Starbase 11’s Station Operations Center saw a constant flow of activity, even as the midpoint of the ‘day’ on board slipped by. The various officers that pulled duty in the space had already rotated through their individual lunch routines, and the post-meal lull began to settle into the Ops Center. This relaxed attitude was exemplified by the station’s Executive Officer and Chief of Operations, who were both sitting a bit more comfortably in the low chairs that were usually hidden away under the main situations display at the center of the spacious control center.

“I always eat too much when we go to Ember’s,” Lieutenant Commander Jakrin Holv complained as he ran a hand slowly over his slightly swollen stomach.

Lieutenant Commander Vernon Reid shrugged lethargically at the comment, “I didn’t make you eat two whole meals. Don’t try to make it out to be my fault you have no self-control.”

“Perish the thought,” the Bolian said dramatically, “But you could have a word with that wonderful wife of yours to… I don’t know… dial down the quality just enough so that I won’t feel compelled to.”

“Tell Tessa you hate her cooking, got it,” Vernon said with a chuckle.

Holv shot the man a sharp glare, “You know very well that is not what I said… or meant.”

“Listen Jak, if anyone is to blame for Tessa’s ability to serve up food that you can’t resist, it would be you. All those little tips and comments you’ve made over the years has given her a pretty good read on what you like. And as dedicated as she is to making every meal at Ember’s into an experience for her customers, do you think for even a second she’d ‘dial it down?’” Reid asked, pointing accusingly toward the Bolian.

“Fine… I surrender,” Jakrin said with his hands raised lazily, “I will just have to exercise a bit more discipline upon our return this evening.”

“I’d be happy with a bit more discipline being displayed right now…” a chilling voice said from just behind the two men. Holv struggled a bit to sit upright, and Reid shot to his feet to turn toward the bearer of the icy voice that had thrown cold water on their small moment of banter.

“Commander Novak…” Vernon said with a faltering smile, “I didn’t expect to see you on the Ops floor today…”

“I can tell,” Mira said flatly while giving the two men before her an unimpressed look.

“Did you need something, Commander?” Holv asked, slowly easing himself up out of the chair.

“Not particularly,” Novak replied. “And I don’t believe I need to have one. This is my station, after all.”

Both men cast one another a look in the awkward silence that followed. It occurred to them both that their lax attitude born from the brief but wonderful period of time between their old Captain’s departure and Novak’s arrival might have gotten a bit too ingrained in them. Reid started to make an excuse before he was preempted.

“I get the feeling that your last Captain was something of an… unsociable person. Usually you don’t see people half-collapsed in chairs like this unless morale has been so low for so long that it doesn’t seem to matter to people if they’re caught being lethargic,” Mira pointed out without even the slightest warming of her tone.

“No disrespect to your predecessor, Commander,” Holv offered in a reserved tone, “But I don’t think any of us would have felt the least bit comfortable showing any sort of weakness around the Captain. And it was not intended as a disrespectful gesture toward you, to be clear.”

“I hadn’t assumed it was, Mister Holv,” Mira said bluntly, “It was simply a conclusion I’ve drawn from how everyone has acted so far today… Like you’re all afraid I’m going to assign everyone double shifts for no logical reason or something.”

“I don’t think anyone was thinking anything like that,” Vernon said with an uneasy chuckle, “But if we’re being honest with each other, we were all sort of hoping things would get a bit less… oppressive around her. Maybe not to the point of us all lounging around the sitrep table every day… but perhaps just a little less… military… if that makes any sense?”

“Ah… so your former Captain was one of those types…” Novak let out a short sigh, “I don’t believe this station needs to be run like some rigid military complex from an outdated era. I simply ask for professionalism when the situation demands it. If there is nothing of immediate concern happening… sitting down is perfectly acceptable. Just don’t fall asleep after gorging yourself on lunch… Mister Holv.”

“Oh, absolutely, Commander. Wouldn’t dream of it,” the Bolian said with a much more natural smile than before.

“Good,” Mira nodded before turning to Reid, “I did have a question for you, if you have a moment, Mister Reid.”

“Of course, Commander,” Vernon said, straightening up a bit.

“Does your spouse make it a habit of contacting station commanders often, or is it out of the ordinary?” Novak asked with a bit of an edge to her voice.

Vernon cradled his head in his hands for a second before looking up with a very apologetic look on his face, “I’m sorry about that. Tessa can be a bit…”

“I wasn’t fishing for an apology, Mister Reid,” Mira cut him off, “I’m just wondering if this is considered ‘normal’ around here. I’ve never served on any ships that carried families aboard, so I’m not well versed on where the lines are drawn… or if there are any. With how much you and Lieutenant Nireth have talked about traditions around here today, I wanted to make sure whether this was one of them.”

“Tessa does on occasion reach out to people around the station, but she didn’t really do so with our last Captain. Why, what did she do?” Vernon responded, worry obvious in his voice.

“She extended an invitation to a party at an establishment called ‘Ember’s’, if I recall the name correctly. She didn’t provide any details, which was a bit off-putting…” Novak said with a small frown.

“Party?” Vernon asked, his voice sounding even more confused than Novak’s had, “This is the first I’ve heard of it. She didn’t say anything to me about it when we were there. Did she say anything to you, Jak?”

“Not a thing…” Jakrin said, his face also contorting into a perplexed frown.

“I take it from the looks on your faces that this isn’t a normal occurrence,” Mira noted in an even tone.

“Tessa does like to hold celebrations, that part isn’t so odd,” Reid admitted, “But the fact that she didn’t say anything to me beforehand is a bit unusual. Unless something happened after we left that gave her the idea…”

“But what could that have been? Other than Miss Novak reporting aboard, there’s really not be anything else that would even call for a celebration of any sort. Could that have been… no… if that were all it was, she’d have mentioned it at lunch, it wouldn’t be such a big secret,” Holv said, changing his mind in the middle of his sentence.

Novak sighed, “I am not against social gatherings in principle… but I do like a bit more information than a time and vague location. If you would be so kind as to press your spouse for a detail or two, it would help me to provide a more confident answer than the one I’m currently planning to give.”

“That being…?” Jakrin could help but ask.

“No,” Mira said unflinchingly before looking at her XO, “Unless you can provide me with details that would make me less comfortable with a flat-out refusal.”

“Let me see what I can dig up, Commander. Give me an hour, I’ll get you an answer,” Reid promised firmly.

“An hour, then,” Novak nodded, making her way toward the rear of the Ops Center. Once she disappeared through the door, everyone in the room seemed to let out a collective breath. Reid hadn’t even noticed how quiet the compartment had gotten while their new CO was there, nor did he register just how many eyes had been glued to the exchange.

“I thought she was gonna chew you out,” one of the Lieutenants manning a console said, breaking the fragile silence in the room.

“You and me both, Riley… you and me both,” Vernon said, sagging a bit as he said it.

Holv slapped his friend on the shoulder, “Don’t get comfortable. You promised Miss Novak some answers, don’t go disappointing her on the first day.”

“Ugh… you just had to remind me…” Vernon slouched in dismay.

“Look at the bright side, at least she only said no because of how out of the blue it was. Sure beats any response we ever got from the old Captain. There’s still hope for us all,” the Bolian said with a bright smile.

“Heh…” Reid let out a pathetic chortle in response.