— Bridge, RRW Tomal —

“Engage cloaking device,” Commander Mneiyen s’Llhevir said. 

The ship shimmered and appeared to blink out of existence as it flew alongside the larger Federation vessel the USS Andromeda. Even though they were on the same side now, and he was taking orders from the human woman who captained the Andromeda it felt more natural to be cloaked. He had served in the Star Navy for decades, long before this new peace, and while this was a science ship, crewed in part by Vulcans, it still felt unnatural to be so open with his old adversaries.

His first officer Commander Sok inclined his head and pursed his lips. The Starfleet uniforms stood out on his bridge against the naval uniforms of his own crew. He saw his new Chief Flight Control Officer raise her eyebrow and exchange a glance with Sok.

“Yes I know it’s less efficient just follow my orders,” he barked.

Sok was, of course, patient. “There was no objection raised. Sir.”

s’Llhevir was not a scientist, yet he’d been placed in charge of this whole damn ship full of them. Scientists and the damn spook that he’d been saddled with who was clearly some branch of Tal’ Shiar, though she was assigned as his aide-de-camp. He could read spy all over her, and it was clear that he was not the only one in the Romulan chain of command who wanted to keep an eye on this little pro-reunification experiment. He was used to spies however. He’d never served on a vessel without them in some role. From cook to political observer they infested the navy ensuring loyalty and idealogical purity, even as their enemies changed and Romulus had been destroyed.

“I’ll be in my office,” he snapped and stood abruptly, marching into the surprisingly comfortable office. Rank had its privileges, and being the commander of a Galas-class ship had provided him with comfortable lodgings. Not that he was sure if his assignment was punishment or a privilege. 

On paper it looked good, a commanding officer of one of the fleet’s newest and most advanced ships. 800 Romulans or Vulcans under his command. On the other hand he was ferrying around scientists and following the orders of a human woman not even old enough to have made Sub-Lieutenant in the Romulan system.

His door buzzed and he grunted a “Come.”

Commander Sok entered, his black uniform trimmed with blue showing that he was a science officer in the color scheme of Starfleet. 

“Commander our being cloaked will interfere with our data sharing with the USS Andromeda,” Sok said, cutting to the chase. 

It was one thing he liked about Vulcans, they did not make pointless small talk.

“Do we have any data to share with them?” s’Llhevir asked, already knowing the answer.

“No,” Sok admitted.

“Then we stay cloaked. When we have a significant amount of data to share we will decloak,” s’Llhevir said.

“Sir, you seem displeased by the Vulcan members of your crew, including myself. Have we offended you in some way?” Sok asked.

s’Llhevir sighed, and sat in his chair. He knew that his dislike to Vulcans was not based on anything more than traditional animosity, and that explaining that to a logical man suck as Sok would make him sound small and vindictive. He debated just ordering the Vulcan out of the room but he knew that he was going to have to rely on his first officer. He was going to have to trust him, and at least for now there was no way to get rid of him and replace his Vulcan crew members with good sturdy Romulan ones.

“Old habits die hard,” he said to the Vulcan, “though I suppose that’s what we are here to do. Get over old habits.”

“I believe our orders are to explore an unexplored sector of space,” Sok said.

“Vulcans are pedantic,” s’Llhevir noted.