Teaser

Ship's Log: 15 February 2643; ASV Aurora. Captain Julia Andreys recording. I'm pleased to report that we have completed our shakedown and training cruise for the crew. The Aurora is officially back on active duty. I am also pleased to report that despite the changes to the command staff and some of the department heads, everything is going as smoothly as it did before the battle with the Cybermen and Daleks.

For our first mission back on active duty, the Aurora has been sent to the Alliance's colony zone in Universe Designate A2M6 to assist in a medical emergency at the Oakland Colony on Phi Perseus 4.

With time on her hands before her morning bridge watch, Julia went by the medbay to check up on things there. She found Leo in the company of the newest medical officer on his staff. Doctor Roliri Opani, formerly the medical officer of the Koenig, was quick to notice Julia's arrival. The Dorei woman's dark teal skin and longer, pointed ears gave her both an alien and almost elfin appearance. The light purple spots running from her forehead to her neck and further below were the same color as her eyes, though her hair was a far darker hue. "Captain," she said.

"Ah, there you are." Leo turned as well to face her. "Anything more from the governor of the Oakland Colony?"

"His last update had no changes listed," Julia replied. "The women he has in quarantine aren't showing any symptoms of illness, but the tests his medical officers have done confirm the presence of a parasitical organism in their bodies. At least, in the Humans of the group, the quarantined aliens have shown no sign of infection."

"But it's not causing any adverse symptoms." Leo was clearly thoughtful on that point. "I've been looking over the notes that Doctor Logan, the colony's medical director, sent to us. At first glance I figured it was an organism from another world, but the genetic analysis confirms that it's life from Earth."

"But you've never seen it?" Julia asked.

"No. Never before. A2M6 Earth may have had a unique development compared to others. I'll know more when we get there and our biologists get samples."

"I am looking forward to assisting," Opani said. "While I enjoyed serving with the Koenig, the chance to work medicine on a star cruiser is an opportunity I've been dreaming of since I joined the service."

"You've earned it," Leo assured Opani. "And I'm looking forward to working with you."

Opani smiled at him. The smile faded slightly. "Have either of you heard from Commander Carrey lately?" she asked.

"We see him for the staff meetings," Julia replied. "But I'm afraid he's not being very sociable these days."

"If he keeps up this 'loner' thing, we may need to make an intervention," Leo added. "However alone he wants to feel, it's not helping him."

Julia nodded. "Believe me, I know. But I'm afraid I'll just push him away if I don't respect his wishes. As long as he's following his duties, there's nothing I can do."

"You don't think he's…" Leo didn't make any gestures, but the look in his eyes told Julia exactly what Leo was thinking of.

"He's been fine on duty, so it doesn't seem like it," Julia said. The expression on her face showed how hurt she felt about Zack's sudden distance. Whatever his feelings for her, they were still supposed to be close friends. And with Robert gone, Julia was already feeling lonely.

Leo gave her a pat on the shoulder. "It's not your fault if he's pushing everyone away. Don't let it get to you."

"I won't," Julia promised. "I can't. Not with a ship to run." She checked her omnitool. "Remember that we're having the staff briefing in two hours. We should be at Phi Perseus this afternoon."

"I'll be there," he answered.

Julia departed. She couldn't help but wonder just where Zack was at the moment.

The chiming alarm brought a brief destructive urge to Zack's mind before it went away. He sat up and gave a look to the bottle by his bed. The tequila was nearly gone from it. He took the bottle and poured a bit into the glass beside it. The tequila was one of the cheaper kinds and did not go down gently.

With bleary eyes and a blearier brain, Zack stumbled out of bed and went straight for his restroom. He was functional enough to complete his morning routine, if just so, and it still included knocking over a container of shampoo and sending its contents onto part of the floor before his flailing fingers managed to grip it. He left the mess behind for a moment and went to the living room. His head ached. Another hangover.

For a few minutes he sat there doing nothing. On his table an empty tumbler and a half-finished bottle of bourbon remained from his attempt to survive the end of Valentine's Day. The bourbon and tequila night cap had been sufficient to deal with that. And I'd gone a few days without more than a shot. Last night… it was just that once. Those thoughts comforted him with the idea that unlike his father, he was able to control his urge. He only needed this once and awhile.

Keeping his consumption low also helped with avoiding provoking the disappointment and criticism of his friends. Sneaking his supplies aboard with boxes of other things was working out. Sure, if they were out in space for a prolonged period where he couldn't visit a seller, he might end up running out. But if that happened, it happened, right? He would just have to go without for a while.

The other part of his avoiding tipping his friends off required his next action of shuffling his way over to the replicator. "Computer, Niltox, eight hundred milligram dose. And a glass of cool water."

"Processing… warning, eight hundred milligrams is twice the appropriate dose."

"Yeah, but I had more than twice my usual alcohol last night," he muttered in reply. "So please replicate the damn stuff."

"Replicating."

The computer created a small paper cup with four pills in it. A nondescript glass with clear water appeared beside it. The blue-tinted pills reminded Zack of the ibuprofen he used to take to ease his joints after a particularly difficult and strenuous baseball game. Zack took the cup and dumped the four pills into his mouth, after which he drained the glass of water and took everything down in one strong gulp. He placed both cups back into the replicator and punched the return button. "Now for breakfast." He ordered cereal and toast and settled down to finish his breakfast and let the detoxicants do their work.

