“Did Admiral T’Vrell finally convince you to take leave?” Lieutenant Commander T’Ren, the new Executive Officer of Roosevelt Station, stood at the door of her quarters. “Before I was dispatched to join you here, she contacted me. ‘Make sure she eats, sleeps, and takes a day off on occasion’ were her parting words.”

Eden shook her head. “She didn’t let me. Told me that given the importance of the stability of Betazoid government to the security of the Federation, and that she didn’t expect me to find my visit to my family’s home relaxing in the slightest, I’m still under orders to take actual leave before the end of the year.” Eden sighed. “Which is coming up soon. Is there a report on when the caretaker CO is arriving?”

“Captain Tatsu will be here in two days,” T’Ren said. “You know her, do you not?”

Eden nodded. “Worked with her in Intelligence… we were Admiral Pinna’s left and right hand on the frontier. We didn’t see each other in person much, given how little time we spent at Headquarters, but I got to know her well regardless. She’s one of the most capable officers I know… decisive, insightful, utterly without fear but not prone to unnecessarily risking the lives of others. Erika is a good friend.”

“What should I know about her command style?” T’Ren watched as Eden packed a few of her books.

“I honestly don’t know… neither of us was at that point in our careers when we worked together.” Eden sighed as she took a long, formal shawl from her footlocker. “This will have to come…” She put it into the travel bag. “But there is something to know about who she is. Erika Tatsu looks human, and her genetic makeup is primarily human. But she was born to the Borg Collective… cloned by them for reasons no one but her and the Collective really understands. She doesn’t consider herself human – she considers herself Borg, even if she hates the Collective with a passion I’ve only seen matched in Romulans. She is also much more… all business… than I am.”

“Your professionalism has never been in doubt, Commander,” T’Ren said. “But you imply that hers may be excessive?”

“There are captains with more and less relaxed command styles,” Eden said. “My father had a fairly relaxed style, while my nature is more uptight. But I learned the value of loosening my grip during my time serving with Captain Surval and Admiral T’Vrell. Erika never quite took to that, at least in the time that I knew her.”

“It is interesting to me that the captains you learned to relax from were both Vulcan,” T’Ren said.

“Captain Surval was… brilliant,” Eden murmured. “He considered it his primary duty to nurture new generations of Starfleet captains, to help them develop into the best officers they could be. Part of that was acknowledging who they were when they came to him, which required allowing them to show it. My parents, Admiral Jenner, Admiral Reese, Admiral T’Vrell, Captain Reese… all of them were his students, his proteges. So was I, in an indirect way. We’re all better officers for it. As for Admiral T’Vrell… she’s a Restorationist. So most expectations of Vulcans don’t really apply to her.”

“I have read some of her writing. Her grasp of Surakian heretical literature is fascinating, as are her commentaries on recent historical studies. I may not agree with her philosophy, but it has been a valuable course of study for me.”

“She’d be honored to hear you say that,” Eden said, rising to her feet. “Kron’s on his way. We’ll meet him in the corridor, then the two of you can see me off.” She lifted her travel bag onto her shoulder, falling into step alongside the far taller woman.

“You will miss a most glorious day,” Kron, son of Kator, walked at Eden’s left side, opposite T’Ren. “There is a major sectorwide scientific symposium focusing on star formation within the Valoris Nebula taking place on Lagash next week, and we have arranged for Markan, one of the quadrant’s leading experts on the interactions between polaron radiation and protomatter to visit the station afterward. He will be reviewing our work on that subject.” Eden had never expected to meet a Klingon who was as passionate about science as Kron was, but his zeal for discovery and belief that glory won in the advancement of knowledge was every bit as valuable as that won in combat made him an ideal science officer on the border, and his strategic acumen had made him a natural choice for Second Officer as well. He was also very fun to listen to when he got going.

“Express my regret to Markan,” Eden said. “And I’ll very much look forward to seeing your work on my return.” The turbolift door opened before them, and once they were inside Eden spoke. “Upper transporter pad.”

The lift rose, and T’Ren spoke. “All stations have reported ready for the arrival of the caretaker CO. We will make certain our work reflects well on you, Commander.”

