NRPG: So you wanted a synposis

[Dori]

There are a few different threads running through the plot, so I'm going to go back to Starbase 75, where our ship was last in dock, and start there. 

At the Starbase, Patricia and Chanel start to look seriously into adoption. Raefer is seconded to Starfleet Intel for some undercover work, and due to the nature of his work, it is advised that someone be named XO for the foreseeable future. Henna choses Patricia. Continuing down the line, a new Chief Operations Officer is chosen in the form of Laeti Benina, right as Amber Johnson has decided she's moving over to Ops from Helm. This leaves Surak as Chief Pilot as well as Special Envoy. 

Captain Henna, meanwhile, has come around in sickbay, and although he is far from his normal healthy self, is released to the care of the counselling department and his quarters. While he gets involved in a few things, such as choosing a new XO and getting orders from Admiral T'Vei on their next assignment, he is easing back into life aboard Artemis gradually after his imprisonment and interrogation by the rogue Romulans. He has a piano installed in his quarters. 

Kairn has found out that his sister, who he thought dead decades ago, is definitely not so, and has asked Destiny to look into it. She had found out where his sister might be, and has informed his as such, as well as the fact that there are others. They are being held by some ex-military Cardassians who the new government are looking for. Destiny has worked with the Cardassians and Intel to make sure the slaves can be freed and the criminals captured. Kairn gets Nate Lewis and Teros Kyr to help him rescue his sister - a Starfleet ship will move in and pick up the pieces afterward. Unfortunately, things don't go quite to plan, and although Kairn's sister, Nero Sada, is rescued, Kairn sacrifices himself (or so the crew of the Artemis are led to believe.) In reality, he's rescued at the last minute by Beverly Northman, who has faked her own death and is on the run. This leaves Kairn's pregnant fiancé Eron Tuakina in a bit of a "what do I do next" situation.

Northman has been on the run for months, after kidnapping Tamaris, essentially selling her to the mirror universe Bajorans, and then helping said Bajorans by dropping a plague bomb on Cardassia and getting away in a mirror universe cloaked ship. By the time we catch up with her, she has found out that she was being controlled by Section 31 via an implant in her head, and has removed the implant. She has also discovered that a certain Romulan faction is trying to kidnap Dr. Jarok, and has told the Vulcan government, who has warned the Artemis via Special Envoy Surak. 

To add to the intrigue, Artemis is currently being tailed by a small, cloaked ship, probably Romulan - although which faction (and whether they wish us good or ill) we aren't yet sure. Right now, Intel are aware of two factions: the one which kidnapped Captain Henna and wants to see the Romulans return to the Imperial way of doing things, and the new government which was put in place after the Hobus star went supernova, and is friendly with the Federation, and is a democracy. We are not aware of the faction that Northman is "working" with, (if indeed they are enemies of the New Romulus Romulans) and don't know who the person in the ship tailing us is working for, if they are indeed Romulan. 

Back to Patricia and Chantel: They chose a little girl to adopt. In the process, they meet a woman who is against Starfleet personnel adopting at all, and she goes out of her way to make life difficult for the couple. She eventually gets arrested for getting into personal files and discrimination, but is broken out of Starfleet security by an associate before she can be properly booked. Both are currently on the run. They manage to steal a runabout due to her associate's former contacts and plant a bomb on the shuttle Patrica and Chanel use to visit Earth and pick up their new daughter. The bomb explodes, although it was placed badly, and doesn't take out the whole shuttle; unfortunately, Chantel is killed, leaving Patricia a widow. She spends some time with Samantha and her children, who are also newly without a father, Raefer being off the ship by this point. Patricia is just starting up her duties as First Officer now. (Bela and Destiny are getting tired of working as First and Second officers while the Captain and then First Officer are off on medical leave.) 

While members of the Artemis believe that whoever placed the bomb on Patricia's shuttle was the same person who caused all the problems for her adoption, there is not yet enough proof. However, a mysterious message has just been left on Patricia's computer that may lead to the proof required. 

Security, engineering, and Intel are trying to make it safe for Dr. Jarok to be brought aboard without her being kidnapped or killed. Then we will be exploring the Hobus expanse. After that, we will be doing an indepth scientific exploration of a corridor in what used to be Romulan space, as agreed between New Romulus and the Federation. Artemis has just gotten Valkyrie type 4s to replace the Type 3s that were 20 years old. Hannah Walker and Steven Morgan have passed officer training, but the rest of the NCO marines whose primary job was flight have been sent back to Earth for reassignment, leaving a cut down marine NCO crew, and a marine flight crew made up entirely of officers. Two new people have come aboard, in the persons of sisters  - scientist Joanna and marine NCO Jennifer Byrd. Starfleet Command has said that more are coming, but are some days off yet, including a new helm officer, an assistant chief of security, a cadet just finishing medical school, and some new crewmen. (Dori has been recruiting.)