In the Ranks of the Imperial Fleet

Posted on Sat Dec 2nd, 2023 @ 12:38am by Lieutenant Commander Annalise Faulkner & Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Lieutenant Marikit "Kit" Urso & Ensign Ilan Ocara & Chief Petty Officer Virginia Pryce & Captain Ivan Petrov & Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov & Lieutenant Sovas Nyseth & Lieutenant Dr. Daniel Brasken & Lieutenant JG Jonathan Forrest & Lieutenant JG Orion Wolff & Lieutenant Commander Yana Petrova & Lieutenant JG Nairobi Ellis & Lieutenant JG Revana Nazar

Mission: S1 Episode 6: Joy and Ashes
Location: Cargo Bay
Timeline: Date 2371-09-08 at 1800
5619 words - 11.2 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Ivan, Andrei, and Yana stood before the large red flag of the Empire, the golden Terra with a sword through it serving as a symbol of strength long since taken away but coveted. The determination of the Empire to reclaim what was rightfully hers had wavered over the years since Spock had sundered them with democracy and the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance had all but wiped them out, but the Petrov’s were a sign of their resurgent spirit. Ivan and Andrei, both large and imposing men, stood next to each other with Yana, shorter and more elegant, standing observantly on the other side.

With them stood dozens of members of the Vengeance crew who were milling about and talking to one another quietly in anticipation of the call to order. The cargo bay had been quickly cleared after the Remembrance Feast of the day before and now served as a fitting venue for this promotion ceremony. As before, those being promoted were ordered to come in their dress uniforms. In black boxes behind the Petrovs were insignia set aside to be distributed to the officers, NCOs, and enlisted crew as they were called forward.

David Novak stood a few paces away from Ivan, his eyes moving between him and the crew gathered nearby. The marine had enjoyed his brief return to the barracks, where he got to do more than stand around and wait for a loyal crew to attack its Captain. But now, since almost all of his friends had been killed, he was to be promoted and return to his old sentry post. It was painful, and sadness was written obviously on his soft, almost pretty face. Otherwise, he was a unit, and that did enough to make him look tougher than he felt.

Unfortunately, the attack that killed his friends had seemed to cause many among the crew to doubt Captain Petrov’s method of loud, brash, in-charge diplomacy. It had worked for a while, but now they saw the inherent risks of being extremely dangerous: everyone wanted to take you out. He even had his doubts but wouldn’t dare let himself consider them. His job was clear: protect the Captain from every threat. He intended to do that job.

Revana smiled brightly, trying to put the sadness that hung over the crew to rest. She concluded a conversation she was having with some of the crew from Engineering and walked, ample hips swaying, toward Sovas. Placing a hand gently on his forearm, she smiled, her stunning visage only potentially marred by the fact that she was green.

“It’s not too early for congratulations, is it?”

Sovas let what he hoped was a convincing smile form on his handsome features as he turned his attention to the half-Orion woman, subtly taking her in before meeting her gaze again. “I wouldn’t say so, not much that could jinx it at this point,” He still was having trouble with his feelings, wondering if they would come back or if he was relegated to this new state, living with an emotional void. He was holding his hands behind his back, perhaps a little too rigid, but he also felt that if he let himself relax, he might collapse like a puppet with his strings cut.

“Congratulations on your promotion to Chief on the Gladius. Your presence will be missed here.”

“You’ll miss me, will you?” she asked teasingly as she removed her arm and raised an eyebrow in a subtly flirtatious challenge. “Thanks, though. It’s an honor to be chosen to serve as a department head.”

There was a little flash of emotion for a moment, but it was subtle and gone as he let his smile shift into something he hoped was a sly smirk. “We did have more than a bit of fun the last time, as I remember.” The half-Vulcan met her gaze and her challenge. “From what I have been able to gather from one of their Ops personnel, the Gladius is going to be something of a project to get her back to full operation.”

Kit had been more or less minding her own business. She wasn’t being particularly social and, if she were being honest, it all felt a bit awkward to her. She didn’t enjoy being the center of attention this way even when she was sharing that attention with a bunch of other people - most of whom she didn’t know. In fact the only familiar faces were Annalise and Jonathan. Orion had mentioned showing up, but he hadn’t arrived yet. She’d meandered her way to a quiet area near a tall man with somewhat pointed ears who didn’t seem to notice her and was vaguely aware of the swath of bright green that sashayed by and clamped onto pointy-ears’ arm.

