The chime of a combadge broke the silence of the quarters. The repetitive chime woke the sole occupant of the bed with a groan and a green hand slipped from under the covers. “This better be good,” came a groggy voice.

 “Apologies for waking you Captain,” Lieutenant Sorrolk said without a hint of emotion. “There is a priority message for you from command. It’s marked as urgent. I thought it prudent not to delay its delivery.” 

Kirin sat up in bed and pulled the sheets to her chest in a vain effort to keep the feeling of being in bed for a moment longer. She let out a slow sigh as she blinked slowly to wake herself up, “Thank you Sorrolk, I appreciate that though the timing could be better. Can you please forward it to my quarters?”

“Already done ma’am,” the channel went quiet as he closed the link.

“Guess my day is off to an early start,” Kirin muttered as she pulled on her treasured Tholian silk robe and made her way to the computer console. Quickly accessing the file, she sat back and watched the short message from Command before reading the attached orders. 

After a couple of minutes, she let out a short laugh. “Guess we are going back to Bravo,” she mused before opening a channel to the bridge. “Lieutenant Sorrolk set a course for Starbase Bravo, maximum warp. We have a friend to pick up.”

After a quick acknowledgement, she stood and looked at the timepiece on her desk. “Uhhh, 04:10. Well I am up, might as well make the most of it,” she muttered in annoyance before she made her way to the wardrobe, pausing as she felt the subtle change in vibration of the decking through her feet. Glancing out the window just as the Sojourner jumped to warp, the flash and subsequent view brought a small smile to her lips. With that, she turned back and pulled out workout clothes.

Four hours later, after an impromptu session in the gym and a swim on the holodeck, she sat in the main crew lounge watching the vast void of space slip past behind the ship. Without taking her eyes from the view she picked up her mug and took a long sip of her peppermint tea enjoying a moment of quiet. 

“So, what is with the course change Captain?” came a voice behind her.

“Pretty sure I sent you and the other department heads an update,” she remarked without looking away from the window as her XO, a tall Andorian, slid into the seat across from her and set down a plate with two pastries on.

“True, but it was a bit short on the details,” he said as he picked up a pastry and took a bite before sliding the plate to her. “You forget your breakfast most mornings.”

Kirin rolled her eyes at the comment before accepting the pastry and taking a bite, “It’s not your job to…”

“Someone has to. Besides the Doctor keeps hounding me since you haven’t checked in with him. Hell, he popped into my quarters the other day to berate me.” Thanen said with a shrug. 

She kept eating but nodded an acknowledgement while trying to hide a smirk. She had removed the doctor’s access to the holo-emitters in her cabin for that very reason. “The orders didn’t say much. We are to return to Starbase Bravo, and collect Captain Murphy, her family and some of her crew before transporting them to the USS Sentinel, her new command.” 

“New command? What happened to the Andromeda?”

“Full refit and renaming. With the new Andromeda-class entering service I assume the fleet wanted the name for one of those ships. As such Órlaith has been given a new command and since it is on our way we have been tasked with the transportation duty,” Kirin said before taking a sip of her tea. “It will be good to see Órlaith again.”

“Yes, she helped us out in a tight spot, so I know the crew will always go the extra mile to help her and her crew,” Thanen said with a nod as he thought back to the incident in the Delta Quadrant and the blood dilithium.

Across the lounge, Ensign Bruco scrolled through the latest research article on a set of Bajoran ruins found on one of their moons, a fruit salad left untouched beside him. As he read hands dropped across his eyes, “Hello D. You know you can just say hello.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” the young Orion helmsman said with a giggle before she slid onto the seat beside him. Leaning over to glance at the PADD she sighed, “Another research paper Ined? First thing in the morning?”

“You have your shuttles, I have archaeology and anthropology,” he said with a shrug before leaning over and giving her a quick kiss. “How was the away mission yesterday?”

Dese plucked one of the grapes from his fruit salad and popped it into her mouth, “Pretty dull really, flew the Captain and Lieutenant Sanin down to meet with the local administrator so Sanin could fix their communication system. Helped her a bit, mostly handing her tools then flew back.” Dese took another grape and nodded towards the Captain and XO, “Any idea what they are talking about?”

