“It’ll pass. First time you’re on one of these things it takes your inner ear a while to adjust to the motion,” Stephanos commented as his arm snaked out to steady Weston.

“I know.” Weston straightened himself, fighting off another wave of sickness, and started down the hallway. “Not my first time on the ship, Steph. Was up here maybe a dozen times during the pre-commissioning—damn thing hit me every time.”

The pair made their way through the halls toward the Odyssey’s command center, a large room with curving floors and ceilings. It was already bustling with activity as two full-maintenance details crowded the room, checking the circuitry for the nth time as they analyzed every system on the ship prior to her maiden voyage. A tall black man wearing a commander’s uniform approached them on the bridge. Wide across the shoulders and taller than Steph by at least four inches, the commander caused the metal plates of the deck to reverberate under his feet, leaving Weston to think of an oncoming giant and wonder for a brief moment if he’d packed his sling.

“Commander Michaels.” He bowed his head politely toward Stephanos before turning his attention to Weston. “Welcome aboard the Odyssey, Captain. I’m Commander Jason Roberts, your first officer.”

“Commander.” Weston returned the gesture while glancing around the room.

“Excuse me, Captain? I don’t mean to question you, but would you prefer to change now?”

Weston startled, looked down at his well-worn flight suit and the helmet cradled under one arm, and grinned. “Don’t much look like the captain of the fleet’s pride and joy, now, do I? Well, let’s transfer the command codes now; I’ll come back in full dress whites for the camera ops in an hour.”

“Yes, sir.”

Roberts moved over to the captain’s command seat and thumbed a print scanner, motioning Weston to do the same. After Weston’s thumb had been scanned, twin lights lit up and the computer voice broke in.

“Command transfer initiated. Please confirm identities and desire to initiate transfer protocol.”

“Identify Commander Roberts, Jason, NACS Odyssey. Transfer all command access rights to Captain Eric Weston.”

“Confirmed. Captain Weston, please identify and confirm.”

“Identify Captain Weston, Eric, NACS Odyssey. Confirm access transfer.”

“All command access rights have been transferred. Welcome aboard, Captain.”

Weston removed his thumb from the scanner and glanced over at Stephanos, who by now looked like he was about to float away—rotational gravity be damned.

“Well, Commander, the Angels are yours.” Weston waited for a moment, permitting Stephanos his time in the sun, then continued. “I’ll be expecting a full report on the squadron—weapons, flight status, and roster—by tomorrow.”

Steph’s smile dropped several degrees, probably at the thought of the paperwork he had just inherited. Weston started to smirk in response, until he, too, remembered the increased paperwork awaiting his attention.

Recovering, Steph saluted with a smile and, turning on his heel, strode off to his new duties.

“I’ll be in my quarters preparing for the ceremony, Commander,” Weston said, before he, too, turned to leave.