The colossal warp core that powered the entire Odyssey thrummed with a steady and strong rhythm. From the uppermost level of main engineering, Captain Duncan leaned over the railing, hands gripping the cool metal. He took a quiet moment to admire the hard work his team had put in over the past few days. Modifying the warp core to support the quantum slipstream drive was no small feat, and though the underlying principles still eluded him, he’d begun to grasp the basics. Though he wore the captain’s uniform, Duncan sometimes still felt like the former chief counsellor he once was before he switched to command, especially regarding advanced engineering. Watching the flickering pulse of the warp core now laced with slipstream enhancement, he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d truly grasped the full implications. One wrong calculation, one misaligned crystal, and the entire project and their lives could blow into a massive subspace explosion.

“Everything alright, sir?” came a familiar voice from behind.

Duncan straightened up as Commander Tierra approached, smiling at the woman who had worked double and sometimes triple shifts over the last five days to finish the project. Not only that, she coordinated repair teams to assist their Talaxian allies. He and others had said it before; she was quintessentially a miracle worker.

“I’m fine, thanks, Tierra, how are you?” Duncan asked with care as she stood next to him.

“Glad all of this is over,” she gestured towards the massive engine before them. “Last night, I actually slept for eight full hours. I don’t think I’ve ever done that!”

Duncan laughed. “You and Reuben have truly performed a miracle by accomplishing this so swiftly. You should be proud.”

“I know Reuben is, and he’s enjoying some well time off regenerating right now. But it’d be good to see it in more action instead of testing it,” Tierra said. “Especially before the benamite crystals start to decay to the point we can’t use it again.”

He agreed with her with a nod. The original plan to use the QSD to get them home to Deep Space 19 had been put on hold since the arrival of the Talaxian convoy and the news of the Vaadwaur attack. Duncan was eager to get underway but also agreed with his superior. They needed to know about the Vaadwaur.

“Don’t worry, Tierra, we’ll get to play with our new toy soon enough,” he promised with a grin.

Tierra turned to him. “And how are you doing, sir?”

“Me?” Duncan blinked, surprised by the question. “I’m fine. Why?”

“Well, we’ve not stopped since Captain Bennet threw us head first to the Nacene Reach. I know I’m missing seeing my two. All I know is they’re enjoying themselves on the Astra. You must be missing Jordan and William.” Tierra smiled; her soothing, motherly tone was now apparent. 

Duncan appreciated that he could relate to Tierra about such things. “It’s been quiet at home with just me and Tobie. We’ve gotten used to the silence, but it’s strange not hearing Jordan practising guitar or William asking a thousand questions before bed. Tobie even joked the other day that he misses finding their dirty clothing draped over random pieces of furniture.” He paused, the smile lingering but tinged with a touch of melancholy. “We both wonder when Jordan will finally tell us about him and Alfie. They think they’re being subtle, they’re not.”

Tierra chuckled. “Jordan certainly takes after his fathers in trying to keep his romance a secret.”

Duncan rolled his eyes and remembered how much he and his husband had tried to keep the early days of their romance a secret from everyone else on the Odyssey and had failed miserably. “You’re probably right.”

“You know I could always ask Athena or Brook for the latest gossip about Jordan and Alfie,” Tierra suggested with a smirk.

“Maybe,” Duncan replied, liking the idea of them being able to use her son and daughter as spies. He quickly moved their conversation on. “Have you spoken with Abbej?”

Tierra nodded. “Just a few moments ago. She suggested, once this is all over, we take a few days off and spend it on a holodeck or some distant alien beach.”

“Sounds perfect to me,” Duncan smiled at the idea.

“Ah, there you are,” said Hunsen as he stepped off the small one-person lift and approached Duncan and Tierra.

“Everything okay, Tremt?” Duncan asked his first officer.

He nodded. “You wanted me to tell you when we were close to the Haakonian border.”

“Duty calls,” Duncan said with a nod, offering Tierra a warm smile. “Thanks again for everything.”

As he and Hunsen walked out of engineering, Hunsen turned to him. “You still trying to work out how the quantum slipstream drive works?”

With no one else around, Duncan glanced at his Betazoid first officer. “Yes!” He admitted with a chuckle as they entered the nearest turbolift and called for it to take them straight to the bridge.

“Captain on the bridge,” declared Bollwyn after the boatswain’s whistle went off. Everyone on the bridge straightened up as Duncan came off the turbolift with Hunsen one step behind him.

“Report, commander?” Duncan asked as he approached the centre of the bridge and locked eyes with his husband. 

Around him, the bridge crew moved with quiet efficiency. No wasted steps, no nervous glances. All of them were just professionals doing their jobs. Still, Duncan could sense the extra tightness in their shoulders, the slight pause before every order. Everyone felt it: something was coming.

Court rose from the centre chair as Duncan stepped onto the bridge. “The Talaxians say a Haakonian patrol should’ve hailed us by now—but there’s nothing.”

Duncan thanked his husband before turning to Hunsen. A concerned expression plastered across his face. “The Talaxians were adamant that with a convoy this size, the Haakonians would want to inspect them.”

