The traditionally coral scales of Lt. Bahir were approaching a dark shade of red alert crimson as the doors to the newly renovated Theta Squad operations swung aside. His frame filling the wide doorway, he stood rigid as a marble sentinel against the invading officers as the grey drawbridge slid open.

“Commander…” Bahir began, his syllables short and curt.

“I understand Mr. Bahir. You feel that the change to the security complex will be detrimental to the safety of the ship.” Dil said, his practiced professional tone masking the frustration that bubbled beneath the surface. 

“I do.”

“I understand that you feel that Theta Squads work could be completed satisfactorily down on deck seven” Dil continued.

“I do.”

“You wish for me to take these concerns to the captain at the earliest convenience, ensuring your concerns are recorded in his log.” 

“I do.”

“And I have assured you that I will do so when the Captain’s hibernation cycle has come to an end but until such time these are the orders as relayed to us by command and I am the senior officer on board.” Dil finished, placing his hands together at his hips as he drew the air in to punctuate his sentence. 

“You have.” replied the still beetroot Saurian. 

“What then… can I possibly do for you at this time?” Dil smiled, wide and polite enough to settle a raging Gorn. 

“I was here to collect my final belongings from my…” Bahir’s eyes narrowed towards Bib as his last vowel dragged on, reaching across lightyears to the nearest star. The tall Andorian returned his gaze, summoning all his concentration to avoid blinking, remembering his grandmother’s advice, when the wolf stares you out you mustn’t look away.

“…office.” Bahir finished after an eon. Returning his focus to the Bajoran commander he shook the small briefcase in his hands. 

“Excellent, wouldn’t want anything to get broken. Please let me take the opportunity to introduce you to Lieutenant Commander Biban Th’erhilnon and Lieutenant Zaya.” Dil motioned to the two officers beside him, it didn’t escape anyone’s notice the emphasis he put on Bib’s rank. 

With a tight nod of acknowledgment to the enemy the tall Saurian stepped past the group and down the corridor towards the turbolift. Pressing the small panel to summon the carriage he turned to the group and with a polite nod said “Welcome to Daedalus.”

Not waiting to witness the departure of the aggrieved Saurian the three entered into the complex, the faint sound of tools echoing down the corridor as the last of the furnishings and fittings were fixed into place. The small complex, originally designed for the vessel’s security teams, had been retrofitted for Theta Squads operations. Four rooms stemmed from the central corridor that ran laterally across the ships beam, located near the vessels main labs, sickbay and computer core, the complex was ideally suited to function as a hub for the team’s activities. At the end of the short corridor the small brig had been converted to a quarantine lab, whilst the larger seminar style briefing room had been left relatively untouched. Spanning the last length to the main doors the armoury and storage lockers had been converted to a sizeable engineering lab, a large workbench across the bulkhead with a replicator fitted into the deck plating for the fabrication of larger items. A small office to the aft of the corridor sat undecorated, empty shelves lined the rear wall where until moments ago various memorabilia were stored; sparse in furniture but for a few uncomfortable chairs it spoke to the tight professionalism of its previous occupant. 

A bang echoed through the corridor as a crewman in blue stumbled out of the ex-brig, a handful of cable in one hand and a slightly fried look on his pale human face. The small wrinkled Tellerite figure of Log emerged quickly behind, guiding his dazed crewmate out of the room and down towards the main doors.

“I told you! You need to ask nicely when you run these new cables. They don’t like getting jostled around.” Log said, reassuringly rubbing as high on the young man’s back as he could reach. “How would you feel if someone strolled into your quarters and stuck someone else in bed with you?” A low groan escaped the crewman’s mouth as saliva began to form at the edge of his mouth. “Exactly.” 

The young Ensign guided the crewman past the group, catching the eye of Zaya as they passed. A single raised eyebrow from the tall Cardassian was enough of a question.

“He was running some new ODN and forgot to ask permission before he coupled it into the distribution node. She took offense.” He nodded up to the roof indicating he was already making friends with Daedalus herself. “We’re just going to take a trip to the Doc and get our braincells counted.” Log smiled knowingly to the trio as he chased after the wayward crewman who had made it to the double doors but couldn’t quite remember the direction after that. 

