“Alright pirate-whisperer, what’s going on?” Blake Pisani’s out of the blue question was just as unexpected as her appearance in the Agora and her taking the seat opposite Jenu Trid.

The Agora wasn’t terribly busy at this hour, more of a mid-shift lunch break vibe filling the space than anything else. The limited windows looked forward from the mid-point on the ship’s saucer, giving an arc of the planet Kyban on one side and the whole face of one of Kyban’s two moons hundreds of thousands of kilometres away.

“Uh, what?” Trid asked in response, setting down her spoon in the nearly finished bowl of soup she’d been working through while reading a padd. She wasn’t the only one present working through a meal, or discussing something work related.

“You were Starfleet Intelligence, right?”

“No, I was Operations, just seconded out to Intelligence.”

“Semantics,” Blake countered, waving away the correction. “You were spying on the Commander before she came in from the cold and put a uniform back on.”

“Came in from the cold?” Trid asked, shaking her head. “What is this, some bad spy thriller?”

“You tell me.” Blake smiled, leaning back in her chair. “You had a meeting with Sidda and Selu. Then right after that she goes into a meeting with Mac. Now they’re both talking with Evan. So, what’s going on?”

“Planning obviously,” Trid answered. “Which I guess will be explained in the staff briefing later on. And no, I’m not holding out on you. The Commander didn’t say anything to Selu and I before she left.”

“All right then, best guess.”

Trid shook her head in exasperation. “I don’t know. Honestly, Commander Sadovu, most unorthodox commander I’ve worked with. Calm considered plans one moment, barging in head first, guns blazing, with no real plan to pull her ass out of the fire the next. You never know when she’s going to try to be diplomatic or just sucker punch someone. So, trying to figure out what’s going on in that head of hers is between her, a psychological team, her personal gods and maybe Revin.”

“Yeah, but Revin wasn’t in the meeting,” Blake responded. “You were.”

“And as I said, doesn’t help give me any more insight into her thinking.”

Blake shook her head. “Fine, fine. Guess I can wait till later. Or see if Mac will tell me beforehand.” She then looked around the Agora, did a quick study of everyone around, and then leaned in. “How did you ever work with someone like that for so long?”

“Orders.”

“Besides that. Why did her old crew follow her around?”

“Because she’s loyal to her people. Even the ones she wants to punt out an airlock.” Trid snorted at that, a shake of her head and a hand raised to hold off any questions. “She’s stubborn enough to see plans through. She’ll take the lead in a charge because she’d rather she gets hurt than anyone else and she takes slights against her people as slights against herself. I’d say she’s lucky as well, but she makes her own with no small amount of skill, effort, and determination.”

“You admire her,” Blake stated.

“Maybe,” Trid confirmed. “You’re sounding me out, aren’t you?”

“What? No, I just want to know why a bunch of miscreants like her old crew stuck around. Or why this crew should follow her when the going gets tough. I like Sidda, don’t get me wrong, but we really haven’t had a proper crisis to test her and the crew together.”

“So where do you fall on this, then?” Trid asked.

Blake took a moment to think before speaking. “I’m just wanting to make sure that Evan isn’t putting some sort of clique together to counter Sidda should something happen one day and Mac isn’t around to put his foot down in an emergency.”

“Oh, I don’t think you need to worry about that. Selu is a stickler for the rules and would back the Commander up unless Evan could produce irrefutable proof enough to remove the boss from any sort of temporary command situation.”

“Well, that’s a relief, then.” Blake sounded genuinely pleased. “Right then, second order of business.”

“Of?”

“Of two, so don’t panic. And besides, if this takes too long, I’ll write you a doctor’s note.” Blake looked around the Agora once more, looking over the most recent newcomers briefly. “You have any idea on what the problem is between Willow and the Night Witches?”

“It’s not the Night Witches, it’s just Cat.” Trid drew in a breath as she looked at her soup, then pushed the nearly finished bowl away from her slightly. “Willow’s the one in charge of the ship. She’s a JG running the ship’s flight operations. But then along comes the Night Witches and Cat, a full LT, in charge of her own wing. The line of who is responsible for small craft is blurred at first, until the Captain drew some lines, but that animosity, that concern for her job, it had settled in.”

“Wait, that’s it? She’s just holding a grudge from when they first came aboard and she was worried she was going to be replaced at the helm?” Blake couldn’t help the snort. “Oh geez, that’s so petty. Oh man.”

“I’ve tried telling Willow to drop it, to let it go, but she’s stubborn. And I think there’s another problem as well.”

“Oh, do tell,” Blake said. “Don’t leave me in anticipation.”

“Oh, yes please,” another voice asked. Revin had snuck up on both of them, bringing drinks for both women. “Water, splash of moba fruit,” she said to Trid. “And peppermint tea, two sugar,” to Blake. “Though I did just take a guess, so happy to get something else if you want.”

“Aren’t you just a dear,” Blake replied, lifting her teacup and experimentally sipping at it. “Still no?” she asked of Revin.

“Still no,” the Romulan woman answered with a smile. “You were saying?” Revin then asked Trid.

“You know that new recent transfer into Sciences, Jamie Sandhurst?”

“Bright red hair, tall, rather attractive,” Revin answered.

“As in red-red hair,” Blake clarified. “She’s been aboard ship for like a month, yeah?”

Trid nodded a few times. “That’s the one. Apparently, there was something between her and Willow in the past, but Jamie is basically ignoring her and every time I see her here,” she waved a hand to indicate the Agora, “she’s hanging around the Night Witches.”

“Seriously?” Blake spat out. “Save me from children and their crushes.”

“Aren’t they all grown individuals?” Revin asked.

“Children,” Blake answered. “This ship is full of children.” She shook her head as she looked for answers in her teacup. “Right, that’s it, we’re fixing this situation as soon as we can.”

“Oh no, I’m not getting involved,” Trid replied, waving a hand in protest. “You want someone else for this, not me.”

Revin however was grinning from ear to ear. “Oh, count me in.”

“With the ship’s charmer on my side, I’m sure we can’t fail,” Blake said with a wink to Revin.