Olivia followed the two commander’s from the Canterbury command team, her keen gaze noting everything about the state of the ship and the crew as she passed. The Lamarr classes were rare, only about two dozen or so in service, so she’d never been aboard one before.

“As I understand it, this class can host cetacean operations departments for long range survey and charting missions,” she commented to the XO as they stepped into the turbolift. “But I didn’t see any mention of survey missions in the records? Why is that?”

To his credit, Vann met her gaze levelly. “I don’t have the answer to that, Ma’am. I was assigned to the ship just after the Captain and, at present, we don’t have any cetacean officers aboard. I do believe he had a shortlist of possibles before…”

She nodded, allowing him to trail off as they reached their stop. The doors opened on a short corridor that ran behind the bridge. It might not entirely be his fault he’d lost his captain… Murphy was a Star Fleet Captain, he’d been more that capable of making his own decisions. Even if they were bad ones.

“This way, ma’am,” said Commander Vann, sweeping out an arm as Beck peeled off, presumably to head to the bridge.

“Good ship,” Rhys leaned down to murmur by her ear. “Crew seems competent and fairly comfortable despite the circumstances.”

She nodded. She’d noted the lack of panic in the crew they’d passed in the corridors.

They were led into a large briefing room with a stunning view of the system around them, a nearby nebulae painting space in shades of pink and purple. The other division ship, the Resolute, was off their port side. She  turned to face Vann, her hands on the back of the chair in the middle of the table.

“I assume the message was sent to Captain Mason that I required his presence at his earliest convenience?”

“It was indeed,” a new, deep, voice sounded from the doorway. She turned to find what had to be the biggest captain she’d ever seen filling the frame. As she watched, he moved, or more accurately was jabbed in the ribs until he moved to reveal another captain, shorter but still above average height and more slender. Both were handsome men. The first she doubted looked in a mirror more than it took to comb his hair, while the other knew he looked good. It was written in every line of his body.

As soon as he saw her, his smile became blinding and he leaned in to murmur to his companion, “This is the new division CO? She’s stunning. I’m gonna flirt.”

She raised an eyebrow. Okay, that last line confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt who Captain two was.

“I am indeed your new division CO, Captain Riggs. And I’m afraid flirting will get you nowhere. My second husband is a consummate flirt so I am somewhat immune. Captains… perhaps you would like to take a seat?”

It wasn’t a suggestion, no matter how pleasant she kept her voice.

“Of course,” Mason, who was obviously the smarter of the two, inclined his head and took a seat. It creaked slightly under his weight. “I must say, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Captain Thorne. Your reputation precedes you.”

She levelled him with an assessing look as she took her own seat. She’d reviewed both their records on the way over here. Mason was a dark horse. Extensive combat experience, which was always going to be helpful in a region like the Thomar expanse,  but more interestingly to her point of view, there was a note from command that the man also had a great deal of diplomatic training that he didn’t like to own up to. She narrowed her eyes slightly at him, then turned her attention to Riggs.

Who grinned. Again.

He was a different kettle of fish. His record was littered with complaints, disciplinaries, and none too complimentary performance reviews. He was a charming wildcard more known for his exploits off the bridge rather than on it. Which was a pity. From what she could see of his actual fleet service, he was a very capable Starship commander, if only he’d managed to hold onto the centre seat.

“I have to say, that both your reputation precedes you,” she replied mildly, sliding a quick glance at Rhys, who handed over her padd from her bag. “And that is not a good thing.”

“I’m sorry,” Riggs said suddenly, turning that blinding smile on Rhys. “I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure, Commander…?”

“Commander Rose-Thorne,” Rhys replied, surprising her by using his full name.

She saw the moment the name registered with Riggs and he looked back at her again. “Ah, the charming second husband.”

“First husband,” Rhys growled, still glaring at Riggs. “Second’s down in engineering.”

Riggs’ smile widened.

“If you don’t mind,” she said, her voice like a whip as she nipped that little conversation in the bud. “I’d like to get back to the matter at hand. Namely the current whereabouts of the captain of the Canterbury, and how you came to… what was the phrase?”

She looked down and pretended to read the report in front of her. Rhys leaned over and pointed out a section. She bit back her smile. It was about waste management facilities on the Lamarr class. She didn’t need to ask his opinion of Riggs then… 

“Ahh yes… here it is. You apparently ‘lost’ your division CO. Would you care to explain?” She put the padd aside and leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table as she looked at them.

“We’ll start with you, Captain Riggs.”