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"Calm Before the Storm" by Lady Rainbow Rating: PG-13 PS: Please leave a review! I’d like to know what you readers think! Thank you! :) PPS: Thanks, Pesterfield! :) Twelve The news hit the airwaves like an atom bomb. Gannet Brooks, star anchor of Earth’s News Network, broke it over the late-night edition. Brooks had been granted an exclusive pass to the wedding reception of Captain Jeremiah Matthew Hayes, commanding officer of Columbia; and Captain Hoshi Sato, commanding officer of Enterprise. Although she hadn’t been present at the actual wedding ceremony, the reception had been quite the story. John Paxton saw the first report on the shuttle flight from London back to New York. He found it convenient that Hayes had pulled off the wedding when he, Paxton, would be out of the country. He didn’t think the timing had been accidental. After all, Hayes was a master of strategy, and Paxton knew better than to underestimate him. Even now, as Paxton watched Brooks’s footage, he narrowed his eyes at the sight of Hayes and his new wife on the dance floor, keeping in time with the song for their first dance as a married couple. Paxton couldn’t help but admit that they made a good pair, even as a grim smile passed over his lips. He could tell Sato still nursed injuries from the shuttle crash, and the quick screen pans toward the Vulcan guests confirmed his suspicions that Ensign T’Pol did as well. And, yes, the quick interviews with some members of the crew... Our good Doctor isn’t happy with the turn of events. Quite a coincidence, then, that Paxton had met Reed’s sister at a gallery gala at the Tate Museum in London. Madeline Reed was a staunch supporter of her brother and vehemently denied that he was “more Vulcan than Vulcans.” She pointed out his remarkable breakthroughs in biomedical research, as well as his assistance in making the matter transporter more feasible. But does she really know him as well as she think she does? Paxton chuckled to himself. Was Doctor Reed hiding secrets from his own sister? Paxton had learned that no one’s inner thoughts were truly completely hidden. “Mister Paxton, is there anything you need?” He looked up at his assistant. Laralee glanced at the screen, then commented, “They managed to get married despite everything, didn’t they? How romantic.” He grunted. “Yes. Shows how stubborn two people in love can be.” He raised an ironic eyebrow and added, “That’s meant as a compliment.” Laralee smiled and said, “I didn’t think you were such a cynical old stick, sir.” “Cynical, yes. Old? I don’t think so.” Paxton gave her a convincing smile. “I should send them a wedding present. Laralee, you’d know better than me what to give them. Do you mind—?” Her grin widened. “I’d be honored, Mister Paxton.” “Thanks, Laralee.” He nodded as she left him, then leaned his recliner back, linked his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. The on-again, off-again wedding was finally resolved, but that uncertainty had bought him time to set his long-term plans in place. In a matter of days, Hayes and Columbia would be out of his immediate range, but he was a patient man. He’d already waited fifteen years; another few months wouldn’t hurt him. Paxton keyed some commands into the control panel on the recliner’s arm. The screen changed from a smiling Gannet Brooks on ENN to a schematic of Columbia’s proposed engine upgrade. Henry Archer was a genius, but he was also a trusting sort, and Henry valued Paxton’s opinion. Yes, a few more months. Columbia will be forced to return to Earth, and then Hayes will face his reckoning. A pity to make his wife a widow, but she is a Starfleet officer, and she understands duty. Paxton reached up and highlighted a certain area of the engine, then began to read the technical information that appeared next to it. Contrary to popular belief, John Thaddeus Daniels was a full-blooded Human and not a so-called “Human Vulcan.” He didn’t sleep with clothes pins attached to his ears to make them pointed, and he certainly didn’t plug himself into the ship’s computers for fun. Daniels just didn’t see the value of excess emotion in discharging his ship duties; it could endanger the crew, and it was his duty as First Officer to safeguard his crew. He’d been amused at the antics of Matt Hayes’s other groomsmen, but after the reception, Daniels was content to concentrate on what mattered now. He didn’t agree with Admiral Gardner’s insistence of rushing Columbia back into the stars, but he could understand where Gardner came from. The Romulan threat had been shoved to the back burner in favor of the wedding, but now that Captains Hayeses (Daniels privately smiled at that) were on a forty-eight hour long honeymoon, Daniels was more than willing to take up the logistics of Columbia’s upcoming mission. At least, he thought he was. The so-called “Human Vulcan” seemed as calm and collected as his reputation made him out to be, but Daniels narrowed his eyes just slightly, and his gaze flashed dangerously under the bright lights of Starfleet Headquarters. Not many people could read the real Daniels, but he spotted Commander Travis Mayweather’s look of concern. It wasn’t often that Daniels allowed himself to feel angry. And this time, Daniels was more than angry. He was pissed. Gardner tapped the holographic map set into the briefing room table. It shifted to show a huge starfield that marked the locations of every known Human, Vulcan, Andorian and Tellarite colony and settlement. Travis, J.T. and the best minds of the Astrometrics and Astronomy departments had painstakingly assembled this map from a multitude of starcharts over the years. It was tough, but they now had a master map of known territory. “Palmyra Three and Space Station Salem One were here,” Gardner said, pointing at the map. “Your encounter with the Romulans was approximately here. That’s a lot of empty territory in between.” Travis nodded. “There wasn’t much to chart while we were pursuing the ones who’d kidnapped Lieutenant Commander Tucker, Doctor Reed and Captain Hayes. The only thing was that we were in sensor range of three different planetary systems when they finally slowed down and trapped us.” He brought up a smaller screen. “Two of them were