The Canterbury had shipped out without a hitch and, after what felt like the longest day ever, Zach left the bridge and headed for the mess hall. Two steps inside the door, he paused, only just remembering at that moment that the Lamarr class main mess hall was located across two decks.

Which explained why he was looking at a spiral staircase in the middle of the room.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Someone said behind him and he turned, only to be pole-axed by the prettiest pair of brown eyes he’d ever seen.

They widened, and the woman in front of him went a little pale as her gaze dropped to the rank on his collar. “My apologies, sir. I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“Oh no,” he said with a smile. “Lieutenant Winters, right? Science? I saw you earlier on the bridge.”

She nodded, and a small smile returned to her lips. “Yes sir. I was looking for the Chief Science Officer.”

“That’s right,” Zach nodded, in no hurry to end the conversation. Unusually for a junior officer, Winters was older, probably around his own age. He raked his brain for her first name, but the information wouldn’t materialize. He’d probably only skimmed her name on the department manifest. An oversight he would have to correct. “Lieutenant Steele seems to be a hard one to track down.”

“He is, actually.” She chuckled softly. “But that’s because he’s very focused on his work.”

He caught the subtext easily. She wasn’t going to dish the dirt on her boss, especially not to his boss. Department loyalty was always a good thing.

“Science, huh? What speciality?” He smiled again, trying to get her to relax around him, and put out an arm to stop her from getting trampled as a group of ensigns swarmed by like chattering seagulls. It was only when they surrounded Winters that he realized they were talking to her.

“Have you seen this place, Elena!?” One said, linking arms with Winters and trying to drag her off. “The menu is like five pages long. I’m bloody starving, I could eat the lot!”

“They’ve got five types of ice-cream, and apple pie and custard.” The other woman in the group grinned.

“Is your boss Steele?” The young man in red demanded. “I spotted him in the corridor earlier, he’s dr—“

“The captain and I were just talking,” she cut over them easily, warning them with amusement in her eyes as she held his gaze. The three ensigns turned around, suddenly silent and their eyes as wide as saucers.

He smiled again, hiding his amusement at their antics.

“No worries, I can see your friends are eager to get something to eat so I’ll leave you to it,” he said, spotting Thayer on the top deck. “Hopefully I’ll see you on the bridge soon, Lieutenant Winters. Have a good evening.”

“You too, sir,” she nodded and he turned to walk away, a little extra spring in his step.

Elena. It was a pretty name.