The Final Component

Posted on Sun Aug 2nd, 2026 @ 5:59pm by Captain Marc Steyn & Lieutenant JG Charlie Johnson

2,058 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Season 1, Episode 1: Ashes of Wolf 359
Location: Captains Ready Room

ON

The days had begun to blur together.

Each morning started earlier than the last, and every evening seemed to stretch long into the night. There was always another report waiting to be reviewed, another department requesting his approval, another problem demanding the captain's attention before Genesis could finally be declared ready for duty.

Sleep had become something of a luxury.

In the last four days, Marc had seen David for little more than twenty minutes in total. It weighed on him more than he cared to admit. Ironically, the very reason he had fought so hard to bring his son aboard was the same reason he was barely seeing him now.

David, however, seemed to understand.

The fifteen-year-old had thrown himself into preparing for the move with a quiet enthusiasm that reminded Marc so much of his mother. Every packed box, every conversation about life aboard a starship, every glimpse of Genesis under construction only seemed to reinforce the idea that this was the beginning of something new. The prospect of finally living alongside his father again appeared to make the temporary absences easier to bear.

Marc only hoped he was right.

Once the ship launched, things would be different.

They had to be.

For now, however, duty came first.

Leaving Commander Vero on the bridge to oversee the final commissioning process, Marc had finally allowed himself to step away. Engineering teams were still scattered throughout the primary hull, completing the last ODN network integrations, calibrating EPS power distribution, and bringing the bridge's systems online one by one. Throughout the ship, consoles that had sat dormant for weeks were flickering into life, each successful activation bringing Genesis one step closer to becoming a living, breathing starship.

His own destination had been the captain's ready room.

Stepping inside, he allowed himself a moment to take it all in.

Like most ready rooms aboard the Galaxy and Nebula-class family of starships, the overall layout was immediately familiar. The room's irregular shape and softly padded bulkheads gave it a sense of warmth that belied the technology hidden behind them. Here, however, the designers had opted for light beige wall panels that reflected the natural light filtering through the large viewport, making the room feel brighter and considerably more spacious than he had expected.

The most striking feature, however, was the raised central platform.

His desk occupied the elevated section, subtly reinforcing the command role without feeling ostentatious. Surrounding it at the lower level was a comfortable seating area designed for less formal conversations—a place where difficult decisions could be discussed without the barrier of a desk between captain and crew.

Compared to some of the office's he had occupied throughout his career, it felt almost luxurious.

It was a room designed not just for command, but for reflection.

Marc settled into the captain's chair behind the desk, allowing himself one brief moment to appreciate that this was now his office.

At a touch, the desktop display shimmered to life.

The familiar Starfleet interface appeared before him, and with another command he brought up the service record of the officer he was due to meet next. His eyes scanned the file once more, committing the details to memory before the conversation began.

The door chime sounded.

Without looking up from the display, Marc leaned back slightly in his chair.

"Enter," he called.

Charlie entered the ready room and came to attention. Her trip from the engine room to the bridge had been…. Interesting to say the least. To the untrained eye it was just another ship. To her, it was like the ship of Theseus. After reading the reports and the repair log, she knew a lot of the ship had been replaced from other vessels, but now she appreciated just how much. She had already made a start on getting the engine room set up just as she wanted it, but there was still a lot of work to do. The engineering report troubled her; a lot of systems were totally off specification, she had just resolved the warp engine intermix limits, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. It was going to take some time to fix everything.

“Lieutenant Johnson reporting in Sir.”

"Welcome, Lieutenant."

Marc rose just enough from his chair to gesture towards the seat opposite his desk before settling back again.

"Please, have a seat. I don't stand on ceremony."

A faint smile touched the corners of his mouth as he reached for a decanter and a pair of glasses resting on the credenza behind him.

"Can I offer you something to drink?" he asked. "I've always found meetings like these can be a little awkward at first. Sharing a drink seems to be a far more civilised way of breaking the ice than sitting across a desk pretending we're not sizing one another up."

There was a quiet humour in the observation, delivered with the easy confidence of someone comfortable in his own skin.

His South African accent gave the words a warmth that made the invitation feel entirely genuine. It softened the formality of the room without diminishing the quiet authority he carried, striking a balance between approachable host and commanding officer.

"I'd much rather this be a conversation than an interview."

"I'm fine, thank you Captain." Charlie replied as she sat down, still not relaxing entirely. This was the first time meeting the Captain, and she wanted to make a good impression. "I've been going over the repair logs. It looks like I've got my work cut out for me." She managed a small chuckle. "We've already made a start and we should be able to bring all systems online in time for departure. Some of the systems are still out of spec, but I'm confident I can get those corrected."

"Do you need any additional personnel?" Marc asked, his tone calm but genuinely inquisitive. "If you're short-handed, I can speak with Commander Kinteros at Utopia Planitia and see if we can secure a few extra engineering teams to help get things over the line."

