Marshall was unmoved. “I don’t think it’s important enough to risk war.”
Scotty could sense himself falling victim to what he dubbed the “Robert Fox Syndrome.” It was a term coined by his longtime friend Leonard McCoy and used to describe a longing desire to launch an insufferable politician from a photon torpedo tube. Whereas Scotty might have been tempted to indulge that inclination in his younger days, age and wisdom instead told him he would be better off if he simply returned his attention to Ross.
“Admiral, I’d like to head out there and help with recovery. No one alive knows the ins and outs of a Constitution -class ship better than I do.”
“If time wasn’t an issue, I’d agree,” Ross replied. “But the Tholians aren’t a patient people, and they’re already complaining that we’re taking too long. Given the difficulties we’re likely to encounter during the mission, both technical and political, it’s vital that whomever we send to lead this mission be an innovative thinker as well as a level-headed diplomat. There are two ships with S.C.E. detachments in range of the Defiant : the Musgrave and the da Vinci . Your opinion?”
“I’d send the da Vinci , sir,” Scotty said. “Captain Gold has the temperament to handle the Tholians, and if anybody can get the Defiant out of that mess, it’s Commander Gomez and her team.”
Ross stood, signaling an end to the meeting. “Very well. Proceed as you think best, Captain, and keep us informed.”
Walking toward the door, Marshall halted abruptly and turned on his heel to face Scotty. “Remember, Captain, that preserving the peace between the Federation and the Tholians is more important than a single starship, whether it’s the Defiant or the da Vinci .”
Not replying to the diplomat, Scotty instead looked to Ross. The expression on the admiral’s face confirmed to the engineer that he, reluctantly, agreed.
CHAPTER
3
As he absently swirled his drink, watching a wedge of lime chase stray ice cubes, Kieran Duffy’s mind drifted for what he believed would be the last few minutes he might grab for himself until their return to Federation space. Not that the mess hall of the U.S.S. da Vinci was the most intimate of hideaways. Crewmembers popped in and out for a cup of coffee or a bite to eat as if the place were each person’s home kitchen. Everyone stopping in took a second to be friendly or at least acknowledge his presence, Duffy noticed. The da Vinci carried a lot of camaraderie even for a Starfleet vessel, but Duffy didn’t find that surprising. After all, there were only forty-two people onboard, and most of them numbered among Starfleet’s top engineers.
And there goes one of them now, Duffy thought as he caught sight of the one person for whom he wouldn’t mind breaking from his reverie. Sonya Gomez’s form flashed past the mess hall door, then reappeared as she back-stepped into the doorway. Her eyes narrowed, then her smile widened a bit.
“I thought that was you,” she said as she walked toward his table. “I wondered why I hadn’t seen you around.”
Duffy shrugged. “Not much for me to do yet, really. Got a minute to sit?”
“I’ll take a minute,” Gomez replied. “I’m getting a drink. Need a refill?”
“Thanks,” he answered. “It’s quinine water, not so—”
“Not soda water,” she finished for him. “Over ice and with a lime twist. Same vile stuff you have every time you sneak away to think.”
Gomez returned from the replicator moments later with a clinking glass in one hand and a steaming mug in the other. She set Duffy’s fresh drink before him as she took the seat across the table, raising her mug in a quick cheer before sipping from it.
“We all have our vices,” Duffy said, smiling at the smell of Earl Grey tea coming from the mug. “So, are you ready to, what were the captain’s words again? ‘Step aboard history’?”
Gomez snickered, but only good-naturedly. Captain David Gold was an even-tempered man who rarely allowed his emotions free rein. But the news that the da Vinci crew had been assigned to recover the Defiant had sent the captain into a near fit of excitement. History, mystery, and legend all converged on the area of space the da Vinci was rapidly approaching, and Gold had made no apologies for wanting to be the first one there.
“He hasn’t been this keyed up for a mission in a long time, has he?” Gomez asked. “He’s acting like an ensign on his first assignment. But to answer your question, we’re ready. The captain’s been at my side almost every minute since the initial briefing.” She grinned mischievously. “I did manage to shake him, though.”