It was only after he was finished eating that he remembered the staff meeting.

The Starship Aurora had been built with a few conference rooms for mundane use - department meetings - and more critical functions such as meetings with foreign dignitaries or Alliance officials and high officers. There was one conference room set aside for the command staff's personal use. To facilitate response to an emergency, it was attached to the bridge module at the top of the ship, accessible from the bridge through a single pair of sliding doors. The furnishings consisted of a long table with enough chairs for the Aurora and Koenig command officers to meet together, as they were now, and for guest officers to attend if need be. A flatscreen monitor behind the head seat of the table was one method for displaying incoming calls, as was the holographic projector built into the center of the table, which could double as a projector for displaying information and data in briefings.

When Zack arrived, he knew he was a few minutes late. He had taken the extra time to make absolutely sure that his black-and-burgundy red uniform looked proper. He didn't want anyone to think he looked sloppy and to wonder why. "Sorry," he said before taking his seat to Julia's left, across from Meridina to her right. "I… I had a bad night." He glanced toward his officers. Seeing Opani wasn't there reminded him that she had been re-assigned to the Aurora, and her replacement was due to catch up with them at Phi Perseus. Another absence that stuck out to him was Commander Kane, the former Commander of the Marine Troops on the Aurora, crippled in the fight with the Daleks. His replacement, Major Gabriel Anders, was seated between Lieutenant Commander Phryne Richmond, the ship's chief of security, and Zack's friend Lieutenant Tom Barnes, the Asst. Chief Engineer and primary Engineering Officer for the bridge staff.

Zack remembered Kane as an athletically-built Caucasian man with light brown hair always cut close to his scalp in Marine fashion. In contrast Major Anders' dark hair was a little more grown out. He was built leaner as well. His skin, while on the light-toned side, had a brown color to it that, when combined with his facial features, reminded Zack of the Cherokee people he'd met during trips to Oklahoma as a child.

Lieutenant Commander Richmond, on the other hand, had the lightest skin tone in the room, being nearly porcelain white, with short-cut black hair and striking green eyes. She wasn't tall nor large, with a lean figure.

"Are you okay?" Julia asked him, not a hint of impatience in her tone.

"I am now," he said.

"Well, since you're here, we can begin." Julia picked up a digital reader. "We're all new to Universe A2M6, so I'll read the summary that Command provided to me. The Discovery led the first exploration jump in February of last year in the company of the U.S.S. Burnham as part of a joint exploration mission with Starfleet. Captain Patis and Captain Tilly made contact with one of the indigenous starfaring species of this universe, the Xou…" Julia blinked. "The Xou-exclamation point-tasam."

"Their language may have an emphatic element to pronunciation that doesn't render into English," Jarod pointed out. "It's probably pronounced something like Xou-tasam."

"Alright. The Xou!tasam. They're a species of aquatic echinodermoids with some similarities to Earth starfish. They lead an interspecies confederation translated as the Trading Consortium. Captain Tilly of the Burnham compared them, 'favorably', to Ferengi."

"As in they're not as rapaciously greedy as Ferengi culture encourages Ferengi to be?" asked Jarod.

"Apparently not, at least by Captain Tilly's estimation. The Xou!tasam are noted to prefer peaceful interaction over territorial expansion. It's why the Alliance was able to set up several colonies in this area of space. The Xou!tasam never claimed any of these systems." Julia set the digital reader down, reading the final notes from memory. "We already have standing treaties with the Consortium, including trade agreements, mutual assistance, extradition, medical research…" She stopped.

"So they are our local friends," Meridina noted.

"Trading partners, at least," Locarno said.

Angel asked, "I'm guessing they're not helping us out with the Nazis?"

"I'd like to meet one," Caterina said. "So this quarantine problem, is it them?"

"No, it's not." Leo shook his head. "It's Humans. Local ones, apparently."

"Whom we don't know much about," Julia said. "The Xou!tasam have provided us with some information on Humanity in this universe. They tend to be closer to one of the Human governments, the League of Democratic Worlds…"

An electronic tone interrupted Julia. "Bridge to Conference Lounge." The accented voice was that of Lieutenant Takawira.

"Go ahead, Lieutenant."

"Captain, we're picking up a distress signal." Those words caused everyone to sit up. "It's coming from the Oakland Colony. They say an unknown vessel appeared in orbit. It's preparing to attack."

Julia stood up. "Increase speed to Warp 9.9. Go to Code Red."

"Aye sir."

Zack and his officers went for the lift door across from the bridge door while the Aurora officers filed out, heading to their stations, all while the alert klaxons blared.

Undiscovered Frontier
"Command Principles"

The bridge of the Aurora was tense with anticipation. Everyone had assumed their stations. Meridina went over the small display built into the First Officer's chair while Julia sat up in the command chair. "Commander Laurent reports that our fighters are ready," Meridina said.

"All decks reporting ready," Jarod added.

"Anything more from Oakland Colony?"

"Just a continued distress signal." Jarod checked his console. "But I'm getting interference on that band."

"They're being jammed," Cat confirmed from the science and sensor station. "I've got a power signature on long range sensors."

