Miracle Workers (SCE Books 5-8) - Keith R. A. DeCandido_. [et al.] [3]
Duffy let all but a pair of the chips slip from his grasp before craning his head to peer inside the console. The bright control panels with glowing chips appeared clean and new, belying the fact that they, key components in the starship’s warp-drive system, were about as functional as a wet match.
One hit.
That’s all it had taken from the Tholian ship to disable the da Vinci’s warp drive. It had been bad enough only a few hours before, when Captain Gold had tasked him with keeping the warp core’s intermix ratios in balance as the starship set about her mission of extracting the U.S.S. Defiant from the interspatial rift. The unusual, tenuous connection that the rift had created between the two universes had been known to wreak havoc on the warp engines of ships venturing close to it, and Captain Gold wanted no such surprises during their recovery operation.
Thanks to the Tholians, though, all of Duffy’s calculating of formulas and finessing of the magnetic fields that prevented matter from blending too freely with antimatter was wasted.
How does that wisecrack go? The fight was two hits long: The Klingon hit the Cardassian and the Cardassian hit the floor. Who’s the one on the floor now?
Duffy shoved his hand into the depths of the console to seat the pair of replacement chips. Straining, he slipped one chip into place, then maneuvered himself to another open slot, gripping the very edge of the remaining chip with the tips of two fingers.
But just as the chip found a purchase on the rim of the slot, a sharp blow to the bottom of his right foot rocked his entire body.
“Yaa!” he shouted, dropping the chip and smacking his head against the edge of the console’s cavity. Worming his way out of the opening, he looked up to see Domenica Corsi towering over him, her jaw clenched and the toe of her boot next to where she had just kicked him.
“Just perfect,” Corsi said. “Ostriches stick their heads in the sand. You stick yours into a bulkhead.”
“Oh, excuse me,” he fired back as he felt himself starting to heat up. “I had the foolish idea that warp drive might be a nice thing to have before the Tholians get back. That is, unless you’d like to get out and push.”
Corsi’s scowl darkened. “A ship full of engineers, and you’re the only one who can fix it?”
The question made Duffy pause, giving him a moment to catch his tongue rather than launch another barb. Yes, he was the da Vinci’s top mind on matters of propulsion, and he acted as the ship’s warp-core watchdog above and beyond even the chief engineer.
But now he was in command of the da Vinci. This was not the time for him to nursemaid a warp-drive problem, and it had taken Corsi to remind him of it.
Again.
As if to emphasize the point, she said, “You need to be on the bridge, Commander. Order someone else to repair the warp drive.”
Duffy nodded. “You’re right.” With a mischievous smile he added, “You’re getting to like keeping me in check, aren’t you?” He was satisfied to see the security chief’s expression soften a little as her jaw muscles loosened.
Not much, but it’s a start.
After detailing the top-priority repair assignment to the small army of engineers tending to various tasks here within the heart of the ship, Duffy smiled at Corsi again and headed for the door. She followed him, and the pair made their way quickly down the corridor.
As they walked, Duffy said, “I need to know exactly where we are on repairs before Captain Scott tells us Starfleet’s official response to our situation. I’d like some ideas on reopening the rift, too.”
He tried not to dwell on his last conversation with the seasoned