Two Words
Posted on Mon Jul 13th, 2026 @ 1:57pm by Captain Saelira Venn & Lieutenant JG Liora Sen & Commander Vren'desh Son of Rukas
901 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
Mission 1: Through the Janus Gate
Location: Ready Room - USS Resolute
Timeline: MD003 - 2218 hours
Liora did not run.
Running drew attention, and attention meant questions she could not yet answer.
She walked quickly instead, PADD in hand, heading for the ready room. The alert had come less than two minutes ago: a burst from the Pakled vessel, irregular and half-buried in static until Intelligence filters pulled it clear.
Then the translation fragment.
Good Power.
The phrase lingered, deceptively simple. Liora knew enough Pakled behaviour to recognise its weight. Not sophistication, but satisfaction. Something had worked, and they liked it.
Her PADD chimed again. Strategic Operations flagged a localised energy surge, subspace distortion, and a movement profile that no longer matched the vessel’s known drive capability.
Her stomach tightened.
That was enough.
At the ready room door, she paused just long enough to steady herself, then pressed the chime.
The PADD continued scrolling in her hand.
Liora waited.
Inside the ready room, Saelira looked up at the chime.
She had not been expecting quiet for long. Not with the Pakled vessel already under observation and the Janus Core sitting at the centre of too many unknowns.
“Come in,” she called.
The door parted, and Saelira’s gaze moved first to Liora, then to the PADD in her hand. The moment the lieutenant crossed the threshold, a ripple of tension brushed against Saelira’s senses—tight, urgent, threaded with something sharper beneath the surface. Whatever Liora had brought, it had not waited for the next scheduled briefing.
Saelira stood.
“Lieutenant Sen.”
She touched the comm panel on her desk without looking away from Liora, her attention split between the officer’s controlled posture and the emotional undercurrent she could not ignore.
“Venn to Commander Vren’desh. Report to my ready room.”
A beat.
“Now, please.”
She closed the channel, her attention returning fully to the Intelligence officer, studying her more closely now.
“We’ll wait for Commander Vren’desh,” Saelira said, her tone steady but intent. “Then you can give your report.”
Vren'Desh stepped into the Ready Room right off the Bridge. "Captain, Lieutenant." He said as both an acknowledgement of his own arrival and greeting to those present. It was interesting to see the Lieutenant as while on duty she rarely left the SCIF.
Saelira gave Vren’desh a brief nod, then looked back to Liora.
“Go ahead, Lieutenant.”
Liora adjusted her grip on the PADD, bringing the relevant feed to the top of the display. “At 2216 hours, Intelligence filters picked up a burst transmission from the Pakled vessel. It was low-grade, badly compressed and half-buried in background static, but the translation is clean enough to matter.”
She looked between the captain and the XO.
“Two words: Good Power.”
Liora let that sit for half a breath before continuing. “On its own, that would be easy to dismiss as Pakled simplicity. In context, I don’t think we can. Less than twenty seconds after the phrase was transmitted, Strategic Operations flagged a localised energy surge aboard their ship. Subspace distortion followed almost immediately, and their movement profile changed.”
She tapped the PADD once, sending the brief packet to the ready room display.
“It no longer matches the vessel’s known drive capability. Not even generously. Whatever they’ve done, they haven’t just powered a system. They’ve activated something, and they appear pleased with the result.”
Her expression remained controlled, but there was no mistaking the urgency beneath it.
“I can’t tell you what the device is doing. That’s for Science and Engineering. But from an Intelligence standpoint, the Pakleds are no longer transporting an unknown object. They’re using it.”
Vren'Dedsh exhaled sharply through his nose. Those Pakleds had no way of knowing what they are dealing with. "We need to get these readings to Melody. See what she can make of it. I recommend we remain on course but increase speed to warp nine."
Liora gave a small nod. “Already done, Commander. The raw feed and translation fragment went to Science, Engineering, Operations and Security as soon as the second movement flag came through. Lieutenant Piper should have the same packet I’m carrying now.” She glanced to Saelira, then back to the XO, keeping her tone measured. “From Strategic Operations, I’d support increasing speed. If the Pakleds have activated the device without understanding it, the risk window is no longer theoretical. Every minute we give them is another minute for them to make the wrong thing worse.”
Saelira’s eyes stayed on the ready room display for a moment, following the compressed spike of data as if staring at it long enough might make it less ugly.
It did not.
“Good work, Lieutenant,” she said. “You were right to bring this straight here.”
Then she looked to Vren’desh.
“I agree. Warp nine.”
There was no hesitation in it now. The mission had changed the moment the Pakleds stopped carrying the thing and started enjoying it.
“Contact the bridge,” Saelira said. “Have Lieutenant Rhos increase speed and maintain intercept course. I want updated estimates the moment our arrival window changes.”
Her gaze moved briefly back to Liora.
“And stay with us. If they transmit anything else, no matter how simple it sounds, I want to know before the translation has finished cooling.”
Captain Saelira Venn
Commanding Officer
USS Resolute
Commander Vren'Desh
Executive Officer
USS Resolute
Lt. JG Liora Sen
Strategic Operations/Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Resolute
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