Adriana Cruz opened her eyes, and sat up. As on the USS Luna the captain’s room was the largest aside from VIP Quarters on the ship. It had the most comfortable bed, and logically the best view possible. It was hard to, looking out the window, tell morning from evening in space but as she slipped the clothes that had been scattered about the floor on her internal clock told her that it was still early morning. Since she had brought her duty uniform to the room, actually having worn it for part of the night before, she did not have to do the walk to shame down the corridor back to her own room.

As Cruz was adjusting her rank pips Captain Calum Hyden entered the bedroom, already freshly pressed for work. Already looking professional. Like a real captain.

”Good morning,” she said with a slight smile, adjusting her uniform’s collar in the mirror, “I have to get ready and on the bridge. I hear this captain is a stickler for the rules.”

Hyden had awoken early trying not to disturb Cruz. He was an early riser usually taking a shower, drinking a cup of coffee, and reading the news. He also had a bad habit of never sleeping in even if the ability arose, though Cruz made him consider not following his habit this morning. 

He was dressed and ready for the day when he had heard Cruz in the room. He walked in and handed her a cup of coffee with a smirk “Who told you such a viscous rumor? Besides you are one person who almost made me break my rules this morning so I think you get a pass.“ He said kissing her on the cheek. 

He enjoyed last night and it was something he didn’t ever want to forget. “Sadly our food from last night was ruined. Guess you’ll have to try my finger foods another time. Such a tragedy.“ he winked at her. 

Cruz took the cup of coffee guessing that he had made it rather than replicated it. The process of procuring beans and making them was tedious, and her old captain Nathanial Hawthorne had been something of a coffee snob, a trait that she’d avoided herself. To her replicated or freshly brewed was all the same to her. 

“I have a tactical shift in an hour,” she said, “haven’t had one of those for a few years. Anything I should know, or remember before I accidentally start a war with the Vulcans?”

Hyden smiled “Well things here have been quiet. Are you sure you’re up to it? I am just making sure you are up to it. I would hope you don’t start a war unless the negotiator is me.“ he winked at her. 

Hyden looked at her “Even when you’re in uniform you look stunning.“ he said it again without thinking, but it was her fault she made him feel that way. He didn’t mind though it already had made the morning better. 

The compliment brought a smile to Cruz’s face, “You look pretty spiffy too Captain.”

It was true, Starfleet uniforms tended to make good-looking people good-looking. Though she knew they weren’t to everyone’s taste, she quite liked them. Though she’d been joking about starting a war with the Vulcans, she was a bit concerned having volunteered for this shift that she’d not be able to do it. Firstly she was meant to be on medical leave, and while likely nothing would happen on a milk run within the Federation, she wanted not to show that once promoted to captain all your skills in other areas started to atrophe.

“I’ll see you on the bridge,” Cruz said pausing at the door to his quarters and then heading down the hall towards the bridge. His quarters were located just by the main bridge, for convenience and safety to allow the ship’s CO and XO to arrive straight from their quarters in an emergency. 

The bridge layout was similar, though more advanced, than her previous Rhode Island-class ship the USS Seattle, so she found the tactical console easily enough and began to run routine diagnostics on it.

Hyden waited a few minutes before making his way to the bridge. Not that he needed to but he figured allowing Cruz time to get situated would be better for appearance’s. He walked into the bridge and was announced he waved his had to dismiss the formality and took his seat. 

He looked at the ops officer. It was weird his crew wasn’t permanent minus his chief engineer. “Report” he ordered. The officer fumbled but suffice it to say everything was normal. He turned to Cruz “Captain are you picking up anything?”

“Doing a scan, sensors clear sir,” Cruz said, “I’ll check long-range sensors. We do have a blip, I can’t identify it, some kind of ship, but it’s too far away to tell what it is.”

Hyden nodded and looked at the helm “Plot a course for the location.” He looked back at Cruz “Keep a close watch on what it is. We aren’t quite equipped for a full scale battle.” he said as he began to think about the location of the other ships. He was the more advanced when it came to exploration and science missions, but the ship didn’t pack the punch of the Neptune and Hydra.

Nodding Cruz kept her tactical sensors trained on the blip. Still understaffed the ship was not ready for combat, but if something did happen at least it’s top speed was meant to be high enough that few of the universe’s vessels could catch them if they needed to run. Hopefully, though it would not come to that.

Hyden watched carefully as they approached the ship. He looked trying to determine if there was any discernable features that might help him to determine what it was. He could not see anything and looked back “Any information on the ship? I can’t say I recognize it.”

Cruz shook her head. Running scans on it had just presented more questions than answers, there was nothing even remotely like it in the Federation’s databases. Plus they were well within Federation space, it would be difficult for any ship to get so far into Federation territory without passing within scanner distance of a Starfleet or allied vessel.

Bringing it up on the main viewscreen she said, “Nothing in our records. It must have been brought here thanks to the recent issues with underspace. I’m not getting any life signs either, no atmosphere or power.”

Hyden produced a puzzled look on his face “Can we scan and see if we have any underspace openings nearby? I am not sure what is going on, but something about it does not feel right.”

Cruz nodded, running the scans. There was nothing to be seen, but they had gotten word from Starfleet that the underspace portals had been largely closed by the Cardassians. While there may be few lingering through out the galaxy, she was not picking anything up in the vicinity, “Negative captain, we’re picking up no fissures in the fabric of space consistent with underspace. If this thing is from elsewhere the method it got here is gone now.”

Hyden looked puzzled as this was not a normal situation and he wasn’t sure what to do. This was a transport mission and to pull everything towards this issue the Tianwen could see something it was not prepared for. “As we don’t have a full crew I think the best course of action is to set a beacon for another ship to investigate this or send a probe off past it to see if it can discover anything we are not able to pick up. Any suggestions here? he asked the few members trying to get their feedback as well due to the lack of personnel on the ship.

Cruz nodded, it was the rational choice, but the adventurer in her wanted to do more. This was a mystery worth digging their teeth into. “An away team could do a preliminary sweep,” she said, “make some notes until a fully crewed ship arrives to take over the scene.”

Hyden nodded “An excellent suggestion however I barely have enough people to run the ship currently and you’re in no condition to run an away team Captain. Starfleet Medical would have my head and that’s the last thing I need.”

Cruz nodded, she was going to defer to the ship’s captain, as it was his command and he had a better sense of things. Hyden did not strike her as a foolish man, and so his caution was likely the right answer in this case. The science team, such as it was, could leave behind a beacon or probe for Starfleet to find.

“Yes sir,” she said nodding. Despite being a captain herself this was not her ship, and from the sounds of things back home she may not have one any longer anyway. When her shift ended she stepped away from the consule, relieved by a junior officer.

“I’ll speak with you later captain,” she said.