Dr. Adric Jakande wasn't entirely sure what he had signed up for. When he had moved from The coastal African provinces, it had been to attend the school of his dreams, and from there his path had led him to the UNSC where he had spent most of his time counseling veterans of the Panasian war. Then a letter had come across his desk looking for volunteers brave enough to take on a very new, and dangerous mission.

He had planned on ignoring it because his life here was stable and comfortable, but there was something about it he just couldn't get out of his head.

It would be the hardest thing he had ever done: and it wouldn't be just humans he would be dealing with.

Somehow, however, he found himself writing his name on the contract that signed away five years of his life to the crew of the Harbinger.

There was no turning back now, so might as well get to work.

He wanted to understand the dynamic of the ship and so had filtered through a hundred or more psychological evals. He didn't read them all, and he wouldn't interview them all, but there were a select handful he was very interested in, and planned to take a look at himself.

He pressed the button on his desk causing the call light above the door to blink on in green inviting his first patient into the office. Footsteps followed, and a young marine, not too much younger than himself, slipped into the room walking over and sprawling out in the seat across from him, a smile pulled taught over his olive-tan face.

"Cprl. Angel Ramirez?"

"Yes, Sir, that's me."

He glanced down at the stats on the eval. The corporal seemed in pretty good shape except, "Tell me corporal, on your evaluation you reported higher elvels of anxiety than normal, Would you be willing to tell me why?" The corporal sat up sraighter his dark amber eyes narrowing a little.as he thought.

"Well, sir.... It has nothing to do with me really.... But a friend of mine has been having some problems lately, and I'm not sure if he will be able to get it together before we are on our way. It would pretty much ruin my life if he was....uh.... Not allowed to com ."

"Ruin your life? That seems pretty serious."

He shrugged, "He holds the ship together, everyone loves him, and I don't think we would make it in deep space without him."

"Do you find deep space to be mentally taxing?"

He frowned a bit forced to think about it, "No, not really but I think that has to do with this friend of mine. He does a lot of stuff to get us to come together, activities, holidays, group meals, it really keeps crew morale and I'm not sure we would have it without him."

"Is there anything particularly bothering you corporal, besides that/"

"No, I guess I miss my family a little, but I was just there, so that is expected. I'll video chat them from orbit, so it will all be cool."

He let the corporal go with a nod. The man was stable, happy, and well-adjusted. He would use him as a baseline.

The call light came on again, and another figure stepped into the room, at first he assumed they were a man, though turning around he could see that wasn't the case. She had very short hair, and a face that could have gone either way, not unpleasant just different.

She took a stiff seat in the chair opposite him.

"Sgt Maverick Morozov.... Russian?"

"My family was a long time ago."

"Says here you are the ship's Chaplain."

"Yes, sir/"

"Do you have a lot of work on the ship?"

"Not really sir, most of the crew is Agnostic, though some come and visit me to talk, though now that you're aboard the ship that will probably trickle off."

"Does this bother you?"

"No, not really. I will help people if they need it, but I don't actively try to solve other people's personal problems."

"I am assuming you have a good relationship with your religion?"

"Yes sir, it saved my life once."

"Do you think this has helped you cope with being in deep space?"

"Deep space feels safe to me/"

"Why is that."

She shrugged, "I don't know, its one of those feelings like maybe nothing has touched that place other than you and the will of some kind of creator. Space isn't malevolent to me, its empty and dark– in a comforting way."

"Do you often experience malevolent things when you aren't in space?"
She paused frowning, "This makes me sound insane doesn't it, but yeah, and don't ask me why I don't know. It doesn't bother me that much, I can handle it, I just don't like to."

Interesting, he would have to take a look into that later.

"And your reported anxiety levels have been high lately. Why is that?"

"On the behalf of a friend of mine."

Interesting.

"Someone on his ship."

"Yes sir, if he can't come with us, I will probably quit."

"That's a lot of loyalty."

