Ali knew that she should go and get some sleep, but she was too wired from the adrenaline of the drop to do so. It was late so there was only a skeleton crew on duty around her.

The bridge was a standard USEP layout of an isosceles trapezium. If you stood at the bottom the helm station would be directly in front of you. The bank of tactical stations ran down the left hand side, the bank of science stations curled from behind the helm and down the right hand wall. At the top of the right hand wall was the comm station, and in between the comm and tactical sat the captain. There were doorways off each side at the top just before a few multipurpose consoles at the very back.

As senior scientist Olkant sat on the 'corner' of the science bank and Ali was leaning next to him on the console. They were watching the screen with the tracking information from the weapons on it. Neither were sure what they were waiting on. Ali stifled a yawn that almost surprised her. "You should get some sleep," Olkant suggested, "we're unlikely to get anything tonight."

Ali sighed as she rubbed at her face. She knew he was right, but right now she didn't dare take her eye off the scans in case they lost the signal whilst she wasn't watching. She knew how that would feel, no matter how irrational she knew it was. "It's not our job now anyway. I need to send this to S-Core." She pushed herself off the console and made her way to her ready room just off the bridge.

She spent just enough time on the message she put together for Security Core for it to sound official and diplomatic before sending it and marking it as highly urgent. Once she'd sent it she genuinely started weighing up the pros and cons of sleeping on her desk, then shook herself out of it as she realised Olkant was right. She needed sleep.

The following morning she received a reply and it went more or less along the lines she had expected. Security Core thanked her for her efforts and promised to monitor the situation and follow up as appropriate. Attached was a missive from her superiors ordering her to get back to her own mission - the Faraday was surveying an uncharted star system - and that the only reason she wasn't getting an official reprimand was because she and her crew had provided valuable data and intelligence.

Naturally Ali had Olkant continue to keep an eye on the data for as long as he could.

They had already spent three weeks scanning and cataloguing their assigned star system - whoever said space exploration was glamourous? - so it only took them another week to finish the job. By the time they finished Ali's impatience was making her antsy, though she was doing her best not to let it show so that her crew remained unaffected. Something should have happened by now, underground groups like the one Touchard ran would have purchased those weapons for a reason. They should have been moved or distributed among their mercs by now. A quick, private conversation with Rila confirmed that the other woman agreed.

It was normal once a ship the size of the Faraday had finished one mission that they would head to a friendly planet or space station to take some liberty until their new orders came in. Ali saw no reason that she couldn't use that to achieve another aim. "Rila, do you know where the Endeavour is currently stationed?"

There was a pause as Rila quickly swiped through the updated USEP logs to retrieve the information. "They're in the Entechor system."

Ali's lips twitched as she fought to hide the amused smile as she remembered the last time she was on Entechor with the crew of the Endeavour. "Ed, set a course for Entechor, I think it's time for some shore leave."

Ed gave an informal salute to indicate that he'd heard his captain as he plugged the coordinates into the navigation system and calculated their speed so that they would arrive so that there was some coordination between Entechor and the Faraday day cycles.

~-x-~

By the time they arrived at Entechor the atmosphere of the Faraday had shifted from it's normal hum of activity to a buzz of excitement for a chance to let off some steam and relax. Rila had easily devised a rota that left the Faraday manned whilst enabling a fair rotation of staff to take advantage of their down time.

"We're receiving a transmission from the Endeavour." Rila reported once Ed had established an orbit around Entechor. Ali smiled to herself and jumped out of her chair with a polite request to transfer the call to her ready room.

When she opened the comm line she was greeted by a familiar face - though his blonde hair was more grey than Ali remembered - wearing an expectant smile. "Ali, did no one ever tell you it's rude to arrive without an invitation?"

"I owe you a beer?"

Rear Admiral Robert Grey's façade broke and he chuckled. "That you do," he agreed warily, "I take it you warned Spud you were coming?"

