On the Excelsior, Alan Santiago was fuming in his Ready Room. Seth had sent him an update, as per Admiral Kim’s request, on Dr. Min’s findings on the Draloos V alien species, and he was getting more and more uncomfortable with the fact that there was an intelligent species at all on Draloos V. The issue was no longer about restoring cargo shipments. The equation of the mission had changed.
Then there was the issue of the aliens now simply being a direct threat to the human population. An intelligent species that has mastered the art of designing life…was a frightening thought to Santiago. If somehow the aliens were able to unleash a deadly plague, or a monster to Draloos IV, the entire population could be wiped out. Both Seth and Santiago would lose their commands. Hell, they would likely be ejected from Starfleet altogether.
Commander Ariele came into his Ready Room, upright and proper as usual. “Captain, we’ve finished finalizing the details of the evacuation plan for Draloos IV. We’ve sent the plan to the political leaders, including Jerad.”
“Good.”
“The whole process is estimated to take about three weeks, assuming that Starfleet can send us the ten Galaxy-class starships and twenty transport vessels that we requested. It will take several trips to evacuate everybody,” Ariele explained. “We don’t yet have a permanent home for them, so they may be scattered for quite some time.”
“Excellent work, Commander,” he answered dryly.
Even after only one month, the Commander had grown to know her captain well enough now to know when he wasn’t satisfied with something. “Is…something bothering you, Captain?”
“Yes, Commander. Everything is bothering me,” Santiago said. “Have you read Captain Seth’s report on the aliens of Draloos V?” Santiago threw the PADD on the desk as he asked the question.
“Yes, sir, I have. It won’t make restoring the cargo shipments any easier.”
“It was this species that was stopping the shipments in the first place. And they’re not going to want them to continue to do that. And they’ve already shown contempt for human life. Which means if we don’t stop them, the population on Draloos IV will have even bigger problems.”
“It makes the evacuation plan even more critical,” Ariele noted.
“Yes, Commander, it does. The crew of the Dragonfly hasn’t found a way to communicate with them yet. But I’m not willing to give up. There has to be a way to deal with this without moving the people.”
“What are you planning to do?”
Santiago bit his lip. “I don’t know. But the fact that there is a hostile species means that Seth and I are in this mission together. It’s no longer about cargo shipments; it’s about dealing with a direct threat to a human population of one billion.”
“Captain, the mission of the Excelsior is to head up the evacuation,” Ariele reminded him. “It’s Captain Seth’s job to handle the aliens on Draloos V. Let him deal with the situation.”
“I don’t need you to remind me what my orders are, Commander,” he fired back, perhaps with more ferocity than he had intended with her. “I have a responsibility to ensure the success of this mission. If Captain Seth fails, then I fail.”
“Captain Seth will object to your interference…”
Santiago looked at her squarely. “He won’t have a choice.”
