The reports scrolled across the various screens in the small office that served as the briefing room for the USS Relentless. The XO, Lieutenant Commander Beatrice Estrada, spoke as she walked from display to display. “Tougun has to have a rationale for this. I know his profile suggests he’s batshit crazy. Why poke the targ now?” The data from the other starships in the squadron had arrived. It defied logic for Estrada, and as chief science officer, she was coming up empty. She searched the data, coming up empty.
Lounging in a nearby chair, Lieutenant Charlotte Pelletier examined sections of the data on a PADD. “Perhaps he has decided it is time to test the mettle of this squadron.” She lazily scrolled from data point to data point. “Tactically, he cannot think that taking on eight Federation starships will be successful. Unless he has a weapon of some kind.”
Leaning against the wall, Lieutenant Nakatani scrolled through his PADD. “He’s not pulling his punches. In the last two weeks, there’s been twenty casualties. Looking at what he’s stealing, it’s odd. None of it meets the engineering standard of usefulness. It’s all old or broken equipment.” Pushing off the wall, he joined Estrada at the bank of screens. “We’re missing something. Intel came up short on competitors.”
Charlotte sat up, suddenly attentive. “You think someone is attempting to push this Orion around? Or perhaps stage a takeover?” Her tactical and security mind jumped to a few ready conclusions. “His history before these incidents does not suggest someone interested in the attention of Federation starships.”
The door to the office slid open, and Commander Raelin stepped over the threshold. “Catch me up.” Estrada brought her up to date. The eyes of the Relentless CO glanced at the displays. She stepped forward, and the door closed behind her. “We’re getting a new Chief Medical Officer.” The announcement hung in the air, and she waited until she had looked each of her officers in the eye. “We pushed our luck with Matura. That can’t happen again.” She glanced down at her boots, feeling the quiet burden of command settling into her shoulders. “We’re going to have to work on playing well with others.”
Ensign Tang, who had remained silent until now, asked, “Or what?” Her eyes were wide with concern, and her voice trembled slightly. The Relentless had been her only command. She wasn’t sure she wanted to go anywhere else.
Raelin looked back up, her face unusually forced. “There is no ‘or what’, Tang. We’re part of a squadron now. They’ve got a Fleet Captain and a Commodore.” Tang closed her mouth, opened it, and then closed it. The Bajoran CO turned her attention back to the screens. “We’re going to have to do some investigating to get a better read on what the hell’s making Tougun and his network push the jackass meter to the redline. Even sociopathic Orions have a method to their madness. Fleet Captain Crawford has ordered us to do some digging into the sector around and beyond. Perseverance will monitor and assist with its extensive sensor suite.”
Pelletier raised her hand, and Raelin called on her. “Will there be kicking of ass?”
Nakatani rolled his eyes rather dramatically. “The phrase is kicking ass, Charlotte.”
She replied with an eye-roll of her own. “Whatever. Will it get kicked?”
Raelin shrugged. “To be determined. Tang, plot us a course along these points.” She tossed a PADD to the helm officer. “Get us on our way. Lieutenant Stroude came aboard ten minutes ago. Once I meet with her, make nice.”
Estrada stood, annoyed. “Dog and pony show like last time?”
Raelin shook her head tightly. “No, I think it’s time we try being ourselves for once. Stations, everybody.”
Edrea Stroude walked from one end of the sickbay on Relentless to the other. It was larger than the original Defiant design, but only by a few beds and additional equipment. Going from Montana Station to Perseverance to this was a trajectory that would have worried most medical officers. That Fleet Captain Peter Crawford had come to her had made an impression. That he was throwing her into a den of what three medical chiefs had called vipers, lions, and snakes was a challenge she accepted immediately. She was going to burn the command team of the Relentless to the ground or become a part of the tightly woven team. There would be no in-between. She heard the door slide open, and turned to face her newest commanding officer, Commander Raelin. “Commander.”
A terse smile rose and fell on Raelin’s face. “Lieutenant Stroude, welcome aboard the Relentless. Sorry I wasn’t there to meet you. Coordinating our mission got in the way.” She gestured to the small office in the corner, “Shall we?” Stroude nodded, and they soon sat across from each other. Raelin spoke after a brief, awkward silence. “I’m unsure how much Fleet Captain Crawford shared with you about our history.”
Stroude smiled, a sly curve crossing her lips. “I’m your fourth and final option for chief medical officer. I’m not here to shoot you with a phaser in the back or booby-trap torpedoes to slow you down.”
Raelin’s smile remained dour, but it was slightly less so with Stroude’s answer. The commander replied, “You’re here to help.”
Edrea smiled just a little wider, her eyes sparkling. “To borrow a phrase, I’m here to kick ass and chew bubblegum…and I’m all outta bubblegum.” The blank look on the Bajoran’s face caught her off guard.
“I am not familiar with this reference. I like the sound of it.”
“That’s a start, at least. It’s an ancient Earth film. I’ll start a list.” She leaned forward in her chair. “We going to be alright, Commander Raelin?”
The CO stood and regarded Doctor Stroude for a moment before extending her hand. “God, I hope so. You seem a decent officer. I’d hate to see this fail.”
Stroude shook it tightly before stepping back. “You seem a decent CO. I’d hate to be the one to fail you.”
Raelin thought for a moment, and a smile broke across her lips. “Let’s work on that.” She stepped out of the office and walked out of sickbay.
Stroude leaned back in her chair. There were a lot of ways that meeting could have gone. That was probably one of the better options. She tapped on the desktop console.
It was time to get to work.
