Several days had passed since the incident had taken place, cleanup had gotten to the point where they were ready to turn things back over to the people of Caldos to finish with the supplies they would need. Tajir had been released from sickbay, though he wasn’t cleared for duty yet. The doctor had ordered that he rest in his quarters for a couple more days.

Once he arrived at his quarters he say down at his desk, he wasn’t just going to sit there and do nothing. “Tajir to Commander Makoto please report to my quarters,” Tajir replied over the comm channel.

Aki was in the ready room polishing off a scone and the tepid remains of her favorite cup of tea, going over the latest updates from the department heads when the call came in from the captain. Aki had avoided any face-to-face contact with the captain over the past several days, allowing him to recuperate after everything they’d been through on the planet. Any updates Tajir needed, she forwarded to his quarters to keep him up to speed. The fact that he was calling her now, requesting her presence personally was a good sign that he was on the road to full recovery.

“On my way,” she replied.

Stuffing the last bite of the scone into her mouth, she rose from her seat, adjusted her tunic, turned off the terminal, and returned the cup and saucer to the replicator, recycling the remains before departing the ready room onto the bridge to the turbolift.

She spent the next few minutes attempting to formulate a series of conversation starters for when those doors parted, but having no basis for comparison to draw from, his mind was coming up empty. Reaching the captain’s quarters, she hesitated briefly and then finally tapped the door chime.

Looking up from going over some reports, “Enter.” Tajir replied as Aki walked in, “Have a seat Commander.” Tajir replied with a smile though he looked better than he did a few days prior. “I know you have been sending me updates, but wanted to talk to you in person.” He replied as he adjusted in his seat, his back still hurt him a bit but was doing better.

Aki stepped closer, taking a seat as instructed, crossing her right leg over her left knee and interlaced her fingers, resting them on her lap. She was impressed at the remarkable progress her captain had made in his recovery given his near-death experience; all of which thanks to the remarkable medical staff aboard the ship. “You’re looking well, Captain. I don’t want to rush your recovery, but it will be glad to have you back on duty,” she said, expressing her concern for his well-being.

“Thanks, I’ll be glad when I can.” Tajir began with a smile as he looked at her getting straight to the point, “what is the current status report on the situation?” Tajir asked as he adjusted in his seat.

“Lieutenant Kyle informed me that they’ve just finished with repairs to the planetary equipment and should be ready to transport back to the ship shortly. With any luck it should detect any seismic activity and compensate before another catastrophe occurs. Additionally, after having delivered the last of the supplies to the settlement, the remaining away team members have beamed back aboard and resumed their regular duties. All in all, I’d say we’re mission complete.” Aki replied emphatically.

Tajir nodded as he was glad that things were over and they could now leave, “Well I just got word that Lieutenant Macomb is going to be staying back to assist further.” He replied handing off the PADD with the orders from Starfleet to Aki, “looks like we need a new Chief Medical Officer.” Tajir replied with a sigh as he was sad to lose such a good doctor already.

With a look of disappointment, Aki took the PADD and glanced it over. She was going to miss having the Lieutenant around. If it had not been for the doctor’s quick thinking, she’d be talking about her captain at a funeral service rather than to him at that very moment. “That’s a shame. I can only hope that Starfleet will send us someone half as good.”

“Indeed,” Tajir replied looking at her for a moment before speaking again. “Once everyone is back on board set course for the old Romulan Neutral Zone,” Tajir said as he couldn’t think of anything else that was prudent.

Aki was a bit puzzled at the destination of choice but assumed the reasoning would be made clear in due time at a staff meeting and didn’t feel it necessary to press him for answers at that moment. Instead, she sat there in a moment of awkward silence before replying, “Understood. If there’s nothing further Captain?”

Thinking for a moment to see if he was forgotten anything important, though after not being able to think of anything he shook his head. “No that will be all for now, if I think of something I’ll let you know,” Tajir replied as he saw Aki stand up from the chair that she was sitting in and headed out of his quarters. After the doors closed shut behind her he decided that he needed to lay down for a while.