“Attack pattern echo four,” Raisa barked.

Ark Royal rolled ninety degrees to port at the hands of Lieutenant da Costa as the mighty Sovereign-class starship charged towards her target. Lieutenant Commander Calhoun timed his use of the ship’s weapons systems perfectly. Multiple phaser beams lanced out from the ventral arrays. As the beams swept across the jagged surface, they left angry scars in their wake. Calhoun followed up with a full spread of quantum torpedoes, each of them leaving Ark Royal with an audible thump that could be felt as it reverberated through the hull.

Raisa watched as the torpedoes found their target, impacting the asteroid’s surface. The large rock began to fracture as the torpedo explosions ripped it apart from the inside. It splintered into several smaller pieces and a ton of debris that moved off in different directions. 

“The asteroid is breaking up,” Calhoun reported. “Target eliminated.”

“If only real combat was as easy,” Raisa muttered. Blowing up asteroids was one thing, they didn’t fire back. But going up against a real enemy would test the crew in ways no simulation could. “Stand down from red alert,” The lights on the bridge returned to their standard illumination. “I want evaluations from all departments by eighteen hundred hours today. Lieutenant da Costa, return us to our patrol route and take us to Warp Two.” 

The constant, almost imperceptible, vibration of the deck shifted as Ark Royal jumped back to warp. Other than their defeat of a defenceless floating hunk of rock, day four of their border patrol was shaping up to be as uneventful as the previous three. 

But the shadow of what lay behind their seemingly ordinary orders hung over all of them. Assigning a ship like Ark Royal to patrol the border, even as part of a shakedown, didn’t make sense. Everyone she spoke to, from the captain down, had voiced concerns that there was more to this than they were being told. They weren’t letting those concerns darken their mood.

“C’mon. It’ll be fun, I promise.”

Raisa looked up from the PADD she’d been handed to find Lieutenant Commander Calderwood leaning against the CONN chatting to da Costa.

“I dunno,” da Costa replied with a shrug. “It’s not really my scene.”

Calderwood huffed. “I know you’re still pining for that engineer you dated…what was his name?”

“Calvin,” da Costa replied. “And I’m not pining.”

“Yes you are,” Calderwood shot back. “But it’s been over a year since you and he dated. You need to get over him.” A sly smile pulled at his lips. “And the best way to do that is to get under someone else.”

Raisa’s jaw dropped and she glanced at Calhoun, who shook his head as he chuckled.

“Laugh all you want Calhoun,” Calderwood raised his voice to be heard on the other side of the bridge. “But you know I’m right.”

There was no time for Calhoun to reply. “Mister Calderwood,” Raisa snapped, fixing him with a steely glare, “I’m sure this conversation could wait until you’re off duty.”

Calderwood’s face turned a light shade of red. “Yes, ma’am.”

With Calderwood slinking back to his station, da Costa glanced over his shoulder and gave Raisa a tight-lipped smile.

Silence descended on the bridge again, punctuated only by the gentle hum that permeated the ship and the usual sounds of the LCARS interface as the crew worked. Raisa returned to reading her PADD, signing off on the report before handing it to Petty Officer Inara.

Before Inara could reach the turbolift, the door opened and Commander Callahan charged out. “Where’s the captain?” Her chest heaved as she struggled to catch her breath.

“He’s in the ready room,” Raisa pointed at the door.

Callahan marched quickly across the bridge and disappeared into the ready room. “What was that about?” Wescott muttered so only Raisa could hear.

“I think we’re about to learn what the hell we’re really doing out here,” Raisa replied.

Seconds turned to minutes. The longer Callahan was in the ready room, the more frequently Raisa’s eyes kept flicking to the door. Finally, Captain Henris emerged from the ready room, his lips drawn. “Helm, alter course for Valdran Prime.”

“Sir?” Raisa’s brow furrowed deeply. “Valdran is one of the worlds in the Independent Romulan Territories.”

Henris nodded slowly. “I know.” He turned back to da Costa. “Take us to maximum warp.”

“Aye, sir.” The young helmsman replied.

With a sharp tap of his commbadge, Henris ordered, “Senior officers report to the observation lounge immediately.”

“Captain,” Callahan took a hesitant step forward, “Commodore Wyatt’s orders were clear. You’re not to share-”

“We’re about to charge head first into Romulan space,” Henris cut across her. “I won’t keep my crew in the dark. I’ll deal with the consequences of my decision when we get back.” 

Henris continued into the observation lounge leaving Callahan standing in the middle of the bridge, all eyes watching her. Callahan stood rooted to the spot, her eyes darting around the bridge as her cheeks turned a deep shade of pink. She lifted her head and strode purposefully into the observation lounge.

Raisa remained seated while the senior officers on the bridge filed into the observation lounge. Finally, she allowed herself to be relieved. The door opened with a soft hiss as Raisa approached it. Once inside she moved to the replicator first and ordered a steaming cup of red-leaf tea before settling into the seat to the captain’s right. Once again she found herself seated across from Commander Callahan.

“Looks like we were right,” Henris muttered.

Raisa nodded slowly. She gave Callahan a pointed look. “Sending a Sovereign-class starship on a border patrol was a pretty flimsy cover.” Callahan kept her eyes locked on her PADD.

The arrival of Lieutenant Commanders Voss and Young rounded out the senior officers. “We’re all here,” Henris announced, looking expectantly at Callahan.

