‘Replicators in your rooms out, too?’ was the grunt with which Caede greeted Lindgren when she came out of her quarters to find him headed for the turbolift.

‘Rosara’s memo says it’s the whole section.’ She forced a shrug. It was an inconvenience, but a reasonable measure for preserving power, and nobody needed Caede thinking everyone was grumbling about it. ‘It’s fine, we can go up.’

His frown only deepened, but with consternation, at least, not disapproval. ‘Thought people would breakfast in the Safe House.’

‘You didn’t read the memo, did you?’ Her voice went light, toying as they walked for the lift together.

‘It started with a deep explanation of the exact nature of the damage to the EPS conduits. I stopped reading.’

‘She could have prioritised her information better. But there was an addendum at the end from Counsellor Dhanesh.’

‘I definitely didn’t read that.’ Caede rolled his eyes as they boarded the turbolift. ‘Don’t know why you keep a therapist aboard.’

Lindgren bit her lip. Counsellor Dhanesh was not just a counselling psychiatrist, but a specialist in xeno and forensic psychology with diplomatic and anthropological experience. He’d come highly recommended by Greg Carraway, Endeavour’s last counsellor, before they’d left on this deep-space exploration mission. But she was leery of giving Caede any explanation that might downplay his duty to the crew’s mental health.

‘You’ll see,’ was all she said instead.

When they reached Deck 1, Caede looked like he’d head to the break room with hopes of grabbing breakfast there, but she bumped him with her shoulder to take a right turn into the conference room instead.

‘Good morning!’ boomed the cheerful voice of Counsellor Dhanesh from across the room. The main table had been pushed closer to the window, with most of the rest of the senior staff seated with plates of breakfast and steaming mugs of hot drinks, the air casual and full of idle chatter. The counsellor himself stood at the far end of the room at a new table laden with hotplates and platters, and stainless steel jugs of hot coffees, teas, and a jug of fresh juice. ‘Make your order and you’ll have breakfast in a jiffy.’

‘A jiffy…’ Caede stared.

‘It’s an omelette bar, Caede; try to not faint at the new Earth experience,’ Lindgren said in a gentle dig, elbowing him again before heading over. ‘Good morning, Counsellor; this looks great.’

Dhanesh’s bright smile was knowing, particularly as he saw Caede’s suspicious, curious look. ‘We’ve only got replicator power to a few essential stations, and I thought this would be more cheerful than everyone sadly ordering a bacon sandwich on their own. Help yourselves to hot drinks. How do you want your omelette, Elsa? The green peppers are fresh from hydroponics.’

‘Then how can I say no? Peppers and cheese it is.’

Dhanesh was a big guy, the sort of counsellor who integrated exercise into his therapies and adopted a holistic, body-and-mind approach to health. But with his ready smile, tidy beard, and easy manner, it gave him more the look of a bombastic father to young children – which he was – than an imposing build.

‘Coming right up. What about you, Centurion? I’ve got some spices here – arket and havrik. I picked them up at that stop at Vendarinor last month. Together they give the omelette a heck of a kick.’ He picked up a jar of Romulan spices, wafting it towards Caede.

‘I know what havrik smells like,’ Caede said bluntly, placing, Lindgren thought, a very subtle emphasis on the correct pronunciation – though were she not a linguist, she wouldn’t have noticed Dhanesh get it wrong. ‘I would not add it to eggs.’

‘Oh? Doctor Starik said it wasn’t unlike the Vulcan emina spices his people put in a scramble.’

There was a moment where Lindgren thought Caede was going to refuse breakfast, but he must have been too hungry to take a stand. He swallowed. ‘Egg and mushroom will be fine, Dhanesh.’

Lindgren wrinkled her nose. ‘You go sit. I’ll bring it over.’ Once he’d poured himself a mug of coffee and left, she looked back at Dhanesh, eyebrows raising. ‘Comparing Vulcan cooking to Romulan? That was rude, Counsellor.’

‘He was rude,’ said Dhanesh in a breezy tone as he whipped eggs. ‘Romulans put havrik in eggs. He saw I was doing something considerate and didn’t know how to respond appropriately, so he went on the attack. Everyone’s too polite when he does that.’

‘A crack about his heritage, though?’

‘It had to be something that would land. He’ll think twice next time, mark my words.’ Dhanesh handled the skillet with easy confidence, cooking the omelettes to perfection while only half-paying attention. Before Lindgren knew it, she had two plates in her hands. ‘Enjoy!’

‘You’ll cook yourself something now, right?’

‘Check your own oxygen first, Lieutenant.’ Dhanesh tapped his nose. ‘I ate before I started.’

Caede hadn’t sat, he’d gone to drink his coffee by the window. Taking the counsellor’s wisdom aboard quicker than she’d expected, she didn’t bring his plate over, but caught his eye, nodded to the table, and set it beside her as she pulled up a chair with Thawn, Beckett, and Kally.

