The Shape of Belonging - V - Safe Harbor

Posted on Tue Sep 15th, 2026 @ 5:58pm by Commander Rosa Coy

1,773 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Character Development
Location: USS Veyra

I found out about the promotion because Commander Voss asked me to report to his office. That is rarely how anyone wants to hear the words Lieutenant Junior Grade. For most of the walk there, I was running through every possibility I could think of. I considered recent flight evaluations, maintenance reports, command assessments, and the last time I accidentally parked a shuttle outside the designated alignment tolerance. By the time I made it to his door, I'd constructed at least six explanations for why I might be in trouble.

Voss looks up from his desk when I enter. "Ensign."

"Commander."

He gestures toward the chair, and I sit.

He studies me for a moment, and I have learned enough about him to recognize that expression. He is deciding how much information to give me and how much he expects me to figure out on my own.

I straighten slightly. "If this is about the Peregrine, I can explain."

"The Peregrine?" He asks, basically letting me spill my guts on myself.

"The docking incident?"

He raises an eyebrow. "The one with the cargo tug?"

I wince. "Yes."

"That was eight months ago."

"I remember."

"I'm sure you do."

I look down at my hands.

He lets the silence sit for a moment before his expression softens. "Congratulations, Lieutenant Junior Grade."

For several seconds, I simply stare at him. The words take longer to reach me than they should. "You mean..."

"I mean exactly what I said."

I laugh quietly, partly from relief and partly because I suddenly feel ridiculous for having spent the last ten minutes preparing to defend myself against an eight-month-old docking mistake. "When?"

"Effective immediately."

I look at the rank insignia sitting on the corner of his desk. It seems smaller than I expected. "Why me?"

Voss leans back slightly. "Because you've earned it."

There are probably several ways I could respond to that. I settle on the one that feels most honest. "Thank you, sir."

He nods. "There's a gathering in the mess tonight."

I look up. "Who organized it?"

His expression changes by the smallest amount. "I believe Lieutenant Kade described it as 'an opportunity to consume food and make noise'."

"That sounds like him."

"It does."

I stand.

Voss looks at me again before I reach the door. "Sira."

I turn.

"You've done well here." The words are simple. They stay with me all the way to the mess. By the time I arrive, Kade has already taken control of the room. That isn't an official position. But it may as well be.

Someone has moved the tables together again. Rell is standing beside a serving tray, arguing with Thenn about whether something can reasonably be called food if it has been replicated in three different colors. Virel is holding a glass of Kanar and watching the argument with the detached amusement of someone who has already decided how it will end.

Kade sees me first. "There she is."

Every head turns. I stop in the doorway. Someone whistles. Thenn grins.

Rell raises his glass. "About time."

I look at Kade. "What did you tell them?"

"Nothing."

"You're lying."

"I told them you were promoted."

"That's it?"

"Apparently."

Thenn rushes toward me and catches my arm before I can escape. "Lieutenant."

I look at her. Then at Kade "You're enjoying this."

"Immensely."

She looks at my new rank and then back at me. "You look strange."

"I've been a Lieutenant Junior Grade for all of twelve seconds."

"Exactly."

Kade approaches with a glass in each hand and offers me one. "Congratulations, Leftie."

I take it. "Thank you."

Rell raises his glass from across the room. "To Lieutenant Leth-allt."

I point at him. "Don't."

He smiles. "Fine. To Sira."

That quiets the room for half a second.

I look around.

Kade raises his glass.

Thenn follows.

Virel lifts hers.

Rell waits until everyone is looking at him, then raises his own. "To Sira."

The words settle differently than I expect. No rank. No title. Just my name. I feel something tighten behind my ribs as everyone drinks.

Then Kade says, "Even if she still parks shuttles like a drunken targ."

The room erupts in laughter. I laugh harder than anyone.

Rell nearly spills his drink.

Thenn is laughing so hard she has to put her glass down.

Even Virel smiles into hers.

I point at Kade while trying to catch my breath. "That happened one time."

"Once is enough."

"It was a perfectly controlled landing."

"You hit a cargo tug."

"It moved."

"It was parked."

"It moved."

Rell shakes his head. "I've heard this story."

"You've told this story."

"Well, I've improved it."

Kade looks at me. "See? She's learning."

I laugh again as the evening continues around me, and at some point I stop thinking about the promotion. There is food everywhere. Rell has cooked too much, which he insists is not possible. Thenn has brought the same misshapen pastries she made months ago and now claims they are intentionally asymmetrical. Kade has somehow acquired another bottle of Kanar despite Voss having specifically told him there would be no more.

Virel notices it first. "Where did you get that?"