"How big?" Julia set her arms on the armrests of her chair.

"Not very. A light starship going by our instruments." Caterina looked over her sensor returns. "They're maintaining an orbit over the planet."

"Torpedoes loaded," Angel reported. "All weapons ready for firing."

"Let us hope that is not necessary," Meridina stated.

After a moment Julia was ready to ask for an ETA. But she barely had time to open her lips before Locarno said, "We're coming up on Phi Perseus 4. Dropping out of warp in three seconds."

At exactly the three second mark the Aurora dropped out of warp. The planet loomed ahead. Without needing to be asked, Jarod magnified the image of the intruding starship. Julia noted that, as Cat had said, it was a light vessel. But it had a certain aggressive look to it with the visible gun turrets. The bow of the ship ended in a particularly large opening, presumably another weapon that was spinal-mounted much like the super-disruptors on Reich capital warships. A sponson shape lined with thruster ports was visible on each side of the ship.

"Looks to be two hundred and five meters by fifty-nine meters by eighteen meters as maximum dimensions," Jarod said. "Definitely a light design."

"I'll feel better about it when I know what that bow-mounted weapon is. Mister Jarod, hail them."

"I'm already opening the channel." A light appeared on his station. "They're responding."

The screen shifted to show another bridge or command center, with a holographic tactical display in the background. The image was focused upon a Human-looking woman with a dark complexion. The collar and visible shoulders of her uniform were white in color with black shoulderboard epaulets. Her dark hair was pulled back into a bun. A stern expression was on the woman's round face.

Julia stood from her chair. "Greetings. I am Captain Julia Andreys of the Alliance Starship Aurora, representing the United Alliance of Systems. You have entered our space and assumed an orbit over one of our colonies with apparent hostile intent. I ask you to state your intentions."

"I am Captain Wirake Mawarra of Her Imperial Majesty's Ship Irresistible, of the Imperial Aururian Navy. This system is in Imperial space. You have occupied on one of our worlds in an act of flagrant illegality, and worse, your squatters have abducted subjects of Her Imperial Majesty. I must demand their immediate release and your ship's withdrawal from our star system after a rendering of honours, or I will be constrained into attempting to compel your compliance.

So there we are, Julia thought, feeling a little stunned at how utterly brazen the demands were from such a tiny ship. They claim the system too. "Our colonists found no evidence of another claim on this system," she answered. "Our governments can, of course, discuss the matter. As for charging our people with abduction, there are people being held in medical quarantine due to the detection of an unknown organism in their bodies. Once we're sure the organism hasn't passed on into the colony arrangements for their return can be made. And finally, it is my duty to protect citizens of the Alliance. I am not leaving this system so long as they are under potential threat."

Given the look on the opposing Captain's face, Julia could see this was not going well. "Your offered terms in this parley do not constitute an acceptable outcome, Captain. The honor and my duty to the integrity of the Imperial Federation compels me to demand your immediate withdrawal from our territory and the return without harm or delay of any of Her Majesty's subjects being held within the interloping settlement on the planet. You have but a single opportunity remaining to respond favourably to my demarche, or else we shall put it to the touch, Captain."

"They sound like they derive their English-speaking from the 19th Century," Jarod noted.

Julia glanced to Meridina. Meridina's reaction was a pensive look. She is rigid and uncompromising Meridina's voice said in Julia's mind. I strongly suggest we prepare for combat.

Not what I wanted, was the returned thought. Aloud Julia kept calm and hoped it might persuade this captain to not commence hostilities. "Captain Mawarra, I assure you that your people will be returned shortly. They are being held as a medical emergency only. Now, I am willing to mutually withdraw from orbit and wait for…"

"Your response is, I fear, unacceptable. This parley is concluded, Captain. Withdraw from this system in twenty seconds or I shall commence fire upon your ship with the full vigour of my batteries." The woman's image, her face frozen in a rictus of determination, disappeared from the screen and returned the visual to the ship. It turned to starboard and began to approach. Slowly an orange haze started to envelop the ship, partially obscuring the hull.

"She's got to be crazy!" Angel shouted. "We outmass her completely!"

Julia returned to her seat and activated her harness. "We will not open fire first," she said. "Evasive Maneuvers, Plan Tan-."

Light around the bow of the Irresistible seemed to warp slightly. A blue beam surged from the weapon and slammed into the bow of the Aurora.

The intense rocking surprised everyone. It felt like the ship had just been struck by a full heavy weapon blast against the hull. "Report!" Julia shouted as they ceased shaking.

"It's some sort of graviton beam," Caterina said. "It sent reaction force right through the shields and into our structure!"

The beam fired again and the ship shook once more.

"The entire ship is feeling this!" Jarod added.

"Primary Shield Generators 1 and 2 are showing strain on their mountings," Barnes reported from his engineering station. "The shock is causing stress damage to multiple systems in the forward sections of the ship!"

"Return fire, disable that weapon! Helm, evasive maneuvers!" As she gave that second order, Julia felt the ship jolt violently again.

With all of the shaking Angel had to be extra careful to make sure she was hitting the right keys. She acquired a target lock and fired a full volley of the bow weapons.

