A palpable tension hummed through the bridge of the USS Pulsar as the small vessel continued its slow encroachment into the Underspace corridor that had allowed the Vaadwaur to invade the Vulcan system. The semi-casual banter that had filled the space when the ship first set out on its journey was nowhere to be seen, every person (and hologram) in the compartment was focused on the task before them.

Cadet Jaya Rixx sat at the forward most console on the bridge, her eyes darting from her console to the view she had through the ship’s transparent aluminum dome periodically as if to confirm that what the helm readouts were telling her were accurate. Her bubbly enthusiasm and carefree attitude were absent, replaced by sharp focus and tense body posture. Cadet Sella Zh’Ranni pored over the tactical scans she was taking of their surroundings, her face pensive as she sifted through the data being displayed for signs of ambush or detection by their enemy. While her demeanor hadn’t changed much compared to when they’d departed, her body language had become much more rigid.

The Emergency Command Hologram was, in stark contrast, just as relaxed as he had been the moment Ensign Adler had met him. The way the hologram seemed to take their situation in stride made him seem like a seasoned veteran on ‘just another mission’ rather than some computer program being projected in the room. It was oddly comforting in a rather strange way; Corwin knew that the ECH wasn’t actually a grizzled old vet in his head and yet the composure felt genuine enough that facts didn’t actually matter.

Cadet T’Ven was stoic in her own right, but she didn’t exude the same confidence that the hologram did without even trying. The Vulcan simply appeared to be composed because that was the expectation and general assumption that was made about their race. Corwin often wondered, but had never had the courage nor the opportunity to ask, if Vulcans did feel things like trepidation, nervousness, and fear but simply ignored them. Wonder though he might, he had no desire to ask such a thing while they were on the bridge… and certainly not when they could be ambushed just around the next bend in the subspace corridor.

A warning tone from T’Ven’s console snapped Ensign Adler from his thoughts, his head jerking reflexively toward the sound. He caught the Vulcan’s eyebrow flit upward momentarily before she managed to bring her brow to a more neutral state.

“There was a momentary fluctuation in the corridor’s stability,” the young woman reported, “But it is not a concern. It is safe to proceed.” Jaya’s head bobbed in acknowledgement, and the ship continued on its path. Corwin let out the breath that he’d unconsciously held at the sound, letting himself sink back into his chair a bit.

“Can you identify the cause of the instability?” the ECH asked from his station.

T’Ven glanced at a few of the displays she had on her console before looking toward the hologram. “Sensors were not able to pinpoint a cause. The fluctuation happened within the span of a few milliseconds. It almost went undetected.”

“Why would it go undetected?” Corwin asked with a slight tilt of his head.

“The fluctuation in stability was so brief and slight that the sensors would have flagged it as an error if I had not been screening for deviations of any kind,” T’Ven explained. “Because we have almost no data regarding the nature of these corridors, I believed it to be prudent not to ignore such details.”

“Sir,” Sella spoke up, “I’m picking up what looks like engine emission trails. They’re faint, but they match what the ship has seen of Vaadwaur propulsion systems.”

“It would seem we’re on the right track,” the ECH said with a bit of a smug upturn of his lips.

“How faint are they?” Adler asked, leaning forward just a little in his chair.

“Hard to say…” the Andorian said with a frown, “the way this place interferes with our scans makes it almost impossible to tell how long ago the trails were made. They might have just been here, or they could be days old…”

Corwin got up from his chair and walked over to her console, looking at the display she’d been referencing. “Have you compared your reading with a scan of our own engine’s trail?”

“Why would I do that? …Sir?” Sella caught herself frowning at the Ensign, and hurried to banish it from her lips.

“Well, we know how long we’ve been here, right?” Corwin asked, seemingly oblivious to her momentary lapse in decorum. “So if we compare how our own energy signatures are being disbursed by the corridor, we can use that to get a rough idea of how long the Vaadwaur signature has been here.”

“How do you…?” the Andorian started to ask before Cadet T’Ven interjected with, “I believe because Ensign Adler studied Engineering at the Academy. His insight is likely informed by his technical understanding of how propulsion systems operate.”

“Right, what she said,” Corwin grinned, “So if you run a comparison scan, we should be able to get a better picture of how energy signatures degrade in the Underspace corridors… at least in theory.”

“Huh…” the Andorian muttered, her antenna twitching, “I’ll give it a try.” Sella returned her attention to the console and began running the scans the Ensign had suggested. The computer took a few moments to compile the results, and displayed a comparative overlay that Cadet Zh’Ranni couldn’t actually understand. She stared at it for a brief, frustrating moment before looking back to where she thought Adler had been, only to find herself almost banging her head against his cheek.

