‘That’s good. That’s very good.’ Chief Engineer Commander Isakov gave a toothy smile as the pool-table display in main engineering lit up with positive diagnostic results. ‘The hull took a pounding, but there she is, good as new.’

Cortez, however, sucked her teeth. ‘On a basic simulation. We should crank up the stresses and see how the points of strain react. This is still a patch job done in the field, not a return to a dockyard…’

But Isakov put a large, firm hand on the middle of the panel. ‘Commander. I thank you for all of your assistance. But you can leave the fine-tuning to me and my team.’

So I’m part of your team when you need the grunt work, but not when it comes to me looking like I can do your job better than you. Cortez was not prone to uncharitable bitchiness. But she couldn’t deny feeling used, her SCE team dragged off work that supported the whole of the squadron’s operations just to add to the manpower of the Triumph’s engineering team. She’d been chief engineer of a larger, more complex vessel than the Triumph and yet here she was, treated as nothing more than a shift leader.

Nevertheless, she had better things to do than argue. Not to mention how it wouldn’t get her anywhere. So Cortez gave a sunny smile. She was starting to realise why her former captain enjoyed making people underestimate him. ‘Happy to let you deal with the tiny microns of calibration, Dimitri.’ She had at least insisted on first names. It made them feel a little more like colleagues and equals.

The veteran engineer gave a low chuckle. ‘Privileges of position. The boring work.’

‘This can’t be the first time you patched Triumph back together, though.’ Cortez tilted her head with a spot of coyness as he continued nodding, though he didn’t look up from his readings. ‘What was the worst?’

Isakov blew his cheeks out as he thought. ‘Perhaps our action against the Sovereignty of Kahless? The Klingon warriors, they are remorseless. We were a mighty opponent and so they had to seek us out for their glory, test themselves against us. That was weeks of campaigning and patching back up together again, then fighting again.’

‘You’ve been with the Triumph a while, then.’

‘Since she was commissioned. But I’ve been with Captain Jericho since I graduated. He was my first chief. When he asked me to serve as chief engineer when he was given the Triumph it was no decision. Even if the Klingons were our first challenge.’

‘I remember fighting the Klingons at Archanis,’ said Cortez with soothing sympathy. ‘But the Sovereignty were a while back. How about recently?’

‘Last year? In Romulan space?’ Isakov tilted his head this way and that as he mused. ‘We gave better than we had. But we had the Independence and Nighthawk to cover us. That spread the load. Commander Vornar knows us and knew how to work with the captain.’

‘I heard it got nasty out there. You were one of the furthest units out.’

But he just gave a broad shrug. ‘No more than Endeavour at Agarath. Fending off a whole fleet and a sneak attack by Klingons. But you know how it is in engineering. Do you even know who we’re fighting half the time when you’re more worried about keeping the ship in one piece?’

She watched him for a heartbeat. Then she grinned. ‘I guess not. I’ll let you wrap up here, Dimitri. Call me if you need anything.’

She shouldn’t have said that last part. He’d have her scrubbing manifolds or something whenever he decided his shift engineers needed a rest. But it was the best way to graciously get out of the conversation. Besides, she had somewhere else to be.

‘I’m not that important,’ Sophia Hale was grumbling an hour later as she topped up their wine glasses. Her quarters on the Triumph were not as luxurious as they had been on Endeavour, this more compact and punchy ship with rather less space to dedicate to VIP rooms. The diplomat had left them with the same plain and generic decorations, which Cortez had noticed she’d done on Endeavour too. But they still came with a comfy seating area, and plenty of wine glasses.

‘Don’t put yourself down,’ said Cortez with an airy hand wave. She hadn’t had time to change, so her uniform jacket was open, the collar loosened. They’d eaten quickly and gotten down to business. And drinking. ‘You’re an important diplomat.’

‘I’m not being modest,’ Hale huffed. ‘I mean I am just a diplomat. That doesn’t give me access to Starfleet records about operations on the far side of the galaxy. Triumph’s mission at Omega Intornia was peacekeeping, with very little negotiation.’

‘And you don’t have the contacts?’

‘Believe it or not,’ she sighed, ‘calling for more doves than hawks on the Romulan border has not always made me friends in Starfleet. Especially not among those who do know what happened on this ship.’

‘It might have been nothing,’ Cortez sighed and had a swig of wine. ‘But Malhotra seemed very defensive. Like he thought I would use it against him – against the crew, against Jericho. Like I knew something I shouldn’t.’

‘If he expects it reached your ears, however incorrectly, then this is probably something Starfleet knows,’ Hale pointed out. ‘You’re not about to uncover a secret that will conveniently undermine Captain Jericho’s career and have him stripped of command of the squadron.’

Cortez hesitated. ‘I didn’t say I wanted that.’

‘It’s an uncharitable reading,’ Hale admitted, ‘but you’re not happy with this assignment. You’re not happy with Commander Valance’s reassignment. You’ve been affected perhaps more than anyone by Jericho’s choices.’ She hesitated, then shrugged and sipped her wine. ‘And you’re not quite as sunshine-and-daisies as you pretend, Isa.’

Cortez gave her a flat look. ‘I don’t pretend. I think people deserve chances and are usually pretty decent if you give them that chance. My personal life being inconvenienced by Starfleet isn’t enough for me to wish ill on Captain Jericho. Just…’ She shook her head. ‘Something’s wrong here.’

