The soft swish of the doors of the stellar cartography lab cut through the silence of the room, Alex Turing his head to see who was walking in.

“Excellent timing Captain.”

Captain Clara Myers walked across the ‘catwalk’ to the small, round, area that was in the middle of the room, a single console filling the space. Around them, in a near floor to celling 360 degree view, was an overview of space along the trailing rimward portion of their territory, not far from the Tholian border. A cluster of small systems near the Kressari system had rings around them, pulsating a light yellow color.

“I take it you were able to dig up something useful in the data?”

“I’d say so.” He turned back to the console. “I’m still not sure how you were able to get the Cardassian to give us access to their sensor data, much less the data about the actual sensor net.”

Clara paused, the unpleasant memory of her outright extortion of the Gul bubbling up in her head. “I’d tell you Commander but unfortunately that is classified.” It was a lie but it was a good enough to keep any of her direct subordinates from asking questions.

“Well, I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.” With a few taps on the console, the area of space with the pulsating rings was moved front and center, zooming in. “The sensor data registers that the aperture that opened near these three system before Underspace collapsed had a Federation duranium signature exit it. The data isn’t detailed enough for me to actually narrow down which system they ended up going to but as soon as we get close enough Galaxy’s sensors will be able to pick up any Federation technology in seconds.”

“Excellent work Commander. How certain on you they ended up on this side of the Empire and not near the Badlands or Rolor Nebula? Lots of Federation ships were caught up in Underspace when it collapsed”

Alex shrugged. “The computer say there is a 68% change they emerged from that aperture. I don’t see much of a reason to disagree with it.”

She gave him a pat on the back. “That should be enough for Starfleet as well. Gather up the senior staff for a meeting on 30 minutes.”

“How in the world are we going to get the Cardassian’s to allow us to cut through their space?” He turned to see her walking towards the exit. “We’re the last people they want to see right now.”

She paused and turned her head a face him, a smile on her face. “You leave that to me Mr. Conklin, that’s why they gave me this fourth pip.” With that she turned back around and left the room.

Alex slumped down in the chair a bit. He could see right though the smile she gave him. She wasn’t particularly good at bravado or lying and he’d worked with her for far too many years to be fooled when she brought it out. He sighed, rubbing his face, before pulling the isolinear chip out of the console, sending the screen in the room back to the generic Starfleet logo next to the Galaxy‘s ship patch.

Whatever was about to happen wasn’t going to be pleasant, that much was clear, but the idea of abandoning Geden and the others made his stomach churn.

-Conference Room, Deck 1-

The senior staff had slowly trickled into the conference room over the last 20 minutes. Aside from Broheth and Conklin, most of them didn’t have much to do compared to their normal duty load. There were a boatload of personnel changes across all departments as Starfleet Command finalized the Galaxys crew compliment. T’Keu had been assembling her list of recommendations for the ships small Hazard Team, Ereth had been overseeing the arrival of the new type 12 and type 14 shuttlecraft, Carter has been trying to settle in and get a handle on just how many people would be required to have weekly counseling sessions due to Frontier Day, and Brex had been overseeing the loading of all the new supplies Starfleet was stuffing onto the ship. They hadn’t received new orders for an extended exploration mission but it seemed Starfleet Command was preparing them for one.

Conklin and Broheth had the most on their plates; Conklin stepping into the XO role with Demar absent and Broheth overseeing the repairs from their Underspace journey along with compiling all the performance reports to send over to the SF Fleet Yards now that Galaxy had been put though her paces after the refit.

“Thank you all for being here.” Myers began. “As everyone is aware, we are missing a few faces around this table. I had tasked Mr. Conklin with leading the effort to find out where they may have ended up and I’m pleased to say, we’ve got a lead.”

Alex held up his hands, trying to deflect any praise before it came his way. “I just followed the data and without the data from the Cardassian’s, I never would have  narrowed it down.”

T’Keu turned towards the Captain, eyebrow arched. “The Cardassians were willing to part with their sensor data?”

Clara offered the women a smile she hoped at least appeared genuine. “I called in a few favors with some contacts I still have in the Cardassian Science Division. Things are strained between our two governments but there are still a few people in the Union that don’t hate it. Any details, beyond that, are classified.” It was a lie. She hated this. There was no other way to do it. If command wanted to come down on anyone after this was all said and done, it would be her and her alone.

T’Keu nodded, leaning back in her chair. Clara let out an almost silent sigh of relief before she continued.

“Commander Conklin was able to narrow it down to three systems.” With the tap of a button, the holo system in the table projected the sector of space.

Conklin tapped a few controls located in front of him, the image zooming in slightly. “Systems KM-223, LK-224, and HG-2345. They all contain Class L, M and P worlds and the closest aperture to all three systems had a Federation signature exit it. The warp signature is long gone by now, but Galaxy has some of the most powerful sensors in the fleet. I’ll be able to pick up Federation technology when we get close enough.”

Brex raised a finger. “At just over two weeks, their emergency supplies are likely depleted or close to it. There is no easy to get to those systems; do we have permission from the Cardassian government to use their space?”

Clara pursed her lips. Here came the next part she didn’t like doing. “Technically, no. Starfleet wants us to take the long way around. Through the Badlands, Rolor Nebula, and around the backside of the Union.”

“That’ll take a month, if not longer.” Ereth offered. “It’s a very complicated route.”

