The Captain wasn’t pleased to have to leave Valhalla earlier than intended, but something in her security officer’s voice told her that this conversation wasn’t something that should be delayed.

“I am not sure what is happening.”, she admitted to herself. “But we will find out.”

When she said that she wasn’t sure, it didn’t mean she didn’t have an idea of what was going on. She just hoped she had the wrong idea.

She tapped her badge. “Doctor Selara, Lieutenant Frisco – I need you both in my ready room.”

Frisco glanced up from the center chair.  It was always something.  She handed the CONN to the next in line and headed into the ready room, her curiosity piqued.

“Understood, I’m on my way,” Selara said and tapped her badge. She addressed her patient, “Use this antibiotic cream on the burn, keep the bandage dry, and come back in a week for evaluation.” She typed on a PADD, “I’m putting you on light duty until you come back. And do come back, I hate to hunt patients down,” She smiled.

She signed out with the triage desk and told them where she was going, “Oh, and tell bed 3 to use anti-inflammatories to keep the swelling down!” She called over her shoulder.

A few minutes later, the group was assembled. Frisco, of course, knew about the away missions, but the others most likely did not. Or if they did, Intel had done a miserable job.

“We have received information regarding a highly prestigious black market event in the area, and we have sent out two undercover teams.”, Saffiya started. “One of them has gone missing.”

Selara always felt a bit silly in most mission briefings. She was more used to cleaning up after the disaster occurred. Still, she made it a point to participate. “Is there a last known position before they went dark? How many team members are we talking about? Is it possible to pull the first team, if they’re in danger?”

Frisco stood and activated the wall holo display: “Each team had three, and they were specifically picked for their skillset. As for the first team, the last we heard from them was that they were getting strong intel from their contact and had a couple of possible locations to check out.  The second team had their eyes on what looked more like a weapon at the last report.”  She scrolled to the details of the last transmission, “The problem is – what they describe here could just as easily be something else entirely.”

She turned back to answer Selara, “As for the question of danger—that’s the part of this mission we’re going to have to evaluate step by step. We pull them out of caution, risk exposing the mission, casting doubt, which leads to the concern that whatever trouble the second team is in could be made worse.  Given what we know, I say keep them in play.”  She closed the holo-display, “But I’m always content to be proven wrong with this kind of thing.”  She was a doctor and an XO, which always pulled on her emotional rank pips.

Saffiya continued, “The group with Lieutenant Morishita and Ensign Ovam still checks in regularly – as much as they can – anyway. I am more concerned about the team that has gone dark – Ensigns Stroyer, Irovin, and Shahr.” She used the latter’s first name because she couldn’t figure out how to pronounce his clan designation. “Despite their relative inexperience, Irovin and Shahr were proposed as suitable candidates by intel, and Stroyer has several undercover missions under her belt. She, at the very least, wouldn’t just forget to check in.”

Sienna scrolled back through her PADD, searching the dossiers she had studied intensely when they’d made their crew decisions. “The trouble is…the first team wasn’t built with expertise in being a spook and sneaking. We gave them a very specific mission.” Her heart started to sink, and she worried they had made the wrong decisions on who went with who and where—and now trouble was very much on the horizon, if not closer.

“That’s a very good point.”, the Captain nodded. “The expertise in question was to identify a specific item that was said to be up for sale.”

The XO sighed quietly to herself.  “Options?  Hot and heavy is my gut reaction decision…but certainly not a wise one.”

“We can either go in hot and heavy, but as you said, I don’t believe it’s wise. We are ill-prepared to bust the whole thing, and I’d rather not make enemies we aren’t entirely equipped to deal with right now. So I agree with what you’re saying.”

The ACMO answered with, “Now that we’ve discussed what we’re not going to do, what’s our next course of action?” Selara hoped the words were as lighthearted as she meant them. She wasn’t one for shows of defiance, but she did enjoy good humor.

“I would like to send the three of you on a rescue mission. Take Lieutenant Commander Ryan along; her cultural understanding will be invaluable, and so will your medical skills if they are needed.”

Sienna’s brows arched, “And me for my gentle yet commanding presence in command red, I suppose?”  She chuckled, “Always wanted to be a spy for a day.”  She turned to Selara as she stood, “This is where working on a Sovereign-class can get interesting.”

“I suppose you are best off choosing a suitable disguise.”, Saffiya mused. “I will send you specifications once I am done yelling at Intel.”

She watched both of them nod and leave, and felt… well, a little jealous perhaps. Being a Captain meant being stuck on the bridge when she much rather wanted to be part of the away team.