‘Perhaps. And I dare say we should know what it is. But I suspect the answers are aboard this ship, not elsewhere.’ Hale’s eyes drifted to the window, to the stars streaming past as Triumph raced back to Federation space at high warp.

It was Cortez’s turn to reach for the wine bottle and top up the glasses. ‘Have you heard from Endeavour?’

‘No.’ Hale looked wistful for a moment, then shook her head. ‘And I haven’t reached out. You should be careful who you communicate with, too.’

‘You think our comms are being monitored?’ Cortez stared.

‘I don’t think anything’s being listened in on,’ Hale said quickly. ‘But I think our comms records are being scrutinised. Or mine certainly are. Captain Jericho would rather I’m not in this squadron at all, but unfortunately for him, that’s not his decision. He’s a man who would rather shut the borders when I want to reach a hand across them, so he wants to know if I’m sending messages every day to the Diplomatic Corps.’

‘Are you?’

She gave a smile Mona Lisa would be proud of. ‘Not in any manner Captain Jericho’s aware of.’ But then she sobered. ‘Truthfully, Isa, we are going to have to accept the way of things. I truly believe that Captain Jericho is a good man, and just because he has a different idea of what it takes to make the galaxy a better place, that doesn’t make him our enemy. We should be working together to find resolutions that suit everyone. Not fall into partisanship.’

‘This isn’t the first move he’s made against you, though,’ Cortez pointed out. ‘That new JAG officer seems like he’s here to decide the law’s all on Jericho’s side.’

‘Commander Hawthorne has certainly been involved of late in treaty negotiations that favour Captain Jericho’s interpretations,’ Hale said cautiously. ‘But I happen to know it wasn’t Jericho who had Hawthorne assigned here.’

‘And it sounds like Jericho’s dumped a Strat Ops officer on Endeavour, which only makes sense if he wants someone to speak with his voice at Rourke’s shoulder.’

‘Or if he wants to make use of Endeavour’s better facilities and have that officer’s analysis shared across the squadron,’ Hale pointed out. ‘But yet again, this Commander Harrian wasn’t assigned by Jericho. Starfleet is invested in this squadron and wants us to succeed. Not everything is about drawing battle lines.’

Cortez slumped, staring at her wine glass for a moment. ‘Maybe you’re right,’ she sighed. ‘Maybe I am looking for some… villain. I guess I’m just not all that sure what I’m doing here. SCE is cool and all, but is this the best place for me?’

‘Life changes. The things and people we love and care about move on, and so must we. All we can do is focus on the tasks ahead of us.’ Hale sipped her wine with an air of regret. ‘What we had before, we won’t get back. You know that, yes?’

Cortez fiddled with the stem of her glass. ‘Yes,’ she said reluctantly. Then she sighed. ‘Maybe this isn’t the place for me. But it’s too soon to be sure, isn’t it?’

‘If it’s where you are and where you’re staying, it’s your place.’ Hale shook her head. ‘There’s no such thing as perfect.’

I spent months thinking there was and that I had it, Cortez thought with bitter wistfulness. But before she could reply, there was a rumble of the Triumph’s hull, and the stars stopped streaming as they dropped out of warp. She sat up. ‘That’s odd.’

Hale rose to her feet. ‘We can’t be at Starbase 23 yet.’

‘We’re not.’ Cortez moved to the window, squinting at the distant stars. After a moment, she tilted her head. ‘That’s a ship out there. Maybe two. Can’t tell anything more from here.’

Hale reached for her communicator on the coffee table. ‘Hale to Captain Jericho.’ There was a pause, and she rolled her eyes. ‘Watch my call get forwarded to his yeoman.’

A moment later, indeed, the youthful tones of Ensign Gagneux came through. ‘Sorry, Ms Hale, Captain Jericho isn’t available right now. Can I help you?’

‘Yes, Ensign. Do you know why we’ve stopped? Are we changing course?’

A pause. ‘We changed course an hour ago, ma’am. We received word from the USS

Nighthawk. We’ve rendezvoused with them and the Endeavour.’

Cortez frowned at Hale. ‘Endeavour shouldn’t be anywhere near the Nighthawk right now.’

Hale nodded, brow furrowed, but spoke with an airy, unconcerned tone. ‘Understood, Ensign. Please let the Captain know I’m available if I can be of assistance, and I look forward to being updated within the hour. Hale out.’

Cortez winced. ‘You think you’ll be called on?’

‘Absolutely not, and he’ll update me at the last possible moment. But the squadron wasn’t expected to come together until SB-26, and yet here we are, probably not even in Federation territory yet.’ Hale gave her a pointed look.

Cortez harrumphed. ‘Go stick my nose where it don’t belong so people tell me just enough to make me go away. Got it.’

‘And find out secrets.’ Hale gave another ambiguous smile. ‘We might be all on the same side here. But I would like my answers to be the ones that prevail in helping everyone.’

Cortez left, fastening her uniform jacket back up. Hale had one moment encouraged passivity, and was now sending her out as her eyes and ears. It was impossible to shake the sense she’d just been manipulated.

And impossible to know what she should do about it when she, too, knew there were secrets in the heart of the Triumph, and hated paddling at the surface of deep waters that might drag her down if she didn’t know to keep watch for danger.