“You want to argue with a captain’s wife, you go right ahead.” Captain Wren Walton stood at her desk, staring at Lieutenant Hazel Wallaker. “He’s the nicer of the two. She’s less so and doesn’t suffer fools or anyone gladly.”

Hazel felt her frustration bubbling. She’d stormed into the ready room and spoken out of turn. That had earned her a stern warning from Commander Park, who sat on the couch, watching it all with concerned amusement. She’d used the wrong foot and found herself facing the two senior officers without as much as a point to argue. A severe look from Walton had preceded her direct suggestion to take on Theodora Walker-Halsey. “Captain…I just…permission to speak freely?”

Walton glanced at Park, and the XO chuckled dryly, “Given your performance on entering the ready room, Lieutenant…I can only hope this digs you out of the hole.” Walton waved her to continue.

“I found it. I deserved to at least witness the examination.” She resisted the urge to stomp her foot. Her face reddened as she realized she was throwing what was tantamount to a tantrum.

Wren stared at her, “Deserved or not, you were overruled. Science is not a game of who got there first. Science is about shared study, Lieutenant Wallaker. If nothing else, you should be poring over the data you collected from start to finish. There’s plenty to examine and forward onto Montana Station that might provide some insight they need.”

Wallaker’s face remained flushed. She chewed on her words. She’d stepped in it again. “I am sorry for my actions when I walked in here, sirs.” Hazel looked to both of them as she said it. “I’ll get to work on the data.” She remained at attention. She’d made the mistake in her previous positions, presuming she’d been dismissed. That hadn’t ended well.

Walton gave her a curt nod, “Dismissed, Lieutenant.” The young officer walked out the door and back onto the bridge. Wren turned to Park, “We’ve got a lot of work to do with this crew.”

Her XO leaned back on the couch, “You’re not the least bit upset that we got locked out?”

Wren returned to her seat behind her desk, “As I have reminded you on more than one occasion – ego and pride aren’t going to make us new friends in this squadron, Park. We’re here in our little misfit island for a reason. I’d like to keep those reasons out of their minds for the foreseeable future.”

Park shifted topics, “How will we get this crew to work together?”

Walton noticed the deflection but chose to grant her XO some mercy: “We try and do it as part of some program or process—they’re going to hate it and this assignment here even more.” She sat back in her chair, “Our base mission is working with Montana Station with science and exploration. We should get back to that.”

Park stood from the couch, “Back to basics. I’ll find us something to explore and examine. Plenty of things out here in the rimward end of Federation space.”

The door closed behind her, leaving Wren alone with her thoughts. She had a ship. She had a crew.

Now, all she needed was a mission.