Troubling Trend

Posted on Fri Apr 17th, 2026 @ 7:16pm by Lieutenant Commander Emni t'Nai & Lieutenant Irynya & Captain Björn Kodak & Ensign Noah Balsam & Lieutenant Commander Victoria Cross & Lieutenant Bailey Good

Mission: Port of Call
Location: Sojourner; Armory & Deck 1 Conference Room
Timeline: Mission Day 20 at 1130

[Armory, Chief of Security's Office]
[Starship Sojourner]
[Deck 5]
[Day 20, 1130 Hours]

"Are you kidding me?" Bailey Good hadn't meant to be incredulous. But Bailey did not like unusual patterns. One data point was an anomaly. Two was something that warranted monitoring. Three was a developing pattern. But five? Five incidents? Bailey didn't know her new crew well, but she at least held the trust that they were good, worthy Starfleet officers who should be given the benefit of the doubt. Unable to disguise a troubled and darkening look, Bailey stabbed at a key on her comm line. "Secured on my end." She turned and looked in to the eyes of a Benzite officer. They were lavender-shaded with unusual blue eyes.

"I am not." The Benzite started. Her voice was almost lyrical, in a tone-deaf sense. "Can you confirm you have officers on your manifest, please." The rebreather on their chest puffed vapor as they read names from a PADD. She flicked it toward Bailey and on Bailey's desk the holograms of two familiar faces appeared. "Lieutenant Irynya who stated she was Flight Control. And an Ensign Balsam who claims he is a systems engineer." Their hairless brows rose and then, with an almost fishy-gobbling puckering of tendrils lips, she seemed to "feed" in to a bowl shaped inhaler that hung around her neck. A briny smoke seemed to waft toward her.

"I can confirm they are ours." Bailey said carefully, measured after a moment. She roiled her knuckles in an irritated twitch, holding back something. The woman was seldom on Bailey's sensor array. But the skinny Engineer just seemed to struggle with staying out of trouble. "What's this about?" She added with a hard note that she wished she could pull back on. But again. A Pattern.

Bailey could have almost guessed the response before it came. "They were out of bounds during a safety incident. They were escorted out of Station Operations. This station is very busy and is still undergoing construction. If your crew cannot stay to the designated safety zones, we will revisit your crew's shoreleave privileges. Your personnel could have easily violated security routines and our team's responses." The Benzite softened for a moment, "Fortunately they were not injured and any casualties were light to nonexistent."

Light? To non-existent? Bailey bristled at the nebulousness of that. What did that even mean except for deliberate obfuscation? She stiffened and put her hands in her lap. "Is there anything else?"

"No. Only that your cooperation during this chaotic time is appreciated. We have a vital convoy coming through the wormhole in a few days. It has vital supplies for several vessels in the area as well as our construction efforts. I'm sure you can understand how that is a priority."

"Of course. Sojourner out." Bailey's fake smile fell a moment after she tapped the off button. She pulled at her lower lip. Then her finger tapped her commbadge. After a moment, she double tapped it, forming a secure call. "Good, to Commander t'Nai. I need a moment with you, Cross and the Captain. If possible."

A half moment later the disembodied voice of the XO responded. "t'Nai here. Do you want us to come to you Lieutenant or should I have everyone come to the Deck 1 Conference Room?"

Bailey's brow rose. "I'm on my way. Assuming the Bridge isn't still a big empty hole in the hull."

"Thankfully it's not," the Romulan's voice answered in tones that suggested that hadn't been a certainty that long ago. "The docking clamps on the other hand..." Anyone who knew her well would be able to imagine the confounded shake of her head in the pause. "We'll be here when you get here. t'Nai out."

"Understood." The Security Chief began gathering the data she'd need, tapping it in to a PADD and then setting it to upload from her primary console. This was peculiar. This was damned peculiar. "On my way."

----

Emni entered the conference room on Deck 1 with a stack of PADDs tucked under her arm. Whatever had just happened it had resulted in maneuvering Pathfinder Station along with any ships docked along her edges. Sojourner had been docked at the station for nearly a week and at no point had anyone from the Station indicated even the least chance of moving the station, let alone doing so with absolutely no warning to docked vessels. She was eager for some kind of explanation, but so far her attempts to get information had been met with Station leadership will reach out to you soon with the unspoken implication that she should stop asking.

With a sigh she dropped the pile onto the table near a seat and made for the replicator. It wouldn't take the others long to arrive, but she had enough time to replicate a coffee and consume the first few sips before tackling any of this further.

