Act 3: Movements And Moments

Posted on Saturday March 28th, 2026 @ 4:27pm by Fleet Admiral Domingo Martinez & Commander Hollie Tias

1,235 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: VFY S1, E5: Del'a soran
Location: Port Royale, Operations Center

Location: Port Royale, Operations Center

Holle had spent several hours reaching out to various contacts until she was able to get the information that Commodore Martinez had ask her for. She had to admit that most of the time she had spent was nothing more than waiting for confirmation of information, but she had started to dig deeper into the system. It had briefly amused her to think of herself as an Intelligence Officer and she had the computer play several songs with a secret agent them, but she had quickly grown bored with it.

Finally, she had everything that she needed and headed to the Operations Center with a PADD in her hand. Once she arrived there, she bypassed the Yeoman who had started to object until he saw the look on the Trill Commander's face and went directly to Dominic's office and pressed the chime.

"Enter." Called out Domingo, he was reviewing a couple of data pads. When he glanced up for a brief moment. "Let's skip the reporting part, have a seat Commander and tell me what you have?" He said, trying to find a report from the USS Pioneer. Last he heard, she was now in orbit over Cardassia Prime.

The Trill took the offered seat and activated the PADD she had brought with her. "There's no sign of activity in or out of the Septimus Region being reported, Sir," she said. "The contacts I was able to establish confirmed that the Pioneer is on station."

"Nothing at all, that's a bit odd?" Domingo said, the last report he had showed a lot of activity in the area. He knew what this could possibly mean. They were ready to strike, or staging themselves to strike. "What ships do we have near the Septimus System?" Domingo asked her, hoping to pull their sensor logs. He wanted a closer look at the system. Knowing Holle, she probably already pulled that information. She was very thorough.

"The closest is the USS Trafalgar but she's about sixteen hours away at maximum warp," Holle reported without a need to look at the PADD. "Beyond that, the closest ship would be the Vulcan ship S'raal which is over twenty-six hours away and on an important scientific mission."

"Why would the Septimus System suddenly go silent, as the USS Pioneer enters orbit of Cardassia Prime?" Domingo asked Holle, curious to see if she had a response for him. Cardassians are typically loud and fragrant. But with the Dominion backing them, then turned silent. This concerned Domingo greatly.

"According to rumors, the best guess would be that Gul Madred has communications jamming in place to prevent any information from getting out via subspace," Holle said. "The report I got came from outside of the Septimus System by an Ensign who had requested a transfer back to Earth for bereavement."

"I need to know what's going in that area, what is the Trafalgar's current mission?" Domingo asked, debating about sending them closer to the system, to gather a few scans, attempt to break the jammers. He hated being in the dark.

"They're investigating a rogue comet, Sir," she said. "According to the reports, it could be on a collision course with a world that is on the verge of warp travel."

"Then let's not pull them, the station has a few support ships, we can pull one of them for this mission. Any suggestions Commander?" Domingo asked, thinking about pulling the USS Tianjin off for the mission, he knew he could not get away for a few days. And Avril was a newly minted part time first officer, he needed someone to command the ship. He debated about who to ask. Then it dawned on him, he had a first officer, who also held the rank of Captain. He knew he gave command of the Shenzen to Captain Prenar, but for this mission, he may need more firepower, and the Tianjin was a state of the art odyssey class cruiser.

"Are you certain that you want to do that, Commodore?" Holle asked. "If the Cardassians are jamming subspace and you send a ship clearly designed for war in, such as the Tianjin, it could be taken as a hostile action in a situation that's already volatile enough."

"We do have the Tianglong, we could drop out a couple of sectors away, doesn't see have a defiant class in one of her nays?" He assumed Holle would know, she came aboard the station on that vessel.

"It's your choice, Sir," the Commander said. "It's not my place to second guess you. There is a Defiant class, but any Cardassian worth his salt is going to want to know where the backup ship is for such a small vessel."

"True, but it is your place to point out all the facts. And I appreciate that. Now we will keep the Tianglong, out of harms way, risking fifty lives is tactically a better choice than three thousand lives. Once I get the all clear from Lieutenant Miazami, I will have the ship launch." Domingo had his director of Corps of Engineers, checking the Tianglong, for damages. After the stunt Karen Khan had created.

"Very well, Commodore," Holle responded. "Permission to go off duty and get settled in, Sir?"

"Dismissed for now Commander, I'll see you at the party tonight." Domingo said, waiting for confirmation that she will be there tonight. He was still trying to get use to the idea of becoming a two star admiral. He wondered if he was ready. He took a deep breath. Ready or not, it was happening, and he needed to get ready.

"Party?" The Trill asked as she hesitated and a look of mild annoyance flickered across her features. She had gotten to the starbase, went to work immediately and still hadn't been to her quarters, and the man was talking about a party?

"Yes Commander, a party. My promotion to Rear Admiral." Domingo said, then he went on to say. "This station is called Port Royale, we work hard, and we party hard. Plus this is the wild frontier, party's will probably be a regular thing on the station. So will you be there Commander?" Domingo asked, hoping that his brief reasoning would make sense to her. He then realized that she was not human, but she was a trill with countless lifetimes of experience, a lot of them dealing with humans. Or so he guessed.

"Congratulations, Admiral," Holle said and meant it. However, every other part of her just wanted to go to her quarters and set it up. "Formal or informal?" she found herself asking like the diplomat Tias had once been. For a moment, she wanted to test the theory if she could live without symbiont, but she quickly dismissed the thought.

"Formal, and thank you. Party begins at 2000 hours. See you there Commander." Domingo said, with a big a grin on his face. He knew this station needed a big party, to kick her off on the right foot. It maybe for his promotion. But this party was really for the crew.

Oh, goodie, Holle thought. I have two whole hours to get refreshed and figure out where I put my dress uniform.. "I'll be there, Sir," she said with a smile. No wonder Khan took off so fast. She must know him. she thought as she turned and headed out.

 

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