Lieutenant Domino Cortana ran her hand through her hair as she tapped her combadge to close the link with the Captain, then turned to look at the warp core before blowing out a long breath and closing her eyes. She wanted to scream, or curse, or throw something – but her counselors had been slowly working on increasing her self control and right now she couldn't afford to blow her cool. After counting down from ten she opened her eyes and pointed at the crewman nearest to her. "Jimmy, wake up Lieutenant Florence. We've got work to do and I'm going to need him in here."

"Yes ma'am," the engineer nodded and trotted off tapping his combadge

Raising her voice she resisted the urge to hop up on the safety rail around the Warp Core to get everyone's attention. Being short had its disadvantages… "Ok everyone, listen up!"

She waited the requisite ten seconds for everyone to put down what they were doing to pay attention, "The Captain says we're going somewhere, and we're going there in a hurry – so the tweaking and tuning we were planning to do to make this boat sing? Stow it – we need to be able to give the bridge Warp eight, now. So give me a status report people, can we do it?"

Off to Domino's left, Chief Rix – a Bajoran – and Domino's most senior non-commissioned officer piped up, "Warp field looks good, and the core is stable. I don't see why not. Though I wouldn't push it past that without tuning, it seems like no two ships ever run the same model warp core quite the same. We probably won't be overly efficient in getting there, but we'll get there all the same Lieutenant."

Nodding, Domino replied, "Good to hear Chief – then let's get it done. What about shields and weapon systems? Mac? You finished that diagnostic yet?"

Ensign Mackenzie nodded, "Got it done Cort. The weapon systems and shielding checked out – but somehow we got out of the dock without the targeting subsystem programming being completely loaded into the main computer. The onboard weapons will work but we won't really be able to point them at anything with any accuracy until we get a chance to properly load that subsystem… and while I think I have what I need – it'll probably take a good hour to process."

"Get started Mac. Take the replicators offline or whatever you have to do to get the processing power. I don't know if we'll need weapons – but it'd be a fairly sad sight if we were called to use them, and we couldn't point them at anyone." Domino ordered, and then followed with a question. "Shields looked ok though?"

"You bet. They need some tweaking, but they should function nominally." Mackenzie affirmed.

"Good. What's the word on the CAT system – how hard was it on the main batteries, Carl?" Domino fired off, her finger spearing out at her other on shift ensign.

Carl blinked; seemingly surprised that he was being called on, "Uhm…"

Domino growled, which was an all together disturbing sound, coming from her frame, "Carl…."

"No… I got it ma'am. The CAT shots were barely a blip on the power grid ma'am – almost as advertised. We could shut down the Warp Core and still fire full squadron shots for hours without expending much." Carl answered, suppressing a nervous swallow.

"Great. Carl, your team is in charge of making any needed adjustments on the fly to the inertial compensators, do it right – I don't want to end up splattered on a bulkhead, you hear me?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. Where the hell is Florence?" Domino asked no one in particular.

"Right behind you, Lieutenant," Zachary Florence answered in a heavy baritone.

Domino spun on the balls of her feet to face her second. While most of the engineering staff was taller then her without trying too hard– Zach towered above her. He was a good six foot four inches tall and built like an Ox. Domino had no idea what his parents fed him as a child, but whatever it was – it worked. She'd originally be a bit intimidated by the large Junior Grade, and slightly worried he'd try to muscle into her job, but so far none of that had happened, and she'd found him to be a competent officer, and an excellent second. Little did she know that Florence found the fiery little Irish girl intimidating as all hell.

"It's about time. I have to go up to the bridge to get briefed on what the hell is going on that we're getting diverted from our shakedown. You're in charge til I get back, the Chief can fill you in. Let the bridge know in… four minutes that we are ready to go to Warp. I told the Captain ten, so being ready a few minutes early is always a good thing – besides – we could go to Warp right now – but they don't need to know that." Domino retorted smoothly as she headed for the door, "Hold the fort for me eh Florence?"

"Yes ma'am" Zach replied, straightening his duty tunic. He'd been called out of a dead sleep and literally dressed on his jog down to engineering. Looking at the Chief he sighed, "Ok Rix, spill it – what the hell is going on?"

Out in the black, Commander Wellington watched his two veteran squadrons line up and take their turns at the retrieval deck. 'Combat landings' meant that the fighters lined up for landings two at a time, with a scant five second spacing between pairs. The deck was wide enough that they could probably retrieve four at a time in this manner, but safety dictated that two be the maximum. To also alleviate traffic problems, the pairs alternated which retrieval side they used.

So far everyone had made a successful 'trap' and the only foul up had been when Lieutenant Matheson, the Reaver's resident nugget had flared his fighter too hard, and blown a tire on the rear landing gear when setting down. This was always a possibility, though a fairly low risk one, since the tires were not filled with air, but instead a temperature inert gas that did not expand or contract much within its operational temperatures.

As the last of the 'Cards and Reavers entered the landing pattern, Wellington keyed his mic. "Looks like it's just you and me left Angel."

