Ishtar Rising Book 1 - Michael A. Martin [11]
“And there, I’m guessing, lies the problem,” Gold said, nodding. “And the reason you’ve asked the S.C.E. for help.”
“Precisely,” Saadya said, trying to keep the edge of desperation out of his voice.
“I’m not sure exactly what we can do for you, though,” Gomez said. “The da Vinci doesn’t carry a lot of atmospheric processing equipment.”
“I know,” Saadya said. “But that’s not why I asked you to come. What I need is your crew’s computational brilliance, to tie up the final loose ends of our atmospheric dynamics simulations. Particularly that of your resident Bynar pair.”
Gold and his first officer reacted in a manner that Saadya didn’t expect—they cast distinctly uncomfortable looks at one another.
The captain was the first to break the ensuing silence. “Ah, Pas, something’s happened that you obviously weren’t made aware of.”
Saadya felt the emotional scaffolding behind his smile begin to crumble. He struggled not to show any anxiety. “What do you mean? You do have a Bynar pair serving aboard the da Vinci, don’t you, David?”
“Had a Bynar pair,” Gold said.
A pit of despair opened in Saadya’s belly. He couldn’t keep his eyebrows from vaulting heaven-ward. “They’re gone?” He trailed off in confusion. For a brief, irrational moment, he wondered if the Central Processor Pair on Bynaus had discovered his plan to draft a second Bynar pair and recalled Gold’s Bynars out of sheer spite.
“One of our two Bynar crew members was killed on an away mission earlier this year,” Gold said quietly.
Without that Bynar pair, Saadya thought, there truly is very little these people can do to help save Ishtar.
“Pas, how the hell did you even know we had a Bynar pair on board?” Gold said. “Your Starfleet membership card lapsed a long time ago.”
Hearing no heat behind his old friend’s words, Saadya offered him a rueful smile. “Surely you’ve spent enough time around us technical types, David, to know that we’re nothing if not resourceful.”
“You forgot to mention sneaky and underhanded,” Gold said, returning the smile. “But it’s reassuring that you don’t seem to be quite sneaky and underhanded enough to steal current information. Anyhow, we’ve just got the one, now.”
Saadya’s brow wrinkled. “Just the one what?”
“Bynar. After 111’s death, 110 decided to stay on board. He’s going by the name Soloman now, and he’s our resident computer expert.”
Hope rekindled within Saadya. All right. If I can’t have access to another Bynar pair, perhaps a solo Bynar will do in a pinch.
Aloud, Saadya said, “I thought Bynars always stayed in bonded pairs.”
“They generally do—if they expect to integrate back into Bynar society,” Gomez said. “Single Bynars tend to be pariahs among their own people.”
Saadya briefly considered whether a Bynar social leper might succeed in expediting the computational efforts that were taking up so much of 1011’s and 1110’s time these days. Surely they wouldn’t let a social stigma affect a working relationship, he thought. Not on something as important as Project Ishtar.
“Soloman,” Saadya said aloud, parsing the name’s evident meaning. “Doesn’t that name seem vaguely insulting to you? It sounds like a reminder of what he’s lost.”
“He’s never complained about it,” Gold said, his tone growing defensive. “We both sort of arrived at it together.”
Gomez cocked an eyebrow and adopted an almost lecturing tone. “In fact, I think the name helps him deal with his single status successfully. And it might even give him a perspective on information technology that’s completely unique among Bynars.”
Fascinating. A Bynar who stands astride both Bynar and human experience, Saadya thought, hope returning. Perhaps he could be useful in ways I haven’t even anticipated yet.
Saadya held out his hands in a placating gesture. “Forgive me, David. I did not mean to criticize your crewperson’s choice of nomenclature.” He sighed. “Will you help us?”
“No offense taken, Pas,” Gold said. “And as long as the da Vinci is in the neighborhood, you’ll have all the engineering