Admiral Quentin Lott was already standing in the virtual environment when the newly promoted Captain Kyle Blackburn appeared in his red and white dress uniform. With the exception of a thin ring of hair just above the ears, Admiral Lott was quite bald. His stomach admitted to his lack of exercise in quite some time. Still, the wrinkled face had a bright smile, even though his eyes darted all around the spartan bridge layout they were in. Kyle looked around and saw a number of dark blue, recumbent seats ringing the barren counter that rimmed the round area they were standing in. A large viewscreen dominated the part of the wall to his immediate right. There appeared to be five seats total... not enough for a normal crew, but Kyle's facial expression was of thrill nonetheless. He had, apparently, been waiting for this promotion for awhile, having served as first officer aboard the USS Firebrand for over nine years. This would be his very first command... and it was the flagship, the newly commissioned USS Enterprise.

Admiral Lott took Captain Blackburn's hand and shook it briskly. "Good morning, Captain Blackburn," he added the emphasis on the word 'captain'.

The forty-three year old Kyle returned the handshake. "Morning, Admiral."

"I suppose you know why you're here," Quentin remarked with a wink and motioning around the bridge. The entire ceiling seemed to glow white, providing illumination for the entire room. There was a single seat in the center of the room, not more than six meters across, with four seats equidistant from the center seat, facing the rounded blue counter that spanned three-quarters of the wall. The walls were a plain, matte white color, the viewscreen a smoke colored brown, and the floor was a dull gray and white checkerboard. Although physical computer consoles had limited use in this day and age, they were still pretty standard fare in starships. The lack of computer interfaces made the brige look strangely incomplete.

Blackburn shrugged. "I hope you're not needing an interior decorator," he said with a chuckle, "I'm terrible at it. My wife actually decorated our apartment."

Lott laughed and shook his head. "No, no. We don't need an interior decorator. It's decorated already. All the interfaces here are virtual. He looked up. "Enterprise, navigation console." A yellow and blue translucent panel angled itself into view on the counter in front of the seat to his immediate left. A large virtual monitor appeared just in front of the wall above the console. "All the major stations can be displayed here for you."

Blackburn looked at him quizzically. "But, if these are the various stations, why not just keep a physical station there? Why the virtual controls?"

"With virtual controls, you can place them wherever you want. The navigation console doesn't have to be there. You can put it right in front of the captain's seat or just have it pop up wherever you're currently standing."

Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Well, that would make for a great gag from time to time, but that's hardly practical for a navigator, is it?"

Admiral Lott started a verbal tapdance. "Well, I suppose it would," he eyes started darting around the room again, "but that really isn't an issue in this case."

"Oh?" Kyle answered. For some reason, the admiral's statement left him visibly uncomfortable. "Why is that?"

The admiral shuffled his feet. "Well... your navigator won't be using the terminal."

Kyle chuckled nervously. "I suppose he'll be using his mind."

Lott shrugged and smiled awkwardly. Apparently, the details of the captain's new assignment hadn't been revealed to him yet. "Actually, that's truer than you may think." With that, he looked up again. "Enterprise, this is your new captian." He looked back down and briefly looked at Blackburn. "Captain Blackburn, meet your crew." He motioned around the bridge with his arms.

A tenor-pitched male voice echoed through the room. "Good morning, Captain Blackburn. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Kyle's mouth went agape as he stared incredulously around the room. The lack of response made Enterprise rather nervous. "The admiral granted me access to your military record, Captain," it started slowly. "I was honored that they chose you to be my captain."

The reality of the moment finally caught up with Captain Blackburn. Apparently, it wasn't quite to his liking. His expression turned agitated. "Enterprise is a Pathfinder class?" he asked the admiral.

The admiral nodded uncomfortably, looking around more. "Well, yes... Pathfinder mark II, to be exact. It's the third Pathfinder ever created and the first mark II. It's actually quite an honor for you..."

"I want a crew," Kyle said flatly, trying unsuccessfully to hide his disappointment. "I was told I was going on deep space exploration... far side Gamma quadrant and maybe even some extragalactic... some real first contact stuff."

Lott raised his hands defensively. "You will!" He insisted. "We were telling you the truth."

Kyle looked around truly frustrated. "But... a crew... PEOPLE. I wanted people I could talk to... get to know. I don't want to stay cooped up here in this... thing."

Admiral Lott shook his head vehemently, "You'll still be making first contact. You'll be doing deep space exploration. You won't be 'cooped up here'. You'll vi into the ship occasionally and get your updates, look at what Enterprise has done, make changes, give commands, make command decisions... the whole bit. You'll be staying on Earth for most of it. We have plenty for you to do here..."

"I am really excited to begin my first mission on active duty, Captain," Enterprise offered, trying to smooth the situation.

"You're 'excited'?" Kyle asked cynically.

"Well, yes," Enterprise answered. "I have been given basic emotions."

"Oh, that's perfect," Kyle threw his arms up in frustration and walked to the far side of the room, grabbing one of the side chairs for support.

Admiral Lott took a few steps towards him, then stopped short. "Limited emotions have been part of the advanced SINPS programming for years, Kyle. That's nothing new."

"I'm just uncomfortable about being on a ship that gets 'excited.'" Kyle quipped without turning around.

"I know it's different," Quentin offered weakly.

"Different..." Kyle echoed with sarcasm. "that would be the understatement of the century."

"Look, Captain," Quentin was willing to be patient to a point, but Kyle's closedmindedness was starting to rake on the admiral. "The Pathfinder class has been in service for almost eight years now and has been a glowing success. The USS Pathfinder received several awards and commendations for service."

Kyle turned back around, clearly frustrated at the assignment. "And where did they pin the medals?"

Admiral Lott glared menacingly at Captain Blackburn. "Captain!" he said angrily, standing straight up.

The look of frustration quickly dropped from Kyle's face as he realized how badly he had stepped out of line with his superior officer. He spun around on his heel and stood up straight. "Admiral," he replied with the look of a raw cadet starting boot camp.

At his full height, Quentin was just as tall as Kyle, but much larger. He walked over to the humbled captain and stared him straight in the face. Repeating his Academy days, Kyle did not return the look, he simply continued to look straight forward. "Captain," his voice was authoritative, "this is your commission. This is your vessel. You have been given command of the newest, most powerful vessel in the known galaxy. It's capabilities are almost limitless. Its personality was programmed to be compatible with yours. A considerable amount of time and resources went into this for YOUR benefit. If THIS is to be your reaction, then I daresay we need to reconsider that fourth bar on your collar. Is THAT what you're telling me, Captain?" Again, he emphasized the word 'captain'.

Captain Blackburn's expression deflated. "No, Admiral." He replied quietly.

The admiral's face softened a bit as he took a step back. "I didn't think so. Now, I realize this was a shock... and a bit out of the norm. However, Starfleet has already commissioned another six Pathfinder II's to be built over the next two years, so you'll be seeing more, NOT fewer of them in the future. If, after, say, ninety days, you find this won't work out, we'll work on getting you transferred. Until then, I expect you to live up to that military record of yours and make the best of the situation. Is that clear?"

Without relaxing his posture, Kyle replied, "Perfectly, Admiral."

The admiral finally relaxed again and nodded. "Good. I'll leave you to get familiar with your crew."

Kyle posture deflated a bit. He looked to the ground, still dazed. "What the hell am I supposed to say?"

Admiral Lott chuckled as if a pleasant distant memory had returned. "You could try starting with 'hello.'" With that, the image of the admiral vanished.

Enterprise stopped the playback of its first meeting with Captain Blackburn. The navigation subsystem indicated the need to exit slipstream. The alpha centauri system was coming up.