There was no hint of criticism in the offer, it reflected the way Marc approached command. He had little interest in assigning blame or expecting miracles from people already stretched to their limits. If a department needed support, then it was his responsibility to try and provide it.

As he waited for her response, he found himself studying the young officer for a moment.

She possessed an intensity that was difficult to miss. Every answer she had given had been concise, purposeful and entirely devoid of unnecessary embellishment. There was no small talk for the sake of politeness, no attempt to fill silences with idle conversation. Her focus remained fixed squarely on the task at hand, as though every second spent discussing anything else was a second that could have been better spent solving a problem.

Marc couldn't help but smile inwardly.

He enjoyed getting to know the people who served under his command, learning what made them tick beyond the uniform and rank insignia. This young woman, however, seemed very much the sort of officer who preferred to let her work speak for her. Straightforward, pragmatic and refreshingly direct.

Charlie thought for a moment. While the engineering staff had done a superb job and she was confident in her own abilities and in them, a small voice at the back of her head was telling her it would be better if there were a few more to carry the load. The amalgamation of all these different components from different starships was not reacting the way she had expected, the way the manual said they should, but how to make the request sound natural, as she didn't really need the help. This was her first deep space assignment. Better make a good impression.

She took a measured breath, and then tried to sound casual... but not too casual. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have a few extra hands from the starbase. Just to assist with departure preparations." Her mind was working: how would the staff react? Would they welcome the help or be offended by it? She held her hands behind her back, waiting for the Captain's reply.

"I'll send the request through to Commander Kinteros immediately," Marc said, his fingers already moving effortlessly across the desktop console. Within moments, he had accessed the station's main computer, composed the request and forwarded it directly to Utopia Planitia, wasting no time in securing the additional support.

Satisfied that it had been received, he looked back up at the lieutenant.

"The teams should be with you within the hour."

He folded his hands on the desk, giving her his full attention once more.

"In the meantime, is there anything else you need from me, Lieutenant? If there are any obstacles preventing you from getting Genesis ready for launch, I'd rather know about them now than discover them on launch day."

Charlie allowed herself a small smile and stood a little taller. "No Sir, everything is running to schedule. No obstacles. All systems will be online and within regulation specs by the time we launch."

"In that case, Lieutenant, I won't keep you any longer," Marc said with his easy smile as he rose from behind his desk. "I simply wanted the opportunity to meet each of my senior officers before launch day. It's important to me that the first time we speak isn't in the middle of a crisis on the bridge."

He walked around the desk and accompanied her towards the ready room doors, preferring to see guests out himself rather than dismiss them from behind a desk. As they reached the exit, a thought occurred to him.

"Oh, before you go..." he said, stopping briefly. "I'm hosting a small gathering at my home in Cape Town at the end of the week. The senior staff will be there, along with a few members of the crew and their families. Nothing official—just an opportunity for everyone to get to know one another before we leave Earth behind."

His smile softened, becoming less that of a captain and more that of a welcoming host.

"I'd be delighted if you could join us, Lieutenant. I have a feeling it'll be the last chance any of us have to relax for quite some time."

Charlie's spine stiffened. She had never been comfortable at large gatherings, especially when she didn't know the people there very well. Her appearances at Academy gatherings had been very limited, mostly to just engineering clubs and groups where it was a small, select group and she knew all the people attending. She would rather stay at home with a glass of wine than.... But this was her new captain asking. Better make a good impression.

"Yes, of course Sir. That's very kind of you. If that's all, I'd better be getting back to engineering.

Marc watched the lieutenant disappear through the ready room doors, allowing them to slide shut before his thoughts settled on the meeting they had just shared.

His first impression was a favourable one.

She was undoubtedly a gifted engineer. Her service record had made that abundantly clear, and nothing she'd said had done anything to diminish that opinion. If anything, she had reinforced it with her professionalism, focus and quiet determination. Yet there was also an unmistakable rigidity to her—a tendency to see problems in black and white, to trust regulations before instinct.

Out in deep space, Marc knew, things were rarely so accommodating.

The best engineers, like the best captains, eventually learned that the rulebook was a foundation rather than a cage. Experience would teach her when to follow procedure and when circumstances demanded something more. He had every confidence she would get there.

Eventually.

For now, however, that was a problem for another day.

His gaze drifted to the stack of PADDs occupying the corner of his desk, each one waiting patiently for his attention. Crew manifests, departmental reports, supply requisitions, diplomatic briefings, launch certifications... enough administrative work to bury even the most enthusiastic captain.

Marc sighed theatrically as he reached for the first PADD.

"So much for the glamorous side of command."

The ready room fell quiet once more, broken only by the faint hum of Genesis as she continued to awaken around him.

END

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