“Attention to orders.”

The bridge crew stood just the tiniest bit straighter after Izzy spoke. She and Aakon stood in front of the captain’s chair, the large bridge affording them the room to do the quick ceremony here. Aside from Jackson and Maria he recognized none of them and nearly all the faces seemed so young; a stark reminder of the losses Starfleet had incurred these last few years.

“To Lieutenant Commander Isabella Broska, Commanding Officer, USS Merrimack. By order of Fourth Fleet Command you are hereby ordered to relinquish command of your vessel to Captain Aakon Keacen, as of this day. Signed, Captain Anna Caldwell, Task Force 17 Commanding Officer, Fourth Fleet, Starfleet.”

She lowered the PADD in her hand. “Computer, transfer all command codes to Captain Aakon Keacen. Voice authorization Broska-987-Sierra-245-Echo.”

A pleasant, soft chirp rolled across the bridge. “Transfer complete. USS Merrimack is now under command of Captain Aakon Keacen.”

Aakon took a step forward. “I relieve you.”

Isabella nodded, a soft smile on her face. “I stand relieved.”

“Thank you for getting her ready while I wasn’t, Izzy.” He placed a hand on her arm. “I will forever be grateful.”

“Of course sir.”

Aakon turned to face the bridge crew, the blue streaks of the warp tunnel lighting up the bridge through the viewscreen. “I know very few of you know me and I look forward to getting to know you. These last few years have stretched us thin; not since the Dominion War have we seen such loss and devastation. We’re supposed to be explorers, seeking the unknown that lies just beyond the horizon and instead we’ve been forced to fight for our own existence over and over. It extracts a toll, one I know all too well. However, despite all that, we still held onto the hope that we’d return to the ideals of peace and exploration that we’ve held onto for over 200 years. I am happy to say that day is here. The Shackleton Expanse is now accessible to us, deep in the Beta Quadrant, filled with wonders and worlds teeming with life and we’re been given orders to proceed there. Let’s get to it.”

A chorus of ‘aye sir’ rang out and the crew went back to their stations. Aakon turned to Izzy, Maria and Jackson. “I’ll meet you three in the briefing room shortly to go over our next assignment.”

-Briefing Room-

The four sat at the large, wooden table. The room was curved, a large window overlooking the aft of the ship where Merrimack’s large but gracefully curved nacelles took up most of the view.

“I know it’s just us four right now.” Aakon began. “We’ll pick up the rest of the senior staff at Framheim Station when we stop to drop off some supplies. They arrived with the first wave of exploratory ships and have been helping with things on the station before we arrive.”

He tapped a few buttons and pulled up a holo-image of Marrak IV. Thin layers of clouds were dotted across the planet, a reddish hue to the ground with valleys and deep rifts scattered about. It was easy to make out cities, most small, dotted along the coastlines and inland basins. One particularly large city was placed along the eastern coast of one of the more northern continents.

“This is Marrak IV. Class M but arid with a thin atmosphere. Temperature extremes are common with fairly large swings between day and night. In some areas far enough away from the coast we’ve seen as high as 38.5C and as low as -6C on the same day.”

Maria’s eyes widened. “You don’t see that very often.” She glanced down at her PADD. “Looks like the coasts stay fairly stable, around 25 to 28 degrees.”

“Indeed. Most of the population is clustered on coasts and some of the inland basins but there are those who make their lives in the valleys, particularly near the Valley of the Statues.” Aakon tapped another button, bringing up a chart. “As you can see the planet is rich in rare compounds and iron. It made Merrak IV an attractive trading partner for others in the region.”

“So we aren’t dealing with a pre-warp civilization?” Inquired Jackson, skimming though the PADD.

“Technically the Marrak people do not have warp technology but they are aware of offworld civilizations and traded with spacefaring civilizations for quite some time. Their technology isn’t that far behind the Federations, they simply chose not to develop faster than light travel and have turned away all offers of FTL tech.”

“I guess that isn’t all that far-fetched. The Shroud restricted warp travel for so long that they were content to have people come to them instead of putting resources into exploration.” Izzy sat down with PADD. “Why are we going though? Is the Federation looking for a trading partner?”

Aakon shook his head. “Not necessarily. We were invited, actually. They are quite eager to meet their new neighbors, so to speak, and show off what they have told Starfleet is a once in a generation event; the Black Feast.”

Maria sighed. “That sounds omenous.”

“I won’t recite word for word what you’ll find on your PADD, but the Merrak people value perseverance. Hardship is desired. There are numerous physical trials that they willingly endure starting in childhood. Their culture is stoic, there is little exuberance or joy in their art. As we’ve been told, this stems from their ancestors being enslaved by the Lords of Hunger centuries ago and the struggle to achieve victory over them. The Black Feast is what commemorates that victory. We don’t have details on what the Feast exactly is, just that it culminates with the alignment of the planet’s twin moods.”

“Fascinating.” Murmured Maria. “And spooky. I love it.”

Izzy learned forward. “So, a more standard diplomatic second contact? I like the sound of that. They sound fascinating.”

“To an extent, yes.” Akkon continued. “Their government is secular but lately a group, the Children of Hunger, have been gaining traction and drawing converts to their side. They apparently advocate for a more brutal Feast. Details, again, are slim but the Merraki government is hopeful everyone will be on better behavior with the new kids on the block visiting. Starfleet has concerns that this group has high ambitions and with the Shroud gone they would have the ability to spread their influence beyond the planet and would like us to get as many details as we can on them.”

