying back on Earth, Darkness is silence, solitude and peace. Whoever came up with that obviously wasn’t facing down our current circumstances. I only hope this is all just primal fear, and that we somehow find some strange new way to calm subspace down. But I can’t shake the old war hound stories from my father. I can hear him in my ear warning me to be ready. To remain vigilant. And so I am. For my crew. – End log.

Tib stood up from his desk and entered the bridge, striding to his seat. Fallon fought the vertigo of the scene moving around him, even though he hadn’t taken a step.

“Mr. Vossk. How are my scans going?”

“They are proceeding as planned, sir. Output gain is set to maximum. We’re gathering an untold amount of data for the teams to peruse.”

“Good. That should keep my brother busy for about five minutes.”

“Indeed.” Vossk added.

Tib and Lorena exchanged a look. Was that sarcasm? or humor? Both? Even Fallon wasn’t sure. The two senior officers smirked. But their looks faltered when the saurian science officer’s station chirped at him. Then Jel’kan’s. Something was wrong, and Fallon’s gut fell. He knew what was about to happen because he’d already lived his very own reflection of this moment.

“Sir. I’m detecting extreme subspace shear. Anomaly off our port bow.” Vossk said.

“Helm, bring us about and keep us a healthy distance away.”

A trio of all too familiar Vaadwaur vessels poured out of what had come to be known as Underspace. Like a wormhole opening into subspace. Two small Pythus class fighters and a long Assault Escort. Too many guns for the Rubidoux. Based on the already viewed logs, he knew the crew walked away from this fight. But how?

“Mr. Jel’kan, raise shields. Ms. Thorne? Hail them. Let’s send a message.”

“Channel’s open sir,” Thorne said, looking over her shoulder.

Tib stood up. “This is Captain Tiberius Rain of the USS Rubidoux. We represent the United Federation of Planets. To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?”

No response from the ships. Not visually, at least. Then an audio only message played.

“We have no interest in who you are. Only your subjugation. The Vaadwaur Empire has come to claim this territory. If you resist, we will crush you. This is your only warning.”

Tib sighed. His shoulders fell for a moment, and Fallon’s heart went out to the man. He was out here alone. Like they all were. Even from here, Fallon could see the disappointed expression on the captain’s face. He didn’t want to fight.

“Close the channel Thorne. Jel’kan, arm all phasers and photons. Vossk? Get the ECM systems warmed up.”

“So much for diplomacy?” Commander Kael asked.

“Oh, this is still diplomacy. Now it’s just gunpoint diplomacy.” Tib responded, taking his seat. Already the Pythus fighters were banking to face the Rubi. Poleron cannons priming. The two fighters attacked as the Assault Escort moved into position to hammer the Rubi.

Rain responded by warp skipping an extremely short distance away. They must have discussed it beforehand because it was executed, so naturally it gave Fallon whiplash. Worse, it confused the Vaadwaur ships because now there was the real Rubi, and a clone of it because of relativistic time dilation. Tiberius capitalized on the momentary pause and opened fire on the nearest fighter. They didn’t destroy, but the intense focus of the New Orlean’s weapons was enough to make the two Vaadwaur pilots rethink their life choices. The wounded fighter backed on.

Then the Rubi bore down on the Assault Escort. The effect was less noticeable, but the ship did break off its attack looking to gain a better firing arc while the second fighter closed in to engage.

“Mr. Jel’kan? Execute Litterbug protocol.”

Fallon’s brows furrowed in confusion. That wasn’t an official protocol. He strode around the tactical console and watched as the tactical officer beamed several armed torpedos into the path of the fighter like a makeshift mine field. The fighter played into them headlong. A ripple of explosions tore large percentages of power free from the Pythus’ shield grid, blackening its hull.

“Severe damage to the smaller ships shields. It looks like the bigger ship is breaking off.”

It stretched into the distance at high warp as both fighters rounded on the Rubi. Her shield taking some damage.

“Thorne. Get us out of here. Now.”

The Rubi banked in a vector of their next warp skip away from this region. The ship tumbled out of warp five light years away. Her warp bubble collapsed after colliding with a prickly portion of subspace.

“Sir, we had an advantage. Why not press it?” Jel’kan protested.

“Did we? How many more ships are hiding out there? What else can they do? We know they can use warp speed just fine. And they can apparently burrow up out of subspace too. Worse, they aren’t interested in talking this out. They came here expressly to fight.”

“Then we should have given them a fight.” Jel’kan said. He almost sounded like he was pouting to Fallon.

“I know, Lt. But there’s a lot about them we don’t know yet. I’d rather study our new neighbors some more before we go diving into junkyard brawls with them.”

“Recon is necessary against one’s enemies.” The Thraakan admitted with a huff.

“Get Chief Dex on making any repairs that need to be done. I’ve heard Poleron weapons can be pretty nasty on internals. In the meantime? Let’s hurry up those scans. We need to move with a quickness because we’re on the clock.”

The recording cut out as several internal diagnostics were run. Fallon sighed, relieved that nothing overt had happened. So far, the captain seemed like he was playing this one conservatively. But there was an aggression to it. Like a subtext. The question he had was what Tiberius looking for? What did he hope to find? And did he?