Errand of Fury Book 1 Page 10

  However, he felt his mind dwelling on Finney. He had been a good man, and a good officer. But somewhere along the way he had seen things that he couldn’t forget, things that had changed him, affected his mind.

  Fuller had served with both Finney and Kirk on the Republic. The three men had seen quite a bit there together. Was that where Finney had begun to have his problems? Had his future been sealed on the decks of that ship? And had Finney seen his breakdown coming, even then? Did anyone see that kind of thing coming? Could you feel your mind begin to crack, or did the cracks make that perception impossible?

  Suddenly, Fuller found that he did not want to be alone. He left his quarters and decided to take a walk through the ship.

  Lieutenant Kyle had to jog for a moment to keep up with Lieutenant Commander Scott.

  Kyle caught something in the chief engineer’s face, something he had only seen a few times—something possibly no one else on the engineering staff would recognize: Mister Scott was nervous.

  On more than one occasion, Kyle had heard Scott angry or frustrated. He had also seen Scott remain cool under the worst kind of pressure—when the ship was in immediate danger and Scott held the lives of everyone on board in his hands.

  Kyle knew that Scott’s nervousness wasn’t due to pressure, despite the growing rumors about the coming conflict with the Klingons. This was about a starbase engineering crew having the run of the Enterprise.

  Of course, Scott had worked with base engineers in the past for repairs and refits. But time had always allowed him personally to review the specs for all upgrades and modifications, discuss them with his own staff, and then perform much of the work himself.

  Someone who didn’t know better might think that the chief engineer’s hands-on approach was pointless and unnecessary, but Kyle knew from experience that work done or supervised by Scott always exceeded original specifications by a wide margin. It shouldn’t have been true, but it was. Just as it shouldn’t have been possible to detect by visual inspection that impulse reaction exhaust ports were out of alignment by a couple of hundredths of a percent, yet he had seen Scott do that as well.

  “Did you find out the name of the base engineer, Mister Kyle?” Scott asked.

  “Yes, sir,” Kyle said. “Security was tight and they didn’t want to transmit any information until we docked.” Kyle understood the security protocols there. No open transmissions, only hard lines between the station and the ship through the moorings that now attached the Enterprise to Starbase 56. “It’s Lieutenant Commander Steele, sir.”

  There was a flash of recognition in the chief engineer’s eyes. “Toni Steele?” Scott said.

  “Yes, sir,” Kyle said. “Apparently she was just posted to the base from—”

  “Earth,” Scott finished for him. The chief engineer seemed genuinely surprised.

  “Do you know her, sir?”

  “By reputation only, lad. She rewrote the book on warp core tolerances. She’s also on the board of directors for the next major starship refit and redesign project. And she was the head designer for the new spacedock out there. But what is she doing out here? She’s one of our top engineers, and she’s been at Command…” Scott let his voice trail off. His face went immediately thoughtful.

  “What is it, Mister Scott?” Kyle asked.

  “They moved her from Earth and from Starfleet Command because of security.”

  Security? Kyle took a moment to process the word. He couldn’t believe it. “Do you think that Command isn’t sure that Earth will be safe?” Kyle wondered if other important personnel were being spread throughout the Federation for security reasons.

  “Just a precaution, I’m sure,” Scott said, but his face said otherwise. “But there’s real danger here, and we have important work to do.” The two men reached the transporter room.

  “Ensign,” Scott acknowledged Jawer, standing behind the transporter console. The young man had been on the ship as a security officer for only a few months. He had been on Starbase 42 during the siege. Kyle had been there as well. He still spent far too many nights there…in his dreams.

  Now Jawer was cross training with the engineering staff. He had talent, but he seemed young to Kyle, though Kyle knew he was just a few years older than the man.

  “Someone from base engineering is standing by now,” Jawer said.

  Scott nodded, then gave the order: “Energize.”

  Kyle felt the familiar momentary disorientation of the transporter beam taking him, then he was looking out at a starbase transporter room. This one was a new design. The walls were a flat gray. At first, Kyle thought there was no one in the room, then he saw a protective barrier that stood in front of the transporter console. The barrier told him that the base transporter was one of the new units. It was supposed to be much more powerful than current transporter systems…and still in prototype.

  “I thought these were still experimental,” he said to Scott.

  “Aye,” Scott replied.

  Then a woman stepped out from behind the console. She was of average height, with long, straight black hair that was just starting to gray. Kyle guessed that she was a few years older than Scott. The braiding on her uniform sleeves told Kyle that, like Scott, she was a lieutenant commander. Following her was a young lieutenant.

  She stepped forward and extended her hand, “Mister Scott, I’m Lieutenant Commander Steele.” Scott shook her hand. Then she gestured to the lieutenant standing next to her and said, “This is Lieutenant Anthony.”

  “And this is Lieutenant Kyle,” Scott said.

  “I read your paper on impulse tank variance,” Steele said to Scott.

  “Really?” Scott said, his face showing his surprise.

  “Excellent work,” Steele said.

  Scott looked both pleased and…flustered. He was both the best practical and the best theoretical engineer that Kyle had ever seen. Yet, Kyle saw that there were people that even he looked up to.

