. But Zak said, "If that's not a pirate hang-out, I don't know what is!" He paused and then said, "Only ... if a Federation ship like us goes pulling in there, every pirate in the sector would bug out in a blink of an eye!" He spun his chair again and said, "Den, Relok, trace that warp trail ... would it happen to be headed to that ... pile of junk?"
. Den glanced over at the Science Officer, "On your lead, Relok."
. But Relok said to the Commodore, "You brought up a good point, sir. The Penumbra can't approach without alerting them, but neither could any of the Delta Flyers or even the Cerberus. But ... don't we have a junked freighter in our Hangar Bay right now?"
. Zak spun his chair, a thoughtful look on his face, just as the Colonel's voice came back over the commlink. "Patterson to Bridge, sorry for the delay. We're moving our guest to Deck 6, Enlisted Quarters 44. Commodore, she has information regarding pirate camps and smuggling outposts." There was a pause and then the Colonel continued, "Commodore, you're gonna want to be down here for the proposition our guest just gave us."
. Zak tapped his commbadge. "I just got an idea, too, Colonel. Bring our passenger to the Observation Lounge."
Insufficient Data
. Relok and Den were working on tracing the plasma trail. Den said, "It might have been in that direction. It could have stopped and altered course, but from this trajectory, I think so."
. Relok nodded, "It's headed that direction. Let's see if we can extrapolate its course. T'Lin, Carshel, give me a hand here, will you?"
. Zak had turned his chair back forward. He stood and announced, "Tabby, you have the Bridge. I'll be interviewing our guest in the Observation Lounge."
. "Wait, what? Again? Oh, crap!" Tabby groaned.