“And your lucky successor was?”
“Why, Carol, of course. She’s got her hands full dealing with our Tholian escorts, but I don’t think it’s helping with the captain talking into one ear while she listens to the Tholians with the other.”
As the team’s intercultural relations specialist, it fell to Carol Abramowitz to guide them through the delicate dealings with the Tholian vessel that had greeted them at the Federation border to escort them through Tholian space. Things had been touchy at first, with Captain Gold exercising more care and diplomacy than was normal even for him. Given the Tholians’ penchant for requiring utmost precision and adherence to protocol, however, it made sense to enlist Abramowitz’s expertise and greater grasp of Tholian idiosyncrasies.
“Oh, and I imagine they’re a chatty bunch, those guys,” Duffy said. “Maybe I could tell them the one about the Tholian, the Leyron dabo girl, and the tuning fork?” Noting the lack of amusement in Gomez’s expression, Duffy grinned and took a sip of his drink. “Uh, maybe not.”
“Not retreating into humor now, are we?” she asked.
“Meaning?”
Gomez stared at him until he met her gaze. “Meaning are you avoiding thoughts of what we’re supposed to do here?”
“Sonnie, I’m begging you,” Duffy deadpanned as he grasped her free hand, “don’t take the mission. How will I ever explain to the kids why Mommy never comes home for dinner anymore? You and your daredevil plans. You don’t see the looks I get from the other guys at the tongo club every week.” He gave her a grin.
“Ha ha,” Gomez said as she took back her hand. “Pardon me for trying to connect with you.”
“Okay, no more wise guy,” Duffy said. “What would you have me say? Of course I’ve run through all the scenarios in my head and yes, I’m nervous for you . . . for every one of you who are beaming over to the Defiant during interphase. But whatever works out . . . here, well, I think we’ve both been around long enough to know the risks and costs to our personal lives.”
The admission, uncertain yet heartfelt as it was, caught Gomez completely off guard. How long had it been since she and Duffy had talked, really talked, like this?
Her giggle came from nowhere, and Gomez found herself abruptly covering her mouth, struggling to keep her composure from dissolving completely. It was too late, though, as she saw Duffy’s expression fall.
“Kieran, you’re sweet,” she said, choosing her words carefully. “But that wasn’t what I meant at all.”
Duffy straightened in his chair, the brush-off stinging him almost as much as it used to back on the Enterprise . Determined to save the moment, he quickly fumbled for a witty retort.
“Oh, well, this has got to be the first time in my life I’ve misunderstood a woman’s intentions.” Was it enough of a cover?
He should have known better.
“It seems we have a new issue on the table.” Gomez drew a breath only to giggle again, but quickly rallied to maintain her bearing. “I can’t say I haven’t missed this kind of talk with you, but we really don’t have time to get into this right now. Can we put it in stasis for the time being?”
“Consider it frozen,” he said, almost too quickly.
For now, he added to himself.
The pause in their conversation threatened to become too long, but then Gomez pressed forward.
“What I wanted to know was how you’re planning for your end of the mission.”
Duffy shrugged again and sipped from his glass, hoping to avoid looking Gomez directly in the eye. He felt certain that, had she looked hard enough, she would see through to the doubt he hid within him.
He hoped to sound nonchalant. “Seems pretty cut and—”
A tone from the da Vinci ’s communications system interrupted him, followed by Captain Gold’s voice.
“All senior officers and mission specialists to the briefing room. We’re approaching the rendezvous point.”
“You were saying?” Gomez asked as they both rose from the table and headed out of the mess hall.
“Oh. It seems pretty cut and dried,” he finished as they proceeded down the corridor. “You guys have the hard part in prepping the Defiant . I’m just minding the store.”
“But that’s just it, Kieran.” Gomez dropped her voice, a tone Duffy knew she used when she wanted his full attention. He obliged, pausing in his step.