They started to talk to each other and Kit wasn’t actively listening, but she could still hear most of it. Mundane really, nice in its own way just for that fact - there hadn’t been much mundanity on the Gladius. So the green girl would be the new chief - Kit had exchanged a few messages with her through personnel, but they hadn’t had a conversation yet. She thought maybe she should introdu-

What she heard leave pointy’s mouth broke her from her thoughts and her fingers twitched around her glass.

“Excuse you? Who the hell are you?” Kit took the three steps or so over to where Sovas and Revana were standing. Her voice was quiet but there was some aggression to it. “You don’t know jack shit about my ship.”

The half-Vulcan’s attention turned to the sudden approach of the other officer, a dark-haired Terran woman. He sized her up but subtly stayed on his guard as he listened to her voice; he suspected this was the eccentric genius of the Gladius. “Lieutenant Sovas, Chief Operations Officer of the Vengeance,” His introduction was cool and without an ounce of pride or aggression, but his tone was firm as he held the woman’s gaze. “Coming at me as you are, I suspect you are Lieutenant Urso,”

He paused for a moment and seemed to take her measure before continuing. “I spoke with the Gladius’ Operations Department, and from the parts they requested, it sounds as if several systems need to be refitted for more optimal operation and to bypass what I was told was some rather creative jury-rigging. That isn’t a knock against your skill or your crew's ability to keep her functioning despite everything you’ve endured and encountered. I applaud your tenacious survival and refusal to submit.”

“Yeah, fuck you. Yes it was and you know it was; you’re backpedaling because you got caught saying stupid shit you know nothing about.” Kit eyed Sovas up and down, clearly angry and put off by him. His compliments meant nothing to her after the delivered insult. She turned her attention to Revana then, the expression gentling to something more approachable and agreeable.

“Listen, I know you understand. She’s a good ship and you’ll do good things with her.” Kit smiled, though it was a bit strained. She didn’t want to leave what had been her home and truthfully her family, but what choice did she have. “It will be easy to get everything back in order now that we actually have supplies and aren’t fighting for every moment of survival.”

Quickly her brown eyes moved back to Sovas, her expression darkening, then they slid back to Revana and once again, she was mostly personable. “It will just take some time, then you can start making her into whatever you like.”

Revana had watched the exchange, a smile on her features that indicated exactly how amusing the interaction between Kit and Sovas was for her. She had, against the wishes of the drama queen inside, remained silent and observed. She had learned to watch and learn, looking for anything that might tell her who a person really was.

“I’ll try to maintain the tradition of excellence you’ve clearly started. I haven’t interacted with people from Gladius yet, so I’ll have to adjust to the culture first.” Revana said, flashing a pearly white smile between two full hot-pink lips. “Any advice for a newcomer?”

“Just try to be patient. I know - at least I hope - it is a difficult thing to grasp, but living the way we were on the Gladius alone and barely getting by well… it does things to people. It may take a little bit for everyone to warm up to you given how close we all were together with there being so few of us.” Kit offered up thoughtfully and shrugged, offering what seemed a genuine and easy smile. “Everyone will have to adjust for better and for worse.”

Sovas listened to the petite firecracker of a woman as she seemed to have shifted from defensive to more congenial, though he wondered if every interaction would be that way with her or not.

“I’ll try to be patient then,” Revana said, seeming to have internalized the advice. She wasn’t going about this with arrogance in her heart, and she intended to be successful.

Orion strode into the cargo bay, taking in the assembled officers and enlisted mingling about, he was dressed in a neatly pressed dress uniform, freshly shaved, and hair sharply styled as his gaze moved over the crowd. It stopped at the people up on stage, the first family of the Vengeance, his eyes moving over the mother and father to settle on Andrei. He still appeared as arrogant as ever; it looked like he might have grown even more so over the years. Though if the stories of his survival after his torture and near-death experience at the hands of the Kazon were true, then he supposed the other man had earned himself a bit of bragging rights. He moved away from the doors and moved about the room, politely greeting any of the crew of the Vengeance. However, he mostly kept to himself as he did his best to remain as inconspicuous as possible to try and get a better feel of the crew that he would be joining.

Daniel was comfortable enough in his dress uniform, even if he felt a little out of place in such a large ceremony. He understood the reason behind the show of unity and strength to help with morale after the most recent events. That still did not mean that the spotlight was not where he ever really wanted to be and if the recent events hadn’t happened, he likely would have found a reason to be busy and avoid the hoopla. As it were though, he found himself abnormally drawn to people from home. The loss affected him psychologically against his standard expectations. The isolation from his family wasn’t the problem, that had been almost freeing in its own way. Without a touchstone back to the Alpha Quadrant though, the loss felt more personal and he was angry that he felt that way as well as being angry about the attack itself.

