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    Lieutenant Junior Grade David Martel stepped out onto the Valkyrie’s bridge, got his bearings for a second, then strode purposefully towards the Captain’s Ready Room.

    He had had no time to really get settled after he had been shown his quarters. He’d had enough time to throw his bags onto his bunk and head straight here. He exchanged polite nods with the bridge crew he didn’t really see in his nervousness. He prayed it didn’t show as he got to the Ready Room doors.

   Inside, Captain Saffiya Nassar was feeling uncharacteristically on edge, and hated that she couldn’t talk to anyone about it just yet. Orders for a next mission had already come in, but for now, had to remain under wraps.
The result was a weird situation of having the time to unwind during shore leave, but not being able to do so because she anticipated breaking the news to her crew.But for now, Saffiya neatly tucked these feelings into a corner of her mind, to be revisited when the timing was more appropriate. For now, she had a new Junior Officer to greet.

“Welcome.”, she said as the doors to her Ready Room slid open, revealing the newest addition to their crew.

   David walked in and got his first view of his new Captain. She was a dark haired, dusky skinned human. She had a rather kind face, yet a somewhat intense stare that made David’s already nervous feelings step up another notch. Drawing himself up stiffly to attention, he stated formally, “Lieutenant David Martel, reporting for duty, sir.”

    The Captain offered a smile, and motioned for him to sit, while she reached for her cup of coffee, eyes flicking over to the PADD that contained Martel’s transfer orders.

“Your former Captain speaks highly of you.”, she stated. “You seem to have left a lasting impression. How are you feeling about the transfer – coming to a new ship is never easy.”

As David took his seat he relaxed slightly.

“The Callisto had a really good crew and I had a outstanding mentor in Commander Th’zhelron, sir. As for the assignment, I imagine it will be a bit different from chasing sensor echoes and pirates along the border.”, David grinned as he said this last part, then cleared his throat nervously and smoothed his face over into a professional mask.

‘How about you just make a good first impression, Badger?’, he berated himself silently.

    Out loud David continued, “As for coming to a new ship, I come from a Starfleet family, so coming to a new environment is sort of the way of things, sir.”, despite himself, David ventured a small smile.

“That’s what I like to hear, Lieutenant.”, the Captain nodded. “Should that, however, change, please do reach out. As you will find, we have a quite.. unique set-up on the Valkyrie. Presently, Lieutenant Frisco and I are juggling three jobs between us, which has resulted in an… open-door policy for my office, and a closed-door one for hers. I recognise it is not how  Starfleet usually does things – though I am aware Captain Ceix on the Callisto does the same thing – but when I say reach out, I mean it.”

“Yes, sir.”, David gave a small nod of acknowledgement.

He didn’t envy his superiors. The workload of running a starship was heavy enough as it was. Not to mention, as he recalled, Lt. Frisco was also the CMO. He winced inwardly in sympathy.

He continued, face serious again, “I’m looking forward to getting started, sir.”

“Then I won’t keep you.”, she smiled. “Please find either Lieutenant Frisco, or Lieutenant Commander Selara for your medical check-up. I would also recommend connecting with Lieutenant Silveira, he is also fairly new to the Valkyrie but might be able to show you the department.”

David took his cue and rose, “Acknowledged, sir. I’ll head straight to Sickbay.”

As David strode back out to the bridge, he decided that the first meeting with his new captain could’ve went a lot worse.