Starbase 72 was a large Spacedock I-class station with tens of thousands of residents, both in Starfleet and civilians. It was more relaxed than on a starship, especially an under crewed ship like the USS Tianwen where almost everyone had to handle more shifts and greater responsibility than elsewhere. The specialists on the station had not been that helpful. Adriana Cruz was not going to die, since getting back on the Luna that had not been likely, but the fact was the poison had killed important nerves in her leg. Even with the prosthetic, she would never quite heal fully. Captaining a frontline ship might not be an option for her any longer.

There was always the future, what might happen one day, weeks, or months from now. It was not the end of her career but a change perhaps.

Cruz was in a local establishment, an Andorian place, over a plate of the wings of a small animal fried and sauced as if they were chicken wings. Glum, sat by herself, not wanting to face either reality or other people at the moment. Yet maybe she needed to.

Hyden had been busy trying to figure out about the crew for the ship. The way things were looking it didn’t look like the ship would have a full crew before heading to its new home the newly constructed Mirage Station, according to the squadron reports the whole group would be stationed there on the fringes of deep space. 

He wasn’t sure when the ship would be leaving, but given the fact that he didn’t know when he might see Cruz next he wanted to at least find her and see how her appointment went. He wasn’t sure where to look, but food joints seemed to be his best bet and he began to scour the promenade. He had stopped at nearly all of them before finding her at what looked like an Andorian restaurant. He walked towards her and could see on her face she was upset. He walked up beside her making sure she could see him before walking behind her and wrapping his arms around her neck “It doesn’t look like you got the best news. I also got news that I am not sure how to take, but I want to make sure you’re ok.”

Cruz sighed, “It’s not great news. I’m not at the end of the road yet, in terms of recovery, but I can’t see a starship at the end of it. Not one I command at least.” 

It was not as if she was Admiral Kirk, always insisting on going on away missions and fighting Gorn hand-to-hand. Still, she was broken in a way that she could feel, in a way that was preventing her from returning to her command. Perhaps Hyden’s offer of a First Officer position was less crazy than she’d first thought. A science ship would be more sedate, and she could recover slowly there, after returning to duty.

“You know the saying though, when life gives you lemons, you’re stuck with a bunch of lemons,” she said.

Hyden rose an eyebrow “You mean you get lemonade right? Sometimes the things we think can end us our the stepping stones to something greater. I I’ll be with you in this journey everyday. You never know what might happen in the end. All I know is you’re stronger than anything that could possibly try to overtake you.” he said trying to encourage her.

”What do you mean lemonade? Why would you have lemonade if life gave you lemons?” Cruz asked, she’d never made lemonade and not thought deeply about it, or the meaning of the expression. Despite the nonsense about lemons he had a point, and was encouraging. While nothing he said could fix things, not going sucked into underspace and having her leg amputated was the problem, at least she had him on her side.

”Well at least I’ll be sticking around longer than I thought,” she said, “if you’ll have me.”

Hayden laughed “Its just the expression. Its meaning that no matter the lemons you get in life you adapt and make something better out of it.” He grabbed her hands and looked in her eyes. 

“Welcome to the Tianwen Executive Officer Cruz! If you want the position and think you can continue to put up with me the position is yours.” he said handing her a PADD with the official orders. He smiled “I had a feeling after our conversation you might want to stick around so I took the liberty to prepare this just in case.”

She smiled, “You know, it’s a bit complicated to date your first officer. I’m also not just going to be a ‘Yes Man’ if that’s what you’re hoping for. I’m annoying and opinionated and no matter what I’ll tell you when I think you’re making a mistake. So hopefully you’ve thought all that through.” 

Cruz thought that he could handle it, but she just wanted him to understand it was a lot different being told off by an XO that you were romantically involved with, than just someone who had been assigned to the ship.

