[ Act One ]

“Status?” Sina asked, sitting relaxed in the captain’s chair.

“All propulsion systems showing nominal, captain.” Noriko replied, the holographic status display hovering in front of her. “Subspace slipstream drive stable at five percent. Engineering reports that we can increase power whenever we like.” The young Asian was curious, nervous, and filled with incredible pride at the same time while awaiting her CO’s next order.

“All right then. Let’s see how she’ll deal with higher speed. Set SSD power to twenty-five percent. Engage.” Sina ordered, still cautious of their new primary FTL propulsion. While she had studied the incredibly advanced theories and physics behind the subspace slipstream drive like all the other command and engineering staff, she still regarded that system with a bit of suspicion, as it seemed to be just too good to be true.

“Aye, captain!”

Niko sat on the chair next to his captain, a handful of holographic interfaces glowing above the console in front of him. “So far she’s been holding up excellently. All dashboards show green and the diagnostic routines report everything’s working within standard parameters. If I wouldn’t know it any better, I’d never guess this ship’s fresh out of dry dock.”

Sina quipped back happily at her XO. “Don’t jinx it! I’d prefer the shakedown to go down without issues.”

“Yeah, better keep my mouth shut.” Niko replied teasingly. “Don’t need a repeat of the last simulation.”

The Romulan groaned when her first officer mentioned their last simulation mission. It had initially looked so promising but ended in disaster when her decisions failed to prevent an enemy from blowing up a stolen Omega molecule. The ship would have survived, but they would have been stranded in a subspace dead zone. It would have taken them more than two decades to leave the area without warp or slipstream drive.

“Agreed, let’s not talk about that one. That was embarrassing. I still think all my lucky stars worked extra shifts, considering that the Matriarch still gave us her blessing and the permission to take the Sidereal back when she was ready. I don’t know if any Academy instructor would have been so charitable.” She added with a smirk.

Lieutenant Commander Heisenberg simply grinned and brought up the shakedown test schedule with a few taps on his console. “Anyway, do you think Tarik’s suggested schedule will work? It’s borderline revolutionary to only set three days of live testing for each system.” He looked at the holographic timetable in front of him, his brows furrowing slightly.

“So far it seems to work, right?” Sina replied, leaning over to check the schedule with her XO. “I mean, he has far more experience with those systems than we do. He basically helped construct or even design them. If he says all system groups need only three days of testing each, I guess he knows what he’s doing. Do you have doubts or indicators it wouldn’t work? So far it’s been holding up nicely.”

Niko shook his head. “No, it’s just quite removed from what I’d have expected. Considering that Starfleet ships go through many weeks or even months of shakedown to hammer out all the kinks, having only planned twenty-one days seems kinda outrageous. I just remember the report of the Enterprise-G and how they got stuck in shakedown for over ten months because of issues with their coaxial core…”

Sina laughed, but her enjoyment was momentarily darkened by the memory of Nadya. She took a deep breath before replying to her first officer. “Well, the coaxial drive was just out of the experimental stage. The G was the first Starfleet ship that got that propulsion system installed by default. The Synergy’s SSD has been stable and operational since over two hundred years, or so. But we’ll see. So far Tarik’s schedule worked nicely. The three days for sub-light and normal warp drive fit like a glove. And by tomorrow we’ll have finished the slipstream tests.”

One of the gateway doors at the back of the bridge opened and Tarik walked through. He was dressed in the more rugged Starfleet Odyssey tactical uniform, wearing the golden stripe of the engineering department. Niko and Sina both turned their chairs to look at the newcomer. The captain grinned from ear to ear. “Hey, Tarik. The uniform really suits you.”

The engineer pressed his lips together for a moment, before chuckling. “Yes, but you have no idea how naked I feel without my fabricator harness. And there are only four pockets, none larger than my hand and all in inconvenient locations. How can your people work like this? This is madness!” Tarik gestured and pointed at the pockets on the sides of his thighs and upper arms.

Niko now also laughed and added with a teasing smirk. “I know exactly what you mean. But trust me, it’s not so bad once you get used to it. Always remember that you could be wearing the service uniform variant, that has only two pockets that are even smaller.”

“I… would rather not, thank you.” [email protected] replied, a wide smile on his lips.

Sina stood from her chair and walked over to Tarik. She spoke with a warm voice and a happy glimmer in her eyes. “It’s good to see you’ve changed into our uniform. I like how it really makes you look like part of our crew, part of our team. Thank you.”

The engineer held his new captain’s gaze and nodded in response. “Thank you. I know it might be a little early, but I already must make two requests for modifications.”

The Commander quirked a brow, being taken aback a little by [email protected]’s remark. “Oh? What do you want to change?”

“First, I ask for permission to wear my harness. Every senior Synergy engineer serving on board one of our vessels wears that harness. It is a vital contribution to the effectiveness of our crews that engineers have immediate access to whatever minor spare or replacement parts are required, without having to return to a fabricator station. I know it wouldn’t conform to Starfleet uniform regulations, but it would be a significant improvement of my performance.”

Sina contemplated the request, but then nodded. “Sounds reasonable. If it helps you with doing your job better, then I don’t see a reason to not allow the harness.”

“Thank you, captain.”

“And the second request?”

“The left sleeves of my uniform jackets need to be curtailed at the elbow. The long sleeves do not allow me to wear any engineering extension without damaging the uniform. They restrict me to the default humanoid arm replacement.”

The Romulan looked at Tarik’s left hand and the thought of him replacing the cybernetic arm with one of the bulky replacements he called extensions sent a slight shiver down her spine. The casualness with which members of the Synergy talked about replacing one of their extremities with any random tool was still challenging to understand. The mere thought of having one of her hands replaced by a cybernetic device was horrifying to her, but for Tarik it appeared to be the most natural thing in the world.

“Is that really necessary, Tarik? Couldn’t you just use the non-cybernetic versions of those tools you’ve made for us?”

The engineer let out a sigh. “I could, captain. But it wouldn’t be efficient. My whole life I’ve been used to working with the extensions. I chose to have my arm replaced at the age of thirteen and since then I’ve only used cybernetic tools. They provide more control, more feedback, and more sensory details than a non-cybernetic version ever could.”

Now Sina let out a sigh.

“I know it is difficult for you to understand. And it is difficult for me to explain why the difference is so great. The prospect of having to work with a non-extension tool and requiring a tricorder to see the effect of the modifications is… less than appealing to us. Imagine losing your ability to see colors and requiring a tricorder to tell you the color of a door, or a flower, or someone’s… eyes.”

“Fine, but on one condition.” The Romulan looked up at Tarik, challenging his gaze.

“Which would be, captain?”

“For all social events you default to a humanoid arm. That includes staff meetings, receptions, after work gatherings, and other activities and interactions with the rest of the crew. I don’t want you to sit at the dinner table with a macrospanner as your left arm or something like that.”

[email protected] looked at his CO for a moment, then nodded. “Understood. That is a reasonable and acceptable requirement. I agree.”

Sina dropped her serious-captain-business expression and smiled warmly at Tarik. “I’m glad your requests were only relatively minor. For a moment you had me worried when you said we had to change some things.”

Tarik raised an eyebrow. “Really? I wouldn’t have expected my requests to be so… controversial?”

Until now Niko had quietly watched the exchange between his captain and new chief engineer from his seat. But now he joined the discussion with a remark of his own. “They weren’t. It’s just that usually when a new crew member asks the captain for changes after being on board for less than a week, it’s usually a more pressing issue or some trouble brewing. That’s all.”

“That is all?” The engineer’s gaze wandered between Sina and Niko.

The captain nodded. “Yep. What he said. Don’t worry about it, Tarik. Everything’s fine. Speaking of which… how’s the slipstream drive holding up?”

