New Bearings
Posted on 04 Sep 2026 @ 12:07am by Lieutenant Commander Varis Elia & Captain Sabrina Corbin
1,306 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
The Doldrums
Location: Transporter Room - USS Arawyn
Timeline: Just After Changing Hands
Captain Sabrina Corbin arrived as the transporter chief finished establishing the personnel lock with the resupply vessel.
"Ready when you are, Captain."
Sabrina clasped her hands loosely behind her back. "Energize."
Blue-white light gathered across the pad, resolving into Lieutenant Commander Varis Elia.
Sabrina offered a warm smile and stepped forward.
"Commander Varis. Welcome aboard the Arawyn. Captain Sabrina Corbin."
She offered her hand.
"I'm glad your transport caught up with us. Science found something interesting enough around this gas giant that we rearranged our schedule rather than move on."
A faint smile touched her expression.
"And as someone who came up through Operations myself, I've been particularly looking forward to meeting our new Chief."
"It is a privilege to cross your path, Captain," Elia said, reaching out to accept the offered hand. She clasped it firmly between both of her own, a gesture of warmth and respect. "Lieutenant Commander Varis Elia."
Sabrina returned the handshake with a warm smile, appreciating the firmness of it.
“The privilege is mutual, Commander.” She glanced toward the small collection of luggage that had materialized with her. “You can leave those here. We will have them sent directly to your quarters.”
She released Elia’s hand and gestured toward the doors. “Come with me. I thought I’d show you Operations first, then we can make our way up to the bridge. You’ve arrived in the middle of a resupply, a revised survey schedule, and a Science department that has become very interested in our current neighborhood.”
The corner of her mouth lifted.
“So, really, an excellent first day for an Operations officer.”
"What did they find to be interested in?" Elia asked? Falling into step alongside the CO as they moved toward her departments workspaces.
Sabrina glanced toward Elia as they walked, pleased that the question had come immediately.
"Something we haven't seen before, or at least not quite like this." She folded her hands behind her back as they continued down the corridor. "The planet has an enormous magnetosphere, and several of its moons appear to be interacting with it differently. One is feeding ionized material into the field, another is affecting the radiation belts, and at least one seems to be generating enough current to produce auroral activity well away from the poles."
Her expression sharpened with genuine interest.
"The really curious part is that the whole system periodically falls into resonance for about eleven seconds. The radio emissions spike dramatically, then everything collapses and starts building again. Science wants to observe a complete cycle before introducing probes, so we adjusted the survey schedule and moved this rendezvous to us."
A faint smile returned.
"Which is why you've arrived to find your new department handling a resupply operation in the middle of an astrophysics experiment."
Corbin was curious, though. "While we walk, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself? The stuff not found in a personnel file."
"Well, I'm a bit of a cook... I am a pretty avid spring ball player," she shrugged. "I'm not really the most interesting I suppose."
Sabrina gave her a sidelong look, one eyebrow lifting slightly.
“I’m not sure cooking and competitive sport qualify as uninteresting, Commander.” There was a trace of dry amusement in her voice. “Though I admit I know very little about spring ball beyond the fact that people seem to become remarkably passionate about it.”
She let that sit for a beat as they continued toward Operations.
“And cooking is useful aboard a starship. Eventually someone decides replicated food is personally offensive and starts feeding half the department.”
A faint smile touched her mouth.
“What do you like to cook?”
"I've been working on my traditional Bajoran cooking," Elia said, her face lighting up if possible even more. "I can't say that I'm very good at it but there are a lot less mishaps... like extreme mishaps anyway. I may or may not have been banned from cooking Hasparat at my last last assignment. The spice mixture... is a little hard to get."
Sabrina’s smile broadened slightly at that.
“Banned from hasparat is rather specific,” she observed. “I assume there is a story involving more than an overenthusiastic amount of spice.”
They rounded the corridor toward Operations, Sabrina glancing ahead before adding, “For what it’s worth, I’m willing to judge the cooking myself before imposing any restrictions aboard Arawyn. Though perhaps we start with something less likely to trigger an evacuation alarm.”
"Turns out some of the spices if mixed wrong can cause some... issues," she said, with a shrug. "Its not a dish my mother ever taught me to prepare... turns out it's harder than you might think. I think I've had enough trying to figure out that recipe myself... I can do things that are a little less... spicy."
Sabrina smiled at that and let the subject of culinary disasters rest.
As they continued toward Operations, she found herself settling into an early impression of the woman beside her. Elia was easy in conversation, not careless with rank, but not intimidated by it either. Sabrina expected that from a lieutenant commander, but expectations and reality did not always cooperate. It was reassuring.
Arawyn's senior staff had spent too much of its short life adjusting to vacancies, temporary assignments, and officers growing into responsibilities faster than anyone might have preferred. Having another experienced department head come aboard, particularly in Operations, felt like one more piece settling properly into place.
"I'm glad you're here, Commander," Sabrina said, the words carrying a little more weight than the earlier welcome. "We're reaching the point where several departments are finally filling out with some depth and experience. It makes a difference."
Glancing towards Elia, "And you seem remarkably comfortable talking to your Captain about accidentally weaponizing Bajoran cuisine, so I suspect you'll settle in just fine."
"Well you never know when a little weaponized cuisine might help a situation," Elia smiled. "And thank you for the compliment, ma'am. I do agree once things start to settle just right within a command there's a difference... it's palpable."
"Are there any concerns for my department that you have that I should be aware of?" Elia asked.
Sabrina considered the question for a moment before answering.
“Nothing that concerns me in the sense of a problem waiting for you,” she said. “You have a good team. Lieutenant Oliver Jung has been carrying a fair amount of responsibility, and he’s done it well.”
Her tone remained warm, but deliberate.
“I think he’ll also benefit from having a strong department head in place again. Someone who can give the team consistency, develop the people already there, and take some of that weight off officers who have been filling gaps.”
A faint smile touched her mouth.
“And I’ll make an effort not to become the former Operations officer standing over your shoulder offering helpful observations every five minutes.”
The look she gave Elia suggested she understood exactly how irritating that could become.
“You should also arrange some time with Commander Batenburg fairly soon. She manages the senior staff day to day, and I think it would be useful for the two of you to sit down properly before you get too buried in the department.”
Sabrina glanced toward the Operations spaces ahead.
“After that, I’d rather you take the time to learn your people and tell us what you need than worry about proving anything on your first day.”
Elia paused for a moment looking at the captain before she responded, while she was internally disagreeing with this line she also didn't allow it to show on her face beyond maybe a slightly smaller smile.
"I'll chat with Commander Batenburg as soon as I can and I will make getting settled in my priority, ma'am,"
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