Lieutenant Frank Levine lounged in the pilot’s chair of his shuttlecraft. He was 7 hours into his transit to the USS Truckee, and was starting to worry he might finish his book before reaching his destination. Saving his progress, he set down the PADD and sat up in his chair. A few taps on the control panel brought up his transfer orders. It would be good to review them once more.

Starfleet Intelligence was sending him to the Truckee to collect information on a gravimetric anomaly that had been detecting on long-range sensors. Not much had been gleaned at such a distance, but apparently the nerds in the basement were excited about something they’d seen. So Frank was on his way to get more information. More importantly, he was on his way to make sure nobody else got their hands on that information.

Frank didn’t know Captain Beardsly of the USS Truckee, but he did know Beardsly was unaware of two things: the nature of Frank’s assignment, and the presence of the anomaly. At least, not yet. Frank’s secondary tasking was to ensure Captain Beardsly remained unaware of his mission, though he would find out about the anomaly soon enough. For the sake of secrecy, the crew of the Truckee needed to believe they had stumbled upon the situation organically. Therefore, the Truckee had received notice they’d be taking on a passenger to help with some minor post-shakedown maintenance. Nothing dangerous, but it required a specialist: Frank Levine.

An hour later, after reviewing the technical specifications of the Truckee‘s Bussard collectors one last time, Frank checked the shuttlecraft’s sensors. Seeing the Truckee, he pinged the starship and dropped out of warp.

“Commander, shuttlecraft Yosemite is coming into range and dropping out of warp.” The young ensign sitting at the Ops panel reported. It was the night shift. Lieutenant Commander Dhalan Nhar had started taking shifts in order to qualify as a bridge officer. Tonight, she sat in the captain’s chair, with the XO next to her as an over-instruct. He remained quiet, silently observing and evaluating her work.

“Very well, ensign. Welcome them to dock at…” Dhalan Nhar checked the panel on her chair arm. “Docking bay 2. Inform docking bay 2 of the incoming shuttle.” She then stole a glance at Commander Aldiib, but his unchanged demeanor offered her nothing.

Dhalan paused, considering what to do next. Did the captain care to greet their visitor? No, she recalled he had specifically mentioned he didn’t need to be woken for that. So… the XO should greet him. But the XO was here, monitoring her, and he couldn’t leave her here. So… did that mean she should go greet this Lieutenant Levine herself? Dhalan Nhar decided that was the correct course of action.

Watching the viewscreen just long enough to verify the shuttle had adjusted course to start maneuvering into their shuttlebay, Dhalan stood up. “I’m going to welcome our visitor.” She turned to face tactical. “Lieutenant, you have the conn.”

Feeling confident in her decision, Dhalan did not look at her XO for confirmation. She simply strode towards the turbo lift doors. Behind her, Commander Aldiib followed.

The shuttlecraft door opened and the small craft began to power down. A couple enlisted crew members swarmed in to start their inspections, and Lieutenant Levine stepped out. Before him stood two officers, whom he recognized from their files. At first he didn’t understand why the doctor was there, but clarity came quickly as she spoke first.

“Welcome to the Truckee, Lieutenant Levine. I’m Lieutenant Commander Nhar, this is Commander Aldiib, our XO. How was the trip out?”

Levine stepped forward, saluting quickly. “Thank you, commanders. The trip was uneventful, which was fine. Allowed me the chance to do some non-technical reading. Permission to come aboard?”

“Permission granted,” Nhar replied. “Yeoman Niles here will show you to your quarters, and if you’d like a tour, he’ll provide that as well. I will return to the bridge for now. Our chief engineer, Lieutenant Rakes, is holding a briefing for the Bussard collectors at 0900. Report to her then.”

Levine nodded, accepting his orders. When neither the under-instruction nor the XO spoke further, Frank Levine turned to the patiently-waiting yeoman and gestured towards the shuttle bay doors. Since they hadn’t mentioned anything unusual yet, Frank assumed the ship had yet to detect the anomaly. Based on their position, he figured they’d come into sensor range just before that morning briefing. He would get up a little early, anticipating that briefing to be canceled.