[email protected]’s eyes unfocused for a split second while he requested the data directly from the engine control system. “SSD is operating at full efficiency. Current propulsion power is set to twenty-five percent. All systems are stable. Maximum power is available, captain.”

Sina grinned and turned back to her XO. “You heard the man. Let’s turn up the heat a little.”

Niko nodded in response. “Aye, captain. Noriko, increase slipstream power to fifty percent.”

“Aye, Sir! Increasing slipstream power to 50 percent. Current velocity… 250 light-years per hour.” The Asian pilot replied, her fingers swiftly adjusting the controls on the console in front of her. She then added a hushed whisper. “That’s incredible!”

“How long can the Sidereal sustain this speed?” Sina asked as she walked back to the central chair, waving at Tarik to follow her.

“Theoretically, indefinitely. The slipstream drive itself is low on maintenance and requires significantly fewer regular shutdowns and servicing compared to a conventional warp drive. However, an Omega singularity reactor hits a quickly diminishing return of energy yield after about fifty hours of continuous high load. To ensure the safety of our ships, the Synergy doesn’t operate slipstream drives at maximum power for more than forty-five hours. This allows the OSR to recover from any energy drain spikes and prevents interruptions to the readiness of our tactical systems.” Tarik calmly explained while he followed his CO to the captain’s chair.

“But that’s only if we go for 100 percent power?” Niko inquired.

“Correct.” [email protected] confirmed. “At lower velocities the OSR load correlates linearly with the slipstream power setting. Fifty percent SSD increases the upper reactor endurance safety limit to around ninety hours, twenty-five percent SSD makes that 180 hours. That’s also the reason why Synergy ships rarely travel at maximum velocity, unless an emergency demands it.”

The Romulan Commander furrowed her brows as she quickly did the math. “That means we could make over 22,000 light-years in less than two days, without a pause?”

Tarik smiled and nodded. “Indeed.”

Sina took a deep breath. “That’s insane! Well, it will definitively take some time getting used to that speed. Visra, how’s our company holding up?”

“Sphere 272-Theta-8 has been escorting us since we left the Sol system, captain. They’ve stayed 10,000 kilometers behind our port bow, matching our speed perfectly. So far they don’t seem to have problems keeping up with us.” The Alusi scientist replied, her eyes glued to the sensor displays on her console.

Tarik chuckled softly. “Don’t worry, they definitively won’t be having problems keeping up. I’ve spent the last nine years of my life maintaining and carefully fine tuning and optimizing that sphere’s SSD to be able to maintain full power for the whole forty-five hours.”

Niko glanced at the chief engineer, a big teasing grin on his lips. “Was that a challenge to a race, Tarik?”

[email protected] smirked back at the XO. “No, Lieutenant Commander. A race implies the chance of losing, but in this instance, I know with no uncertainty that Sphere 272-Theta-8 cannot lose. Both vessels’ propulsion systems operate at the same level of power and efficiency. A race in this case would neither be a challenge to the systems or the crew, nor yield additional results or entertainment.”

Sina simply laughed at Tarik’s response and the completely professional tone with which he delivered his counter. “Should I call Co-Yor and ask for a burn kit, Niko?”

The XO threw his hands up in defeat, also laughing. “Okay, okay, it was a silly idea. I admit it.”

After a moment of goofing around, Niko returned to a more serious stance. “We were talking about the testing schedule just a few minutes ago. The three days you’ve allocated for each system seemed quite optimistic to me and we wanted to be sure you’ve got enough time to do it properly. You don’t need to hurry for our sake. It wouldn’t really matter if the shakedown takes four weeks or eight months.”

[email protected] turned to face the first officer. “I appreciate your concern, Lieutenant Commander, but I assure you that the schedule is correct and sufficient. The Synergy had several centuries to standardize most of our systems. All our components have been thoroughly tested in various situations and configurations. If you remember, it was one of the Matriarch’s explicit wishes that the Sidereal was upgraded with standard components we would also use in our own vessels. You can now see the benefits of that request.”

Tarik sat down on the chair to Sina’s left, opposite the XO. With a few taps on the console he brought up the master systems display on the main view screen, the various components getting painted in different colors with a short legend stating where else they were used. The Sidereal’s silhouette quickly turned into a colorful mosaic, with colors indicating components originating from spheres, cubes, prisms, and various other Synergy vessels.

“As you can see, all vital and critical systems have been well established and are being used in that configuration in millions of other vessels.” The chief engineer continued to explain. “The only custom components are those we were required to salvage and reverse engineer from your vessel, like the various holodecks and their control systems. But given that those are non-vital and relatively simplistic, their testing also shouldn’t require much time. I am still absolutely confident that the Sidereal will be fully operational and ready for duty in at most sixteen days.”

“Good.” Sina stated with a warm smile on her lips. “Thanks for the explanation, Tarik. But if there are any issues, don’t hesitate to inform me or Niko. We all want to get this done right.”

“Of course, captain. But I should return to main engineering now. I want to challenge the OSR with some additional load peaks while in transit.” [email protected] rose from the seat, nodded to his CO and XO, and headed towards the bridge’s gateway door.

[ Act Two ]

“Where’s Haroun?” T’Sai asked as she sat on the free spot on the couch in Duncan’s quarters. Again, she had been delayed by a work-related discussion, much to her and the other’s chagrin, and arrived late to their meeting.

“He couldn’t make it.” Duncan replied. “Vossler mishandled a null-space energy cell and the discharge burnt her arm. She’s in sickbay and Haroun had to take over the rest of her shift.”

Shrass let out a sigh, his antennae dropping slightly. “Hope she’s okay. But I guess we should get used to not be able to get everyone together in one gathering.”

“That appears to be the case. With the return to a normal shift rotation, it is rather unlikely all of us will be available at any given time.” T’Sai remarked in her familiar neutral expression.

“Hmmm…” Duncan mused. “Yeah, maybe we should have one meeting for each shift. And one person from each of those meetings could then meet for an exchange. Anyway, we can hash out the details for that later. So, what do you think about our current situation?” He asked the other sixteen officers around him.

Shrass spoke first. “I must admit that the upgrade is pretty amazing, and the real deal is even better than what we’ve seen in the simulations. The crew quarters are great, and the new sensors are incredible. They also upgraded the astrometric lab to that holographic dome they were using on their sphere. The resolution and detail are incredible. I’d say it’s at least ten times better than what we had before.”

“I agree, at least somewhat.” The Vulcan Junior Lieutenant added. “Seeing Synergy technology in action is quite an impressive event. Even though I remain extremely suspicious of their propulsion and reactor technologies, it appears to work as promised. With admittedly impressive results. During the slipstream tests yesterday and today we’ve traversed thousands of lightyears in only a handful of hours.”

Duncan nodded. “Yeah, their toys and gadgets are nice, I’ll give them that. But we shouldn’t forget that we still shouldn’t feel too safe or comfortable around them. Even with our ship back under our control they’ve put a leash on us. One of their spheres is following us all the time.”

A female Human Petty Officer leaning against the living room’s back wall spoke up. “From what I’ve heard they just follow us to make sure the shakedown goes alright. And to support us in case anything goes wrong.”

The Scottish Junior Lieutenant snorted and stood from his couch seat. “When was the last time you heard of a ship being permanently escorted during shakedown? Right, that wouldn’t make sense. During shakedown the ship is already supposed to be operating independently and hammer out minor kinks. If any system was still so unstable that a permanent escort was necessary, it should have stayed docked.”

Duncan walked to the fabricator console and ordered a glass of Whiskey. He was off duty for the next thirteen hours, so a bit of synthetic alcohol wasn’t off-limits, and its minor effects would quickly fade anyway. “What they tell us and what they really intend are two completely different things.” He grabbed the glass and downed the shot in a single gulp.