“How are we looking Log?” Zaya called after him as he disappeared round the corner. 

The wrinkled face of the young engineer appeared back in the portal, a wide smile spreading across his face. 

“She’s a beaut Zaya. Sima is going to give me a proper introduction when we’ve finished the upgrades.” His smile almost reaching his small ears Log’s face disappeared, his reassuring mutterings travelling down the corridor with him. 

The three entered the briefing room where Dil gestured for them to take a seat on the back row of the small seminar style seating. Capable of holding 8 people seated with standing room for a futher 8 and 2 presenters the room acted as a focal point for the complex, each seat had a console embedded into the curved desk which Dil now activated, drawing up a small holographic deck plan for the vessel. 

“We’re here.” He said, pointing to the complex at the fore of the ship. “Team bunks are here, with your individual rooms forward here.” Two more sections lit up as he indicated on the map. 

“We haven’t kicked the lieutenant out of his bed as well have we?” Zaya asked tentatively.

“We’ve given him a berth upstairs with the other senior staff to sweeten the deal and Sima said she preferred being near the engines anyway.” Dil sighed, the addition of Theta Squad had entailed a fair amount of re-shuffling on an already cramped ship and with the Captain indisposed the young XO had been forced to undertake the wrangling alone. 

“I’m sorry if we’ve caused any upset.” Bib offered. Command had made the decision to move the team from Nestus after the mission to Oromal over concerns that Theta Squad suffered from being detached from a fuller crew. “If there’s anything we can do to smooth things over?”

“A round in the Labyrinth wouldn’t go amiss.” Dil answered, pointing to the lounge on the upper decks as two confused faces looked back. “The Captain didn’t like the separation of officers and enlisted messes so he split them by type instead. Mess over here on starboard and a bar lounge the port side.”

“Labyrinth?” Bib enquired.

“Because after a few drinks you struggle to find your way out.” Dil answered, a wry grin on his lips. 

“Is Bahir going to be a problem?” Bob said, the Saurian’s icy demeanour had chilled the Andorian more than any of the frozen seas of his homeworld could. 

Another heavy sigh escaped Dil’s lips as he reached up with a hand to adjust his earing. “He’s a good guy really and an excellent strategist but he’s…”

“Rigid?” Zaya suggested with a knowing look. 

“Yeah. He’s got the fixings for a brilliant officer but the Captain and I are trying to teach him that the best trees bend a little in the breeze.” Dil rubbed his eyes tiredly, educating the Saurian was a continuous job. “He’ll move onto a bigger ship eventually with a much bigger tactical remit. For now he’s our first line of defence.”

“So?” Bib asked, his original question unanswered. 

“Nothing to worry about. You might get a cold shoulder for a while but he’s fiercely defensive of the crew and the ship. He’ll come around.” Dil said, pressing the small button on the console to dismiss the holographic rendering. “I’ll show you round to your quarters and you can get settled.”

As the trio stood a familiar chirp emanated from Dil’s combadge.

“Tanek to Dil.” came a groggy voice over the comm.

“Good Morning Captain. Sleep well?” Dil responded, tapping the small delta at his chest. 

“Well enough, thankyou. We’ve had instruction from command. Please assemble everyone in the conference room.”

“I’ll just drop off our new residents at their rooms and be up.” Dil responded, silently waving Bib & Zaya out of the room. 

“Excellent timing. Please bring them with you Dil. Tanek out.” A small chirp signalled the end of the conversation. 

A smile on his lips at the return of his Captain to the waking world, Dil began escorting the two out of the complex towards their quarters. As the trio passed through the large double doors Bib let out a shout and offered a single raised finger to the duo as he rushed back into the sparse office. Taking a small picture frame from the bag in his hand he placed it on the barren shelves behind the austere desk. 

“Much better.” he whispered as he rushed back out the room towards their next mission. The ever so slightly smiling face of their fallen Vulcan brother staring out on Theta Squad’s new home.