"I've no doubt he would do the same for all of us, so..... Yeah."

He let her go thinking about this friend of there who seemed so important to them. He had no doubt she was talking about the same person they all were. He had picked this group of people very intentionally.

The door opened again, and a very, very large figure ducked through the doorway. Adric had to sit back in his seat to contain the surprise. The Drev was HUGE, he had never seen one in person before, and this creature was just massive. Six limbs, and bright red carapace. It almost had to duck to avoid hitting its head on the ceiling.

It ignored the chair, which made sense, and happily kneeled on the floor before his desk still coming into eye level with him even as he sat on his chair.

"Kanan?"

"Yes Kanan Lumnus's son though all my human friends call me Cannon."

"Forgive me, I have never interviewed a Drev before."

"I have never been psychologically evaluated either, so I suppose we share a commonality."

"Your file is a little sparse, but it says here you were a veteran of the Drev war, and that you were injured during that time. Do you experience any psychological symptoms related to the event.

"Not to the war itself, Drev don't respond to trauma like humans, mostly because we do not perceive it as trauma. The worst part came after the war when I was exiled."

He blinked, "Exiled?"

"Yes, i received a grievous injury during the war and my mother banished me from the clan to sacrifice myself to the burning spirits."

He simply blinked, "Your mother wanted you to......"

"Throw myself into the volcano."

"But you didn't."

"No I betrayed our traditions and left Anin. I nearly died starving a month later, but the humans took kindness on me, and I was recovered."

"Feel free not to answer this question, but it says here that your.... Mate died during the war."

His golden eyes saddened a bit, "She did, but she died in glorious combat, so I am not sad for her death. I am sad because of how little time I got to spend with her. Nechal and I would have had a strong brood, but we never got the chance."

"How does this affect your daily life?"

He shrugged, "It does not, but i think about her sometimes at night before I sleep. And I do my best to honor her memory, and the memory of my father who died during the war as well."

The Drev had plenty to be psychologically unstable about, but otherwise he seemed fine. He wasn't sure yet just what a stable Drev looked like though, so he would have to do some more digging, "Thank you, Cannon, you may go."

He met with a few other humans before moving on to his next patient Both of the humans were fine aside from concerns abut this unnamed friend of theirs, which seemed to be a recurring theme.

The door opened again and looked over confused at first when he did not see anyone , however a sharp scuttling across the floor caused him to look over his desk where a small, almost spider like alien was skittering across the floor.

As he watched it inflated a flap of skin at the back of it's head and floated up onto the chair turning to face him. Its large orange prismatic eyes watched him cooly.

"Dr. Krill."

"Yes, and you are Dr. Jakande."

He glanced down at his paper and blew out through his cheeks. He wasn't sure how to go about this. The anxiety this creature was experiencing nearly broke their scale, and on a scale of neuroticism he almost broke that as well. If he saw this in a person he would be very concerned.

"You seem anxious, doctor."

"I am always anxious, it is a proclivity of my species. If you want an accurate reading on your test, you should lower the levels to a halfway point"

He glanced down at his paper, "That is still pretty high."

"I am the commanding physician on a ship where all you humans are bent on getting yourselves killed, and even when you aren't I have to worry about whether or not you will choke on a grape because your larynx are so poorly placed. I am constantly surrounded by creatures that don't understand the meaning of caution." he looked very seriously at Adric just then, "These are my humans and I do not want any of them to die if I can help it though they seem to defy me at every opportunity."

"Your humans?"

"Yes , my humans, my responsibility therefore they are all MINE."

Ok this little guy was a bit on the crazy side. If he saw this out of a human he would be concerned, but i the creature was already prone to neuroticism than he wasn't entirely sure what to do.

"Not to mention a friend of mine may not be returning to the ship, and if he doesn't I will be out of a job."

He paused, there was mention f that friend again, "Why would you be out of a job?"

