Captain Órlaith Murphy sat in Captain Aoife McKenzie’s ready room, sipping tea as the two officers debriefed the events at Arkan II. “Mr. Choi thinks he can get the main deflector operational by the end of the day.”

Aoife looked up from her coffee, setting it down. She looked across the desk at her fellow Captain. “I thought it was damaged beyond repair?”

“Me too,” Órlaith said with a shrug. “But you know Starfleet Engineers… they always make it sound worse than it really is so they can look like miracle workers.”

“We do not!” Aoife exclaimed.

Órlaith laughed, “You can’t lie to me, Aoife. You forget Ming made me work as a crew chief when I first got on the Denver.”

Aoife scowled, “Some will exaggerate a bit. I did not.” The buzzing of the com interrupted the playful banter. Aoife pressed the answer button.

An older man with dark hair, a goatee, and a killer grin appeared on the view screen, “Captain McKenzie. I’m Captain Keith Anderson, your new Task Force XO for 86. How are you doing?” 

“Alive,” Órlaith remarked dryly. 

Aoife gave the othe woman a scowl, “Sorry sir.  We are fine.  The squadron has sustained quite some damage, but repairs are underway.”

Keith chuckled a bit at that, “Hey, that’s a completely fair response,” He said. “I wasn’t out there, but I read the after action reports and it was… certainly something,” He said, knowing exactly what the Val and Andromeda had been up against. “The Valhalla and the Andromeda performed admirably in absolutely unfair conditions. You all should be proud of yourselves and your crew,” He told them, earnestly. 

“I’m thankful that apparently we know the right people,” Aoife said, “Or we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Keith nodded, “Absolutely. How are your crews doing? That was… nothing short of terrifying, I’m sure.” Keith admitted. 

“We…” Aoife started, “are leaning on our senior chiefs who have gone through this before.  Chief Gibson has been the rock our engineers have needed.”

“Good. If you need anything else, please don’t hesitate to ask,” Keith said with a nod. “Unfortunately, I didn’t just call for introductions. You’ve also got new orders. With the recent activity, there’s a lot of concern that there may be uh… a Breen incursion into Federation space and Starfleet Command has asked us to tighten up our border patrols,” He explained. 

“Your Squadron will be moving to patrol near Galadkail. You’ll receive orders with exact locations and patrol zones shortly,” Keith explained. “I’m going to let Starfleet Command know that you’re still undergoing repairs so that they know there will be some delay in you getting there,” He said, his face softening a bit, “Take some time to rest and regroup and get your feet under you again,” He said. 

Aoife nodded, “We’ll head that way.  Repairs can continue en route.”

Órlaith nodded in agreement,  “Andromeda will be as repaired as much as we are capable of by the end of the day, and if we are sitting or traveling at warp it won’t effect that.”

“Okay,” Keith said with a nod. “Then I’ll let them know you’re en route. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Captains, and I’m looking forward to speaking more in the future. Please let me know if you need anything, okay?” 

“Likewise Captain,” Aoife replied. 

“Thanks, Captains. Be safe out there,” Keith said with a smile and a nod. 

“Will do Captain. Valhalla out.”

Aoife sat back in her chair with a heavy sigh. “Well, this day has gotten a lot more interesting.”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Órlaith said dryly. 

“That makes two of us. Let’s just hope out luck continues.”

Story Continues on USS Mariner: “The Highway to Hell” (Part One),  (Part Two) , (Part Three)