Now the Andorian scientist offered his own opinion. “Aren’t you exaggerating a bit? You almost sound like Haroun.”

“I am?” The Scotsman shrugged. “So what? Oh, have you already forgotten the captain’s suggestion? What do you think about her idea of taking on a couple hundred Synergy ‘volunteers’ to help us man our own ship?” He gestured wildly and the use of air quotes and the tone of his voice made it obvious what he was thinking about that plan. “I can hardly wait to be outnumbered five-to-one on our own ship.”

“I oppose that idea as well.” T’Sai said. “The idea behind our vote to having the Sidereal restored and returned to us was being independent and having a means to retreat or isolate ourselves from the Synergy’s influence. Having hundreds of them on board would completely negate the benefits of that approach. It would also introduce several security liabilities. Being outnumbered on that scale would for example also mean that in a critical situation we could not enforce any decision or policy against the Synergy.”

Shrass also stood and started nervously to pace back and forth, his strong voice sounding through the room. “We can’t allow that to happen. The Sidereal is our ship and we must make sure it stays that way. But how can we speak out against these ‘volunteers’ without being giving us completely away?”

“That’s a really good question.” Duncan added.

Now a male Bolian Ensign who had sat on a chair brought over from a neighboring quarter joined the conversation. “Maybe we could simply say we need more time to come to terms with how they look and act? We’re almost one quarter of the whole crew, if we all say something along those lines, I think the captain wouldn’t push it.”

“Maybe. But that might only temporarily halt the inclusion of Synergy members into our crew.” The Scotsman replied. “At some point we will need a more permanent solution. I don’t know yet what we can or should do, but I know it must start with getting rid of our new chief engineer. Having Tarik on board is a serious threat to our cause.”

The Andorian Ensign looked a bit taken aback by his colleague’s harsh words. “I’m not sure I know what you mean…”

But T’Sai answered in Duncan’s stead. “It really is simple, Shrass. If we allow Tarik to stay for a prolonged period, he will serve as a seed of acceptance for the Synergy. More and more members of the crew will interact with him and start accepting him, which in turn will significantly increase support for the captain’s proposal.”

Duncan continued with obvious bitterness and frustration in his voice. “Of course, we can’t just go to main engineering and shot him. Or act in any other obviously hostile way against him. But we must keep looking for some way to get rid of him. The best possible situation would be if we could expose some shady activity of his. Like some unannounced and unapproved modification to our systems, or allowing remote access to the ship controls, or something like that. Anything that would force the captain or the XO to at least remove him from his current position.”

“Okay, now I see what you mean…” Shrass mumbled and after another moment’s hesitation returned to his seat.

“Now that this topic’s out of the way, anything else you want to talk about?” Duncan asked casually, with a slightly more relaxed expression on his face now.

“I’ve continued my investigation regarding Haroun’s theory of the Synergy exerting any kind of mental influence over us.” T’Sai reported. “I have concluded that there are currently no indications of any technology like the Kataan probe being used on us. There are no traces of nucleonic radiation on the frequency bands and power levels recorded being used by that device.”

A quick round of murmurs passed through the gathered crew and their faces visibly relaxed.

The Vulcan continued after a moment. “However, I’ve found minuscule traces of neurogenic fields like the one encountered by USS Voyager at stardate 52542.3. You probably remember the bioplasmic organism by its more sensationalized moniker… the telepathic pitcher plant.”

“Wait, what?!” Duncan sputtered and everyone else in the room stared shocked at T’Sai.

“I suspect that the weak neurogenic fields are a byproduct of the Synergy’s hive-mind and the cortical implants they use, but without detailed medical scans of one such implant it is impossible to determine their exact origins.” She continued unfazed by her colleagues’ reactions. “The field strength is not sufficient to create overpowering hallucinations as experienced by the crew of Voyager, but it would be strong enough to exert a minor influence if one was exposed to one in close proximity for a prolonged period of time.”

Shrass’s antennae dropped and he rubbed the root of his nose. “You’ve got to be kidding me…”

The Scottish Junior Lieutenant also sighed. “Well, that even makes more sense than Haroun’s initial wild theory. That creature lived in the Delta Quadrant, so it would be more likely that the Borg encountered it rather than Picard’s probe. Maybe they’ve lost a sphere or two to that thing and when they sent a bunch of cubes to get rid of the threat, they assimilated part of whatever it used to create those telepathic hallucinations. And so, they managed to get hold of that weapon.”

“While I’m not completely convinced of the likelihood of that particular chain of events, it does sound at least somewhat feasible.” T’Sai added. “Still, it is only a hypothesis. We would need to test at least one Synergy cortical implant to verify or falsify it. Given that all my inquiries as to the detailed workings of their collective consciousness have not been answered with the desired clarity, I doubt I will be able to produce such results any time soon.”

Duncan nodded and looked at his colleagues. “And that’s one more reason why we should get rid of Tarik as soon as possible. The longer he stays around the captain, the higher the risk that he’ll be able to manipulate her.”

The gathered group agreed with Duncan’s conclusion, some more reluctantly than others. There were some hushed mumbles and murmurs, but they died down after a few minutes.

“In the meantime, we have to remain watchful and attentive. T’Sai, do you think you can approach Co-Yor with your findings about those neurogenic fields? If we had the CMO on our side that would be a huge advantage. At least he would have some authority to force the issue if necessary.”

“I see no reason not to try. The findings are neutral and non-accusatory, so there shouldn’t be any risk in informing Co-Yor and requesting his support. I’m sure he’s at least passingly familiar with the records of that bioplasmic entity and the significant danger it posed to Voyager.” The Vulcan noted and nodded in agreement. “I will see him before my shift tomorrow.”

“Good. Thank you, T’Sai. Any other topics or comments?” Duncan asked.

The group kept discussing the events of the last week and their experiences during the first few days of the shakedown phase of the new Sidereal. The grim mood lingering after T’Sai’s revelation was still present but lightened somewhat by the excitement of having a new ship and testing out its limits. After another half hour, everyone who wanted to say something had spoken and the meeting came to an end.

“I’ll meet with Haroun tomorrow and inform him about what we discussed today.” Shrass noted as he rose from his seat, before turning to leave Duncan’s quarters. “See you around, take care everyone.”

The remainder of the gathering also quickly dispersed, and everyone returned to their own quarters. Alone now, Duncan went to the fabricator and grabbed another shot glass of Whiskey and downed it in one single gulp, before walking to his desk. He picked up his PADD from before the meeting and continued scrolling through the list of security simulations. Telepathic Subversion One. Hostage situation, scenario sixteen. Insurrection Alpha.

Seeing the titles scroll by, he furrowed his brows and wondered who the hell came up with those ridiculous titles. “They still sound like third grade holo novels.” Duncan mused.

Junior Lieutenant Clark had been studying those simulations and scenarios for some time now, ever since the captain made that remark about the Synergy volunteers. Duncan felt terrible at the mere thought of mutiny, but in their current situation he felt it was his duty to prepare for the worst. If they were wrong and it turned out the Borg had indeed nothing to do with their situation, they could just laugh it off and pretend nothing ever happened. But if they were right and something was afoot, it could be down to them to safe the whole crew.

He sat down on the chair and opened the last file in the list and continued studying the simulation parameters. This scenario, partially created by Voyager’s then chief of security Lieutenant Tuvok, dealt with a mutiny involving a substantial part of the ship’s joined Maquis personnel. Browsing through the notes that had been added to the file, Duncan saw that the original author had quickly abandoned the simulation, since the crew developed in a way that made an armed rebellion more and more unlikely.