So in a contemplative mood, Daniel walked through the crowd greeting people who were only files to him. Interestingly it was the new file that he had recently reviewed of the crew transfers that caught his eye. “Lieutenant Wolff, welcome aboard.”

“Thank you,” Orion paused momentarily at being addressed as he turned his attention to the other man. “Seems you have me at a disadvantage, you know my name, but I don’t know yours.”

It set Orion on edge, not because he detested meeting and greeting anyone, but because he’d spent his whole life being trained in the etiquette and protocols of the aristocracy. Though that life had its pitfalls, being approached by someone who knew your name but you didn’t know theirs was, at most, a reason for caution since they could be anyone. An assassin sent by a rival, an agent of the Imperial Throne, a covert enemy agent. It all created a bit of paranoia, but the one lesson he would never forget was that you couldn’t be too careful.

Especially around strangers.

Though he did take more than a moment to carefully study the man’s face, though he didn’t know the name and face of every noble in the Empire, he had always made sure to pay special attention to those that might prove useful or could be a potential rival in the future. The man speaking with him wasn’t necessarily remarkable in any particular way, but he was certain that he wasn’t someone of note that he should know from the aristocracy.

Daniel watched the man’s face as all the thoughts crossed through his mind and made sure to keep watch on his eyes. The discomfort that his greeting was impossible to miss, but he wasn’t sure what else the man was thinking. Not particularly interested in prolonging the suspicion or anxiety of the moment though, the doctor spoke up.

“Doctor Daniel Brasken,” he put a hand flat on his chest as an indicator before continuing a moment later. “The privilege of the medical department is to know more than most others, especially the ones being assigned to my care”

“Indeed, a position of privilege, doctor.” Orion nodded to the other man. Perhaps he was being too skittish, though it had been a while since he’d been around so many Terrans in one room. After that more lax environment of the Gladius, he would have to make sure he quickly slipped back into the old familiar ways as if he were slipping into a tailored suit. “A pleasure to meet you, how have you been fairing after the battle? I’m sure that you had your hands full.”

“Looking forward to some much needed rest. Even though the critical cases have been resolved, there are still several long recoveries that are now in the works that I have to make sure are on the right paths and so I have been sleeping rather in fits while in my chair in Sickbay.” Daniel waved a hand dismissively as he finished. “Not that I am complaining, of course.”

“If you have one, either a hammock or a cot in your office does wonders for being able to catch up on much-needed sleep, I can’t tell you how helpful it was having that set up in my labs while I was aboard the Gladius,” Orion offered up to the other man, still taking his measure of him but it seemed that he wasn’t an immediate threat, though he didn’t betray these inner thoughts while he give the other man a nod before continuing. “Though I am glad that you’ve been able to bring the medical situation back to something resembling normal.”

Lyra stood within the large group of men and significantly fewer women of her department gathered for the ceremony. Most of the promotions were being given to Security; it wasn’t anything overly surprising though given the size of the department compared to the rest. She too would be honored and as such was wearing a dress uniform like the others. Given she wasn’t actively working, her long toned legs were on full display, and her magnificent backside was prominently framed by the fabric of the skirt. It delighted the majority of the men around her. She was drifting from group to group, engaging in conversation and wearing a cordial smile through it all - it didn’t reach her eyes, but no one really noticed that. They were too distracted by the pretty smile, the brush of hair, the way her beautiful lips moved when she spoke, and the shape of her body through the uniform.

As she played social, her eyes were moving through the room, taking notice of what was going on and who was with whom. Daniel was with Orion Wolff, one of the new transfers from the Gladius. Her eyes lingered on the two attractive men and the way their mouths moved; nothing interesting was said, but she could see the tension with which Wolff had reacted when he had been approached. Curious given his background. Her gaze then shifted over toward Sovas and Revana. She was quite glad the woman was being transferred though truthfully she hadn’t been nearly as troublesome as neither she nor Andrei had anticipated; it actually elevated the half-breed in her book… whatever that was worth. Her brows lifted slightly as the shorter, unfamiliar woman inserted herself into the pair’s conversation and looked rather displeased over what Sovas had said. She didn’t get to watch the entire interaction play out as her attention was drawn to the group she was with when she was directly addressed. A little laugh, a generic response, and shining eyes met her, happy for her attention.

