"Cruising to Sol"
 by Lieutenant jg T'Kang
 Chief Tactical Officer - USS Tempest
 http://come.to/tkang

It had managed to happen once again.

The Tempest, having just returned from it's trip to the future 
was presently on course for the Sol system.   That wasn't all 
that unusual.  What was strange was she was no longer under 
the Captain's command.   Commodore Mitchell had departed 
the Excelsior-Class starship in order to go and investigate the 
reports of the missing CnC.   T'Kang was not privy to the 
Commodore's relationship with the CnC; nor did he want to be; 
but he had gathered that Taddy considered her a personal 
friend and he understood why that would compel the Captain to 
seek out the truth for himself.

That didn't change things however.  This, T'Kang's third 
assignment on board a Starfleet vessel, had once again been 
left in the hands of the second in command.  First the Akula, 
then the Intrepid, and now the Tempest.  The Klingon was 
beginning to get the impression that the entire Confederation 
command structure was one big leave of absence.

Lieutenant Commander Lee was handling command well in the 
Commodore's stead.  T'Kang had never really regarded the 
Tempest's First Officer much in his time on board.  
Acknowledged him yes.  Was aware of his presence, yes.  But 
never really looked at the man for who he was.   Now that the 
Commander was giving the orders on board the ship, the 
Klingon noticed, for the first time, Lee's set jaw and chiseled 
eyes as he spoke.

A few of the crew had requested leave of absence the same 
time Commodore Mitchell had.   T'Kang was unsure if they 
were also going to aid in the search for the missing CnC, or if 
they merely were leaving to enjoy some R&R time; another one 
of the human's wanton wastes of time in his opinion.

T'Kang ran a quick status check on the tactical console to 
insure all systems were indeed functional and at their standby 
settings.  The repairs performed at Starbase 170 had left the 
ship in tip top shape once again.   T'Kang gave a satisfied nod 
as he thought of the ship's last battle where they defeated three 
Ferengi cruisers from the future.   It was worthy of song.   The 
Tempest had faired better in that single encounter than the 
Intrepid had in the prior three. 

McQueen was on the bridge as well.  He appeared to be 
enjoying the Commodore's absence nearly as much as Lee.  It 
was he who called out the order to take us to the Sol system at 
warp factor 6.  T'Kang was not one to give in to lapses of 
curiosity, but it did strike him to wonder why the ship would be 
heading back towards earth.   With all the reports of the goings 
on back there, he wondered if this in any way was tied in to the 
disappearance of the CnC as well.    Something was going on 
that just didn't feel right to the Klingon, though even T'Kang 
would admit he wasn't sure just exactly what that `something' 
was.

But experience had taught him that a warrior should always 
trust his instincts, as they are seldom wrong.

T'Kang frowned.