Tiffany stepped onto the bridge to find Frankie already sitting in the center chair, “Sit rep,” she asked, as she took over the center chair from the XO.

“Sound off, people,” Frankie said as she stood and took her seat in the XO’s chair.

“En route to Terrus IX, ma’am. ETA is two hours and forty-seven minutes at emergency warp,” Vlex replied from the helm.

“Captain, I’ve been running long range scans on the system,” Kint called from the science station as Tiffany took her seat. “I don’t see any Orion ships in the area, but I am picking up some warp signatures. We’re too far out to get any usable readings, but once we’re in system I’m confident we can track them,” He explained.

“Good. I want to render whatever aid the colonists need, and then get on the trail of these bastards as soon as we can,” Tiffany replied.

“Ma’am,” Melody piped from the security station, “It’s possible this isn’t the first hit and run these pirates have done. I got in contact with some of my friends in Starfleet Intel, and they said there’s been a couple other reports of pirate activity not far from us. No one was close enough to track them, so those people were considered lost. This might be the first real lead,” She explained.

“All the more reason to make sure we don’t lose it,” Tiff replied. “Any word from SFI on where they might be sending their captives?”

“No, ma’am. They said there are rumors of a slave market in the system, but they haven’t been able to track it down yet. Tracking these pirates might just be the best chance to find it,” Melody explained.

“Then let’s not mess this up,” Tiffany replied. “Black to Thatcher, how are we looking down there?”

“So far, so good, ma’am!” The doctor replied. “We’ve got everything prepped for a massive relief effort down here. Supplies are ready and the crew is prepped to receive injured,” She replied. “Do we have any idea how many casualties we’re talking here?”

“Initial report simply stated ‘a lot’,” Tiffany replied. “Bastion Colony itself has around a thousand colonists, so expect potentially in the hundreds.”

“Should I have an away team ready to do triage on the surface, ma’am?”

“Not a bad idea. Get whoever and whatever you need and be ready to beam down as soon as we arrive,” Tiff replied.

“Yes ma’am, understood.”

Tiffany tapped over to another channel, “Chief, how we looking down there?”

“Well, you’re asking me to cram in about a weeks worth of repairs into three hours, so basically we’re a mess,” French replied with a grin in her voice, “But I’ll have you in good shape when we arrive.”

“I’m mostly worried about the power regulation issues we were having,” Tiffany replied. “I know those… Breen fighters gave us a beating at Sevury and I’m asking the impossible, but we’ve got a lot of hostages in a terrible situation counting on us.”

“Yeah, boss, those Breen sure were ass holes,” French replied, her voice thick with sarcasm.

Tiffany knew that both of them hated having to blatantly lie to each other to keep in accordance with Starfleet classification protocols, but they had no other choice as inter-ship coms were recorded and regularly reviewed.

Breen. Right.

“The EPS manifolds are being replaced as we speak, and we’ll be routing around the damaged areas to make sure we’ve got fast enough response times. Decks five and nine will have a couple of sections sealed off as we’ll have to route through unshielded plasma conduits to make due. But that should get us what we need,” French explained.

“Sounds good, Chief. Let’s make sure that everyone on those decks is aware and understands why,” Tiff replied.

“Already on it, Captain. Got Engineers posted up there now, spreading the word to anyone approaching those sections,” French replied.

Tiffany smiled, “Should have known you were a step ahead. Good work, French,” She replied, cutting the feed.

Tiffany sat back in her chair and stared at the stars stretching in front of her, willing the ship to go faster.

“Where’s your mind, boss?” Frankie asked from the seat next to her.

“About thirty years behind me,” Tiff admitted.

“What’s thirty years behind you?”

“I grew up on the USS Danube. She was a little Norway-class ship, nothing too special, but she was a good ship. There was a colony on some outward planet… I can’t think of which one it was now, but it was Titan Colony, I remember that. The Danube was sent a distress call, not unlike this one. Colony was attacked, pirates stole people, tons of injured, lots of damage,” She explained. “I remember seeing all of the survivors on the ship, getting treated, covered in dirt, blood, and soot. I remember hearing my dad telling my mom about all of the damage they’d done. Homes burnt, crops torn out of the ground, critical systems smashed beyond repair. I must have been… six? Maybe seven? I remember taking all of that in pretty well, except that they’d stolen people,” She said.

She shook her head as if to clear it, then looked over at her XO, “I couldn’t get my mind around how you could steal people. I still can’t. And now, understanding why – understanding what these people are up against – It’s awful. The Federation was never able to locate the people from Titan colony,” She explained. “I have never stopped wondering what happened to them,” She confessed. “Though if I’m honest… I don’t know that I really want to know.”

“That’s a lot to carry for thirty years, jefe,” Frankie replied.

Tiff nodded, “Yeah… it is, but it’s a hell of a lot of motivation.”

Frankie chuckled, “Listen, Roja, I’ve seen you motivated a lot in our time together. Those damn Orions don’t know what they’re up against,” She teased.

“Damn right,” Tiffany said, turning her gaze back out to the starfield beyond. “I’m getting our people back. No one is going to stand in our way.”

“Ride or die, Chica,” Frankie said with a grin.