First Officer’s Personal Log. Stardate 2401.10. Wearing the red uniform and occupying the right-hand seat was supposed to be thrilling, but my first few days as Ark Royal’s first officer have been anything but. The shadow of my predecessor looms large over me and I’m not sure I’ll ever step out from under it. Worse still, our patrol of the Romulan border is a flimsy cover for something more, but I have no idea what. To top it off, Starfleet Command has seen fit to send Selina Callahan back into my life, and we’ve already hit some turbulence.

The door to the captain’s ready room opened before Raisa could press the chime. Commander Callahan’s arm brushed against Raisa’s as she marched out of the ready room. She took a deep breath of Callahan’s familiar perfume, a dull ache settling deep in her chest.

“Come on in,” Henris’ voice pulled Raisa back to the present. “What can I do for you, Commander?” Captain Henris looked up from the PADD in his hand. Gateway Station filled the window behind him. They’d spent thirty minutes orbiting the starbase while crew and supplies were transferred.

Raisa clasped her hands behind her back. “Our new senior officers have beamed over from Gateway Station. Petty Officer Inara is helping them get stowed away.”

“Are we ready to get underway?” His fingers tapped the edge of his PADD.

Raisa nodded. “Yes, sir. Gateway Station’s cleared us for departure.”

“Good,” Henris flashed her a smile. “Then take us out, Commander.”

With a crisp turn, Raisa walked out of the ready room. She’d spent the journey to Gateway dwelling on their orders. The need to keep information compartmentalised was not a foreign concept to Raisa. She understood it. That didn’t mean she had to like it.

There was more to this patrol than met the eye. Raisa was certain of it. Having a Romulan expert like Selina Callahan onboard while they patrolled the Romulan border only confirmed that as far as Raisa was concerned. But she had no idea what that might be and how long she would have to wait to find out. Not knowing drove her crazy. Raisa tried to put it out of her mind when she returned to the bridge. 

“Ensign Jenar, have you received the departure vectors from Gateway Station?” Raisa asked as she approached the command chair.  

“Yes, ma’am,” Jenar replied.

Slowly, Raisa lowered herself into the seat and crossed her legs. “Good work,” she told Jenar with a smile. “Take us out. Full impulse.”

Raisa could feel the thrum of the powerful impulse engines travelling through Ark Royal’s decks. The mighty Sovereign-class ship pushed forward, slowly at first, but she quickly accelerated to full impulse and sped through the Midgard system along the course provided by Gateway control.

“Fourteen minutes until we reach the system’s edge,” Jenar announced.

Raisa looked up from the command chair’s small LCARS terminal, where she was composing a message for the senior officers. “Understood.” She read through the message one last time before hitting send.

The observation lounge was filled with multiple conversations happening at once. Ark Royal’s senior officers stood in several groups chatting while waiting for Captain Henris’ arrival. 

“Wait,” the pitch of Loxley’s voice rose, “your husband is the Ashraf Shurki? The writer?”

“Yeah.”

Loxley’s face lit up. “Oh man, I finished re-reading Shattered Horizons a few weeks ago. After Ian Fleming, Ashraf Shukri is one of my all-time favourite authors.”

“Fleming’s works are one of Ashraf’s biggest influences,” Raisa told him. “He loaned me his copy of Casino Royale when we started dating and introduced me to the world of double-oh-seven. I’ve since read all of them.”

“Who’s Ian Fleming?” Calhoun’s brows drew together.

“He was a twentieth-century author best known for writing books featuring the adventures of a British spy named James Bond,” Loxley explained.

“Fleming,” Calhoun repeated the name, “Is he the one who wrote Murder on the Starlight Express?”

Loxley’s head tilted to one side and he blinked a few times rapidly. “I…don’t think so.”

“You’re thinking of Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie,” Raisa explained. “She was another twentieth-century writer.”

Calhoun shrugged. “I’m more into trashy romance novels,” he explained, “Y’know; boy meets boy, boy has to pretend to be boy’s boyfriend, boys fall in love with each other, boys live happily ever after.”

“I love those,” Loxely declared emphatically with a sheepish grin. “I can’t remember the last time I read one though.”

“I can loan you some of mine,” Calhoun offered just as Captain Henris arrived.

