El slipped into the cramped meeting room as quietly as she could. Her shuttle had just docked minutes before on the gangly space station. It was a warren of corridors and chambers that had been first a smaller station that had grown. Additions had been built on one another on one another. Ironically, many of the windows in it – small, scratched affairs – were pointing to Station Beta, the newer, slicker station that housed the brass and the good ships. It smelled old. It creaked old. It felt old. But boy it must have had some adventures in its time!

Bonaventure was docked here on Alpha. Oh they had names but most just called them by their designations of Alpha and Beta. Darlene raised her coffee mug in salute to her entry. It looked like she was last and all the chairs had been taken up. As she leaned against the back bulkhead her eyes glanced around. All the Bonnie’s engineers were there except for the Chief. Whoever that was to be. The clock over the wall said that it was just after 10PM local time, that is Starfleet HQ time, that is virtually half a world away from where she had come from.

It was only when she had gotten to the port to catch a shuttle that she had learned about this ‘meeting’ that had been called when she was at the Strip at Manticore. And she was late. And tired. And damp. And needing a shower. And looking at the irritated face of Lt Green. And he was not happy. In a moment a rush of fear passed through her. Did Green get the Chief Engineer spot wherever they were going? All she knew was that her home there was gone. In another moment she read his face. No, he’d be annoyed with her being late. He was more than that, so no, he didn’t get it. Why did that make her happy?

“Thank you for joining us, Serinde,” he said. “Glad you could join us. We all have a lot to do tonight.” He held her gaze with a frown implying that her being late by minutes had fatally inconvenienced everyone, especially him. “Now, the good news is that we’re together in our next posting. The Bonaventure is to be reassigned, maybe refitted, maybe made into a museum or something. I don’t know, but we’re all moving over to another ship.” Here he frowned. El thought, okay, this is it. “Same positions initially unless the new chief has other ideas. No, I don’t know who that is. That is Skipper’s prerogative and by the sound of it they’re letting him know at the eleventh hour too.”

Emerson Fawkes, another Brit sitting close to Green asked, “What ship, Lt?”

“The Sojourner,” Green said. “Luna Class. Been on the design tables for a while. How many of you are familiar with them?” Green looked at El. She didn’t even know about them and Green knew it and gave her an ‘I thought not’ look. Bekele raised his hand, as did Dorian, Fiona and, of course Warrant Officer Tyler Jackson. He was the technical specialist and would know about it. “And we have to have the Bonaventure’s lights out and all our gear transferred over by 09:00 tomorrow.” There was a murmur of surprise and some annoyance.

“I’m transmitting you your berths now,” Green said. El’s Comms beeped and she looked. F03. It showed a listing of everyone. They were spread out. Evidently it was based on Green’s preferences as he was up on C deck. But then he was nearly a full Lt so she supposed that was fair. After a bit of murmuring and comparing Green continued. “Now, we have to accomplish three things. Alpha shift needs to be on task in the morning so you will collect your things, find your berth and get some shut eye. Not you Serinde. You and I have other tasks as the only two other officers. Bekele, you will take charge of Alpha shift in the morning. Beta shift. You’re with me. That includes you, Taylor. Stow your things and meet me in Engineering on the Sojourner. We’ll tour it and get acquainted then turn in. We’ll be joining Alpha shift, but at the 09:00 assembly. Serinde, you take Gamma shift. Fiona, you help out. I trust you to keep the crew in line. Your job is to run through the shut down checklists and get the lights out. Then grab a couple hours of sleep and meet at assembly at 09:00 as well. Look sharp. The Chief can be on board at any time and you might cross paths. Right, you have your orders. Dismissed.”

El, Eng and others ..