Victoria entered the conference room and -also- approached the replicator, but not before offering Emni a smile and a handshake in a wordless greeting of respect. She replicated a mug of hot tea, and took a seat. She had opinions about the recent maneuvering of the ship and station, and it would pay dividends to be hydrated and start this meeting with something revitalizing. She took a seat and opened her jacket, removing her PADD. Granted, she wasn't a specialist in the sciences, so the activity and behavior of the wormhole were something beyond her scope. It was good that this was a command-level meeting and heads would be put together.

Kodak entered the conference room carrying a mug of kaffee — real, not replicated; a gift from his parents that had been waiting for him upon their arrival at Pathfinder. Even after all these years, Klaus and Ingrid Müeller still believed in sending him care packages, even as far as the Delta Quadrant. The aromatic smell of the German variant of coffee wafted from the cup as the Chameloid walked towards t'Nai and Cross, choosing a seat on a side of the table rather than at its head. Through the viewport, the station's static visage given their anchored mooring filled the view.

"Before we get to whatever Lieutenant Good is bringing us," the Captain said, setting his mug down and leaning forward, forearms on the table, hands loosely clasped, "I want to put some cards on the table. I've already heard from Station Command — directly. Admiral Mentarrim's office contacted me on a secure channel shortly after the incident in Ops." He paused, letting that land quietly.

"The short version is that two of our officers — Irynya and Mr. Balsam — were on a civilian tour of Station Operations when some kind of energy event hit the station. Instead of cowering with the tour group, they jumped on unmanned consoles and helped stabilize the situation. Irynya kept the station from being pushed out of its position. Balsam ran damage control. Sounds like they helped out a lot...not that the Admiral wanted to admit that."

"Mentarrim was... less interested in thanking them than in making sure I understood they'd been in a restricted area and had accessed classified systems. I was told, in so many words," Kodak explained post-interruptive sip, "to 'keep my people in line.'" The edge in his voice was controlled but unmistakable — the particular frustration of a captain who'd just gotten his crew back from a nightmare and was now being told they'd done too much while helping. "They also made it clear that Irynya and Balsam are under a gag order. Whatever they saw up there, they've been told they saw nothing."

Kodak sat back and rubbed a hand across his beard. "That didn't sit well with me. So I reached out to someone I trust — Commodore Kudred. He's part of the station's command structure. Old friend. You've seen our ongoing kotra games in my ready room." And indeed, placed on the lacquered coffee table amidst the sitting area of his office, the Cardassian game board rested, offering different configurations of pieces every time t'Nai or Cross would come to visit. He and Kudred traded moves via subspace message since real time play wasn't normally possible.

Kodak glanced around the table conspiratorially. "Kudred confirmed the repositioning wasn't a malfunction or a drill. It was reactive — something triggered it, though he wouldn't say what exactly. He also confirmed there's a major convoy scheduled through the wormhole in the next several days. Relief supplies, construction materials, personnel transfers. It's been planned for weeks, but security around it has tightened considerably in the last forty-eight hours."

He turned his mug slowly between his palms. "I pushed him. Told him we'd had our hull peeled open not three weeks ago — that my people had been beaten and tortured and that they didn't need the station adding fresh uncertainty on top of what they're already carrying." The Captain's jaw tightened. Andrew on that rack. The bruises mapped across his chest like a cartography of cruelty. The slow, labored breathing that was the only proof he'd still been alive. Two weeks of counseling had started to ease the sharp edges of that image, but it hadn't erased it. Kodak doubted anything ever would.

"Kudred heard me. I could tell he wanted to say more than he did." Kodak continued, his voice leveling back out. "But what he did say was that the convoy's contents have drawn attention from parties in this quadrant who'd rather those supplies never arrive. He advised me to make sure our tactical readiness was where it needed to be. And then he changed the subject." Classic Kudred, not unexpected. "That's more than the station's official channels have given any of us, I suspect. But it's not enough."

Kodak glanced toward the door and took another sip. "I have a feeling Good's pieces and mine are going to start fitting together. But wanted you both to have a heads up first," he said, looking back at t'Nai and Cross.

The straight-backed stride of the new Security Chief entered her in to the room only a moment later, pausing only briefly at the... refit. "Good Morning." She greeted the group who had all quite adroitly beaten her here. "Apologies. We're two turbolifts down." With a clatter her gathered PADDs were placed on the new conference table. When her dark eyes lifted, and she tucked her hair behind her ear, she had a gut feeling. Her smile pushed in to one cheek. "I have a weird feeling you all know what I'm about to say."

