As the Neptune turbolift hummed on its way to the bridge, Alex quietly admired his surroundings with a degree of envy. Down to the smallest detail, the Neptune was clean as a whistle, not a speck of dust between the gaps in panels, nor were there even the slightest scuffs in the carpet.

He could have been fooled into believing the ship was fresh off the line, or that Captain Ryder was looking to return the hospitality Alex extended several days ago, an idea compounded by the steady tempo of smooth jazz being played through the lifts’ audio system.

Wallace was not oblivious to his captain’s quiet observations and could not help but grin at the fact that Captain Ryder had pretty much surpassed Alex’s efforts in hosting the Neptune Command staff several days prior.
He let out a subtle cough to cut the silence, which by this point was growing awkward.

“Don’t say it!” Alex retorted with a smirk.

Wallace’s smile grew from ear to ear; he had a terrible poker face. “Dunno what you’re talkin’ about, sir,” he said jestfully.

Alex would have followed up, were it not for the doors opening. Hitching a ride to their destination, a young woman in a gold department uniform stepped onto the car and immediately noted the weight of the pips on the two men’s collars, “Captain…Commander,” she said with a subtle nod of salute.

“As you were, ensign,” Alex said. The next forty seconds were tense. He wanted to return the banter to his X.O., but he needed to be professional, after all. First Impressions count.
Glancing to the side, he caught sight of Wallace, barely maintaining his composure.

“Damn fine ship you got here!” Wallace couldn’t hold back any longer, intending a poke towards his C.O. and using the ensign as the vessel, “So clean, you’d have thought admiralty was expected.”

Alex shot a scowl across to his colleague, not intended with any real weight but conveying the message ‘stop, you’ll embarrass me.’

The ensign didn’t know how to respond; she let out a nervous laugh and was saved from having to come up with a reply by the doors opening.

Michael and Lexi were on the bridge just talking about Mary, waiting to hear from the chief, so they knew to meet their guest. After five minutes, Michael tapped his badge “Chief, are they going to be beaming over anytime soon?”

He heard silence for a moment on the comms, “Uhh, Sir, they are already on their way to the bridge.”

Michael looked at Lexi, “Excuse me, Chief! Why didn’t you report?” He asked, annoyed.

“I’m sorry, Captain, I got sidetracked, as soon as they arrived…”

“Stop right there! There is no excuse, and this will be discussed later.” He said before cutting comms.

To Alex, the Neptune’s bridge was a marvel of modern technology. Though he had a soft spot for the Fairfax’s command centre, this bridge definitely belonged on a Vesta-class explorer. Sleek lines, roomy accommodations and a plethora of consoles configurable to every purpose. As busy as the deck was with about a dozen or so crew members present, it was clear her operational capacity was running barely above idle.

The truth was that such mistakes were just not tolerated. Michael was about to talk to Lexi about it when the guest arrived on the bridge. He turned to face them and smiled. “Welcome to the Neptune, Captain, Commander. I am sorry we were not there to meet you.”

“Please, no apologies, Captain,” Alex said, attempting to put his counterpart at ease, “I’m sure your crew have plenty to be getting on with; the last thing they need is to have to play chaperone to myself and Commander Jones.”

Michael nodded, “Well, I am glad you don’t take it as an insult, but still not something we do.” Lexi nodded, “We definitely do not.”

Alex felt slightly awkward being given the VIP treatment. He was a working captain, hands-on, and not deserving of the proverbial red carpet. Had he been wearing flag officer pips, he might have appreciated the gesture, but as a captain, he was very much down to business and expected to be treated as such. Still, he couldn’t blame the Neptune crew for wanting to put in the effort; after all, he’d probably do the same were the situation reversed.

Michael led them to Xiao’s station “Have you been able to determine anything more about the planet?”

Xiao didn’t even look up as he had been so interested in the data. It was something he was working on since the information started to flow in. “I have been able to determine that the planet has two structures. One on land and one in the ocean. They seem like they would be huge points of interest. However, I still am unable to see the specifics of what the animals on the planet are. The problem is the storm that seems to completely cover the atmosphere of the planet. I know it’s not the best information, but it’s all I have.

“Any indication of technology, pre-warp or otherwise?” Alex enquired.

Xiao shook his head, “No indication that can be found through current sensor readings. It might be different once we pass this interference, but at the current state, we cannot determine any more information.”

Wallace looked over the display with as much scrutiny as an adjudicator examining a key exhibit, “Two starships, two teams?” he suggested, “Divide and conquer.”

“Agreed,” said Alex, immediately understanding his second in command’s suggestion, “This area here, on the northern part of the continent, looks to be a good location to transport. We could —”

Xiao interrupted Alex mid-sentence, “I apologize for cutting you off, Sir, but with the interference we cannot use transporters to get on or off the planet.”

