Emerging from the turbo lift at the back of Lakota’s bridge, the ship’s executive officer crept towards the command chair in the centre of the room, currently occupied by her Bajoran kin wearing the yellow of Starfleet’s operations division. In any other circumstances, an officer being asleep on watch would have been an offence worthy of significant punishment, but with the ship having been docked for a significant period, it wasn’t like anything of interest was happening. So, she had to make her own fun wherever possible, even in these early hours. And her new friend was an easy target.

Reaching out to the arm of the command chair, Noli twitched for a split second as the prone figure threatened to stir, but once she was content her fellow officer wasn’t about to wake, she took the opportunity to strike. As finger tip made contact with the control panel on the arms chair, the red alert klaxon rang out across the bridge causing the chair’s occupant to wake with a start.

Heart racing, breath caught in her throat and her limbs flailing uncontrollably, Peri Anya almost fell from the chair. Only a last-minute grasp of the cushioned arms on either side stopped her from sliding to the floor in a lifeless heap. An unrepeatable ancient Bajoran expletive left her lips, one that would have caused an Orion brute to blush. It was only when she saw her Bajoran brethren practically doubled over in fits of laughter that she knew what had happened.

Pushing herself to her feet, Peri tugged on her uniform jacket, smoothed out the crumples and lifted her hands to her hair to restore the pristine slick and pony that she was known for. Her face had soured and she scowled at her friend. “For a senior officer, you are such a child…” the tactical chief scolded the XO, pushing past her and making her way to the tactical station on the forward port bulkhead.

“Well!” Noli spat out between deep breaths while trying to compose herself. “Serves you right for falling asleep on the job. Imagine if I’d been the Captain,” her eyes widened at the thought of the Trill returning to the bridge while one of her most senior officers was asleep on the job. Giarvar she could placate when she’d served with him briefly on the Buran, she’d had no such luck with Nazir, not even with the bond they’d started to form in recent months.

“Yeah, yeah, point made…” Peri waved off the XO’s concern with a degree of nonchalance, but deep down she was chastising herself for being so stupid. “It’s just… well, you know!” She spun on her chair to look back at Noli.

“Yeah, I get it. Being stuck on the night shift can be dull at the best of times, but when we’re sat in dock it is even worse,” Noli nodded along and could commiserate with her friend for she, just like Peri, hated being in dock. Thankfully, her new role as permanent XO afforded her the right to make sure she never saw a night shift again. Peri, however, was not so lucky. “But you know, like I do, part of your being offered this job was that you had to log some more bridge hours. Starbases are very different to starships.”

Ugh. She hated it when Noli had a point. As part of her first posting as a command-level officer, she had been required to log nearly fifty hours of command time on the bridge, but with the ship in starbase that was proving… frustrating.

“I just wish we’d be out there, among the stars once again,” she sighed wistfully, looking at the viewscreen. Where there were once stars streaking by, starbase bulkheads kept them enclosed from the excitement of space.

A shrill beeping from Ops drew their attention, and Noli took a few steps towards the unmanned station. “You may get your wish,” she frowned, looking at the console readout before jerking her head and gesturing for Peri to join her.

Once the darker-haired Bajoran reviewed the data, the two stood bolt-upright and looked at each other. Neither could truly believe what they were reading.

“Find the Captain,” Noli directed her counterpart, “she’ll want to see this…”