Hayden nodded “I told you from the beginning ill do whatever it takes. I know it’ll be different but sometimes that’s best. If I didn’t think it could be done I wouldn’t have offered you the position. Honestly I would rather have someone that tells me if I’m doing something wrong. I also figure you should know the squadron is being moved to Deep Space to the newly built station that is the now base for the squadron. We will be heading to Mirage Station.”

He stopped and looked at her “l also want to say this between us. I don’t care what it takes I not only want to be with you, but I want to help you through all of this and make your life better. I’ve tried that from the moment I met you.”

”You know I’ll want my own command again one day,” Cruz said, she wanted there to be no secrets and she was not putting aside her own personal ambitions for a relationship at the moment. For awhile as she recovered, but eventually she would be ready to take on a new command again. Still married couples worked in Starfleet, and most of them did not serve together. If those couples made it work then they could as well.

She looked down at the PADD, “I’m both glad I’ve got this opportunity, and sad that I’m being taken out of my own command. It’s tough, I’m sure you understand.”

“I know you want your command again and by no means can I say I don’t blame you. I just wanted to try and get you in some position so you feel like you’re doing something. It’s up to you if you want the position. If you decide you don’t I understand that as well. I know how you are feeling and either way I will support your decision. It’s not like Starfleet Captain has been on different ships and stayed in relationships before. I believe if anyone can do it we can.” he said trying not only to reassure her but to show her no matter what he would stand with her through it all.

She held up her hands, “I’d kiss you but I’ve got sauce on my hands. Want a…. well I think they’re wings.”

Turning to another issue she asked, trying to look forward, “So what’s our first mission Captain?”

It was not much to hold onto but duty and Starfleet had always seen her through the harder parts of life. It had taken her from a bad situation in Mexico City to the stars. There was no point in abandoning it now. If she stayed true to Starfleet and her ideals they would see her through this as well.

He grabbed a wing and took a bite. “Well, we are being relocated to Mirage Station or Deep Space 27. According to the information I was sent this will be the squadron’s new home. So I guess the first mission is going to be traveling there.“

“Are we taking on a new crew there?” she asked, “And I guess we should talk about what your leadership style is. I’m going to have to fit into that.”

The ship was understaffed, that was clear. They had already found their lack of crew an impediment to pursuing discoveries, and while staffing was a problem across Starfleet what good was a science ship that didn’t discover things? 

Hyden nodded “I can’t do anything else till the new crew is brough onboard. As to my style I am pretty easy to work with unless someone undermines my orders or just disobeys what I tell them to do I don’t usually make any problems for anyone in my crew. They give me the respect my position notes then I reciprocate the same thing.”

Cruz nodded, but that did not give her a particular sense of things. Lots of people said they were easy to work with, but weren’t. She didn’t doubt that Captain Hyden was a good guy, but that was when things were going well. People often react to danger or stress differently. “Are you okay with counter opinions, or do you prefer to keep those behind closed doors?

Hyden raised an eyebrow “I am open to counter opinions, but if it is something that should be between two people I don’t want it to be brought to the attention of the crew when that’s needed.”

There were differing types of captains in Cruz’s opinion and experience. Some liked to hear countering opinions and have an open debate, while others liked to have them behind closed doors, and yet others did not want to hear any disagreement. Hyden was the second type, the kind who allowed disagreement but did not want open debate, that was understandable as it was easy to feel that this could get out of control. There was no one right way to be a commanding officer, and whatever worked for his style would work for the ship.

“Okay, noted,” Cruz said. There were several examples of dating captains and crew to show that it could work, though it was not without its challenges. “And off the bridge, do I get to tell you what to do?” she asked, with a wink.

Hyden smirked “I think you might get away with that.” He still knew it wouldn’t always be easy, but if someone really wanted to try than they would work through any issues. 

Cruz smiled, “Now all you need is a crew.”

It was easier said than done, especially now that Starfleet was having constraints on resources, but a successful ship even one as small as this, needed a full crew. It was now up to them to recruit one (a crew) from Starfleet’s ranks.