Izzy crossed her arms, leaning back in the chair. “Ok, so, diplomatic second contact with a side of sneaking around. We can do that.”

Mara was still scrolling though the PADD. “I don’t think much spying will be needed. The government seems to be deeply concerned about this group.”

Aakon nodded. “They didn’t want to provide too much information to the crew of the Horsehead since they weren’t sticking around but the impression I get is that, yes, they will welcome our help. In addition, when we arrive I want the science teams to investigate some peculiar energy readings the Househead picked up.”

Maria nodded. “Can do.”

“That’s all I have. We’ll arrive at Framheim Station at 0630 tomorrow so review the mission data on your PADDs and get a good night’s sleep.”

The three other officers nodded, standing up to leave. “Maria, hang back for a minute.”

She nodded and sat back down. “Of course.”

After the door hissed closed, signaling they were alone, Aakon picked up a PADD that had been sitting next to him and handed it to her. “As I am sure you know, I’m in need of a second officer.”

Her eyes widened. “Well, yeah, but not me. I don’t do that. I’ve also not taken the Bridge Officer Exam yet.”

Aakon chuckled. He’d expected some resistance. “I know. I’d like you to think about taking it. I trust you Maria, so does Izzy. You also keep both of us on our toes on a daily basis. That PADD has all the info about the test. If you choose not to then I respect that but I’d like you to take some time to think about it and after we’re done on Merrak IV let me know your decision. Izzy and I think you’d be a valuable addition to this ship’s command team.”

For once, he’d manage to leave her with few words to say. “Thank you sir. I’ll think about it.”

“That’s all I ask.”

–Keacen’s Quarters–

–0018–

Aakon turned over to the left side of the bed yet again, sleep continuing to elude him. It was the first night in a new bed, he knew that, but nothing felt quite right. He was used to the sheets from home, the way the bed practically hugged him when he laid down. He was also used to there being a dip on the other side of the bed, quiet breathing, gentle snores and a pleasant source of warmth to help lull him to sleep but he wasn’t going to acknowledge that. He didn’t need Jackson to sleep. He didn’t need Jackson for anything in particular. Ok, maybe he needed him for one particular activity but that was it. That was how this worked; whatever this was.

He looked at the clock on the bedside table. 0020. The small screen next to his bed showed the room temperature was set to the perfect 16.6. He’d done his nightly ritual: sonic shower, hot ureymol tea, 30 minutes of reading and then lights out. Same thing as every night for the last few months. Same thing except for one particular thing.

Shit. Maybe he did need Jackson to sleep. He rolled over to his right side. He should have known better than to let Jackson get that close since he was Aakon’s subordinate; to share the same bed and life night after night and day after day but damn did it feel right in the moment. It had healed him, as much as another person could anyway. He’d been broken after the near destruction of the Resnik; Starfleet Medical told him he was, just in more official wording. Jackson had insisted he join Aakon, that he was doing so of his own free will and that it didn’t mean anything would change with the friendship or the physical benefits of it. Except now it seemed like something had changed.

He rolled over again. By the four deities, was he really having a relationship crisis in the middle of the night? He was 39 years old, not some school kid in a tacky holo-novel. The chime of the door interrupted his thoughts. If there had been an emergency the night watch officer would have simply called or altered the ship’s alert status.

“Who is it?” He asked, keenly aware he was wearing nothing more than a pair of Starfleet issued briefs. Not the best idea for the Captain to answer the door like that.

“It’s Jackson.” His voice sounded soft, small, even through the speakers. Aakon could feel his heart rate jump up.

“Come in.”

The doors slid open as the computer recognized the words Aakon spoke. Jackson stepped into the room quickly, the dim light of warp tunnel though the darkened windows barely illuminating him. His hair was tousled in the way it always was when Jackson had been in bed, which told Aakon that the other man had likely been facing the same issue he was.

“I can’t sleep and I was wondering if I could…” He trailed off, voice still quiet. They both knew this represented a shift in things, an unknown hanging uncomfortably in the air that wasn’t going to be acknowledged because neither knew how to in this moment.

“Um, yeah, of course. Big day tomorrow, I need my tactical office well rested.” Aakon felt a bolt of awkwardness shoot through him. That had sounded awful; an effort to keep that line in the sand drawn no matter how much the wind was blowing it away. He opened a drawer at the bottom of his nightstand, pulling out a pillow he’d put there after he found way too many pillows on his bed when he arrived. He placed it on the bed next to the one he was using.

Jackson nodded, taking a few steps close to the bed before removing his shirt and sleep pants and slipping under the cover. Aakon layed down on his back, staring at the ceiling, as he heard Jackson try to get comfortable. After a few minutes the bed dipped again as Jackson turned over to face him, scooting close. He felt Jackson’s hand and arm start to tentatively slide across his chest. Aakon instinctively lifted up his left arm, allowing Jackson to scoot in and rest his head on Aakon’s shoulder, before dropping his arm back down to hold Jackson in place.

Now things felt right. He could hear Jackson’s breaths slow as sleep overtook him. Aakon’s eyes grew heavy, the gentle warmth of the other man overtaking him, the scent of Jackson’s shampoo scratching an itch in his brain he didn’t know he had. He knew this meant things were going to come to a head. That it was finally time to have a talk he never wanted to have. He had to make the choice between opening a door he had been determined to keep shut or walking again from it and hoping he never regretted the possibility of what could be.

For now, though, sleep had finally come.