“Options?”  Fleet Captain Geronimo Fontana sat at his desk in his office.  The group that had traveled from the communications operations center stood before him, having explained what they knew.

Captain Elbert Burton answered, “We won’t have full sensor and communications capacity for another few days—the rest of the install is due over the next few days or, worst case, a week.”  His interest in this scenario was purely technical. He turned to the junior diplomatic chief, “Lieutenant Albright is our Tholian expert.”

Grace gave an appreciative nod, “We know any attempt at crossing the border will make things infinitely worse.  The station’s position was carefully planned to avoid upsetting the Tholians.  The initial plans were to be closer to the border, but the little communication we received about our inquiries was pretty hostile.  As we walked here, I thought we could send a science ship on a meandering path that would take it close enough to get a better picture of whatever it was.”

Fontana had taken Albright’s assignment as a message.  She was under-ranked for her time and service, not to mention her position.  Her dossier was a mess of personality and hubris mixed with commanding officers who refused to put up with her antics.  He replied, “If we put a ship in motion, you’re going along.  If they get excited, we will need a diplomatic officer to help finesse whatever issues arise.”

Another nod from Grace, “Not a problem.”

He gave her a curious look, “That remains to be seen.  Report to the USS Perseverance within the hour.  A fair warning – the CO is being assigned to the ship within the next ten minutes.” Albright moved to ask for details, but he put up a hand, “It’s complicated.  One hour.”  Albright and the rest of the group left the office, leaving Burton alone with Fontana.  “Elbert, you have thoughts, I presume?”

The communications chief slid into the chair opposite the squadron CO, “None of this was in the briefing you sent me, Ger.”  He leaned in, “The deputy chief is still pretty new to this whole thing, and that diplomatic officer is probably certifiable.”

“We’re not a year removed from Frontier Day.  The fact that we are this far along with construction on this station is some kind of miracle.  Staffing was always going to be a challenge…and I tried.  Elbert, I tried.  You’d think a former Task Force CO would have more luck?  Nobody’s having any luck out there.  Flexibility is the name of the game, and we will need to keep doing our daily stretches.”

Burton pursed his lips, annoyed at his old friend.  “You have a certain way about you, Ger.  Why do you have to be so…positive about things?”

Fontana shrugged, “It’s that or be neurotic like you, Elbert.”  He slipped a sly smile at the end as Burton’s eyes widened and his blood pressure presumably spiked.

“You are an impossible friend.”

“But not an impossible commanding officer?”

Burton rolled his eyes as he stood and headed out the door, “We’ll see, Ger.  We’ll see.”

“Welcome aboard the USS Perseverance.”  Fontana led Captain Wren Walton and Commander Park onto the bridge of the Pathfinder class starship.  “You have a chief operations and a chief medical officer on their way.  The rest weren’t expected until much later, but we didn’t expect the Tholians to surprise us this early.”

Wren searched the expansive bridge, her eyes cautiously examining each console. “You weren’t going to send us out right away, were you?”  She hesitantly walked to the center chair, her fingers gingerly brushing over it. “Why are we here, Fontana?”

“You failed at commanding the Dragonfly, Walton.”

She stared at the center chair and swung back, “That wasn’t my question, and you know it.”  Wren turned to face her commanding officer, “Why here…and why you?”

Geronimo had prepared himself for a challenging conversation with the once-rising star captain.  It still wasn’t an easy dialogue to have.  “I asked for you, Wren.”  He indicated the silent Park, “Both of you.”

Commander Park broke her silence, blurting an annoyed, “Why?”  She felt Wren’s stare, but in a rare moment, she ignored it and kept her eyes on Fontana.

He indicated the bridge, “Because you’re good at this…and I need good people.  Perseverance is the right size and mission for both of you.”  The mention of Park’s science background gave her cause to blush, a quiet smile her response.  “I’ve called up a helm officer and a skeleton support crew – they’ll be here in fifteen.  Lieutenant Albright will be your diplomatic attaché – she’s studied the Tholians for most of her career.  You leave in an hour.”

Walton stared at him for a moment longer, then tore her focus away to search the bridge, “I don’t suppose we’re welcome anywhere else if we were thinking about saying no.”

The fleet captain held his comforting smile in reserve and replied, “You’re getting a second chance, Wren.  Whatever you do, you’ll have to do it here.”  He waited for her answer.

Wren quietly sighed.  Her career had taken twists and turns over the years, but this development had even surprised her.  She decided she hadn’t entirely fallen from grace, but she’d need to start climbing back to the top of the mountain.

“Then that’s what I will do, Fleet Captain Fontana.”  She stood at attention, and he gave her one last look before departing the bridge.

Park turned to her, eyes guarded, “Not a lot of time to feel about this before we shove off.”

Walton tapped at the console on the command chair, “We can feel it later.  We’ve got a Tholian question to answer.”