Once the clock struck the appropriate time, Andrei gave a nod to the COB. The older man didn’t respond in any obvious way except to lift a whistle to his mouth and to blow. The entire room came to order with immediate speed. The Captain strode out before the crowd of officers and enlisted and gave a resolute expression, like a man inspecting his troops the day before a battle.

“We gather here to promote the deserving members of our crew and to fill necessary posts for the functioning of this ship and the Shadow Fleet. Promotions have been…accelerated since we arrived in the Delta Quadrant, and several of you, my XO included, have been asked to accept roles meant for people a decade your senior. All of you have performed admirably, and I’m proud to say this round of promotions gives position to many deserving, competent, and dedicated people.”

Ivan’s gaze fell on each of them as he spoke, one at a time. He was ready, and he hoped they were as well.

“Let us begin with command.”

“David Novak; Sergeant,” Andrei said, reading from the document loaded onto his patch. It gave the impression he was reciting names from memory, which increased the sense of mystery and ability around him.

David had been standing by, but his frown grew when his name was called. He was one of a handful of marines left, all of which had been scattered to different roles throughout the ship. He thought of his friends who were gone and wished there was no need for him to receive a promotion.

He stopped forward toward the Captain and accepted his outstretched hand.

“Congratulations, son,” Ivan said, grinning proudly at his recently restored bodyguard.

“Thank you, sir.” He said with a wistful half-smile. He then walked to Yana, accepted the box with new rank insignia inside, and went back to his place to put them on his uniform.

“Now Flight Control,” Ivan said, looking at the men and women standing near the back in red. He watched as they moved toward the front.

“Jonathan Forrest; Lieutenant, Junior Grade.”

The helmsman moved forward toward his new commander He wanted to shake the Captain’s hand, his mother had served with him once and had nothing but good things to say about him.

Ivan extended his hand to the approaching man. They hadn’t had a chance to speak beyond general greetings, and he knew he would need to get to know the man soon. For now, all that really mattered was his record and his ability to fly.

“Congratulations, Lieutenant. I know you’re young and you don’t have much experience leading a department, especially one as big as the one here on Vengeance. I wanted you to know that I believe in you and I know you can figure this job out. We need you to be sharp if we’re going to get around the challenges here in this quadrant.”

Jon’s eyes got wider as he realized he’d been promoted. He took the offered hand and shook it. “Good day, it’s good to be able to serve under you, sir. I may not have a lot of experience as a department head but I’m the best pilot in any quadrant.”

Next, the first of the two shuttle pilots was promoted from Warrant Officer 3 to Ensign and assigned as the Gamma Shift Helm Officer, and the other was promoted from Crewman to Petty Officer, 3rd Class. When they were done, Ivan spoke again.

“There’s just one from Operations.” He said in a calm voice, his eyes moving to his Ops Chief.

“Sovas Nyseth; Lieutenant,” Andrei said, formally.

As he heard his name called, Sovas strode forward towards the Captain and the other officers there, poised and regal in a way that would have made even the blood Terrans take a moment to consider if he was, in fact, a mixed-blooded bastard. He stopped and executed a crisp military turn towards the Command Staff, facing Andrei, Ivan, and Yana, his face an emotionless mask as he waited to be presented with his new rank insignia.

“Congratulations, Lieutenant,” Ivan said, extending his hand to the half-Vulcan. “You’ve been an invaluable member of this crew from the moment you rose from your coma, using your sharp mind and keen instincts to help us solve serious problems despite your struggles.”

"Thank you, Captain," Sovas nodded as he took the other man's hand, his grip firm and solid as he held Ivan's gaze. What the Terran Captain would see was almost a void of emotions, like the surface of a calm, dark lake that didn't betray its depths until forced to do so. "To strive to overcome and conquer all is our duty as Terrans, no matter the circumstance or obstacles presented to us." His attention then turned to Yana as he moved to accept his new insignia from her.

Once excused, the half-Vulcan stepped to and left the stage so he could allow the next candidate for promotion to be called forward. For Sovas, he silently struggled with the muted emotional desire to be proud of the achievement leveled against the much more weighty void that seemed to be swallowing up anything that he had been experiencing since the parasitic entity had been excised from him by Brasken and Ilan. He rolled between his fingers the insignia while his mind analytically processed their smooth texture.

