Captain Tuvic Annassazy leaned over the shoulder of the ensign at the helm of the shuttle and whistled softly as his ship came into view. The young ensign turned to him, her blond hair waving slightly as she turned her head, and said. "Is this your first time on a Prometheus class cruiser sir?" "As a matter of fact, yes, it is." he responded as he looked down towards the ensign. The shuttle slowly drifted towards the ship. Tuvic looked back at the ship as the name and registry came into view. "USS Independence, NCC 17395." Tuvic read aloud. The ensign keyed in the approach vector, and the shuttle dove downwards.

Tuvic stood upright, and turned back to his seat, ducking slightly so as not to hit his head on the low lying support beams. All that could be seen out the front window of the shuttle as Tuvic sat down in his chair was the opening doors of the Independence's main shuttle bay. "I've set the auto pilot to take us into the ship, you should gather your belongings and be ready to disembark as soon as the shuttle has stopped." Tuvic reached across the cramped shuttle and grabbed his case of padds, containing the ship's crew manifest, and specs. There was a loud hissing noise as the shuttle bay doors closed, and atmosphere was vented into the shuttle bay. Tuvic stood and walked towards the back of the shuttle.

He stood there for a split second before the green light above the exit turned on, indicating that it was safe to leave the shuttle. The ensign reached her hand past Tuvic and pressed the button to open the airlock. Tuvic was about to walk out of the shuttle when the ensign grabbed his arm. "Sir, you forgot this." she said as she handed him a small ebony black box. Tuvic picked up the box and then pocketed it. "Thank you ensign… I'm sorry, I seem to have forgotten your name." he said as he stepped out of the shuttle and stood up straight.

"Its Lindsey Hawke sir." she replied. "Would you like the tour sir?" Lindsey continued. "You don't need to call me sir you know, I'm not in uniform… but no, I must get to the bridge." Tuvic answered. "Yes, the tour can wait till later if you want sir." Ensign Hawke stated. Tuvic strode out of the docking bay and onto a turbolift. "Bridge." he ordered, and the turbolift bounced as it shot upwards. Tuvic stood patiently until the doors opened and he stepped out onto the bridge. He walked down the ramp and towards his ready room.

The doors to his ready room slid open as Tuvic approached them. He took two steps into the room before noticing the person sitting in his chair. "Good morning Admiral Jameson." Tuvic said as he placed his belongings on the couch at one side of the room. "Welcome to the Independence Tuvic, how have you been?" the admiral asked. "It has been an interesting couple of months, yourself?" Tuvic responded as he sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the desk from the admiral. "Fine, fine; unfortunately I'm not here for a social call." the admiral said.

"We received a message from the Beta Draconis colony in Sector 37 yesterday." Jameson continued. "What do they want this …" Tuvic asked. "The message was a distress call." the admiral interrupted. "If your sending me on a rescue mission why wait till now, unless you already did and the rescue party disappeared." Tuvic surmised. "Very astute, we sent a rescue party consisting of the Einstein, the Bozeman, the Yorktown, and the Goliath. They reported in when they reached the edge of the sector." Jameson said as he pressed a button on the computer console and turned the display to face Tuvic. The face of a forty year old male captain appeared on the screen. Tuvic recognized the face for that of William Jefferson, with whom he had served onboard the Odyssey before it was destroyed. Obviously he had been promoted within the last year, the last Tuvic had heard, Will was still a lieutenant commander.

"Captain William Jefferson commanding the Bozeman reporting as ordered. We have reached the edge of the sector and are proceeding with extreme caution. All communications from the outpost have stopped; I repeat, ALL communications from the outpost have stopped, including the emergency signal beacon. There are some anomalous readings coming from near the outermost planet, we are also getting multiple sensor contacts further in system, near the third planet. There is an abnormal amount of radiation coming from the star, but nothing that the shields can't handle, unfortunately the radiation will prevent further contact unless we leave the system. I will report in hourly. Captain William Jefferson Out."

The message ended and Jameson turned the terminal back towards himself. "But the fleet you mentioned consisted of four sovereign class vessels. If I'm to investigate their disappearances, I will need multiple ships to survive." Tuvic stated. "That is why you will take command of Gamma Fleet. The Drake, Expedition, Vengeance, Archimedes, and Nagasaki are currently waiting to rendezvous with you at starbase 874 near the edge of sector 36." the admiral responded. "Sir, does the council really expect three prometheus class cruisers, two intrepid class starships, and a galaxy class to do any better than four sovereign class vessels?" Tuvic questioned. "It certainly looks that way son. There are a number of other ships in the vicinity that can come to your aid should the need be, but they are currently engaged in other business and are not able to join the fleet." admiral Jameson answered.

"How much time do I have until I am to be at the starbase?" Tuvic asked. "The arranged time is fifteen hundred hours, that gives you four hours for your crew to arrive if we account for the hour and a half travel time at warp nine." Jameson responded. "Is there anything else I should know about this mission?" Tuvic said. "You now know just as much as we do." Jameson said. "Well I must being going now, I have a meeting with the council." he continued. "It was good to see you sir." Tuvic said as he stood and extended his hand. "It was good to see you too Tuvic." Jameson responded as he stood and shook hands with Tuvic. The admiral hit the power button on the computer terminal and the screen descended into the desk. He walked around the desk and towards the door. As the door opened and the Admiral stepped outside, he stopped and turned back to Tuvic. "You take care of yourself now son." Jameson said, and then turned and stepped outside with the door closing behind him.

Tuvic turned and walked around his desk, grabbing his briefcase from the couch as he passed it, and sat down in his seat. He placed the briefcase of pads on the desk, opened it, and retrieved the padd containing the crew manifest for the Independence. As Tuvic pressed a button the list of positions scrolled downwards. He selected Executive Officer, and checked the service record of Commander Brad Manning, an intelligent young man who rose quickly through the ranks when he took command of a ship when the captain was killed and the executive officer was incapacitated. It would be interesting to work with him. Tuvic continued to pour over the service records of his senior staff, while the rest of the crew arrived.