2.

A faint beeping forced Talloc to open his eyes, the captain had not even been aware that he had fallen asleep, much less that he was still in his ready room. Talloc shook his head at the situation, he knew that if Doctor Sarratt found out, she would use it to force him to take the vacation he kept postponing. Rubbing his face, the captain realised that it was the intercom that was chiming. "Hagen," he called before approaching the fresher unit attached to his ready room and splashed cool water on his face.

"Captain, we are approaching Deep Space Five," reported the senior bridge officer as Talloc patted his face dry with a nearby towel.

"Understood, I'm on my way, Hagen out." Tossing the handtowel in the replicator, Talloc paused long enough to straighten his uniform before crossing his ready room and stepping out onto the bridge. Taking his command chair from the duty officer he took a breath. "On screen."

The holographic viewscreen shimmered to life, displaying the slowly rotating structure that was Deep Space Five, one of Starfleet's older Regula type Starbases.
"Welcome to the frontier," Talloc murmured before adjusting his uniform tunic, "Open hailing frequencies with the station."

The image on the viewscreen changed from an exterior of the station to the serious expression of the stations commanding officer. "Captain Hagen, the Olympia made excellent time from the DMZ to the frontier."
Talloc nodded slightly, "Thank you Admiral Glover, while our orders were not detailed, the interpretation we made inferred haste."
Admiral Samson Glover scowled at the comment, "Make arrangements to beam aboard the station to receive your orders. Deep Space Five out."
As the screen reverted back to the vista that was the slowly rotating starbase, Talloc turned to the duty officer, "Summon the senior staff to the bridge, you have the conn until Lieutenant Kala arrives." He tapped his combadge once as he crossed the bridge for the turbolift. "Commander Jackson meet me in transporter room three, Hagen out."

The pair materialised on Deep Space Five's transporter pad moments later, standing next to the controls was a woman wearing a command skivvy. "Captain Hagen, I am Commander Jasmine Mendes, Sector Operations Officer, Admiral Glover has instructed me to escort you and your executive officer to the ward room immediately."
Talloc nodded, "Lead the way Commander."
Jasmine smiled before taking a step towards the door, "If you will follow me."

"Commander Mendes, do you have any idea why we were sent here? The orders we received were somewhat light." Talloc asked as the three officers made their way through the station.
The Commander shook her head as they entered a turbolift, "While I am aware of the particulars of your orders, I am not at liberty of disclosing them; only Admiral Glover can disclose that information."
Talloc nodded, while he could have easily probed the mind of the officer standing to his right to find out what he wanted to know, he didn't really need to, he could pick up the concern wafting off her like a cloud.
"Commander, has there been any other Federation ships come through these parts lately?" Hope asked as the trio made their quick ascent in the turbolift.
"We had the USS Magellan come through about a week ago on a survey mission, nothing since then." Jasmine replied curtly as the turbolift slowed to a stop, by her tone it was obvious that she wanted to end the conversation.

Talloc shared a covert glance with his executive officer, it was obvious that he was going to get nothing more from Commander Mendez, and that only managed to confirm his suspicions that something bad was about to happen. Hope noticed her captain's expression and nodded before taking a step closer to him.

The trio made the remaining distance in silence before Commander Mendez paused before a pair of double doors. Turning to face the command crew of the Olympia, Jasmine smiled as pleasantly as she could muster. "The wardroom is behind these doors, now if you excuse me I must return to my duties."

Talloc nodded as the commander squeezed her way between the two and proceeded back the direction they came. Raising an eyebrow, Talloc pressed the door controls.
"Is it just me, or was she in way too much of a hurry to get out of here," Hope commented as the doors slowly parted.
"It's something I've noticed since we have come aboard. There is an undercurrent of anxiety running the length of this station, and I suspect that that ship out there is the reason," Talloc replied before the two entered the wardroom.
"Captain Hagen, Commander Jackson, welcome to Deep Space Five," remarked the mountain that was Admiral Samson Glover who stood with his back to a large master system display screen.
The two officers came to attention but the formality was quickly waved aside.
"Thank you for the invite sir. I was hoping you could reveal the reason behind our summons? Our orders were not particularly detailed." Talloc replied before taking a seat at the table at the Admiral's gesture.

The admiral approached the situational display screen and activated it, "As you know, Starfleet's mandate following the war with the Dominion was to return to an explorative focus and with the exception of the cooling recent tensions with the Romulans, we have been able to do just that."
Talloc nodded, while Starfleet had indeed attempted to shift its focus back to one of exploration, he had noticed that the Olympia's post-war assignments had been mostly of a military focus.
"Unfortunately we have not been without incident. The Exploration Branch had been attempting to survey the unclaimed expanses beyond our core-ward border, essentially since the end of the war. The belief was that with the Romulans returning inward once more that we would be able to do so without being shadowed by a dozen warbirds."
"I take it, Admiral, that that hasn't been the case?" Talloc asked leaning forward slightly.
Glover nodded, "To be frank captain, we don't know what the case is, Exploration Branch has lost five ships since the end of the war, three of them since the Romulans closed their border. The closeness of the past three disappearances may relate to a previously unseen power operating in the unknown regions."
Talloc nodded, "Hence why we've been sent?"
"If I had my way I would send the Enterprise, but the Olympia is more than capable of leading an investigation into the disappearances. I want to know what is beyond that border. This is the preferred route for the Borg to attack Earth, I'd prefer to be able to tell Starfleet Command that it's not the Borg that are snatching our ships but a potential ally against them."

Talloc nodded, "Understood, Admiral, is there a place where we should start our investigation?"
Glover raised an eyebrow, "The Olympia will be sent all pertinent information transmitted from the five ships, but as their entry vectors into the unknown regions differed there isn't a single point they all crossed. But the Magellan's last known location would be a good place to start."
Standing, Talloc turned to Hope, "Understood sir, we will begin our investigation immediately."
Glover raised a hand slightly, "But of course, dismissed."

Once the two officers left the briefing room, Talloc looked his executive officer who shrugged, "Let's return to the Olympia, something isn't right here."
Hope nodded before they exited the room, "I didn't even need to be a telepath to tell that one sir."

Returning to the bridge of the Olympia, Talloc stood in front of his command chair, as the front viewscreen showed the same image as before, the bronze starship turned on its central axis and proceeded out of the system.
"Helm have we received coordinates?" He asked absently.
Navra turned her chair to face Talloc, "Aye captain, contained in the mission packet was a set of coordinates, they appear to point to a planetary system previously unexplored by the Federation. However, to get there we will be skirting a little close to the core-ward border of the Romulan Empire than I would like. I've already plotted a course to keep us well clear of the Romulans, but who knows what we may find out there."
"Your foresight is noted Lieutenant," Talloc commended before turning to his Tactical Chief, "Xonak, do we have a brief from Starfleet Intelligence about the area we are travelling into?"
Xonak shook his head, "Negative, Captain. The area of space outlined in the mission brief has not been thoroughly explored by any branch of Starfleet, civilian or otherwise. Most Intelligence assets in this region are dedicated either to the Borg or to the Romulan Empire."
Talloc frowned. "Then best tactical analysis Lieutenant, go through all pertinent mission logs to assist you. Helm engage, Warp seven." He turned to his Operations Chief, "Mister Kala, consult the mission packet, I want a briefing at 1730, I want to know what we are heading into."
His senior staff acknowledged their orders as the Olympia headed into the unknown.