Feeling like he was becoming strapped to his desk, Captain Campbell was sitting reading through the service records of the other new members that had now joined his crew. Sipping on a mug of tea, the Scottish man welcomed the sound of the door chime going off as a good distraction. That said sudden realisation then washed over him on who it would be. He would be meeting Patel and Wilcox’s replacements. “Enter.” He answered in a firm tone, eyes still fixed on the screen.Two unfamiliar figures walked in and stood to the side of his desk. Finishing the last sentence, he placed his mug down and looked up at them. “Miss Meihui and Mister Mitchell, welcome aboard Endeavour.”

After entering the Captain’s ready room she looked at Scott for a brief moment and with a smile, “Thank you, sir.” Xiang replied as she stood there.

“Thank you, sir.” replied Scott at full attention given the captain’s formal tone, following Xiang’s lead.

Remaining in his seat and looking up at the two officers standing to attention, he truly hoped that the two of them were ready for what Endeavour was going to challenge them with. Commodore Paulsen seemed to like them, even though they had only served under for a short amount of time. Campbell didn’t recognise either one of them; they had obviously joined the ship after he had left the Poseidon following the Battle of Sol about fifteen months ago. “Lieutenants, I’m not going to beat around the bush with either of you. You are replacing two very senior experienced officers on my crew. This ship underwent several staff changes at the start of its launch; those you are succeeding have been here for a long time and have since established two very strong departments. Suffice to say you both have some very big shoes to fill.” Not willing to let them have a moment to say anything, the captain continued. “And with your transfers comes promotions for you both to the rank of lieutenant commander. Congratulations, I hear from Commodore Paulsen that you two are fine officers that she has had serving under her.” He paused to take a breath, “I know the commodore very well and for her to make a comment like that means a lot, so I hope you both live up to that reputation she has given you. Any questions?”

She listened quietly as the captain spoke, but when it got towards the last of what he had to say shocked her. She was not only got the spot of Chief she also was being promoted to Lieutenant Commander. “Thank you, sir, that was unexpected,” she replied looking at Scott with a grin. She wasn’t sure what else to say, or if she really had any questions. “I will not let you down, I will keep things running smoothly as the last Chief.” She said as she knew that she had some big shoes to fill and her team will take some time to adjust to a new Chief.

“I’m pretty certain, I asked if you had any questions lieutenant commander,” Campbell said, a bit annoyed that his new chief engineer believed she was ready for following in Patel’s footsteps. “And I certainly didn’t give you permission to be at ease with me. Is that going to be a problem moving forward?”

She looked at him raising her eyebrows, she wasn’t sure if she really liked this commanding officer that didn’t understand it was just her personality. Frowning with a sigh, “no sir,” she said as she looked at him before giving Scott a look.

Scott caught a glimpse of Xiang’s facial expression, but given his new captain’s retort, didn’t dare say anything until he had finished scolding his friend and colleague.

“Commander Patel was my first officer and one of two chief engineers that I’ve had the honour of serving with on this ship since I took command. I only want the best from you. Is that clear, lieutenant commander?” Campbell threw back at her.

She nodded, “yes sir” she responded and didn’t say anything else. She made a mental note to play like a Vulcan around him and show no kind of emotion even though that was not who she was. She wasn’t sure she was going to like it on the Endeavour anymore, the commodore had told her all good things about the captain but never mentioned how serious he was. She just wanted this meeting to get done as quickly as it started.

“Good,” Campbell said towards the engineer before looking at his new armoury chief. “Mister Mitchell, do you have any questions?”

With his head now in the guillotine, Scott suddenly felt like he was perspiring more than usual and wasn’t sure how he should answer the question. Nothing was immediately coming to him, but after a few seconds he was finally able to speak up, “It’s wartime sir. I expect most of us will be flying by the seat of our pants for a good while. I know I can’t replace the person your former Chief was on Endeavour, and nor would I dare to, but I will do my best to not let you down. I suppose the only question I have is, is there anything I need to be made aware of before addressing my department staff?”

“Nothing Mister Mitchell.” Campbell answered. He looked over to his desk and back to the two of them. “We’re having an informal gathering in the mess hall later this evening for the crew to meet our new additions. Both of you will of course attend. In the mean time, I suggest you both visit our quartermaster and update your mission patches and see if they have any spare additional pips.”

“Yes sir, and thank you sir.” Scott said, referring to his promotion even though the moment of congratulation had passed.

“Yes sir,” is all she said as she stood there waiting to be dismissed.

“Once you’ve done that, I expect you to meet with your respective departments. I’d like a status update from you both by eighteen hundred hours.” Campbell picked up his mug of tea and looked at them both. “Dismissed.” He ordered before taking a sip and returning to his work.