What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

At least that’s the justification that was repeated numerous times in the briefings held prior to Atlantis slipping into the Badlands and far, far from scouted, surveyed and monitored shipping lanes.

It also formed the primary argument to convince Captain Garland of the Perseus to do much the same, opting to stumble in the plasma storms and rendezvous with Atlantis far from prying eyes than attempt a much saner and standard meeting in open space.

It was after all hard to hide two large starships in open space, especially close to the Badlands where the New Maquis could be running patrols, looking for a buildup of Starfleet or Cardassian ships that might be coming for them. But hiding in the Badlands itself was taking a page from the Maquis of old’s playbook, and if it was good enough for the New Maquis, it was good enough for Starfleet.

And it had the advantage of being unorthodox, which meant the New Maquis who might know the current Starfleet playbook wouldn’t be expecting it.

“Another lovely holiday destination you’ve led me to Fleet Captain,” Rachel Garland said as she stepped into the conference room aboard Atlantis, trailed by her XO, Jasper Riggs.

“We’re still finding that glittery dust stuff on the hull after that Underspace excursion,” Riggs added as he shook hands with Tikva Theodoras, then Vilo Kendris. “Though not complaining. Gives me something to use as a punishment detail when required.”

“Behave or clean the outer hull?” Kendris asked, answered with an affirmative nod from Riggs. “Does Federation glitter obey the universal glitter constant?”

“Throw out a kilo, vacuum up a kilo, find another kilo of it over the next year and it happens to get everywhere anyway? Oh yeah. Honestly, glitter is proof there is a supreme being in the universe and it hates us all.” Tikva waved a hand towards the seats at the table waiting for them and the two other people from her own senior staff.

Both Adelinde and Ra stood briefly to shake hands with Riggs, he and Ra exchanging brief banter about something that had happened during the squadron’s meet and greet only a week ago.

“Right, well, we’re here.” Rachel had sat herself down at Tikva’s right-hand side, opposite Kendris. “And we followed your orders about looking like we were escorting some freighters along the shipping lane before detouring. So, what’s with all the cloak and dagger?”

“Oh please, this is just basic obfuscation.” Tikva shook her head, not wanting to be associated with anything cloak and dagger.

But it is kinda cloak and dagger-like.

Shut up. We’re not doing that. We’re just being crafty.

Skulking around, planning in storm-wreathed star systems.

‘It was a stormy night when the Galaxy-class starship wandered in.’

“Okay, so what’s with all the basic obfuscation?” Rachel asked, repeating with a quick rewording.

“We’re going to be disrupting New Maquis operations in a nearby system as soon as an away team returns or signals for assistance.” Tikva smiled, then nodded to Gantzmann.

“New Maquis operations in the region are based out of an old Maquis pre-war facility. They’ve taken to calling it New Barataria. We currently have a team there on a priority matter, but once they return, the Fleet Captain wants to disrupt their operations there and make it unappealing for them to continue.” Gantzmann tapped at the controls in front of her, a holographic window popping into existence above the table. It continued silhouettes of both Atlantis and Perseus with a single key metric highlighted beside them – the power output of the two ships’ deflector dish.

Perseus’ deflector was multiple times larger than Atlantis’ in size and power, though not by the same number. Advances in technology meant the newer ship did more per square meter, but by virtue of size alone, Perseus had Atlantis beat.

“And to do that, you need Perseus. I’m a little loath to go around pushing moons into gas giants.” Garland looked to Gantzmann, studied the woman’s face, and then smiled. “But that’s not the plan, is it?”

“No. We’re going to be taking a page from the Echelon-class starships and tag New Barataria with an ionic charge. It will make the entire asteroid much easier to locate and far more likely to draw Cardassian attention. And the Badlands will make the discharge time for the effect considerably longer as well, upwards of a year for New Barataria itself.”

“And with a large enough deflector, you could catch any docked ships with the same effect.” Jasper Riggs was smiling like a wolf. “We basically paint them for the Cardassian Union, without calling them in specifically, so the New Maquis have a chance to at least run away and think before the Union shows up on their door. And we make it so any of their ships that suddenly show up outside the Badlands have a fair bit of explaining to do when a patrol ship sees them pop up on sensors.”

“And while Atlantis could do the job herself,” Ra interjected, speaking up finally, “it would either take longer, or we risk burning out the deflector and being stuck until repairs could be done. No offence Captain Garland, but I’d like it if we could avoid needing to be rescued by you and your crew again. At least for another few months while my ego recovers.”

“All well and good and happy to do this,” Garland replied, “but Perseus isn’t exactly a spring chicken and her last sensor upgrade is nearing five years old now. You want us to keep flying in this soup, we’re going to need a guide.”

Tikva smiled as she leaned back confidently in her chair. “Which is why we’re both going in. Atlantis will lead the way, playing escort to Perseus. We’ll weather any fire the locals summon and cover you while you ionise the asteroid. Once done, we’ll turn around and disappear back into the storm, then make our way back to –”

There was an interrupting whistle over the comms and then Rrr’s voice emanated from no specific location but filled the room. “Sorry to interrupt, Captain, but you may wish to look out the window.”

All heads in the conference room turned at Rrr’s warning, some merely looking up, others swivelling chairs. A flash in the far distance was followed by a streak of light and then another starship came into being. It was close enough to recognise the general design aesthetic, the hull colours and other key giveaways that said ‘I am a Federation starship’ but not much else. But one key detail was obvious though – the ship’s large deflector, more reminiscent of Perseus’ than Atlantis’.

It was Garland who was the first to respond, turning to face Tikva with that friendly, joking grin as she prepared to rib her long-time friend. “Bug, are you cheating on me?”

“Can’t a girl have two starships with large deflectors in her life?” Tikva answered, Rachel barking a quick laugh and Riggs a snort at the joke. “Ladies and gentlemen, meet the USS Sundiver. Captain Lorena Escribano and her XO will be over shortly. We’re going to do wonderful things together, folks.”