“Repairs completed, Captain.” Chief Engineering Office, T’Penne stated in to her communicator. She had spent the last few hours aboard the research station orbiting around the planet Thalos along with a few members from her engineering team. It had not taken long for the diagnostic scan to determine that the satellite had received some damage from space debris, most likely chunks from a passing asteroid. The ship had docked with the station and T’Penne and her crew boarded to make the necessary repairs. The Vulcan had insisted on personally overseeing the minor repairs needed in order to bring the satellite back to operational status. She had some inspections that she needed to perform on the engine system to check that the system was functioning normal after their journey from the starbase.   She had pushed that back temporarily as this was her chance to see her team in action for the first time and she had been impressed. They worked together well and were efficient. The next logical step would be to ask the Captain for permission to test them further. She must ensure that the team was prepared for any and all possibilities they could be faced through out their journeys. That conversation would have to wait until she returned to the Sausalito though.

“Thank you, Lieutenant Commander. Gather your things and head back to the ship. Captain out.” Captain Harper replied in to the comm system.

“Yes, Captain,” T’Penne stated. She turned around and faced her crew. “Alright, let’s wrap things up here. Captain wants us back on the ship so gather your things and head back. Nice work everyone!” she declared to her crew. She gathered her things and walked with her crew back to their ship.

Captain Harper sat around her table eating dinner with her senior most officers. She had heard during her time in the Starfleet Academy that this was a tradition held by some captains for a long time within Starfleet. She heard it and had thought it would be a great way to get to know her officers better and help build camaraderie aboard her ship. Her First Officer, Sili sat across from her and was currently just staring down at her food. She didn’t think she had seen her take a bite for probably the last 10 minutes. Her Chief Engineering Officer, T’Penne sat to her right in between her and Sili. T’Penne had finished her dinner a few minutes ago and was now just sitting quietly and staring stoically at the wall across from her.

Harper leaned forward and rubbed her forehead. What had she gotten herself into? She had not expected this dinner to be so awkward. She straightened back up and looked to T’Penne. “T’Penne, I would be very interested to hear about what led you to want to be an engineer. I guess that’s my scientific background but I find those kind of facts necessary to understand a person.” she asked to the Vulcan. She hoped it would be enough to spark a conversation.

T’Penne looked at the captain with a straight, emotionless face. She then turned toward Sili. “Enough,” she declared to Sili. T’Penne’s demeanor did not change.

The Andorian started to laugh quietly. When she looked up and made eye contact with T’Penne, the laughter grew more. “I…I….I’m…I’m sorry, Captain.” Sili provided through broken up bits of laughter. “T’Penne and I are actually great friends. I was bored and wanted to play a small prank on you. I’m sorry if it was too much. T’Penne thought the entire idea was absurd. I can’t believe she actually went along with it,” Sili expressed.

“Captain, I do apologize. Sili told me of her idea and I informed her how illogical and unnecessary pranks were aboard a starship. She was insistent. I refused to participate but I agreed I would not reveal her plans. I apologize if I have offended you in any way, Captain.” T’Penne provided.

Captain Harper let a few moments of silence pass. She had never been the victim of any sort of prank before. She had felt heat begin to rise to her cheeks and she hoped that she wasn’t turning the shade of red that she thought she was. “I…I..I don’t know what to say in response to that,” she managed to say out loud. The more she replayed the awkward dinner in her head, the more it began to muse her. She had been so stiff and rigid the past few days. Now that she thought on it, she couldn’t even recall the last time she had laughed. Perhaps her first officer had sensed this or maybe she really was just bored. Either way, she had needed this more than she knew.

She let out a few small bits of laughter before continuing, “I needed to laugh. Thank you, XO. I’m not sure if that was your intention or not but the gesture is still appreciated. However, I must ask of you both to stop the pranks here. I can’t condone pranks aboard the starship. As you can imagine, that would lead to irrational and unpredictable actions on the starship and that could be disastrous.”

“Yes, Captain. We can assure you that….” Sili began before being interrupted by the chime of the comm system.

“Captain, sorry to interrupt but you are needed aboard the bridge. I need to speak with you,” Communications Officer, Ensign Hazel chimed.

“Very well, on my way Ensign.” Harper looked to the two officers sitting with her. “Looks like dinner is over. Thank you both for attending. Don’t worry about the mess. Come with me,” she stated and then stood. She made her way to the bridge with the two officers following behind her.

Captain on the bridge Harper heard the yeoman call out announcing her presence. She did not expect to ever get use to hearing that in correlation to her arrival. She turned towards the communications officer, “Ensign, report.” She listened to the Ensign’s report while she made her way to the communications station.

“Captain, I have picked up a distorted distress signal coming from the Federation colony on Thalos. Most of the communication is extremely distorted but I was able to gather what I could from the communication. The best I could tell was that there was some sort of incident at the colony and the locals have now discovered that someone is missing. I’m sorry I couldn’t make out more but I will keep trying,” Ensign Hazel reported.

“Thank you and well done, Ensign. That will not be necessary. Please send a message to Starfleet Command informing them of the message that we have received and that we will be responding. The Sausalito is the closest ship and we have a duty to respond,” the Captain declared.

“Yes, Captain. Right away,” Ensign Hazel responded. She turned to the Captain and the Captain’s PADD chimed with a notification, “The transport coordinates, Captain.”

“Thank you, Ensign,” Harper expressed. She turned towards her First Officer. “XO, please select a few members of the security team and meet me at the transporter room in 10 minutes. Tell them to be prepared for any scenario as we do not currently know what we will face when we get there,” Harper commanded.

“Aye, Captain.” Sili stated before about facing and leaving the room.

“Lieutenant Commander T’Penne, now would be a good time to perform those maintenance checks,” Harper casually stated before leaving the bridge. She needed to get the transporter room to provide the transporter chief with the coordinates.

“Right away, Captain.” T’Penne immediately made her way toward the engineering room. She needed to work quickly in the event that her presence would be requested aboard the planet.

Captain Harper now stood on the transporter room along with her First Officer and three members of the security team. She imagined that she should feel some sort of fear, or anxiousness, or even apprehension about beaming down to an unknown situation. However, she only felt excitement. This was her first time beaming aboard a planet with members of her crew. She had no idea what she would find but the mere idea of what was happening was exciting to her. Whatever nervousness and anxiousness she had felt in the days leading up to this moment had passed completely. She would have to remember to thank her XO again for the unexpected release of tension that occurred earlier.

She looked to her crew members standing around her. “Ready?” she asked out loud. Almost in unison, she heard them all reply, “Aye, Captain.”

“Very well,” she stated. She looked at the transporter chief. “Energize,” Harper declared. In an instant, she felt a whoosh of cold air and then darkness began swirling all around her before the light completely faded. Then there was. The light returned almost instantly and she now stood just outside the Federation Colony on the Thalos. “Be on guard crew. On me,” she stated and then started to make her way in to the colony.

She couldn’t help but thinking to herself that this had better not be some other form of prank by one of her crew members. They wouldn’t go that far would they? she mused while she walked. She slightly shook her head dismissing the thought. If that was the case, she would face it when they arrived. Until then, she didn’t know what to expect.