"We have no way of knowing until we get closer" Zedd said. "Which is why we are going to be as prepared as possible for both."

She nodded in acknowledgment.

Cormus spoke up next. "How long are we looking to be inside the nebula?"

"Depends on the route we take" Zedd said. "That is why Lindsy is going to walk us through the route options she has come up with. The shortest path adds about two hours inside the interference zones. The safest one adds closer to four hours for the overall travel time."

"What Lindsy found when she triangulated the token data" Zedd continued "was a set of coordinates on the far side of the nebulae that multiple passing vessels registered readings from, without investigating them further. The readings are consistent with something large. Large and significant enough that sensor interference alone cannot fully explain why it hasn't presumably been gone after." He paused. "The optimistic explanation is the nebulae itself. The less is that people have worse reasons for not going in to deal with the potentially hazards they know about from a distance."

The room was quiet for a moment.

Tiraa, for the moment, was content to listen. Having been present with Zedd when Lindsy brought the tokens to them, she had made her concerns already known and waited to see what the others would bring up as their own.

Mei-Lin looked at Zedd. "What kind of readings?"

"We can't make heads or tails of it, to be honest" Zedd answered. "If someone has scouted the location, the data hasn't be shared or sold that we can find.

"We are going in" Zedd said. "That decision is final. The goal here is to plan out everything possible for contingencies, with the limited resources we have."\

"Questions before we get further into this?"

Cormus spoke up first. "The vessel that ran, how long aga was it?"

"The token puts it at approximately fourteen months since the data was recorded" Zedd answered.

Cormus nodded slowly. "So whatever is on the other side has been sitting there that long without anyone going back for a second look."

"Presumably yes" Zedd said.

Ragnar had stayed quiet through most of it, because Cormus had already gone for the pilot's question, and there was no point adding noise just to prove he could hear himself talk. He had listened instead, letting the details stack up in the back of his mind while the room settled into the sort of focus people got when an unknown had been made into a destination. The nebula, the interference, the abandoned mining station, the thing large enough to be noticed but not clear enough to be named. Sure, fine. Strange, possibly dangerous, but fine in theory. It was the token that bothered him. Not the thing itself, not yet, but the route by which it had found its way to them.

"One question" he said, looking from the display to Zedd. "Who else knew what was on that token before Lindsy bought it? Because if something large has been sitting there for fourteen months and nobody has gone back for it, I'm less interested in why we're going in than why no one else seems to have."

Zedd had taken note of the other man's approach in his patience before answering "The truth is, we don't know who else has been here too. The data is sold to whomever will pay for it, so I'd presume there are at least a handful of this same token floating around. Who bought it, I couldn't say. We're taking a shot in the dark going there, but also if there had been something already plundered, we would've probably heard about it. That's why we're taking the risk. Either way I'd like a security defense plan in case personal combat becomes necessary."

Ragnar listened, not especially comforted by the answer, but not surprised by it either. A shot in the dark was honest, at least, and honest was better than pretending this had cleaner edges than it did. He looked back at the display, at the nebula and the routes through it, then nodded once. "Right. So we assume we're not the only ones with the token, difficult to get to also means difficult to get away from, and anything valuable may already have company." He shifted forward slightly, the lazy edge thinning now there was something practical to do. "I'll put a defence plan together. Internal first."

Zedd returned a nod in acknowledgment. "Very well then.

Morgan spoke up before the group was dismissed.

"I would like Mei-Lin and I to dig into the sensor data and logs embedded in this token. There have to be energy signatures or even bio-signs. Something as large as what is supposedly out there has to give off some kind of energy, no matter how minuscule. Energy is released or absorbed. Just basic physics."

"Of course" Zedd replied. He looked over at Lindsy.

"I'll make sure to get all the records data shared with engineering. Most of what I went through was environmental and route data so I'm sure there are stones unturned. If you like I can also assist in your review." Lindsy was happy to assist the Chief any way she could.

"Thanks Lindsy. I appreciate it. The astrometrics set up probably has some capabilities engineering does not. I'll definitely look into it" Morgan said as he nodded and smiled softly at his colleague.

"In the meantime Captain, I can make sure shield output and the structural integrity field are where they need to be. Should we run into trouble, that is. Wouldn't want to get caught with our pants down."

"That would be preferred, with the new computer system I'm sure it can help redirect power and other resources as needed too. Mei-Lin should be more familiar with it and can help guide you through anything if need be." Zedd looked around for any more questions or comments.

"Thank you Zedd. Mei-Lin's been terrific and I can take all the help I can get. We'll be ready for whatever we end up facing" Avery said.

"I'll have shuttles on standby and the runabout ready in case we need it" Cormus added. "And in a pinch I can back up Lindsy on the helm if it comes to that."

"You'll have impulse engines and warp drive primed and ready," Morgan added. "All systems running as smooth as Aldebaran whiskey."

Zedd let the room hold quiet for a moment before looking to his left.

"Lindsy" he said. "The routes."

Lindsy picked up her PADD and tapped it once. The wall display shifted to show three routes as superimposed passes, three colored transit lines threading through various hazards from their current location to the coordinates of the presumed derelict.

"We have three options" she said, standing and moving to the display since it was easier to show indicate each option. "All three will get us there, but they differ in how long we are blind from interference and how predictable our route will be while we are blind. They pull us in opposite directions."

She indicated the first line which was also, the shortest of the three that ran nearly straight through the densest region of the interference band.

"The first route option is a direct corridor. We go through the largest gap cluster on the near side of the nebulae and then commit to a straight shot through the middle of it all. The total time inside the interference is two hours and eleven minutes at a safe speed. The problem is that in the middle forty minutes, our effective sensor range drops to under a kilometer. We'd flying on dead reckoning itself. While the fastest option, it's also the blindest."

She moved on to the second line, which curved more north directly and followed a faint dotted overlay that ran through the nebula itself.