When Commander Raisa Shukri materialised on the pad of the USS Ark Royal’s transporter room, it felt like she’d never been away. This ship had been her home away from home for the past five years, but even though it looked the same, the Ark Royal she was returning to was radically different after the events of the recent Dominion Crisis and Fronter Day.

“Welcome back, ma’am.” Petty Officer Inara Tris stepped forward, her trusty PADD in hand. Raisa couldn’t remember seeing the young yeoman without it and often wondered if the device was welded to the Bajoran’s hand. Inara had been a bubbly character, full of excitement and wonder, but in the wake of Frontier Day, she seemed different; subdued, tired with dark circles under her eyes, and with a forced smile.

Raisa adjusted the duffel bag slung over her shoulder as she stepped off the transporter. “Thank you, Inara. It’s good to be back.” 

“How was your time on Earth?” Inara asked.

For the past seven months, Raisa had been temporarily assigned to Starfleet Command pending reassignment. When Captain Henris asked her to return as his Executive Officer, she couldn’t say no. Ark Royal had become her home, its crew her extended family.

“It was nice to be able to spend so much time with my family,” She replied. “But that made it so much harder leaving them this time.”

Inara forced another smile. “Captain Henris is waiting for you in his ready room,” she announced. “If you give me your bag, I’ll drop it in your quarters.”

Rasia handed over the bag. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m fine,” Inara replied too quickly. Raisa knew a stock response when she heard it, but this wasn’t the time to press.

Reaching out, Raisa placed a reassuring hand on Inara’s shoulder. “My door is always open if you need to talk.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Inara replied with a tight-lipped smile. “If there’s nothing else?”

Raisa nodded. “Dismissed.” She watched Inara scuttle off before following her out the door.

Raisa encountered engineers in plain mustard-coloured jumpsuits working on open panels on her walk to the turbolift. The smell of fresh paint permeated the corridors. According to the reports she’d read, upgrades and repairs to Ark Royal were nearing completion. In three weeks, they would be ready to leave drydock for the first time in seven months, the first time since she returned to Avalon Fleet Yards in the followingf that awful day.

It only took Raisa a few minutes to reach the bridge. The science station was unmanned with Ark Royal in drydock, its LCARS interface dark. She started walking towards it as if a magnet was dragging her. Reaching out, she ran a hand over the smooth surface. How many hours had she spent there pouring over sensor data, studying some anomaly or nebula and providing her analysis to the Captain and First Officer?

Her gaze drifted across the rest of the bridge, eventually landing on the three command chairs, particularly on the one to the captain’s right. For the five years Raisa had served aboard Ark Royal, Commander Eryk Loris had occupied that seat. He hadn’t just been her superior officer; he’d been one of her closest friends. Would she ever be able to fill his shoes?

Raisa quickly dismissed that thought. She’d proven her leadership credentials during the recent Dominion crisis and then again on Frontier Day. Raisa was as capable as Loris, and she knew he’d say the same thing if he were here. The science station would be Lieutenant T’Reya’s responsibility now. There was no point living in the past. She crossed the short distance to the ready room. It didn’t take long for her to hear the captain’s voice ushering her inside once she pressed the chime. Captain Henris walked out from behind his desk with a welcoming smile when Raisa entered the ready room. 

“Commander Shukri,” His grip was firm as she shook Raisa’s hand. “It’s good to finally meet you in person.” 

The captain’s service image didn’t do him justice. With his prominent cheekbones and piercing blue eyes, Arlo Henris cut a striking figure. His cologne was a mix of mint, lavender and a few other elements Raisa couldn’t identify. It reminded her of hiking through the forests of Provence.

“It’s good to meet you too, sir,” Raisa replied pleasantly.

Henris motioned to the couch that dominated one of the ready room’s walls. “I’m glad you decided to accept this assignment,” He asked, his voice turning sombre as he lowered himself onto the opposite end of the couch. “I understand how difficult it is to replace a fallen colleague.”

“Unfortunately this isn’t a first for me,” Raisa replied sadly. 

