‘It looks like someone sat on an Intrepid.’ Kally had to brace her elbows on the rim of the docking bay viewport to properly see, and she couldn’t fight a tone of disappointment at this, her reward for being stuffed in a personnel transport direct from Earth to Starbase Bravo for days on end.

‘I – she is a little small.’ Doctor Winters had been her travel companion all the way. She’d spotted his name and face on the passenger manifest, seen they shared a destination, and gently badgered a petty officer in the bathroom queue to let them swap cabins so she could be next door. To Kally, this was a perfectly normal thing to do to get to know a future colleague. And while Ed Winters had been thoroughly taken aback, he hadn’t stopped her. ‘But we’re only talking a standard complement of one-twenty people…’

In the belly of Starbase Bravo was the main starship docking bay. Even some of the mightiest starships would fit in there, but while the USS Pathfinder wasn’t among that number, she was sleek and looked quick and was, above all, theirs. It was one thing to look at an image and another to see her in person, and though Kally’s initial reaction had included some surprise at the shape, there was no denying the heart-thudding excitement of seeing the hull, the lines, the lights and the silhouette for herself.

Her eyes went as big as saucers. ‘Oh, boy. That’s a lot of people to be stuck together with for months at a time, Doc. I wonder -’

A loud, theatrical clearing of the throat cut her off, and she snapped around to see a figure stood at the open airlock doors. Kally had insisted on rushing down the moment their transport got in, racing down two decks and five sections to get from transport to starship docking. She’d had to stop twice to let Winters catch up – being not even four feet tall, average for an Ithenite, sometimes made it much easier to get through crowds, especially as the doctor was a lot less willing to push through narrow gaps.

That lack of height now meant she had to crane her neck to look up at the officer she’d all but ignored in her rush for a viewport, in her excitement to see the ship. Winters was tall but gangly, while this gold-shirted officer was big and broad, rolled-up sleeves showing off forearms like pistons.

She spotted the frown on his face and the pips on his collar, and snapped off a quick salute. ‘Sir! Sorry, sir – I wanted to see the ship, sir -’

‘The ship you were just disparaging. My ship.’ The commander raised an eyebrow. ‘Hal Riggs. Chief Engineer, USS Pathfinder, but Skipper asked for someone to come play welcome wagon. You kids looking to board, or are you just tourists?’

‘Oh!’ Kally had to avoid a squeak as she fished about her uniform jacket for her PADD. ‘Yes, sir, Commander. Orders, right here!’

‘You never called me “sir” this much,’ Winters said with a hint of a betrayal as she dug it out.

‘You said you like to think of yourself as a doctor, not a lieutenant,’ she said guiltily. ‘I could start calling you sir, but I like calling you Doc, I don’t have to…’

‘No, you…’ Winters worked his jaw. ‘…I like “Doc.”’

Riggs looked like he was smothering a smirk as they both handed PADDs over. ‘Your transport must have got in, what, twenty seconds ago? What’d you do, bully the deck officer for an emergency transport?’

‘She is very fast,’ Winters said weakly. ‘Uh, Doctor Ediz Winters. CMO.’

Kally snapped to at that. ‘Oh, yeah, I should be – Ensign Kallavasu. Communications. But everyone calls me Kally!’

Riggs read the PADDs, and now he was outright grinning as he looked between them. ‘Right you are, Kally. Doc. All looks in order. Welcome aboard Pathfinder. As you can see by me being sent down here, we’re still takin’ on some folks, so we’re going noplace fast. Skipper will want to receive you and you should get settled in, but you might enjoy stretching your legs on Bravo before we depart, if you’re not used to starship life.’

‘It’s my first assignment,’ Kally said cheerfully, ‘but I’m sure the Doc’s been around.’

‘I – it’s my first, too. Actually,’ said a bashful Winters.

‘Figures.’ Riggs blew out his cheeks, then waved a dismissive hand at their expressions. ‘Staffing seems like it’s hell. Or I wouldn’t be here neither. Even if Pathfinder’s engine room sure is pretty.’

Kally wrung her hands together. ‘I’m sorry I said she looked like a squashed Intrepid, sir…’

‘I mean, she does. Trick is, you gotta love her anyway.’

Winters’s forehead creased. ‘The Pathfinder’s a vastly advanced ship, a cutting-edge design. Why on Earth would staffing be difficult? I would have thought officers would be fighting among themselves for the post – I honestly expected a doctor with more experience than me to be sent, even if she’s a small ship. We’re going to places Starfleet’s never been.’

‘I thought I was just gonna be a staff linguist,’ Kally agreed.

Riggs gave an exaggerated shrug. ‘I leave politics to the politicians. And command staff.’ He made a face. ‘Aw, hell, that’s me, these days. Listen, you don’t gotta sir me or nothing if it’s just us – plain Riggs is fine. I’m just here to make sure our engines purr and everyone’s having a good time. But I think the skipper might be a bit of a nut-buster.’

‘I think she might be a war hero,’ Kally said thoughtfully.

‘We’ve not fought a war,’ Winters pointed out. ‘For quite some time.’

‘That’s true, but she’s got lots of medals like you’d expect from an officer who’s been in a lot of dangerous situations, and if you just say “hero” it sounds kinda obsequious.’

‘I’m just saying.’ Riggs raised his hands. ‘Come aboard. Make ready to be comfy. But she’s all highly strung, and the Ops Chief she brought with her from her last boat honestly makes Vulcans seem chill. So maybe don’t tell her that her ship looks like a fat Intrepid.’

‘I said it looks like a squished Intrepid,’ Kally said defensively, but straightened at once. ‘And that’s fine, Riggs. I can behave myself, and I’m sure Doc Winters can, too. After all.’ She looked up at her two new colleagues and, whether they liked it or not, friends. ‘We’re all here for the same mission, right?’

‘We don’t, ah, know our first mission,’ said Winters.

‘No, silly.’ Kally beamed. ‘The Starfleet mission: adventure!’