"Captain on the bridge!" yelled one of the crewmembers as Azalea walked in and they all stood.
"At ease," she said. "For anybody who doesn't know, I'm Captain Sanchet, but call me Azalea. Our first assignment, and the first official mission of the Saturn, is to proceed to Starbase 1033 for an upgrade. Helmsman, um..."
"Walters, ma'am,"
"Right, Mister Walters, set course for Starbase 1033."
"Aye, aye. Course laid in."
Azalea turned to her First Officer. "You must be Mister Krink," she said.
"Yes, Captain."
"Is everybody on board who's supposed to be on board?"
"Yes, Captain."
"Good. Mister Walters, take us to Starbase 1033, warp 8."
"Aye, aye, Azalea." The U.S.S Saturn broke orbit, left the system, and went to warp.


Tokyo

"According to Starfleet," Sara began, "the Romulans don't know anything about the attack on the Alabama."
"That's bull," said Natakas.
"I know it. They claimed it was a false accusation, but the Klingons supported us. The Romulans are now conducting their own investigation. They saw that they will inform us of any important discoveries."
"Yeah, what's important?" Natakas said.
"You know, Starfleet is installing the Upsilon Device on a starship, a Sovereign-class, I think," said Young. "If the Romulans want the device, they'll probably try to take it from the ship."
"You think they'll attack a Sovereign-class starship? It probably won't be alone either," said Natakas.
"Maybe. But they might also try to get a spy aboard the ship."
"You're right," said Sara.
"We should see if Starfleet will let us go on board during the tests. I'd say there's a good chance that we'll encounter the Romulans behind this," said Scott.
"Yeah, good idea," Natakas said.
"Okay, I'll contact Starfleet and see what they say."


U.S.S Saturn

Tom met Azalea in her quarters after she turned control of the bridge over to Krink.
"So what exactly is this Upsilon Device everybody's talking about?" she asked him.
"Well, I hope not everybody is talking about it," he said. "It is a top secret project begun by a Federation scientist six years ago. He was killed for it. The Device itself was just brought back from his laboratory on a small, pretty much deserted planet. The ship that retrieved it was attacked by a Romulan warbird. It only managed to escape through the help of a Klingon battleship that was in the area."
"And it's gonna be put on my ship?"
"Yeah."
"What does it do?"
"It started out as a Borg transwarp coil that was found… somewhere, I don't really know where. The scientist studied it and was able to perform extensive modifications to it, in addition to making it highly compatible with Starfleet ships. What it does is create a sort of wormhole effect that will allow you to go from one place to another faster than any warp drive could take you. The shields must also be upgraded to work with this new technology. We think it may also be possible to design new weapon systems around the Upsilon Device."
"How do you know that we won't be attacked?"
"We don't, that's why we're testing it on a Sovereign-class starship."
"Well, that part makes sense."
"Once we use it for the first time, you'll see why it's important and why everyone wants it."
Azalea's combadge activated. "Azalea, we're getting a transmission from Starfleet command."
"Route it here," she said.
"Yes, captain."
Azalea activated the small communications screen in her quarters. It showed the familiar Federation logo for a second before it switched to the admiral who had ordered her to Starbase 1033.
"Captain Sanchet," he said.
"Yes, sir, what is it?"
"We have a minor change in plans. When you get to Starbase 1033, you will take a Starfleet security team on board. They'll probably arrive while you're undergoing the upgrades, but if they don't you must wait for them. Under no circumstances may you leave Starbase 1033 until the team has boarded your ship."
"Understood sir. May I ask why there will be a security team on my ship?"
"We must take every precaution to protect the Upsilon Device. It will be your responsibility to keep another ship from stealing it. The team will make sure that there are no enemy agents on board who may attempt to steal the Device. I understand that you must be confident that your own security personnel can handle it, but these people are specialists."
"Yes, sir. We will wait for them at Starbase 1033."
"Very good, Captain. I knew we picked the right person for this assignment." The screen went blank.
"One thing, Azalea," Tom said.
"What's that?"
"Please don't let them fill up engineering with security guys or we'll never be able to maintain the Device."
"Yeah, I get ya. I'll try to keep 'em out of your hair."
"Much appreciated."