“That’s number five in the lackluster pile.”  Ensign Alanna Barker noted on her PADD as she scrolled through the remaining applicants. “It doesn’t get any better from there.”  She handed the PADD to Captain Helena Dread. “We need an XO, ma’am. Douglas is too big.”

The CO grimaced, “You would have thought with the prestige of a Constitution III class ship, we’d get some stronger applications.”  She noted her Yeoman’s silence.  “What aren’t you telling me, Barker?”

Barker sat in the chair opposite her boss, “You have a reputation.  As does the crew.”  She raised her hands, “I don’t think they’re true, but it’s out there in the universe.  Your reputation probably saved us a couple of worse interviews, to be fair.”

Dread replied, “Our crew has a reputation?”  There was a tenor of hurt in her voice, not for herself, but for her crew.  They hadn’t been together long, yet she’d found feelings developing in their defense.

“Yeoman talk.  I think they called us the ‘Island of Misfit Toys.’  We got the Daedalus, and then we got thrown to the Douglas, and basically people out there think we’re just going to get tossed to another ship because we can’t put wins together.  It doesn’t make sense, but that’s the word in the warp trails.”

Helena mused, “Tells you a lot about them – saying crap like that.  They are a bunch of shitheads if you ask me.  I think it’s more accurate to call them shit for brains.”  She tapped on each PADD, sending a declined message to the applicants.  “Well, we’re back to not having an XO, and I know that’s not going to get us very far.”

Alanna spoke cautiously, “I have an idea.  It’s…out of the box.”

“Out with it, ensign.”

“Milton Ford.”

“That is out of the box.”  Dread pulled up his dossier on her PADD, “He’s been around the block a few times – operations, security, tactical, and then counseling.  Wasn’t there a transfer request from him this morning?”

Barker pulled a PADD from the pile: “There is. I held it back…I felt in my gut we might need a plan B.”  She highlighted his record on Douglas: “He’s been an incredible mentor to his deputy chief, and everybody speaks highly of the man.”

Dread chuckled dryly, “You did your research, Alanna.”

“I wouldn’t be a great Yeoman if I didn’t work every angle possible, ma’am.”

“I suppose we’ll have to tell him his transfer’s denied.:  Barker nodded.  “Have him meet us here.  Let’s see how much convincing it’ll take.”

“You taking bets, captain?”  Barker’s smile widened.

“Just call him Alanna.”

“You’re nuts. Certifiable.”  Lieutenant Commander Milton Ford stood, having refused to take the seat offered. He’d heard the offer, and he was making his displeasure known.  “I asked for a transfer because I wanted to get back to the Academy or something simple.  This isn’t simple.  This is whacky.”

Dread rolled her eyes. “Milton Richard Ford, you cannot stand there and tell me you’d be happier behind a desk somewhere in the recess of space watching the stars pass you by. You never settled. I mean, I talked to the people who worked with you at the Academy. They were glad you left and got back out into space—you were not much fun to be around.”

Ford confessed, “They don’t usually return my calls, I admit.”  He rationalized, “I’m not even ranked the right rank for the gig, captain.  You can’t…,” his eyes widened, and he grew quiet as she slipped across a small wooden case, opened slightly to reveal a third solid rank pip.  “You’re a bastard, you know that, right?”

Helena’s smile equaled her feelings. “Apparently, I have a reputation. I should probably ensure I uphold it as best as possible.”  She pointed to him, “Don’t refuse this promotion, Milton. If you walk away from this…you’ll start building a reputation you can’t easily fix with a rank pip.”

He stared at the box, “You’re not just a bastard, but a blunt bastard.  You know why I never wanted to be promoted?”  She shook her head in reply, and he explained, “I was afraid of this moment.  I saw too many of my friends in The Dominion War climb ladders slicked with the blood of those that came before…and that damned red waterfall took so many of them…I told myself I’d never let myself get caught up on that ladder fever dream.”  His eyes remained transfixed with the wooden container, “The Dominion War has been over for years.  I wonder if I was still fighting that war inside my head?”

Dread let his confession rest before she said, “You know how I felt about that center chair when I stepped onboard the Daedalus and now the Douglas?”  He indicated he did, his face flashing with curiosity as she delved deeper, “I was afraid of that chair…more than anything in the universe – that chair scared the shit out of me.  You helped me get into the damn thing…and now I’m afraid they’ll have to pry me out of it kicking and screaming.  Plenty of people in the history of Starfleet Command should never have made it to the command track.  I thought I was one of them.  Yet, here I am.”  She nudged the box towards him, “You’ve been doing everything and anything for so long, Milton…you’ve never had the chance to consider this one thing might be what you’re supposed to be doing for the rest of your career.  The Douglas needs you.  Hell, I need you.  My background is medical and science – you’ve got the operations, security, and tactical pieces that’ll keep me from doing something stupid or risky.”  She stood from her desk, “Is your war over, Milton?”

His eyes sparkled with a momentary flash of emotion, replaced by a steely gaze seconds later.  “My war…it’ll take time for closure…but, yes…talking to you today has helped me see…what I’ve been fighting all this time.”  He extended his hand to her, a sly smile sliding across his face, “You’d make a helluva counselor, captain.”

She returned the handshake, “I prefer to work on the parts of the human body I can see and heal.  The mind is a bit too much for me.  As for you, Mr. Ford.”  She opened the case and slipped the rank pip into her hand, “Do I have your permission to complete the promotion ceremony?”

Ford looked as if he was going to run out of the room, screaming.  He let out a long breath and dropped his shoulders.  “It goes against my reputation, but yes.”

She rounded her desk.  Carefully, she removed the one pip and gently slipped the third shiny pip into place, “Someone told me once that it’s ok to change and clean up your reputation.  I think you have a chance to do just that.”  She stepped back and shook his hand again, “Congratulations on your promotion, Commander Ford…and welcome to the command team.”

He stepped back after the handshake and asked, “You said somebody gave you that advice…did you follow it?”

She let out a rare cackle, “Damn right I did. I listened to my CO back then.  If you can imagine, my reputation was much worse than it is now.  You’re getting the revised version of Captain Dread.  Be thankful.”

Milton’s smile was heavy on the sly, “I’m so very thankful, captain.”

She returned the sly smile, “Shut up, commander. Let’s get to work. We’ve had our first argument—I can’t wait to see what our first disagreement is about.”

It was Ford’s turn to cackle, “I’m all pins and needles.”

Barker shook her head in disbelief.  This was either the greatest decision she’d helped make, or this would be the biggest mistake of her short career.  She followed them to the bridge, wondering where this pairing would take them.

Somewhere warm, she hoped.