Emni chuckled at that. "Maybe not word for word," she remarked. The amusement was there, but there was a deeper throughline of concern. "Captain Kodak has heard from Admiral Mentarrim's office and spoken with a friend in the station's chain of command for some more context. Unless there's been a surprise security breach that required a meeting, I imagine you've heard from the station too."

She sighed, a degree of frustration welling in her at the thought of two of their officers being caught in this mess and treated as if they had done something wrong rather than acknowledged for stepping in when help was needed. "Did I guess that about right?" she asked the security chief.

Bailey again fixated at her hair as it easily loosed from the shell of her ear. She returned it, her mouth pulling into a terse line of thought. "I feel like station security is doing more than breathing down my neck. Balsam and Irynya are are just latest. I've had similar required action notices from them four other times since we arrived. Same story. If I ask for details, I get stone-walled."

Emni's eyes narrowed just slightly at this news. "Do they always have to do with our crew or is this the first where specific individuals were named?" she asked, trying to eke out as much information she possibly could.

"I'm only aware of how they are interacting with our crew, but I can place some subspace messages to our partner ships in the task force and see if they had similar difficulties." Bailey reported to the Commander. "And I recommend we do so."

The Romulan nodded her agreement. "Let's do that."

Cross stroked her chin, and leaned forward, crossing her arms on the end of the table. "I don't have much in the way of access to the Pathfinder's systems. My attempt to offer assistance to the Operations crew was similarly met with a stonewall, but .. my gut isn't sitting right. Something right fishy is going down here, as Bailey says, Cap'n. Something under the surface."

Bailey was troubled by Victoria's admission. Her brow had risen in surprise at the Ops Chief. She digested it: Pathfinder was stonewalling resources and information for Ops as well? Why? "Stations wanting to keep their turf their turf for security reasons, I get. Its a jurisdiction issue of who has detainment and prosecution priorities. But Pathfinder stonewalling supplies and personnel transfers... that's weird. I get, things are tight, we're between wormhole cycles..." her thumb jutted at the window, "But there's a whole refit going on out there, and they're building at break neck."

Emni nodded and leaned back in her chair, turning to look to the Captain. "Did Kudred say anything that might give more clarification on the resources and security blocks? Good's not wrong. At the rate the refit is moving I'd have expected better collaboration and communication from them."

Kodak shook his head slowly, thumb tracing the rim of his mug. "Kudred didn't go that far. But I think we can read between the lines." He sat forward again, that task-oriented focus of his settling over him like the uniform he'd shapeshifted onto himself a thousand times before.

"We've got a convoy carrying critical supplies that's under tight security. We've also got a station that's still half-built," the Captain gestured toward said station through the room's expansive window, "and just took a hit from something they won't explain. And," the lines in his face settled into deep ruts, "we've got a command structure that's responding by battening down every hatch they can find rather than collaborate with us openly."

He looked at Bailey. "Multiple incidents. All stonewalled. That's not jurisdictional territoriality, Lieutenant. I got the sense from Kudred there was more to this than that. They're treating this station like a secured installation ahead of a threat, and we're being managed like..." Kodak trailed off, mind searching for an analogy, "like guests who've overstayed their welcome." That last word clearly tasted bitter. "Kudred wouldn't--couldn't," he stressed, "go into details but I got the sense we should preparing ourselves for something. What that something is," he shrugged heavily, "I don't know."

Kodak's golden eyes swept the table. "So here's where I'm at. We're docked at a station that won't share information with us, won't collaborate on resources, and has gagged two of our officers for helping during a crisis. A convoy is inbound that warrants very heavy security for reasons unknown. And whatever hit this station came from the direction of the wormhole." He let that sit. "If this wasn't a Starfleet installation, what would we do? Because Starfleet or not, we're being kept in the dark. And if that wouldn't fly with strangers, it certainly shouldn't with friends."

Emni sat in that uncomfortable thought for a long moment before speaking, measuring her words carefully as she did. "I can speak with Commodore T'Vel and Commander Karim," she commented. "Perhaps there is something they can share. More information seems like a right next step. And I would like you to make those calls Lieutenant," she said with a nod toward Bailey. "I think we need to speak to the rest of our department heads, too. If we're having issues in relation to Ops and Security... what's going on where Medical is concerned? Or Engineering? Let's make sure we're all on the same page. A conversation with Mr. tr'Amarok might be enlightening as he was aboard the station for a few weeks before our arrival."

