By the time Olivia and her new executive officer walked into the conference room, most of the department heads were already assembled.

“Good afternoon everyone,” she said as she walked around the table to take her seat. Rhys was already seated next to her and she offered him a smile. He nodded back, allowing himself the slightest creasing at the corners of his eyes.

Olivia put her padd down on the table, resting her forearms lightly on the surface in front of her as she looked around the room.

“For those of you I haven’t managed to meet up with yet, I’m Captain Thorne, recently appointed by command to take over temporary command of the USS Canterbury and the Canterbury division until we have recovered Captain Murphy. And make no mistake,” she said, her pleasant tone dropping serious. “We will recover Captain Murphy.”

The officers around the table looked back at her. They didn’t look defeated as such, but they definitely looked like they’d had the stuffing kicked out of them. She could understand that. Losing a CO wasn’t a small thing and they’d probably been wondering what the hell was going to happen, especially with the abrupt departure of the XO as well.

“While we’re on introductions, I’ll get some out of the way quickly,” she carried on. “I’d like to introduce Commander Holliday, who will be taking up the position of Executive Officer aboard, and Commander Rose-Thorne, who will be filling the role of Chief of Security.”

She added a smile as she looked around the table. “Let’s get it over with, shall we? The dreaded round robin… from the left, who are you and what department?”

To their credit, they all kept their expressions level, but there was nothing better for getting to know a group quickly. She looked at the man sat to the left of Cat. He was an older officer, with grey streaked through his dark hair.

“Ket,” he said in a deep rumble, arms folded over his chest. “CMO.”

Okay, so not one for chatting then. She looked at the next officer, wearing a yellow uniform. Tall, with her blonde hair scooped back into a low bun, Olivia’s first guess would have been security from the woman’s amazonian build, apart from the fact she’d read the woman’s dossier.

“Bennett,” she said, her chair creaking as she leaned back. “Engineering.”

Olivia felt more than heard Rhys’s hope that this was a capable security officer he’d missed die a quick death.

The man sat next to her wore a teal uniform, was as different as Bennett as night was from day. “Lieutenant Steele, Chief Science Officer.” His voice was calm, professional and cultured even if he did make the briefest of eye contact, instead fixing his gaze somewhere on the wall behind her head. It wasn’t the fixed stare of someone with a military bearing, but something else… she’d have to figure that out later.

The next two she knew, but she nodded at them anyway.

“Lieutenant Commander Thayer, Chief Helm,” the first said, his gaze narrowed as he looked at the three of them on the other side of the table. She knew what his issue was. He was friends with Murphy and she had no less than six demands in her inbox from him as to when they were going to recover the captain.

“Beck. Chief Tactical,” the big man next to him rumbled. If she hadn’t known there was currently only one llanarian aboard, Bennett, she would have thought he was one. He certainly had the height and the muscle mass for it.

“Excellent!” She smiled. “Now that we’re all acquainted, let’s get on with things.”

Pulling her padd toward her she carried on. “We have some solid leads on Captain Murphy’s location, so we’re going to investigate them on an adapted version of the Canterbury division’s original patrol route.”

A map of the local systems showed in the air in the middle of the table, with two distinct routes cutting through space like wounds. “We will be splitting the ships up, with the Resolute taking the route marked in blue, while we will be taking the one in red. Neither ship will be far enough away that they cannot support the other, should the need arise. Yes, Thayer?” she asked as the chief helm officer cleared his throat.

“I’d like to request to be on the away team to recover the CO—Captain Murphy, ma’am.”

“Ah yes, that’s the next item on the agenda,” she said, clicking the display off and letting the room’s main lights come back up. “And for that I’ll be handing over to Commander Rose-Thorne.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Rhys sat forward. He used her trick of leaning his forearms on the table, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. “To avoid a repeat of the situation with Captain Murphy, we have decided to institute a hazard team aboard the Canterbury. Officers who had not in their department chain of command will be selected and trained for hazard team duty. In the event that a team needs to be sent on an away mission with a high possibility of combat, then the hazard team will be deployed.”

Thayer’s expression tightened with determination. “I volunteer to lead the hazard team.”

Rhys shook his head. “As I said, no one in their department chain of command will be eligible. All hazard team members should be personnel that will not be missed in the event of the hazard team being deployed.”

Bennett nodded. “While I’m ineligible for the hazard team, I’ve served on them and I have extensive pre-fleet combat service. I’m more than happy to offer my services for training.”

“Noted. Thank you, commander. That will be most helpful.“ Rhys nodded. “A hazard team leader has been selected, but is not currently aboard the ship. We will be picking them up during the first stop on our patrol, at Prixasis Four. Prior to her arrival, I will take charge of hazard team training, with Commander Bennett’s assistance.”

He slid Olivia a quick glance, nodding to indicate he was done. She smiled. “Thank you, Commander. Now, are there any questions?”