Enigma Ship - J. Steven York [28]
Stevens shook his head. “Now that’s just silly, Soloman. There was nothing you could have done. If you hadn’t been standing by, we might not even have been able to warn them.”
Soloman blinked rapidly. It reminded Stevens of the lights on the data buffer.
“Lt. Commander Corsi had me beamed from the module immediately after their disappearance. If I had been on station, I would have been in a position to be of more assistance, to observe the situation directly and provide data necessary to their rescue.”
“Beaming you back was Corsi’s call, and Captain Gold’s, Soloman.” Stevens retrieved a relay from the parts replicator. “The module is still out there, operated from the bridge. It’s keeping the breach open, just in case, and relaying sensor readings. I’m not sure what else you could be doing out there.”
“If they should return, they will need me to pilot them back to the ship.”
Stevens bent over the torpedo casing, and fitted the relay into place. “They can be beamed back, or the module can be flown home by remote control.”
Stevens glanced up as the lights on Soloman’s data buffer abruptly went dark, and he turned to face Stevens. “They will need someone—to be waiting there for them when they return.”
Stevens considered this for a moment. He couldn’t argue. Part of him wanted to be out there, too.
Soloman broke the silence. “We Bynars, we are aware that we are—unusual among humanoid species; that some species look upon us with disfavor.”
Stevens blinked in surprise, the relay momentarily forgotten. “What do you mean?”
“We are small. We are physically weak. We are linked closely to computers in a way that some humanoids find disturbing, or even repulsive. Even our aversion to ambiguity is disturbing to some. Yet we have always reached out to other species. We are a curious people. But some say we are not brave.”
“Soloman, I don’t think anyone on this ship questions your courage—”
“I wonder. What if Lt. Commander Corsi beamed me back in anticipation that this was my wish?”
“Trust me, Soloman, she would have done the same for any of us.” Stevens chuckled dryly. “She’s protective of us crazy engineering types. I think that’s why the captain pulled her back a little this mission, to remind her we need room to work.”
“Yet I have noted that she will place herself, and her security people, in danger.”
Stevens nodded. “When the situation calls for it, yeah. But that’s what they’re trained for, and she trains them hard.” He waved a hand in the direction of the corridor. “Haven’t you seen them working out down at the court? When Lense isn’t playing handball, anyhow. When we pull into a starbase, while the rest of us are taking shore leave, Corsi is rotating her people down so they can run combat simulations on a real holodeck.”
“I do not like uncertainty,” said Soloman. “I do not seek danger. Yet I would prefer to be out in the module, waiting for my crewmates. Do you know what the Klingons say of my people?”
“No.”
“They say ‘a Bynar never stands alone.’ I gather they mean great disrespect in this. Yet when my friends disappeared, I was as alone in that module as I have ever been in my life, even more alone than when 111 died. Yet I did not wish to return to the ship. I wished to fulfill my duties, to be of service to my shipmates. I would be there still, if I could.”
Stevens grinned. “You’ve come a long way, Soloman. You can watch my back anytime.”
Soloman blinked, then turned away. The data buffer began to flash again. “I will take that as a compliment, Fabian, but I do not consider your back to be especially interesting.”
Stevens laughed and picked up his tools. “Let’s get this done. We have a message to send.”
* * *
It’s good to be out of the space suit, thought Gomez, adjusting her fresh uniform, even if it made her a little nervous.
She half expected the “Keeper of Order” to appear through the wall of their assigned quarters at any moment and transport them somewhere else, but logically, that wasn’t going to happen.
Whatever force controlled their fate on Enigma, had decided they