“It’s not standard procedure for the captain and me to be off the ship at the same time. We both know that the da Vinci ’s center seat is not where you want to be.”
For the second time in their conversation, Duffy hoped that his wince was more internal than external. During his time on the da Vinci , Duffy had worked his way up the chain of command, earning the confidence of Captain Gold to the point of his being recognized as third in line to the big chair. But that line had never stretched so far as to put him in command during an actual S.C.E. mission. Duffy had taken the conn on a few occasions, his previous one lasting less than an hour as Captain Gold accompanied Sonya to a debriefing on Starbase 42. When he was in charge, Duffy himself had joked, the da Vinci might as well be on autopilot.
I’ve never even recorded a captain’s log entry.
Duffy shifted on his feet as Gomez’s words hung in the air. Everyone on the da Vinci saw Duffy as a lighthearted but skilled officer, one who led more by example than authority. It was an image he had worked hard to project. He never wanted to be one of those engineers who thought he knew a ship better than its captain did. He didn’t sit at his station on the bridge, secretly hoping for a catastrophe or crisis that might place him in the center seat.
Was his attitude merely avoidance? Or was it fear?
Even he didn’t want to plumb for the answers to those questions, at least not now, lest he wonder whether Captain Gold’s confidence in his abilities was warranted.
“You know that I’m in this whole thing for the puzzle, Sonnie. I like cracking the nut, coming up with answers in the nick of time, and doing what I’m told.” He paused to swallow, maybe a bit too hard. “Captain Gold told me that I’m sitting in command on this end, so that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll be fine.”
“You don’t have to say that for my benefit, Kieran. I know you will.” Gomez reached out to give his hand a squeeze. “I just want to be sure you know you will.”
“The big red button on the chair fires the phasers, right?” He smiled at her generous laugh, which put him more at ease. “Thanks, boss.”
Gomez dropped his hand and walked toward the briefing room’s door, turning her head just enough so Duffy could hear her whisper.
“You know, I’m liking the sound of that ‘boss’ stuff more and more.”
He followed her into the room and saw that, save one other, the meeting was waiting on them. Then he felt a small shove against his calf.
“Excuse please, many pardons,” P8 Blue said as she pushed her hard-skinned form almost between his legs. Skittering in on all eight limbs as she was wont to do when hurried, the Nasat then shot up to her hind legs and walked to her specially designed seat at the table’s end opposite Captain Gold.
“You may begin now,” she said to Gold, who smirked at Duffy and gestured him to the remaining seat with a nod of his head.
Once everyone was settled, the captain said, “Thank you all for your efforts these past hours, and for indulging my hands-on curiosity. I’m sure it’s obvious to you that I’ve more than a passing interest in our rescue of the Defiant . Commander Gomez, let me reiterate that this is your mission. You have the final say as to whether I beam over with you or stay here and direct things on this end.”
Duffy almost laughed aloud at the thought of Sonya actually telling the captain he should sit this one out.
“Sir,” Gomez began, “I’m counting on your knowledge of that class of starship to help once we get there. You’re hardly just a sightseer, and I’m going to put you to work.”
“In other words, no putzing around,” Gold said, laughing.
With a final gesture to Gomez, Gold said, “Lead us through the final check, if you would, Commander.”
Gomez turned to glance up and down the table as she spoke. “Well, we’ve already covered the historical and political aspects of this mission with Captain Scott. Now it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty.” She looked over at P8 Blue. “Pattie, why don’t you bring us up to speed on what we’re facing.”
Consulting her padd, the Nasat said, “ Everything we have gathered through long-range scans corroborates the data provided by the Tholians. The Defiant , for all intents and purposes, exists simultaneously within our universe and another. The ship is drifting in a rift between the two. As it moves in and out of this rift, it appears to lose molecular cohesion. Consoles, deck plates, everything on the ship gives up its physical qualities in one universe to regain them in the other. We will have to exercise extreme caution while moving around over there. I cannot be more precise, as this is as much as I have been able to determine from the data available to us. Many pardons.”