“I see…” Corwin murmured as he looked over the data that Sella couldn’t make heads or tails of. He nodded a few times and straightened his back, looking toward the ECH, “It looks like the Vaadwaur came through this corridor a few days ago. That lines up with their retreat from Vulcan, doesn’t it?”

“I’m surprised you remember that,” the ECH smirked, “But you are correct. That means that wherever this corridor leads us, we will likely encounter the same armada that we’ve already had the misfortune of meeting. How exciting…”

Adler couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes, “Could you not say things that feel like bad holonovel foreshadowing?”

“Oh my… a snappy comeback?” the hologram said in feigned shock, “What is this ship coming to?”

A giggle from Cadet Rixx pulled the pair from their small back and forth, and she shrank a little when she saw both of them look at her. Corwin let out a small sigh, as if to banish any lingering tension that his photonic XO had caused by his comedic interjection.

“Continue on course,” Adler said after a few heartbeats, trying to regain a little bit of his dignity.

“Ens… I mean, Captain,” Sella hesitated a beat before switching to his title, “I was wondering… why do you two… joke like that?”

Corwin turned to the Andorian, finally noticing just how close he’d gotten to her and taking a furtive step away before responding, “I guess I just got used to him being my only company on the bridge. I mean, he’s done more than a little mentoring… but after almost a month of living on this ship with him and the other holograms… I don’t know… it just kind of started to feel like I was back home… I’m so used to playing the straight man to my older sister that dealing with him just felt normal, I guess.”

Before the mood on the bridge could relax much further, both T’Ven and Zh’Ranni’s consoles started chiming with warning tones. Both Cadets hurried to investigate the cause, each one finding a different reason for the alarm.

“I am detecting a large structure dead ahead, Captain,” the Vulcan was the first to speak.

Sella’s antennas rose up as she reported, “I’m picking up hundreds of ship signatures in that same direction.”

“Any indication that we’ve been spotted?” Corwin asked nervously.

“None of the ships seem to be moving in our direction,” the Andorian responded.

“Can we get a scan of the structure without giving ourselves away?” Adler asked, turning to T’Ven.

“Uncertain,” she confessed, “I am unfamiliar with their countermeasures and cannot predict what might alert them to our presence.”

“Cadet Rixx,” Corwin turned toward the helm, “How long would it take us to get back to where we entered Underspace if we needed to make a fast getaway?”

“If I gave it everything we’ve got, ten minutes… twelve tops,” the Trill responded.

The Ensign sank into thought, weighing the dangers of being discovered against the value of the information they could potentially glean from risking their current concealment to perform the most invasive scan their sensors were capable of.

“Would you like my input, Captain?” the ECH asked after giving Adler a few moments to mull things over.

“Of course,” the Ensign nodded with a serious expression.

“For the moment, we have the element of surprise. We could easily have both Cadet Zh’Ranni and Cadet T’Ven perform separate scans on the station to give us double the chance of gleaning some measure of tactically advantageous information before we’re forced to retreat. If Cadet Rixx can make good on that ten-minute escape timeline, we should be able to fend off the vessels that are fast enough to pursue us, since we’ve already dealt with them before. Speaking purely from a strategic standpoint, that would be our best course of action.”

“But if we don’t find anything… we’ll have wasted our opportunity…” Corwin mumbled with a frown.

“We already have more information than we would otherwise have just by being here,” the hologram said flatly, “Everything we get now is merely icing on the cake, as my hospitality counterpart might say. This is a situation, I believe, where making a risky call might just give us more than we can hope to get by playing it safe.”

Adler closed his eyes and sucked in a breath, letting it out slowly as he settled on his decision. When it had just been himself and the holograms, choices had been so much simpler and the weight of them had been virtually nonexistent. Now that he had a crew… or rather a living crew… even the most banal of decisions seemed too heavy to bear. But bear them he had, and this decision would be no different.

“Cadet Zh’Ranni, initiate a comprehensive tactical scan of the structure. Focus on identifying weapon systems and power generators… anything we can bring back to the station that will help them find a weakness. Cadet T’Ven, try to figure out what that structure’s purpose is. Scan for any energy emissions… subspace signals… anything that would tell us why it’s here and what it’s being used for. Cadet Rixx, keep a close eye on the Vaadwaur ships. The minute they get within the outskirts of weapons range, I need you to turn us around and make for the exit. XO, can you make sure our Engineer is brought up to speed on our plan so he can respond to any damage we might take while we’re being chased?”

Each of the Cadets sounded off in the affirmative when Alder finished relaying his orders, while the ECH simply nodded in response. Corwin walked over to his chair and sat down, watching as his crew began to set his plan in motion.