  Steele’s face set, and Kyle realized that the pleasantries were over. “I’ve checked your records, and there is one thing we need to get straight, Mister Scott: I am in charge of this refit.”

  “Excuse me?” Scott said, and Kyle could see the color rise in his cheeks.

  “I know how you usually work, and I’ve seen the results of your personal methods. However, time and security demands that we do things differently this time. You’re going to have help here,” she said.

  “I have put together enough staff from Enterprise personnel,” Scott said. “We can have the job completed in four days. Captain Kirk has approved the plan.”

  “I’m afraid that your plan just changed,” Steele said. “My people have been training for this refit for weeks. We developed the system, and we know it better than you do. You and your staff will be able to contribute, but I will supervise and my people will be performing a good deal of the work.”

  Kyle knew that playing out in front of him was a common scenario for starship engineers dealing with Starfleet Command and starbase engineers. New systems were designed by research engineers, many of whom never served on a starship. They wrote detailed procedures and specifications and expected them to be followed.

  Starship engineers, on the other hand, made their careers on their abilities to improvise their own repairs, upgrades, and improvements. And no one Kyle had ever seen was better at that than Montgomery Scott.

  “Mister Scott, I don’t expect you to like it, but I’m afraid that you have no choice,” Steele said, her voice firm. “These orders come directly from Admiral Solow at Starfleet Command.”

  Scott was silent, and he had a set in his jaw that Kyle recognized. Kyle realized that this was going to be a long refit.

  Fuller turned his attention from the airlock to the Klingons and back again. “Ten, nine, eight…,” the computer voice said. It was impossible. It had to be a bluff. They wouldn’t do this. It wouldn’t even serve a purpose.

  The assembled crew members all seemed to have the same
thought at the same time, and the room seemed ready to erupt. The Klingons held their disruptors on the assembled crew members in the cargo area. Their faces held a feral glee that told Fuller that they were not bluffing.

  Fuller was the first to shout, “No!” By now you could see the officers in the airlock desperately trying to escape. Fuller rushed to the window and pounded on it. One of the young officers looked at him through the transparent aluminum.

  There was motion around him. Someone was rushing one of the Klingons. There was weapons fire. Fuller couldn’t turn around.

  A voice behind him gave an order in Klingonese. Turning his head for a moment, he saw one of the Klingons hit the button that controlled the force field that was now protecting the officers from the vacuum of space. There was only a split second now. Fuller turned back to find the young officer, but he wasn’t there.

  Sam was in his place.

  Fuller had time to pound the window once and scream his son’s name. Then the force field flashed once and disappeared. Sam was pulled out of the ship in slow motion. He caught his father’s eyes. Sam was frightened. Fuller’s son was screaming as he flew into the void. Fuller couldn’t hear him through the window, but he could see that his son was calling for him.

  As his son tumbled out into space, Fuller screamed again and threw himself at the window.

  Fuller woke with a start. For a moment he didn’t recognize his quarters. They were much bigger than his room on the Endeavour…because, of course, this wasn’t the Endeavour. He was on the Enterprise. It had been a dream, a nightmare.

  Fuller found himself gasping for air, feeling the loss of his son wash over him again.

  Someone was calling him.

  “Sir…sir,” the voice said. Then the light flashed on and a concerned Parmet was looking down at him. Fuller shook off the remnants of the dream and sat up in his bed. Now he was simply embarrassed. He had spent decades in the service. There had been nightmares almost since the beginning—the Battle of Donatu V had seen to that. And in the years after the battle there had been other worlds and other missions that had left their mark on him and had visited him in his darkest dreams.

  Nevertheless, he had never woken up screaming while he served in Starfleet. No, that didn’t happen until Sam died, he thought.

  “Sir,” Parmet said again.

  Fuller raised his hand and mustered a thin smile that he knew was not very convincing. “I’m okay…I was just having a dream.” With any luck Parmet would accept that and go to sleep. For a long moment, Parmet didn’t say anything. He just looked Fuller over carefully. Fuller realized that Parmet was very young and very naive, but he was a long way from stupid.

  Fuller managed a more natural smile and said, “I’m fine.” Then he added, “Sometimes the old missions come back to you.” That touched something in Parmet, and he nodded without saying anything. Then the ensign turned around and got back into his bunk.

  Then Parmet spoke. “I’ll be here if you need anything, sir.”

  “How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that, Parmet?”

  “Sorry, sir,” Parmet said with humor in his voice.

  Fuller was relieved when Parmet shut his light off. Fuller knew it would be some time before he went to sleep, if he slept at all. The dream had been bad. He had dreamed of Donatu V many times in the past, but not recently, and not since Sam died. Since his son’s death he had had many nightmares about him. They all ended the same: with Sam calling for him as he died. Mixing that with his memories of the Klingons at Donatu V was an inventive, if cruel, trick of his subconscious.

  Donatu V had been his first real mission. It should have been his last. In a rational universe it would have been, but better men and women than he had somehow ensured that he lived to see another day….