Still, for Duncan this simulation was exactly what he had been looking for. As he continued studying the simulation’s parameters and configurations in detail, he quirked his brows. “Well, well, well, seems the Federation lost a really great holo author with Lieutenant Tuvok. Let me check how Janeway managed to penetrate Voyager’s shields with that piss pot of a shuttle…”

Duncan continued to scour Tuvok’s simulation for clues and strategies for several hours, learning a great deal about how Voyager’s chief of security imagined a mutiny to play out, what the possible countermeasures were and how the rebels could counteract those at an early stage.

Before going to bed, the Scotsman took one last look at the notes he had made on a PADD with a particularly strong encryption, based on what he learned from the Vulcan Lieutenant’s scenario. “I only hope captain D’raxis sees reason when we confront her with the facts and hasn’t been warped too much by Tarik. I hope we’ll never have to go to the full extent of this.”

[ Act Three ]

Co-Yor was sitting in the chief medical officer’s office, leaning back in his chair while reviewing another set of Synergy files he had marked for reading. He had already finished the documents about advanced non-nanite medical procedures and was now studying basic nanoprobe assisted surgery methods.

The morning was slow, even slower than usually, and so far, nobody had come to sickbay. He had decided to send the crewman that was assigned as nurse on break, since there was little use of having another person in here when there was nothing to do. Co-Yor himself put the unexpected free time to good use and continued to familiarize himself with the advanced medical knowledge of their hosts.

It was extremely fascinating to see how far the Synergy managed to push medical technology. He had already seen reliable treatments for so many conditions that would be fatal or at least extremely critical with standard Starfleet means. Dorek syndrome, cured. Iverson’s disease, cured. Telurian plague, cured. Tuvan syndrome, cured. Veridium Six poisoning, fast acting antidote readily available. Darnay’s disease, cured. Ulcartic virus, cured. Yarim Fel syndrome, cured. The list went on and on, hundreds of entries about diseases and other ailments that had been utterly defeated by the Synergy.

Most of the conventional treatments seemed to originate from assimilated Vidiian knowledge and technology. Co-Yor was familiar with that species and how their brutal fight for survival against the merciless Phage had turned them into savages that raid other people to harvest their organs. But Sina’s interpretation appeared to hold true in this situation once more. The Synergy had managed to take the terrible practices and methods of the assimilated Vidiians and turn them into medical wonders that help untold billions.

Co-Yor admitted to himself that he was indeed quite curious about observing any of those methods being executed. He was just considering if it would be appropriate for him to contact Sorowa and inquire if it was possible for him to monitor one of their treatments, when the doors to his medical facility slid open and T’Sai entered, holding a PADD in hands.

The Kalonar rose from the chair and left his office to meet the potential patient. “Good morning, T’Sai. How can I help you?” His pupil less golden eyes mustered the Junior Lieutenant with great attention, already looking for any obvious signs of injury, illness, or discomfort.

“Good morning.” T’Sai replied with a soft nod of her head. “Doctor, I have an extremely serious topic I need to discuss with you. It requires utmost confidentiality. We have grounds to assume the crew’s safety is at risk.”

Co-Yor’s head tilted ever so slightly. His expressionless face looked at the Vulcan woman for a second before he nodded. “Of course. We can talk in my office. But if you think the ship is in danger, wouldn’t it be more logical to inform the chief of security, the first officer, or even the captain herself instead of coming to me?” He gestured towards his office, inviting T’Sai to go ahead.

The Junior Lieutenant walked into the CMO’s office with swift steps and waited for the doctor to follow her. Once they were both inside, Co-Yor-Turi-Kalur sat on his chair and with a few taps on the desk console brought up a dampening field that prevented them from being recorded or heard outside the office. It was standard procedure to activate this field when someone requests confidentiality, no matter if there was anyone else in sickbay or not. “Confidentiality screen is active. You can speak freely now.”

“Thank you. Usually you’d be correct, but in this case, we can’t be sure if that would be a good idea. A few of us have made a quite unsettling and disconcerting discovery. We’ve detected faint neurogenic fields on board the ship, almost identical the ones encountered by Voyager at stardate 52542.3. They appear to have the same frequency and field metrics used by the bioplasmic organism to manipulate Voyager’s crew with telepathic projections. The traces are strongest on decks one, four, seven, and eleven, concentrated on the bridge, senior staff quarters, and main engineering.” The Vulcan explained, offering the PADD to the doctor.

The Kalonar listened to the Junior Lieutenant’s words, showing no reaction on his velvety gray face. When offered, he quickly took the PADD and browsed through the data. “Please allow me to quickly review your data.” He had passing familiarity with the phenomenon T’Sai described. The ‘telepathic pitcher plant,’ as the organism was also informally called, had been a several thousand kilometers long space-bound lifeform that was using telepathic projections to lure unsuspecting starships to their doom. Not unlike how the terrestrial plant of the same name lured insects, or how sirens of Human folklore lured sea-faring ships.

“Your data does appear to be correct, but I need to compare it to the information available in our database.” Co-Yor hummed with his deep voice. He tapped on the console in front of him to bring up the medical entries about those fields and the organism in order to cross-reference the information. After some minutes of study, he returned his attention to the waiting T’Sai. “The field configurations are indeed identical. Given the locations of the fields I assume you suspect they affect the command staff?”

T’Sai simply nodded.

“I understand. You were correct to come to me first in this case. Do you have any suspicion what could cause those fields?”

“We think it might be Tarik’s neural uplink implant. The captain mentioned that the Synergy has technology to project arbitrary simulated realities into their members’ minds. Maybe his implant is defect or incorrectly calibrated…” She paused for a second. “…or he is using it to influence our colleagues.”

She took a deep breath before continuing. “The problem we are facing is that the Synergy is quite… reluctant to share detailed information about their hive-mind and all related technologies with us. We don’t even have a schematic of the neural transceiver they use for uplinking their consciousness. This makes it extremely difficult to determine whether Tarik is the actual cause for those fields or if there was another origin. We hoped you could help us.”

Co-Yor leaned forward in his chair, his deep voice resonating in the small office. “If we assume the remote possibility of you being correct, this is a delicate and possibly dangerous situation. Even though the field strength recorded by your scans appears to be insufficient to cause a forceful hallucination, it might be enough to modify and influence the victims’ behaviors without them realizing it. However, without more concrete proof of deviating behavior I cannot go ahead and perform invasive neural scans without informing the patients of the reason.”

“I understand. Would it be possible to create an inoculation against the neurogenic field’s effects? I have limited understanding of medical procedures, but maybe a treatment based on desegranine could reinforce the original memories and suppress any outside modifications?” The Junior Lieutenant suggested with her typical neutral intonation.

“An interesting proposal, but I doubt the Obsidian Order created desegranine for such purposes. Any unnecessary or incorrectly dosed application of the drug could cause severe neurological damage. I will require some time to investigate if such treatment is possible. Until then I strongly advise you do not try to apply any treatments yourself.” Co-Yor explained calmly. “Also, I would suggest you do not act in an irrational or hasty way. Unless and until there is decisive proof that those neurogenic fields are a hostile activity there is no reason to assume the worst possible outcome.”

“Please remain calm and focused. Report any further developments and discoveries regarding field activity or parameters to me directly. I will conduct my own investigations to double check your data, simply to ensure it wasn’t a sensor fluke or a false reading.” The Kalonar officer stood from his chair, his towering presence easily filling out the office. “Thank you for placing your trust in me. I will inform you as soon as I’ve come to more conclusive results. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

The Junior Lieutenant also rose from the seat. “No, doctor. Thank you for your time.”

Co-Yor dropped the confidentiality screen with a simple tap on his desk console. T’Sai nodded and turned around, quickly and quietly leaving his office and sickbay with swift steps. The doctor returned to his studies. He looked at the medical information about Voyager’s encounter with that bioplasmic organism and let out a deep droning sigh through the six small tracheal openings at the sides of his head. So far, he was carefully optimistic about the crew’s development, but with T’Sai’s revelation the situation had taken a sharp turn for the worse. If her suspicion should turn out true, they could easily face an existential crisis.

Determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, Co-Yor decided that an unconventional problem required an unconventional solution. “Computer, activate EMH.” A soft chirp sounded to confirm the order and a split second later the form of the Sidereal’s EMH flickered into existence.

The female-shaped hologram with short strawberry-blonde hair wore the uniform of a medical officer and briefly looked around to assess the situation, then focused on Co-Yor. “Emergency Medical Hologram mark nine online. Please state the nature of the medical emergency.”

“Activate confidentiality protocols. All inquiries, data, and operations performed and provided in the current session are to be stored in a separate database and encrypted with my public authentication key.” The Kalonar ordered.

“Understood. Confidentiality protocols active. Session parameters secured. Please state the nature of the medical emergency.” The EMH responded after complying with the CMO’s order.

“Access Starfleet medical archives, stardate 52542.3. Entry recorded by EMH mark one assigned to USS Voyager. Keywords: bioplasmic organism and neurogenic fields.”

“Understood. Data available. Please state your inquiry.”

Co-Yor handed T’Sai’s PADD to the EMH. “Given the field metrics measured in these scans, how large is the probability of those fields being able to influence a crew member’s behavior?”

The holographic woman wordlessly took the tablet and simply held the device as she transferred the information contained in it into her own holomatrix. After a second, she returned the PADD to the CMO’s desk and replied. “Non-zero. The exact amount depends on the degree of exposure.”

“Specify.” The doctor ordered.

“Using example values for exposure length and interval for the specified field metrics. When passing through a field trace once, the probability is 0.021 percent. When residing within the field traces for at least four hours per day, after five days the probability is 2.981 percent. When residing within the field traces for at least eight hours per day, after five days the probability is 15.446 percent.”

“Access internal sensors. Calculate movement profile of command staff. Further, assume the field traces are constant at the measured density and strength. Estimate probability of influence for senior command staff.”

“Understood. Commander D’raxis, 22.497 percent. Lieutenant Commander Heisenberg, 12.259 percent. Lieutenant Neirrek, 5.705 percent. Lieutenant M’Tiras, 3.322 percent. Lieuten-”

“Stop.” Co-Yor interrupted the EMH. “Given the available data, can you determine whether an affected individual would experience any discomfort or feel any warning signs of being influenced?”

“Insufficient data. There is not enough information about exposure effects of low-powered neurogenic fields to make the requested prediction.”

The Kalonar looked at the EMH dispassionately, thinking about his next question. “Which additional information are required to be able to make the prediction?”

“Detailed scan of neurogenic field origin. Encephalic and neurographic scans of individuals exposed to the field at least once for at least three minutes.” The EMH replied almost immediately.

Co-Yor tilted his head slightly. Acquiring this kind of data unsuspiciously would be quite difficult. He would have to think of something later how to achieve that feat. For now, he wanted to see if there are any short-term successes he could manage. “New inquiry. Estimate chance of desegranine based medication to counteract neurogenic field effects and reinforce patient’s original memories against manipulation.”

“Non-zero. However, currently known desegranine treatments are not able to achieve the desired result without severe neurological trauma and are not recommended.”

“Hmmm.” The Kalonar hummed, his curiosity piqued by the EMH’s response. “Clarify changes necessary to achieve the requested result.”

“Desegranine in its current molecular form does not prevent influencing of surface thoughts, it only reactivates old memory engrams. A desegranine derivate with a modified molecular structure that allowed the drug to attach to active synapses would have an estimated 64.877 percent chance of achieving the desired result.” The EMH explained without hesitation.

“Assume development of the described derivate is possible. What are the expected and estimated side effects of the drug if given in sufficient doses to counteract the currently present neurogenic fields?” Co-Yor was getting close. If the side effects were not too bad or risky, he could begin developing the derivate and start inoculating the crew against the fields. He could mask the injections as additional inoculations against pathogens common in this reality without raising any suspicion.

The EMH looked at the CMO for a moment, then responded in her casual and calm tone. “There are no serious side effects to be expected. Non-serious issues that might occur in approximately ten percent of all patients include mild insomnia, increased nervousness, and weak sensations of paranoia. All of those can be treated by known means without complications.”

It didn’t sound so bad. If there was a way to treat affected crew members, he wouldn’t be pressed for time that badly and could take some days or maybe even a week or two to conduct a proper medical investigation into the issue. In case the situation became urgent, he could relatively quickly start with synthesizing the desegranine derivate.

“Good. Copy the instruction set for creating the derivate drug to my personal files. Encrypt it with my public authentication key.”

“Instructions copied.”

“Computer, end EMH.” As a few minutes ago, a soft chirp sounded to confirm his command. The EMH disappeared in a soft shimmer as her holomatrix was shut down by the sickbay’s holographic projectors.

Co-Yor took T’Sai’s PADD and walked to the fabricator console in the back of his office. He placed the tablet on the tray and with a few taps on the interface activated the recycling mode. In less than a quarter of a second, the PADD was disassembled and reabsorbed into the fabricator’s matter seed, destroying all stored data irrecoverably in the process.

[ Act Four ]

Sina was just completing the last steps of her usual preparations before leaving her quarters to start her shift on the bridge. She slipped into the black-white-red jacket of her service uniform, casually closing the bioelectric zipper on its front, when suddenly the intruder alarm klaxon sounded and she heard the chirp of her combadge, followed by the second officer’s voice.

“Bridge to D’raxis. An unknown object just appeared in cargo bay four. It is transmitting a low-range signal on a deprecated frequency, demanding to speak with the commanding officer.” Rel reported.

With a sigh, the Romulan tapped her badge. “Understood, I’m on my way. Have Shori and an armed escort meet me in cargo bay four and seal off that section. I don’t want whatever it is to have an easy way getting to the rest of the ship.”

“Aye, captain.”

She took a deep breath and left her quarters, heading to the nearest gateway to bring her closer towards cargo bay four. Barely a minute later she arrived and already saw Shori and her guards in their powered armor suits standing at the end of the corridor, covering the cargo bay entrance with their weapons.

“Captain.” The Caitian greeted her CO. “All access ports and Jefferies tubes have been sealed. So far the object has made no attempt to move out of the cargo bay and it’s still transmitting its original message.” She handed Sina a PADD with the translated message. The Romulan quickly scanned the generic request to speak to the ship’s captain.

“Good. Keep the section on lock down, nobody gets in and nothing gets out until we know what that thing wants. Any luck with identifying its origin or purpose?”

“Not yet. Visra is still on it, but so far, the object’s outer hull has been able to block all attempts of scanning the inside. The hull is a biomolecular compound and we think the object in total is organic in nature.” The chief of security replied, her low-lying ears indicating her nervousness.

“It’s alive?”

“Only a guess, captain. The hull definitively is organic, but we haven’t detected any known life signs.”

“Understood. Guess I shouldn’t keep our unexpected guest waiting for much longer.”

Shori reached for her backup weapon and offered it to her CO. “Here.”

“No, Shori. That thing managed to somehow penetrate Synergy tachyon barriers. I don’t want to provoke it. It might even mistake a PADD or tricorder for a weapon.” Sina took a deep breath and started walking towards the large cargo bay doors.

After a few moments she reached the entrance. With a simple press on the control panel the massive doors slid open, revealing the cargo bay that was cast in utter darkness. Only the strange object right in the center of the empty hall was illuminated, seemingly glowing from within. The unidentified object was a strange structure apparently made from several multi-layered tori, sitting on a regular table from the mess hall.

