Starbase Bravo – Quarters – 0900

Jordan looked up as her boyfriend and CO walked, no stalked through the door to her quarters and started pacing, his face red.  He took a few deep breaths and wordlessly tossed her the PADD as he went into the bathroom to wash his face in an attempt to cool his emotions.  Reid started scrolling through the PADD and suddenly she realized why he was upset, “You’ve been…temporarily reassigned as First Officer?  We have a new captain?  What the hell?!”

He nodded as he stepped out of the bathroom, towel on his face, “I asked who had made the call, but he refused to answer.”  Harris sat heavily on the couch as Jordan read through the PADD.

“I know this name from somewhere.”  She sat down next to him and went to work on the PADD, “It may have been…,” she continued to work until she swore, “Oh shit.”  She handed the PADD back to him, “I knew it.  He worked with my old nemesis Gwenelda Patton at Starfleet Academy.  I knew I remembered his face.  He did assistant work in her classroom while waiting on a command..”  She chuckled, “He was the CO of the Polson for a short while before your mother came in.”

It was Ambrose’s turn to swear, “Shit.  That failed to come up in the meeting.  Theories?”  He sat back, confused and concerned all at once.

“Patton is retiring this year,” she rolled her eyes when Harris looked at her, “…what?  I keep track of the woman,  She was an ungodly terror in the Academy.  Got me to you and the Erigone, so it all balances out.”  She caught his quiet smile and kissed him on the cheek, “You’re welcome by the way.  Point is…I think she’s settling scores.  Her sending me to the Raven Class Erigone didn’t last very long – Starfleet kicked us up to the Eddie.  We got some wins on the board and now…,” Reid stopped and snapped her head to Ambrose, “…she went after you…, not me.  What the hell…how does she know about us?”

Harris thought for a moment and a cold realization swept over him.  Jordan was right.  They had kept it pretty secret, even onboard the Edinburgh.  He didn’t doubt there was some suspicion amongst the command crew, but he had already entrusted them with his life several times.  They had proven their worth.  “Let’s start digging through the crew records.”  She nodded and snagged an extra PADD off the coffee table.

It took them two hours of searching, comparing, and making a few requests for transfer paperwork here and there…but they found their answer.  Harris shook his head, “Crewman Tyson Jackson. Trained as a medic with operations experience and worked with Chief on damage control.  Which means he would have had access to the bridge…or just about anywhere.”  He tapped at the PADD, “Worse still…he’s dead.  I was at his funeral three days ago.  His parents were one of three that wanted nothing to do with me.”  He leaned back on the couch, sighing heavily, “I’m guessing she covered her trails well and we won’t find any connection between the two aside from her recommending his assignment to the Eddie.”

Reid growled, “You know she’s told this new captain a bunch of crap already.”  She got up and snagged a drink from the replicator.  “He ain’t going to believe us up against a retiring Vice Admiral…who he’s probably known for years.  No matter how many heroic stories he hears from us.”

Ambrose chuckled, “Ain’t isn’t a word, Jord.”

His girlfriend gently hit him in the shoulder, “Don’t police my grammar, ‘Brose.  We gotta figure out how to get this guy over to our side.”

He thought for a long moment.  They could employ any number of Machiavellian maneuvers to outsmart the new captain.  None of them would end well, he knew.  “I don’t think we do anything other than be ourselves, Jord.  You said so yourself…she probably gave him everything she could about us and our command crew.  He’s a Chief Medical Officer turned command.  Remind you of anyone?”

Reid grumbled and leaned up against him, “You think that was intentional on her part?  Make you feel some kind of connection to the guy?”

Ambrose put his arm around her and pulled her close, “Everbody’s got a story, Jord.  Even this guy.  As mad as I am about it…I still gotta play by the rules.”

Reid sunk her back into his chest, “I hate your rules, sometimes.”

He chuckled, “Sometimes I don’t like them either, Jord.  Just means I gotta work harder to play by ’em.”

They snuggled together and soon were asleep on the couch.