Ishtar Rising (Book 2) - Michael A. Martin [20]
Soloman nodded, then followed Stevens through the docking bay and into the Kwolek’s narrow passenger compartment.
Stevens turned toward the cockpit, where Gomez and Tev were apparently going through their preflight checklist. The debris-ringed planet Venus loomed in the forward window.
“If you guys won’t be needing me for a while,” Stevens said, “I need to speak with Soloman back here for a bit.”
Tev grunted, sparing only enough of his attention to glare briefly at Stevens. Compared to 1011 and 1110, Tev’s casual belligerence seemed downright cuddly.
“We’re doing fine up here, Fabe,” Gomez said, pausing only briefly in her complex data-entering tasks. “You already performed your miracle on the tactical systems. And I think Tev and I won’t need any help getting us back home.”
Home.
Not Bynaus, but home nevertheless.
As he and Stevens took a pair of aft seats, Soloman realized he was no longer dreading his upcoming debriefing with Dr. Lense. In fact, he was beginning to feel great anticipation for it. He had a feeling it wouldn’t take very long at all.
I have come home, a solo man, but one with many friends, he thought. He decided that this was probably all he needed to say to her.
Ishtar Station’s docking clamps released the shuttle with a muffled clunk. The Kwolek glided slowly forward on its thrusters.
Soloman noticed that Stevens was regarding him with an incredulous grin. “You’re smiling, Soloman. Mind if I ask why?”
“Because we’re going home,” the Bynar said, and then proceeded to explain.
About the Authors
MICHAEL A. MARTIN, whose short fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, is coauthor of Star Trek: The Next Generation: Section 31: Rogue; Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Mission: Gamma Book 3: Cathedral; and Roswell: Skeletons in the Closet (all cowritten with Andy Mangels). Martin was the regular cowriter (also with Andy) of Marvel Comics’s monthly Star Trek: Deep Space Nine comic-book series, and has generated heaps of copy for Atlas Editions’ Star Trek Universe subscription card series. He has written for Star Trek Monthly, Dreamwatch, Grolier Books, WildStorm, Platinum Studios, and Gareth Stevens, Inc., for whom he has penned several World Almanac: Library of the States nonfiction books. Ishtar Rising is the third prose Star Trek story to bear his name. Martin and Mangels currently have several more collaborative projects in the works, including two Star Trek novels involving the crew of the U.S.S. Excelsior(including The Sundered, the first volume in the forthcoming Star Trek The Lost Era series), a couple of short stories for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Prophecy and Change and Star Trek: Tales of the Dominion War anthologies, and a pair of Roswell novels (titled Pursuit and Turnabout; both are set after the conclusion of that late, lamented television series). When not hunkered over a keyboard in his nigh-windowless basement, Martin reads voraciously, plots the revolution, and plays with his two wee bairns, James and William. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Jennifer J. Dottery, their aforementioned children, and a mortgage of galactic proportions.
ANDY MANGELS is the coauthor (with Michael A. Martin) of Star Trek: The Next Generation: Section 31: Rogue; Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Mission: Gamma Book 3: Cathedral; Roswell: Skeletons in the Closet; and several more future Star Trek and Roswell projects. Flying solo, he is also the author of Animation on DVD: The Ultimate Guide, as well as the best-selling book Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Characters, plus Beyond Mulder & Scully: The Mysterious Characters of The X-Files and From Scream to Dawson’s Creek: The Phenomenal Career of Kevin Williamson. Mangels has written for The Hollywood Reporter, The Advocate, Just Out, Cinescape, Gauntlet, Dreamwatch, Sci-Fi Universe, SFX, Anime Invasion,