A mess hall table? “What…?” Sina mumbled and quirked her brows, when suddenly a loud pop startled her, and the lights came on. A shower of gold and silver glitter was raining down on her and a choir of voices shouted and cheered all around her. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”.

As she looked around, she saw the whole crew gathered along the edges of the storage facility, laughing and clapping, while Niko sheepishly peeked out from behind the table with the three-story cake, a wide teasing grin on his lips. Rel, Duncan, Visra, Jeffrey, and Noriko were standing nearby - they had been waiting near the front wall of the cargo bay, besides the doors. Even Tarik was silently and with an expression of curiosity observing the event from his place next to the Cardassian CTO.

Sina looked around and took a deep breath as the anxiety of the initial situation fell off her shoulders. A happy smile crept onto her lips and she walked closer towards the center of the hall. “Thank you! Thank you, guys!” She laughed back, while slowly the whole circle gathered around the table with lots of shaking hands and congratulations and good wishes.

“Happy birthday, Sina!” Niko quipped, offering a cake knife to the Romulan. “I think we managed to find a probe that can penetrate the unidentified object’s outer hull, captain.”

Sina laughed at her XO’s silly remark and happily took the knife from him as she stepped close to the cake. “You know…” She started, while carefully cutting the cake. “…you really had me there for a moment. But the table sort of gave it away.”

“Yeah, we also thought as much. But we didn’t want to overdo it.” Her first officer replied.

“Overdo it?” She let out a hearty laughter. “You sounded intruder alert to get me to the cargo bay! You had the CTO and COS orchestrate a section lock down. That’s already quite deep in overdo-it-country. You’re flat-out crazy!”

Sina had cut a few slices out of the topmost cake ring and put one on the plate Niko was holding. When she saw the pattern in the slice, she quirked a brow and looked at her first officer. “What kind of cake is that supposed to be?”

“Oh, it’s just a plain old boring chocolate cake.”

“I don’t remember plain old chocolate cake having embedded… planets? Or what are those supposed to be?” She asked, curiously eying the blue-green and green-white circles in the otherwise dark brown slice of cake.

“Good guess. The blue one is supposed to be Earth, but I think I messed up the fabricator instructions and turned it into an unrecognizable blob. But the green one turned out quite nicely, I think. With a bit of imagination, I think you can see Novok and Brel’kar.”

“Romulus?” Sina squinted at the slice of cake on her plate.

“Yep!”

Sina smiled happily at her XO and teased him a little. “Yes, I think I can see it. Thank you. But wasn’t there something about not overdoing it?”

The German just shrugged his shoulders and grinned. “Eh, might have missed that mark a little here.”

Shaking her head and laughing, Sina continued to cut and distribute the cake until everyone was served a plate with a thick slice of Earth-Romulus chocolate cake.

It was then that Niko stood in the center of the circle that had formed around the table and started to speak. “We have all gathered here today to celebrate our captain’s 30th birthday. But before everyone digs into the cake and worsens their next physical’s results, I’d like to say a few words.”

“Oh please, no speech.” Sina laughed and blushed and gestured to her XO to stop, but to no avail.

“I vividly remember when Sina came on board the Sidereal a bit over three years ago. She was a young and idealistic Lieutenant Commander, having returned from a deep space assignment just a few months before. It was her first command assignment, serving as Shelen’s first officer. Shelen was, of course, as chill as always, but Sina seemed almost terrified of him.” Niko spoke, his voice echoing slightly in the cargo bay.

The Romulan Commander buried her face in her hands, while Niko recounted those in hindsight embarrassing moments.

“In the very first staff meeting after she joined the crew, Sina was so nervous she dropped her PADD with the reports when Shelen called her on. It took us a few days to rid her of her nervousness around the Blue Mountain. But eventually she came around and became one of the best first officers, and later captains, I’ve ever worked with. It was her passion, dedication, and humor that made the ship a better place. Even though I’m still suspicious of that iced Vulcan mocha thing.” He added with a smirk.

“Hey, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.” Sina quipped back.

“Ah, I think I’ll pass.” He said with a happy laughter, before he returned to a more serious expression. “The Sidereal and her crew have been through good and through bad times. We’ve seen a lot of happy endings, but we’ve also witnessed terrible tragedies.” Everyone knew what Niko was talking about, the death of their former Captain Shelen Ch’iveran.

“But no matter what happened, we’ve stuck together as a team, as a family. We’ve carried on Shelen’s legacy and made the galaxy a better place for a lot of people, which is something that we all can be proud of. We’ve grown and become better, not only at what we do but also at who we are. And I couldn’t imagine a better captain to guide us through these troubled times than Sina. I think we’re all lucky to have you with us. Here’s to the captain!”

“HERE’S TO THE CAPTAIN!” Came the cheerful response from the rest of the crew.

“Thanks guys. Thank you so much.” Sina’s face was flushed and she smiled happily while the crew cheered to her. “Please enjoy the cake now!”

The gathered crew quickly split into several groups, each having their own conversations. Many people sought out Sina to congratulate her personally, before returning to mingle with the other crew members. Eventually Tarik approached the captain to offer his congratulations.

“Happy birthday, Sina. I have to admit that this was more confusing, for a lack of a better word, than I expected.” [email protected] remarked while carefully picking up another piece of cake with his fork.

“Thank you, Tarik. But how so?” Sina asked. “Don’t your people celebrate birthdays?”

“We do. But we do not include public humiliation as part of the ritual. We focus on the individual’s achievements and their planned progress, instead of recalling embarrassing events from several years ago.” The engineer commented, before closing his lips around the piece of cake on the tip of his fork.

The Romulan smiled. “It’s all in good humor, Tarik. There’s no maliciousness or humiliation intended, it’s just a bit of teasing to show how much a person has changed and grown in a given period. The thing with being terrified of my former CO was a remark about how I’ve allowed myself to be intimidated by Shelen’s appearance, instead of paying attention to his personality.”

“What was so intimidating about that individual that it caused you so much distress?”

“Shelen was a bear of a man. When Niko called him the Blue Mountain he wasn’t exaggerating. He was the tallest and most massive Andorian I’ve ever seen. He even exceeded Co-Yor’s height and his shoulders and arms were just huge. His uniform was a special cut, because even the patterns for Klingon officers were too tight for him. It was his towering presence combined with his grizzled face that completely overwhelmed me in the beginning.” Sina explained, while picking up another slice of cake.

She quickly put a piece of cake into her mouth and swallowed the delicious baked dessert before continuing. “But it turned out that I was being silly. Despite his appearance, Shelen was the most kind and well-meaning man I’ve ever met. He cared for the crew as if they were his family and he quickly helped me to overcome my false first impressions and reactions. We became close friends and it was his influence that helped me grow into the person I am today.”

“I think I understand.” Tarik mused, after finishing his plate. “I’ve studied some of the cultural data we’ve copied from the Sidereal’s computer core some time ago. Am I correct that it is customary among your people to present a gift to the celebrated individual?”

“Yes. Birthday presents are an old tradition among many of the Federation’s peoples. Why are you asking?”

The engineer put on a proud smile. “Because I’m glad to hear that my preparations have not been in vain then.”

“You really got a gift for me?” Sina asked, eying her chief engineer curiously. “Aw, that’s so nice. Thank you, Tarik! What is it?”

“I will show you at the end of your shift.”

“Oh, come on, you can’t tease me like this! At least give me a hint!” Sina quipped, while finishing her plate.

Tarik shook his head. “I’m sorry, but it would be too distracting right now. Particularly since the gift is stationary.”

Sina quirked her brows. “What do you mean?”

[email protected] responded calmly with a promising smile on his lips. “Meet me after your shift on deck twelve, port section, and I’ll show you.”

The Romulan let out a heavy sigh and smirked at the Human engineer. “Okay, but this better be good.”

