The USS Altai streaked through space at cruising speed. Their destination; the nether regions of Federation space, bordering the frozen conquered territory of the Breen. The atmosphere was calm. Little had been detected on sensors since leaving starbase over a week prior, and now the crews of both Altai and Don S. Davis had settle into a rhythm. Both ships’ systems hummed and routine operations continued for all personnel who worked diligently, unaware of what awaited them on the cold, looming asteroid ahead.

“Enter,” Streth said, voice gravelly and raktajino infused. The ready room doors hissed open to reveal a familiar face. The Romulan Yeoman had been one of the last crew assigned to the Altai before their departure, and Streth was happier for it. The assignment of a yeoman would greatly ease the administrative burden of setting up and maintaining base operations. “Ah, Mr. Maec,” the Andorian waved the Ensign in, barely looking up from his PADD, “have a seat.”

D’vaid had been on the Altai for a small amount of time now and was really starting to feel how the ship ran and most importantly how Streth was. He had been asked to report to the Commander and immediately made his way to the ready room. He straightens his outfit and took a deep breath. He always wanted to make a good impression no matter what hopefully he did.

He activated the chime and heard the Commander tell him to enter. He sat down as requested.

“You asked for me, Sir?”

“Coffee?” Streth looked to the pot of raktajino on his desk before continuing.

D’vaid had come to like raktajino upon coming to the Altai. “That sounds great, Sir.” He grabbed a cup and the pot and poured him a drink before comfortably sitting down in the seat adjacent to the Commander.

“Ops chief on the Don already reported estimated material usage for the base renovation work.” He held out a PADD to D’vaid, “We’re looking at 50,000 tonnes of duranium, 16,400 metres of ODN cabling, computer core upgrade, eight bio-neural interface hubs, six power converter installations… It’s a lot Any updates they give us on those figures, I’m directing them to you for signing off on. I’ve got enough on my plate with the Breen tactical situation. That OK, Ensign?”

D’vaid looked over the requisitions handed to him. It was not the worst amount of work for him to have to sign off on, but he wanted to make sure that everything was perfect before he would sign off on such a requisition. He nodded and looked up at Streth.

“I can handle this it all looks in order. I am not sure of how soon we will get the supplies from what I have heard it’s a slow process. I will make sure the information is processed immediately. Any updates will be carefully evaluated and if I see any issues I’ll be contacting you directly, Sir.”

D’vaid signed the PADD after explaining and knowing he had the Commander’s authority, though most people would not like his job it was something he loved.

Streth sipped his coffee, “Alright, I think the only other thing left is chasing up the signatures from beta shift. A few of the watch officers have been getting lazy about running their diagnostics.” He appreciated D’vaid’s enthusiasm for the job. Keeping the Captain’s bureaucracy running smoothly on a ship like the Altai was often no easy task, “Anyway, Ensign, how are you settling in on the Altai?”

D’vaid sipped his coffee while making a note on his personal PADD about getting the signatures requested for the Captain. He looked at the Captain.

“Well, it has been refreshing I wasn’t quite sure how the crew would respond to a Romulan, but so far I haven’t been hit too hard. I am liking it here especially working under you, Sir. I enjoy the paperwork and handling things for you. I did have a question though when will my office be ready? Trying to work from my quarters is…shall we say messy…”

“Good to hear that you’re enjoying the work, Maec, and I’ll look into your office status.” Streth replied, “From what I remember they were converting one of the unused quarters on deck three. There’s gonna be plenty of room on the base, though. Almost too much.” He thought ahead to their arrival, and of the vast empty spaces shown on the base schematics. He placed the PADD down on the desk, dispensing with any pretence of business, “This is all I’m going to say on this subject: I’d expect nothing less from the crew than your full acceptance as one of us. Starfleet command is confident you can do the job, and so am I. If we can’t tolerate a diverse range of backgrounds among us, then what the hell kind of fleet is this?”

D’vaid immediately respected the Captain and Starfleet at another level.

“I’m guessing on the station my office will be adjacent to yours? And I couldn’t agree more it’s nice to be accepted because at first…I never knew how I’d be treated while I was in the Academy it was a struggle for sure.”

“It’ll be somewhere nearby, one level down from base ops.” Streth said, unsure of the exact specifications. He smiled, recalling his eagerness to find out about what his own working conditions would be like back on the G’Mat. “Every cadet goes through their own struggle at the academy. That’s the point of it; we were still learning the ropes. Klingons have been through it, Klentathans, even Ferengi. Part of that process is learning that everyone at the academy has a right to be there. And now you’ve got a right to be here, Ensign. Now, is there anything else I can do for you?”

D’vaid thought for a second and shook his head. “No, Sir I think that’s all. I will make sure I get these signatures to you. If you need anything you know how to find me. Thanks for the coffee.”

D’vaid got up and nodded before departing to hunt down the beta shift watch officers.