Ten sets of sapphire energy pulses erupted from the bow of the Aurora in a steady stream. They slammed repeatedly into the shields of the frigate.

"Their shields aren't degrading," Angel said. "I'm firing again!"

"The shields aren't standard deflectors," Cat said.

Locarno maneuvered the Aurora to evade the enemy weapon. But the Aururian ship was smaller and more nimble. With her side-mounted thrusters she easily turned to keep her bow weapon focused on the larger ship. Locarno twisted and banked the ship enough that the next shot simply grazed the shields, with less rocking than before.

"What do you mean, Cat?" Angel asked.

"They're using gravitic fields as their main protective shield system," Cat explained. "Like the Abbai in E5B1. They don't suffer degrading from weapons fire."

"Give me a moment," Jarod said. "I'm reconfiguring your pulse cannons to fire a continuous stream instead of bursts. Use the emitters too. You need to burn through."

The next hit caused another violent jolt through the ship. "How the frak is that little piece of crap spaceship kicking our ass so hard?!" Barnes demanded with a shout. "They're damaging systems all over the ship!"

"Weapon reconfiguration complete," Jarod said.

"I'm bringing us back around," Locarno added.

"Firing!"

Angel triggered the weapons again. With the small ship off their bow for the moment she relied on the new plasma cannons installed in the place of the removed phaser banks and pulse phaser cannons. Solid beams of blue energy lashed out at the small Aururian craft. "Something's absorbing the plasma where it's getting past the shields."

"I'm picking up a radiation signature from the gas they're circulating under that magnetic shield. It's not as effective against your weapons as it would be against lasers," Jarod said. "Keep it up!"

"Let me get a torpedo lock…"

"No!" Julia shouted. "No torpedoes! I'm not having you accidentally blow that ship apart!"

Once more the Aurora rocked. "Rupture on Plasma Feed 4A," Barnes said. "We won't be able to go to warp safely until it's repaired."

Meanwhile Angel was cutting loose with the Aurora's new mid-grade plasma armament. Operating under the same principles as the pulse plasma cannons the Darglan had developed - based, they now knew, off of Asgard weapons technology - the weapons were beginning to overwhelm the shield around the Aururian vessel. A plume of flame erupted from within the orange haze. "Direct hit!" Angel shouted.

"I'm reading damage to the enemy ship's electrical system. But they're still…"

Cat's warning was interrupted by another strong jolt through the ship. The enemy weapon was becoming visible on the screen, with the two vessels' bows moving into alignment. The other ship attempted to jink out of the bow cannons' firing arc. Julia knew they were fast enough to do it.

But Angel was faster.

When the bow cannons fired again, they fired in a steady stream that almost became beams in of themselves. The thick streams of rapid plasma pulses hammered the bow of the Aururian ship. The other ship's shields were overwhelmed by the power they were subjected to, allowing those deadly streams to reach bare hull.

An explosion flowered from the bow of the Irresistible, spewing gas and debris from the ship's savaged bow. A pair of further explosions erupted from the ventral hull of the ship. Flames around the vessel lit up briefly before, having consumed their fuel, they gave out. The orange haze that had surrounded the ship expanded, thinning until they could make out the Aururian ship visually again. It was an utter wreck.

Julia should have been pleased to have defeated the enemy ship that had caused such unexpected havoc for them. But her reaction was to snap her head around to glare at Angel. "What happened? I said shoot to disable!"

"Yeah, but against those shields, I had to hit them with my best shot," Angel countered.

"I'm reading multiple hull breaches. Their main power is completely offline." Cat tapped a key on her board. "There's also a change in life sign readings… it looks like at least half of them are gone now."

"Dammit," Julia breathed, looking at the wrecked ship again. Disabling the Irresistible to force her captain to negotiate had been her aim. Killing some of the other ship's crew was not going to make that any easier. "Commander Jarod, please re-open a channel to the Irresistible." Julia drew in a breath of exasperation. "Assuming they still have comms."

"It looks like they do," Jarod answered. "They're answering."

This time the image of other ship's bridge showed a different sight. The display in the background was missing. Faint cries could be heard. And Captain Mawarra was missing. In her place was an alien. Silvery, dark green hair covered the alien's head, with a pointed ear on each side a little shorter than a Dorei's. The skin had a silvery sheen as well, with a brown coloration to it, with hair almost thick enough to be fur visible on the body, dark brown in its color. A pair of yellow eyes looked back at Julia on the screen. "I am Lieutenant Commander Rimamika Nuirala, first officer of this vessel and currently in command. We recognize our defeat and are prepared to yield our ship. We insist on honorable treatment as is appropriate for civilized societies; if you can not or will not offer us such terms, then do not trouble yourselves with Quarter, we will fight you on the emergency batteries before we surrender ourselves to slavery."

"This is Captain Andreys. We are ready to provide medical assistance to your crew," Julia answered. The reference to slavery made her wonder if there was more to affairs in this universe than the Alliance knew. What are we dealing with here? "All we ask is that you suspend hostilities so we can discuss your claim to this system and the status of the people in quarantine. The Alliance is opposed to sentient slavery and I give you my word we will not hold any of you captive for any such purpose."