‘…not enough. Tell her, Elsa.’ Beckett looked between Lindgren and Thawn, gesticulating with a forkful of egg. ‘She can’t run an engine room on four hours of sleep.’

‘I’m not pretending it’s sustainable,’ Thawn protested. She looked, for all of her boyfriend’s accusations, crisp and presentable, but Lindgren knew the ship would have to be exploding around them for her to not start her day picture-perfect. ‘But I need to monitor things as much as possible while we’re at warp. You got me here.’

‘Silly me,’ said Beckett with wry amusement. ‘A sociable breakfast or sleep; not both.’

‘Would you like us to make it to Rencaris in one piece -’

‘Lieutenant.’ Kally leaned towards Lindgren, eyes pleading, as Caede finally reached them and slumped into the seat beside her in a manner she felt not unlike a sulking teenager. ‘Please help me change the subject.’

‘You don’t want my relationship litigated over breakfast?’ said Beckett with an air of mock offence. ‘Alright, what about someone else’s – Elsa, how’s your fella?’

‘Vor,’ muttered Caede, stabbing his eggs.

‘Thanks, Nate,’ Lindgren groaned. ‘Mac isn’t my fella. We’ve been on a few dates. Then Endeavour shipped out.’

‘You’ve been writing,’ said Caede, not looking up from his food.

Kally’s eyes lit up. ‘Oh, we’re too far out for a direct link. So it’s had to be letters? That’s kinda sweet and old-fashioned, isn’t it?’

Lindgren felt her cheeks colour and tried to hide it behind a gulp of coffee. She wasn’t used to this kind of interrogation – or used to feeling this kind of self-conscious about it. ‘It would be. Except Mac can’t tell me about half of the things he’s up to on the Blackbird.’

‘Oh no,’ said Beckett in mock-despair. ‘You’ll have to talk about feelings or daily life and not work, in long, contemplative letters where you have to wait maybe days for a response, building up a connection and anticipation. How horrid.’

‘Do Starfleet officers talk about anything other than their personal lives?’ butted in Caede. ‘We’re nearly dead in space, crawling out of a stellar phenomenon that tried to kill us, heading for a den of snakes. Is this really what’s most pressing?’

‘I agree,’ muttered Thawn.

‘We talk about life-or-death stuff all the time,’ Kally protested. ‘In a minute, the captain’s going to give us an update on how much of a mess we’re in, followed by a pep-talk about how we have to stick together and it’ll be hard, but with teamwork, we’ll pull through. I think Counsellor Dhanesh put this together so we could have a little social break.’

Thawn looked offended. ‘This is a more efficient use of energy -’

‘By, like, a percent,’ scoffed Beckett. ‘But Kally’s onto something.’ He continued waggling the forkful of food around illustratively. ‘Valance isn’t as good at pep-talks as Rourke. Anyone want to bet on which cliche she’ll use?’

‘Nate!’ Thawn’s offence was even deeper.

‘What do we win?’ said Lindgren suspiciously.

‘Fun!’ said Kally.

‘Uh… winner has everyone cover for them next time they want to skip out on one of Dhanesh’s group-bonding events?’

‘That’s not -’

‘Something about facing tougher challenges and coming out stronger,’ said Thawn, eyes lighting at the prospect of a free excuse.

‘Rosara!’ Lindgren gave her a look, unsure if she should be indignant on Valance’s behalf or impressed.

‘Um… “teamwork is our greatest asset,”’ ventured Kally.

‘“Together, we can face anything,”’ said Beckett smugly.

Caede scoffed, and Lindgren braced herself for him to dismiss their fun, only for him to say, ‘A metaphor about weathering the storm.’

They all went, ‘Ooh,’ in universal approval, then fell silent as Valance stood. It was almost as if prompted, though Lindgren was sure the captain hadn’t heard. She’d been sat at the head of the table in conversation with Airex and Starik, while Kharth, Logan and Dhanesh were a buffer between them. There was no way they wouldn’t have been rebuked if their Kharth had heard them, let alone Valance.

‘Good morning,’ said Valance, clearing her throat. ‘Thank you to Counsellor Dhanesh for organising this. We often get little time to stop and touch base in a crisis. But it’s important we do so.’

The officers at the more junior end of the table leaned forward, inadvertently on tenter-hooks with the new stakes of their CO’s speech. Valance opened her mouth to continue.

The red alert klaxon went off.

‘Bridge to Captain Valance!’ Lieutenant Qadir’s voice was tense, worried. ‘Klingon bird-of-prey decloaking off our port side! Sir, they’ve raised shields and have locked on weapons!’

The senior officers were on their feet in an instant, breakfast and bets all forgotten.

‘Klingons,’ Caede spat, tossing his napkin down. ‘This new storm is a lot uglier.’