She looked to the Captain and opened her mouth to speak again when the chirp of comm badges stopped her.

"Sorry for the interruption sirs," The ops ensign's voice made it clear they thought they might be doing just that, "Lieutenant Irynya and Ensign Balsam have just arrived on ship. I told the Lieutenant that you were gathered in a meeting, but she insisted that you would want to talk with them."

Emni had the distinct sense that Irynya and Balsam were likely both standing on the bridge with the Risian peering over the poor ensign's shoulder as he reached out. She looked from face to face, gauging their reactions and ending on Kodak's. "Sir?" she asked, waiting for his decision.

Victoria turned her gaze to the Captain, searching his face for a moment. She folded her hands together and took a quiet breath, before looking over to her fellow command staff. She reached up, taking a finger under her collar to loosen it slightly, before adjusting her seat. She thought about the suspicious stonewall that the ship had been undergoing. Could it be something criminal, or something along that lines? This wasn't her area of expertise, but the mind boggled.

Feeling the palpable tension of everyone looking to him for a decision, the Chameloid nodded. "Send them in," he said, golden eyes flicking from one face to another around the table. "More pieces to place. Or at least, that's the hope," Kodak said. Given the gag order, he did not want to put his people in a position to disobey orders from higher ups than he. But at the same time--like with Kudred--perhaps there was a way to learn more without overtly going against orders.

A few moments passed and the door to the conference room slid aside revealing the two officers in question. The pair were still in civilian attire and Irynya was both aware of the difference and, outwardly at least, unphased. She stepped into the room hurriedly pausing just inside the door so Noah could follow her in. "I'm sorry for the interruption sirs," she said, scanning the table and taking note of who was already assembled.

Noah, however, was fazed. Entering in to this space that he was rarely even meant to enter was weird as it was. Now he was entering it with the command staff and in civilian dress. He grimaced a smile and raised a lanky arm in a still wave, mouthing hi. His eyes skirted first to Emni, then Bailey, and the Captain.

Kodak offered the arrivals a warm nod. "Hello there. Your timing is convenient — grab a seat." He waited a moment, letting them get their bearings. "We've been discussing some concerns about what's been going on aboard Pathfinder, and your names came up. We've been briefed — in broad strokes — on some of what happened." The emphasis was deliberate: he hoped it signaled that they were aware and already taking steps of their own. "We know you were there during the incident and that you stepped in to help when things went sideways."

Noah felt his rear sphincter tighten. Oh no. He froze as eh was about to drop in to a chair. It was thru effort that he pushed up the sleeves of his sweater to below his elbow and then slowly guided his bum to the seat. It was crazy cushy... crazy comfortable. His eyes narrowed. "Whoa..." His eyes widened. "S-sorry... just.... uh, great chairs..." He placed a quick, rumpled smile as he fidgeted at his sleeve.

The Captain's tone gentled then, "We also know the station has asked you to keep what you saw to yourselves, and none of us have any intention of putting you in a difficult position with that. But if there's anything you can share to keep this crew safe, we'd love to listen."

"Truthfully sir," Irynya said from the chair she'd selected along the line of the table making sure that she and Noah could sit next to each other if so desired, "they weren't terribly clear. Or... maybe were too broad?" Her brow creased as she tried to think of what she could say. So much of the encounter was on her tongue to explain, but they'd been told very clearly not to. "Frankly, sir, the order was to assume that everything we saw and touched was highly classified. They didn't say whether they meant in the control center when we stepped in to help or if that was supposed to cover... you know... everything."

"I sort of got the idea we were supposed to um..." He made a cut gesture at his throat with swing of his flat hand.

"Let us assume..." Emni offered, unable to miss the conflict that was clearly lighting up all of Irynya's movements. Whatever it was that the two were not being allowed to discuss it was clear just from this that Irynya, at least, felt uncomfortable with the order. "... they they are only referring to the incident itself. Unless you have reason to believe that others in your tour group were given similar requirements."

The Risian's eyes slid to Noah as if she might be able to communicate her thinking with a glance. "I don't... know... for sure..." she finally said. "We were escorted out on our own and I don't remember any security officers leaving with the tour group."