“I know you will.” Eden offered T’Ren a smile, soothing some of the Vulcan’s deeply concealed tension. “I chose you for your job because I believe you the best-suited for it. As for the other task I assigned…”

“I have narrowed the options for our new counselor to an even ten,” T’Ren said. “If you would like, I can have one chosen and likely aboard before you return.”

“I would very much like that.” Eden had spent days considering what she wanted in a counselor, but in the end decided that given how much time she would likely spend as a patient, it might be best to leave the choice of who to bring aboard to someone she trusted. “Thank you, Commander.”

“Of course.”

The lift stopped at the uppermost residential level, and another figure entered. Only slightly taller than Eden, young, almost painfully pretty, the single silver pip of an ensign shining bright on her breast. Ensign Li Ling Ailiang an Hark an Jenner, Eden’s yeoman, stood at awkward ease among the station’s most senior staff.

It likely didn’t help that Eden and Ailiang had been friends since the Lagashi woman was a young teenager, that the nearest thing Eden had to a living mother was Ailiang’s birth mother. When they were alone, they had an easy camaraderie that brought out the best in them both. But when in front of other officers, Ailiang was still learning to be comfortable with Eden as her captain.

She, like Eden, carried a travel bag. When Admiral T’Vrell made clear to Eden that her trip to Betazed was to be official, she had taken advantage of that to assign Ailiang to join her. It would be good to have someone else around who knew who she was, someone with whom she could think through problems more clearly.

“Commander. Ma’am. Sir.” Ailiang addressed each of the senior officers by their preferred honorific.

“Thank you, Ensign,” Eden said, then, out of curiosity, asked, “Who will be working with Captain Tatsu while we are gone?”

“Ensign Hawke,” Ailiang said. “I thought it would be good practice for her.”

Kron laughed loudly. “Indeed it will. A very good choice, Ensign.”

The lift door opened, and Eden and Ailiang stepped through it side by side. Eden turned to face the officers in the lift.

T’Ren and Kron had drawn up to full attention, saluting her together, and Eden returned the salute before smiling to them. “Do remember to have a little fun while I am gone.”

“I have set aside three hours per day for fun, as per your recommendation,” T’Rel replied, and Eden thought she felt a hint of mirth under her Vulcan calm.

“Very well. Take care of our home.” The lift door closed, and Eden and Ailiang made their way to the transporter pad. Ailiang spoke.

“Two for transport to Healer’s Hope.“

It was decidedly odd, T’Ren thought, to be working alone in Commander Enigma’s office. Even a month of working with the Commander had led to a rhythm to the space – Enigma’s brilliant energy amplified by Ensign Li Ling’s understanding of how the Commander thought, meeting the T’Ren’s own cool pragmatism. They found a balance between them that made them all more efficient.

Lacking that balance left T’Ren herself feeling a bit adrift, moreso because she had come to value Li Ling’s insights on duty rosters greatly. Ensign Halv from Logistics was handling the rosters now, and while he was very good, he didn’t have Li Ling’s instincts for the ways social dynamics could impact the efficiency of the station’s work.

Command was T’Ren’s goal, but two days running day-to-day operations on Roosevelt without Enigma or Li Ling left her deeply aware that she was still short the experience necessary to hold it effectively.

“Commander T’Ren to Ops,” came the call, and T’Ren put her PADD aside, rose, and stepped from the office to take her place in the thronelike command chair in the station’s heart.

“Report,” she said.

The Bajoran lieutenant who had been holding the shift – Barlan Vo – was at one of the consoles on the lower tier. “USS Kent is on approach, ETA twenty minutes,” she said. “Captain Tatsu has requested permission to come aboard immediately on their arrival, and Captain Suter has requested shore passes for the crew.”

“Granted,” T’Ren said. “Shore passes will begin once the ship’s arrival is processed.” She rose to her feet. “Page Commander Kron to meet me at the Long Shaft.

