After a short turbo-lift trip, Ginny arrived in the wardroom behind the bridge and found the rest of the ship's senior officers group seated around the large oak table, along with the various other department heads who weren't part of the command group milling about.

The conversation was notably subdued, and Ginny could swear that everyone seemed on edge.

Ginny sat down next to her other friend, Commander Yue Tanaka, and asked, "Hey Yue. What's going on?"

A couple of months ago, Yue – who had made it her pet project to transform the tough Marine Major Tatum into Ginny the Woman – had attempted a less than professional pass at Ginny while the two women and the Bajoran Chief Engy Cyron had visited the holographic Perfect Beach.

Ginny declined because of her not caring for women in her bed – Yue being a senior officer and such liaisons being strictly against FMC rules of conduct notwithstanding – and a part of her was still worried that the otherwise beautiful Japanese woman had been thoroughly heartbroken.

But so far, the Starfleet Commander and the Marine Major continued as though nothing had changed, visiting the Lonely Queen of The North's various spas and salons whenever they had a spare moment.

Ginny had even tried on a custom-fitted blue Qipao, much to Yue's delight.

But Yue replied in a very sombre tone, "I'm not sure. The Captain's been on the QC with Starfleet Command for three hours straight now. He won't even tell me what's going on."

Down the row and to Ginny's left, Cyron spoke up next, "Maybe we're getting a cake?"

Ginny smiled. The young Bajoran's optimism never ceased to brighten her day.

Unfortunately, the stubbornly logical Dr. Selar of Vulcan failed to share Cyron's disposition, "Really Cyron. I'm convinced that if this were just a social gathering, Captain Hathaway wouldn't have dared to interrupt my nano-tech research."

"Prophets, you're in a mood today, aren't ya Doc?"

"I do not have moods, my very young friend. It is only logical that I have better things to do with my time than to attend such social events."

While the Vulcan and the Bajoran glared at each other, Tirpitz's Tactical Officer and Head of Security LC Dean Bowers entered the wardroom and took a seat opposite Ginny.

Privately, Ginny and Dean had been engaged in a torrid and violent sexual affair that they had termed "blowing off steam."

Neither of them had understood why the affair had started, but neither of them had expressed a desire to stop it.

And so, every time Dean came into a room, Ginny found herself torn between ripping his head or his clothes from his body.

He nodded at Ginny, "Morning, Major. How's your friend Star doing?"

"She told me that stars are actually intelligent beings that use light wave particles to talk to one another to teach younger stars how to warm things up around them, and that if we develop Quantum Harmonizers, we can break the warp ten barrier," Ginny replied in a deliberately bored tone.

Cyron immediately let her eyes go wide, "Whaaat?! Please tell me she gave you a schematic for that!"

Ginny shook her head, "Sorry Cyron, I got called away before she could."

Cyron pouted, but the rest of the assembled officers shifted their bodies into seriousness as Captain Scott Hathaway entered the wardroom.

Ginny noted that the normally easy-going Scott looked tired and worn as if he had just gotten very bad news.

Scott sat down at the large table and hit a switch to bring up a holographic display.

It was a picture of Earth, and Scott began speaking in a serious tone of voice.

"Good Morning. I'll keep this quick, I'm due to speak with the Admiralty in a few minutes again."

Scott pushed several buttons, and the images changed to match his words.

"Three hours ago, a Romulan Warbird attacked and destroyed the Red Ball Express just prior to launch. As part of the launching process, Europa couldn't have her shields up, and the effects of the Soliton particles mixing with the plasma-based torpedoes were...well," he trailed off, letting the assembled officers process the images on the holofilter.

Ginny watched the display with rapt attention.

As far she knew, Jimmy Taylor – her friend from Sandhurst – was supposed to be in command of the E-MCT that would be going to Delta.

She watched as the Warbird de-cloaked, unleashed a salvo of torpedoes against the lattice and the little Titan class explorer, and almost gasped when the structure erupted in green and blue fire.

"Oh my God. Did anyone survive?" Yue asked.

Scott shook his head, "No. There was no time to engage transporters, and her shuttle bays were locked tight."

The Captain allowed both the crew and him a moment of silence before he spoke again, "Repulse was in orbit to give Europa a proper send-off. She engaged the Warbird and disabled her. The Marines who boarded it reported there was no crew aboard. It appeared to be operating under a remote drone controller."

"We know the Republic operates a handful of them, and this particular unit happened to match with their registries..."

Scott sighed, "You uh... you aren't supposed to know about that last bit. But I don't keep secrets from my crew."

Many, many thoughts were circling Ginny's mind now.

The most obvious was to take out Star's caller and ask the god-like girl to remove the Romulan Republic from the galaxy, just as she'd done with the Tholians.

Yue interrupted her thinking process "Do we have any orders, Captain?"

Scott shook his head yet again, "Not yet. There is a task force being assembled at the moment, but obviously, we're too far out to join before it leaves. For the time being, we're to hold our position and wait for instructions. But I think it should be clear to all of you by now that I strongly dislike sitting still."

Kath spoke up next, "We're closer to the Republic than we are to Earth sir, we could, perhaps, make our way to the border and start some reconnaissance runs."

"I like the way you think Kath" Scott replied, with a weak smile "That sounds like a plan to me. In case it needs to be said, The Federation is now considered to be in a state of hostility with the Romulan Republic. That means we'll be shifting to a wartime footing as of right now."

