You nod in agreement.

“Engineering first, with Repair being a close second. We'll need both of their services on a shakedown cruise and in the aftermath of it. We'll want Medical and Communications before any long-term deployments. Gunnery can wait but not forever. In the mean time, brush up on your shipboard gunnery skills. One or both of us will be standing into that role if it's needed.”

“Do we have a simulator aboard?”

“Yes and no. Auxiliary Command is a bit cramped if I have these plans right but should serve for the purpose.”

“Very well. I know the Office of Ship Manning is insisting on commissioned officers across the board for now, but do we want to take warrant officers or even non-commissioned officers aboard too?”

“Absolutely. I'd rather someone that can do the job over someone that has nothing but the rank to do it.”

“Understood. I'll see who we can get transferred over on short notice.”

“Good. If there is nothing else pressing then let's take a 'working' lunch to talk other details.”

“Sounds fine to me Sir. Navy-run cafeteria at this office... and the heavy fighter and bomber jock presence means they serve the good stuff.”

“Don't I know it!”

June 17th, 8254

You lean back in the chair of your nearly empty office. Besides your chair, desk, and tablet there are two chairs for your last appointment. The HMS Ahywa Sofia is currently being re-painted in preparation for her handover ceremony tomorrow where she will become the HMSCS Ahywa Sofia and your ship. You idly watch the clock tick down towards said appointment at the usual pace that is somehow too slow and too fast. The knock on your door comes at six seconds past the appointed hour.

“Come on in!”

Two officers enter the room and you size them up as they do so.

“Lieutenant Eva Knight, Engineering, Reporting.”

LT Knight is of average height and a slightly tanned build. Most striking is her blond hair, lilac eyes, and the silver 'inlay' seams of subtle cybernetic enhancement. You notice also the edge of what might be a tattoo peaking out past the cuff of her left sleeve but you ignore it. The Navy, and especially the Surveyor's Corps, takes in people from all places and doesn't ask too many questions so long as the past stays in the past.

“Lieutenant Douglas Michael Hatto Vickers, Repair, Reporting.”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

LT Vickers stands tall and proud, complete with the hooked 'Vickers Nose' for which his family is famous. You note the lack of a Noble title or rank but don't comment on it. If LT Vickers is content to leave noble titles at the door, as regulations require, then you will as well.

Welcome 'aboard' as it were Lieutenants. Take a seat and we'll run things down as best able before the hand-over ceremony tomorrow. I note you both had your assignments spelled out in your orders? Good. I have to ask, is this your first time serving aboard a Surveyor's Corps ship?”

LT Vickers shakes his head but LT Knight nods.

“One yes and one no. Not a problem, I'll hit the highlights and then the differences. The Surveyor's Corps, unlike the Regular Navy and possibly contrary to what the Academy teaches, is tasked with diving face-first into the unknown and bringing back information. Warp Jump Routes? We find and plot them. New worlds? We scan them and, often enough, are the first boots on the ground. And yes, we are often the first point of contact between the Star Empire and new species and nation-states. This work, as your education and training probably taught you, is not without risks. The greatest of these is complacency. Much of the work is rote and routine... but the anomalies can and will kill you.

“Standard 'welcome to the Surveyor's Corps' bit aside let's get to the ways in which the Ahywa Sofia is different. She is the second Surveyor's Corps ship to have a crew predominantly comprised of automatons. Of the one hundred and forty persons crew allotment only thirty five are people. All of them, us included, are officers of one sort or another. Your departments will consist of yourselves, a few human underlings, and a pool of automation 'ratings'. Get used to handing off the pure routine work to a party of three to five automatons with a midshipman or NCO to oversee them and handling the non-standard work yourself.”

LT Vickers clears his throat.

“Pardon me Sir, but how would that work with so many automatons aboard? I've worked with them in the past as was... less then impressed with their capability for complex and semi-independent work.”

“Glad you asked. On my last ship, the Night Horse, we had 'egghead' models that served as local control nodes. The ship's computer could treat an egghead and the linked automatons as a single unit and the egghead would issue the needed commands to keep the rest of the group moving to plan. It worked well enough... most of the time. Human intervention was needed whenever things outside of routine were encountered.

“With over a decade of advancements is a wide range of fields the Ahywa Sofia has the new mark two automatons. Each has nearly the communications and computing power of the old eggheads and is expected to be able to handle a wider range of anomalies without human intervention. Manning requirements have also been re-structured to put the needed humans aboard in sufficient quantity that one can be nearby or on-call at all times. We even have a mark two improved model aboard.”

LT Vickers raises an eyebrow. “'her” Sir?”

“You will meet her tomorrow, don't worry. Other questions?”

LT Knight raises her hand a fraction.

“Go ahead LT Knight.”

“Do we have movement orders Sir?”

“Yes. We have a shakedown cruise scheduled soon after the handover ceremony. Two, technically. With you two present we have twenty one of the thirty five assigned human crew. Thus we won't be leaving the system for a good month while the Surveyor's Corps and Navy confirm that all the kinks are worked out post refit. If the notices are correct we should have another seven crew by that point, enough for our Warp Jump trials. I'm planning a run from Celesmore to Sonwatch and back. That's the requisite two jumps with support close at hand and we'll be back to pick up the remainder of the crew. After that we'll report for further movement orders and head out into the unknown.”

“Thank you Sir.”

“Any more questions? None? Right then, unless you have better plans, l hereby invite you to lunch to welcome you to the crew. XO Hawkins and Quartermaster Easom should be joining us too, so you'll get to meet the rest of the command staff as it stands.”