Act IV

As she stepped out from her ready room, Leone regarded the bridge with a smile as everyone manned their stations for the first time since the ship completed its refit. "Listen up," she announced. "We're escorting a convoy of three freighters from Starbase 310 to Deep Space Four. They're already in formation near the inner marker, where we'll join with them and provide protection. Jesse?"

Commander Kincaid sat in the executive officer's position, and visibly bristled at the use of his first name. "Sir?"

"Is that new pod attached to our hull for real or is it just decoration?"

"It is online, sir," he replied as he stood to address Petra. "Mister Bartlet?"

"I'm finishing up the last of the diagnostic cycles, now, sir," said Petra, from the engineering console. "It will be fully operational before we reach the outer marker."

Wilson grunted, "It's too bad we won't be able to test it on something."

"The pod's staying with us for a good long while, Willie. I'm sure we'll be able to find something to shoot at, eventually," noted Ariel as she turned around to face him.

Leone moved toward the empty center seat and sat down. "Let's not get all trigger-happy, people. Jesse, would you please take us out of dock and into formation with the freighters?"

He nodded. "Aye, sir. I have the conn. Mister Nieves, signal Starbase Operations for clearance to depart."

"Aye, Commander," replied Wilson quickly. He began to speak quietly to his console.

"Mister Elannis, signal all decks to make preparations for departure and clear the airlock for sealing."

As Ariel acknowledged the order, Wilson announced, "Departure clearance granted, Commander."

"Lieutenant Bartlet, bring all shipboard energy outputs to condition green status and stand by to switch us over to internal power."

"Airlock cleared," reported Ariel. "Standing by to seal airlock and clear all mooring beams."

Bartlet added, "Warp core and fusion reactor energy at normal levels, Commander."

Commander Kincaid folded his arms over his chest and nodded. "Seal the airlock and switch us over to internal power."

"Airlock sealed," Ariel told him, immediately.

The overhead illumination gave the barest of flickers before Petra announced that they had switched from the Starbase's power feed to the energy generated by the ship's fusion generators.

"Clear all moorings."

"Moorings cleared."

"Helm, take us to one hundred meters from the port and then reverse thrust toward the spacedoors."

Greg keyed in the commands as quickly as possible, since their new first officer had taken to putting his left foot on the base of his console and stood over him. "One hundred meters, aye, sir. Engaging reverse thrusters, now."

"Rear angle on main viewer."

The viewscreen flashed briefly to show the one of the sets of massive doors. They began to open as Farragut approached under its maneuvering thrusters rather than the impulse drive. By the time they reached the departure lane both doors slid open to rest flush against the outer hull of the base.

"We're in the lane," reported Greg. "Thirty seconds to outer perimeter."

Kincaid pushed away from the flight controller's station to return to his seat next to Captain Leone. "Stand by to engage impulse drive."

"Standing by."

"Mister Nieves, secure from condition blue and set condition green for cruising mode."

Wilson nodded from above him. "Aye, sir." The alert status indicator on the main bridge ceased its cobalt flash and quieted. "Ship secured from condition blue, Commander."

Open space greeted them as they passed through the doors. "Helm, come to relative bearing one-eight-zero Mark zero and take us to the outer marker at one-half impulse power."

"Making my course one-eight-zero Mark zero relative, aye, sir," replied Greg. The screen showed the stars angling around as the ship's bow and stern traded places. "Speed is now one-half impulse power."

The Starbase on the main view loomed for a moment before retreating as the ship sped away from it. "Forward angle on main viewer," ordered Kincaid.

"The lead freighter is the SS Cat's Meow," Captain Leone informed them, "Captain Paul Longshore is the owner and operator."

The scan readings on Ariel's console returned immediately. She noted, "Looks like three Puma-class carriers."

"Lead ship is hailing," reported Wilson.

Kincaid nodded. "On screen."

The trio of ships disappeared to give way to the view of a human male wearing civilian clothing. His shaggy mop of blonde hair covered the tops of his eyes, and he had to tilt his head back to get a good look at them. "Captain Leone, I presume?"

Leone slipped from her chair and onto her feet as she replied with a smile, "You presume correctly. Is this Captain Longshore?"

"In the flesh, ma'am," he replied with a nod. "Paul Manfield Longshore, owner and operator of the Crazy Eights Transport Company and master and commander of the Cat's Meow, at your service."

Leone decided to forgo the correction of the honorific; he meant well by it. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Captain."

"Likewise, ma'am," he grinned. "We've been contracted by the Federation for a shipment of hazardous materials to Deep Space Four. We're mighty glad you decided to join us."

"Your HazMat code?"

"Code X-Ray-One."

With the exception of Captain Leone, everyone tensed at the mention of the worst kind of hazardous material the Federation classified. X-Ray, level one indicated that whatever his cargo was, it was highly volatile and posed a dangerous threat to Federation citizens. Leone nodded; Admiral T'Cirya made her aware of the danger in the mission briefing, but she wanted her crew to know as well. Better they heard it from the horse's mouth directly.

"All of your freighters are classified similiarly?" she asked.

"Correct, Captain. Due to the instability of our cargo, we recommend warp five for the convoy speed."

Leone sighed, but gave her assent with a slight inclination of her head. "Agreed. As soon as we clear the Starbase's outer marker, we will proceed at warp five." She approached Ariel's seated position and declared, "Lieutenant Commander Elannis will be the convoy liaison officer. Please contact her should you require anything."

