Distant Shores - Marco Palmieri [22]
“Captains don’t choose first officers simply to help them run the ship. They choose the precisely because they may be required to take command at any moment.”
She smiled at him, the stern expression leaving her eyes. He watched her continue to consider his words and finally, with a wan smile, she spoke again. “Tuvok, my friend, we have a long journey ahead. It’s going to be a challenge for all of us. You will find your logic may not be enough with all the unknowns. You have to see people for what they are and not overly analyze them. You kept looking for motives in his actions, still thinking of him as Maquis. That’s in the past. He’s one of us now, a man with the crew’s best interests at heart.”
“I have begun to reassess him, Captain.”
“Good. Now, let me rest. We have the staff meeting tomorrow with a lot to cover.”
“Indeed. Rest well, Captain.”
“Commander, if you have a moment.”
Chakotay seemed to stiffen at Tuvok’s voice, but that was to be expected. The last twenty-four hours had taken a toll on everyone involved in the Dresh incident. The first officer barely slept, running the scenario over and over again in his mind, seeing if there were truly better options. In hindsight, one or two things did occur to him. Tuvok may have been right, he needed to refresh his command skills and the holodeck was already reserved for such work.
Additionally, he called up the complete set of Starfleet rules and regulations, downloaded them to a padd and, over breakfast, began rereading them from the beginning.
However, the padd being handed to him was something different.
“What’s this?” Chakotay thumbed it to life and saw a series of bullet-pointed items that seemed to go on for at least a dozen screen pages.
Tuvok paused for a moment before replying, a clue to Chakotay that this was difficult for the Vulcan. “Suggestions on upgrades to our security protocols. I wanted your approval before presenting them to the captain at the staff meeting.”
Chakotay eyed him, first with suspicion and then with a touch of surprise. The first few items made a lot of sense and he recognized the effort being expended by Tuvok. Apparently, he was not the only one with an uneasy night. The seconds passed and the silence was quite obvious to all; clearly the crew was uncertain what was going to happen between the two men.
Finally, Chakotay handed over the padd and actually smiled at the Vulcan. “Looks fine to me. Good work, Tuvok. I think the captain will approve these.”
“Thank you, sir,” Tuvok said and withdrew to his station. Once there, he entered the code acknowledging he was now present and on duty. As he checked over the routine diagnostic, he considered what had transpired and the need to reconsider his next project. In his quarters was an unfinished holodeck training program-one hypothesizing that Chakotay would lead a Maquis mutiny-designed for Starfleet security personnel. He had only gotten through what he assumed to be a quarter of the scenario. When he was next off-duty, he would have to either abandon it or rewrite the training scenario entirely.
Chakotay had shown him it was time to reevaluate the Maquis, from Seska, seated directly behind him, to Chell, working belowdecks. He had no idea how long it would take to get home, but Tuvok concluded that he was going to learn a lot from the experience. The first lesson had just concluded.
Winds of Change
Kim Sheard
This tale is set during the weeks following the third-season episode “Warlord.”
Kim Sheard
Kim Sheard earned a bachelor of science degree in chemistry in 1991. After several years working as a chemist, she segued into the technical-writing field, where she has stayed for more than ten years. Among other things, she writes instruction manuals for spectrophotometers (color-testing instruments) and hopes to someday use her knowledge of this technology in a story.
The first fiction she ever submitted to an editor, the short story “Touched,” was published in Pocket