“They called everybody in.”  Captain Wren Walton muttered as she sat at the main table in Montana Station’s Squadron operations room.  Commander Park was at her side, scrolling through a PADD.  The orders had arrived late last night for all squadron members to report.

Park mused, eyes scrolling the morning headlines, “Something’s up, that’s for sure. Captain Ki has been holed up in her department for the last few weeks.”  She glanced up and clocked the command team of the Dragonfly, who were strolling in, followed by the Douglas.  “What little I’ve managed to put together is something to do with the Orion Syndicate.” She downed the remainder of her coffee.  “That was the best I could do in under `12 hours.”

Wren smiled her thanks.  They had spent much of November working with the fresh senior staff aboard the Perseverance.  Some progress had been made, and there was still more ground to cover. She gave the respective head nod to Captain Helena Dread and her XO from the Douglas while affording Captain Alexandra Pantuso and the XO from the Dragonfly similarly.  She leaned to Park, “Pantuso doesn’t look happy.”

The XO whispered back, “Apparently, she met with Captain Ki last week…and hasn’t heard anything.”  With a slight shrug, she answered the question in her CO’s eyes, “Charlie’s not sure what’s going on between them, but it’s been unusually tense.”

Wren gave her an amused look, “Charlie, eh?”  

Park’s face flashed red, “I don’t know what it is yet.  We’re…feeling it out.”  A quiet smile crossed her lips, and her CO chuckled.

“Well, better luck to you than me.”  She turned her attention back to the large room as Montana Station senior staff filled the remaining seats at the table. At the same time, a smattering group of junior officers and yeoman took the chairs outside of the circle.  The center podium remained empty while Fleet Captain Geronimo Fontana sat to the right of it, waiting.  The door to the room opened for the last time, and the imposing figure of Captain Samara Ki stalked to the speaker’s station, tapping at the console on the podium.  The doors audibly locked, and the secure shields over the expansive windows rumbled shut.

She warned, “The following mission briefing is classified.”  She tapped the console and the PADDs sitting before each of them blinked on, data scrolling, “We have been aware of a significant and concerning operation involving classified, secured, and powerful technologies from various facilities and groups.  Fourth Fleet has been tasked with investigating, searching, and recovering these items.”  She went over the general information that had been curated from the heights of Fourth Fleet Command.  Ki then tapped at the console, “This brings us to our moment as Montana Station Squadron.”  An image of a faceless Orion operative filled the display in the middle of the table, “The Syndicate has been pushing expansion into the Federation rimward.  We’ve become aware of an Orion leader who is taking the lead.  He’s not limiting himself to the rimward – recent intelligence suggests he’s been working passively to build a support infrastructure for a black market for some time now.”  She gestured to the PADDs, “The thefts have been reported from multiple Starfleet facilities from Frontier Day to the present. This network recently became active.  We must identify this mystery Orion, his group, network, and anything else. The game is to walk softly and carefully.  This is not a game of shock and awe.  The prey you’re stalking knows when it’s being watched – even from a distance.  We need information and leads, and we need to know when, where, and how.” 

She looked at the various faces at the table as she finished, “We’re not looking to bloody noses or bruise our fists – focus on the light touch.  You have your briefings for your particular starships and departments.”  She gave them all a curt nod, “This meeting is concluded.”  She turned and walked out, the doors rumbling shut behind her.  The gathered officers broke and began to filter out.

Park scanned the briefing for the Perseverance. “This sounds a lot like cloak-and-dagger stuff, Wren.”  She wondered how the crew would react to playing more of an undercover role.  They were still learning about each other.  Another thought entered her mind – what if this was part of the solution?

Wren was reading the details, “We can’t just waltz in with the Percy.  They’ll scatter and run. Look at section two – Daystrom was one of the facilities they hit…and there are several pages worth of places that were impacted. Captain Ki undersold how serious this is – this is bad beyond belief.”

Park glanced up, finding the room thinning.  Charlie was in a corner with his CO, working through their assignment.  They’d had dinner once on Montana Station out of morbid curiosity.  It hadn’t gone terribly, surprising both of them.  Now, she wasn’t sure what the next step was.  Park pivoted her attention back to the present, “Of everyone in the squadron, we’re the smallest.  More likely to have success sneaking around.”

Walton pushed the chair out and stood, “Then let’s get back to the Percy…we’ve got a crew to brief.”

“You clearly never watched the old Earth spy movies.”  Captain Alexandra Pantuso stood in the corner of the Squadron Briefing room with her XO, Charlie Hargraves.  “It’s long been called ‘the game of spycraft,’ and we’re mostly there to provide cover.”

He was still reading the details of the briefing on the PADD, “We are being sent there to help, captain.”

Alexandra slyly chided him, “You and I are there to help, commander.  We’re also there to see what we can see and hear.”

Charlie didn’t feel sold on the idea.  There was plenty that could still go wrong.  Very wrong.  “There’s a good chance we’ll get made – and then it will be an unpleasant experience.”

His CO chuckled, “That is why I’ve been trying to get Captain Ki to see me.  I’ve requested an intelligence team to be assigned to the Dragonfly.”  Her smile faded as she grumbled, “As you know, I haven’t received anything from her.  Which is why I’d like you to tell me I’m crazy for this idea.”  She handed him her own PADD.

He scrolled through, feeling the shock and awe at her plan spreading as he continued to read, “You want to bring in Hasara and his team?  I know you’re not a fan of Captain Ki, but this…this will upset her.”

Alexandra took the PADD back, “Then it’s a good thing we’re equally ranked.  We’re going behind enemy lines.  I’d rather have someone good at spycraft.  Feeling our way blind isn’t something I’m willing to do this late in my career.”  Her eyes twinkled with amusement, “Besides, Hasara needs to establish himself in the grayer areas of the Rimward.  This gives him that chance.  We need him and his team at their best.”