“Likely the course change, Lieutenant Dawson sent out a message thirty minutes ago, we are en route to Starbase Bravo,” he said with a shrug but didn’t look over towards the Captain. 

“Great, maybe we can have some time on the station. It’s been a while since I have been there,” Dese said as she watched Ined. “So….What’s up with you and the Captain? Whenever you are in the same room as her you either don’t look in her direction or leave,” she teased, poking him in the side.

“What?! Nothing!” he said with a bit of a jump. “Why would you say that? Why would I look at her? What are you getting at?”

She gave him a knowing look. “Is it because you mistook her for me in the holodeck that one time she joined me for yoga? It was an innocent enough mistake, she even said so,” she said with a laugh. 

He blushed slightly, “It’s just embarrassing, I saw my entire career flash before my eyes. Hell, my life. You have heard the stories about what she used to do.” Ined couldn’t help but recall a passing comment from Lieutenant Dawson on his second day on the Sojourner about the Captain’s time as an undercover SFI operative within the syndicate. He didn’t know if that was true or not given how she handled herself he could believe it. After the incident, he didn’t sleep for a week.

“Honestly, I think it made her laugh and you worry too much,” Dese smirked and stood up. “Come now, enough with the silliness, I am the only Orion you should worry about annoying. We need to make plans for the Starbase. We should go find Jenoda, Allen and Trisim before our shift starts. Jenoda and Trisim will want to go clubbing for sure and you know how Allen likes to visit the old-timey bar and visit the promenade looking for nick-nacks  if we have time.”

She slid off the stool and grabbed Ined’s hand before dragging him behind her and out of the lounge.

Ril leaned back in the command chair on the near-empty bridge and scanned, but did not absorb, a report on the latest tactical updates being rolled out across the fleet. She set the PADD down and looked at the other crew on the bridge, Lieutenants Belania and Kerry Dawson. “I much prefer it when we are not in the heart of the Federation. Nothing exciting happens here. How long until we arrive at the starbase?”

Belania looked up from the con and the diagnostics she was running. She met Ril’s eyes and smirked, “You know, Ril, all that information is beside you on your display…”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said and waved a hand dismissively while she pulled up the display. “Two hours from Starbase Bravo…Kirin said she wanted to know when we were an hour out. Guess we just keep on going then.”

Kerry shook her head, “I still don’t get why the Captain lets you call her by her first name so casually. She is the ship’s Captain after all.”

“It’s because Ril does what Ril does, consequences be damned,” Belania said with a grin on her face. “It seems to be paying off though under Commander Tarken’s command. I guess the 62nd Rule of Acquisition is correct, ‘The riskier the road, the greater the profit’ though I am not sure this was what it had in mind.” She winked at Ril, “For now anyways that is.”

“She doesn’t seem to mind,” Ril said with a shrug. “She trusts me to do my job. If she didn’t like it you know she would say something. That woman is never shy when it comes to saying what is on her mind, well with most things anyways.”

Kerry let out a soft snort, “She isn’t afraid to speak her mind that is for sure. Though neither are you.”

“Should I not? You should speak your mind more. You are too shy.” Ril said, teasing the science officer.

Belania rolled her eyes and tuned the other two out as they carried on their usual banter, prodding each other behind her while she finished her diagnostics. As the last diagnostic finished she swung the chair around to see Ril and Kerry discussing their plans on the station when they arrived.

“…promenade is always nice, good shops and restaurants we could visit. If we have time,” Kerry said.

“You know, you could get something nice for Thanen. I am sure he would like that,” Ril said with a wicked grin. “Well something nice for you, for Thanen.”

“What?!” Kerry said blushing and quickly looking back to her console. “We had dinner, that was it.”

“Was just a thought,” Ril said, holding her hands up defensively. Before she could say anything else her computer chimed. “Ah, looks like we’re an hour out.

She tapped her combadge, ‘Bridge to Captain. We are one hour out from Starbase Bravo.’

‘Thank you Ril, I am on my way.’