Ogawa took that as her cue to tell Ree, “I’ve administered two cc’s of peratheline, Doctor.”

“An efficacious choice,” Ree said. “But while peratheline will alleviate the symptoms, it will not address the underlying problem.” Ree picked up a nearby padd and deftly tapped it with the tips of his blunted claws.

“I appreciate your concern, Doctor, but really, I can tough it out,” Ra-Havreii said. “Besides, the replicated nuts—”

“Are unfit for Efrosian consumption,” Ree finished. “Not that the dieticians who program Starfleet replicators don’t try hard, but there are certain complex organic molecules the technology still has trouble with, the unique essential oils in levithinuts being a prime example.” Ree finished tapping the padd and handed the device to Ra-Havreii. “This should take care of the problem.”

The commander looked at the padd. “I don’t understand. Who is Chief Moreno?”

“One of the engineers aboard the Seyetik.We got to know each other quite well during the voyage from Deep Space 7. Quite an amiable fellow, and if I may say, an absolute fiend for Efrosian levithinuts. He boasted having four containers in one of the ship’s cargo bays. Since the Seyetikhas put in to Utopia for upgrades that should extend well beyond Titan’s departure, I expect Chief Moreno may be amenable to cutting a deal whereby he takes possession of your expected shipment in exchange for a good portion of his present supply.”

Impressed, Ogawa exchanged a look with Troi, who winked at her. Ra-Havreii seemed speechless. “Doctor Ree…I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”

“You’re quite welcome, Commander. Now, off you go.”

Ra-Havreii thanked Ogawa one more time, then left sickbay with Troi to pursue whatever was next on each of their no doubt busy itineraries, leaving the main sickbay area empty except for Ogawa and her newly arrived superior officer.

“Now then, Nurse, do you happen to know whether my medical supplies have been brought aboard?” Ree asked in his raspy, sibilant voice.

Ogawa nodded. “The quartermaster received your materials late yesterday. I’ve already arranged to have most of them transferred to sickbay, and they should be here by day’s end. As you requested, a portion of the arboretum has been set aside for your pharmacological plants, but I strongly recommend you supervise any retrofitting yourself.”

“You anticipate problems?”

Ogawa hesitated. “I took the liberty of reviewing the list of plants and the environmental modifications you specified,” she admitted, “and let’s just say I suspect the complexity of your proposed greenhouse and the precision with which it’ll need to be balanced will present the engineers with a few new and potentially unwelcome challenges.”

Ree’s laugh sounded like an overturned rain stick. “Nurse Ogawa, that has to be the most gently worded critique of my complete unreasonableness that I’ve ever heard. I rather think I’m going to like it here.”

Ogawa beamed. “Please, Doctor, call me Alyssa.”

“Very well, Alyssa,” he said, pronouncing the name with a lengthy hiss. “And you may call me Ree. Now, while I await the arrival of my personal effects, I should like to begin scheduling the crew physicals to ensure that the reports will be complete and filed before we launch. I understand we have eighteen civilians on board, is that correct?”

“Soon to be nineteen,” Ogawa said, thinking of Ensign Bolaji, a shuttle pilot now in the middle of her second trimester of pregnancy. “But yes, that’s correct.”

“Then I would like to begin with the civilians. Get a taste of them, as it were.”

Ogawa laughed aloud at Ree’s joke. She was beginning to find his enthusiasm infectious. Nodding, she said, “I have just the person in mind to be your first patient, Doctor.”

Ogawa walked across the sickbay toward her office. The door slid obediently open, revealing two figures seated behind the desk. Her young son Noah was staring down at a padd, his brow crumpled in concentration. Hunched over it with him, his Trill spots only just visible on his thickly bearded face, was Ranul Keru.

“You can do it, all you have to do is think it through,” Ranul said in an encouraging tone. “Just remember to cancel out the terms on both sides of the equation.”

“But it doesn’t make sense,” Noah complained.

“It only seems that way. Take your time.”

Ogawa paused in the doorway for a moment to watch them work. She felt a surge of gratitude for Ranul’s continued presence in Noah’s life. Like Ranul, Ogawa and her son had suffered a terrible loss while serving aboard the Enterprise;over the past two years, that shared grief had drawn the three of them together, almost as a de facto family. Ranul had lost Sean Hawk to the Borg more than six years ago; two years later, Ogawa had lost Andrew Powell, Noah’s father, during the Dominion War at the Battle of Rigel. Sometimes she likened the three of them to ionized atoms brought together out of a desperate need to share their few remaining electrons.

Though Andrew had been dead for nearly five years, Ogawa saw her late husband’s kind, strong face every time she looked at Noah. The child was both a comfort to her and a painful reminder of her loss, though thankfully much more the former than the latter.

“Sorry to interrupt the math lesson,” she said.

Ranul grinned at her. “That’s all right. I think we both needed a break.”

Ogawa stepped into the office. “Good. Because there’s somebody here I want you to meet.” She swept her arm toward the open doorway behind her, where Titan’s new chief medical officer crouched so as not to bump his scaly head as he entered. “Lieutenant Commander Keru, Noah Powell, say hello to Doctor Ree.”

Ranul looked startled for a split second. Then he smiled an easy smile, and introduced himself as he leaned forward across the desk to offer his hand in greeting. The doctor briefly took the hand in his gentle, hyperarticulated grasp. Then the reptiloid surgeon disengaged from the handshake and fixed his serpentine gaze on her son.

She squinted and held her breath for a moment, hoping that Dr. Ree’s decidedly alien appearance wouldn’t startle her son into saying something embarrassing. Noah was, after all, only eight years old.

Noah rose, goggle-eyed and silent as he stared at Ree. A long beat passed. “Wow,” he said at length, drawing out the word and brushing a shock of jet-black hair out of his eyes. His voice was breathless, but without a trace of fear. “A Pahkwa-thanh. Cool!”

“So, you stilldon’t have your exec, then?” Admiral William Ross asked, a concerned look on his face as he snatched the steaming cup of raktajinofrom the replicator.

Riker maintained a neutral expression, though he inwardly counted to ten before answering. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear that Ross and Akaar were second-guessing him. Maybe they’re just testing me for prelaunch jitters. Better not disappoint them.

“No, sir. But I can’t afford to rush a decision as important as this one,” Riker said evenly, seated behind his heavy Elaminite desk. “My XO needs to be someone that I know I can trust implicitly before we even clear the moorings.”

Seated in one of the chairs in front of Riker’s desk, Admiral Akaar uncrossed and recrossed his long legs, almost grazing the side of the desk as he did so. Though the towering Capellan seemed less tightly wound than Ross, Riker still couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling that whatever news they were bringing him could not be good.

“And none of your Enterpriseconfederates fit the bill?” Akaar asked.

“Yes, and no, sir. I had three candidates from the Enterprise.All of them turned me down.” He had more or less expected Geordi and Worf not to take the position, though either man would have excelled in it. But he was still stunned that Christine Vale had turned him down not once, but twice.