—- Starbase 86, Commodore Ciffao Tharc’s Office —-

The Commodore was clearly annoyed when she finally spoke with Commander Olivia Carrillo. The USS Luna had been in dock for a few hours now, back from retrieving its intelligence officers from a tricky situation in the Triangle and had not hunted down the pirates they’d been sent to deal with. However behind her back strings had been pulled, and promises made and she had to do this.

“At the request of someone at Starfleet, that your Lieutenant Commander Dornall had call someone else who called an Admiral who then called me, I’m reassigning your crew, Commodore Ciffao Tharc said, “You now have command of the USS Selene, keeping with your moon theme.”

Carrillo had not expected that, “Reassigning us, but it’s not my crew it’s Captain Cruz’s.”

Tharc ignored her, “You’ll also be getting the USS Sizemore in a strike force and you’ll be in charge of the mission.”

“But Captain Cruz might…” began Carrillo defending her commanding officer’s best interests.

“If Captain Cruz walks through my door in the next five minutes she can lead this strike, but she’s off growing a new leg,” Tharc said.

“Humans don’t grow new legs,” Carrillo pointed out, “It’s artificial.”

“I know that,” Tharc said, “Take the Selene, execute the mission and for once don’t wreck my ships.”

Carrillo nodded.

The commodore moved about her desk then took out a small box and tossed it to the Commander. Carrillo opened it to see a single gold pip.

“Can’t have a commander leading a strike force of three ships. Don’t make me take the pip back,” Tharc said.

“Isn’t Cruz meant to promote me?” Carrillo asked.

“No, and I understand she got promoted via sub space transmission after her captain was poisoned. Neither of you are moving up the traditional way, but after Fleet Day it’s not like we have enough captains,” Tharc said. She sat down behind her desk and picked up a PADD, “Now get out of my sight before I put you back as an ensign.”

—- USS Selene, Bridge —-

“Course laid in,” Pr’Nor said, her Vulcan efficiency evident and ensuring that she was the only member of the bridge crew that was not looking around the bridge with a certain form of glee mixed with trepidation as they pulled out of Starbase 86’s dock and turned towards the Triangle. She glanced at Carrillo added, “Captain.”

“Warp 9.9 to the rendezvous point, we’ll meet us with the fleet,” Carrillo said and then paused not sure what her captain slogan for starting them off would be before saying, “Go.”

It was enough. Turning back to her conn the Vulcan engaged the warp engines and the slender ship leapt forward hitting top speed in seconds.

Carrillo sat in the centre chair. There had been a scramble to reassign the Luna’s crew and the bulk had moved. The USS Selene had an extensive cetacean operations centre and so even Lieutenant Scchhttt’aaakkk had moved and even found the department growing with more water based members of Starfleet looking for transfers. There were also two Academy classes looking for assignment to the frontier but they were not due to arrive until after the strike force was finished. The ship was a scientific ship, but given the task for Task Force 86 to which they were assigned, there would be more intelligence officers joining and much of their work would be as a quick response ship to handle hot spots.

Rising Carrillo knew that there were several hours until they neared the border of the Triangle and the rendezvous point. She nodded at the crew, “Lieutenant Jara take the bridge. Let me know the moment we hear from the USS Sizemore.”

—- USS Selene, First Officer’s Quarters —-

Carrillo had taken the First Officer’s quarters, even though she was technically the captain at the moment. She entered to find Lieutenant Pierre Lambert adjusting furniture, as they were now married and shared the larger XO’s quarters.

“I miss the carpeting in the Luna’s hallways,” Lambert observed.

“You flew a Miranda-class you shouldn’t be complaining,” Carrillo teased her time lost husband.

He shrugged, “I got used to the comfort. Is this a good thing, being assigned to this ship?”

The politics of modern day Starfleet was new to him and the difference between a Luna-classand the Lamarr-class was lost on him. To him all ships were so far beyond even the Constitution-class that was the cream of the crop of his time, that it was hard to be a judge.

“Yes, no, it’s hard to say. It’s bigger, but still a ship to explore. A science ship, and we’re in the job of defense,” Carrillo said taking off her uniform’s duty jacket to reveal a plain black t-shirt underneath it. She glanced at him, “You’ll enjoy flying it. It’s basically a Sovereign-class with fancy chrome platting.”

“Is that good?” Lambert asked sitting next to her and starting to massage her shoulders.

“The Enterprise-E was a Sovereign,” she said.

“I know you like that ship,” Lambert said, meaning the fixation that people of this time seemed to have on the Enterprise and all of it’s subsequent ships. To him it was just another ship, to people of this time there seemed to be an almost religious fever about it.

“Is it Picard’s?” he asked.

“His second Enterprise,” Carrillo said leaning into him.

People of this time also seemed to really like Picard, another captain of another Enterprise.

“This ship is like a starbase,” he observed, “Two schools, seven hundred people?”

“Well not yet, but soon, yes. Ships got big,” Carrillo explained, not wanting to get into what else was out there. “We started to put families on some ships.”

“Would you,” Lambert started, then he paused, “want to do that?”

She laughed, “Maybe, but not today. Today we have pirates to hunt.”