Nora watched as the officer behind the transporter console was replaced with a blank view screen, as they were transported from the transporter room on board the Tokyo to the bridge of the civilian freighter. The bridge was in shambles. From the looks of it, a few console displays blew due to an overload. Then the pipes in the ceiling had burst but no smoke or any other aerosol that would be emitted from the pipes.

“Ensign, start scanning the bodies,” Stan ordered as he looked around. “Ensign Voss, and Toq. Need you two to search records. See if the main computer is still intact, look for sensor logs, cargo manifest and any other data that would indicate what happened, including personal logs from the crew. Ensign Whitaker, see if you can locate the black box. That should also have audio recording of their final moments.”

Everyone responded accordingly, and Nora knelt down at the first body she saw. She pulled out her medical tricorder and detached the hand scanner so she could get a detailed scan of the body. Once she obtained the necessary data of how they died, she moved to the next and then the next, until she finished her scan of all five bodies on the bridge.

She approached Commander Stan as she inserted the hand scanner back into her tricorder, before she placed it into its holder on her belt. “Sir. All five bridge crew show that they all died to particle weapons. If they were indeed pirates, then the odds of them using a stun setting was mute.” Way to be obvious, Nora, she thought as she cleared her throat when Stan looked directly at her. “Three bodies had disruptor burns, and the other two were phaser.”

Stan let out a heavy sigh, as she could only assume what was going on in his head when she mentioned phaser. She heard at the academy that some Starfleet weapons have been found being sold on the black market, although older models that they were. Nonetheless, it never felt good to hear that their own tech was being used in piracy. Not that it could be stopped, however, as pirates always find a way to get their hands on these things, whether it be from the black market or stolen by other means.

“Catalog their deaths, Ensign and mark them for transport. We’ll want to put their bodies into stasis until we can take care of them properly.” Said Stan, and Nora gave him a light nod of her head before she went on with her work. Then she overheard Toq and Voss.

“Commander,” the Klingon, Toq, spoke first. “The main computer has suffered damage but we were able to recover the most recent records.”

After Nora knelt down beside one of the bodies to place a transporter tag on it, she looked up to see their Trill officer, Voss, give her report. “The crew encountered this phenomenon essentially in the same amount of time we did, when they left Starbase Four-Fifteen. They tried various ways to activate their warp drive, whether it be the speed of warp one or two but their engineer had an idea of warp jumps. They basically forced the drive to establish a warp field around the ship at maximum warp, only to have it collapse two seconds after the engines engaged.”

Stan crossed his arms over his chest with the look of curiosity and intrigue across his face. “And how many of these jumps were they able to make?”

“Six. Enough to get them this far. But after the fourth jump, they encountered three pirate vessels. They tried to lose them by altering their course and performed two more jumps.” Voss reported.

Stan frowned, “How did the pirates catch up to them?”

“Their engines failed. Performing too many jumps on these old engines at maximum velocity, especially forcing the engines to create that warp field in a phenomenon that disrupts normal subspace; basically their warp coils fused.” Voss explained.

Tok then spoke up, “As soon as they lost their warp capability, it was only a matter of time before the pirate were able to catch up to them. Their sensors indicated that the pirates figured out how to travel at warp three in this phenomenon.”

Stan rubbed the bridge of his nose and then looked at the two of them. “See how much of that data is transferable and get it back to the Tokyo. Hopefully something in there will help our Chief Engineer get the ship moving faster than what we were doing before. As for the pirates, I can only conclude that they succeeded. Unfortunately.”

“That they did,” Elena Whitaker chipped in. “Black box, sir.” She hooked it up to a working console and played the last audio log, the voice of the freighter captain, who tells them that their ship was disabled by the pirates and that they were being boarded. Then before the captain and his crew were shot, they heard a voice from one of the crew stating that their cargo was being beamed off the ship. Then the sounds of disruptor and phaser fire was heard before the audio recording ended.

