An older woman, though still in her prime, sat behind a grand and ostentatious desk. Commodore Sarah Waite gazed down at it with apathy, aware that it served more as a prop than a practical tool in her day-to-day life. The sheer size of the desk, the opulence of its design, was meant to impress and intimidate the many visitors that came to see her. Space aboard starships might be a premium, but here at the Columbia Spacedock, there was enough room for such displays of luxury—an unsubtle reminder of Starfleet’s influence.

For a moment, she allowed herself to muse on the desk’s grandeur, but her thoughts quickly shifted back to the pressing matter at hand. The SS Sojourner had returned from its latest mission less than 24 hours ago, and now it was being called back into action. The mission that had just crossed her desk was of the utmost urgency, and it left her no choice but to interrupt Captain Marceau Renault’s brief leave on Earth.

“Status on contacting Captain Renault?” she asked, turning toward the communications officer stationed near the door.

The young officer turned, his face tense with an apology. “Still no response, ma’am. Captain Renault is with Lieutenant Laursen in Iceland, visiting her family. We’ve tried several times, but it appears they’re out of range or unreachable.”

Waite’s jaw tightened. It wasn’t like Renault to be unavailable, but the timing of his leave couldn’t have been worse. The situation called for swift action, and she wasn’t about to let delays compromise Starfleet’s mission.

“Very well,” she said crisply. “Prepare a shuttle pod for immediate launch. I want a retrieval team sent to Iceland within the hour. Bring Captain Renault and Lieutenant Helena Laursen back to the Sojourner. No delays.”

The officer nodded, moving quickly to carry out her orders. Waite watched him go for a moment before turning back to the large window that offered a view of Earth from the spacedock. The blue and green globe spun slowly below, peaceful and distant. But up here, decisions had to be made. Lives depended on those decisions, and Sarah Waite was never one to shirk from duty.

“Also,” she added as the officer paused at the door, “issue a recall for the rest of the crew. I want everyone back aboard the Sojourner and prepped for departure. This mission is priority one. No questions, no excuses.”

“Understood, Commodore.”

As the doors slid shut behind him, Waite allowed herself a brief moment of silence. Her gaze remained fixed on Earth, where Renault and Laursen were likely unaware of the events unfolding above them. But that wouldn’t last long. Soon they’d be pulled back into the fray, and whatever this new mission entailed, she would make sure they were ready.

“Make sure the pilot knows we don’t have time to waste,” she murmured to herself, her mind already racing through the next steps.

There would be a briefing once the crew returned, but for now, urgency and precision were the only orders of the day. The Sojourner needed to be ready for whatever lay ahead—and Waite had every intention of ensuring that it would be.

~Creeping Dread