Minshara-class, one wasn’t.” “Perhaps one is the Romulan homeworld?” He shook his head. “Hard to say, but their reinforcements came from a specific direction, away from the systems.” “It’s be a bad idea to lure us that close to their home world,” J.T. pointed out. “They’ve shown great strategy; I don’t think they’d make that mistake.” Gardner nodded in agreement. “Then we’ll start here,” he said, pointing to the lower right area of the starmap. “Our probes have detected several possible systems here. Commander Daniels, Columbia will investigate and see what’s out there. With any luck, we might find more information on the Romulans...and maybe pick up a few allies on the way.” “Gunboat diplomacy,” Daniels said in a flat tone. “An intelligence mission disguised as an exploratory one.” Gardner had the grace to look somewhat abashed. “That pretty much sums it up, Commander. We need to find out what lies beyond our borders and whether or not we can find areas to mount a good defense, if needed. They’ve accelerated the build on Intrepid, Yamato and Pravda, and their crews are already in training. We want to give you that support as quickly as possible.” “Sir,” he said in a flat voice, “if you expect us to be soldiers as well as explorers, we need to be equipped accordingly. Major Kemper insisted on a full complement of Mark I and Mark II torpedoes and the installation of an auxiliary phase cannon, plus the addition of several MACO and Security personnel.” Gardner nodded, not without sympathy. “I reviewed your Armory officer’s recommendations, Commander, and I agree with them. I pushed the Personnel Department to provide more personnel, and some of them will arrive within the next twenty-four hours. As for the ship—“ Admiral Peter McAllister shook his head. “We’re doing as much as we can in a week’s time, J.T., but even Admiral Archer can work only a certain number of miracles. Kemper will get his Mark Ones, but the Mark Twos won’t be available for another two or three months. As for the auxiliary phase cannon, it’d take the Jupiter Station boys six weeks to install it and then test it. Unless Kemper’s willing to pull quadruple shifts between now and launch time, it won’t happen.” “Archer’s given your Chief Engineer some specs for engine upgrades, so at least—in theory–Columbia should be able to sustain Warp 6 for brief periods of time.” Gardner sighed and shook his head. “Of course, Columbia’s going to be doing most of the field testing...though Enterprise will also be a major test bed for Archer’s new design.” “That’s something,” Travis murmured. Daniels nodded. He understood the necessity of the mission, but like Travis, J.T. was a scientist and an explorer at heart, and he’d agreed to be Captain Hayes’s First Officer because of that. “We’ll brief your crew more on what’s expected, once Captain Hayes returns from his honeymoon. And Commander Mayweather, we’ll do the same for Enterprise once it’s time for your crew to ship out.” Gardner sighed and shut down the holoprojector. “Dismissed, gentlemen. Have a good evening.” Daniels stalked out of the briefing room and Travis found himself hard put to keep up, even with his longer legs. “Hey, J.T., wait up!” he called. Travis barely managed to slide between the lift doors before they slid shut. “Sorry, Travis,” Daniels apologized. “It’s just that...I’ve never really liked Gardner, especially when he gets on his high horse. He hasn’t commanded a starship in fifteen years.” “He’s under pressure, J.T. Everyone at Command has been, especially Admiral Forrest. Have you heard all the crap that’s still floating on the airwaves?” “Yeah, unfortunately. I’ve never been one to listen to rumors, but...” “I hear ya.” Travis tried to smile, but couldn’t, and Daniels clapped the younger man awkwardly on the shoulder. “Makes our job more important, huh. Guess we gotta figure out something before the captains come back.” Daniels took a deep breath and with an effort, set aside his irritation at Gardner, McAllister and their ilk. He mentally catalogued all the preparations they still needed to do for Columbia’s departure and knew it was going to be a long night. “Hey, I have an idea, J.T. How about a genuine Weissbier while we go over the science department requisition lists? At least we can try to relax a bit while doing work, right?” “Ever the optimist, Travis,” Daniels said, but he smiled as he said it. Commander Opur was Raquillian, a tall, red-haired man, with a full scarlet beard and piercing green eyes. Raquillians had extra joints in their knees and elbows, so it looked odd to the Human engineers when he stood, sat, or manipulated his tools. Opur was hanging upside down, suspended by a harness above the warp assembly, reaching around a tight corner to tighten a bolt. His second-in-command, Lieutenant Vrosky, avoided gazing directly at his boss’s impossible body contortion. It looked like it should hurt, but Opur was whistling a native tune as he finished his latest project. “Sir? Commander Opur?” Opur opened his eyes wide and glanced around. He spotted an ensign standing on the lower deck. “Ah, Ensign Klees, I presume?” “Yes, sir,” replied the young woman. She didn’t seem bothered by the fact that Opur had tilted his head nearly thirty degrees to look at her sideways. Vrosky cleared his throat and pointedly concentrated on the ensign and not the chief engineer. “I’m sorry, sir...it looks like I’ve caught you at a bad time.” “No, I’m almost done here,” Opur replied cheerfully. “You’re the transfer from Commander Phlox, the one who’s good at warp mechanics?” She nodded. “I’ve got the updated schematics from Commander Phlox. He told me to give them to you as soon as possible.” “Let me get topside, then we can discuss it in my office. Be with you in one moment, Ensign.” He gracefully righted himself in his harness, then climbed up to the upper level with the grace of a lemur. Vrosky helped him unbuckle and slip out of the harness, then Opur scurried down the ladder. He nodded at Klees, then added, “Follow me, please, Ensign.” “Yes, sir.” She kept pace with Opur’s long-loped stride, as she passed her eyes around Columbia’s engine room. Yes, she could get used to being here...at least for the next three months or so. |
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