Callahan set her PADD down and looked around the room, locking gaze with Raisa momentarily. “Our task is to extract a civilian Romulan scientist from Valdara Prime.”

“A defector?” Raisa asked.

Callahan nodded as she stood. Moving to the large screen that dominated one wall of the observation lounge, she pulled up a file image of the Romulan in question, “Doctor Tovan Livek has worked on some of the most classified research projects for the Free State,” Callahan explained. “For the past three years, he’s been passing us information, but in recent months he’s become increasingly convinced the Tal Shiar suspect him.” 

“Do they?” Wescott asked with an arched eyebrow.

“We believe so,” Callahan replied. “Our intelligence indicates they’ve had him under surveillance.” Her eyes met Raisa’s, but she quickly averted her gaze. “Livek regularly travels home to Valdran Prime to visit his parents. The plan was to extract him during one of these visits.”

“Was?”

Callahan looked everywhere but at Raisa. “In his last message, Livek said that Klingons have invaded Valdran Prime.”

“What message?” Calderwood asked. “We haven’t received any transmissions from inside Romulan space.”

“Doctor Livek and I have developed a method of communication that bypasses the standard comm protocols.”

Voss sat forward. “It’s quite a coincidence that the Klingons are attacking just as Livek prepares to be extracted.”

“Actually, it’s not,” Callahan told him. “Starfleet Intelligence regularly shares information with their Klingon counterparts.”

Raisa’s eyebrows shot up. “And they shared the intelligence about Doctor Livek?”

“Three days ago,” Callahan replied with a slow nod.

There were low murmurs around the table. “This information was supposed to be kept compartmentalised. I have no idea why it was shared, but it was. We need to extract Doctor Livek before the Klingons or the Tal Shiar catch up with him.” 

“What’s so special about this Doctor Livek?” Wescott asked.

Callahan hesitated, clearly weighing up how much she should share. She finally replied, “Doctor Livek’s recent work has been focused on the Free State’s development of next-gen cloaking technology. With his knowledge and research, Starfleet would be able to develop the ability to easily detect cloaked ships.”

“That seems like knowledge worth having,” Wescott relented.

Henris leaned forward. “Commander Shukri will lead a small team to the planet’s surface to meet with and extract Doctor Livek while I try to negotiate a peaceful withdrawal of Klingon forces.”

Calhoun’s jaw clenched. “The Klingons aren’t going to withdraw, sir. Not without a fight.”

“No,” Henris agreed. He leaned forward and laced his fingers together. “But they’re still our allies so we have to try and resolve this situation peacefully.”

“And if we can’t?” Calhoun prodded.

“I won’t allow them to continue their illegal occupation of an independent Romulan world,” Henris’ blue eyes scanned the room, like a cold wind whipping across the room.

Raisa shifted in her seat. The alliance between the Empire and the Federation was more fragile now than at any time since the Dominion War. She’d heard reports of Starfleet ships exchanging fire with Klingons, but she struggled to believe it would come to that here. 

“Maintain yellow alert,” Henris ordered. “Commander Shukri, I want another series of tactical and security drills before we reach the Valdran system.”

Raisa nodded.

“If there’s nothing else,” Henris glanced around the gathered officers who remained silent, “then you’re dismissed.”

Raisa watched Callahan trying to make a quick escape, but Raisa was tired of being ignored and that was no longer an option. “Selina!” Raisa called after her, but Callahan kept moving. “Commander Callahan, a moment.” She spoke louder this time and her tone more commanding, which caused Callahan to stop and her back to stiffen.

“What can I do for you, Commander?” Callahan asked formally once they were alone.

Raisa gripped the headrest of her chair tightly. “You can’t keep ignoring me.”

“It’s either that or I say something I’ll regret,” Callahan replied stiffly.

“We’re both good at that,” Raisa’s tone was soft. “But we need to try talking about our issues.”

“Why reopen those old wounds?”

“You tried the night you came onboard.”

“And look how well that turned out.”

A deep sigh escaped Raisa’s lips. “I’ve carried so much guilt over how we ended things with me for such a long time.”

“You’re not interested in talking about ‘our issues’,” Callahan scoffed. “You only want to absolve yourself of guilt. What’s wrong regretting your choice?” 

“I don’t regret choosing Ashraf,” Raisa told her, noticing the subtle twitch of Callahan’s eye at the mention of his name.

“Nice to know you still think I’m second best,” Callahan grumbled.

It felt to Raisa as if she’d just been slapped. “I never thought that.”

“Yes you did,” Callahan spat back. “You made that clear when you chose him.”

Raisa rubbed her face. “I loved you both.” The weariness she felt was evident in her voice. “I wanted to be with both of you.”

“Yeah, well I didn’t want to share you,” Callahan’s voice wavered.

“Why didn’t you say that at the start?”

“I did!” Callahan exploded. “You wouldn’t listen. You just kept telling me it would be fine, that we’d make it work.” She let out a huff. “Well, it wasn’t. And it didn’t.”

“Selina-”

“Let’s just try to get through this without making things worse,” Callahan said before straightening her back. “Now, if there’s nothing else I need to contact Doctor Livek and let him know we’re on our way.” She strode from the room without another word.

“Dismissed,” Raisa said to the now empty room, “I guess.”