Jenn paused outside the bay and sighed. Swearing under her breath, she pinched her nose.  Normal officers, i.e., not the misfits she served with under her last captain, were a headache. Then, the Gagarin was enormous compared to the Defiant-class ships she spent the majority of her career on: a bigger ship, more crew, more hassle.

She glanced up one direction of the corridor and down the other. Her hazel eyes darted as she took in the hum of machinery and the faint scent of new carpet.

Recent replacement? She thought. What could justify such a repair?

The doors to the fighter bay trundled open with a whir of servos and a pneumatic hiss.  These sorts of doors always seemed unnecessarily dramatic, but then again, they also served as part of the air-tight emergency bulkhead system.

Sonia stepped out and stopped, surprised to see the XO still standing there. She smiled at her, “Ma’am, I want to assure you that I am a very good engineer and that I will do a very good job on the Gagarin.” She stopped and looked up and down the corridor to get her bearings. Though she had memorised the layout of the class setting foot on a new ship and class for the first time always required a bit of time to get used to it.

Jenn raised an eyebrow, watching Sonia approach. Her posture was relaxed and showed confidence, but there was a slight edge to it, possibly indicating nervousness.

Without saying a word, she pressed a command on her PADD It trilled, and she handed it to the chief engineer. It contained a memo from Sector Logistics Command stating that the shipment of stem bolts and gel packs had been delayed by two weeks. Jenn had no idea how badly the ship needed these items, but it wasn’t her department.

Jenn turned and walked down the corridor, and at the end, she paused at the threshold to the turbolift as the doors parted with a hiss. She scanned the interior of the car, checked behind her, and stepped inside, noting Sonia had followed her. She stared ahead with he hands clasped behind her back, the high-pitched hum of the car patiently waiting for orders.

Is she bolder than I thought? Or just that desperate to please? Jenn wondered.

Sonia was again slightly taken aback by Commander Douglas’ demeanour when she handed her the PADD without a word and then walked off. Taking her lack of dismissal as exactly that, she followed and began to review the information on the PADD. As she stepped into the turbolift, she didn’t bother looking over at the XO before she spoke, “I will need to check the current stock on the ship, but these are minor items, Commander Douglas. We can fabricate the stem bolts in a pinch, although the gel packs are a bit trickier. Give me a few hours to get oriented, and I can let you know how critical the items are.” She paused for a moment and pulled up data on the standard operating practices for the nearby station, ‘They should have enough to supply what is needed, even if just for a short time.’ “I should be able to pull some from the emergency stock on the station if needed.”

“Call me Jenn,” she said at last, “Commander will do in a pinch.  I am only superior to you in rank and position. We are both people. We are both officers, and we are both women. Back in the war, do you know what happens to officers when they snap to attention and practically salute and stumble over themselves? I get killed. Both the Jem’hadar and the Cardassians would choose the command staff first to unravel the chain of command.  I would appreciate it if you dispensed with all this pomp. This isn’t the Academy, and it isn’t a parade ground.”

Sonia turned and tilted her head down slightly to look at the XO as she took in a deep breath. ‘I wasn’t aware I was acting with such pomp or any,‘ she thought to herself, but refrained from rolling her eyes. “I..um. My apologies, I can do that. Com…Jenn. On the Columbia, things were by the book, including the initial reporting, though I understand that each ship is different.”

Sonia turned back and looked at the PADD, “I should get to engineering to sort out this shipment issue as soon as possible.” She held off activating the lift as she very much left like she was walking on thin ice.

Jenn glanced up at Sonia and smirked. “Well, aren’t you just a ball of nerves.  You’ll be fine once you learn not to let men step over you and tiny little commanders intimidate you. Today is probably not that day, but I will feel as if I have failed you if you don’t tell me to f—” She paused, shook her head, and let out a soft chortle. “To pound sand. Computer, engineering.”

The lift beeped in response and whirred to life. Lights from the shaft flashed through the frosted glass, providing the car with a visual cue of motion that the inertial dampers concealed. They stood in silence for a moment as the car snaked its way through the ship.

Sonia sighed internally; she didn’t disagree with what the XO said, overall, but didn’t feel that Joran had stepped over her. He looked over at Jenn and nodded, “I will bear that in my Commander. I am quite happy to tell you to, ah, pound sand as you put it, if I feel the need.”

The Turbo lift stopped and the door opened, “Well, guess I should get to it, Commander. I will have the report about the stem bolts and gel packs sent to you as soon as possible.”

Jenn shrugged,  “If you feel it necessary.  I would prefer a departmental readiness report so I can present that to the captain.”

Sonia stepped out of the turbo lift and turned to look at the XO, “I can do that, Ma’am. I can have that on your desk tomorrow morning. I will need to check on everything, which will take a bit of time.”

Jenn nodded, “I understand.  Truly. I have high standards and little patience for incompetence, but I will not beat you with the book. All I care about are results. As long as it’s done safely, I don’t give a damn how it’s done.”

Sonia quirked a smile at that, “I learned engineering from Starfleet and Bajoran crews on DS9, I can definitely get results; learned from the best.” With that, she turned and started towards the engineering department.

The Gagarin’s first officer watched the engineer start to leave, and with a sardonic grin she called out to Sonia, her voice deliberately clipped. “One last thing, Lieutenant: welcome to the Gagarin.”

Sonia turned and looked at the XO, “Thank you, Commander. I am thrilled to be here and will prove that I am good enough to do the job.”