Captain Henris strode into the room with Commander Callahan over his shoulder. “Sorry for keeping you all,” Henris announced. “If you’ll take your seats, we can begin.” 

As Raisa settled into her seat, she found herself sitting directly opposite Callahan. Her eyes met Raisa’s for a heartbeat before her eyes flicked away again. Callahan focused on the captain as he delivered his briefing, but she fidgeted with the stylus throughout the meeting. 

As it turned out, Captain Henris ran a tight meeting so it didn’t last long. He welcomed the new senior officers before quickly turning to their mission. Raisa watched the faces of her new colleagues as Henris explained the reason for their early departure and border patrol and, even though she didn’t know most of them, she could tell they were as sceptical as she was. She watched as Callahan’s eyes occasionally drifted towards her but always snapped back to Captain Henris.

Once Henris ended the meeting, he strode out of the room with Callahan on his heels. The rest of the senior officers disbursed, but before she could move very far, Raisa felt a familiar tug on her elbow. That was Voss’s standard way of getting her attention without being obvious. The pair hung back and Voss waited until the last officer left before speaking.

“A patrol of the Romulan border?” Voss asked with a raised eyebrow. “Why do we need the squadron strat ops officer for a simple patrol?”

Raisa hummed in agreement. “I know. There’s more going on here than we’re being told.” She sighed and dropped back into a chair. “Selina was always good at keeping things from me.”

“Selina?” Voss’ eyes widened.

“Commander Callahan,” Raisa clarified. “We served together on the Toronto.”

“You were more than colleagues.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Not even a legion of Klingons armed with bat’leths could cut through the tension between you.”

Raisa’s shoulders sank. “We dated,” She folded her arms. “I was already dating Ashraf when I met her. She wasn’t sure a poly relationship was something she wanted, but I talked her into it.”

“And?”

“And…it was great,” Raisa told her. “At least I thought it was.” She reached up and rubbed her forehead. “I should have listened to her more. Instead, I just chose to see what I wanted and told myself things were great.” Raisa let out a deep sigh. “She was never truly comfortable sharing me with Ashraf. I couldn’t see it, didn’t want to see it, and she kept quiet. It got so that every little disagreement turned into a massive fight. Finally, she gave me an ultimatum.”

“She wanted you to choose.” When Raisa nodded, Voss added, “And you chose Ashraf.”

Raisa’s gaze lingered on the door Callahan had just walked through. “I did. And I don’t regret my decision. He’s a wonderful man and we have an incredible daughter. Marrying Ashraf was one of the best decisions I ever made.” The smile that had lit up her face quickly faded. “But Selina and I didn’t handle our break up well. We both said things we didn’t mean just to hurt each other. It was awful.”

“Have you tried talking to her?”

The heat in Raisa’s cheeks became uncomfortably warm. “She came to see me the night she arrived. Wanted to make sure I was okay with her being onboard.”

“And?”

“And we slipped back into old habits. Started sniping at each other,” Raisa shrugged. “It was like the years since didn’t happen. She stormed out and hasn’t spoken to me since.”

Voss perched herself on the edge of the conference table and watched Raisa intently. “Have you tried speaking to her since?”

“Of course I have.” Raisa threw her hands up. “She won’t give me the time of day.”

Voss looked at her with soft eyes and a sad smile. “Keep trying,” She told Raisa. “It’s not random chance or a weird quirk of Starfleet bureaucracy that she’s here, it’s fate. This is the perfect chance for both of you to clear the air and get closure. Don’t let it slip through your fingers.”

Voss had the most annoying of tendencies; being right. Raisa was sure this was one of those times. She offered an affectionate smile and nodded. Raisa returned to the bridge, soothed by the familiar beeps and chirps, and relieved Commander Wescott. She slumped into the command chair and rubbed the heel of her palm on the armrest’s fake leather.

Only a few minutes passed before the door to the captain’s ready room opened and Callahan marched out. Raisa’s gaze followed her, trying to catch her eye. When Callahan finally met her gaze, Raisa gave her a tentative smile, but she quickly looked away again. She walked past without acknowledging Raisa and disappeared into the turbolift.

Voss’ words continued to echo and she felt their weight more than she would admit.

Keep trying.

It sounded so easy. If only.