"I think they sent someone with the group and they were in a yellow uniform but..." He looked around the group with wide dark eyes. "They didn't... I mean I didn't... clock if they were security. Or maybe a Yeoman. We-we barely had any time. They got them to a turbolift. I, uh, felt like they were angry that we manned the Ops and Helm stations when their people went down. And um. What we saw on the sensors."

Iry nodded her agreement, though something in her tightened at Noah's mention of the sensors, she glanced at the XO and the Captain in turn. "Would you still like us to proceed as though it was only the incident in the order ma'am?" she asked, addressing Emni directly.

The Romulan had not missed Balsam's comment and her eyes narrowed slightly in concern. She shared a brief glance with Cross. "Commander," she said, addressing the Aussie, "would you check our ops logs for the same time once we're done? I know we're running on a skeleton crew, but we haven't turned everything off. Maybe there's something in our logs that can elucidate."

“Righto, mate, I’ll run over ‘em with a fine tooth comb. If there’s anything in this work I love doing, it’s going over logs of minute details. The ship has done us no wrong in the past, if she’s picked up somethin’, I’ll find out. That’s really smart thinking, too. The sensors have been on, Iry.” She nodded, and tapped a note into her tricorder to remind herself. “Bloody brilliant.”

To the two wayward officers in civilian attire Emni added, "Yes, please continue under the assumption that your orders apply only to the incident. Any broader gag order would be unwieldly and impossible to enforce as you, yourselves, could not be asked to identify what was and wasn't important."

Irynya nodded, slightly mollified by the clarification. "The tour group was fairly large. Maybe 20 of us?" She glanced at Noah. "And we were looking down into the Operation Center from the upper level gangway. Umm... they were operating on a skeleton crew and I was having trouble figuring out where helm was because, I think, maybe it was on manual control. There wasn't an officer in red standing there that I recall."

She tried to recall what details hadn't been pushed out of her brain by the incident itself and her eyes widened at the realization of what she could say. "There was a Tholian," she added, glancing with some enthusiasm at Noah. "Umm... Noah asked someone to confirm."

Noah slow-nodded. "There was a Tholian... I think talking to Ops." he looked at the gathering, "Or something. But yeah the Ops.. um.. in general... was not manned with many people. It seemed like a lot of stations were being, you know, automated. Which, you know, I guess I expected since the station's.. you know... not finished." Noah looked around. Then he squinted. "Um. Anyway. They were talking about the Barzan Compact... and then there was this violent shake... like a moonquake."

The Captain's expression didn't change — not visibly. But something behind his golden eyes sharpened at the words Barzan Compact the way a sensor sweep narrows when it suddenly finds something unexpected and noteworthy. "A Tholian," Kodak said, his tone carefully neutral — not dismissive, not alarmed. Conversational. "In Station Operations. Discussing the Compact." He let that sit for a beat, then glanced around the table to see if the others were thinking along the same lines he was.

The Barzan Compact was the agreement that had made Pathfinder Station possible — a political arrangement that had brought together the scientific resources and people power necessary to stabilize the wormhole on both ends. The Tholians had been among its surprising architects, contributing the scientific expertise that had made stabilization of the Barzan wormhole viable in the first place.

That contribution had earned the Tholians guaranteed wormhole access, written directly into the compact. So a Tholian presence on Pathfinder in and of itself was not that surprising. A Tholian in Ops, however, was another matter entirely and certain not an anomaly to be dismissed. In fact, Kodak thought to himself, it might actually explain a vital component of this whole thing. Shaking station, the need for manuevering thrusters, all the concern about the upcoming convoy, Kudred's focus on the importance of the political situation on Pathfinder...

"If the wormhole was, for some reason, destabilizing," Kodak's golden eyes flashed, "then who would the station's command staff likely call to Ops for help?"

Cold dread. It crept down Noah's spine and winked his rear iris. The mere idea that the wormhole was destabilizing elicited a kind of anxiety that was not new to Noah- the feeling of being trapped. Alone. Forfeit. "Um." Was all he was able to issue out. His eyes narrowed and he raised a brow. "Tha-that would be... bad." His brows knit at the bridge of his large nose. "I-I just know that that... shockwave... was from near the wormhole's event horizon. Wait... Lieutenant..." Noah looked at Irynya. He mouthed the word, 'verterons.' He blanched. That was within the gag order. Was there a way to... get around it? At present Noah couldn't think of a way.

