Have Tech, Will Travel (SCE Books 1-4) - Keith R. A. DeCandido_. [et al.] [99]
CHAPTER
3
As he absently swirled his drink, watching a wedge of lime chase stray ice cubes, Kieran Duffy’s mind drifted for what he believed would be the last few minutes he might grab for himself until their return to Federation space.
Not that the mess hall of the U.S.S. da Vinci was the most intimate of hideaways. Crewmembers popped in and out for a cup of coffee or a bite to eat as if the place were each person’s home kitchen. Everyone stopping in took a second to be friendly or at least acknowledge his presence, Duffy noticed. The da Vinci carried a lot of camaraderie even for a Starfleet vessel, but Duffy didn’t find that surprising. After all, there were only forty-two people onboard, and most of them numbered among Starfleet’s top engineers.
And there goes one of them now, Duffy thought as he caught sight of the one person for whom he wouldn’t mind breaking from his reverie. Sonya Gomez’s form flashed past the mess hall door, then reappeared as she back-stepped into the doorway. Her eyes narrowed, then her smile widened a bit.
“I thought that was you,” she said as she walked toward his table. “I wondered why I hadn’t seen you around.”
Duffy shrugged. “Not much for me to do yet, really. Got a minute to sit?”
“I’ll take a minute,” Gomez replied. “I’m getting a drink. Need a refill?”
“Thanks,” he answered. “It’s quinine water, not so—”
“Not soda water,” she finished for him. “Over ice and with a lime twist. Same vile stuff you have every time you sneak away to think.”
Gomez returned from the replicator moments later with a clinking glass in one hand and a steaming mug in the other. She set Duffy’s fresh drink before him as she took the seat across the table, raising her mug in a quick cheer before sipping from it.
“We all have our vices,” Duffy said, smiling at the smell of Earl Grey tea coming from the mug. “So, are you ready to, what were the captain’s words again? ‘Step aboard history’?”
Gomez snickered, but only good-naturedly. Captain David Gold was an even-tempered man who rarely allowed his emotions free rein. But the news that the da Vinci crew had been assigned to recover the Defiant had sent the captain into a near fit of excitement. History, mystery, and legend all converged on the area of space the da Vinci was rapidly approaching, and Gold had made no apologies for wanting to be the first one there.
“He hasn’t been this keyed up for a mission in a long time, has he?” Gomez asked. “He’s acting like an ensign on his first assignment. But to answer your question, we’re ready. The captain’s been at my side almost every minute since the initial briefing.” She grinned mischievously. “I did manage to shake him, though.”
“And your lucky successor was?”
“Why, Carol, of course. She’s got her hands full dealing with our Tholian escorts, but I don’t think it’s helping with the captain talking into one ear while she listens to the Tholians with the other.”
As the team’s intercultural relations specialist, it fell to Carol Abramowitz to guide them through the delicate dealings with the Tholian vessel that had greeted them at the Federation border to escort them through Tholian space. Things had been touchy at first, with Captain Gold exercising more care and diplomacy than was normal even for him. Given the Tholians’ penchant for requiring utmost precision and adherence to protocol, however, it made sense to enlist Abramowitz’s expertise and greater grasp of Tholian idiosyncrasies.
“Oh, and I imagine they’re a chatty bunch, those guys,” Duffy said. “Maybe I could tell them the one about the Tholian, the Leyron dabo girl, and the tuning fork?” Noting the lack of amusement in Gomez’s expression, Duffy grinned and took a sip of his drink. “Uh, maybe not.”
“Not retreating into humor now, are we?” she asked.
“Meaning?”
Gomez stared at him until he met her gaze. “Meaning are you avoiding thoughts of what we’re supposed to do here?”
“Sonnie, I’m begging you,” Duffy deadpanned as he grasped her