A Time for War, a Time for Peace - Keith R. A. DeCandido [103]
“I won’t lie to you,” Riker said, “you’re my second choice.”
“I know, sir. Commander La Forge was your first. Hell, the whole ship knows that.”
This didn’t surprise Riker. It was hard to keep a secret on a starship, and neither he nor La Forge had made much of an effort to keep it quiet in any case. “You don’t need to make a decision right away,” he said. “The sooner I have a first officer in place the better, but I’d rather have the right person late in the game than the wrong person too soon.”
Christine Vale shook her head. “I don’t know, sir—I’m still getting used to the promotion, and now this
“
“The promotion,” Riker said, “is part of why you’re being made the offer. Lieutenant commander means you’re up for new responsibilities—including that of a first officer. You’ve done stellar work these last four years in general and this last year in particular. More to the point, you’ve shown excellent leadership abilities.”
“Thank you, sir.” Vale absently fingered the hollow pip on her collar, something Riker noticed that she’d been doing since her promotion. Then she smiled. “Sir, this isn’t because I’ve been beating you at poker and you want a chance to get your own back?”
“Not at all,” Riker said seriously. Then with a smile of his own, he added, “That’s just a fortuitous side effect.”
She chuckled. “It’s just that I’ve never even considered the command track. I went to the Academy later than usual. I was a peace officer on Izar—latest in a long line, in fact. After something happened—” Vale shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “Well, let’s just say that there was a situation that Starfleet got involved in, and one of the security officers—a lieutenant on the Roosevelt named Corsi—inspired me to join Starfleet. I didn’t start at the Academy until I was twenty-three, and all I wanted to do was security. I was bound and determined to make chief as fast as possible. Now—it never even occurred to me that I might do something beyond being a security chief, to be honest.”
Riker shook his head. “First Geordi, then you.”
“Commander La Forge said he wanted to stay in engineering?”
“Yup. It’s kind of ironic, if you think about it.”
“How so, sir?”
“Well, I turned down three commands over the years because I thought it would be better to stay on the Enterprise. Now, I’ve got two straight first officer candidates who feel the same way.”
Vale pointed a finger at Riker. “Hey, don’t count me out yet, sir. I just need some time to think about it, is all.”
“Take all the time you need.” He sighed. “Besides, it’s not like I should expect anything to go smoothly in my life right now.”
“Yeah, I noticed that you’re still getting hourly updates on your new wedding plans. Sir,” she added quickly.
“You don’t know the half of it,” Riker said. Now that he knew he would be having the ceremony on Earth, his agita about the ever-expanding Betazoid ceremony had diminished, but he still was wondering just what he was going to be in for when they got to whatever it was Lwaxana was planning.
“Picard to Riker.”
Tapping his combadge, Riker said, “Go ahead, sir.”
“I need you and Commander Vale on the bridge, Number One.”
Both Riker and Vale were already moving toward the bridge entrance. “We’re on our way.”
They walked onto the bridge together, and were greeted by two familiar faces: Ambassador Worf and Alexander Rozhenko.
As he stepped up to his chair next to Picard, Riker asked, “What brings the ambassador and his son to our hallowed halls?”
Vale tried and failed to hold in a snort as she moved to the tactical station, relieving Almonte.
Worf replied, “It is traditional for ambassadors to resign when a new president takes office. The embassy communications systems are being upgraded at the moment, so I thought it best to conduct the ritual from the Enterprise.”
Nodding, Riker said, “Makes sense.”
Alexander smiled. “I’m just along for the ride.”
“Well, it’s good to see you again,