— Opaka Station —

They found the two Vulcans examining a window display of Bajoran food outside a restaurant on the promenade of the station. Jura Ibile gave her friend Sol and affectionate nudge and the nodded, looking from her to what Ibile assumed was plastic food.

“Have you guys made out yet?” Jura Ibile asked, grinning. She obviously knew the answer, and not just because she was a Betazoid, but because it had only been about an hour since the two Vulcans had gone off by themselves and Vulcans did not mate nearly as fast as tribbles, or literally any other species.

“We are not about to make out,” Sol said.

“We have only recently made acquaintance ship and even if we were quite familiar with each other a public display of physical affection is illogical,” the Vulcan commander known as Sok said. He glanced at Sol as if to point out that the non-Vulcans were being highly illogical.

They were discussing the relative merits of going to the Bajoran restaurant with the plastic food on display when the two officers got called via their commbadges directing them to Opaka Station’s conference room, or at least one of them. Ibile was disappointed that their entertainment was being called away, but there was little the two cadets could do.

Sok and Lieutenant Commander Edward Krisham entered the conference room. Krisham was still talking about the cadets that they’d had to leave. He grinned at the Vulcan, “I could tell you were into her.”

“Her logic was a pleasant change from the usual company I keep,” Sok said.

“You called her pleasant, you want to marry her,” Krisham said triumphantly, eager that he’d managed to orchestrate a meeting. 

“It was in contrast to my present company,” Sok said drly.

Krisham was never sure whether the Vulcan was trying to be insultingly funny, or just came off that way. He turned his attention to the officers already in the meeting room, a tall broad Andorian commander and a small woman with olive skin. He smiled at the woman, a captain, deciding that this was going to b e interesting.

“Why are we here?” Krisham asked.

The woman looked at him, “I’m not entirely sure who you are, so I don’t know.”

A stern voice said, “I called them here. They are the current senior staff of the USS Adelaide, an Intrepid-class ship that’s also at Opaka Station.”

Krisham and Sok turned to see an older Vulcan in a communications hologram. He flickered, and was clearly seated behind a desk. The other two seemed to know him, and nodded.

“Do you know him?” Krisham whispered to Sok.

“Not all Vulcans know each other,” Sok said, a bit too loud for Krisham’s taste.

“What is it you require of us sir?” Sok asked.

“Introductions first. This is Commander Sok First Officer and Chief Science Officer of the USS Adelaide. Lieutenant Commander Krisham is the ship’s counsellor. This is Captain Olivia Carrillo of the USS Andromeda, and her First Officer Commander Kan Th’kaotross,” the older Vulcan said, “I am Captain Radak head of Andromeda Division currently at Starbase 86.”

Radak closed his eyes and for a moment looked like he was falling asleep, but to those that knew him they knew he was just marshalling his strength for the communication, as he was in the late stages of Tuvan Syndrome. Treatment had done nothing, and had been an outside chance anyway.

Opening his eyes he continued, “The USS Andromeda is on a show the flag exercise  in the Gamma Quadrant. The Adelaide was returning home after its captain retired and crew rotation took most of its crew. With the Vulcan still under repairs the Adelaide will serve as the Andromeda’s forward scout. It will do a fuller surgery of areas, and bring the data back to the Andromeda for analysis. It will find new races to contact, and the Andromeda will handle first contact.”

“The Adelaide does not have a captain,” Sok pointed out.

“The mission will be commanded by Captain Carrillo. You have a senior diplomatic team on the Andromeda to advice and consent. The Adelaide has a perfectly capable commanding officer,” Radak said, “Commander Sok, you will command the Adelaide. I am having personal transferred onboard from the Falcon, they are in transit and will arrive this week. Andromeda Division’s first officer Lieutenant Commander Vanessa Hume will be the Adelaide’s new First Officer. Lieutenant Commander Krisham you’re the Second Officer and now Chief Science Officer.  I was not able to recrew the full science staff in time, so the ship’s will share a science department. Depending on mission parameters, crew will move between ships. Similarly cadets from the Andromeda will help crew the Adelaide. I leave the specifics to Captain Carrillo, she will inform the Starfleet Academy staff onboard the Andromeda.”

With that the call ended, and the Vulcan vanished. The Captain, named Carrillo obviously, stood and nodded, “Alright let’s get started. Commander Sok if you could transfer me the manifest of the Adelaide and I’ll see what’s being sent and see how close we can get you to leaving.”

She stood from the seat that she was sitting in behind the table and nodded at the Andorian commander, whose name Krisham had already forgotten and said, “Alright people we’ve got work to do.”

— USS Adelaide, Bridge —

Commander Sok had sat in the center chair before. He’d been the first officer on the Adelaide for two years, but it has always been as a backup to his previous captain. After the Vaadwaur invasion she, along with most of the rest of the ship’s senior crew, had retired. They were a science ship, and being thrown into defending the Federation was not something much of the crew had wanted to do. A cushy job at the Daystrom Institute on Earth had sounded preferable to most of the crew than venturing out into the unknown.

Now most of his crew had gone from the USS Falcon, and the USS Andromeda. In his heading Sok saw that both ships had had it almost as bad as the Adelaide, but neither had a similar mass exodus of staff. He glanced at the man who was now his Chief Flight Control Officer and said, “Lieutenant Winfield, as we ready to make way?”

The younger human nodded at the flight control console, “Yes sir.”

“Make us under way, full warp factor seven as soon as we’re clear of the station,” Sok said.

The area around Opaka Station had already been rather comprehensively explored. They’d start looking more closely at things about three days out. For now it was just a case of putting distance between them and the USS Andromeda which would be underway in a day or so. The Andromeda was meant to be seen doing what it was doing, going around and doing diplomacy and establishing relationships with Gamma Quadrant races. The Adeline was meant for finding things, and that’s just what they’d do.

As the ship leapt to warp Sok nodded, “Actually lieutenant, make it warp nine point seven.”

Though the Vulcan would never admit it to the crew, he was anxious to get started.