Captain Raku Mobra rose to his feet. The leather of his chair creaked faintly as he stepped down to stand at the heart of the command well. He drew in a long breath, then spoke with crisp finality. “Hail the lead vessel.”

The channel opened as the bridge seemed to hold its collective breath.

Nothing.

Moments of silence stretched like taut rope. Consoles hummed softly as their LCARS panels dimly glowed. The Breen ships sent no reply. Their forward prongs glowed faintly as disruptor capacitors lay primed and charged. Verdant light danced across each of the three jagged hulls.

The silence finally broke. The speaker’s voice sounded metallic and gravelly.

“Federation vessel.” The voice was filtered and distorted through specially calibrated vocoders designed to intercept Breen communications. The mechanical rasp of the speech felt like a grate against the ears. “This is Thot Blissak of the Breen Confederacy.”

The officer’s title carried weight. Thot was a senior military rank in the Breen fleet. “Your signal reaches us clearly. That is unusual. Reports say most prior Federation attempts at communication have failed.”

Raku clasped his hands behind his back. His face betrayed nothing, but his eyes sharpened. Although the Breen could not see him, he knew he had to believe his own misdirection. “We are currently testing new universal translator software aboard the this vessel. It appears we have made a fortunate breakthrough.”

No hint of the Cardinal’s specialized intelligence sensors left his lips. Their ability to crack Breen communication bands remained buried, classified and concealed.

Blissak’s pause felt almost suspiciously long. The faint static of his breath-mask filled the void before he rasped again. “Why did you attack Breen territory?” The communications were sent without a visual transmission.

Raku straightened his spine as he controlled his breathing. “The station had drifted across the border. It was headed farther into Federation space. Its remains are still there as evidence.”

More silence followed.

Counselor Zaa’s voice whispered into the vacuum to break the stillness. Her ebony irises lay intent on the captain. “They don’t sound angry, Captain. Not yet. They sound cautious. They are investigating everything you say.”

The bridge lights seemed to dim further as every ear strained on the channel. Communication channels with Thot Blissak were not completely open. Each message was sent individually and acknowledged by each ship’s computer. Comm receivers were open, yet both Raku and Blissak made sure not to let the other listen in on their bridge.

Finally, Blissak spoke again. “That station has been quarantined for centuries. Its destruction has re-opened that corridor of Breen space.”

A faint murmur rippled across the bridge stations. sh’Zeles walked down from her station and whispered into the ear of the ship’s executive officer. Commander Smythe stood and joined Captain Raku at the front of the command platform.

Smythe spoke. “Thot Blissak, our telemetry shows that the station’s trajectory into Federation space was accelerated recently. Its drift was not natural. Do you know what caused that?”

The pause lingered even longer. Blissak’s reply finally rasped in a tone both sharp and dismissive. “I do not ask questions. I perform my duty.”

The channel cut with an abrupt crackle. “The Breen have closed their comm reception”, M’Row said as he twisted his sandy-furred neck towards the command staff.

On the screen, the Breen vessels wheeled toward a new heading. One by one, their jagged hulls twisted away as viridescent plasma drives flared with light. The lead ship vanished into warp with a brilliant flash. Its flanking partners each disappeared like predators driven back into the wilderness. Within seconds, only the Cardinal remained.

The bridge exhaled as one. Officers made relieved eye contact with each other. Counselor Zaa released an audible cheer.

Raku turned towards the rear stations. “Lieutenant sh’Zeles,” he said, “review the last three weeks of sensor logs. Track the flight path of that station before its collapse. I want to know what shoved it across the border and why.”

The Andorian’s antennae angled forward. Her pale brows flexed as her fingers danced across the glowing LCARS panel. “Aye, Captain. We’ve been in range of that part of space for just a little bit longer than that. I should have something for you shortly.”

“Miss Ruiz”, Raku stated. “Resume our coreward patrol along the Breen border. Warp eight.”

“Let’s get out of here, Captain”, she said as she maneuvered the ship into a gentle turn. After rocking the ship with a sharp bank earlier, she felt a more gentle hand felt appropriate. Inertial dampeners had no problem softening out the subtle course correction into the opposite direction.