He stood, and issued orders, first looking at Ginny, "Major, I'd like your Marines on security alert until further notice. Have your RRF team ready for action on a moment's notice, and if you have the time, I'd like you to assign someone to help my crew with brushing up on their shooting skills."

Ginny nodded, "Aye Captain. I'll have my Staff Sargent start drills within the hour."

"Dean, I want your weapons station manned at all times, no exceptions. You pick up even the slightest hint of a cloaked ship following us, I want to know about it before you do," Scott said, looking at his Tac Officer.

"Aye, Skipper. If I'm not there myself, I'll have my best guys on it," Dean said in turn.

"Yue, this is going to be a hard transition for the crew. I know everyone in this room has seen action before, but a lot of our younger staff won't have had that luxury. I'll need you to take charge of the morale situation. I'd also like to adjust the duty roster to a five-shift rotation, and make sure that everyone, even me, gets enough rest and downtime," Scott said, looking at his XO

"Even you Skipper? I'll have to drag you down to the spa myself," Yue said sarcastically.

The entire group shared a much-needed laugh.

The truth was even with all the technology and provisions aboard Tirpitz that meant she could spend years or more in space, with no help or support from home, the crew were still flesh and blood.

No crew could remain on alert indefinitely, and Starfleet had learned – bitterly so – during the war that fighting while tired was as bad as fighting while intoxicated.

"If I may Captain," Selar interrupted, "We should avoid port and starboard rotations as much as possible. I have learned from both Enterprise and Nightingale just how dangerous such measures can be."

"Port and Starboard?" Ginny asked, forgetting Fishie terminology.

"Four hours on duty, four hours off. I'm not a fan of it either, but sometimes during combat or emergencies, you need every hand you have," Scott explained, "Point taken, Doc. I'll avoid it as much as possible, but no promises if the shooting starts."

While she had little doubts about the abilities of her Marines to rise to the challenge, Ginny had to wonder just how ready the rest of the crew was for real action.

While she considered the problem, Ginny listened as Scott continued his orders, "Dr. Selar, obviously your little domain could get quite busy over the next little while. If there's anything at all you need from me, get a report on my desk by this afternoon and I'll take care of it personally."

"Of course, Captain. And I'd like the entire crew to have their physicals and vital charts updated as well. Would I be able to ask either yourself or the XO to make the necessary arrangements?" Selar asked.

"Fine, I'll do it first. Set an example and all, right?" Yue sighed.

No one liked physicals, but it was vitally important that the ship's medical staff have all the information they needed on hand.

The seconds it took to call up a person's vitals would make the difference between life and death.

Ginny made a mental note to have her lead medic and own XO LT Ryhr help the Doctor with her physicals.

Unlike the Fishies – who had regulations against such things – Ginny could and would physically drag any Marine who refused his or her physical into sickbay.

"Okay, that's all for now. Major, if you can remain behind for a few moments?" Scott said while looking at her.

As the crew filtered back to the bridge, Ginny remained seated.

She had an idea of what Scott wanted, but she wisely decided to wait until giving her thoughts to the Captain.

"So, I take it you had another good lesson with our friend Star this morning?"

"I did," Ginny replied, sliding the PADD with her notes on it towards him, "Seems we can break the warp speed barrier with something called quantum harmonizers, and stars can talk to each other."

Scott briefly looked over the PADD, letting a small smile creep across his worn face, "This is outstanding work, Ginny. With everything she's been feeding us for the last little while, we've covered decades of advancement in just under a year. I appreciate your dedication to all this. I know a lot of this material is way over your head."

"If you mean by over my head as far away as Earth is from Pluto, then yes, I'd say it's over my head Sir," Ginny replied sarcastically.

She had gotten to know her Captain quite well over the last year, enough that she felt comfortable with being sarcastic around him.

Scott however shifted into seriousness again, "If I know you as well as I think I do, Ginny, you're probably giving some heavy consideration to pushing that black button in your pocket right now. Am I about right?"

Ginny reached into her pocket and placed Star's Caller on the table, "The thought crossed my mind, Sir."

"Mine as well. It's incredibly tempting, isn't it? One call, one quick sentence, and this is over before it ever has to start."

Ginny nodded, not daring to speak further.

It was true.

She could call Star, ask her to make the Romulans go away, and they would never again trouble the Federation.

That level of power was simply intoxicating if someone thought about it long enough.

Scott however drove that thought from her mind, "But you and I are going to avoid such temptation. That option is not on the table. We might be able to use her for perfecting our tech or increasing our knowledge, but it ends there. We'll fight this war ourselves, win or lose."

"I agree sir. After all, this is what I've trained for."

She agreed in principle, but that button would remain with her, taunting her.

She would have to try extremely hard not to push it.

Scott got up and placed his hand on her shoulder, "The crew is going to need your strength, Ginny. Apart from myself, you, and Dean, I don't think anyone really understands what's about to happen over the next few weeks. I'm trusting you to keep us safe."

"I haven't let you down yet, have I?"

"Not at all Major. I know you'll see us through."

Before he could continue, the bridge comm's tech interrupted him, "Bridge to Captain, we have another priority signal coming in from Starfleet Headquarters."

Scott sighed and tapped his comm-badge in reply "Understood. Pipe the message through to my office, please. I'll be there in a few moments."

Ginny stood and offered a salute to the Captain, "With your permission sir, I'll get started prepping my Marines for action."

Scott returned her salute and nodded.

Ginny left the wardroom and made her way back into the turbo-lift for the brief trip to Marine Country.

During the ride, she stared for a long time at Star's Caller. It would be so simple.

Push the button, and all her problems would go away.