After Sovas received his new insignia from Yana, Ivan addressed the crowd again.

“The Security Department.” He said, and watched as nearly 20 gold uniforms shifted toward the front and stood in the front row.

“Lyra Cassiel; Lieutenant Commander.” Andrei said, his visible eye resting on his woman. He stood up a bit taller, feeling that her promotion was something of a statement on the power inherent in proximity to his family. He hoped everyone took note.

Lyra stepped forward with her head high. Her eyes met Andrei’s single eye and patch, and they shared a meaningful, lingering gaze between them. Their expressions didn’t shift, no smile, no nods - they didn’t need those things to communicate their feelings. Her dark eyes reflected that fire that had drawn him to her. So much between them in only a few seconds as she turned her attention to Ivan, stopping in front of him.

“Congratulations, Commander. Because of your skill and dedication to this ship and its crew, I’ve decided to use this opportunity to make you Second Officer of Vengeance. The death of your predecessor was tragic, but we still require a stable chain of command. Commander Petrov will brief you on everything you need to know.” Ivan said.

Lyra shook Ivan’s hand with her naturally strong grip; she wasn’t putting any more or less effort into it than normal. On hearing of her additional promotion to second officer, a certain glint appeared in her dark eyes. She’d expected it of course with the… tragic death of Johnathan… but it was still good to hear. “Thank you, sir. I will meet with the Commander directly after everything is concluded.”

With a nod given in response, she wasted no time in stepping over to Yana to receive her new insignia, and once she was off the stage she replaced what she was wearing with the new one.

After Lyra picked up her new insignia from Yana, they proceeded to promote the remainder of the present members of the security department, including new Alpha & Beta Squad leaders and many of the members as well including Jeffery Simmons becoming Alpha-Two Team Leader.

“Engineering,” Ivan said and observed the gathering gold-shirts.

“Marikit Urso; Lieutenant.” Andrei said, his arms behind his back. His visible eye moved to her and lingered longer than the others, excepting Lyra. After the space of a few seconds, however, he resumed his professional expression and focussed on her interaction with the Captain.

With a bit of a smile, Kit moved forward and spared Andrei no more than a brief glance and made her way up to Ivan, taking his extended hand with a brief squeeze and letting her smile grow slightly. Her eyes ran over the man, studying his face and expression.

“Congratulations, Lieutenant,” Ivan said, shaking her hand. “You’ve proven yourself aboard Gladius, and now you’re I trusted with a bigger department here. Something tells me you’ll fit in quite well and you’ll do a bang-up job.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ll give you my best.” Kit promised in her usual cordial way and then stepped away from Ivan. She moved to Yana, repeating the process of studying the woman briefly, then stepped off the stage to fiddle with her new ornamentation.

“Revana Nazar; Lieutenant, Junior Grade.” Andrei called, eyeing his friend with little more than casual interest. When Revana was in the room, any red-blooded man could hardly help but look. He had much more self-control than people often thought.

Revana walked toward the Captain, her uniform skirt shifting with captivating hypnotism over her ample bottom. Often she had lamented her green skin, the only mark on an otherwise perfect appearance. It had held her back in life and kept her out of her father’s heart. She smiled a pretty smile and extended her green hand, grasping the Captain’s gently.

“Congratulations, Lieutenant. “ he said with a smile of his own. “You are, and have always been, a rebel against your circumstances. I’m proud to put you under Commander Faulkner’s command as her Chief Engineer. I know you’ll be the leader you always wanted to be.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Revana answered in her sultry voice, “I’m honored that you trust me with this responsibility. I promise not to get in..too much trouble.”

After a shared chuckle, she went over to Yana, received her wooden box, and returned to her position in the crowd. Once there, she opened it and saw the insignia of her new rank sitting there atop tan silk. Smiling, she grabbed it and replaced the old one.

“Nairobi Ellis; Lieutenant, Junior Grade,” Andrei said. Now it was his turn to get a bit of a stare down. Nairobi’s eyes had drifted to him several times during the proceedings, and though she attempted to be subtle, he had noticed. It was a known secret in Engineering that she mentioned him at every opportunity and, to some degree, word had spread. Nevertheless, she approached the Captain to shake his hand.

“Our most experienced NCO engineer. You know how to manage people and you know your way around an engine room. All you need now is to figure out how to properly file paperwork.” He said with a chuckle. “Congratulations, Lieutenant.”

