Andorians were not known for their patience at the best of times, but keeping one holed up in a transporter room for nearly fifteen minutes, without explanation, was a surefire way to ruin whatever was to come. Especially one as feisty as Tharia sh’Elas. Especially without even so much as a hint as to the purpose of her visit aboard the Hypatia in the first place. It made the job of the transporter chief very uncomfortable as he watched her watching him. Then she would pace around the room. Tap her feet. Scowl. Or, growl. It was hard to tell with her when she got angry. Not that the transporter chief wanted to ever find that out again.

Leaning on the console with both hands spread wide apart, glaring at the man behind the controls, Tharia finally opted to speak again. “How much longer are you expecting me to stay here, in this room, without explanation?” she growled.

Before the transporter chief could respond, a familiar voice behind her answered. “I’d say approximately ten more seconds,” the voice laughed, to much confusion from the angry Andorian.

“You?” she asked incredulously, brows furrowed and antennae drooped. Her hands fell to her hips as her demeanour took a less sinister, more confused stance. “What are you doing here? I thought you were on the flagship?”

Waving her towards the door, Giarvar smiled. “Come on. I’ll fill you in on the way,” he told, then swiftly exited the bay and into the corridor.

“On the way?” Tharia called after him, confusion setting in now. As she gave chase, she shouted after him again.

“On the way where?!”

Letting out an almighty exhale, the Andorian slumped into the chair to the captain’s right around the ornately carved table that dominated Hypatia‘s observation lounge. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that,” she frowned, folding her arms across her chest. “Not that I’m not happy for you, though. Congratulations,” she quickly reiterated, placing a hand on his arm and squeezing for a second.

“From one great ship to another,” he smiled and waved an open palm across the data PADDs that littered the table. “So this is where I’ve been – working out who I want to fill the vacancies on my staff. Captain Nazir has given me leave to fill those vacancies from across the squadron, and I want your input, if you don’t mind?” he asked her, sitting forward and drumming his fingers on the work surface.

“I’d be honoured,” the Andorian nodded, sitting forward and mimicking his stance. “Where shall we begin?”

“Let’s start with this one,” Giarvar plucked the PADD nearest to him and passed it across to her. “This is my suggested XO candidate,” he told her.

Taking the PADD from the Trill, Tharia was stunned when the face glaring back at her was incredibly familiar. “Me? There are almost a dozen people on this list, some you are closer to and have more history with,” she asked him, tilting her head as she looked up from the storage device.

“History doesn’t always make a person the right candidate,” the Captain relaxed into his chair and steepled his fingers before his lips. “I need a foil; someone I work well with, who will challenge me but will respect my command. You’ve shown, albeit briefly, that you can fulfil that role perfectly. I want you, and more importantly, Hypatia needs you,” he concluded.

After a few seconds, Tharia put her thumbprint upon the document and slid it across the table to the Captain. “Might I suggest we narrow the list down by working out who Nazir won’t release, and more importantly, who we feel would be a match for our command,” she smiled, pulling her chair in and, together, the real work began in earnest.

By the time either of them next looked at a chronometer, nearly four hours had passed. Discussions had been largely fruitful and diplomatic. Some minor disagreements had occurred (who would want a Vulcan counsellor?) but, for now anyway, it seemed like a definitive target list had been drawn up for every vacancy on the ship except one; Chief Tactical Officer.

They had gone back and forth for the better part of an hour as they weighed up two candidates for the role. Even on a science ship like Hypatia, tactical would be a role of significance, and whoever they chose needed a calm head on their shoulders. Both had gone straight in for officers aboard the Lakota, in a move that would surely rile up the squadron commander, but that had to be at the back of their minds since their objective was to build the best possible command team for their ship, not those of the squadron. As such, Giarvar had picked the Ungeat, Or’uil, who was an officer he knew well from his time on the Hathaway. Tharia had gone for Lakota‘s incumbent tactical chief, nominating Commander Peri Anya for the role aboard Hypatia. Both had merit, both would be huge losses for the Fleet Captain and massive gains for them, but it was the one decision they couldn’t agree on, or even compromise on. It was getting to the point where Giarvar was about to pull rank when Tharia let out a wicked grin. A grin that caused the Captain to raise an eyebrow of concern.

“What?” he cautiously asked.

“Why don’t we let her decide?” the Andorian folded her arms atop the glass surface. “We want one of her people and we’ve narrowed it down to two excellent candidates. Let her be the bad guy and decide who she values the most,” she grinned sadistically.

“Don’t you ever use that evil brain of yours against me,” Giarvar laughed, relaxing back in his chair again, “but your idea has merit. When we submit the list to her, we’ll add them both on and see who she picks,” he nodded in agreement.

Over the next half an hour, they discussed issues of tedium; timetabling, duty shift patterns, and even staff pet requests. The work had indeed begun in earnest, but now all they could do was wait for the squadron commander to give her blessing to the appointments.