A lump of brown hair popped up over the alien's head and began to move side by side. A tail, Julia realized. "I can only act in such a way as to protect the honor of the Imperial Federation. I will relay your words to Captain Mawarra when she is able to receive them."

"First things first. Let me get our medical teams ready to go over to your ship. I will resume contact shortly." Julia nodded to Jarod, who cut the transmission.

"Are we going to trust them with Leo and our medical people?" Locarno asked. "They attacked us without provocation."

"I don't think they saw it that way," Julia remarked. "If our people overlooked something when settling this system… well, we'll have to look into their claim. But I doubt they're going to harm a medical team when they're clearly in need of one."

"If I may make a suggestion, Captain?" asked Meridina.

Julia turned to her and nodded. "Go ahead, Commander."

"I shall accompany Doctor Gillam or any other medical personnel he sends to their assistance," she said. "I can act to protect our people should treachery occur."

Julia nodded in reply. "A great idea, Commander. You've got my approval. Head down to the medbay and see Doctor Gillam about it."

"Right away." Meridina stood from her chair and started her way to the nearest lift.

Julia returned to her command chair. "Okay, what's our damage?"

"Repair crews are working on the warp system," Barnes said. "And we'll be looking at all of the systems to check for further shock damage."

"Shields are still at one hundred percent. We'll need to double-check the generator mountings, however," Jarod added.

"Get that done." A possibility came to Julia's mind. She looked at Caterina. "Miss Delgado, do you know if they got any transmissions out?"

Cat checked her sensor logs. "Looking at our logs, they were sending transmissions before we even arrived."

That news was not welcome. "Then keep an eye on long-range sensors. Commander Jarod, the ship is to remain at Code Yellow until further notice. I want everyone ready to resume battlestations and an alert sent to A2M6 Fleet Command on the situation. We may need more ships. Now…" Julia started walking to her ready office. "Please hail the colony. I want to know just what kind of ant hill they've kicked over out here."

Meridina arrived to find that the medbay was quite active. Multiple biobeds had patients, some of them favoring limbs that looked injured, even broken. Nurses were at work in tending to them. Once directed her toward one of the other rooms in the medbay. She found Leo and a number of figures getting into bio-containment suits. They were essentially EVA suits but colored medical blue with built-in medical scanner gear. Leo looked at her through the faceplate. "Go ahead and get a suit," he said.

"Do you consider this necessary?"

"Yes. It's possible that the Earth of this universe had different biological developments. And we have no clue which worlds these people may be from and what contagions they could carry. It's best not to take the risk."

"Very well." Meridina went over to the rack and took one of the suits. She removed her lightsaber from her belt before fitting her first leg into the suit. "How large of a team are you taking?"

"Doctor Hreept and I will be joined by half a dozen of my nurses. I'm sending Singh and Opani down to the colony to check on those quarantine cases. That leaves my other medical staff to process our wounded." Leo's expression was pained. "We had a fatality, I should add."

Meridina finished pulling her left arm into the suit. She stopped at that point to look at him. "From?"

"Junior Petty Officer Jumbe broke his neck during one of those shaking hits we took," Leo explained. "We were too late to save him."

"I see." Meridina gripped the suit and fitted her right arm in. Once her fingers fitted into the gloved end of the right arm she zipped the fasteners and began the automatic sealing system. "That is regrettable."

"Why did they open fire on us anyway? Julia's usually very good at diplomacy."

"We are dealing with an honor culture of some form. It appears they felt obligated to defend what they consider to be their territory."

Leo shook his head. "Good people dead over pride. It's criminal."

Meridina clipped her lightsaber back to her belt. "It shall be our task to ensure no others die as well." The HUD display on the inside of her faceplate confirmed that the suit's seals were in place and her air was circulating. The sensors set the internal atmosphere of her suit to match optimum conditions for Gersallian physiology. "I am prepared. Let us depart."

The transporter operator sent the medical team to what the sensors indicated was an intact area of the ship. It appeared to be a shuttle bay given the presence of such craft. Meridina and Leo stepped up toward an alien, one of the silver-haired semi-furred ones with pointed ears. "I am Doctor Leonard Gillam of the Aurora," said Leo. "My team and I are here to help your medical staff."

The alien looked over them. Her yellow eyes focused on Meridina. "You have come in containment suits?"

"Yes," Leo answered. "To minimize the risk of contamination for both sides."

"No offense is meant," Meridina added.

The alien seemed to consider that. "I… It is unnecessary, but I understand. Accompany me, I shall bring you to the surgeon."

"The Oakland Colony thanks you and your crew for dealing with that hostile ship." The speaker was Shaun Taylor, the governor of the colony in question. Julia had him on the monitor screen on her ready office desk. She sat quietly, her left arm on the chair arm and her right extended so her hand was on the desk near the controls for the monitor and attached computer system. Her eyes were focused on the screen and Governor Taylor's image. He was a man approaching middle age. The first faint indications of wrinkle lines had formed on the dark skin of his face. Deep brown eyes looked back at Julia. "Do you think more will arrive?"

"It's a distinct possibly, Governor," Julia answered. "Someone's going to come looking for them at the very least."

"I'll keep the militia and defenses on standby then."

With a nod Julia showed her approval of this measure. "I'd like to know more about these people you have in quarantine. How did they react to you?"

