(takes place immediately after Shock’s meeting with Adam Magnusson. For a description of the room, see also that post )

The door closed behind Adam Magnusson.

Shock remained seated for a moment, eyes on the closed logbook in the display. He had made a few brief notes after the conversation to be recorded later.

“Computer, time.”

“Thirteen forty-seven hours.”

Lieutenant Gadi would arrive at fourteen hundred. Thirteen minutes. He had still not met her in person. But he had read her file.

She intrigued him. She was half Betazoid, one-quarter El-Aurian, and one-quarter human. It seemed to him that she had lived without telepathy for years, relying on observation and, what appeared to be, some kind of simulated empathy. Her abilities had emerged later. Shock recognized the challenge of internal change. He had rebuilt himself under altered conditions. He wondered how this affected her personality and her sense of identity. It would not be his place to probe, however, but he would observe and assess. He needed to give her space to define her role. He would extend her his trust. Whether she would return it remained to be seen.

He stood.

There was no need to replicate anything. If she wanted tea, he would offer what he had. Various options of tea. If she didn’t want that, he would invite her to use the replicator. Hospitality was often a good bridge-builder, he had found, especially in first meetings.

He walked a slow circuit of the room, as he reflected on Gadi’s job on board. She was both the head of tactical and of the recovery task force. The RTF, in its current folded state, seemed misaligned. Its purpose was not the defence of the ship but rapid recovery: anomaly retrieval, containment breaches, short-notice deployment. It was a highly specialized function. It had once been its own department. He did not understand why it no longer was. He decided to ask her.

He paused beside the display. The child’s drawing hung slightly askew. He corrected it with one finger.

Fourteen hundred would come. He would ask his questions about her dual department-head roles. And he would listen to her and trust her assessment.

Shock, Captain
Commanding Officer