“That’s fine for now, Pattie.” Gomez turned her gaze to the ship’s chief medical officer. “Dr. Lense, just what is this going to do to us physically?”
Elizabeth Lense leaned forward in her chair. “I’ve reviewed the medical logs from the Enterprise and determined that we have two issues to deal with. First, those of us on the Defiant will get the full experience of interphase, which is sure to bring on nausea and dizziness, muscle weakness and slowed response times to all outside stimuli.”
Duffy couldn’t help himself. “Sounds like what happened to me after breakfast.”
Ignoring Duffy, Lense did not even give him the satisfaction of an irritated look. “Based on what I learned from the Enterprise logs, the humanoids among us on both ships have an added concern. Our proximity to the area of interphase puts us at risk for irregular, paranoid and ultimately psychotic behavior, something we might as well call space madness.” Lense glanced at Duffy, as if she expected him to chime in again. He held his tongue as she rose from the table.
“Dr. McCoy believed it was this condition that killed the Defiant ’s crew, but he was able to develop a counteragent to the interphase’s effects on his ship, one that my team has already begun to administer to our crew.” She held up a hypospray. “I can give all of you your first inoculations now, if that’s not an interruption, Commander.”
With Gomez nodding assent, Lense rose from her chair and walked first to Duffy and placed the hypospray to his neck.
He leaned to one side and asked, “So what’s in this stuff, Doc?”
Lense grinned slightly, thumbing the hypo before answering Duffy’s hanging question. Through the hiss of the spray, she said simply, “Theragen.”
Duffy’s eyes widened in shock and he slapped his hand to his neck, nearly toppling his chair over in his haste to scramble to his feet.
“What? That stuff’s pure poison!” Basic Starfleet combat history was rife with accounts of 23rd Century Klingon biochemical warfare and their use of theragen as a nerve gas, one quickly and painfully deadly to humans. Not an honorable way to fight a foe, Duffy believed, but times were different then.
Gold laughed aloud, as did Gomez and the others in the room. “Mr. Duffy, Dr. Lense has assured me that it’s merely a derivative. It’s perfectly safe and may even carry a slight intoxicating effect.”
“That’s correct,” Lense added. Her right eyebrow rose in an alm
ost Vulcan fashion as she added, “Dr. McCoy also saw fit to include a recipe for mixing the counteragent with Scotch, based apparently on field testing by the ship’s engineer, whom we all know, of course.” The doctor’s deadpan delivery evoked another chorus of laughs from the group.
“Well, if it’s good enough for Captain Scott,” Duffy said, “far be it from me to say no to a nip of the hard stuff, Doc.” He tried to laugh it off but his adrenaline needed another moment to simmer.
As Lense made her way around the others, she paused at P8 Blue’s seat. “Pattie, I want to monitor the interphase’s effects on you before your inoculation. I don’t think the theragen is necessary.”
“I will report any irregularities at once, Doctor.”
Satisfied with Lense’s report, Gomez turned her attention back to the group. “So those of us headed to the Defiant are ready. The plan is for Soloman and me to install a series of portable generators to the Defiant ’s systems, as she’s sure to be completely drained of power. It won’t restore full functionality, but we should be able to activate the maneuvering thrusters and gain limited control of some shipboard systems. Pattie will verify the ship’s systems to make sure they can handle the power and prepare ship’s thrusters to help coax us out of the rift, assuming they will still work.
“Dr. Lense, your job is to keep an eye on us and gather what data you can on the physiological effects of the interphase phenomenon.” The physician confirmed the instructions with a single nod.
“Captain, I need you to get whatever information you can from the Defiant ’s logs and pass anything to me that might help us.”
“That’s hardly an order, Commander,” said Gold and smiled. “You have no idea how much I want to hear the answers to our questions about the Defiant in the words of Captain Blair himself.”
She then turned to Duffy. “Commander, what have you got for me?”
He almost stammered, knowing she playfully chose those words to catch him off guard before the whole team. It went a long way toward calming the fresh wave of butterflies that had formed in his gut.
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