Taylor's tone was even and professional as he spoke. "They appeared in orbit about thirty hours ago and landed their ship at our spaceport. At first we thought they were independent traders. That changed when they met me and demanded to know why we had invaded their territory."

Julia nodded once. "What happened then?"

"I explained to their leader that we had no knowledge of any other claim and that they were welcome to stay and get their ship replenished. Unfortunately the arrival of extra militia to keep a watch on the situation provoked them. They pulled weapons."

A small headache formed in the middle of Julia's forehead. "Was anyone hurt?"

"We took some injuries before we managed to stun them all. Had there been a few more I'm sure we would have had fatalities." Taylor put his hands together on his desk. "I regret it came to shooting, Captain, but we weren't the ones to open fire. And I have no idea how they are justifying their claim to this system. Our survey teams did a thorough search of Phi Perseus for any indication of another civilization here or a pre-existing claim. We found nothing."

"Alright. We'll check into it as well. What about the people in quarantine?"

"They've been uncooperative since going into containment. They refuse to discuss anything but their immediate release."

"I'd like to know more about what they were doing. Their ship, have you searched it?"

"No. I wasn't going to risk contamination. We've kept the ship in a shielded hangar."

"Well, I'd like to have my people look at it. And we'll send medical staff down to get a look at these people. The sooner we confirm whether or not they pose a risk to the colony, the sooner we can let them go on their way."

"Agreed. I'll inform Colonel Littleton and Doctor Logan that your people are beaming down. Taylor out."

The screen disengaged. In the quiet of her office Julia considered her options and the necessities of the moment. There was no telling how much or how little time they had before another of these ships arrived. And the next one might be an even tougher ship than the first. She wanted to get as much information as she could before that occasion came.

She tapped the key on her desk to activate the ship intercom and said, "Andreys to Bridge. Commander Jarod, please report to the ready office."

Twenty seconds later her office door swished open and Jarod walked in. "Yes, Captain?"

"I'd like you to go down with a team from ops and engineering to inspect the quarantined vessel at the Colony," Julia said. "Find out what you can about it and report back to me."

"We'll go in with bio-containment suits under biological threat protocol?"

"Yes. At least, until we hear from the medical team about the nature of whatever this organism is they're carrying in their bodies."

"I'll get the team together now," Jarod said.

"You're free to go," Julia said. She watched him step out of her office and took the moment to ponder on the difference in how the ship operated now, the difference she'd made.

Robert had always been so informal. He insisted on speaking to others by name, and had no objection to the others on the command staff calling him by name. By contrast Julia was going for the more professional interactions even among her friends. In private and off-duty she was still Julia, but on the bridge, in meetings, and in the presence of others, she would be "Captain" or "sir" and she would address them like another officer.

It was perhaps unfair to them. It may even seem like she was letting her authority go to her head. But it was how she thought things should be run. They were part of an organization now and they needed to behave like it.

The thought came and went. She had to focus on the here and now. The situation here was fraught with danger for her ship and crew, not to mention the ten thousand colonists on the planet below. It would be easy to dismiss the claims of Captain Mawarra as naked expansionism, but given what Governor Taylor had told her about the people in quarantine, they had been expecting a colony of their people once they had arrived. Whatever Governor Taylor thought of the thoroughness of the survey of this system, Julia didn't want to leave anything on that matter to chance.

So she hit the intercom key again. "Andreys to Carrey," she said. "Come see me in my ready room as soon as you can. I have a mission to discuss with you."

After a few moments, which was honestly a moment longer than she thought it should be, Zack's reply came over the channel. "I'm on my way."

The Oakland Colony Hospital was stark to Opani's eyes. The white walls and flooring, the bright lights, lacked color to her sense of aesthetics. Most Dorei hospitals went for blues and greens to give subconscious reassurance to patients and their visitors, with some regional exceptions such as the various Sindai nations, where red and yellow was preferred.

The weight of the equipment in her arms reminded her of the need to concern herself with the matter at hand. She regained her pace with the others, causing the sound of her footsteps to echo more loudly in the hall. She caught up to Doctor Amita Singh, a brown-colored Human woman from a Human colony called New Punjab, who was asking questions of the colony's medical director, Doctor Allen Logan. Logan was middle-aged Caucasian man with enough gray in his hair to indicate he was in the upper range of middle-age. "There are still no acute symptoms?"

"None," Logan said. "I checked them myself an hour ago. And they have the means to call us if any of them get sick."

The answer was put succinctly and precisely. Doctor Logan struck Opani as capable and reserved. He showed no resentment nor any worries beyond reasonable concern for what was going on with the colony.

Logan brought them to a door and pressed his hand to the plate beside it. The system acknowledged his identity and the door slid open. He led them inside to the sight of numerous pieces of lab equipment. "Here," he said, guiding them to an open table. He indicated a nearby cabinet marked with temperature warnings. "We haven't received a bio-stasis vault yet, so we've been using cold storage for samples. The top drawer has the samples from our guests. I had them specially labeled for you."

"Thank you, Doctor Logan," Singh said. "This will work quite well."

"If you need me I am a call away."

"Do we have the codes to visit the patients?" Opani asked.