Clara nodded. “Yes, which is why we won’t be taking that route. We have a shortcut.”

“I take it Starfleet does not like the shortcut?” Broheth chimed in.

“Not technically.” It was a diplomatic half truth but at this point she had waded so deep into this pool, she was never getting out. “The sensor data also contains information on how to avoid the detection by the Cardassian border nets. Starfleet does not feel it’s worth risking angering the Union. I disagree.” Lies. More lies. In for a penny, in for a pound. “Relations with the Talarians are good enough that they will allow us passage though their space, with an escort, and then we’ll hug the Cardassian border at emergency warp speeds to avoid angering the Tholians. We have about three and a half more days before the sensor codes change and we loose our window.”

Ereth had been tapping away on a PADD, running calculations. “Once we exit Talarian space, we’ll reach the rescue sector in just over 9 hours at emergency warp. It’d be the same time back, which would put us over the rated 12 hours. Not to mention we’re threading a needle in terms of staying in neutral space.”

“There is no such things as neutral space along the Tholian border.” T’Keu looked at Myers.”It’s a logical to assume that they will at least dispatch ships to monitor a vessel as powerful as ours near their borders.”

Broheth sighed. “I can give you emergency warp, or close to it, for the eighteen hours but it’s going to cause damage. With the overhaul the warp system got during the refit our speed didn’t increase but we won’t sustain as much damage at high warp as we would have before. Twelve hours is the sweet spot, but, I can nudge it. Once we’re in safer waters we’ll have to limp home at low warp.”

Clara nodded. “It’s tight and I’ll be honest, Starfleet didn’t say no to us doing this, but it’s not our official orders.” Lies. More lies stacked atop the rest. “If anyone is uncomfortable with bending the rules please come to my ready room later and we’ll make other arrangements.”

She tapped a button and the holo display vanished. “We’ll be leaving 72 in about six hours. Mr. Broheth, I need those engines in top shape and the wrap field modified to help us avoid detection by the sensor net.”

The Bolian nodded, already working though the precess. “Can do. We have a few cadets on their senior cruise and one of them is damn impressive with warp field theory; I’ll have him get to work on it with our engineers.”

“Excellent. Everyone else, standard departure procedures. If anyone non-essential isn’t ready to go then they can stay back on 72 and we’ll pick them up on the way back. Dismissed.”

The senior staff began to filter out of the room, except for Alex, who remained in his seat.

“So, Starfleet is just going to let us do this? Technically disobey orders with no consequence?” Alex crossed his arms, leaning back in the seat. “I’ve known you too long Clara. You’re a horrible liar.”

Clara closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh. “We aren’t disobeying orders, just modifying them to fit the situation. Captains do it all the time.” Yet another half truth. There were more of those than she could count at this point.

Alex shot her a withering look. “Only Captain’s of ships named Enterprise get to modify orders to fit the situation.” He pinched his nose, sighing. “I’m not stupid Clara and none of the people there were in this room are. The dots aren’t adding up, there is something deeper going on here. This isn’t like you.”

She kept her gaze forward, fixating on the reddish brown door at the other end of the room. “I left them there, Alex. All those people on N-221 III, alone in the Gamma Quadrant, being used in the most vile way possible by the Gorn. I ordered those Runabouts to break off and exit Underspace. I left them there. Hell, I might have killed them. I lost an officer on Beol II because some damn Changelings slipped through our security. I’ll do what’s necessary to try and fix what I can. I can’t save those people on N-221 III, I can’t bring that officer back from the dead. I can bring our people home. Whatever it takes.”

Alex learned forward, concern clouding his features. “You made the hard choices, just like every Captain has done before, just like you’ve done before. We all know the risks of this career. You can’t blame yourself for doing your job and make some difficult decisions.”

She turned her gaze to Alex. “The attack on Mars. The Lost Dominion fleet. The Borg. The Labyrinth Crisis. The Orion syndicate. How many more difficult decision do I have to make? In the decade after the war, I lost six offices. In the last year I’ve lost double that. So much darkness, so much anger. We used to be explorers, now all I do is try and keep the damage to a minimum. How many more times do I have to make that choice?”

He didn’t have an answer for that. There was no way he could. It’s the reason why he avoided command roles like the plague. “I can’t answer that Clara. I can tell you that we all want Commander Demar at the others back but not at the risk to your career or our own. Put us to work, give us a little more time, and we can figure something out.”

“Time is a luxury we don’t have. I’ve taken steps to isolate any fall out. If they come for anyone, they’ll come for me. I’ve already gone too far, almost broken the oath I swore to uphold, if not already shattered it into a million pieces. This damn galaxy has taken so much already; I’m going to fix the one thing I can.”

He knew there wasn’t much more to say. The feeling in the pit of his stomach grew, swirling like a hurricane ready to lash out at land.

Clara watched as the man stood and walked out of the room silently. She remained for a few more minutes before standing, glancing out the long row of windows, shuttlecraft and runabouts flitting around.

No more death.

No more ‘difficult choices’.

No one left behind, never again.

This was the end of the road and she knew it. Whatever happened after this was on her shoulders and hers alone. She didn’t particularly care, not anymore. Thirty years of service and duty tossed out of the window by a galaxy that didn’t care about such things anymore.

Soft footsteps echoed off the walls as she exited the room.