Sina’s shift passed slowly, almost excruciatingly so. Today’s topic was testing the various improved sensors the Synergy had installed. Niko and Rel were having a field day with the advanced tactical sensors and their newfound capabilities, while Visra was honestly impressed by seeing the new general purpose and astronomical sensors in action. Both topics would also greatly interest Sina, but there was that nagging memory of Tarik’s promised birthday present.

Finally, 1600 hours came around and alpha shift handed the ship over to beta shift. Once the handover was done, Sina quickly made her way to the place Tarik mentioned in the morning. She was so curious and excited that she almost jogged, but she did manage to stay calm enough to walk there normally.

Stepping out of the gateway frame, she could already see [email protected] standing in the middle of the corridor. The Romulan walked up to Tarik, a wide smile on her lips. “I’m really curious now. You had me sitting on coals the whole day long. So, what’s the surprise?”

Tarik smiled and gestured towards the door next to them. “It’s behind this door. Technically it’s not a present specifically only for you, but rather should be available to the whole crew. However, considering the information I’ve gleaned from the Sidereal’s logbook entries made over the last several years, I’ve concluded that this would have a particular meaning for you.”

Sina quirked a brow and looked at the door. The label said, “Science Lab L4,” but something seemed off. She stepped closer and realized that the label was a plate stuck to the door on top of the real label. Carefully, the Romulan reached out and pulled the plate off. The inscription on the door now said, “Material Workshop.” Sina looked at Tarik, trying to assess his motives, then pressed the button on the control panel to open the doors.

The doors opened into a large workshop, almost twenty meters long and wide. Along the walls she could see countless workbenches and crafting tables, with a huge selection of tools for various crafts ranging from painting over woodcutting to sculpture. At the far wall Sina noticed the larger, heavier tools and workstations. She saw a lathe, a plasma cutter, an automatic hammer, and a forge.

The Commander entered the room, curiously looking around with sparkling eyes. After a few moments she walked up to the forge, inspecting the various tongs, hammers, chisels, and finally the anvil in front of the forge. She quickly realized that the tools followed classical designs but were manufactured from modern materials, some she was sure the Federation didn’t yet know about. “That’s… that’s amazing…” She muttered as she turned around to look at Tarik. “But how…?”

“When it became clear that I would be responsible for your ship, and by extension its crew, for some time, I took the liberty to study your logbook to better understand your needs and requirements. It quickly became apparent that your crew practices a selection of old-fashioned arts and crafts for recreational purposes. Especially your hobby could be considered exotic, especially by our standards. Working heated metal with a hammer? That sounds quite impractical from our point of view, but for you it obviously has a special meaning.”

[email protected] had followed her into the workshop and stood on the other side of the massive anvil in front of the forge. “I had this room prepared as part of the ship’s restoration and upgrade process. I know that you used various holodeck simulations for that purpose but given how much emphasis your crew seems to place on tangible items and memories, I thought having an actual workshop would be a welcome addition to the ship’s facilities. I assumed that you could spare the space of a single science lab, considering the other three laboratories would be that much better equipped.”

Sina stepped around the anvil, happily smiling, and simply hugged Tarik tightly. “Thank you. It’s a wonderful idea. I’m sure the others will love it. I already do.” She released her chief engineer from her embrace and grinned at him. “So, when can we fire up the forge?”

[ Act Five ]

“Hey, are you coming? Don’t want to miss our slot on the holodeck, do you?” Shannara called out, leaning against the door frame of Nadya’s quarters. The Junior Lieutenant had her short red hair styled in a quirky pixie cut and wore a set of earrings with stones of black zircon accompanying her pitch-black eyes. The xenobiologist’s lithe frame was covered by an elegant white dress decorated with red streaks and ribbons to match her wild hair.

Nadya chuckled. “Okay, okay. I’m coming.” With a quick tap she switched off the console on her desk and rose from her chair. The tall blonde Russian woman quickly entered the living room where her companion was already waiting, wearing an intricately decorated dark green and black robe with golden seams. She happily smiled at Shannara, eagerly drinking in the view with her eyes. “You look amazing, darling.”

“Thanks. But you’re not too shabby either.” The Betazoid teased back with a big grin on her lips.

Feigning a mock shock, Nadya replied. “Oh! Shabby? I’ll show you shabby! Just wait until we get back.”

Shannara quickly stepped up to her girlfriend, a mischievous sparkle in the dark abyss of her eyes as she slung her arms around Nadya’s shoulders. “I hope that was a promise…” She whispered, then tenderly pressed her lips against the Augment’s. The couple stood for a long moment, happily entwined in a close embrace and gentle kiss, before Shannara reluctantly pulled away again. “But now we really should get going.”

A few moments later Nadya and Shannara were walking down the corridor, casually holding hands, and making their way towards holodeck six. “So, what’s your big surprise?” The Russian asked curiously, enjoying the way their hips bumped into each other as they walked so closely together.

Shannara grinned. “Just wait, you’ll see it soon enough. Wouldn’t be much of a surprise if I already spoiled it for you.”

“You just love teasing me.” The Russian remarked, which earned her a soft laughter from her partner.

“If you put it that way, love…” The Betazoid giggled and squeezed her girlfriend’s hand a little tighter.

After two more minutes they reached holodeck six. Shannara quickly checked the room’s booking status and confirmed that it was now in use. With another set of taps the biologist loaded the program she had prepared for their date and smiled when the computer announced it was loaded and fully initialized. “Program ready. You may enter.”

“Come in!” Shannara laughed and playfully tugged Nadya towards the large doors of the holodeck, which slid open with their characteristic hiss that has barely changed in decades.

The Augment curiously looked around as she followed her lover into the holodeck and noticed they were walking into the lounging area of a Starfleet vessel. “You’re taking me out to an older Starfleet vessel?” She asked, quirking a brow.

“Shush you.” The Betazoid replied with a smile. “It’s not any Starfleet ship. It’s… something special.” A waiter approached and quickly guided them to their seats beneath the vast windows, which offered a phenomenal view into space.

Once they were seated and had their drink orders taken, Nadya leaned forward and took both of her girlfriend’s hands in her own. “Are you telling me now?”

Shannara smiled softly and nodded. “This is the deck seven lounge of the USS Volkoff. It’s a recreation of the day they approached PSR J0737-3039 six years ago to study the first discovered double pulsar system. We were both quite busy the last two weeks and didn’t really have an opportunity to celebrate our first official three months together. I thought that this would be a nice backdrop for us to spend some time together for this early, but still special moment.”

Nadya looked out the windows and watched as the binary pair slowly came into view. It was a breathtaking vista. The two pulsars circled each other, locked into an eighty-five million-years-long dance of orbiting and inching closer towards each other. At the same time, they spun around their axis at incredible speeds, faster than any regular star or planet ever could, and showered the space around them with their radio emissions. Like astronomical lighthouses, their beams crossed the stellar horizon many many times every single minute.

The Russian woman let out a soft sigh as she watched the binary pulsars dance their eternal dance. “I like it. It’s beautiful. So majestic.” She said softly to her companion. “And I think I know why you chose this event. Yes, I too wish to spend a long time together with you, just like those pulsars are destined to circle each other for millions of years.”

Shannara squeezed back, running her fingers softly over Nadya’s hands. “I’m glad you like it. I was a little bit worried you’d find it too cliché or cheesy.”

“No, it’s perfect for us. Thinking of it, I guess I wouldn’t mind celebrating all our anniversaries here.” The Augment said, a warm smile on her lips.

The couple smiled happily, when the waiter returned with their drinks. The young Human placed the drinks in front of Shannara and Nadya, a friendly smile on his face. “So, here you are. Enjoy! Has the lovely couple already decided on something to eat? I can recommend our pickled salmon with cranberries and a mustard and dill sauce, or our chicken tajine with salt lemons, figs, and glazed carrots.”

