He eyed the rows of books, tracing the edges of the book case with deft fingers. The man then stopped, and backed up two books back. "Hm, this one is new isn't it?" he asked in his usual deep baritone. He pulled out the thick tome, quickly flipping through pages. "'The Eraehni War, by Halek Dryfuss', I heard this one was good," he commented. "Please don't go through my things, Vic, you always do this," another man says from behind the desk. "And you sound like a broken record, friend," the first man says with a chuckle. He shut the book and slid it back into place where he found it. "Mm, Admiral Trnka, First Lord of the Admirality, never would've thought I'd see the day."

"What is it? I'm a very busy man now days; and I don't think you came here for small talk," Trnka replies. The man turns his attention to Trnka fully. "Yes, you're right. You've seen the reports from Daran right? The one about the unusual thermal readings a few parsecs out?" he asks. Trnka nods, "Yes, I have. And you want to check them out?" Videric, or 'Vic' nods, "Uh-huh. You understand as well as I do the implications of this. We can't be caught on the backfoot here." Trnka looked skeptical, "True, but I don't want to show our hand so soon. We need to shore up our defenses."

"Against what? We don't even know what's out there. And besides, you know the council won't act on anything less than concrete evidence," Vic scoffs. Trnka nodded, "I thought of that, the chance that whatever threats that may be are so unexpected that our defenses are unsuited to fight it." Vic interjected, "And that's why we need to gather intel." Trnka looked up from his terminal, "Okay, you've made your case. I didn't factor in the council in my initial assessment. I was thinking purely military. But who do we send?"

Vic grinned, "I'm glad you asked. He produced a folder from his uniform jacket and placed it on the desk. You've been following Daria Varskaan, yes?" Trnka opened the folder, "Branko's girl? Yes, she made Lieutenant Commander right." He looked at her personell record in the folder, "High marks, adaptable, shows ability to act defensively and offensively depending on the situation..." Vic nodded, "Yes. I propose promoting her and sending her out in courier ship with a light escort." Trnka closed the folder, "Alright do it."