Judging by how Henris’ features softened, he understood how she felt. “It never gets any easier.” He took a deep breath. “Well, I’m glad to have you onboard. I hope in time, the crew will come to trust me the way they trusted Captain Antonov.”

“I’m sure they will, sir,” Raisa assured him.

Henris gave her a grateful smile. “I appreciate that, Commander.” He ran a hand through his short, dirty blonde hair. “Moving on to the job at hand, our departure timetable has been moved up. We leave first thing in the morning.”

“First thing?” Raisa asked, her surprise ringing clearly in her tone. “The last report I saw indicated that we needed another three weeks.”

The captain nodded. “An hour ago that was still the plan, but I spoke with Commodore Wyatt about forty minutes ago and she’s ordered us to perform a patrol along the Federation-Romulan border while we conduct a shakedown.”

“A shakedown,” Raisa repeated doubtfully. 

Forcing Ark Royal from drydock three weeks early, when there were still repairs and upgrades yet to be completed, just to patrol a border was highly unusual. There was more to this story, that she wasn’t being told. The question was, did Captain Henris know?

“We’ll depart Avalon and proceed to Gateway Station while we complete the engineering work en route,” Henris told her. “We’ll meet most of our senior officers at Gateway Station. Right now only the chief engineer, chief science officer and chief ops officer are onboard. After that, we’ll continue to the border and begin a patrol from Midgard to Devron.”

“Understood,” Raisa didn’t like it and didn’t try to hide that fact.

“We’ll also be joined by an observer. The squadron’s strat ops officer.” That confirmed it for Raisa, this was more than a simple border patrol.

“Wait a second,” Raisa’s mind swiftly switched gears. “Selina Callahan is joining us?”

Captain Henris’ narrowed his eyes, “You know her?”

“We were ensigns on the Toronto together,” She replied. “Why is she joining us?” Raisa didn’t feel the need to go into more detail than that, though no doubt the Betazoid captain could sense that there was more to the story than she was offering. 

“She’ll be acting as an observer and will certify Ark Royal for active duty,” Henris elaborated. “I’m told that Commander Callahan also has a great deal of experience with the Romulans, which could prove very useful if we run into any Romulan ships during our patrol.”

“Are we expecting to run into any Romulans?” Raisa asked.

Henris frowned. “Commodore Wyatt doesn’t think so, but she feels we’re better to be prepared on the off chance that we do.” Even though she didn’t know him well, Raisa could tell Henris didn’t believe what he’d been told. Apparently, he was being kept in the dark too.

“Permission to speak freely, sir?” Raisa asked.

“When it’s just the two of us, you can always speak freely.”

“Thank you, sir.” Raisa took a deep breath. “Something doesn’t add up here,” she told him. “We’re being rushed out of drydock three weeks early, with work on Ark Royal still incomplete for a simple patrol of the Romulan border and shakedown cruise? And we just so happen to have a Romulan specialist joining us. There’s more to this than you’ve been told.”

“I agree,” Henris said, frustration starting to creep into his tone. “But until the Commodore clues us in, we can only follow the orders we’ve been given.”

That didn’t sit well with Raisa. Being sent into a situation without all the information was a recipe for disaster, but she could only hope that Commodore Wyatt and Commander Callahan would not intentionally put Ark Royal and her crew in unnecessary danger.

“I wish I could give you the rest of the day to get settled in, but there’s a lot of work to do before we leave tomorrow,” Henris told her as he rose from the couch. “How’re your engineering skills?”

Pushing herself off the sofa, Raisa smoothed out the front of her uniform jacket. “Lieutenant Commander Voss likes to keep me on my toes so I’ve kept my engineering qualifications up to date.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Henris smiled genuinely. “She has a to-do list ten miles long; I’m sure she’d appreciate the extra help.”

Raisa returned the captain’s smile. “I’ll place myself at her service.”

“Good,” Henris walked back around behind his desk. “We’re departing at ten hundred hours tomorrow. Make sure you get a good night’s sleep.”

“I will, sir,” Raisa replied. “Thank you.”

Henris smiled and gave her a nod. “I’m looking forward to serving with you, Commander. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Thank you, sir.”