Upper Transporter Room

Nervousness was an emotion, too, T’Ren reminded herself, and it would be unbecoming of both a Vulcan and a Starfleet officer to check the shine on her commbadge again before the new CO arrived. Still, she felt a need to fill the silence with something. “Your department’s work on the archaea from the Sanctuary hot springs…”

Kron smiled at the prompt. “It goes well. We have identified two unique protein sequences in the microbes, one of which appears to interfere with the propogation of viruses native to the planet. It could be a weapon against the leaf rot.”

Then they both fell silent as the transporter whined, its green light filling the room briefly before coalescing into a figure. T’Ren regarded the newcomer, forcing the surprise away from her face.

Captain Erika Marie Tatsu was a quietly stunning sight to see, compellingly beautiful yet immediately wrong. Her skin was a pale grey given only the slightest hint of human pink by the blood flowing under it, and her eyes and long hair were only a shade darker, a slight blueish tint making her hair color utterly unique in T’Ren’s experience. At a glance, her figure was pleasing to look at, but a longer look revealed arms and legs a centimeter or so too long, too slender, too powerful for how slender they were. Over her right eye rested a long Borg implant tinted in gold with four violet lights shining in a row, and another web of gold cybernetics ran over the impossible skin of her left hand.

When she spoke, her voice was melodic and profoundly human, bearing a hint of San Francisco’s Starfleet-infused accent. “At ease.” She stepped down off the pad with a long stride. “I am Captain Erika Marie Tatsu. It’s a pleasure to work with you.”

It took T’Ren an instant longer than usual to respond. “Lieutenant Commander T’Ren, Executive Officer of Roosevelt Station. And this is Kron, son of Kator, our Science Officer.”

Kron nodded his greeting, and Tatsu’s cold eyes regarded him for a long moment. “I met your father once, Commander, before his death at Starbase 72. The stories he told…”

“My father’s stories helped me learn who I am, Captain,” Kron said. “And that there are battlefields more complex than any fought with disruptors and swords.”

“Then you learned a good lesson,” Tatsu said. “Now, come… I believe I will need help learning my way around Ops.”

Through her life in Starfleet as both a child and an officer, Eden Enigma had only been aboard a starship as it landed once, and that had been the LSN Seldon on an orbital platform during her exchange tour. But there was a landing pad for the Healer’s Hope near her family’s estate, so there the ship landed, and Eden, Ailiang, and Luvrodo walked down a ramp that extended from the deck below the bridge to disembark.

Stepping directly from the filtered air of the ship to the rich scents and sounds of a small spaceport outside a Betazoid village was a unique experience, and one Eden did not look forward to making a regular feature of her life.

The quiet joy emanating from Ailiang, though, might make it easier to tolerate.

“Lady Starling!” The voice came from the shelter nearest the landing pad, and a woman in House Starling dress approached. Leilani, Eden’s favorite of her mother’s staff. “Welcome to Betazed.” She performed a deep curtsy, and Eden matched it with a bow.

At Luvrodo’s advice, she had added her formal shawl to her dress uniform -in truth, more a long ribbon than a shawl, in her family’s traditional powder blue, the perched songbird of their crest embroidered on each end. This sat uncomfortably with the decorations she’d developed the habit of wearing when in whites during her time on the border – her Lagashi platinum rifle qualification at her collar opposite her rank pips, Starfleet honors capped with her Medal of Valor at her breast, and the 88th Marine Reconnaisance Unit flash-patch she’d earned during her exchange tour at her left shoulder. – but it seemed a reasonable nod to her position and the reason for her visit.

“Leilani,” Eden said. “I find joy in your presence.” The traditional greeting doubled as a statement of truth, and she enjoyed the flash of warmth from the Betazoid woman. “I introduce my yeoman and sister in spirit, Ensign Li Ling Ailiang an Hark an Jenner.”

Ailiang smiled at the sight of Leilani parsing the complexities of Lagashi naming traditions. “You may call me Ensign Li Ling,” she said.

“Ensign Li Ling,” Leilani replied, relief visible in her eyes and palpable in the air. “You honor House Starling with your visit.” She turned to Eden. “The Matriarch has instructed me to see you to your chambers, and to inform you that she would like to see you after you have rested from your journey. Please allow me?”

“Of course, Leilani,” Eden said. “Please, lead the way.”

