Homecoming

“Mmmmm… medical personnel make poor counselors in my experience. Let me try to pull some strings with the brass. I firmly believe in therapy and expect everyone on this ship to sit down with our future counselor at least once a month. That’ll be an order… but I won’t expect the CMO to take on that responsibility except for as an emergency measure. That means everyone, Lektar… am I clear?”

No eye contact… no glance. Just an expectation to hear an audible confirmation as she continued cycling through menus, taking her time on the ship layout of Deck 1.

That got a warm chuckle out of the captain as she entered the small bridge. It wasn’t anything terribly exciting, but it was hers. Hers and the crews. The USS Vanguard… **** good ship.

“Home sweet home… hmm… you sound like my-” Her words stuck in her throat as she stopped in her tracks before continuing to the captain’s chair, running a hand over the back before sitting down. “-a dear friend. A Vulcan. She would scold me for failing to adhere to things like the chain of command. I appreciate you being a stabilizing force in that regard. Quite right, Chief of Security will hear it from me. Proper chain, fear not.”

Varissa took a deep breath in… and out. Taking it in. She looked down at the controls and began to flick through the settings, causing the viewscreen to flick on as it cycled through various options before settling on the personnel roster.

“All of the senior staff is aboard, you said? *Thullex*… that’s a bit embarrassing. I’d hoped I had beaten them here. Ah well… no use worrying about “what if”. Is what it is… has anyone had issues with their departments so far?”

Nodding along to all the information, Varissa half-followed/half-led the lieutenant commander as they made their way over and up.

“Yes, I reviewed the schematics on my way to Mars. Interesting design… I guess if Deck 1 gets hammered in a combat scenario I’m pretty much toast, eh? Oh, also make sure to let the crew know that unless otherwise noted I have an open door policy. You’ll get the hang of my command style in short order, but to make it short and sweet I like my crew to feel comfortable being themselves so long as those proclivities don’t trample on the freedoms of other crewmen.”

The captain glanced down at the dagger at Shirik’s hip, then up to her eyes. Varissa’s dark eyes were locked on… almost like she was staring right into the Drokari’s soul.

“Can I trust you to ask questions first and stab later?” She asked, candidly.

The Andorian’s antennae had already been pointing to Shirik before she even spoke; the stories about the Federation Founder species being sensitive to bioelectric signals and vibrations appeared to be quite true!

“Lieutenant Commander Lektar… just the Drokari I was hoping to run into.” Varissa mused, her dark eyes shifting to the COO. The decidedly *not* Starfleet standard scalloped blade attached to her belt loop - her Ushaan-tor - glinted with the white lights of the hallway. “How have you been acclimating to your new station? Any observations?”