Darien knew full well that introducing their new team mate, albeit a temporary one, would not go down well with the rest of the squad. There was nothing for it, however. The quicker he got this out of the way the quicker they could get on with their mission.

He found them down in the mess hall, all gathered around one corner table, deep in conversation. Leading Kelsey through the low hum of activity, he exchanged nods and greetings with some of the other operatives he passed along the way before reaching the far end of the room. The others looked at him first, then almost as one their collective gaze shifted suspiciously toward the newcomer. Darien braced himself.

"Alright everyone," he began. "I trust you've all made a start on going the through the data the research team sent over?"

"A start is about all we're going to manage in two days," Idas muttered. "They sent half a damn library over."

"It pays to be thorough."

Niamh swivelled to face him, her boots currently sitting crossed on the table. She indicated the new girl with a nod. "So who's this?"

"This is Operative Kelsey Brannigan. She'll be joining us on this mission."

The silence spoke volumes. The other members of the squad exchanged a series of disbelieving looks until eventually, inevitably, Idas spoke up.

"Why?"

"We need someone to stand in for Uther."

"The hell we do!"

"That's enough!" Darien snapped. "I'm not here to have a debate about it." He looked to Brannigan, whose face looked just a little more drained of blood than at had been a few minutes ago. "She's newly qualified – she'll be taking over Uther's tech duties for this operation. It is a temporary assignment. Now I know this may seem a little...irregular, but Smith wants her to come with us. End of story."

"Irregular?" Idas shook his head. "That's an understatement."

"This wasn't my idea," Kelsey said quietly. "And I'm not here to replace Uther. I just want to prove that I deserve to be an operative."

"Two days," Niamh said. "Two days before a major operation? No offence, kiddo, but that's not good enough."

"She's coming with us whether you like it or not." Darien turned his steely gaze on her. "We were all rookies once; I expect you all to treat our new team mate with the respect she deserves. Understand?"

Another awkward cloud of silence descended and Brannigan shuffled from foot to foot, looking at the floor. Darien couldn't even blame the squad for their reaction – if he'd had his way they wouldn't have been saddled with the rookie either. He looked from them, to Brannigan and back again.

"I said, do you understand?" he repeated.

They still didn't respond and he felt his temper rising. He was just about to lay into them for their unprofessional behaviour when Amber saved the situation. She pulled one of the vacant chairs out from the table and beckoned Brannigan forward.

"Take a seat," she said, and she smiled. Their new operative returned the gesture and sat down, though she still looked thoroughly ill-at-ease. Hekket leaned forward to speak to her. Idas lolled backwards with his arms folded and scowled.

Niamh stood up and tugged Darien along by the arm. "I need to talk to you."

He rolled his eyes but didn't stop her from towing him out of the mess hall and into the corridor beyond. They kept walking until they were in an empty passage at which point she whirled to face him and her one biological eye was shining with fury. She pointed back the way they'd come.

"Okay, what the hell was that?!"

"Excuse me?"

"Who is that...that child?" she demanded. "You're not seriously suggesting that we take her with us on this mission, are you?"

"Not me," Darien replied. "Smith said we're not going undermanned. No discussion."

"Didn't you-,"

"Of course I did!" he exploded. "What? You think I just sat there and just took this lying down? I know damn well that Uther is still down in that infirmary. I didn't want a replacement."

"We don't know her. How are we meant to work as a team?"

He shook his head. "Niamh, we've been through a lot together. Do you not think we're capable of accommodating a new face for one mission? Is that really too much to ask?"

"It just feels wrong." She leaned against the wall, shaking her head. "It's not enough to pull us off our leave that we earned ten times over, and throw us into another big operation before we can catch our breath. He also has to jam home the fact that one of us is still recovering from what we went through last time, by saddling us with some wet-behind-the-ears kid who's never been on an active operation before."

"They have to learn sometime," Darien replied. He lowered his tone, speaking gently. "Do you remember the first operation we went on, the very first?"

"Mars." She nodded, a faint smile hovering on her hard features. "Damn, I was scared."

"Me too." He moved over and stood beside her. "And the operatives we went in with – they didn't know you; they'd barely gotten to know me. That didn't stop us. We went in and we got the job done."

"That was a long time ago." Niamh looked at him, smile fading. "That was before you got your own squad and brought me along for the ride. We're not like other units, Darien. We don't chop and change parts like other teams. Hammerhead is the best because of the operatives it's made up of."

"I know that," he said. "And I told Smith the exact same thing, but he's not budging. Niamh, if we really are the best, the five of us should be able to break in a new recruit. And she isn't just the first newly qualified grunt who passed for active service. She's one of the three highest rated recruits on the station."

"I still don't like it."