"Roger that Griff. Seems like the Ranger is in a hurry, what say we put these toys away eh?" Captain Karin 'Angel' Yi responded. Angel was a marine, and the head SAR pilot. The Ranger carried a modified version of the LC the Marine's used for breach procedures to retrieve EV pilots. The SARs had picked up the nickname "Angels" from their head pilot's moniker. So far, they hadn't been needed.

"Sounds good to me, ladies first," Griff responded as he rolled his fighter into the landing pattern

"No joy Griff, you know the rules. Angels are first out, and last in. Go put her on the deck and I'll be five seconds behind you." Angel responded ruefully as she throttled back to let Griff's Eagle, the sole member of Viper flight get ahead of her.

Griff chuckled into the open mic as he flipped over to Ranger Control, "Viper 1 on final has ball."

"Roger Viper – clear for trap." The voice of Ranger control responded.

A short ten seconds later, Viper One was yanked to a stop by the Ranger's tractor field, and Griff was being carefully guided into his parking spot by a deckhand. Glancing towards the massive bay doors, Griff noticed they hadn't yet started their close sequence, but from the elongated star lines he could tell the Ranger had already gone to Warp. Where ever they were going, they were in one hell of a hurry.

Griff had only just finished the shutdown sequence on his Eagle and popped the canopy when the head of Petty Officer Malone, his crew chief, appeared next to him. "How'd she fly Commander?"

"Smooth as a virgin's ass Chief. I take it the Captain's in a hurry to get somewhere?" Griff responded, as he pulled his helmet off.

"Aye sir, I was told to pass the word that he wants to see you ASAP. Good to hear my bird's soaring as she should." Malone agreed as he helped the Commander unstrap before hopping down.

"Guess I best not keep them waiting then. Keep up the good work Malone." Griff quipped as he clambered down from his cockpit, and headed for the nearest turbolift at a jog. He never heard Malone's reply.

"Sir, Engineering is reporting it's ready to go to Warp." Ensign Zephyr stated, as he glanced over his shoulder at Commander Nyes, "I've got the course laid in, ready on your order."

"Commander Terrik, what's the word from the flightdeck?" Caroline asked

"Commander Tai is reporting that all fighters are aboard and the SAR has just touched down." Terrik paused and touched a control on his panel, "Starting bay door close sequence now."

"Do we need the doors closed to initiate Warp?" Caroline asked, berating herself for not knowing the answer.

Terrik shook his head, "Negative sir."

"Ensign, engage Warp 8."

"Warp eight, aye." Ensign Zephyr responded. A moment later there was a momentary shudder through the ship, as from an outside observer the Ranger seemed to stretch and then leap away as she accelerated to Warp. A moment later, the ride smoothed out. "Warp eight indicated and confirmed. We should be on station in about forty minutes."

"Good. Commander Terrik, you have the bridge. I'm going to go find out what all this is about." Caroline said as she rose from the center chair and headed for the Situation Room. Most of the senior staff was already there.

"Aye sir, keep us informed." Was the Vulcan's overly calm response as he moved from his station at Ops to take the center chair, his second quietly stepping up to take his place.

Devin listened to his senior staff talking in hushed tones behind him as he watched the star's streak by. The majority of them were already here – only Caroline and Terrik were missing, and Terrik would miss this meeting to run the bridge, as he was third in the Chain of Command.

A moment later he heard the door swish open and Commander Nyes stepped in, "We are en-route to the provided coordinates at Warp eight sir, expected arrival in approximately 40 minutes."

Turning away from the viewport the Captain picked up his ever-present coffee mug, "Good. Now that we're all here I can explain what's going on." Devin paused to make sure he had everyone's attention. Feeling as well as seeing all eyes on him, he continued, "Thirty five minutes ago, Star Fleet Command lost contact with a military convoy moving from the research labs around Alpha Centari to our fleet testing facility around Titan – we've been tasked with heading to their last known coordinates and locating her."

"We're going looking for few lost freighters?" Domino asked, an eyebrow raised, "What's so important about these hulks that Command decided to pull us out of a shakedown?"

"Aren't the research facility's around Alpha Centari tasked with designing weaponry?" Major Maddock responded with a question.

Beside him Gary nodded, "Yah, they are Bill, their last little triumph was the breakthrough that gave us quantum torpedoes."

"I assume with that information, the rest of you are putting two and two together. Whatever is on that ship is a military secret, and may very well be fairly unhealthy for all involved." Devin tapped a control on the holotable, taking a moment to take a pull from his coffee mug, as the holoimages of the three convoy ships appeared. "The convoy was made up of three ships. Two Military Grade Specialty haulers, or Milspec freighters – and one Sabre class frigate for escort. At this time, it is unknown what has happened to them, or where they are for certain. Our job is to find them, ascertain the situation and assist in anyway possible."

"That's all well and good sir, but if I may… why us?" Caroline asked.