“Thank you, Captain.” She said, her voice sounding much more tense than she expected. They didn’t know, of course, but she had been in this situation before and she was no stranger to filing department head reports. “I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it before too long. I won’t let you down.”

Next, the Lead Maintenance Specialist was promoted to Engineer’s Mate to replace Nairobi followed by several subsequent promotions in the maintenance section.

“Only one from Science,” Andrei said. “Ilan Ocara, Ensign.”

“Not many to begin with, really,” Ilan spoke to Andrei and flashed him a flirtatious grin on the way by to Ivan, repeating the process as many had before her and shaking the man’s hand with a light grip.

“Congratulations, Ensign. After so much time doing the job after our last chief was. destroyed, many thought you should get the job in your own right. A more experienced officer came along, of course, but I have every confidence you will be an excellent assistant Chief.”

“Thank you, Captain. I’m sure Lieutenant Wolff and I will get along just fine.” Truthfully, Ilan wasn’t sure how she felt about this promotion. She had never wanted to be an officer - she’d gone specifically to study as a specialized warrant officer after all - yet here she was a new ensign and now assistant chief of her department. She hoped there wouldn’t be too much paperwork involved.

“And last but not least, Medical,” Ivan said.

“Daniel Brasken; Lieutenant,” Andrei said, his visible eye finding the doctor quickly. He was distinctive looking, and though the two of them hadn’t had occasion to interact socially, he had a clear distaste for the man. He had been responsible for what some might call torture to Lyra and then the man had dared refuse him entry to her room when she was in intensive care. He wanted to rip his head off his shoulders, and one day he just might.

Daniel made his way before Ivan, his movements showing a glimpse of the fatigue he was feeling from cleaning up the crew from the attacks. He did perk up slightly as he got within a step or two of Andrei and was able to make out the animosity in the younger Petrov. The stiffening up could easily be seen by those watching as Daniel came to attention instead of the amusement that he was feeling instead.

“Congratulations, Doctor. You’ve cared for many in our sickbay in quite a few scrapes. Some of our crew have been saved by you multiple times. It is my pleasure to offer you this promotion. I’m making Ensign Petrova your assistant, and she will need your careful guidance seeing as she is so young..”

His arm snapped up to his chest and his head lowered slightly in acknowledgment of Ivan’s words. “The girl is intelligent and hard-working, it will be an honor, Captain.” They had some history while Daniel was proctoring her academy courses which might cause some tension. Daniel didn’t see any other option than to progress as he would with any other crew member, regardless of the familial connections the young woman had.

“Victoria Pryce; Chief Petty Officer,” Andrei announced, and immediately stepped back toward the wall, knowing his part was done.

Virginia walked forward, slightly stiff but it could simply be attributed to nervousness. She gave a mild squeeze to Ivan’s hand, but it was clear by her energy she wanted nothing more than to be out of the spotlight.

“Congratulations, Chief. I’ve heard nothing but good things about your work and your bedside manner. Keep up the good work.”

“Thank you, sir. I will.” With that, she quickly stepped to Yana and then down into the crowd to disappear again.

“That concludes our ceremony for today.” Ivan said, placing his gloved hands behind his back. “Congratulations to all of you. You’re a credit to the uniform and I know you will serve this ship with honor and distinction and join me in the mission to return home to the Alpha Quadrant. Glory to the Empire.”

“Glory to the Empire!” The room responded.

With the official part of the ceremony concluded Lyra finally made her way over to Andrei on the other side of the room. She passed as politely as possible through the gathered crowd. As she passed through the gathered engineers, her eyes flowed over Nairobi for the briefest of glances but didn’t linger. She cleared the group and approached her lover.

“Commander Petrov,” she greeted him, the words formal but her voice holding a degree of warmth. “Captain Petrov wanted me to meet with you so that you can brief me on my new duties. When would be convenient for you?”

Andrei looked to Lyra and offered a friendly smile, signaling his openness to her approach. He reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it firmly in a shake and using it to step into her.

“Report to my office and I will be able to properly orient you.” He said, his voice neutral and low, but his gaze saying everything.

“Very good, sir. I’m looking forward to it.” She moved her hand from his, her fingertips intimately but subtly tracing down his palm while her gaze held his. She then looked toward the knot of security personnel all standing together and conversing animatedly. “I’ll say my goodbyes and meet you in your office.”

Andrei gave a shallow nod and nothing else. It indicated his understanding, but let very little else loose. Just as she stepped away, he too stepped into the crowd to offer his congratulations personally.

OFF