The bridge had settled after the Breen ships fled. A faint hum from the warp engines formed a steady thrum beneath their boots. The forward screen remained set to the streaking starfield.

Lieutenant sh’Zeles leaned over her console as her pale blue hands darted across several LCARS panels. Her delicate antennae curved forward, focused intently on her work. “Captain.” The Andorian shen’s voice carried the crisp cadence of certainty. “I’ve reviewed the log chronologically. For the first eight days, the station was stationary. No detectable drift was detected. Then…”

She paused as her eyes narrowed on an isolated band of telemetry. “A Breen vessel stopped a quarter of a system away. It oriented directly toward the station. Moments later, the station lurched forward on an accelerating arc into Federation space. Immediately afterward, the Breen ship departed.”

Raku straightened in his chair. His gaze sharpened. “Put it on screen.”

The starfield dissolved into playback. The computer generated outline of the distant husk first appeared suspended on the LCARS based map. Its bulk hung motionless against the indigo void. Signs of neglect were accurately represented through cracked communication array towers. The lattice of antennae had cracked in half, pointing towards the station’s deck at a 90 degree angle. A Breen vessel slid into frame as the simulation progressed. The angle showed its crescent prongs aimed at the derelict station like a hunter drawing a bow.

For several seconds nothing changed. Then the station suddenly jerked violently ahead. Its momentum surged along a graceful arc as it curved towards Federation borders.

The Breen vessel pivoted in the opposite direction. Within the blink of a frame, the ship had disappeared. The abandoned station was left to tumble toward its new fate.

M’Row’s tail flicked as he leaned forward. “That doesn’t look like natural drift at all,” he muttered. His purring Caitian accent curled around the words. “With sufficient power, a tractor beam can be reversed. Its force can be focused to repel instead of draw. Breen tractor beams are far from crude. From that distance, it could be tough to move a station.” His claws tapped once against his armrest. “But not impossible. That also looks like quite a large Breen ship.”

Tractor beams are often used to repel large asteroids. The station’s bulk was comparable. The weightless environment of space also helped magnify the effect.

T’Naagi’s pale green-yellow skin reflected her science console. “Confirmed. There were no stellar objects or interstellar matter dense enough to alter the course once the station was displaced. I read clear space between the station’s origin and the border. That first shove dictated the trajectory.” She ran a hand through her copper hair.

Commander Smythe spoke next. “Lieutenant sh’Zeles, zoom in on the outline of the Breen vessel that executed this maneuver.”

“Aye, Commander.” Her fingers swept the LCARS array. The playback re-winded to show the Breen ship’s silhouette highlighted in glowing amber.

Many bridge officers expected a shape similar to the Chel Grett they had just seen. What resolved was far larger.

The vessel’s massive body was a layered crescent upon crescent. The ship’s hull was swollen with power arrays and venting wings that spanned farther than the Cardinal herself. Its brutal form appeared cobbled from fractured glaciers and armored carapaces. The image hung on the screen, looming and unfamiliar.

M’kath’s deep voice rumbled begrudgingly. “That is like no ship I have ever faced.”

sh’Zeles’s antennae twitched as she spoke, almost reverently. “The energy profile doesn’t match any registered Breen class. This ship is unique. There are ships that look similar, but something is different about its power signature.”

The bridge stayed quiet as all eyes studied the gigantic outline.

“It looks like we’ve found something.” Raku’s voice cut as sharp as a blade. He turned and took a step closer towards the rear of the bridge. He looked to sh’Zeles as he said, “Lieutenant, take this analysis off the bridge. I want a full report. Give me all sensor data, trajectory models, and every spectral readout of that vessel. Deliver it directly to my ready room as soon as you have it.”

sh’Zeles rose quickly. Her antennae flattened under the gravity of the order. “Yes, Captain. Right away.” She strode from the bridge as the doors whispered shut behind her.

Counselor Zaa stood and joined Raku. “Captain,” she said softly, “I don’t believe Thot Blissak knew about this. What little emotion I could sense from him showed no deception. There was only caution. Only duty.”

Raku’s jaw set into an unreadable expression. He turned to let his gaze linger on the screen. The outline of the Breen vessel loomed larger than life, silent yet terrible.

“Then,” Raku’s tone hardened like iron, “one question remains. Exactly who is crewing that ship?”