“Pursue this no further,” Fleet Admiral Reyes ordered firmly. “And speak of it to no one.”

Commander Eidran’s face fell. He had thought that if anyone would understand, it would have been her. “But ma’am, Captain Kioshi…”

“Do not ‘but ma’am’ me, Commander,” Fleet Admiral Reyes corrected sternly as she put up her hand to stop him. But then, seeing his expression change, her tone softened. “I get it, Ekkomas. I really do. Lewis was more to me than you could know.” As good as the kid was, though, she wasn’t ready to involve him, not when it came to matters such as this. “But leave it with me. I will handle it. Do I make myself clear?”

Commander Eidran knew an order when he heard one. “Yes ma’am.” He wanted to ask what she planned to do, but that she had not volunteered it made quite clear that she would not share it, and so he let it go.

“Thank you,” Fleet Admiral Reyes offered. She felt for the kid. She understood who he was, a blend of convictions and competence not often seen, and it was why she had created a special operations unit around him. But he wasn’t ready for this. Not yet. “Is there anything else?”

For a moment, Commander Eidran stood there, debating if he should share with her that Captain Lewis had left him the list, the names of all those he had identified as a risk to the future, but ultimately, he decided against it. He would carry that burden alone. “No ma’am.”

“Then get changed out of that uniform and go have some fun exploring the system with that brilliant girlfriend of yours,” Fleet Admiral Reyes smiled as she gestured for the door. “It’s not often the fleet orders us on vacation.” The Polaris, along with much of the Fourth Fleet, had come to the Colludia system not for a crisis, but instead for some simple rest and recovery.

With a nod, Commander Eidran took his leave, but the door to her ready room had hardly sealed shut before a chime alerted her to a new arrival.

“Yes,” Fleet Admiral Reyes asked, prompting the door to open once more. “Come.”

Two men, the flotilla’s strategic operations officer and the commanding officer of the Polaris, stepped through. Captain Bishop was dressed in his usual duty uniform, but Fleet Captain Devreux had abandoned his in favor of some cargo shorts and a trail shirt. She could only guess what he was about to get up to.

“What’d you just say to the kid?” Fleet Captain Devreux asked as he approached her desk. “He looked quite disappointed about something.”

“It was nothing, Gérard,” Fleet Admiral Reyes lied. She would not involve him, nor Captain Bishop, in what she’d learned from the Procyon‘s CO. That would be a matter she’d handle in other ways. “What can I do for you? Tell me its an urgent crisis or something.” It was half a joke, but also, she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that seeing half of the Fourth Fleet on vacation created for her, not with the present state of the galaxy.

“You’re not getting out of vacation that easily,” Fleet Captain Devreux laughed. “In fact, that’s what we’re here to talk to you about.” He glanced over at Captain Bishop, and then back at her. “You and I, we’re going camping.”

“Cute, but I have work to do,” Fleet Admiral Reyes dismissed the idea outright. “But really, do go enjoy yourself, Gérard.” She had a long list of other matters to attend to, but she was glad to see him getting out. Her old friend was an explorer at heart, and there hadn’t been enough opportunities of late for him to stretch his legs so she knew it’d be good for him.

“Work, Allison?” Fleet Captain Devreux raised an eyebrow. “What work? Half the crew is already off-ship, enjoying the hospitality of the Colludeans, or visiting friends on other ships, or exploring the rest of the system.” He’d been releasing the crew as fast as the requests came in, and there was already a waiting list on the shuttles for those places you couldn’t just transport to.

“Someone’s got to run the ship while you’re away,” Fleet Admiral Reyes pointed out as she looked him head to toe.

“I have the ship, ma’am,” Captain Bishop said firmly.

“The squadron… or flotilla, then,” Fleet Admiral Reyes tried again. “I would hardly say it’s even established yet. There’s a lot of work to do.” The ink on the orders was still fresh, and there were many logistics that would not take care of themselves. “And I can’t leave that to Miss Sharpe.” The words came out more distastefully than would have usually been appropriate, but Devreux and Bishop had been with her long enough that she could be open with them. They both knew her concerns with command’s meddling in the arrival of the rear admiral.

“Oh, she’s coming camping too,” Fleet Captain Devreux asked with a twinkle in his eye, knowing he had her now.

“Is she now?” Fleet Admiral Reyes asked skeptically, but also knowing that, if it was true, maybe there would be some value in this soiree. It would give her an opportunity to study the admiral that had been forced, much to her disappointment, onto her command staff.

“Absolutely. Captain Manning’s in too, as are Larsen, Knight, Alleyne and Romero,” Fleet Captain Devreux revealed, running the list from the new commanding officer of the USS Palisades to the managing director of the Advanced Science, Technology and Research Activity, the commanding officers of the USS Juno and USS Kennedy, and the executive officer of the USS Ingenuity. “It should be a jolly good time.”

Fleet Admiral Reyes raised an eyebrow.

“Call it an executive off-site, if you must,” Fleet Captain Devreux offered, putting it in the sort of operational terms he knew her to prefer. “An opportunity to learn more of those we put our trust in.” He had also invited Captain Lee and Commander Eidran, but the squadron’s command couple had other plans, and Ambassador Drake had similarly declined as he was hosting a meet-and-greet aboard the Kennedy for the alien crews of the ships on secondment.

“I will maintain flotilla readiness with Commanders Sirona and Gideon while you all are away,” Captain Bishop assured her firmly, cutting off her immediate objection before she could raise it. “You deserve a break.”

Fleet Admiral Reyes looked back and forth between the pair. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say there was a bit of collusion here.”

“Caught us redhanded,” Fleet Captain Devreux laughed.

“Essentially an all-squadron operation,” Captain Bishop acknowledged.

“You deserve it, Allison,” Fleet Captain Devreux added caringly.

She knew she wasn’t going to talk her way out of it, and so she relented. “Very well. Where are we going?”

“Colludia V,” Fleet Captain Devreux offered as he passed a PADD over to her. “I hear the aurora oval is quite brilliant from the tundra this time of year, and we’ll stay in yurts on an island all to ourselves.”