“Your new commanding officer will be Captain Noli Auru.”

Silence gripped the observation lounge as the yellow cursor blinked at the end of the message emblazoned on the wall mounted display. Prenar regarded each officer around the table closely while they tried to make sense of what they had just seen.

“I know it isn’t what we expected,” he spoke quietly, hands clasped together atop the table whilst his eyes flicked between those around him. “But there was no way we could press on without having this discussion.” He’d been told not to inform the crew yet, that the transfer of power would be completed in a few days and that was when they would find out, but how could he keep his people in the dark about such a message?

Pressing his left foot against the deck plating, Lieutenant Shall turned in his chair just enough to lock eyes with the Commander. “Why would they send someone here who has just lost three commands in a row?” His brown eyes betrayed the confusion that he felt at the appointment of this new captain.

“To be fair, Proteus was ripped from under her,” Orax the Denobulan  leaned forward from his spot opposite the helmsman with narrowed, furrowed brows.

“What about Lakota, and what she did to her CO there?” Serath Vren scoffed, collapsing back into his chair, surprised that anyone around the table really needed to ask such a question. They had all read the new CO’s file, they all knew the role she had played in Nazir’s downfall and the fact she had been transferred after a short spell in command.

At the bottom of the table, however, was of a different opinion. “Read what happened during the Vaadwaur invasion,” the Nausicaan brute balked at the suggestion that the newcomer was somehow undeserving of her role. “She led the defence of the entire Andoria system and, had it not been for some fancy flying, she would have gone down with her ship in the defence of that icy wasteland,” he took a deep breath as he sat forward and menacingly glared at those around the table. “If she was a Klingon, they’d have written an opera about her.”

“A good Captain wouldn’t have lost Columbia in that fashion,” scoffed Munn, the Bolian engineer who had stepped up in the absence of a department chief.

“What about you, Doctor?” the Cardassian looked at the bald man across the table glad in science-teal and who had, until now, remained suspiciously quiet.

Doctor Zinn, the bald Deltan physician, had served with Noli on multiple postings until the debacle on Lakota had seen them all punished, including himself. He couldn’t blame her, to be honest. At least she was doing what she felt was right by Starfleet, and herself. What he had done was far worse. Not that anyone around the table knew that.

“Noli Auru has always proven to be a difference maker wherever she has been. If you think things have been bad with her around, I can assure you, things would have been a complete disaster without her,” he finally spoke in the woman’s defence, an uncharacteristic show of support from the medical chief. 

“It would be wise for you all to forget what you have read, or been told,” a quiet, calming voice came from the shaggy haired individual beside the Nausicaan. “It is better to make up your own minds based on what you see and experience first hand.”

“Ever the voice of reason, Counsellor…” Vren shook his head in frustration.

“Wise words indeed…”

All eyes within the room darted to the open doorway that led to the bridge, to find the path blocked by a lone figure who stood, arms folded and eyes narrowed as her presence was finally noted. She looked around the room’s occupants until she locked eyes with the Cardassian at the head of the table.

“You’re in my chair…” she warned him, her arms untangling and resting on her hips.

“And you’re a day early…” Cardassian Prenar slowly rose to his feet, watching the Bajoran advance on his position. Soon, they stood either side of the chair, the seat serving as a barrier and, apparently, a source of competition between the two.

A competition that the newcomer seemingly won as she reached out and subtly turned it in her direction, so she could slide onto its comfortable leather and took her place as leader of the group.

With a wide, menacing smile, the Bajoran looked each officer in the face before relaxing into the comfort of her chair

“I think we should talk…”

Vicious whispers and exaggerated tales were always rife whenever a new commanding officer arrived board a starship. This occasion was no different, especially given the sudden surprise appearance of their new captain a day ahead of schedule. But that was how Noli liked it, apparently. If she was the focus, the crew weren’t thinking about the situation they were in, hypothetical or not. While she had done her best to assuage concerns of the command team during their meeting, it still felt like there were questions that remained unanswered. For now she had enough allies on the team to make the transition of power considerably easier than it could’ve been. Prida had come along for the ride, taking over as chief engineer in Hypatia’s engine room while another familiar face, Vashara Zail, would serve as the ship’s link to Starfleet Intelligence. Packing the senior staff with familiar and trusted faces, while wise in some respects, had done nothing to dispel the rumour mill. Some on the crew saw it as a betrayal of those that had served during the recent conflict in whatever limited capacity whilst others felt it blocked their own path to the senior ranks. That was an issue for Darek Prenar to take care of now.

While he still had misgivings, the XO had spent the last few days trying to give the captain the benefit of doubt. Starfleet clearly felt this woman, this Bajoran woman, was the best person for the job. Those newcomers serving at the captains behest were not tarred with the same failures that she was despite being there every step of the way. From Lakota to Proteus and then Columbia herself these new people had continually fought alongside and supported the captain in everything she did. This was a woman who clearly inspired great loyalty in those who served under her if given the chance. Perhaps that was all they had to do? Perhaps if the crew gave their new captain the chance to prove her herself, she would inspire a sense of loyalty in them too. It didn’t matter right now anyway she was here and she was here to stay. Darek had to find a way to bridge the gap between captain and crew if Hypatia were to embark on the journey he had been prepped for.

Zail, in her role as strategic operations officer, had spent the entire day yesterday conducting briefings and bringing people up to speed on a brand new frontier of exploration that had opened with the stabilisation of the transwarp conduit in the Vadia system. Hypatia was one of the lucky few that had been chosen by Command to be one of the first through the aperture into this exciting new area of exploration. An area sandwiched between the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Republic, this new area of responsibility had been designated the Shackleton Expanse, and Derek would be one of the first Cardassians to traverse this wondrous undiscovered country.

And whilst the Captain was not one they had hoped for, he had to admit that her ties to their lost captain perhaps made her uniquely qualified to understand what Kauhn had been working to build on Hypatia all this time. He would reserve judgement, for now. She would have to earn his respect, and that of those who knew only rumours and hearsay.

Perhaps this unlikely pairing of Bajoran and Cardassian leading this crew would prove as monumentally beautiful as the 2370’s peace accords that brought an end to the Dominion War and saw the galaxy, for the first time in years, come to a lasting peace?