Renu Tol’s office was located at the top of Sector Delta-Yellow with a view that overlooked all of the shipyards. They had been busy with repairs since the end of the Lost Fleet invasion of the Deneb sector, now there were more waiting for repairs from what had happened during Frontier Day. Renu stood by the large window that overlooked everything, seeing officers rushing around trying to keep on schedule in getting repairs completed.

Renu had also been knee-deep working on repairs that after several hours he decided to take a bit of a break. He had reports to file, review, and submit before he returned to getting his hands dirty. Walking to the replicator he ordered a cup of coffee before heading over to where his desk was located. Sitting down he took a sip and began to review the reports in question.

The journey from Sector Hotel-Turquoise to Delta-Yellow was a relatively short one in terms of all the possible, even likely, paths through Starbase Bravo. Complis Libran, who spent most of her time at a well-lit but comparatively small and dull science office, had only visited the shipyards on her initial tour, and she hadn’t been paying the closest attention to her surroundings. Now, she had the good sense to look around, even as officers and crew rushed around her, and she was awed by the views of ships – big ones, too — hanging in space. Those who spend their lives inside of ships never fail to be at least somewhat dumbstruck each time they see them from the outside. 

Libran remembered something from the Academy, a sharp little memory of something called the Overview Effect. It was reportedly a common phenomenon among the first spacefarers of many species. It was the transcendent ego-defying experience of seeing one’s own homeworld from beyond its gravity — of seeing everyone one knows, one’s whole world, one’s home — all anew, all together. Would she have that sensation the next time she departed the station and looked back?

She shook the feeling. She had somewhere to be. She turned a corner to Lieutenant Commander Tol’s office. As one of the fleet’s experts on archival science, she had been called upon to help the more technically-minded departments with cleaning up computer systems, archives, and interfaces after the Frontier Day incident and, crucially, preserving the junk, the corruptions, in locked-down archives, the way scientists keep samples of long-conquered diseases in case a vaccine is ever needed. First, however, she’d have to figure out how a shipyard actually worked.

When Tol called her in, she realized that she recognized him from around the base. A handsome Trill man with a welcoming smile. She smelled coffee. 

“Commander. Good to meet you.” Eyeing the replicator, she pointed sheepishly. “May I?”

“Help yourself,” Renu replied looking at her as he pulled up her file. “So it says here you’re interested in learning what we do here in shipyard operations?” He asked making sure he was reading the information correctly. Not that he didn’t have a problem with it, it was just an unusual request.

“That’s correct, sir,” Libran said before turning to the replicator. Bajorans had a tendency, used as the subject of humor and mockery since time immemorial, to speak in either deeply serene tones or in aggressive bursts. Complis Liran inherited the latter from her mother. 

“Single espresso.” She took the demitasse that materialized and sat down. “Before Starfleet, I had a career in archival science.” She sipped the coffee. “And so, I’ve developed something of a niche in cultural affairs. Which means I’m embarrassingly unpracticed in the more technical aspects of our mission,” she said, sipping again. “I do want to learn what it takes to get people like me safely around the galaxy to study and conduct these exchanges.”

She set the cup on that desk, and her expression sharpened. “But from a technical perspective, sir, I want to ensure our ships’ systems are safe, and crucially, that the systems that proved vulnerable to corruption from the Changeling attacks are saved and kept in a high-security archive. It may help us develop measures to prevent the kinds of attacks we saw on Frontier Day.” She lifted the cup again and took a final sip, draining it. “So, I was hoping to shadow you, as it were, and get your insights to inform our work in the Science division and the recommendations I’ll make moving forward.”

“Currently we are working on ship repairs from the Lost Fleet invasion in the Deneb sector. Those are our highest priority.” Renu explained tapping at his PADD to enter some information into it. “I am currently headed to lunch but we can begin upon my return if that is to your liking?”

Libran scanned the readout. List of ships and needed repairs. Plenty of normal library computer repair work, with the potential for some upgrades — and added protections in the organization of encrypted information.

She raised the PADD slightly, looking to Renu. “Thanks. We can reconvene after lunch.” For her, she knew it would be a working lunch.

“Looking forward to it,” he replied as he watched her walk out of his office. Making sure he had the PADD he wanted to have before he walked out and headed down to the promenade to grab some lunch. He had been working nonstop for the last several hours and his stomach was starting to growl at him.