Alex paused briefly, re-assessing the plan he was formulating in his head.
“Well, I don’t see much of a clearing in the tree canopy to land a shuttle,” Wallace piped in, “you’re lookin’ like a ten-kilometre hike from the shore, and I wouldn’t want to try and set down in those mountains to the east,” he added, pointing towards the display.

Alex folded his arms and rubbed his chin, the cogs of thought ticking away in his mind. Then, as if a lightbulb illuminated over his head, he placed his hand on Xiao’s shoulder and lined up another suggestion, “Commander, could we use the shuttle transporter, once we’re below the interference in the upper atmosphere?”

Xiao thought for a moment, “While that is possible, I would not recommend it, given we know so little about this planet’s atmosphere and how even after getting through the initial interference, we could still have issues that we are unaware of. So if you want my opinion, I would not recommend using transporters at all on this mission.”

“Juno could probably find us a parking spot. I’ve seen her back a semi-truck into a bay with one hand on the wheel on the holodeck!” Wallace pointed out.

Alex glanced over to him, smiling, “Remind me to audit your holodeck time when we get back,” he said in jest. He had to admit, however, that his first officer had a point. Lt Sato was indeed a skilled pilot, with a natural ability for spatial awareness. If anyone could land a shuttle in the thick rainforest, she could. “Okay, so we go in by shuttle, our pilot is probably best suited towards the difficult landing on the continent, which just leaves the ocean structure.”

Michael smirked slightly “We might have an answer to that. We have quite a few shuttles on the ship and have retrofitted them for all kinds of missions. One of those includes an underwater shuttle that could withstand whatever the planet has to throw at us.”

Slightly impressed, Alex nodded. His envy for the Neptune just grew, though he adored his own vessel. It was almost as if when they put the Fairfax back into service, Starfleet supplied them with the hand-me-down shuttles to fill out the complement. “Well, I guess that means the Neptune is taking to the sea, kind of fitting for the god of the ocean!”

“Indeed, I didn’t even think of it like that,” he said before smiling at Lexi, who was just as happy. The love they had for their command was very apparent.

“So we deploy as two teams, still try to keep up appearances of scientific interest. If the Romulans are on the surface, we report back to the ship and reassess.” Alex outlined that, somewhat outside his comfort zone, by taking charge of the strategy, he welcomed input and critical analysis. “Sound good to you, Captain?”

“I think that would be prudent, but the question is, do you want to have someone from your ship on my team and vice versa?”

“Captain,” Wallace stepped in before Alex could speak. “Could I have a word?” They stepped to one side, out of earshot of their Neptune colleagues. “You know Sovek is gonna make a long-winded point about how he’s got extensive experience—”
“In marine exploration and biology, yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s writing his resume for Captain Ryder as we speak.” Alex finished

“We might still need a science officer, who knows what we’ll find down there,” Wallace pointed out.
Alex nodded in agreement, then turned to Captain Ryder. “As it’s on the table, I think my science officer, Lieutenant Commander Sovek, might be Invaluable on your away team, but we could probably use a replacement.”

Michael thought for a minute, “I know Commander Xiao would be invaluable…” he paused for a moment “However, I have someone else that has asked to join and as she has experience with xenobiology. She is not officially part of Starfleet yet, but she is in the process and I told her I would ask” he stated not yet revealing it was his daughter.

Alex was hesitant; this wasn’t a sightseeing expedition, and he didn’t much like the idea of putting a civilian in harm’s way. “With the greatest of respect, and if it’s all the same with you, I’d like to keep this mission on a need-to-know basis,” he felt awkward explaining that, under normal circumstances, he’d be happy to take a civilian along, but these weren’t normal circumstances. They were surreptitiously scouting a potential Romulan outpost; discretion was of vital importance. “But feel free to let your xenobiologist beam over to the Fairfax; they can observe the away team from mission ops.”

Michael knew Mary wouldn’t be so excited about it, but she knew when she asked the answer, so Michael would deliver the news to her, “I understand, Captain. I will relay the news. Shall we prepare to depart tomorrow at 06:00?”

Alex nodded in agreement, and after a few minutes outlining the finer details of the operation, he turned and departed the bridge along with Wallace, a few paces behind. In the turbolift, the silence resumed for a moment before Alex broke the ice, “I assume you’re going to follow protocol and lead the away mission for Fairfax?”

“You bet, unless you’d like to pull rank?” smiled Wallace.

“No, by all means, have all the fun… Just one thing, though,” said Alex curiously, “Volunteering Sovek, admit it, you just didn’t want to listen to his logical reasoning when he finds something interesting down there.”

Wallace turned with a guilty smile, “guilty as charged!”