Lieutenant Commander Aisling Brennan wasn’t pleased. Some members of the crew might say that ‘not pleased’ was the woman’s constant state of being – and for the most part, they were correct. 

Ever since her arrival on the USS Cupertino, she had found it difficult to connect to the crew. It probably hadn’t helped that she had more than once noted how much more prestigious her last ship, and how much more experienced her last Commanding Officer was. Those things hadn’t been said to boast but rather served as a diversionary tactic, deflecting inquiries into why Brennan was no longer part of that illustrious vessel.Either way, right now, the Cupertino’s XO was more not-pleased than usual, and that had to do with the fact that Captain Jurev had summoned her into his ready room. Aisling harbored a reasonable suspicion regarding the nature of this meeting, or at the very least, she could vividly imagine what it might entail. 

Captain Jurev’s antennae perked up in recognition of a familiar whirring sound. The door behind him smoothly slid open, accompanied by the subtle echo of approaching footsteps. With a swift motion, Jurev straightened his posture and swiveled his reclining chair to squarely face the entrant. He extended his open palm, gesturing toward the vacant chair on the opposite side of the table.

“Ah. Commander Brennan, thank you for making time for this ad hoc meeting.” He remarked, unusually stiff.  His antennae retracted in what usually was seen as a neutral stance.

“As if I had a choice…”, Aisling thought, but didn’t say. For some reason, the stiff greeting made the whole ordeal worse. She and the Captain had their challenges, but usually got along well enough. They were still in the ‘adjustment phase’ that was to be expected when a CO-XO dynamic changed like theirs had, and from the looks of it, that phase was far from coming to a close. “Captain.”, she said, inclined her head, and took a seat. She waited, and when Jurev didn’t seem in a hurry to start the conversation, she did. “So we have a journalist now.”Brennan had miscalculated the impact of her casual tone by a considerable margin. Jurev blinked twice in rapid succession, and his antennae seemed to droop before shooting straight up again. His mouth opened a few times, but only stifled sentences escaped.

“I.. ah.. you. Yes. Yes we do, don’t we?”, he said.

Jurevs antennae still seemed as if in a perpetual state of elongating ever so slightly, as if beholden by some unambiguous suspense.

He harrumphed and cleared his throat. His eyes darted toward two glasses and a bottle of what might be Andorian Ale. A moment later he filled both glasses.

“Perhaps we need to have this conversation with some… How do you say it… Pep in our step?” He added while smiling sheepishly at his attempt at humour.

“I am not sure that’s the phrase you were looking for.”, Brennan commented, but her tone of voice was more gentle than it usually would have been. She took her glass, sipped from the beverage, and found it satisfactory. “I am sorry for not noticing earlier that something didn’t add up. The woman walked into the room as if expected, and I…”, she hesitated. “Well, I figured you arranged for her to be there but didn’t inform me.” Jurev’s lips pursed, while creating ever deepening creases in the features of his facial features. For a moment, he seemed ready to explode. However, a split second later, the Andorian caught himself and instead reached for his own glass, and gulped it in one go. After, he inhaled, and exhaled deeply. He continued curtly:

“It is my duty to inform my commanding officer of every intention I have for the Cupertino. If I so much as breathe, you will be in the know. Where would personnel acquisition be an exception?” Jurev remarked inquisitively, while his sensory appendages appeared to point accusingly toward her.“It wasn’t like that with the last Commanding Officer I served under.”, Aisling explained defensively, but then recognized the hypocrisy in the statement. “And it is my duty to keep you informed, especially about personnel matters. But you also didn’t question why that journalist was suddenly part of the briefing.” It was slightly different because she did not, in fact, have to inform the Captain about every little thing that was going on, but inviting a journalist to a research mission was big enough a deal to count it amongst the points that did require informing the Captain, if not his approval in the first place.  

Jurev’s eyes widened slightly at the remark and retorted:

“The last? You left that behind, and—”

Jurev interrupted his own sentence. He snorted and relaxed his posture, resting both his arms on the table.

“It doesn’t matter. I am growing concerned that this arrangement between us isn’t working. All it seems to do is prove stressful for the both of us. Where I am from these matters get resolved differently, but I’m going to pretend I knew all along about this and sanctioned the plan.”

The captain raises his resting hands in unison, aligning the digits with one another and relents:

“You are going to find a use for this person aboard the ship. I will receive a daily report of everything. And I mean EVERYTHING she does. Pass it off as some sort of accreditation toward her … journalism efforts. And if she leaks ANYTHING vital or confidential to the mission to the outside, well… It will be on all of us.”Brennan took a deep breath. She was more than willing to argue her point. Her point being that she might have been wrong to assume that the Captain had invited the journalist and simply forgotten or actively opted not to tell her, but she found it unfair to be given the blame for all of it. If anything, Jurev was just as responsible for where their relationship was currently at, as Aisling was. “Understood, Captain.”, she said with a tone that mirrored the temperature of an Andorian winter. “Is there anything else?”

Jurev’s antennae jerked up slightly and said:

“The Cupertino can’t handle… No, I cannot handle another one of these. Just.. never mind the reports. Just focus on keeping her compliant. Dismissed…”

The Andorian’s remarks became more hushed as his dialogue continued. As Brennan left, he let out another sigh before fixing his gaze on different matters at hand.