Hiding a small grin behind another sip of coffee, Devin answered a moment later, "Whatever is in those freighters is a military secret Command hasn't even graced us with the answer to what is in them. Due to the fact that none of the ships is reporting in, or answering hails – they've assumed the worst."

"Which is total catastrophe, and the more ships involved, the likelier that word leaks. Plus, we're equipped for heavy SAR and Salvage if necessary, and our primary mission is military in nature." Caroline filled in, "I see."

"Indeed. Any questions?" Devin asked

Lieutenant Fero raised a pair of fingers, "Just the one for me… and no offense intended to Lieutenant Grigs, but what are we doing here? This sound's like a military operation… And that's generally outside my purview, and his."

Beside her, Rilo nodded, "I was just going to ask that myself Captain."

"Perhaps, but I prefer to get everyone's opinion, and weather you consider 'military' operations outside your purview, you are here on this ship and you represent your departments, and what effects this ship, could effect them. Besides I have a few jobs for the both of you." Devin paused and glanced around, "Any other questions?"

"Yes sir. I have one," Sol stated quietly. "Are we considering the convoy friendly or hostile?"

"ROEs are the convoy is friendly until we determine otherwise, however all caution is to be taken. We do not know the status of the convoy, what its carrying, or why it dropped off the grid. Is that clear for everyone?" Devin responded. Around him, everyone nodded.

"Good. Ok, if that's the last of the questions, we've got work to do." Devin paused, but no one volunteered, "Bill – snag your three best squads and get them down to the flight deck and loaded up on their LCs. Depending on what's going on, we may need an armed response – and I want to be ready just in case. Domino, round up three repair crews and send em down to the LCs, there should be room for them, and even if we don't need Marine support, those ships may need our help, logistically and from a repair perspective. Plus, if they aren't needed to shoot, the Marine's can assist as an extra set of hands – and if we run into casualties, the Marine's Corpsmen should be able to handle basic first aide til we can get them back to the Ranger. Oh, and you'd best have your engineer's who are qualified draw a side arm. Clear?"

"As crystal sir." Bill responded, with a sharp nod.

"Very, I'll get my people on it sir," was Domino's reply.

Devin turned to Commander Wellington, "Gary – I highly doubt we're going to find the Convoy at the coordinates provided, to this end, I want two Hawks and two Hawk-Rs with full combat loads prepped for immediate launch as soon as we arrive. They'll be our bloodhounds, and scout ahead. Pair them with four Eagles to fly CAP. Full ready roster – if we run into trouble, I want to give it a welcome it'll never forget. Make sure they understand this is not a training situation."

Gary nodded, "Will do sir. I'll work with Kim and we'll be ready."

"Of course – Helen, sick bay goes on full alert starting now. I need you ready to handle a worst case scenario, including large numbers of casualties from the convoy. Your people ready?" Devin asked

"We'll be ready sir. Keep us updated so we can stage the proper equipment." Helen responded with just a hint of nerves – this could turn into her first major operation in command of a sick bay, and she didn't want to screw up.

"Kim, I assume you know what to do." Devin asked, and received a nod in response, "Don't forget to wake up the Salvage team, we may need them…. Sol, ship goes on full alert starting now. Have security teams draw weapons and report to their staging areas or duty stations. Now… Rilo and Melissa – here's what I need from you; Rilo – starting now, I want you to start running full spectrum science scans. You'll be calibrating our equipment, while looking for certain things…"

"You want me to try to figure out what the convoy is carrying," Rilo interrupted with a grin

"In a word, yes – as well as any other information you might be able to pull in, we can't depend on information from SFC on this one so we'll just have to find everything we can ourselves. Melissa – I want you to pull the duty rosters from the three ships. The freighters should be lightly crewed, and I'm really only interested in the Command Crew from the Sabre. See if you find any red flags of any sort – if you do – we need to know, ASAP. Pull your entire staff if you have to."

"I think we can handle that sir." Melissa responded with a nod, and a slight smile

"Alright, you all have your marching orders – get to it people, we hit the fire in less then twenty minutes." Devin ordered, shutting down the holotable as a way to end the meeting

The senior staff of the Ranger filed out smartly – all heading out to prepare their people for the upcoming tasks. All except Caroline – she waited until the door slid shut behind the last of them, "Are we ready for this? A lot of the crew is pretty green."

Finishing his mug of coffee Devin shrugged, "We'll have to be. We keep our eyes open and our heads about us we'll come out fine."

"But the shakedown…" Caroline started

Devin interrupted her, "Has been replaced by a trial by fire. It could end up being nothing. But we're going to treat it as something, all the way up until we figure out what's going on. Its good practice if it's nothing, and if it's not 'nothing' then we'll be ready whatever comes."

"Alright, but I'd like to go on record as saying this is a bad idea." Caroline replied with a resigned sigh.

"Noted Commander, but orders are orders, and it is our job to perform. So let's get going – we've got a busy few hours ahead of us at least."

Caroline nodded, "Aye sir – lets get this done with."

Sharing a nod, the two headed out onto the bridge. There was much to do, and not much time to do it in.