“What are we looking at?” Captain Carver Houston asked immediately upon stepping into the half-lit astrometrics lab, Commander Mun Kyung-Gu following behind.

For a space that would normally have been staffed with blue-shirts, none were present right now. It had been co-opted by its current occupants and transformed into a makeshift Command and Control centre, displaying all of Argonaut’s sensor feeds into a very detailed hologram that floated in the centre of the room.

“The TE-2258-52 system, or as the locals call it, the Cor system.” Lieutenant Commander Alex Murdoch, Argonaut’s tactical officer, didn’t smile, or add any sort of flourish to his presentation. It was purely professional and by the book, in accordance with his own standards and Captain Houston’s as well. “We’re still conducting scans of the system, and we’ve been scanned in return, but no communications.”

The display wouldn’t be amiss from a science briefing. A close binary pair of stars, with a wide gap before the first planet, cleared by eons of gravitational interactions. A handful of inner rocky worlds, two belts of debris, and a couple of gas giants that would make Jupiter look insignificant in size, colouration and number of moons. The first gas giant, however, was far more interesting on this current tactical display.

Blips across almost every one of its hundred or so moons indicating some sort of artificial structure. More blips in orbit, from structures orbiting the gas giant to starships gently plying between contacts. And each of the moving contacts registered as warp capable to some degree or another. One of the moons however was almost hidden under the haze of sensor contacts as Argonaut’s sensors picked out more and more points of interest, bringing them to life as glowing amber points.

“We’re up to around two hundred starships all in all,” Lieutenant Commander Pari Hayati added. Her dusky complexion was a stark contrast to Murdoch’s pale, but both of their accents betrayed their British Isles upbringing. The commander of the ship’s fighter wing, she was wearing a more relaxed jumpsuit instead of a standard uniform — an indication of her currently being on standby. “But looks like that initial factoid from Canopus about ‘polite xenophobia’ holds true.”

Alex tapped at a console, and one of the larger screens in the lab switched to a table, displaying concisely what had been detected so far around the Cordemi’s home moon and gas giant. “Two starships that could rival Canopus in size, but no solid read on anything else this far out to ascertain capabilities. Twenty large cruisers and double that again in frigates and escorts.”

Hayati folded her arms as she leaned against a console, the buttons blacking out. “And the rest are likely transports of some description, but if you’ve got the Breen as neighbours and don’t want them visiting, I’d bet they could be pressed into service if pushed.”

“And so far, they’ve only scanned us?” Mun asked.

“Their first scan was relatively in-depth,” Alex answered. “After that, we’ve been scanned briefly at regular intervals.”

Hayati snorted. “Traffic control keeping an eye on unexpected visitors.”

“Watching us watching them,” Mun said with a shake of his head.

Houston watched the system display for a few moments, gave table a glance over, then slowly breathed out while processing everything. A slow drawing of breath, a few more moments, then he spoke. “Mun, keep Argonaut in place. We don’t go any closer. If they send a ship our way, hail them directly. We’re just the vanguard after all, getting a lay of the land.”

“Vanguard is a little aggressive,” Hayati challenged.

“So is Argonaut,” Houston reminded her. “How many of your fighters are on standby right now?”

“Four, as per usual.”

Houston looked at the nearest chronometer. “Top of the hour, I want you to activate the next shift and keep eight birds on standby until I say otherwise.”

“Even on standby, we’ll be accruing maintenance time,” Hayati warned. It wasn’t a counter, refusing to do what was asked, just advising of a repercussion that would soon follow.

Houston then turned to Murdoch, who had turned to face him in return, hands clasped behind his back. “Mr Murdoch, I want you to continue your scans of the system. Nothing intrusive, but learn everything we can from here. But also keep an eye on the Breen border. With that stunt Captain Spencer pulled and the Breen response there, it’s feasible they may be planning some sort of intervention here.”

“If they don’t attempt to ambush Canopus in flight.” Murdoch’s ability to make any moment worse with foul predictions never failed to make everyone sigh in frustration.

“We got sent ahead because Canopus is big enough to take care of itself,” Houston said, though sounding not terribly happy about it himself. “The Commodore will be here in a day. I don’t want any surprises for her when she arrives. Understood?”

“Understood,” Murdoch and Hayati acknowledged promptly, then excusing themselves with the unspoken dismissal, leaving Houston and Mun behind.

“Still think the Commodore is being reckless this close to the Breen border?” Mun asked once the door closed, leaving the two senior officers alone.

“Canopus isn’t Atlantis. And until Atlantis returns, we are the heavy hitter of the squadron.”

“Disagree there, Captain,” Mun said. He held up his hands in mock defense when Houston’s eyes levelled on him. “You and I both know Canopus can out shoot us. She is the heavy hitter at the moment.”

“Hmpf,” Houston protested with a shake of his head. “We’ll see.”

As he stared at the display, watching blips move here and there, doing whatever the Cordemi considered normal, he sighed. “Hail the Cordemi when you get back to the bridge. Warn them Canopus is on the way, that the Commodore wishes to speak with them and offer, if it’ll make them feel better, that we’ll withdraw before Canopus arrives.”

“Giving human-origin telepathy a try again?” Mun joked.

“No. We’ve worked long enough together that I know you were going to do it anyway once you got to the bridge. Now it’s an order and I won’t be surprised.”

“Ah, I’m becoming predictable,” Mun shot back. “Permission to be excused, Captain?”

“Dismissed, Commander.” And then Houston waited for Mun to depart before looking at the display once more.

A few keyed commands, a change of perspective and the holographic tank zoomed out, the entire Cor system shrinking into just a single dot. A green rash appeared in the tank, demarking the declared and recognised Breen borders. A few blips here and there of ships at high warp, their passing unmissable. Dark blue blips of recognised Starfleet ships, their transponders giving away the location of the entire Task Force 47 to other ships in the Expanse.

And then it zoomed in slightly, the hologram focusing on the Breen border and a couple of blips moving vaguely to mirror Canopus on its journey along the Breen border to the Cor system.

“Alright, gentlemen,” Houston started, speaking to the sensor contacts. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”