"I'm not asking you to." Darien slung an arm around her shoulders and gave her a reassuring hug. "Just think of it as one more challenge. We'll rise to the occasion – we always do."

*

The door to the infirmary slid open with a barely audible hiss. Amber stepped over the threshold, feeling the cold, antiseptic air of the station's medical quarters wash over her. It brought back unhappy memories of being scanned, probed and tested in every way imaginable in a witch hunt for an alien entity. In the end the procedures proved she was still human with no unwanted guests, but she wouldn't forget the feeling any time soon.

The Blink infirmary didn't have many long-standing residents. While the small facility had state of the art equipment and the means to treat anything from a hangnail to a plague outbreak, it mostly saw use for the minor injuries the Blink operatives received in the line of duty, or in training. Scanning the room, she saw half a dozen young men and women scattered around the room receiving treatment for sprains, cuts, dislocations and burns, but no-one that had suffered anything serious. That is, until her eyes roved to the far end of the infirmary and she spotted the person she'd come here to see.

His lanky frame was unmistakable. At twenty, Uther was the oldest member of Hammerhead squad by a margin of two years, and they all knew he would soon be coming to the end of his time were he would be able to Blink effectively. Realistically he had another two years, three at the most where he would still be useful as an operative, before his ability to transport started to decline. After seeing how quickly Smith replaced him for their current mission, Amber was under no illusions about their commander's cut-throat attitude towards assets that were no longer dependable.

She suspected Uther knew that as well by the way he repeatedly put down his crutches to try and walk, only to stumble or fall and have a nurse pick him back up again. Even from the distance between them she could see the frustration on his face. Caught in an explosion on their last operation, Uther had returned to the station with a small cliff's worth of rock and debris embedded into his back, rupturing organs and cracking bones, leaving him crippled. Over the months that passed since then the surgeons at Blink HQ had slowly and methodically removed the foreign matter and mended his broken body as best they could, but the fact he was still here almost twelve weeks later drove home just how badly he'd been injured. Even with the best gear money could (and in some cases couldn't) buy, it took a team of expert medical officers this long just to get him moving around on his own.

Reasoning that there probably wouldn't be a good time to go and talk to him, Amber squared her shoulders and crossed the gleaming white-tiled floor. She arrived just as the nurses managed to coax him back into his bed, and he lay there, glaring at the far wall. If looks could kill Uther would have blown out a bulkhead.

Amber waited until the nurses had dispersed before pulling up a stool beside the bed and sitting down. She didn't really know what to say, and nor did he, judging from how he cast one glance at her before lowering his gaze onto his lap. They sat for a couple of minutes until Amber forced herself to say something.

"Cabin fever?"

Uther sighed. "You could say that." He looked at her and shrugged, smiling weakly. "How are you?"

"I'm good. I guess you know we're shipping out soon. I just wanted to stop by and see you, since...you know."

"You've said thank you a dozen times," Uther chuckled. "And sorry almost as much again."

She shifted awkwardly in her seat. "Well you're still stuck here. You never even got to go on leave. It's hard to feel like it's not my fault."

"It's nobody's fault, Amber, we've been over this." He shook his head.

"I know, I know, but there's...there's more. Smith, he's making us-,"

"Take another operative along to replace me."

Amber's mouth opened and closed in surprise.

"Smith told me," Uther explained. "Before he called you guys back from leave he came to see me. I knew about the mission, but there was no way I was going to be ready to go in the time frame."

"Not for lack of trying, I see." She nodded to the crutches at the bedside.

He smirked. "What can I say? I'm stubborn."

"So, you're okay?"

"It's not like I have a choice."

"It feels wrong."

"It's one mission, Amber," he said. "I don't like it either, but Smith didn't go behind my back about this. Whatever we think about it, he's doing this for the right reasons. You guys can't go in there dwelling on me. I'm an operative – I got injured – these things happen. Sometimes life just isn't fair."

"That's certainly true." Amber stood up with a sigh, looking toward the door. "I'd better go. I've got some prep work to do." She turned to face him and forced a smile across her face. "Get well soon."

"Come here." Uther beckoned her forward and pulled her into a hug. She returned the embrace gingerly, not wanting to exert too much pressure in case he still had lingering pains from his injury. They stayed there, holding onto each other for a long moment, and then Uther spoke into her ear.

"Make sure the others aren't worrying about me," he said. "Especially Darien. You know what he's like – how he feels about the team. He may not show it, but this'll be chewing him up inside."

"I...I'll look after him."

"Then go out there and do what you guys do best. I'll be here when you get back."

Disentangling herself, Amber nodded, brushing a stray loop of hair back behind her ear. "Maybe we'll find you some nice souvenirs."

Uther grinned. "Who knows? Maybe I'll be on my feet by the time you get home."