“Come.”

The ready room doors parted from one another with a gentle hiss and Lieutenant Tomaz entered. Noticing the captain sitting on the curved sofa under the large bay windows on the slightly raised level, Tomaz made his way over to him.

In a relaxed posture while drinking a mug of tea and reading a holographic display from one of his consoles, McCallister had his right hand stretched out across the top of the sofa while the left held his mug. Looking up from what he was reading, the captain paused the report from scrolling and smiled at his visitor. “Tomaz, come in, please take a seat.” He said offering one of the chairs opposite. “Can I get a drink?” He offered.

Tomaz took the armchair opposite to McCallister and replied. “Yes please, Tarkalean tea will be fine.”

“Computer one Tarkalean tea.” McCallister ordered as he walked over to his replicator and the food dispenser created the beverage by the time he reached it. Picking it up, McCallister turned around and passed it over to his guest. “Here you go.” He said and then proceeded to take his seat from before. 

“Thank you sir.” Tomaz said before taking a sip and then placing it down on the circular shaped glass table that sat between them.

McCallister looked at his strategic operations officer and smirked. 

“Have I said or done something amusing, sir?” Tomaz asked, looking and feeling a bit worried about why his commanding officer had called to see him. 

Shaking his head, McCallister answered with a simple “No.” His smirk didn’t go away. “I’m just thinking about how much you remind me of me, over twenty years ago.”  McCallister explained. “I’ve been thinking about the opportunities I had as an officer. I was fortunate enough to have Captain Brooke Fontana-Adelaide as my first captain and she was one hell of a mentor. A true classic Starfleet captain, one that put service and career first, one that was very old-school Starfleet. She held the principles of Starfleet very high, she supported her crew and made sure to get to know everyone. In fact, I would say a majority of who I am as a captain today, I owe to her.”

“She sounds like a legend, sir.” Tomaz said. Still unsure why he was there hearing about his captain’s old captain. 

“She was and if it wasn’t for her sacrifice then the chance that someone took on me in succeeding her as captain would have never come my way.” McCallister stated. “I miss her counsel a lot, in fact I think if she was still around today then she would be a fleet admiral by now. Probably running a Starfleet department back at Headquarters or running one of the important bases in deep space.” McCallister shook his head. “My point is, almost twenty years ago she gave me a lot of chances to prove myself. She placed a lot of faith and trust in me, however I don’t think I’ve been fair with you Tomaz.”

“Sir?” Tomaz asked, his uncertainty of what McCallister was getting up was increasing. 

Sitting up straight, McCallister carried on explaining his thought process. “What triggered me thinking about Captain Adelaide and what she did for me, was what happened during the paradox and what went down on the Quirennal.”

Remaining still uneasy about this conversation, Tomaz appeared nervous now. “Should I know about this sir, I mean with the temporal prime directive, etc.?”

  Shaking his head, McCallister said he wouldn’t break the directive. “I promise you with Commander Banfield and her team roaming the ship, I won’t be doing anything that will have them down my neck any further than they really are.” He smiled. “No, what it has done has made me rethink how I view the senior staff and the opportunities I need to provide for you all. I started this with making Max my first officer after we lost Bexa, then by no fault of his own Craigen received a battlefield promotion during the crisis with the Quirennal. And now it’s time I look at you.”

“I would hope my work on Odyssey has been up to your standards, sir.” Tomaz said.

“They’ve surpassed my expectations, Tomaz.” McCallister told him. “When Starfleet told me they wanted the Odyssey to have a strategic operations department posted to it prior to us entering the Delta Quadrant, I have to admit I wasn’t keen. The fact I had commanded the ship for over a decade without one, made no sense to me. Starfleet told me they want to develop Odyssey’s role as one of its premium deep space explorers, and with the ship being the size it is then I sort of got it. That all said, you’ve impressed me so much, Tomaz. In less than a year you have built an entire department from the ground up, you’ve also integrated intelligence within that department too. Your assessments, analysis and briefings on a range of matters that myself and others need to be aware of, especially while we were in the Delta Quadrant, have been high-quality. Your contributions to senior staff meetings, mission briefings and conversations around ship-board life are insightful. I cannot think of a reason why I wouldn’t have you and your department on the ship and with us hopefully returning to the Delta Quadrant, I am planning to depend on your expertise and leadership further.”

