It had been ages. 

Not only that Saffy hadn’t seen Hina in person in several years, but also that her arrival on the Cupertino appeared delayed by several days. But finally her shuttle had arrived, and the new Captain was waiting to greet her old friend. 

The shuttle trip to the Cupertino had been rather long and uneventful. Hina had passed the time reading a rather fascinating paper on upcoming propulsion systems. It was long and technical, but she loved it. When the shuttle dropped out of warp, she tossed the PADD onto the empty co-pilots seat and retook the controls. She piloted the shuttle into the ship’s waiting shuttle bay and set it down in the indicated position. She could see Saffiya waiting for her. She grabbed her bag and headed the the rear hatch tapping the controls to drop the ramp. How to greet her? Officially or unofficially? Given what little she had hear about the Cupertino, maybe officially. She reached into her bag pulling out another PADD, a copy of her transfer request to consult on the Cupertino while awaiting her next actual assignment. She hurried down the ramp, a faint smile on her face.

“Captain.” she greeted, offering up the PADD.

Saffy took the PADD and then pulled Hina into a hug. A few of the present crew glanced at each other, evidently not sure yet what to make of her new Captain. But Saffiya had decided that if they were imperfect, she had the same right. 

“Finally. You know, I was standing here for the past half hour, I’m pretty sure I made people nervous.”, she grinned. 

‘Guess unofficially works too…’ Hina thought to herself as Saffy pulled her into a hug. One which she happily returned. It had been far too long since she had seen her friend in person. Far too long since they had worked together.

“You were waiting here that long?” she asked, stepping back to look at her friend. “If I had known that Id have piloted the shuttle a bit quicker…” she laughed. “But Im happy to be here. Its been too long…”

“It has.”, Saffy agreed. The two women made their way out of the shuttle back and towards one of the turbolifts. “So what happened to the Kongo? It’s not that old of a ship, how come they are looking to effectively retire it?”

Hina fell in alongside Saffy, glancing around at the corridors of the Cupertino as they headed toward the turbolift. She glanced over as Saffy spoke.

“With the Excelsior-IIs filling the older Excelsiors role, Starfleet is retiring most of the older ones. She not going to be fully retired… only put into the reserve fleet in case shes needed again. Maybe one day if I ever grow some more ambition I can rescue her from that fate…” Hina explained. She sighed. Such pretty ships going to sit, replaced by such ugly soulless vessels. Poor copies of brilliant originals. She shrugged.

“But the Kongo isn’t why I’m here… tell me about your ship. I imagine a California-class wasn‘t your first choice…” she said, smiling.

“Not really, but I don’t think it’s bad per se.”, Saffiya shrugged. They stepped into the turbolift, and within a few moments were headed toward the bridge. “It’s a good ship for getting started, with missions that are not high-stakes.”

“Yea, I suppose it would be a good ship for a first time captain..” she agreed, leaning against the wall of the turbolift as it headed upwards toward the bridge.

They arrived on Deck Two, where the main bridge was located, featuring a design akin to that of Galaxy-class starship bridges. There were two other officers present, both of them too wrapped up in a heated discussion to notice their Captain’s arrival.

“Yeah that’s… normal.”, sighed Saffiya. Should she tell them to stop? Did she want to know what the argument was about? Probably not.

Hina frowned. She had been used to the Kongo, both when Saffiya had been Chief Engineer and after, where things were a bit more strict. Not suffocatingly so, but she couldn’t have imagined a such a heated discussion in Main Engineering, or on that ship’s bridge for that matter. Espeically not with the Captain in earshot. She let out a bit of a loud cough, before turning to Saffiya.

“So then… you brought me in to consult… how can I help?” she asked.

“Where do you want to start?”, she asked, since evidently there was quite a lot that needed to get done. 

Hina nodded. “Well, why dont we start with your computer… you said it seemed to be self-aware?” she asked, realizing that if that actually was the case that speaking aloud about it wasnt the best idea.

“Let me show you what I mean.”, shrugged Saffy as they moved out of the bridge and into her ready room, leaving the fighting officers behind. The room itself was nice and had just the right size for a crew that wasn’t overly large, and a staff of senior officers that didn’t mind things getting a little cuddly every now and then. 
There was a replicator, which was where Saffiya was headed to. 

“Coffee, black. Hot.”, she said, and… nothing happened. She looked at Hina.

Hina blinked. Not even an acknoweldgemnt tone. She set her duffel down opening it and pulling out a tricorder. Because she was the sort of person to have her own personal tricorder. No it wasnt weird.

“And thats how its been acting?” she asked, scanning the device.

“Yes, but watch this.”, she shrugged. “Hey Computer, can I please have a black, hot coffee?”

The replicator came to life, depositing the beverage where it was supposed to be.

The surprised Hina. So much so that she neglected to look at her tricorder for a few moments. When she got over her initial shock she looked down at the device. She tapped a few controls, scrutinizing the scan results. Something was off, but she wasnt sure what.

“Now you try.”

“Ok… green tea, hot, double sweet.” she said to the replicator. She fully expected nothing to happen and yet was still surprised when nothing happened. “That shouldnt work that way…”

“See? Now be nice to it.”

Hina approached the replicator and tapped the panel gently. Everything seemed normal.

“Computer, could I have a hot green tea with two sugars please?” she asked, mimicing the style Saffiya had adopted

Hina watched her tricorder as the computer responded to her request, tilting her head to the side. That definitely wasn’t normal. She turned the device to Saffiya could see.

“Im an engineer not a doctor… but that looks less like a computer and more like brain waves… but not fully either.” she said. “Dumb question… but you said you think its self-aware… have you tried just… asking it?” she asked.

“…. No…. I did not ask the computer how it’s feeling.”

“This is all new to me… but youve already changed how you order your coffee… what have you got to lose at this point?”

Saffy rolled her eyes. “My remaining dignity.”
She sighed and gave a shrug. “How about we continue the tour, I show you your quarters, we eat something and THEN get to work?”

Truth be told, she wanted to reconnect, and not just over a shared puzzlement over the computer.

Hina laughed.

“Sure sure. Food sounds good.” she said, closing her tricorder. She dropped it back into her bag. “Where to?” she asked.

“Sickbay, probably. Then Engineering and then your quarters”, Saffy suggested

“Lead the way!” Hina said with a grin, and off they went.