Vanessa stared through the three-dimensional photo frame on her desk, eyes unfocused. Her eyes did not see the silvery-hair with black streaks on the woman pictured there, did not notice the laugh lines or the brightness in her eyes; but she didn’t need to, because her memory was playing back loops of that woman hugging her, laughing with her, crying with her. She closed her eyes and sighed, turning back to her desk terminal.

Starfleet had, rightly she thought, returned her to her previous rank during her bereavement leave; she had barely begun her stint as a command officer. When she heard Challenger was looking for a new counselor she jumped at the chance to return, to give her something to do, something to get her mind off of… things. An alert popped up on the terminal and she sighed again, swiping it away before saving the work she had been doing on her schedule. So many cadets, so little time.

She stood, twisting her hair about itself clockwise before pausing and reaching with one hand for a wooden skewer sitting on her desk. She balanced the hair with one hand as she carefully inserted the skewer, then shook her head side to side, testing the hold. Nodding, satisfied, she tugged on her uniform top, feeling the seams on the blue shoulder pauldrons shift into a more comfortable place. Two hundred years and Starfleet still couldn’t make a truly comfortable uniform.

She’d been gazing into the distance for so long the terminal chimed again. “Meeting with Captain Jacobs in five minutes,” the disembodied computer voice reminded her.

“I’m aware, thank you,” she replied, walking to the door. “Alerts off.” The computer chimed in response as Vanessa disabled the lights on the door panel before she left. A new captain was not something she expected when she returned; she thought Captain Davis would be on this ship for decades. She had grown used to the woman’s… unique take on command. She was interested to meet Jacobs and learn her viewpoint, now.

The turbolift slowed and stopped, barely noticeable until the doors hissed open. She approached the ready room, the place designated for the meeting, and pressed the chime, taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out.

Lofton, CNS