Logan responded by activating his multidevice. He tapped some keys on its hardlight keyboard. Opani and Singh received notifications of incoming data on their omnitools. "These codes will let you access the cells if you need to. Colonel Littleton's guards know to expect you."

"Thank you again."

The two physicians quickly set up their own scanning devices. Opani retrieved the samples they were due to use from the vault.

"We need to make sure the organism is not capable of airborne transmission." Singh accepted a sample from Opani. "Once we can narrow down its transmission vector, we can start on analyzing its effects on a body."

Opani took her own sample over to one of the pieces of equipment they brought in. "I should have a result shortly," she said.

The infirmary on the Irresistible was much smaller than the Aurora's medbay. Leo and his medical personnel found they had little room to work. But they nevertheless managed it. The ship's doctor, a Surgeon-Lieutenant Munissi, had shown some trepidation about the Aurora personnel, but the need to save the lives of her crew had outweighed such considerations. From her they had learned that the people on the ship could be generally referred to as "Aururians", although that seemed to be the name of a leading national group, not the entirety of their Empire.

As things were the Aururians were decently advanced in the field of medicine, having several mechanisms and devices that matched or even exceeded the Alliance's average level of medical technology. Their lack of transporter systems was the one place where Leo and his staff proved invaluable. A portable surgical unit lacked the versatility of a proper surgical theater but it sufficed, for the moment, in helping Leo repair cut blood vessels and other injuries, especially internal ones, that threatened the injured.

Meridina stepped up behind him. "They hide it, but they fear us."

"I'm not surprised," Leo answered. He used the controls of the portable unit to finish stitching up a torn blood vessel in a crewwoman's leg. Nasri was on the next bed cleaning up the blood and using a dermal regenerator on the shallow wounds on another crewwoman. "We're complete strangers to them. And I can confirm something of interest."

"They all carry the same organism as the quarantined group below," Meridina guessed.

"Almost. All but two of the humans we've treated, and those two have some sort of cybernetic implant the others lack." said Leo. "It looks like a spongiform of some kind. But until I do an in-depth analysis I'm still not sure of how it works."

"Of course." Meridina went quiet to let Leo finish securing his patient. Only when he was done and signaling for two of the Aururian orderlies to remove her from the bed did Meridina resume speaking. "I have observed another item that may be of cultural interest."

"Oh?"

As another patient was placed upon the bed, Meridina noted that her observation still held up. She looked to Leo and said. "It appears that this ship is crewed only by individuals of female gender."

"It does appear that way, doesn't it? But right now the gender of my patients doesn't concern me." Leo looked over his scans of his new patient. "I have lives to save."

Meridina nodded once and stepped away.

The ship that the quarantined Aururians had landed with was still where it landed. An energy field surrounded it to keep people out. That same need was why the Aurora officers examining the ship were in full biohazard suits.

Lucy was grateful for said suits, or rather because the blue suits were a far cry from the bulky biohazard suits she had seen on television growing up. These EVA-derived suits allowed plenty of mobility and comfort, a blessing since it allowed her to examine the close quarters of the ship's engineering space without difficulty. "It looks like they have a small internal warp drive."

"Then this thing has crap for warp range," Barnes observed. He was standing nearby. His omnitool was active and scanning the area. "And it's definitely not their primary means of superluminal propulsion."

"What's their power source?" Jarod asked over the comm. He was on the upper deck of the ship.

"They've got a combination of what looks like an anti-matter reactor and a fusion torch. It uses really Goddamned elaborate shielding. It looks like they took damage to that part of the electronics and I've got no sign of any remaining antimatter aboard. At least, I think that's what the readings indicate. Some of this; I've never Goddamned seen anything like it before."

"Which explains why they landed without checking to see who was here." Lucy ran her scanner over another part of the engineering area. As the omnitool compiled the actual makeup of the equipment and machinery she was detecting, Lucy started to put it together in her head. "Unless I'm wrong, I… I think they have a jump drive in here."

"What kind?" Barnes asked.

"Spatial fold," Lucy said. "Just like on the Battlestar Pegasus and the other Colonial ships I've seen."

"Tom, go ahead and double-check her findings to confirm. Lucy, I'd like you to get up here to the main deck. I want to access their main computer."

"Sure." Lucy thought she could hear something in Jarod's voice. A sense that he was close to finding out the solution to a mystery he'd stumbled upon. "I'm on my way."

The crew of the Koenig were assembled and ready when Zack stepped onto the bridge. He sat in his command chair and leaned forward. "All launch preparations made?"

"Yes sir," Lt. Magda Navaez, the operations/science officer, said. "Our crew is in place."

"Except for medical," added Creighton Apley, the ship's First Officer and now sporting a black strip with the two gold ones on the rank tab fixed to his collar. Formerly a Lieutenant, Apley had been promoted to Lieutenant Commander following his performance commanding the Koenig at the Battle of New Caprica. "Petty Officer Takihara and her nurses are all we have in the event of a medical emergency. I'd suggest we call up the medbay and see if they can spare one of the staff doctors."

"We're not leaving the system," Zack said, "and this is just a search mission. It shouldn't be a problem."

Apley looked uncomfortable at that decision, but the logic was sound. He nodded and turned back to his station. "Releasing the docking clamps, sir."

