Captain Beardsly stepped off the transporter pad. An enlisted Vulcan stood behind the console. That was… unusual. Before Marcus could speak, however, he heard a familiar voice.

“Welcome aboard, captain!” Lt Kim Rakes nearly shouted. She stood at ramrod attention, saluting with her face set in stone… for about 2 seconds before breaking into a grin. The last she’d seen the captain he’d been her XO on the USS Ulysses. They’d been in more than a few scrapes together, and had developed as close a friendship as their professional relationship had allowed. Kim had been over the moon when she got word she’d been selected as chief engineer for Beardsly’s new command, but hadn’t had a chance to thank him yet. Someone had decided to go no contact for shore leave…

Beardsly smiled when he saw his old friend, and gave her a quick hug after stepping off the transporter pad. “Well well well, if it isn’t the most troublesome engineer in the fleet. You replace the warp core with a Romulan singularity yet?”

“Won’t be installed until next Tuesday, sir.” Rakes shot back. “But in all seriousness, thank you for the honor of chief engineer. I won’t let you down! I wanted to thank you earlier, but I guess you were off building an igloo or something. Don’t worry, I’ve already set the environmental controls in your quarters. Won’t be a degree over freezing.”

Beardsly nodded to the chief behind the transporter console. “At ease, chief. Thanks for the pick up. If there’s nobody else coming aboard, make your way to the cargo bay. I want to address the crew.” Gesturing to the door, Beardsly looked at Lieutenant Rakes. “Lead the way, please. Let’s just throw my bag into the ice box and we’ll go take a look at our shipmates.” Together, they headed into the corridor, catching up on old times.

Cargo Bay

Lieutenant Rakes entered the cargo bay first, to take her place in formation. Captain Beardsly paused in the corridor, collecting his thoughts. He had prepared a small speech, which now seemed silly to him. He remembered all the change-of-command ceremonies he’d attended, moving up through the ranks. Most were dull, occasionally a captain would get a laugh, but all were tedious. However, a new CO had to set the tone for their command, and now it was his turn. Beardsly remembered the advice his friend and former captain had given him… “Don’t try to invent a new persona. You’ve been developing into this officer I see before me for years. Just show them who you are.” With that, Marcus Beardsly nodded to himself, adjusted his cuffs, and stepped through the cargo bay doors.

Most of the USS Truckee’s crew was assembled on the deck, arranged in neat rows by department and rank. A few crew were at minimum manning, of course, and some of the senior staff would be picked up during their first mission; but this was pretty much it: Marcus’ new family. At least, that’s what his first CO had called the crew: “family.” Beardsly had never really seen it that way; for the most part, he liked to keep a strict work/life balance. That would be especially important now, as the man in the captain’s chair. Had it been a mistake, selecting a friend to be his chief engineer? Only time would tell. Marcus cleared his throat, smiled, and looked out at the crowd.

“Good afternoon. I don’t know how long you all have been standing here – I know how muster times tend to shift as they move down the chain of command – so I’ll keep this brief. Most of you know each other and know the ship. I’m the new guy onboard. I need to earn your trust, not the other way around. Sure, I’ve been around the block a few times, this isn’t my first starship, but it’s my first command. Instead of standing up here and telling you how you’re going to work for me, I’m going to tell you how I’m going to work for you. You all run the ship. Engineering, Tactical, Science, Medical… every department, every station, every component gets operated by you, not me. I’m here to guide. I get the mission, I give the order, but you all do the work to make it happen. Together, we’re going to do some great things out there among the stars. Stand at ease.” 

Marcus paused a moment while the crew shifted to a more relaxed collective pose. “First things first, though, we gotta give this old girl a shakedown cruise. Got a few new systems onboard to test and verify. To accomplish this, the USS Truckee has been tasked with it’s first mission in six months: taxi service. We’re to deliver a few diplomats to Cardassia Prime.” Marcus held up his hands preemptively. “I know, I know, it’s not a glorious battle” he looked at the Klingon ensign in teal, ”or an unidentified alien shipwreck,” Marcus winked at Lieutenant Rakes. “But it’s a long haul with plenty of opportunities to test the full capabilities of this ship and this crew, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. We leave orbit in one hour. Crew dismissed.”

Bridge

“Captain on the bridge!” Beardsly didn’t see who made the announcement, but he had barely stepped off the turbolift before the duty shift had snapped to attention. He waved a hand casually, then said “at ease. I don’t need that announcement each time I enter, so let’s drop it moving forward. Oh, but if we get some visiting flag officers, do give them the honor.” Marcus took a quick stroll around the tiny bridge, shaking the hand of each crew member at a station, and either introducing himself or getting quickly reacquainted. When Marcus made it to his chair, he stopped and looked back at everyone on the bridge. Only one of his permanent senior staff was on the bridge: Lieutenant Commander Bishop, manning the ops station. Lt. Rakes was in engineering, as expected for the chief engineer of a starship leaving drydock for the first time in six months. Marcus stepped back over to Bishop, and leaned in to speak quietly.

“Commander, until we meet up with the USS Advance, you’re the next ranking officer onboard. I’ve read your file, and I know you have no ambitions for command. That’s fine by me, but until we pick up Commander Aldiib, you’ll be my acting XO. Should just be a couple days of duty rosters, departmental reports, and helping me deal with any system failures we shake loose. Can you handle that?”

Bishop paused his typing on the console. He cleared his throat lightly, then nodded, a little warily. “Yes captain. I can do this, though I hope it doesn’t interfere with the study I’m currently running on photon capture within a 3-body orbital system…”

Beardsly’s eyes glazed over momentarily as Bishop started to describe his science project. Marcus cut him off before Bishop could get too deep. “Don’t worry commander, you’ll have time. Thank you, man your station.” Returning to the center of the bridge, Marcus took one look at the captain’s chair. “Well, nothing to do but sit. It’s yours now” he thought to himself. With that, Captain Beardsly took his chair on the bridge of the USS Truckee for the first time. He checked the arm console briefly, then crossed his legs and faced the screen.

“Ops, clear departure with drydock control. Helm, on Ops’ mark, maneuvering thrusters to clear the station.” Beardsly tilted his head up slightly, addressing the computer that would relay his next message to Lt. Rakes. “Engineering, this is the bridge. We’re headed out. Ramp power up at your discretion, you’ve got about an hour before we clear the system and go to warp. Since this is a shakedown cruise, we’ll take things slow at first.”

A chorus of ayes rang out after captain Beardsly paused. He saw the stars on the viewscreen start to shift slightly as the USS Truckee began to pull away from drydock. Smiling, Beardsly leaned back in his chair.

“Here we go.”