“I would relish that chance again, thank you sir.” Tomaz said gratefully. 

“I’m sure you would, but I don’t think I’m being entirely fair to you. What you have achieved is no easy task, so now I’m going to take the time and invest in you in the same way Captain Adelaide did for me. I am hereby promoting you to the rank of lieutenant commander and I am placing your name forward for the Command Training Program.”

Shocked to hear that, Tomaz was taken back a bit and had to inhale from his breathing apparatus quite a bit. “Wow, thank you sir. I don’t know what to say.”

“Say yes you’ll do it all.” McCallister said as he reached behind his sofa and took a small wooden box from the sideboard and opened it. Handing it over black pip with silver piping around the edge sat in the middle of  navy blue silk. 

Tomaz nodded as he looked at his new pip. 

Pleased to hear it, McCallister’s grin got wider as he leant forward, took the new pip from Tomaz’s hands and placed it on his collar. “Now we would need to organise a promotion party for you and Craigen on the holodeck soon, but in the meanwhile let me be the first to say: Congratulations Lieutenant Commander Tomaz.”

“Thank you, sir.” Tomaz said once his third pip was attached. He sighed. “Sir, I do appreciate this…”

“I hear a ‘but’ in there though.” McCallister responded as he sat down. 

“But I just want to say, I’m sorry for my conduct recently since the incident with Captain Jyster.” Tomaz shared, looking down at the floor. “It’s just been hard to deal with the repercussions.”

“I get it, Tomaz. I truly do.” McCallister said with a sentimental smile. “I get you are struggling dealing with what we all went through. I’m still not entirely convinced I’m over it and with this paradox as well…” He paused as he considered his words. “I just can’t put words to it.”

“That’s exactly it sir.” Tomaz admitted. “I just don’t know what to do or how to feel.”

“And that’s why we have counsellors to help us, but that said I think you’ll find everyone around you is struggling but that’s what makes Odyssey special to any other command I’ve had.” McCallister shared honestly. “We’ve built a community here, a family, and we’re all in it together. No-one can take that away from us and we are there for each other. Talk to those around you.”

“That’s the hard part.” Tomaz stated.

Nodding, McCallister couldn’t argue with him about it. “You’re right, that is tough. So talk freely to me now. What’s on your mind? How are you feeling?”

Tomaz considered his words, he knew that McCallister was no ship’s counsellor, but this was a captain who did care. “Jeddie, I just can’t get past the fact that for those three months he was effectively my son and how much my life had changed to accommodate him and then it was gone.”

“Fatherhood does change you.” McCallister shared. “It makes you stop and evaluate your life, it makes you wonder so much and children are there to keep us on our toes. The terrible thing here is that Jeddie was lost many years before we even found the Quirennal. That’s the hardest thing to imagine and I can only guess that it is hard for you to comprehend. I don’t think I know what I would do if I lost Alfie, Theo or Harri, especially now.”

Tomaz realised the pain of McCallister losing Commander Reyas was still fresh and painful. “I’m sorry sir, I shouldn’t burden you with that. You are going through a lot yourself.”

 “And as I said, it’s good to talk.” McCallister reminded him. “I’m no expert in these matters, but it sounds like you need closure to Jeddie and maybe you might want to consider becoming a father yourself Tomaz.”

“Maybe.” Tomaz admitted after a while. “Counsellor Horin has said something similar.”

“She’s good.” McCallister said. “I know it’s what I need to do with Karyn, but it’s still so raw.”

There was a brief lull between the two men and then Tomaz broke the silence. “Thank you sir. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

“All good things, I hope.” McCallister said.

“Absolutely, sir. If there’s anything else I can do to help out, please just say.” Tomaz said. 

McCallister was about to say there was nothing and then stopped himself. “Actually there is one thing you could look into for me.”

“Sure, sir.”

“Alfie, my son, was made a cadet earlier than normal. Can you find out who pushed the process through with such haste?” McCallister asked.

Intrigued by the captain’s dilemma, Tomaz just nodded before he left the captain.