"Because he is the only reason I am on this ship in the first place. He holds my loyalty.

Very interesting.

He let the little doctor go taking mental notes to talk more with him later.

A woman stepped into the room next,her long dark hair falling about her shoulders, large glasses glittering in the overhead lights as she adjusted her coat.

"Dr. Katie Keddrick you are the second attending physician on the Harbinger."

"Yes, I was brought in to ease some of the burden from Dr. Krill."

"And how are you coping with that."

"Oh I am doing very well. I love it aboard the ship. Its just one big family honestly, very nice and homey."

"That 's good. Tell me is your reported anxiety to do with a friend of yours who may or may not be able to return to the ship?"

The doctor paused her eyes wide, "How did you know."

"A common theme."

"Well yeah actually. He has a tendency to take all the burden on his own shoulders, so he doesnt cause issue to anyone else. He likes to control things though I don't think he knows that. It never bothers any of us, but it is getting to him, and we are all worried that they won't let him through."

"This friend means a lot to you."

"He brought our little family together, so yes."

"You see the crew as family."

She smiled, "Well doctor, yes but you will find that out there in the galaxy humanity survives by creating families. Everything that makes us human is magnified under the lens of space, our power our weakness, our goods and our bads."

He talked with her a little more, she was intelligent and insightful about the workings of the crew, information that he found valuable before letting her go.

He only had one more evaluation before the big one.

This Drev dd not have to duck through the door as she came in. She was very small though the color of her carapace was a pleasant electric blue. She was able to seat herself on the chair tilting her head to look at him.

He wasn't sure what to make of her evaluation.

"Chalan."

"Call me Sunny."

"Chief weapons officer."

"Yes."

"I am going to be honest, I was not sure what to make of your evaluation. You come across as someone trying very hard to prove they aren't affected by something very important."

She tiled her head. She had the same gold eyes as the other Drev, "My mother didn't like how short I was, or that I was not as talented as my brother, she treated me poorly and my father died during the war, so forgive me if I still have some unresolved conflicts."

Very blunt, interesting.

""How do you cope with those."

"I remind myself that I beat my mother in open combat, also I have friends now."

Hmm yeah they were going to have to talk some more for sure. This was less of a healed kind of thing and more of a stick it to the man sort of attitude. She was still trying to prove something, probably more to herself than to others.

"And you are anxious about a friend of yours?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because if he does not board this ship again, I don' think he will live to see next year, and if that happens, I doubt I will either."

That was.... that was kind of concerning and intense.

"Who is this friend of yours."

She shook her head, "No, I will not be telling you."

Aggressive loyalty, very, very interesting.

He tried prodding a little more out of her, but she didn't budge, and he eventually let it go allowing her to leave.

He had one more evaluation.... The big one.

***

It was late, this evaluation had been scheduled for the last possible second, and he was curious to see what would come through those doors. He heard the clatter of UNSC issued dress shoes long before he saw anything coming steadily up the hall. He left the light on, and waited at his desk for the person to pass through the doors.

It paused outside his door and then slowly opened inward.

The light fell on a man much, much younger than he had expected. In fact, he could have passed for early twenties, if the uniform he wore hadn't suggested at least seven years of service, which would make him, at minimum, in his mid twenties. He wore the uniform well, almsot comfortably as he crossed the room.

The look on his face was pleasant like it was just about to break into a smile. His one visible green eye was curious flickering around the room with some interest.

He made his way to the desk and held out a hand, "Dr."

He took it, the grip was strong, "Commander."

He sat in the seat just opposite and Dr Adric stared at the eye patch that covered his other eye.

He nodded to it, "I thought you had a mechanical eye.

"I do." He said softly lifting the eyepatch up, so he could see the workings of the cold metal ball and its black aperture.

"Why do you still wear an eye patch?"

"Because, the eye has better vision than my normal one, and it can be overwhelming. I generally only use it when I need binocular vision."

"Why not just shut it off, why wear the eye patch."

