"Computer, pause recording." It beeped in agreement and Quinton leaned back in his chair. He let his eyes roam around the compact but functional ready room as he considered his next words. His eyes settled on a picture that hung from the opposite wall. It was a group shot of the entire senior staff gathered on the bridge shortly before their launch last year. Quinton himself was at the center, with the others arranged around him. Franklin Xavier stood stiffly, practically at attention, at Quinton's shoulder and gazed haughtily out at the photographer. Sara Thales beside him was his polar opposite, as cheery as he was stoic. Wavy tendrils of reddish brown hair escaped from her updo and framed her face, which beamed with pride.