“Perhaps they’ve not detected us on their scanners?” Hunsen offered as he sat down in his chair. 

“Perhaps,” Duncan said, worried. He looked down at the helm. “Elddie, what’s our current speed?”

“Warp eight, sir.” The Mazerite pilot answered swiftly. 

Duncan rubbed his chin; he knew that was the fastest any of the Talaxian ships could do. Glancing to the science station, Duncan wanted a few more answers before Commodore McCallister turned up.  “Brianna, is there anything out there that is blocking our scans?”

Reddick shook her head. “No known natural phenomena are interfering with our scans.”

As expected, Commodore McCallister emerged from the starboard turbolift, Commander Tomaz at his side. They spent most of the day strategising their approach once they reached the Talaxian homeworld. Duncan only hoped they had several ideas up their sleeves.

“No Haakonians?” McCallister queried as he approached Duncan. 

Duncan shook his head. He still marvelled at how effortlessly McCallister could read him. “And nothing is stopping our scans.”

“I just heard from Corella,” McCallister said, mentioning the Triton’s captain. “They’re about to attempt their link up with the Barzan wormhole Takar array. If it goes successfully, we can update Starfleet with our status.”

“And see if any other Starfleet ships are out this far?” Hunsen asked.

McCallister nodded. “I’m hoping that based on what we knew about the Constellation Squadron’s destination from our previous update, they’re out here too.”

“Commodore, captain,” Bollwyn spoke urgently, his left index finger against his earpiece. “I’m picking up numerous distress calls.”

“Coming from where lieutenant?” Duncan asked immediately.

“They’re all on Haakonian military and civilian channels,” Bollwyn replied. “Most of their forces are engaged in a massive battle.”

McCallister and Duncan looked at each other. They had a strong guess as to who was attacking the Haakonians, but no one knew why. They needed to know. 

“Confirm what’s happening, Samwell,” Duncan ordered.

It took a few more seconds for the young officer to listen carefully. By this time, Tomaz had moved over to stand by the lieutenant. “It sounds like the Haakonian homeworld and key military and government targets have been attacked, and the Haakonian fleet is pulling back to Talax to regroup. The distress calls I’m picking up state that the Vaadwaur are attacking them.”

“Let’s hear them, lieutenant,” Duncan ordered.

Bollwyn nodded as he played the transmissions they were picking up.

“We’ve lost orbital control! Repeat; Rinax orbital control is down. Vaadwaur vessels have penetrated the defence perimeter!”

“Our docking ring is breaking apart! Life support’s failing in multiple sectors; we need evacuation shuttles now!”

Standing up from his chair, Duncan marched across to where Bollwyn was and pressed the button on his console that closed his channel. He turned around and took a deep breath, knowing that McCallister shared the same thought. 

“Red alert, all hands to battlestations,” Duncan immediately commanded.

“Tomaz, inform the rest of the squadron to go to red alert,” Commodore McCallister ordered as he moved to stand by one of the tactical stations. “And get a message out to Captains Banfield and Cambil; tell them what’s happening and see if Bexa can get herself here to help. Perhaps she can bring some help from the Rakosans. Tell Corella to carry on in getting that message out to Starfleet.”

“On it, sir,” Tomaz replied as he worked with Bollwyn to get the message out to the other Starfleet ships and the Talaxians.

“Marjo, prepare the ship for multi-vector assault mode,” Hunsen ordered. This would have been one of their plans if they had engaged the Vaadwaur. The Odyssey would split into three sections to add further firepower to the squadron.

“Aye, sir,” The Bajoran ops officer replied.

“We’re approaching the edge of the Talax system, sirs,” Paynkor announced several seconds later.

“Sir, I’m detecting a small fleet of Vaadwaur ships attempting to engage the remaining Haakonian and Talaxian forces,” Keli shared from tactical.

“Onscreen,” Duncan ordered. He wanted to see this with his own eyes.

The viewscreen flickered and changed to show the battle before him. Talaxian fighters and Haakonian cruisers streaked past in formation, their weapons lighting up the void as they punched back at the Vaadwaur. 

“The ships from the Talaxian convoy that can fight are breaking formation and heading towards the battle,” Hunsen shared. “They’re even launching the Vaadwaur fighters we commandeered from the abandoned outpost. The others are heading to a low orbit of Talax to help rescue any survivors.”

Reddick leaned closer to her console, fingers dancing across the interface. “Captain,  I’ve got something. There’s a subspace distortion forming near the Talaxian moon of Rinax. Narrow and sudden, almost too precise.” She tapped again, expanding the sensor image. “It’s an underspace aperture, sir. It’s how the Vaadwaur have got past the Haakonian and Talaxian defence forces.”

“Didn’t the Talaxians say they knew the Vaadwaur once visited their ancestors on the homeworld centuries ago?” Horin asked. The counsellor was sharing the same surprise as everyone else.

“Now we know how close they got,” Tomaz stated. 

Duncan looked up at McCallister, his jaw set, heart pounding. “Orders, sir?”

McCallister gripped the side of the tactical rail, and his gaze hardened as the enemy swarmed the screen. “All ships,” he said, voice steady, “engage.”