It had been a couple of hours since the engineering and operations teams had gone to the freighter to assist with repairs. Serel Nal walked over to where Ailsa Zudoba was at her science station. “Can you detect any residuals about the weapon that was used to do this kind of damage to the freighter?” Nal asked.

“I might be able to, though, with how long it had been since they were attacked, and when we arrived, it might be difficult.” Zudoba began looking at the captain, “but I will give it my best shot to come up with some sort of clue as to what it is or could be.”

“Very well, keep me updated on anything you find out,” Nal replied before returning to his chair.

“Aye, sir,” Zudoba replied as she scanned the ship to find clues.

“Any ideas as to what this could be?” Meihui asked as Nal sat down in his chair.

“Well, with what has been reported by Fourth Fleet Intelligence, the Orion Syndicate has gotten ahold of stolen technology from Daystram and Borg technology that had not completely been recovered from the black market.” Nal began as he adjusted in his chair, leaning back a bit, “its got to be something they got ahold of they were testing on less expected ships before moving onto bigger targets such as Starfleet ships if it were my guess, I’d say it was of Borg origin.”

“Now that is a bit unsettling, the Orions having such technology,” Meihui said, blowing out her cheeks as she didn’t like that sound. “Hopefull the Argus and Triumph can find them and bring them down before they attack anyone else,” Meihui said after a few moments of sitting quietly, lost in her thoughts.

Nal sighed loudly while looking up at the ceiling for a moment. “Me too,” Nal replied.

“We’re getting a transmission from Commander Bross,” T’Korel spoke up from his station in his usual monotone voice.

“On screen,” Nal replied, rising from his position to see the screen change and showing the Bolian engineer.

“I might have found something,” Bross said, which seemed to pique the captain’s interest.

“What did you find?” Nal asked.

“There is a weapon that I have seen make this kind of damage, at least for those not blown to pieces. Some of the scans I have taken so far point that way, but I don’t understand how this could even be possible.” Bross said.

Serel Nal looked at the commander with confusion written all over his face, “what do you mean?”

“This looks to be that of a Dominion disruptor,” Bross spoke.

“What?” Nal asked in shock before looking at Zudoba. “Have you found anything that might corroborate Bross?” Nal asked.

“No…” Zudoba began but stopped when her computer beeped. “Wait, I am picking up a faint weapon trail that indicates a weapon usually used by the Dominion,” Zudoba replied, which caused everyone to become confused.

“Wouldn’t the freighter have been destroyed?” Nal said as the color drained from his face to think that the Orion had gotten ahold of a weapon like that.

“It would have, but this tells me they haven’t been able to integrate it with their ship systems fully, which means it doesn’t have its full power,” Bross spoke up, looking at him. “Though I don’t think their angle is destruction, at least for now, they are testing things out and then stealing cargo from the freighters for good measure.” She added.

“Wonderful. Not only do the Orion Syndicate have Borg technology and the technology stolen from Daystrom, but they now have Dominion technology. Lovely.” Nal said as he closed his eyes and let out a large sigh before opening them again to look at Commander Bross. “Do you think you can repair their systems enough to get them to a starbase at least?” Nal asked.

“We should be able to. I will keep you updated on our progress,” Bross replied.

“Good. Thank you, Commander,” Nal said before the line cut out. Nal sat back and looked at Commander Meihui. “This seems to complicate things a bit,” Nal said in a low voice as he sat there thinking for a moment, gathering his thoughts before making his next call.

“Indeed,” Meihui replied, concerned that a weapon like that was out there.

“Get me, Captain T’Prel,” Nal ordered after he thought of what he’d say to the captain as to what they found. A few moments later, the viewscreen changed to the face of T’Prel.

“Yes, Captain,” T’Prel said.

“We found something during our initial investigation that gave us a clue as to what the weapon could be,” Nal said.

She raised her eyebrow at the news that they had found something of value. “What is it?” T’Prel asked. Nal began explaining what his engineer and science officers had found, which caused T’Prel to look at the captain as if he had grown a second head or something. “Are you positive?” she asked.

“Positive,” Nal said.

“Wouldn’t that freighter have been destroyed?” T’Prel asked the same question he asked his engineer.

“From what Commander Bross explained, she believes that they haven’t been able to fully integrate the weapon with their systems yet,” Nal began. “She also believes that is not their angle at the moment. She believes they are testing the weapon and stealing their cargo.” He repeated what Bross relayed to him.

“That doesn’t mean that it will remain that way. That means we must find them faster and bring them down before they reach that point.” T’Prel said with urgency laced in her voice. 

“Indeed,” is all that Nal could say.

“Thank you for the information. I will relay this to Captain Adams.”

“Understood. I will keep you updated on the repairs to the freighter,” Nal said.

“Thank you, T’Prel out,” she said before the viewscreen went blank.

Placing his face in his hands, he began to rub it, still trying to take everything in. Things just kept getting more interesting by the minute. He just hoped that the Triumph and Argus could find the raiders and bring them down, retrieving the Dominion technology they possessed before they could attack any other freighter or upping their game and begin to destroy ships.

“You have the bridge,” Nal said to Meihui as he stood up and headed towards the turbolift. “Infirmary,” he said as he entered, and the doors closed behind him. The lift began to move towards its destination. He physically went to the infirmary to get an update rather than do so over comms. A few moments later, the lift came to a complete stop before the doors opened. Walking out, he headed down the corridor until he arrived at the infirmary.

Walking in, he saw doctors rushing around working on patients. He didn’t see Dr. Ri anywhere. Walking up to one of the nurses, “Where is Dr. Ri?” Nal asked.

The nurse looked up quickly at Nal. ” She is in the surgical bay, ” the nurse responded before returning to work.

“Thank you,” Nal said before he approached where the doctor was. Still, before he could walk in there, Kellase Ri exited, exhausted from having done several surgeries and stabilizing the more critical patients.

She was shocked to see the captain standing there, “how can I help you?” Ri asked as she began to walk towards her office, waving him to follow her.

Nal followed her as she walked, “I just came to get an update on the wounded.”

She remained quiet, deciding not to answer his question until they reached her office. Upon entering, she walked to the replicator to order a cup of coffee before turning towards Nal. ” Care for a drink?” she asked. He just shook his head with a thank you. Grabbing the drink she ordered, she walked to her desk and sat down, taking a sip. 

“There were several that were in more critical condition than others. We were able to perform surgery to stabilize them. They will need to be transferred to a hospital facility for more intensive care than what we can offer.” Ri began taking another drink before letting out a sigh, “we did end up losing one patient. He was too far gone for us to save him even though we did try our best.” Ri said it always got to her when she lost a patient. “The rest of the crew had minor injuries, which my staff is finishing up with treatment for,” she finished.

Nal sat there listening to her and seeing her feel defeated, unable to save everyone. He wasn’t sure what he could say to make her feel the way she was feeling. He’d probably make her feel worse, so he didn’t say anything other than place a hand on her shoulder, hoping to convey that everything would be alright. They continued to chat about the patients and what the engineering team had discovered. He’d worked with Ri on a previous posting before the Argo. He always enjoyed her company and tended to talk to her about anything when they had a moment.