The Stars seemed to come to a stop on the forward viewscreen as the USS San Clemente dropped out of warp. Relay Delta was visible with another ship vessel nearby, a much larger frame than the Mente with a broad sensor pod atop, the USS ibn Al-Haytham, the Sutherland class research vessel had arrived shortly before them.

“Confirming identity” T’Lenar said tapping the keypad on the arm of the first officers chair, “they arrived thirty minutes ago, Captain. They’re conducting an exterior survey of the relay.”

Traven rose slightly in his chair, “on screen.”

The viewscreen shifted and zoomed onto the relay, figures in EVA suits were working on the superstructure, just as the Mente’s crew had done on the previous relays.

“Incoming hail, Captain, it’s Captain Vako” T’Lenar stated

“On screen”, he responded and watched as the screen changed in from of him to a woman in the familiar command red uniform.

“this is Captain Vako of the USS ibn Al-Haytham. We got here a little quicker than we planned so we thought we’d go ahead and start the repairs but…..” her gaze shifted off screen “we’ve encountered something….unusual”

“Captain Vako, I think I know what you’re going to say”

A few moments later the two vessels were linked by a secured channel and the details of what the Mente had encountered had been shared. Captain Vako’s teams had also discovered an object near the Relay, though, it hadn’t attacked in the same manner as the Mente’s specimen.

“We attempted a remote scan” Vako said, “it began resonating with the relay, it seemed to be pulling energy from the auxiliary grid. We’ve isolated if for now”

Traven clasped in hands together “we’ve got one onboard the Mente in stasis now. I can get my team to liaise and assist in configuring a grid strong enough to hold it.”

“You’ve got it in stasis? Vako responded

“For the moment” Traven admitted, “but if you’re willing we can transfer custody. The ibn Al-Haytham is much better equipped for this sort of thing than the Mente”.

Biolab 2 was busy with activity as they teams prepared for the transfer.

Korren was supervising the activity, her voice carried over the noise of activity. “Fields aligned, the frequencies are in line with the ibn Al-Haytham, as long as they hold we can bridge containment without a breach.”

Brunak was stood to her side, tapping his PADD with one hand and holding his toolkit in the other. He was grumbling and muttering as he was watching the same readout as Korren. “if the field shifts halfway through the transfer, we’ll have 2 angry things instead of one!”

“They won’t” Korren replied arrogantly.

“They might do” Brunak insisted, “these research vessels are all well and good but they don’t have the engineers we do, they are too worried about keeping things clean sterile instead of working”

“that’s why we have you” Korren replied without shifting her gaze

Brunak huffed in response as the object in containment began to dematerialise, its mysterious glow fading from the Biolab as it did so. Onboard the ibn Al-Haytham the containment field flared slightly as the object rematerialise in their research bay in an opposite field to it’s twin.

Saell, on board the ibn Al-Haytham, walked the ships science officers through the patterns that the Mente had already documented. She turned to see Captain Vako enter the room,

She looked toward Saell and the team. “status”

“The containment is holding, both specimens are contained” Saell responded

Vako nodded toward her “perfect, thank you for your help Lieutenant. I don’t suppose you get much time doing to real Science on the Mente, Captain Traven probably wants you back but if you ever get board, give me a call.”

“thank you Ma’am” she said trying her best to hide a smile that wouldn’t quit

Back on the bridge of the Mente, Sora Venn was stood behind her Captain, she could sense a change, not just that of them transferring the object off the ship but a shift in itself.

“they know each other are there, not communicating as we would think, they just know” she said to no one in particular. Silence went across the bridge.

Hours went by as the crew of the Mente continued to work on Relay Delta. Her teams coordinating with the limited engineering crew of the ibn Al-Haytham. Korren oversaw the work on the relay while Brunak coordinated the teams working onboard the ship.

The damage to Relay Delta was similar to that of Charlie, one benefit was that they knew what to replace and what to fix.

As the Relays systems came back online Saell, having returned to the Mente, was monitoring the readout.

“signal strength has been restored” she reported. “The relays are stable from Alpha through to Delta, ships out there in the black will be back in contact with the station”

On the viewscreen, the ibn Al-Haytham shifted her position as she prepared to depart.

Captain Vako appeared on screen for a final time, “Captain Traven, the objects are secure and the relay is back up and running, We’re returning to Deep Space 17 for further analysis. I’ll make sure command gives you and your crew full credit for identification and containment.”

Traven smiled, “not needed, but appreciated Captain. Good luck, if those things have friends I’d rather know a little more before I meet them”

Vako, nodded “agreed, ibn Al-Haytham out”.

The channel closed, moments later the Sutherland class’s warp nacelles flared as the USS ibn Al-Haytham leapt to warp.

The bridge of the San Clemente felt quieter for a moment, the consoles beeping as the crew continued to work.

“Relay Delta is fully online, Captain” T’Lenar confirmed

Sh’rol crossed his arms and straightened his back, “back too drills then!”

Kree shook his head at the help, “you can’t even enjoy one moment of peace, can you?”

Traven smiled and leaned back in his chair. The fresh leather still creaking, not yet used to its new owner. “drills or no drills, we’ve done what we came here to do. We kept the lights on and kept everyone in touch.”

The USS San Clemente turned slowly against the stars, slowly moving away from the Relay. Her teams already getting ready for their next mission. She wasn’t an explorer, or a research ship, but the comms network was fully operational again because of her crew.

Somewhere ahead, the unknown waited for them. But right now, the Mente was exactly where she needed to be.