The yeoman, Ensign Deborah Porter, stood at the wide doors.  “Dr. Hargraves sends her congratulations, Dr. Thorne.”

Beatrice rolled her eyes.  “I couldn’t care less what that woman has to say.”  She accepted the access keys to the offices of the Rimward Report.  “I have several containers marked for delivery to my office. Please make sure they arrive in a timely manner.  Good day to you, Ensign Porter.”  The young woman blinked a few times before muttering a thank you and walking away flustered.  With that, Dr. Thorne unlocked the doors and stepped over the threshold into the expansive offices and studios of the Rimward Report.  The massive, empty newsroom floor stretched out before her as she walked, stabbing away at the PADD.

Dr. Persefoni Hargraves was one of her least favorite people in the universe.  Beatrice Thorne didn’t have many favorite people.  People knew her as an Odyssey Class in an antique shop.  Her reputation had served her well in her career, and yet there was something missing.  As she walked up the stairs to her office, she was well aware of what was missing.  It had been missing for a while.  Someone to grow close to and eventually spend the rest of her life with.

The trouble was that she always seemed to burn the connections in the interest of a story or a scoop.  Her last date had ended in his arrest at the hands of Starfleet Security after her dogged investigation had caught the attention of the local constabulary.  Friends had often become her sources as she’d dug into the inner workings of various groups.  Thorne sat down behind her desk and tapped open the console.  She’d offered two reporters jobs.  One was aboard, and she knew she had her work cut out for her with him.  “Craig Syracuse,” she read as his exploits scrolled down the holo screen.  “Rising star, then shipped out here like a loser.  Persefoni tried to rehabilitate him.  That went well.”  It hadn’t.  She found Hargraves’s attempts to bring Craig back from whatever brink she seemed to think he was teetering on the edge of amusing.

Thorne didn’t want to fix Syracuse.  She wanted to exploit him and his talent.  She had plenty of time to study Montana Station, the surrounding area, and the squadrons that were developed, merged, and renamed while traveling.  The amount of political intrigue, fleet secrecy, and rumors that were taking root in the sector and beyond would fill the pages of her magazine and give her ample hours of news, entertainment, and opinion to engage with.  The boost that the affiliate link to the Federation News Network brought would certainly help.

The other reporter was Lizzy McNizzy.  Beatrice wasn’t sure what to make of her dossier at first.  She had started work in 2394 as a commentator before joining the FNN in 2396 as a correspondent.  Her work with FNN had continued until 2401, when McNizzy had moved into investigative reporting for the Star Crossed program.  Thorne was faintly familiar with the show, but hadn’t seen McNizzy’s segments.

Then there was the year-long experiment of The Lizzy McNizzy Show that started in 2402.  Thorne had downloaded some of the more popular episodes for viewing later over dinner.  The reviews were more interesting to her than the content.  Some adored her work and her presentation, while others dismissed it as a vanity project.  FNN had floated her recruitment to the Rimward Report to bring a fresh voice in from the outside to see the rimward for the first time with open eyes and an honest heart.  To fill out the staff roster, Thorne needed well-known names, and McNizzy’s reputation and history marked that item off Thorne’s checklist.

Now Thorne needed to fill the newsroom with researchers, writers, and stringers.

Her hands went to work on the console.