  Chapter Seven

  EARTH

  2242

  WHEN THE ANNOUNCEMENT CAME, Ensign Michael Fuller grabbed his canvas bag and headed for the designated waiting area of the shuttleport. It wouldn’t be long now. He felt the excitement rising in his chest and had to work to keep himself from grinning.

  “Maybe we’ll use the transporter to get from the starbase to the ship,” Andrews said next to him. Fuller nodded. He certainly hoped so. He had hoped they would transport directly to the ship from Earth, but they had been assigned shuttles instead. It made sense, of course, given the energy expense of matter transport; still he had hoped.

  “We’ll get a chance on the transporter soon enough,” Fuller had said. He tried to keep his own disappointment out of his voice.

  They had almost reached the waiting area when Andrews said, “Uh, Michael, I think you have a visitor.” His tone was somewhere between teasing and sympathetic. Fuller was immediately alert as he turned to see where Andrews was gesturing.

  Alison.

  She was standing there looking at him with a worried expression on her face. She was wearing the yellow flower print dress that had been his favorite. Fuller had to try to keep his expression neutral when her eyes caught his. He understood why she was here, but her presence wouldn’t make things any easier. In fact, it would only make things harder.

  “I’ll just be a minute,” he said to Andrews, and headed to meet her. Fuller was struck by how good she looked. Her curly light brown hair was loose, spilling over her shoulders. She looked nervous but mustered a smile for him.

  “Hello, Alison,” he said, leaning down and kissing her on the cheek. It was an absurdly formal gesture, but it was the only thing he could think to do. “It’s nice to see you, but you didn’t have to come see me off.” He was actually surprised that she had. They had ended things almost two weeks ago. Actually, he had ended them. And he had made sure that the break was complete. It had been hard for her, but he knew it was the kindest approach in the circumstances.

  She hadn’t offered to wait for him, but he knew that she had wanted him to ask her to. That wasn’t going to happen. His father had been in Starfleet, and his parents’ relationship had not survived it. As a result, he had seen far too little of his father while he was growing up. If and when he had a family, he wanted things to be different.

  “Come here,” he said to her, gently pulling her to an empty corner of the waiting area. When they had a bit more privacy, he looked at her and without thinking said, “You look wonderful.” She did, he realized, and she smelled good as well. Very good, actually.

  There was an awkward silence, and then Fuller said, “I’m glad you came.” It was all that he could think to say and it was kinder than the truth. She looked up at him as if she was just noticing him. She was more than nervous, he realized. Something was wrong.

  “What is it?” he asked, almost relieved that there would be a point to this meeting, something other than the awkward interaction of two people who needed to be finished with one another. If there was something real going on, it also meant that she wasn’t holding out hope for their future.

  “I didn’t come here to see you off, Michael,” she said. Both her gaze and her voice were remarkably even. She had been upset when he ended things, but had kept her dignity, showing some of the strength that had attracted him to her in the first place.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  For a moment, she looked as if she didn’t know how to proceed, then she said, “It’s just that something has happened…and I thought you might want to know.”

  He felt the seconds ticking by. The call to board the shuttle would come soon. “What is it?” he asked, managing to keep the impatience out of his voice.

  “Michael, I’m pregnant.”

  Starfleet had trained Fuller for every possible shipboard or planetside contingency. He had scored high marks in his response times, and he was cool under fire. Yet nothing in his training or personal experience had prepared him for this. He felt his throat getting tight, and the floor seemed to move under him.

  Then a firm hand was around his upper arm and Alison said, “Michael.” The sound of her voice brou
ght him back to his senses.

  He looked at her dumbly and said, “How did this hap—?” He didn’t finish the question. In any case, the answer—had he needed one—was clear on her face.

  “Michael, we don’t have a lot of time,” she said. Now that she had gotten the news out, she seemed perfectly calm. “I wasn’t going to tell you. Maybe I shouldn’t have. I certainly didn’t mean to spring this on you now. In the end, I just thought you would want to know.”

  “Of course, I’m glad you told me,” he said. Then he couldn’t think of another thing to say. There were a hundred different thoughts screaming in his head. He wasn’t able to give voice to a single one of them.

  “I’m going to have the baby,” Alison said.

  Fuller felt his stomach turn. “Alison, I’m shipping out…right now. We talked about this. Starfleet is my future.”

  The public-address system called for his squad to assemble and prepare to board. Fuller felt sweat forming on his brow. “Alison, I can’t give up…” was all he could say.

  “I haven’t asked you, have I? I haven’t asked you for anything.”

  It was true, but the question had been on her face when he had ended things. It had been on her face when he had first seen her a few minutes ago in the assembly area. Yes, the question had been there, but she had been too proud to ask it.

  What was she asking him now? Did she want to know if this new situation made a difference? It was just impossible.

  “Fuller.” Someone called his name. His squad was getting ready to depart. He felt more cold sweat on his forehead. And she was looking at him expectantly. What did she want?

  “Alison, this is impossible. I’m shipping out right now. I can’t have a family. We’ve talked about this.”

  Something in her eyes shut off. The change was both subtle and profound. “Of course,” she said, her voice and expression amazingly neutral. “I know how you feel about having a family now, but you will be having a child.”