[snip]

Upon perusal of the information packet the Captain would see aspects for Science, Security and Engineering which he would be able to distribute to the team.

Upon hearing the captains’ request from her Stella knitted her brows wondering if Captain Sugar was okay. Had he forgotten that ship time and station time often was different? She finally heaved a sigh and figured that just the use of one hour should do the trick. With a broad grin on her face, she opened the channel back up and replied in a soft voice. ” Right away Captain sir.”

Then opening the frequency for all ship wide personnel, she spoke in her official sounding voice saying, =/\= Attention all Merrimac personnel. We have received orders and leave is over. The captain would like all senior staff to report to conference room A in one hours’ time. Once again, all senior staff report to conference room A in one hour. Thank you! =/\=

Glen spent his time reviewing the information.

Just before the appointed hour was up, M’Mera made her way into the conference room. “Captain”, she said in greeting as she chose a chair a few down from him to allow the XO to sit at his right hand.

“Lieutenant!” replied John Glen. He found the disc that contained the security information on Ardan V and handed it to her. Glen hadn’t found it contained much substance, reports of nomadic marauders in the Hromi region, but wasn’t that true of any system on the edges of known space?

He sorted out the Science and Engineering discs too, and put them to one side to distribute.

The appointed hour came and went, but given the short notice, and some confusion over the conference room signage, he waited a few more minutes for the stragglers to arrive.

Max was just finishing up a short nap when he heard the announcement. He went ahead and got up and put his uniform back on. He did not expect a large amount of relaxation but having the nap, was nice. He then left his quarters and headed towards the conference room. He saw Captain Glen present so hi said, “Hello Captain. Lt Mullins reporting as expected. Is it alright if I take a seat?” He waited for a response from the captain before sitting down.

Cross made her way to the conference room ,for some odd reason she held her Padd in front of her stomach ..........as if being pregnant was something to be ashamed off.

“Of course,” Glen replied, handing him the disc containing the engineering information. “I’m also sorry that you never found out what was inside that spacecraft, though you probably had a very lucky escape there!”

’’ That was my line of thinking ‘’ she responded to Glen ‘’Captain sometimes I wonder if those above want to rid of us ‘’ and with that she took a seat next to the table.

“Orders are orders, Doctor!” Glen replied. “But I will never direct you to do anything I think is unsafe. We are usually out on the edge of the Federation, often further still, sometimes on the very edge of known space, and our orders are often a bit vague, with plenty of room to wiggle… shall we get started?”

Glen stood up and skipped the projector to a slide showing a map of the Hromi Cluster, and indicated Ardan V.

“This is the destination of our next mission,” Glen said. “Another mining colony world. Romulans, Klingons, and several pirate gangs have been there previously but pulled out for unknown reasons. The Federation has a colony there now but it has been in trouble. A garbled distress call from them yesterday referred to sabotaged equipment and something missing. They mine Dilithium-Niobium-Oxide and the man in charge is called Platus. he was an owner/operator on several mining haulers and seems to have worked his way to the top position. We are there to provide assistance. That’s really all I know, but the DHs have additional information in the discs I’ve given them. Any further questions?”

‘’Another mining colony ? If the Romulans, Klingons and pirates got the hell out of there , doesn’t that tell you something !’’ Cross exclaimed ‘’ On the very edge of unknown space and our orders are often a bit vague, really Captain is that what you believe that we are safe ?’’ the CMO raised her tone ‘’Okay ,okay I understand orders are orders’‘.

“There are rumours of something supernatural, Doctor,” replied Glen. “Should I believe those? Bogeymen, evil spirits, meta-genic monsters or just more mysterious interphasic aliens, witchcraft, and things that go bump in the night? …You know, there are plenty of quite reasonable reasons why such a colony might fail that wouldn’t be of any concern to us, from geological instability to problems with long distance logistics and supply. Part of our mission will obviously be to determine the ‘why’ here! With that in mind, I have attempted to discover the reasons why the Romulans might have left.”

“Any other questions?” Glen asked.

• Glen, CO