Sevury had been absolutely devastated during the Lost Fleet Crisis. While Starfleet had attempted to liberate it from the Dominion Occupation, that effort was thwarted, and the Dominion were able to rip enormous amounts of natural resources out of the planet’s crust, disrupting both the Sevurians’ mining operations and ruining millions of square kilometers of agricultural land in the process. While the Starfleet Corps of Engineers began their soil reclamation work, a smaller and lesser-known organization had set up a tent camp in what had once been the breadbasket of the planet.

The Starfleet Bureau of Agronomy specialized in making advancements in soil management and crop yields. They were the scientists who made it possible for damaged worlds like Sevury to come back from terrible damage and once again support their population’s nutritional needs. They already had several experimental fields of wheat, corn, and barley, with a number of different cultivars being tested in various soil conditions, as well as a vegetable garden and a flower garden.

Elizabeth Hayden was documenting the growth rate of a rosa polyantha bush she had planted a few weeks prior. You couldn’t eat a rose bush, sure, but flowering plants were essential to a balanced ecology to provide pollinators with a reliable food source. She’d started at Starfleet Academy as a xenobotany student over 50 years prior and then spent the first fifteen years of her career in the blue uniform of a science officer. During her more than thirty years in the command division, she’d continued to cultivate flowers, as she found it intensely rewarding to nurture something so that it could flourish.

After the events of the Lost Fleet Crisis, she left the Academy on Mellstoxx III behind so that she could help with the rebuilding of Deneb. After decades in command roles, she finally had the chance to dive back into her real passion: science. Hayden had become a diplomat and a strategist out of necessity. It went all the way back to Wolf 359 and the Dominion War, which had taught her that Starfleet and the Federation needed more captains than they did botanists, but now, at the beginning of the 25th Century, she’d felt she’d given enough to earn a few months with her plants.

Hayden took off one of her thick gardening gloves so that she could wipe the sweat from her forehead. While she normally had her hair styled down, it was pulled back into a tight ponytail to make her work easier. She heard the whine of a Starfleet transporter but didn’t pay it much mind, as people and supplies were constantly coming and going to the relief ships and office. A few minutes later, a man cleared his throat. She glanced up to see a familiar face—Captain Noah Armstrong, whom she had commissioned to take command of the Antares.

“Captain Armstrong. What can I do for you?” Hayden asked, pulling off her other glove but not standing from her roses.

“You weren’t answering your communicator, Admiral,” Armstrong said, handing her the red-trimmed field jacket she’d left in the lab tent. She still wasn’t used to seeing the three-pip insignia it bore on both sides of the collar. “Admiral Dahlgren would very much like to speak to you.”

Hayden chuckled. “So he diverted a starship all the way across the sector?” she asked, standing up and putting her jacket back on.

“Not exactly, ma’am. I believe he thought that a ride on the Antares might soften the blow,” Armstrong replied. Hayden’s eyes flickered with preemptive rage. Starfleet always found some reason to get her back out into some crisis, so she couldn’t wait to hear what it was this time. “We’ve set up a communications link in your lab.”

Hayden straightened her jacket with obvious irritation before leading the way through the flower beds to the tent that served as her lab. Several of her technicians were there, so she dismissed them to go find something to eat before pulling up the transmission that was waiting for her on the central analysis table. A Starfleet seal was momentarily projected over the table before a 2D display of Admiral Dahlgren’s office on the Susan B. Anthony replaced it.

“Admiral Dahlgren, I’d say it’s good to see you, but my roses really need me,” Hayden quipped.

“I really do apologize, Elizabeth, but we’re going to have to cut your stay on Sevury short,” Dahlgren said.

“It’s not a vacation, Liam. I’m trying to stabilize an agroecological system,” Hayden replied.

“I am not at all trying to downplay the importance of your research,” Dahlgren said with a sigh. “The Lost Fleet and Frontier Day have thrown our exploratory plans into chaos. I need someone with the necessary experience and authority to make sure that nothing is missed out there. You’re that person.”

Hayden shook her head. “In what capacity?”

The vice admiral imagined herself being sent back to Starbase Bravo as some sort of Assistant Deputy Commander for Exploration Policy or some other such absurdly long and irrelevant title.

“In a very direct capacity. This isn’t a desk job. I’m putting you in command of Task Force 17,” the admiral replied. “I need a legendary explorer and a diplomat.”

That wasn’t the answer Hayden was expecting; a task force was definitely a field assignment and something that wouldn’t normally go to such a senior flag officer.

“Please. ‘Legendary’ is too much of a stretch to even be flattering,” Hayden replied. “I don’t mean to sound snooty, but that’s an odd assignment for a vice admiral. What’s so important that a captain couldn’t handle this assignment? Or a fleet captain. Michael Lancaster would whip them into shape.”

“That’s exactly the point. I want a senior flag officer at the head of this task force to demonstrate the Fourth Fleet’s commitment to resuming our exploratory agenda,” Dahlgren clarified. “Your deputy will be Captain Khim Samnang. I’ll give you Lancaster and Arcturus Squadron, too.”

“Is it worth asking what happened to the previous commander of this task force?” Hayden asked, narrowing her eyes.

“No,” Dahlgren said, simply. “Get our exploratory house in order, and I’ll find you a botanical research facility to study all the soil pH and plant nutrition you like.”

Hayden pinched the bridge of her nose. “Fine. Is Superman here going to take me to Deep Space 17?” she asked.

“He is, indeed. Good luck, Admiral. Dahlgren out.”

Dahlgren’s image vanished. Hayden turned to where Armstrong was standing off to the side.

“What do you think about all of this, Captain?” Hayden asked.

“Respectfully, ma’am, I’m a scientist, too. The work you’re doing here is important, but there are lots of botanists in Starfleet. There aren’t that many admirals with records like yours,” Armstrong replied.

Hayden thought about that for a moment. She found herself weakening to the idea of getting back out into space. Exploration and science were her passions, and she could see the points of both Dahlgren and Armstrong, even though she wished she could have stayed with her rose garden on Sevury. Still, she wasn’t going to go down without a few demands.

“There’s a binary pulsar between here and Deep Space 17, isn’t there?” she asked.

“I believe so…”

“I’ve never seen a binary pulsar up close before. Add it to the itinerary,” she ordered. “Also, Cooper Robinson is on your crew, right? I’m borrowing him as flag lieutenant until we get to DS17.”

Armstrong was visibly taken aback for a moment. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Hayden to Antares. Two to beam up,” Hayden said.

Moments later, the two officers vanished in a column of energy.