“As soon as we are done here, we are returning to the ship.” Stan ordered, sound of frustration in his voice, voice of someone who wished they had been able to do something to prevent the loss of life, only to know that there was literally nothing they could of done. Yet, listening to the lives being taken by low-life scum of the universe, Stan wanted nothing more than to get back at these pirates.

“And that was it,” Stan reported as he stared at his hands, clasped together as they rested on top of the briefing room table, at the very spot he normally sits when briefings were conducted.

Bruce took in a deep breath and slowly but audibly exhaled as he contemplated on the next choice of words. “Crew?” He looked to Casey.

“They have been placed in stasis, in our morgue. I can clean them up, so that they look presentable when returned to their families.”

Bruce nodded his head in agreement. “That would be perfect, doctor.” He then looked to Lieutenant Calhoun and Harper. “Status on the warp engines.”

Cal cleared his throat, “The Chief was able to figure out how the pirates were able to achieve warp three while inside this phenomenon. She is working on fine tuning the engines, and making adjustments right now, as we speak, sir.” Was the main reason why Cal was there, in the chief’s place, as she apparently knew more about the engines of a New Orleans-class than anyone on board the Tokyo.

Harper licked her lips as she realized she was next. “Unfortunately, even with warp three, it is going to take us over a week to get back to Starbase Four-Fifteen.”

“We should look for these pirates. They can’t be far. Those supplies from the freighter are important to the colony and we must get them back.” Said Stan, who had looked up from his hands and looked directly into Bruce’s eyes. But Bruce was not going to oblige to Stan’s request, as Bruce could see that the man’s words were fueled by anger.

“There are literally a dozen planets around us that they could be based at. Or they figured out how to navigate this phenomenon. In either case, they have the advantage and we do not. The answer is no. We are returning to Starbase Four-Fifteen.” Bruce could see the look of protest in Stan’s eyes but he silenced him before the man had a chance to speak as Bruce looked to Harper. “Get us on course back to the station, best possible speed. Everyone is dismissed.”

As everyone rose up from their seats, Bruce looked to Stan. “Hold on a minute, Commander.” As soon as everyone was gone, Bruce stood up and looked into Stan’s eyes. “First you wanted us to return to Starbase Four-Fifteen to report to Captain Hunt about this phenomenon as soon as we were caught in it. But now, you want to go on a blind hunt for these pirates?”

Stan was staring blankly past the briefing room table, as he was rummaging around in his head to find the appropriate answer to Bruce’s question but all that came up was the truth. “I am just tired of innocent people being taken advantage of, especially when thrown into something unheard of or beyond our ability to control.” Stand said as he looked up from the table and into Bruce’s eyes.

Bruce exhaled heavily through the nose as a paragraph from Stan’s file returned to his mind, one that explained what happened to Stan’s parents. They were crew on a freighter that was jumped by pirates. No one survived. All of which happened when Stan was in the Academy. Bruce looked hard into Stan’s eyes and hoped he can get the message across. “Some day, we will deal with the pirates, the way Starfleet intends us to deal with them. But for right now, we have priorities. Report back to Captain Hunt, and to get those bodies to their families for proper burial. The least we can do for them. Right, Mr. Palmer?”

Stan licked his lips and flexed his jaw before he nodded his head. The look of realization of what he had said and how it conflicted with his morals as a Starfleet Officer began to weigh heavily. “Of course, sir.”

“Trust me, Stan. We will find them. Just won’t be today,” Bruce told him as he reached out and squeezed the man’s arm to show that Bruce understood. “If you need it, take the rest of the day.”

Stan shook his head. “That won’t be necessary. I will be on the bridge, sir.” Stan took a step back before he turned around and headed straight for the door.

Bruce let out one last sigh before he headed for the other door, just to find Casey on the other side of the door, her back against the wall as she watched him come out of the briefing room. Bruce looked directly into her eyes, as he looked mentally and emotionally exhausted.

“And you wonder why I drink.”