Crossover - Michael Jan Friedman [53]
There was a murmur of well-intended laughter from the other crew people on the shuttle deck. Goodwin couldn’t help smile a little himself.
“Well, sir,” he said, “it wouldn’t have taken quite so long if we’d started with the Justman. As it was, we started with the Hawking.”
“And?” the first officer prodded.
“There was a minute inconsistency in the matter-antimatter mix. I didn’t want to send you out in a vehicle with an even remotely unstable power source.”
Riker’s frown faded a little—but not completely. “I appreciate your concern, Lieutenant. But it still shouldn’t have taken so long to get a second shuttle ready.”
Goodwin nodded. “I agree, sir. But the Justman is actually the third craft we’ve had to check out.”
The first officer looked at him. “The third?”
“Aye, sir,” said the lieutenant. “You see, we looked at the Magellan next. And everything looked pretty good until we got to the end of the diagnostic routine. That’s when I spotted some feedback in the sensor array. It probably wouldn’t have made much difference, to tell you the truth, but—”
“But Mister Goodwin is more attentive to detail than most shuttle deck technicians,” Commander La Forge interjected. “And a good thing, too. That kind of feedback is tough to spot, but its effects can be devastating.”
“True,” remarked Commander Data. “If our sensor array failed us at a crucial moment, perhaps as we—”
“Please,” said Riker, holding up a hand for emphasis. “I get the idea.”
“In any case,” Goodwin continued, glancing one last time at his control panel, “the Justman seems to check out fine. I’ll have no trouble turning her over to you, sir
The first officer looked relieved to bring the conversation to an end. “Thank you, Lieutenant. And forget what I said about the library file. It seems was the one who was out of line.”p>
Goodwin blushed. He’d never been able to handle praise very well, especially in public. “That’s quite all right, sir.”
Switching from diagnostic mode to operations, he reflected on how glad he was not to have disappointed his superior after all. On his last assignment, the lieutenant recalled, he’d started out on the wrong foot and never gotten off it.
But he’d heard good things about the Enterprise, and Captain Picard in particular. Hoping like crazy, Goodwin had requested a transfer. And to his delight, the captain had approved it.
The way the lieutenant looked at it, he owed a lot to Captain Picard. He was glad to serve under a man who was as compassionate as he was forceful. And he was sure it was no coincidence that Commander Riker displayed those qualities as well.
“I’m opening the hatch door now,” he reported. “You can step in any time you like.”
A moment later, the door to the Justman slid back revealing the interior of the vehicle. Without hesitation Riker entered. His companions were right on his heels every bit as focused as their commanding officer.
As soon as they were all inside, the door slid forward again, concealing the trio within. In accordance with Starfleet procedure, that function had been performed from inside the shuttle.
The next step was to part the large duranium bay doors that separated the crew from open space. Goodwin tapped the appropriate pads.
Automatically, a pair of forcefield generators—one on either side of the opening—created an almost invisible, annular barrier. Otherwise, the atmosphere in the bay would have rushed out helter-skelter into the void, taking Goodwin’s crew people and most of the equipment along with it.
“Clear for departure?” asked Riker, his voice coming through over the shuttlebay’s intercom system.
Goodwin could see the first officer at the helm controls, through the vehicle’s forward observation port. He nodded.
“Clear for departure, Commander.”
As if in acknowledgment, the Justman lifted slightly off the deck and moved forward toward the energy barrier. Fortunately, the barrier was designed to resist only atmospheric pressures, not the kind of force exerted by a type six Starfleet shuttle.
As a result, the craft simply knifed through