Spud was the Endeavour's head of engineering and the pair had become close friends over the years they had known each other, so much so that when Ali fully came into her kentarian powers both women had started to see flashes into each other's minds. The start of a platonic tetnar. Ali had offered to break the formation there and then - it couldn't be done once it was fully formed -, but Spud countered with the suggestion they cement it. After all, didn't Ali deserve to have one that wouldn't sour? Ali had used their tetnar to collude with Spud to ensure that the Faraday would meet with the Endeavour at Entechor whilst allowing her to surprise Grey. On reflection she should have specified that Spud shouldn't do something stupid to enable it. Ali cringed with the realisation. "What did she do?"

"She insisted on taking time to triple check every system and has made herself somewhat of a local hero by extending our shore leave," Grey explained, making Ali smile. "What are you warning us about this time?"

Ali sighed and said, "how about I tell you over that beer?"

~-x-~

Entechor had a similar climate to Earth. However, after a city reached a certain size the only remaining building work that was allowed within its limits was underground, which protected the natural beauty of the planet whilst enabling the growth of housing and businesses where necessary. Thereby on the surface there were no developed areas larger than a small city or large town. "I'm surprised we're allowed back," Grey observed as Ali joined him at a rooftop bar overlooking a riviera.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Ali chuckled as she tapped in her order into the table's inbuilt menu. "I'm pretty certain that's just me and Claire."

"You will go getting my crew in trouble."

"I was part of it back then."

Grey was saved having to retort as a server brought their drinks over. That was when Ali really realised how quiet it was, now she understood why Grey had suggested this place. It was incredibly difficult for commanding officers to fully shake off that role with their crews, even in informal settings. For both captain and crew to relax they tended to find their own, separate watering holes and vacation spots. As she took a small swig of her beer he took a longer draught of his, as if he was savouring the drink and the moment before the inevitable. Ali couldn't blame him, she did have a history of bringing unfortunate and important matters to his attention at short notice. "All right then, what is going on?"

Ali leant forward so she could rest her elbows on the table, her hands loosely wrapped around the bottle in front of her. "What do you know about Wood's mission?"

"Ben?" Grey asked as if just saying the name of his head of security would make the surprising turn of conversation make sense. All it did was remind Ali that she'd forgotten that they all used his first name now. Claire had announced it in an amused and proud voice when the Faraday and Endeavour met up to run joint training exercises about six months back. "Is there something I should know about you two?"

Ali's head jerked in confusion before she managed to process his meaning. "No," she said firmly, trying not to put too much objection in her voice lest she accidentally fuel those flames. She moved swiftly on so that he didn't linger on that, ignoring her own curiosity as well. "I know he's undercover and I know he's in prison," she paused, "I picked up the mission from him and then passed the data to S-Core."

Grey sighed and put his beer down. "Then you know more than I do. S-Core recruited him for an op but stressed that it would be temporary. Apparently something in his record gave him the necessary experience." They shared a wry look. Both of them were well aware that most of Wood's records were classified and neither of them had anywhere near the full picture, and they knew more than most. Maybe that was what he had meant about Toulouse, Ali wondered. "I'm surprised you didn't break him out," Grey admitted.

"I considered it, he told me not to."

Grey chuckled into his beer. "I didn't know you listened to other people."

Ali put her beer bottle back down - she had been halfway to another sip - with an indignant expression on her face. "Who taught me everything I know?" She scoffed. She had him there. Her first assignment out of training had been the Endeavour under Grey's command. He reached out towards her with his bottle, she deflated with an amused shake of her head before clinking her bottle against his in toast of their history together.

~-x-~

Commander Zoë Bohr narrowed her eyes at Ali across the table - who was slumped far too comfortably in her chair - as she toyed with her purple hair in one pale hand. "Lort," she muttered to herself before throwing her cards on the table to reveal her three of a kind. "Go on, show me the damage."

"Flush!" Ali declared happily, sitting up as she dropped her own cards on the table. She reached a hand out but a yellow-green one snagged her wrist before she could claim the chips in the centre of the table. Ali's inquisitive glance was met by a pair of serene fuchsia eyes.

