She answers to me and me alone. I would advise you not to try and boss her around.

Harris’s words rang on Amelia’s mind as she tried to find her way through the ship. In the past few hours she had managed to check in with every department head she would be working with. All, except one.

Manning had left Wright for last, not because she thought it would take the longest, but mostly because she wasn’t looking forward to it. However, the young red head was still occupying what Amelia thought to be a DH position and she felt obligated to at least check in with her.

Amelia had been walking around the ship, her eyes stuck on a PaDD, trying to figure out where the Intelligence Chief was. It was almost as if she didn’t want to be found. In retrospective, that should have been a warning, but at the time Amelia didn’t know better than to ignore it.

It was clear by now that Wright was a bit of a mystery. The woman seemed to be everywhere at once and yet never in sight. It wasn’t abnormal for Amelia to notice her out of the corner of her eye, quietly observing. Her black uniform blending in with the background, her flaming red hair the only beacon signaling her presence. Wright was the only crew member whose file Manning could not access, and yet, given her relationship with the Dresden’s CO, Amelia was sure the Intelligence Chief knew a lot more about the ship’s command and operations than anybody else on board, including her, the second in command.

After a long afternoon, Amelia finally wondered into Deck 2.

Lt. Cmdr. Manning, XO