[ During the Osiris Initiative conference on Starbase Bravo… ]

“I don’t think I could have dreamed up a more eclectic crew if I’d tried,” offered Captain Gérard Devreux, holding in his hand a PADD that contained the dossiers of the senior staff for their new ship.

“Nor could you have found a more qualified bunch,” countered Admiral Allison Reyes, sparring with her closest advisor as they so often did behind closed doors. The two shared a deep appreciation for the great unknown. It was what had brought them together six years prior. But their styles also differed a bit. It often balanced things out, but on this one, the Admiral knew she’d have to give him a push. “The Osiris Initiative is a bold pivot for Starfleet to emerge from its isolation, and the Advanced Science, Technology and Research Activity is a bold experiment within that, one that needs bold choices.”

“But a disgraced spook and the JAG who tried to put him behind bars?” Devreux said, narrowing in on just two of the controversial names on the list. He trusted Reyes deeply, having served on the rim alongside her for half a decade, but he also knew how important personnel selection was, and what could happen when it backfired. This looked like a recipe for a mess.

“You and I both know the role Mr. Lewis played in recent events, and there is no more incorruptible a prosecutor than Commander Drake. Both add significant value to the team, especially given all that we have gone through as a Fleet in the last decade.” Reyes’ words carried deep disappointment over what had transpired, the way Starfleet had turned inward on itself, a shell of what it had been before, and then the corruption and attempted coup that had followed. She wanted to believe the Osiris Initiative was the dawn of a new age, but she wasn’t willing to go unequipped into it. 

Devreux recognized that these particular two were her safety net, and she wasn’t going to budge on them. But there were other choices too that worried him. “And how about the former endowed chair in subspace physics from the Daystrom Institute, described in every review from the Academy to his last command as arrogant, impractical, insubordinate and anti-social, who will now be running a four hundred person department of naval officers and specialists?”

“Dr. Lockwood spent nearly a decade as Chief Science Officer while lost in the Delta Quadrant.”

“Yeah, begrudgingly, in order to survive, with a gruff Nausicaan captain breathing down his back, and me offering a kind word from time to time when the task group gathered,” parried Captain Devreux. “Plus, it was maybe a half dozen people he was responsible for in that small science department.” The explorer had seen it before, an academic ivory tower research snob being given an operational role on a deep space vessel leading a large Starfleet department. It hadn’t turned out well. 

“But I can only think of one more qualified astrophysicist, and he’s behind bars,” the Admiral replied with a lighthearted laugh. Devreux had spent enough time with Reyes’ humor to know she wasn’t joking, nor that, like with the other two, she would entertain further discussion on this one. Maybe there was something about Dr. Lockwood that he didn’t recognize.

Devreux paged through his PADD, looking for the next staffing choice that concerned him; however, before he could level his next grievance, Reyes jumped in, her tone sobering and her expression softening, making a personal appeal to her long-time confidant: “Gérard, I need you to trust me on this one. They may be an interesting bunch, and we will certainly have some polishing to do to turn them into a high-functioning team, but these are an incredibly accomplished bunch of individuals, and this is a huge opportunity to return to the mission we hold so dear.”