"Full house," Narla said as she carefully laid out her cards in front of her on the table. Ali shook her head in disbelief but she was smiling as the jetran claimed the prize pot.

"I am so glad I folded," Lieutenant Claire Frost giggled into her cocktail, her ringlets bouncing around her head with her amusement and her russet skin tinged with a rosy colour from the alcohol.

"It can't be fair when the psychics always win."

"Spud, if I was going to exploit our tetnar you'd be able to see my cards too." Ali reminded the purple haired woman, who huffed into her drink in mock disappointment. Spud didn't like losing, but equally she wasn't really mad about it. She just liked to be overly dramatic about it sometimes for comedic effect.

"And if you were truly good at bluffing I would not be able to sense your emotions," Narla added as she started to shuffle the cards. "You cannot project an aura of calm or confidence if you do not truly feel it yourself."

"That -" Spud started as she pointed with her bottle, then deflated as she couldn't think of a good comeback, "is a good point."

They had taken up residence in the Endeavour's lounge because Narla was technically on call - she was their head medic - due to the shore leave rota. There might also have been some history that none of them wanted to push if they went to the surface. This way they could all catch up with each other whilst enjoying some down time. Even if it did mean that Narla was wiping the floor with them at cards. "Can we switch to uno? Or Go Fish? No, bridge!" Claire giggled.

The other three shared a look at the tipsy helmswoman. "Reckon we should cut her off?" Ali teased.

"I'm not on duty tomorrow," Claire pouted.

"Famous last words," Spud said, still brandishing her bottle as if it were a pointer. "Ali's here."

"Hey! You're perfectly capable of getting into trouble without me."

Claire giggled around her straw again. "You got us banned from a whole planet."

"Okay, I did not get us banned, we're not technically banned," Ali refuted as she jabbed her finger into the air between them, "you crashed into the financial district."

"Who started shooting?" Narla's voice was relaxed and almost melodic in her amusement. Ali had the good decency to look a tad guilty at that. "But Spud is right, only you could start a police chase because someone tried to chat Claire up."

"In fairness he didn't chat me up, he just straight up groped me."

"And on reflection breaking his arm and drunkenly running away from the police was a bad idea."

Ali and Claire shared a nostalgic look before they both broke out laughing. "Totally worth it," they said in unison.

Now that they were ready to play another round Narla dealt out new hands of cards. As their evening progressed their fortunes became rapidly more cemented as their drinks continued to flow. Soon enough Narla and Ali had most of the chips between them, though Narla was clearly winning overall. It wasn't about the game though, not really, it was about catching up with old friends.

Spud had just returned with another tray of drinks - including a jug of water for the table - when Ali felt a strange pain permeate her skull. She flinched as she pressed a hand to her temple, though the contact did nothing to dull the effect. Narla instantly stopped shuffling cards and reached out to gently press a hand against Ali's skull, her tentacles swimming around her head as she gently probed with her telepathy. Not enough to be invasive, just enough to try and investigate a cause, akin to using hands and eyes to examine skin for a cut or gently probe for a broken bone.

After a moment the strange web of pain left Ali, only to be replaced by a dull ache deep within her psyche. Something wasn't right but she didn't know what. "What just happened?" She gasped.

"I'm unsure," Narla admitted as her tentacles continued to dance - jetra controlled their telepathic abilities with a combination of their tentacles and trained mental discipline. "Perhaps we should get you to the medical bay for a check up."

"Couldn't it just be exhaustion? It's pretty late," Spud interjected, clearly worried. It was more hope than conviction though.

"It feels deeper," Narla said as she removed her hand from Ali's head now that she was certain the worst had passed. "But it is your choice."

Before Ali could make a decision her comm beeped and she opened it to hear Rila's concerned voice. "Ali, we're getting reports that you need to see." There was a pause after Ali asked her what was going on, a hesitation that was unusual for Rila. "We're getting reports of an explosion at an embassy."