He left the science office, and the list of officers he needed to meet grew smaller.  The ship was but a few hours from their mission.  The next dossier gave him pause.  It was a heavy read.  Walking down the corridor in the direction of the operations office left him with more questions than answers.  He hadn’t had a hand in screening or choosing any of his current command team.  The previous captain had abruptly resigned, and Starfleet pulled him in.

He stopped outside the door, the dossier open on his PADD.  He tapped the door chime,

Before heading back to her quarters, Hilea checked into her office. Signing into her console, she started setting up and importing all her preferences. Decorations would have to wait. Communiques wouldn’t always be kind to holding off; retrieving a pitcher of red-leaf tea from the replicator, Hilea dug into the growing list of demands. “Computer, play some Keiko Matsui, volume 30%.” The light mix of piano and sax wafted through the room. The walls were still bare. That would have to wait until she unpacked her plants later. 

Her life since the Romulan Star Empire seemed a thousand years ago, and yet the brand below her left collarbone reminded her all too often that it was merely twenty-odd months ago. Life, as she well knew, could change instantly. As she dove into the rush of finishing the refit, luckily, her last posting was doing just that to starships; she was in her element and coordinating with Engineering, Medical, and Security to be the ringmaster of the upcoming mission to ensure everything ran smoothly. The door chime sounded, and Hilea replied, “Enter.” She was surprised to see the Captain walk in. So much had changed, but it wasn’t the first time she had witnessed a mad rush for a Commanding Officer. She was not prepared for that to have been her fate.“Captain. What can I help you with?” She said as she got to her feet. “Can I get you something? The tea is a bit too caffeinated for humans.” 

Fontana chuckled, “Humans and caffeine…such a complicated relationship.  I’m more of a coffee man, myself.”  He sat in a nearby chair and accepted the offered coffee. “I’m working through the senior staff, given the speed at which this assignment and mission developed.”  He pulled out a PADD and handed the mission briefing, such as it was, over to her, “We don’t have a lot of background information – I’ve got requests to both diplomatic operations and intelligence to shake loose something that’ll help us when we arrive.  You’ve got the more challenging job – quickly figuring out what we need.”  He nodded to the PADD, “We’ve got an additional wrinkle – the Federation station is in the mix – I’ll be leaning on you to help with that piece.

Time to read the new Captain’s bio hadn’t materialized, so Hilea went with humor. It was something many humans appreciated. “Well Sir, vague and challenging at the same time. How can I resist?” She replied, adding a smile at the end. She added, “Liason is a specialty, Captain. As I read somewhere, the only easy day was yesterday. After 2 years in refits, the task won’t be an issue.”

Geronimo cracked a smile, appreciating the humor.  “Having been where I’ve been before, that’s a reference I understand.  I’m working on partnering up senior staff when we arrive – we’re better spread out in teams then one big group moving together.”  He scanned the roster, “Any objection to working with security?”

“Security in most cultures tend to be underfoot rather than helpful, but no Sir, no objections. Please note that I have been known to start a detail if activity levels drop. While tolerance is something I have in abundance, Sir, sloth and ignorance tend to raise my Fire. Something my mother always warned me about.” The inflection for Fire Hilea used was one of near reverence.

Fontana added those notes to the PADD, “We’re all going to be working on the fly to build relationships with each other – senior staff, departments, and crew.  We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us and plenty of unknowns in the mix.”  He stood, “I’ll leave you to your work, Commander t’Rehu.”

“Thank you, Sir. I will get started.” Hilea replied. Seeing that the Captain had dismissed her, she started constructing one of many trackers she would need to build on the console.