“You’re coming back, and that is final.”, Asgren said with that icy calm that brought Linna’s blood to a boiling point. She felt the heat flush her face, but refused to back down.

“Why? I’m not needed here.”, she muttered under her breath. “I barely have any friends, and you never have time. I could finish school on Earth, and then-…”

She was cut off before she could finish her sentence.

“Then what? Waste your life on a farm?”

The question was a provocation, and Linna knew it. Because she didn’t have an answer to that yet – she just knew that she wanted to leave.

She was only just starting to figure out what she wanted, and everything her grandparents had told her about living with them appealed to her. The picturesque, peaceful setting was something she only knew from the holodeck, but it enticed her – as did the idea of getting away from her mother.

“I understand that the Sirona is not an ideal place for a teenager.”, Asgren started. She paused, letting that sink in. “But neither is that farm. It is a far cry from the freedom that is promised to you. Starfleet-…”

This time, it was Linna who interrupted. “Starfleet is freedom for you. Not me. I just have to come along whenever you get transferred, and that’s it.” Her hands balled into fists, and she had to force herself to release them. But she wasn’t done yet. “And you say you understand, but you don’t! You don’t have friends you are sad to leave behind, you don’t even like people!”

Her voice had risen, even if unintentional, and her heart raced. This was unfair. So unfair!

Especially when Asgren seemed so utterly unimpressed by her outburst.

“That is not true. I have many colleagues whom I appreciated working with on both the Avaena and here on the Sirona.”

“Colleagues you appreciated.”, Linna scoffed. “I mean friends. You know, people you spend time with even when you are not working.”

There was a long pause, and Linna wondered if she had gone too far with that remark. But if Asgren had a reply, she wasn’t able to give it. A short but unmistakable chirp from her badge interrupted them.

Again.

It wasn’t the first time that happened, but something Linna had gotten used to when her mother first took the Captain’s chair.

“Speak.”, she said, her tone no longer calm and indifferent, but clipped and sharp.

“Captain, we’ve picked up a distress signal. It’s from the USS Callisto.”

“Understood,” Asgren said and headed for the door without another word, oblivious to the glare Linna shot her.

When the Captain arrived on the bridge, her officers stood at attention. With a curt nod, she eased the tension, but didn’t waste time on additional words.

“Let’s hear the transmission.”, she said while taking her seat in the centre chair. Commander Neritalor Zantett, at the tactical station, moved his fingers over the console and was visibly dismayed when Lieutenant Commander K’Shara was faster than he was.

A moment later, the distressed face of a female officer with fair hair but Vulcan features, appeared on the view screen.

Captain Valdes narrowed her eyes as she quietly assessed the woman. The golden uniform and the pips on her collar made it evident that this was neither the Captain, nor the First Officer, nor a department head – and that alone likely meant bad news.

“This is Lieutenant Una of the Federation starship Callisto. We have encountered a hostile telepathic lifeform that has manipulated a large number of the crew, including senior staff and Captain, to leave the ship and beam down to the planet’s surface.”, the woman said, voice shaking. “We are unable to move out of the Asada system, and we require assistance. We are transmitting our coordinates, and the shield calibration that appears to thwart the telepathic influence.”

“This is a broadcast?” Valdes asked, turning to K’Shara, but it was Zantett who answered.

“Yes. An… unwise decision, if I may say so.”, he commented neutrally.

“I don’t want to know who else might have received it, and considers the Callisto easy pickings. ”, Elijah Kamau, their First Officer, agreed.

“Did they send the promised information?” Valdes asked impatiently and rose from her chair.

“They did. And more. There are personal log entries, research…” , noted K’Shara.

“Good. When will we reach them?”

“At maximum warp, we will reach their location in two hours and twenty-six minutes.”

“Set a course for the Callisto’s coordinates”, Valdes ordered. Then, she turned to Nakamura at the science station.  “Review the shield configuration. I am not relying on the Callisto’s expertise. Verify the research and cross-references with what we know about any telepathic activity in the Asada system. Kamau, contact Intel, I want the source of the distress call verified”

“Aye, sir.”

“As we approach, scan for any potentially hostile vessels the Callisto might have attracted.” Valdes added. “Yellow alert.”

Whatever the Callisto had gotten itself into, she wasn’t pleased to be the one to fix it.