Act One, Scene One

[a magical taco]

The captain was drinking a steaming cup of coffee when a young ensign approached him. The hot drink was finally helping him deal with how cold he was and finally he did not have to fight the desire for his body to start shaking. The Captain regarded the young ensign for a moment, he smiled and offering his hand for a handshake. "Thank you, Ensign Neumann, it is good to officially meet you. You were on the helm during the battle last week, were you not? Was that your first time in combat?"

The Captain watched the young man carefully, Seeing how someone coped with combat after the fighting was finished was almost as important as how one handled themselves during the danger, recent events with Bonham has proved that. He resisted the desire to let out a sigh, he did not want the young ensign to think his presence was unwelcome. It was just that he had been thinking about his friend often since the Thunderchild had engaged the enemy carrier. The loss off crew was always something that would eat at the captain but knowing his decision had cost his friend someone he loved was difficult to deal with. Sometimes, being Captain was not all it was cracked up to be.