As they walked Leilani looked to Eden. “Lady Starling, would you prefer that Ensign Li Ling stay in your guest room or in chambers of her own?”

Eden smiled to Ailiang. “What do you think? This isn’t exactly a normal mission, after all… your own chambers could win you more privacy to enjoy Betazed.”

Ailiang shook her head. “I’d rather be close, Commander.” Then she grinned. “Less temptation to cause trouble.”

Eden laughed. “Very well.” She looked to Leilani. “My guest room it is, then.”

They continued along the elevated path toward House Starling.

Erika Tatsu sat at a cafe on the station’s Promenade – a massive chamber carved out by the Breen to train soldiers, converted by Starfleet and the Lagashi into a commercial district to help morale in the cold darkness of the asteroid – and sipped her drink. Iced tea mixed with the juice of a Cardassian humpberry, bitter and sweet and tart all at once. It was a taste that was apparently singular to her, but the barista operating the cafe had made it without comment. Mixing Cardassian and human flavors was, apparently, the least odd thing about her.

“Pardon, Captain.” The voice that spoke was melodic, and Tatsu’s Universal Translator identified the language not as English but as the Lagashi dialect of Mandarin. “May I join you?”

Tatsu looked up, met the speaker’s eyes. She was definitely Lagashi – the visible cybernetics behind the electric blue irises of her eyes spoke to that – and beautiful. Late 30s or early 40s, with a distinctive hook to her nose and fine civilian dress. She wore a shimmering azure coat over a white blouse and long, pleated, black skirt, all in fabrics Tatsu was unfamiliar with. Tatsu gestured to the seat across from her. “Please, sit.” She sipped her drink once more before continuing, giving the woman time to settle. “I have not had time to review the files of the station’s civilian complement, so you’ll have to forgive me not knowing who you are. I am Captain Erika Marie Tatsu.”

“I know you, Captain,” the woman said. “I am Keyere Hala Hualing, and while I am presently at rest, I am the Arbiter assigned to this station and its nearby space. The duty and honor of the law rests on my shoulders.” She held Tatsu’s eyes, her gaze intense, probing, the bright color of her eyes keeping Tatsu firmly aware of the power of that gaze.

“Arbiter.” The role of the Arbiters had, of course, been in Tatsu’s briefing packet, and Commander Enigma had once spoken to her at length about them. In Lagashi culture, they were among the most revered civilians – incorruptible, trusted with immense power, virtually impossible to intimidate. They were judges, notaries, and witnesses, their word truth under the law. In return for that power, they were held to the highest standards, expected to wield the law impartially and effectively. An Arbiter found to be corrupt or to abuse her power would see sanctions against herself and her family, would become an outcast among the Lagashi people.

This woman was the highest civilian authority on Roosevelt.

“I am pleased to meet you, Arbiter,” Tatsu said, folding her hands in greeting.

“And I you, Captain,” Keyere Hala replied. “Pleased, though also trepedatious. Commander Enigma, though of Earth, has spent the time to learn us as a people. She is all but part of one of our families, and has fought and bled alongside our soldiers. Her voice helps our children learn the shape of the galaxy around them, and her words carry the music of home. You, however, are an unknown.”

“I won’t pretend to be an expert on Lagashi law and culture,” Tatsu said. “Commander Enigma and I are friends, and I have listened when she has spoken of your people, but I don’t have her direct experience. I can, however, promise that when you speak, I will listen, and I will know that you speak with the force of the law behind you. I can only ask that you offer me understanding.”

The Lagashi woman smiled, then, a warm, winning expression that lit her whole face. “I will trust you, Captain Tatsu, until you violate that trust, and I will offer you the best counsel I can.”

Tatsu nodded, folding her hands on the table. “Thank you, Arbiter.”

Then her commbadge chirped. “Ops to Tatsu,” Kron’s voice said. “We need you here, Captain. We have a ship approaching… it’s Kzinti, and it’s badly damaged and not responding to hails.”

Tatsu rose to her feet. “On my way.” She looked to Keyere Hala. “I apologize for cutting this short.”

“It is all right,” the Lagashi woman replied. “I will see you again.”

Tatsu offered a parting gesture before making her way to the turbolift. “Ops.”