Oblivion - Michael Jan Friedman [64]
“As we all are,” Kastiigan noted.
“But thanks for your input,” Ben Zoma told him.
The science officer shrugged. “I see it as my responsibility to advise my superiors however and wherever I can.”
Ben Zoma smiled. “That’s very dutiful of you.”
“It is then up to you,” Kastiigan continued, “to accept or reject that advice.”
“I’m glad you see it that way,” said the first officer, coming around the captain’s desk to escort his colleague to the door. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have some—”
“Of course,” said Kastiigan, “there is the matter of the Lake-Dweller-That-Roars.”
Ben Zoma stopped halfway around the desk. “The Lake-Dweller-That-Roars…?”
“Yes. She’s a Kandilkari vessel, named after a rare but wonderful denizen of a lake near my childhood home. Like so many other onetime titans of the spaceways, she became absorbed into Oblivion many years ago.”
Ben Zoma knew he would regret asking, but he couldn’t let it go by. “What’s this got to do with the captain?”
“Well,” said Kastiigan, “my people’s early spacefaring vessels are something of a hobby with me. It wouldn’t be difficult for me to activate some of her dormant tactical systems from afar and provide a rather sensational distraction, while a rescue team goes in and finds the captain.”
It wasn’t a terrible idea. “I’ll keep that in mind,” said Ben Zoma. “In case we need a distraction, that is.”
And, strangely enough, it didn’t involve Kastiigan putting his life on the line. After all, he would be activating the vessel’s systems from a remote location.
It hardly seemed possible, but Kastiigan had made two entire suggestions without either of them putting him at risk. Ben Zoma was beginning to get the feeling that he had misjudged the sciences chief.
Kastiigan got up to go. “I will be in my section if you have need of me.”
“I’ll remember that,” the first officer said.
The Kandilkari was halfway to the door before he turned and said, “By the way, Ensign Jiterica has detected the presence of an Ubarrak warship.”
That got Ben Zoma’s attention. “Where?”
“Approximately twenty billion kilometers from here. You see,” said Kastiigan, warming to his subject, “the ensign was studying the behavioral nuances of the star in this system, and she noticed something just inside the edge of its corona.
“Now, if I were to take a shuttle a bit closer to the Ubarrak vessel, using the corona as cover, I could attempt to determine their intentions. And if they were to respond to my maneuver in a hostile manner, I could simply—”
The first officer held his hand up. “Hang on. Twenty billion kilometers isn’t cause for concern, Kastiigan—especially when you consider the fact that most Ubarrak transports travel with a military escort. She’s probably just waiting for her date to leave Oblivion.”
The science officer was clearly disappointed. “I see. In that case, I’ll make our scrutiny of the vessel less of a priority.”
“That would be best,” said Ben Zoma.
“However,” said Kastiigan, “if you think of some other effort in which lives must be placed at risk—”
“I’ll put your name at the top of the list. I promise.”
“Thank you,” said the science officer. Finally, he walked out of the room.
As soon as he was gone, Ben Zoma chuckled to himself. He was relieved that Kastiigan had finally volunteered for his customary suicide mission.
Otherwise, he would have felt compelled to see if the stars were falling from the heavens.
Picard hadn’t been lying about the idiosyncrasies of Chezzulid ship design. The tube through which he and his Cardassian allies were crawling was narrow, awkwardly shaped, and colder than anything he might ever have imagined.
It hurt even to breathe, each intake of air cutting like a knife. The skin of his face felt stretched to its limits. And he had to be careful not to let his hands linger on any exposed metal, lest he lose a layer of skin.
All the more reason to move quickly, the captain told himself, his breath freezing in the air in front of him. All the more reason to remember where he was going—and why.
But it wasn’t just the cold that was exacting its pound