"Umbilicals released. We're on our own power now," Magda added.

The Aurora's support ship dock opened behind them. They backed out carefully under Apley's expert piloting. The viewscreen of the Koenig bridge was soon dominated by a view of the back of the Aurora's primary hull. The dock doors they had just exited were already closing; above them were the closed doors of the main shuttlebay, with various running lights and open ports at spots on the azure sheened hull of the Aurora. The forward tips of the upper warp nacelles began to appear before Apley brought the Koenig's bow up.

"Cloak the ship," Zack said.

"Aye sir," Magda answered. A few running lights shifted to show the ship was now cloaked. "Cloaking device is running within specs."

"Okay everyone, we're looking for something small. A comm buoy or beacon."

"Left by us?" Lt. April Sherlily asked from the tactical station.

"No. Left by these Aururians," Zack answered. "They say they claimed the system. We're going to see if they're actually telling the truth. Magda, Cat's going to be relaying you the results of her ongoing sensor sweeps. Use those and our sensors to see if you can find anything."

"Will do," she answered.

With his orders given, Zack settled back into his command chair. Now it was up to Magda and Cat to see if anything was out there.

The main deck of the Aururian ship was what Lucy would expect for a ship of this size. The living quarters were off to one wing, and her progress brought her through what looked to be a kitchen and dining area. She found Jarod waiting in the control bridge of the ship. The crew of the vessel was small, with five control consoles and a central chair. Jarod was at a console to the port side of the bridge. The screen was lit up with a language Lucy didn't recognize. "This is something," Jarod was saying. "There's no written Human language like this in our records."

"So maybe this universe's Earth had a really divergent history?" Lucy proposed. "But they spoke English, right? Maybe there's an English language mode?"

"If there is, I haven't been able to unlock it yet." Jarod went back to tapping on his omnitool. "I'm going to try a remote hack. I need you to monitor the system and tell me when I get in."

"Right." Lucy brought her own omnitool up. She linked it in with Jarod's. "Go."

Jarod started typing on a hardlight keyboard generated by his omnitool, his eyes fixed on a display generated by that same device. Code flashed across the screen in blue light. Lucy's own omnitool showed the system was still not open to them. She waited for a sign of its reaction.

It wasn't her omnitool that made the hairs on her neck stand on their ends, though. Through her life force Lucy sensed something was amiss. She concentrated to see if she could figure out more of what it was that was making her feel this way.

The moment of clarity came. Lucy immediately hit the comm key. "Everyone, out of the ship now!"

Jarod gave her a bewildered look, which grew more bewildered when she grabbed his arm and hauled him from the chair. He stumbled for a moment before finding his footing and following her. "Jarod to Aurora, we may have a situation, beam us up!"

"Not possible, Commander. The energy shield…"

"Then have them turn it off!"

"No time!" Lucy cried.

Barnes met them at the stairwell leading to the engineering spaces. Two of the other officers were already outside when they got to the exit. Everyone ran for the energy shield that isolated the ship.

Everyone but Lucy.

She waited by the exit. She could sense that there was still a life inside. When the Dorei woman emerged from the door, Lucy waited until the straggler had run past her before continuing on. The others waited on the other side of the energy field, calling out to them to hurry.

Lucy, however, already knew it was too late, even before the ship behind her exploded.

Julia stepped back out onto the bridge in response to Locarno's summons. "Report," she said, heading for her chair.

"I just picked up an explosion at the Colony spaceport," Caterina said. Julia bit back the impulse to remind Cat that she'd asked Locarno for the report, not her. There would be type for reminding Cat of that later. "It looks like the Aururian ship down there blew up."

Julia leaned her head to the side and rested it in her hand, covering her face with her palm in the process. "Was anyone hurt?"

"We are confirming that the away team's omnitools are still active," Lieutenant Sabiha Neyzi answered from Ops. "I shall have the answer…"

Caterina looked up from her station. "I've got a contact on long range sensors, bearing one-four-one mark seven. It's just come into range traveling at Warp 8."

"Can you identify it?" Julia asked.

"The warp signature isn't familiar. I'm checking the data… Subspace spike!" Cat shouted. "Their subspace presence just spiked!"

"What?" Julia looked over at her. "What is it?"

"One moment. I've never seen something like this, not exactly, but it's broadly consistent with spatial fold jump drives, like those used by the Colonies of Kobol and the Cylons," Cat explained. "And it's growing… And I've got a jump signature in-system, thirty thousand kilometers out! Ship jumping in!"

An incredible thought crossed Julia's mind, but it would have to wait. "On screen."

Julia turned to the screen in time for the white flash of light and the appearance of a new, much larger vessel. It was longer than the Aurora, she was sure, a long and somewhat squat shape that looked like it was descended from 20th Century naval warships. It was slightly wider than those often were, but the triple turrets definitely looked the part as they began to track the Aurora. The ship was rapidly slowing, dropping out of warp and swinging seamlessly into orbit of the planet.

And the bow had its own armament; two open weapon ports, of the same general look as the one that had been on the Irresistible, and each one noticeably bigger than that ship's had been.

"They jumped in while at warp. At Warp 8!" Caterina's voice betrayed her shock at the achievement.

"Code Red!" Julia called out. "All hands, man battlestations!"