Kade looks innocent. "Trade secret."

"You've been drinking."

"That's an accusation."

"It's an observation."

"Then your observations need more Kanar."

She takes the bottle from him. "Thank you."

He stares. "You can't just confiscate it."

"I'm a doctor."

"That doesn't give you authority."

"No. It gives me patience."

Rell laughs. I watch them. Kade is still Kade. Rell is still complaining. Thenn is still trying to convince everyone that her pastries have improved. Virel is still pretending she isn't enjoying herself. And I realize that I know exactly where everyone will be tomorrow.

Kade will be on the bridge before his shift officially starts. Rell will complain about flight control damaging something they haven't actually damaged. Thenn will ask me to review a maneuver and then argue with me about the answer. Virel will quietly notice something everyone else missed.

Someone will steal my coffee. Someone will likely sit in my chair. Someone will call me Leftie. The thought arrives so quickly and quietly that I almost miss it. I don't remember when this happened.

I look around the room again. These people. This noise. This ridiculous ship.

Somehow, somewhere between the first command and the first terrible poker game, between a repaired wall panel and a shuttle landing that Kade refuses to let me forget, this place became familiar.

I think about Bajor. I think about the Sunfire. There are parts of me that belong there in ways that will always remain true. Memories live there. People live there. A version of myself I once needed still lives there.

The Veyra has become something different. It isn't replacing anything. It has simply become another place where I am known. I look down at the glass in my hand.

Kade catches me staring into it. "You all right?"

I smile. "Yeah."

He studies me for a moment. Then he nods and returns to whatever argument Rell has started. Later, when most of the crew has drifted away, I find myself standing alone near the viewport.

The colony lights below us are scattered across the darkness, tiny and warm.

Voss joins me. "You enjoy yourself?"

"I did."

"Good."

I glance toward him. "Thank you."

"For the promotion?"

"For everything."

He looks at me for a moment.

Then he says, "You did the work."

I smile. "Still."

He nods once. We stand together in silence for a while.

Then his expression changes. "There is something else."

I turn toward him.

He gestures toward the door. "Come with me."

That familiar feeling returns. I follow him into the corridor. We walk toward the flight control section, and I immediately assume something has gone wrong. When we enter, I see an unfamiliar Ensign standing beside one of the consoles.

Young, too young, perhaps. Freshly assigned uniform. Freshly polished boots. A PADD held tightly enough that her knuckles have gone pale.

She straightens when we enter. "Commander."

Voss nods. "Ensign."

Her eyes flick toward me. She recognizes the rank. Then she looks away quickly.

Voss turns toward me. "This is Ensign Mara Pell."

She looks at me again. "Sira Leth-allt. Sir."

Voss smiles faintly. "Lieutenant."

I realize what he is doing as I look at the young Ensign. "Hello, Mara."

"Hello, Lieutenant."

Voss steps away from us. "I'd like you to show her the ropes."

I stare at him. "The ropes?"

He gives me the smallest smile. "Your words, not mine."

I glance at Mara. She looks terrified. I remember that feeling. I remember sitting in a new chair and wondering whether everyone could hear my uncertainty. I remember listening to Rosa and trying to understand how she could make command sound so natural. I remember thinking that someday I would know what she knew. I know better now.

Knowing isn't the same as becoming. Becoming is what happens afterward.

I turn toward Mara. "How much flight experience do you have?"

"Academy flight track. Advanced atmospheric and orbital certification. I've logged four hundred and twelve hours in Type Nine and Type Eleven simulators, plus eighty-three live flight hours."

I smile. "That's a lot of numbers."

She looks embarrassed. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize. I did the same thing."

Her eyes lift. "You did?"

"Constantly."

A small smile appears. I recognize it immediately. Hope mixed with uncertainty. I gesture toward the console beside me. "Come on. I'll show you where everyone keeps the things they claim they don't need."

She follows. "Is there a correct way to learn the ship?"

I glance at her. "Eventually."

She waits.

I smile. "But first you're going to learn where Kade hides his coffee."

She laughs. The sound surprises her.

It doesn't surprise me. I look toward the bridge. Kade is already there. Thenn is beside him. Rell's voice is coming over the intercom, complaining about something. Virel walks through the far doorway carrying a medical kit.

The Veyra hums beneath our feet. For years, I thought a harbor was where a ship waited to leave again. Now I understand that it can also be the place where someone else first learns how to sail.

I look at Mara, then back toward the bridge. "Come on," I tell her. "You've got a lot to learn."

And as she follows me into the chaos, I realize I no longer have to wonder where I belong. I already know. I just don't remember when the realization happened.

TBC

 

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