Like Noah, Irynya's reaction to the thought of a destabilized Barzan wormhole was visceral. Her stomach dropped and her heart rate picked up in a way that held the edges of anxiety against her chest. She frowned and followed Noah's line of reasoning and then his mouthed reminder. The small hairs on the back of her neck pricked and she blanched. She tried to think.

"Umm... I don't know about the wormhole..." Her words were unconvincing at best. She clearly did know something, but also felt she couldn't say anything. She glanced sidelong at Noah and chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment before continuing. "Didn't... umm... right before the shockwave... you told me that something was wrong... or... off? We didn't really get to discuss... umm... that... but do you remember at all what it was that made you think that?"

Noah had to shake his head.

Her expression as she asked him, turning to catch his eye, was cautious. Noah had not merely asked someone about the Tholian, he had left the group and stepped into Ops. There hadn't been any harm in it, but it had certainly been against regulations and she didn't want to get him into any trouble. Still, he'd been closer to things before they event than she had and whatever had raised concern in him before the shock wave might tell them, well, something at least. Truth be told she'd all but forgotten that moment until now.

Victoria spoke up, raising her hand slightly, “I - did speak with a Tholian, but I didn’t share any command codes or anything of the sort. It was the day the senior crew had an evening of leave and we wanted to see... well, we had a half day, and we made the most of it. The Tholian I spoke to was mostly curious about humanity and what Earth was like, we just chit-chatted at most, they were inside an environmental containment unit on their ship and any espionage with me was a minute chance at best. Just felt like I should speak up and be honest. I’d never met a Tholian before, thought it would be interesting.”

Bailey, who was leaned back in to the chair, had folded her arms. "You probably were speaking to one of their diplomatic or scout drones, then. I can try to pull logs from the Pathfinder about how often the Tholians come aboard station or interact with the crew, based on some of my own investigations. But I don't think this... Mentarrim... is going to make it easy. And the casual dismissal of my investigations by their security officers-" And Bailey remembered how they brushed off the idea of casualties- "Doesn't make me confident."

Emni took in the group, the space between her brows creasing as she considered all of the elements. Her eyes fell to each officer in turn as if that might somehow elucidate the pieces each of them didn't have... or couldn't share...

"It seems to me," she began slowly, "that we need more information overall. It helps to know that the Tholians have been on the station and spotted more than once." Here she paused to nod her thanks to Cross. "And I agree with Lieutenant Good -- the station is unlikely to be forthcoming. Any requests we make should be carefully considered. If they think we're digging for information I suspect they'll only stonewall us further."

Her gaze paused on the two in civilian attire. "I recognize that you're on shore leave and that this has put you in an uncomfortable position. But you have our support to follow the orders you've been given." Her eyes slid to Kodak, taking comfort in knowing the Captain as well as she did. It was easy to make this claim without having discussed it first. "Unless you believe that something you saw endangers the lives of everyone on that station then I think we have to proceed as though this was a singular event and the brass is simply being excessively cautious within a new region. But," she continued pointedly, "if anything arises that you think we need to know of... or you remember anything that you don't think is covered by the orders you received, please bring that to us immediately."

Her expression left Irynya and Noah and settled, finally, on their Captain. "I'm not sure there's more we can safely confirm without more information at this stage. Would you agree Captain?"

Kodak nodded slowly, his eyes moving around the table one last time before settling on his XO with something that was equal parts agreement and appreciation. She'd read the room — and him — exactly right.

"I do," he said simply. Then, turning to Irynya and Noah, the Captain's expression softened into something warmer, though no less serious. "You followed your instincts over there and those instincts were sound," the Chameloid emphasized with a rasp. He held their eyes for a moment, making sure it landed. "Now...get out of here and do something fun with your shore leave. That's an order." He let that last part carry just enough warmth to take the edge off the directive before his gaze shifted to Emni and Cross.

"I think we have some things to consider," Kodak gestured for the pair to stay even as Iry and Noah were invited to leave. Whatever was happening on Pathfinder -- happening potentially to the wormhole -- was likely more involved than even they knew at present. But a stonewall in one direction did not mean a stonewall in all. Perhaps there were other ways to find out what was happening and why...

--- Tensions Rising With ---

Captain Bjorn Kodak
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Commander Emni t'Nai
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Commander Victoria Cross
Chief of Operations

Lieutenant Bailey Good
Chief of Security

Lieutenant Irynya
Chief Flight Controller

Ensign Noah Balsam
Systems Specialist