He paused thinking head tilted, "It was a gift from a friend after losing the eye in a moment where I wasn't sure I would make it through the injury. It lightened things up for me reminded me that there is always a way through." He smiled, "Plus I think it makes me look dashing."

The two of them laughed together for a moment.

"Why did you call extended leave like this, commander."

HE sighed leaning back in his seat, "I had to work on myself for the good of the crew. I mean I saw how surprised you were, probably based on how young I am, right? Well due to that I am a novice at leading. I haven't had the time to cultivate how things work when commanding a crew, and I have made some mistakes that have almost cost me my job in the past."

He listened.

"People tell me I shoulder too much burden and take on too much guilt. I recently learned that I have a tough time relinquishing control on things."

"Why is that/ Do you often feel out of control."

"No, but I think that's why. The last time I was out of control is when I was a child and didn't know how to fix it, so I assume bad habits formed from there."

"Your family was stable?"

"Yes very, but school was.... Less than easy for me. I joined the flight academy after my freshman year of high school, so I don't think I really had the life experience that most other people do when it comes to interacting with people my own age. The point is moot now, but it did hold e back a little maturity wise, I think."

"You left due to extreme anxiety and stress?"

"Yes, I wasn't handling it well."

"And how are you doing now. I don't see any records here saying you went to see someone ."

The man sighed, and for the first time Dr Adric noticed the German Shepherd sitting at the man's side resting her head in his lap. She was wearing a service vest.

"I didn't. I have done therapy before but the first time it didn't work and the second time I was left with more questions than answers." He patted the dog's head, "She helped me the most and I decided that it might be prudent for me to try other avenues. I realized while I was gone that I was neglecting time for myself, and so I have developed a schedule to combat this."

"Oh."

"My average working day should be around nine hours, I only need about six hours of sleep. IN that case that gives me eight hours of free time, one of those I will use for exercise in the morning, and another for flight time."

"Flight time?"

"My greatest stress relief, there is no better way to feel in control in an out o control way than flying, so I have worked it into my schedule and into budget in some way or another so that I can do what this fleet and the UNSC needs."

"So, you have given up some responsibility, found yourself some free time, discovered stress relieving alternatives. Have you changed the way that you command in general?"

"I have made some changes to the command structure including a panel of advisors, which was just a good idea anyway."

"You talked about maturity in your earlier statement. Do you feel that has increased much in the past few months?"

The man smiled and sighed, "As it turns out doc, that is the one thing I couldn't fix at least in part."

"Oh?"

"I can handle conflict and issues like an adult, but I have decided that some of that isn't a maturity thing, it is simply a product of personality. So if the UNSC has an issue with a commander that makes too many Star Wars' references and listens to 2000 year old rock music on the bridge, then I guess maybe I am not the man for the job."

They talked a bit more until eventually Dr Adric stood.

The commander followed, he looked openly nervous now, though that was to be expected, this was the moment of truth.

Dr. Adric held out a hand, and the commander took it tentatively though his grip was still strong.

"I look forward to working with you and your crew."

The near smile broke on the man's face into a pleasant grin that sent little crinkly lines up through his eyes.

"You are in for a good time, Dr. Make sure to read the rules before you come aboard"

Dr Adric stood confused for a moment before glancing down at his hand.

He had not noticed the Commander slip him the folded piece of paper. He glanced up towards the door as the man's foot vanished around the corner.

He stood in stunned silence for a moment before looking down and tentatively opening the note.

Welcome Dr. Adric Jakande to the UNSC Harbinger,

On behalf of my crew, we look forward to having you, and I am pleased that you are here to help my men with whatever they may need. You will be an amazing asset to our team.

There are a few ground rules I would like to lay out first. Of course, you know the UNSC code of conduct which I will not repeat, but I have a few personal rules that will make our lives all the much easier.

Rule number 1: Don't chuck Marshmallows at Neutron Stars.