Far from Home

Posted on Sat Mar 9th, 2024 @ 3:17am by Lieutenant Amasis & Lieutenant Fobehl Exia & Lieutenant Renaud Baptiste & Lieutenant JG Matilde Virzi & Lieutenant JG Nysirkil & Commander Shibren Ayi & Lieutenant Commander Badri al-Moustafa

1,086 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Pilot
Location: Operations, Deep Space 47
Timeline: 2439-03-05, 20:40

When Lieutenant Commander Badri al-Moustafa accepted the assignment of Executive Officer of Deep Space 47 he was beyond excited to have the opportunity. Being the second in command of a Starbase was no small feat and to be given such an opportunity at a frontline station like Deep Space 47 was an even rarer thing. Then - to top it all off - the station was the only Starfleet outpost in the entire Quadrant! When this assignment was over he'd certainly have his pick of any assignment in the Federation.

That was the expectation, he was far from prepared for the truth.

It was true. Deep Space 47 was the only Federation outpost in the Gamma Quadrant and it was the Federation's first line of defense against the Dominion. At one point of time DS47 was one of the most important outposts within the Federation and it was a career builder for anyone who served aboard it. Then relations with the Dominion cooled to the point that they became nonexistent. Since then, DS47 went from being a cream of the crop position to a career killer and, now, he was smack dab in the middle of an appointment to it.

The Dominion was once the greatest threat to the safety of the Federation and that was why DS47 was such an important installation. Officially, the station was setup to serve as a means of communications between the two governments to build a collaborative future. The problem was that you had to have communication to have collaboration and the Dominion had done none of the above. Since the Station was put into place in 2411 there had been no communication with the Dominion. A few Dominion ships flew by every so often, but none of them ever even so much stopped by to say hello.

"Did you seriously have to reprimand her?" Lieutenant Amasis interrupted his thoughts.

Looking up from the display built into the table, Commander al-Moustafa looked confused, "Excuse me, Chief?"

"Xura," the Coridanite near shouted. "You reprimanded her for eating her lunch?"

"She was on duty, Lieutenant," the First Officer answered. "I'm not sure about you, but do you really think it's appropriate for the Waste Reclamation Specialist to be eating while on the job?"

The Lieutenant protested, "She knows what she's doing!"

"We have policies for a reason, Chief," the Human Commander answered. These were the types of issues he dealt with since coming aboard DS47. Most of the time the crew, if they could be called that, operated outside of policy and protocol. Most people ignored it because of the reputation that DS47 had garnered over the years. He was not one of them.

"I would love to hear what the Captain thinks," the Lieutenant shouted.

If decorum weren't the issue, al-Moustafa may have agreed he wanted to know what Commander Shibren thought as well. The Commanding Officer of DS47, Commander Shibren was ulitmately the final authority aboard DS47. She rarely left he office though and barely was focused on work even when in there. If Badri could he would have transferred somewhere else already, but it seemed that DS47 was his lot in life.

"You may petition the Captain for her ruling on the matter, Lieutenant. You can..."

A series of beeps and sirens erupted throughout the Operations Center. It was probably another malfunction - they'd been having issues left and right with the aging station's sensor systems. Turning toward the Science Officer, al-Moustafa sighed, "Can you please get those sensors fixed, Lieutenant?"

Lieutenant Nysirkil looked at the sensor displays, her three hands racing around the control interface trying to correct the phantom issues. Looking at the readouts, a look of dread flashed over her alien features, "Commander, it's not a malfunction. I'm reading Dominion ships - lots of them!"

It had to be an error. He turned toward their Security Chief, "Lieutenant Virzi?"

The young Italian woman brought up a readout on her Security station, her long and slender fingers running across the display as the sensors confirmed the information that the Science Officer had shared, "It's confirmed, Commander. I'm reading almost a dozen Dominion vessels approaching us at high warp."

The First Officer let out a long breath. This was the moment that they were all warned could come, it was a moment that they had trained for, but no one was prepared for the actual moment. "Yellow alert. Commander Shibren to Ops."

"Energizing defense fields," Lieutenant Virzi confirmed.

"Lieutenant Fobehl," the XO called, "Open a channel to the Dominion ships."

The Bajoran nodded, typing quickly on her workstation, "Channel open." She watched the screen carefully, several moments passed before she spoke again, "They're not responding."

"Are you sure we're transmitting?" Badri asked, hoping it was on their end.

She typed, "We are."

He rubbed his forehead as he tried to plan their next steps. As he was about to issue another order he heard the door to the Operations Center slide open. Commander Shibren Ayi, Commanding Officer of Deep Space 47, walked through the doors. She had a look of annoyance on her face, an irritation within her swagger. "This better be good."

"Dominion ships inbound," Commander al-Moustafa informed.

"It's just another malfunction. We get them all the time," the Commander said dismissively.

The Edosian Science Officer interrupted, "We have visual."

"On screen," it was al-Moustafa and not the Captain.

On the central monitor the truth set them free. A contingent of eleven Dominion Warships - led by a Battleship no less - appeared on the display screen. Commander Shibren's jaw dropped, "Are you sure that this isn't a drill?"

"They're real," Badri confirmed.

Commander Shibren looked around Operations, "Bring the defense satellites online."

"Commander," it was Security Chief Virzi, "I'm not reading weapons active on the Dominion ships. They're not at alert levels and they're not slowing."

"What?" The Bajoran Commander asked. "They don't have weapons engaged?"

Nysirkil checked the readings on her console, "No and they're conducting active scans. Not tactical ones, it's like they're looking for something."

At the Operations console, Lieutenant Fobehl turned, "Sirs, they're moving off. They're resuming course for the Idran Sector."

Commander Shibren crossed her arms and looked around DS47's Command Center. "Anyone want to tell me what the Hell just happened?"

Lieutenant Commander al-Moustafa just stared at the monitors as the Dominion ships moved off at high warp. He really wanted to know that answer himself, but only one thought was playing through his mind. Suddenly, DS47 didn't seem like a career killer anymore.

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