Nadya raised an eyebrow and looked at her girlfriend. The Betazoid smiled and shook her head as she replied to the waiter. “No, not yet. We need some more time.”

“Certainly. Just wave me over when you’re ready to order. Enjoy your stay.” The hologram said and retreated quietly from the table while the couple took a short sip on their drinks.

The Russian engineer cast her gaze longingly out of the window, watching the pulsars’ slow orbit. She hadn’t paid attention when her companion talked to her and blinked a bit embarrassed. “Sorry, what did you say? I was distracted.”

Shannara smiled softly and repeated her words. “You’re still thinking about Sina and the others.” She voiced it as a statement, not a question. While she knew that Nadya’s feelings for her were true, she could also easily sense the Augment’s inner conflict. Torn between her love in the present and her lost love in the past. The pain of not yet having found a solution to a seemingly impossible problem.

Nadya sighed softly. “I… yes, but you know I really love y-”

The Betazoid waved her hands. “It wasn’t an accusation. You don’t need to justify yourself, love. I know you deeply care about me, about us. But I’m worried.”

“Worried about what?” The engineer asked, her browser furrowed.

“About you, of course.” The biologist replied, a faint and sad smile on her lips. “You spend so much time on your experiments and formulas that I’m worried about losing you. Sometimes I feel as if you’ve completely forgotten about me. Don’t get me wrong. It was your unquestioning loyalty to your friends, your unwavering devotion to finding them, and your proud stubbornness that made me fall for you. I now know that you would never give up on me…”

“But you think I’m chasing ghosts of the past.”

Now it was Shannara who sighed softly. “It’s been five and a half months since the accident. Do you really think there’s still a chance to find them? Don’t you think that at some point you have to let go?”

Nadya’s head dropped slightly. “I don’t know. Maybe? But you must understand me.” She implored her girlfriend. “I can’t let this go unless I either find them or have undeniable proof of their deaths. I could never forgive me if I failed them. The thought of them needing help and me giving up on them… it terrifies me.”

“I know. But please don’t forget about me on the way.” The redhead said, gently squeezing her lover’s hands. “You’re not alone! We’re in this together. Don’t forget that I’m with you, here in the present. And that I’ll be with you for as long as I can, if you just let me. You know that I’ll help you in any way I can, even though the quantum calculations and subspace mechanics you’re doing goes way over my head.”

The Russian giggled softly. “I can say the same thing about your cross-species genomics.” But then she quickly turned more serious. “I’m sorry I’ve neglected you, Shannara. I really am. You’ve given me so much support and love and deserve so much more than I’m giving back in return.”

“Now, don’t undersell yours-”

“Please, let me finish.” Nadya interrupted Shannara, still holding hands with her. “Over the past few months I’ve started to take you more and more for granted. I realize that now and I’m sorry for it. I’ve been so focused, so… I think you could already call it obsessed with my experiment that I turned into a terrible partner. You deserve better. And I promise to do better. From now on I will again spend more time with you and not waste it all away in front of a console.”

The Betazoid smiled happily, sensing the sincerity of her lover’s words. “Thank you, darling.” She leaned over the table and placed a gentle lingering kiss on Nadya’s lips. After a long moment she pulled away again, a smirk on her lips. “So, how about dinner?”

“Sounds good. What are you having?”

“I think I’ll go for a Feragoit goulash with some mapa bread on the side. Do you already know what you’ll get?”

The Augment thought for a second, then responded. “I want to try that pickled salmon the waiter recommended.”

Shannara eagerly waved for their host and the waiter quickly appeared to take their order. “When would you like to have your meals?”

The couple looked at each other and the Betazoid eventually replied. “In a few minutes?” The waiter nodded and returned to the simulated bar.

A couple of minutes later he returned with a trolley and the two meals, each freshly replicated and deliciously hot. “One Feragoit goulash with Mapa bread on the side for the lady in white, and one pickled salmon with cranberries and a mustard and dill sauce for the lady in green. Please enjoy your meals. If you need anything just wave for me.” He expertly and with great care placed the food on the table and then quickly retreated to leave his guests to their meals.

Nadya and Shannara happily celebrated their three-month jubilee, joking and laughing while enjoying their meals. Once they were done, for the sake of celebration they ordered Ktarian chocolate puff, a deliciously naughty sweet made from seventeen varieties of chocolate. While they were enjoying their dessert, the view from the recreational lounge shifted slightly. The pulsars were now glowing from high above, shining through the tall windows and showering the whole room with their radiance. Satisfied and stuffed, the two women sank back into their chairs, laughing at how the Enterprise’s CMO would likely disapprove of their overindulgence.

“Okay, now we need someone to roll us back to our quarters.” Shannara joked, still laughing. “Or even better, we ask for a site-to-site transport. Faster, but same result.”

Nadya giggled in response. “Maybe I have a better idea. How much time do we have left?”

The Betazoid asked the computer for the time, then replied to her companion. “About twenty minutes. Why?”

The Russian woman silently stood from her chair and walked over to one of the comfortable sofas positioned directly beneath the windows stretching across parts of the ceiling. “Why waste a perfectly good view?” She sat down, kicked off her shoes, and patted the empty space next to her. “Let’s enjoy this moment for a bit before we have to go back.”

Shannara quickly stood and walked over to her lover. She sat next to her and kicked off her shoes as well. Leaning back against her girlfriend, the Betazoid sighed happily as Nadya wrapped her arms around her and pulled her closer. The couple happily snuggled up against each other, leaning back and enjoying the sight of the powerful stars glowing above them.

“I love you, darling.” Nadya whispered gently in her companion’s ear, teasingly nuzzling the redhead’s neck.

The xenobiologist giggled softly and whispered back. “And I love you. I’m so glad we found each other.”

“So am I. I don’t know if I would have made it through the past three months without you. I felt like I was slowly going crazy, when suddenly you stumbled into my life and saved me.”

Shannara entwined her fingers with Nadya’s. “If I remember correctly, it was you who stumbled into me.” She teased.

“Yes, you do. I remember how I ran into you and almost knocked you down. I was so desperate to get back to my simulations after the end of my shift, that I didn’t pay any attention to where I was going. In hindsight, I’m really glad I did stumble into you that day.”

“Well, it would have been kind of weird if you had bumped into the Captain, wouldn’t it? You’d probably have fallen flat on your butt and he’d have been all like, ‘Lieutenant Commander, I expect you to pay attention to your surroundings!’” The Betazoid teased and gave her best possible impression of Captain K’Torr, trying to mimic his deep and gruff voice.

“Oh god, please stop. I don’t even want to think about it.” Nadya laughed in response, her body shaking from the laughter. “And I still need to be able to keep a straight face in staff meetings!” Plotting her revenge, the engineer untangled her fingers and started tickling her lover’s sides.

“No!” Shannara screamed in laughter, struggling and writhing in the Russian’s lap. “You know… how ticklish… I am…”

After a few more moments of tickling her girlfriend, Nadya relented and embraced Shannara again. She held her close, their bodies pressed closely together as they cuddled on the sofa and pressed a wet smooch against the Betazoid’s neck. “Ceasefire?”

“Ceasefire.” The redhead giggled and pressed herself closer against her girlfriend.

The couple spent their remaining time snuggling on the sofa, before a loud chirp indicated that their booking time was about to expire. With a deep sigh, Nadya and Shannara rose from their comfortable rest and slipped their shoes back on. “Computer, end program.” The biologist called out. In the blink of an eye the lounge vanished, and the holodeck’s grid reappeared in all its boring technical glory.

Happily holding hands, the unlikely couple left the holodeck, passing their already waiting colleagues with a flustered smile.