Lt. Jake Long waited for the shuttle to dock. He wasn't sure if he was excited or scared to death. The only thing he knew for sure was his friend, Andy Thoreau, had asked him to come to her new assignment, Jarvik Station. She didn't specify why, only that she needed him to come. That was enough. As the doors opened, the tall, blonde originally from Tennessee, stepped onto the waiting platform and came face to face with…
"Hello, Jake," the familiar British accent intoned.
"Well, hello Limey," was the reply.
Drew bristled at the nickname. Jake had always used the insulting term whenever he wanted to pique Drew's temper.
"What are you doing here?" Jake continued.
"What, Andy didn't tell you?" Drew asked, knowing full well she hadn't told him anything.
"Tell me what? Andy just asked me to come."
Drew laughed and reached for Jake's bag. "Come on and I'll fill you in."
Jake pulled back, not allowing Drew the courtesy, "Why don't you just fill me in now."
Drew sighed and got right to the point, "You're here because Andy wants you as the Chief Security Officer for the station. What she didn't tell you, is that the position makes you third in line of command and ultimately, my first officer should anything happen to her. Because of that, she's allowing me to make the decision."
Jake let the words sink in. That Andrea wanted him for a command position was an honor in itself. That Drew had the final say so, well, he knew what that meant.
"I'll just get back on the transport now. No need to waste time for either of us." Jake replied.
Drew stopped him, "Come on, Jake, the transport doesn't leave again until nine in the morning. Besides, I gave Andy my word that I'd talk to you and I'm going to. Now come on."
He took Jake's bag and began walking to the nearest turbo lift. Drew gave the command to move to the guest quarters and they were there within minutes. As they exited the lift, Jake laughed quietly to himself. "She outranks you. If you're the First Officer, she gave you an order to talk to me."
Drew stopped outside the rooms assigned to Jake. He waited for the doors to open before addressing Jake. "That's true, she does outrank me, but she didn't give me an order. She stopped just short of that. I agreed to evaluate your abilities openly and honestly. We can do that or we can call it quits right now. It's up to you."
Jake looked slightly embarrassed but nodded agreement, "No, I'd like to be considered," he answered honestly.
"Good. Meet me here in two hours." Drew handed him a piece of paper and left Jake standing outside the room, pondering what was really to come next.