Longshore's eyes drifted toward Ariel, then back up at the captain. "Will do. We'll await your signal to proceed."

"You'll have it momentarily, Captain. Farragut, out." As soon as the viewscreen blinked to show the freighters, she turned around to return to her seat. "Jesse, let's get underway."

"Aye, sir. Helm?"

Greg nodded. "We're now in formation with the freighters, Commander."

"Signal the convoy we're approaching the outer marker at full impulse power."

Wilson reported, "Signal sent, sir."

"The freighters are moving to maintain their distance." Ariel tapped in a few more commands. "Recommend diamond formation for maximum coverage."

Kincaid stood from his seat again. "Agreed. Mister Nieves?"

"Updating the convoy, now, sir." Wilson waited patiently for their response. "They're moving into position, now."

"Confirmed," replied Ariel.

Greg announced, "We're clearing the outer marker."

"Stand by for warp speed, Mister Bartlet."

Petra called from the rear of the bridge, "Aye, sir. Warp speed available on all modes."

"Lay in a course for Deep Space Four at warp five."

"Course laid in, sir."

"Execute."

Greg replied, "Engaging. Speed is now warp five, sir."

Leone leaned over and smiled, "Well done, Jesse."

Kincaid lowered his voice, but did not return the smile. "Thank you, sir. And might I ask a favor?"

"What is it?" asked the captain, keeping her voice low.

"I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't use my first name, sir."

"Yeah..." replied Leone with a half-smirk. "We haven't really had The Talk, have we?"

"No, sir."

"Ariel, you have the bridge."

Within the privacy of the ready room, Captain Leone had the service record of her new executive officer in front of her as he sat across from her with a expectant expression upon his face. As they moved into the room from the bridge, she said nothing to him. And as she suspected, he was a good enough of an officer not to speak out of turn, especially since his captain requested his presence in the first place.

"Let's get the most pressing matter out of the way, first," Leone began. "You don't like being called by your first name? What would you prefer?"

"I don't mean any disrespect, sir-"

Leone interrupted, "Neither do I."

"I just... I mean, no one's ever called me by that name since I left home for the Academy."

"Do you prefer Miguel?"

"My middle name? Uh, no, sir... I've always been referred to as my rank and last name."

The captain tilted her head. "And your friends?"

"They call me Jess."

"So, you prefer me to call you Jess?"

A brief look of consternation flashed on his features before he composed himself. "With all due respect, sir..."

"Speak freely, Jess. You're my XO, so I'm going to expect some straightforwardness from you."

"Thank you, sir. As I was saying... with all due respect, I would rather you refer to me as my rank and last name."

"Am I not a friend to you, Jess?"

"I didn't mean that, sir."

"But you said that only friends call you by your first name, and now you're telling me otherwise."

Her executive officer's face wrote the definition of the word perplexed. "Sir, I don't mean to imply that you... I mean, I apologize if you read any impropriety into my statement, I just meant to say that I'm a little more formal than you might be used to."

She said nothing, instead fixing her most severe glare upon him.

He tried not to squirm under her scrutiny, but the long pause in the conversation eventually began to wear him thin. "Sir?"

Enough was enough. Leone's lips broke into a smile. "I apologize, Commander. I was having a little fun at your expense."

Kincaid let out a held breath and sighed. "I see..."

"I think the first thing you need to do is head down to the ship's stores and requisition yourself a sense of humor."

"I'm not used to this type of command style, I guess..."

"No, you're not," she replied, dropping any pretense of humor. "I don't hide behind the trappings of titles. I may be the master and commander of this starship, but this crew operates as a team."

"I agree, sir, wholeheartedly. However, I do observe standard Starfleet protocol when addressing my subordinates. Aboard the Valdemar, I enforced the wishes of Captain Masterson, and he allowed me a wide latitude when it came to handling the crew," said Kincaid. "I'm used to that style of leadership."

Leone nodded. "I'm a little more hands-on with the crew than your typical starship captain."

He snorted, "I noticed."

"That's more like it," she said with a grin. "You need to unclench a little. Sounds like Captain Masterson ran a tight ship."

"Yes, sir. He sure did," he said with an edge to his tone. "I believe that I left a ship in excellent discipline.

"Discipline can be maintained under many circumstances, Commander. I don't subscribe to the notion that it can only be achieved through distance and formality."

"I will submit myself to your instruction, sir."

"Don't do that."

"Sir?"

"Don't couch your responses in clichés. Don't fall back on the formality when you think you need to say something bluntly."

He sighed. "Maybe you need someone else for the job, sir."

Leone leaned forward. "You're going to run away, now?"

"No, sir, but it seems to me that you'd prefer someone a little more..." he trailed off, searching for the right word to use.

She helpfully filled in, "Loose?"

"Liberal."

"Liberal?"

"Yes."

"No," she replied with a short exhalation. "I don't think so."

"Sir?"

"I know I've made the right choice." She grinned. "Unless you're telling me that you're presuming to second guess my judgment."

"No, sir, I wouldn't want to presume anything."

"Good, then it's settled. Your presence here is serendipitous. It's a decree from on high."

Kincaid chuckled, "Yes, sir." The chuckle settled into a wide smile. "I suppose it is."

"Then given that we're both in the right place at the right time, do you think that perhaps you would let me call you 'Jess?'"

He took his time in responding. His eyes fell down to the desk for a long time before he lifted them back up to her. With a wide grin, he told her, "With all due respect, sir, I would really like it if you called me Jesse."