Selara absently stirred her tea, making a clinking noise as she did so. She watched the people move back and forth along the Promenade. She let her mind wander, creating stories of the different groups of people. Where they were going and why. The nightmare last night troubled her, but there was nothing she could do about it. So she resolved she was going to do nothing about it. She smiled at her twisted logic that somehow made sense, at least to her.

A notification chimed that her transport shuttle was arriving. Selara finished her tea and stood, dropping off her cup at the replicator collection area. “This is just what I need to take my mind off of things. A new prospective in a new place,” she was already starting to feel better. By the time she reached the check-in area, she was humming a tune.

“Dr. Selara, transporting to the USS Valkyrie,” She declared, presenting a PADD to the officer. The officer nodded and she proceeded to the shuttle.

The ship was big, bigger than the Hathaway anyway. But it was older… no, something less offensive. It was more mature, more seasoned, more experienced. These thoughts trailed until she found herself on the bridge, at the captain’s ready room. She pressed the door chime.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the door opened, revealing as ready room that was about as personalised as a deactivated holodeck. A holodeck in maintenance mode, probably, considering that the desk was littered with PADDs and several half-empty cups of cold coffee.

The Captain herself was a young woman who looked she was combating a headache – which was pretty much true because Saffiya had been fishing for a PADD underneath her desk when the doorbell chimed, and promptly hit her head.

And since that wasn’t exactly the pinnacle of competence her new Assistant CMO was looking in a Commanding Officer, she kept that to herself.

“Not exactly how I wanted to play this, but welcome to the Valkyrie. I had meant to catch you at main transporter room but… well.”

‘Well’ in this case was a replacement for ‘work’.

“Yes, of course… It’s easy for one to get buried in their work,” Selara chuckled at her joke. “I like to walk around and orient myself when boarding a ship. It helps when I need to get somewhere in an emergency.”

Saffiya nodded. “Very true.”

“I suppose it’s obvious who I am, but introductions are always nice. Dr. Selara,” she extended her hand to the captain.

Human greeting, Saffiya thought, and shook the woman’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to have you on board. You come highly recommended, and I believe in particular Doctor Frisco will be looking forward to shift her focus to her tasks as Executive Officer.”

Selara was taken aback, “Oh heavens, dual duties of CMO and XO? I can’t imagine the stress she’s under.” Managing Sickbay took an incredible amount of focus, but adding the second most important post on the ship? It’s a surprise Dr. Frisco wasn’t manic. Or perhaps she was. “I’ll be more than happy to help out where I can.”

She paused, taking stock of the mound of PADDs, unsure if she should ask the next question. “I don’t mean to take you away from your work, but would you be able to show me around?” She quickly added, “If not, I can track down a Bridge officer.”

Saffiya walked around the desk, and motioned to the door. “I wouldn’t at all mind showing you around. It would also keep me from hitting my head on the table again.”

“Oh yes, that is a great plan,” Selara smiled. She made her way to the door and waited for the captain to lead the way.

The Captain seemed a lot more relaxed as soon as the doors to her ready room closed – something to be said about leaving work behind. The tour through the ship was short and to the point, mostly because it left out all the boring parts and concentrated on the things that mattered: Odin’s Palace – the captain’s mess and lounge located on Deck 01 – to which Saffiya tended to invite crew members when she wanted to talk to them in a more comforting environment than her ready room, and a more private setting than Valhalla. The conference room, main Engineering, and then Valhalla, which was the main lounge for crew of any rank, and a place Saffiya liked to visit whenever she felt she wanted to connect to the crew members she didn’t usually get to talk to.

Selara listened and observed with rapt interest. In her mind she was making a map, noting all of the route they took, and theorizing the quickest ways from point A to B.

And then, there was sickbay: Busy as usual, but staffed with a wide array of doctors, nurses and mental health specialists working in various offices or on patients.

“Ah, I think I’ll get off the tour here,” Selara smiled. “I was planning on meeting with the CMO anyway. And then hit the ground running.” She nodded, “Thank you captain, this has been quite educational.”

“The pleasure was all mine.”, Saffiya smiled. “And now I am going to find someone to take care of that headache.”

She gave a nod, and then turned towards one of the nurses rather than finding Frisco to tell her that she had managed to hit her head on her desk. The woman would never let her forget it.