Pantheon - Michael Jan Friedman [154]
“It’s no problem at all,” Ruhalter replied. “We don’t want to intrude on you any more than we have to.”
“Jomar will be ready in a matter of minutes,” Najak advised. “If you give us the coordinates of your transporter room, our technicians will be pleased to effect his transport.”
“Acknowledged,” said the captain. He turned to Paxton. “Send them whatever they need, Lieutenant.”
“I’ll do that, sir,” Paxton responded.
Ruhalter returned his attention to the Kelvan. “With luck, I’ll have good news when I bring Jomar back to you.”
“With luck,” the administrator echoed. “Najak out.”
The captain glanced at Leach, who was standing beside Simenon at the engineering console. “You’ve got the conn, Number One. Commander Picard, you’re with me.”
With that, he got up and made his way aft to the turbolift. As the second officer followed him, he saw the expression on Leach’s face. If looks could have killed, Picard would have been torn atom from atom.
Ruhalter couldn’t have failed to notice his exec’s displeasure. However, he didn’t comment on it as he and Picard entered the lift and watched the sliding doors close behind them.
Instead, he said, “I was really looking forward to beaming down and seeing that Kelvan colony.”
Picard nodded. “So was I, sir.”
“I guess we shouldn’t complain. We’ll no doubt be seeing plenty on the other side of the galactic barrier.”
“No doubt,” the second officer agreed.
Just then, the turbolift doors opened again. The captain exited ahead of Picard and led the way to the transporter room, where a woman named Vandermeer was working the control console.
“Anything yet?” Ruhalter asked her.
“No, sir,” said the transporter operator, consulting her monitor. “Wait…I’m getting a message from the surface.”
“The colony administrator’s office?” asked the captain.
“Yes. They say they’re ready to beam someone up.”
Ruhalter nodded. “Contact the bridge and tell Mr. Leach I want the shields dropped. Then let the Kelvans know we’re ready. But as soon as our visitor arrives, I want the shields back up again.”
“Aye, sir,” said Vandermeer, carrying out her orders.
Picard too felt uneasy when the Stargazer’s deflectors were lowered. After all, it left the ship vulnerable to all manner of mishaps. Unfortunately, they couldn’t effect a transport with the shields in place.
“He’s on his way,” Vandermeer announced.
Picard turned to the raised, oval platform in the back of the room. A shaft of light appeared there, then slowly resolved itself into a humanoid form. A moment later, the light died, leaving a tall, fair-skinned man with unruly red hair and haunting, pale-blue eyes.
“You must be Jomar,” Ruhalter observed. He smiled a craggy smile. “Welcome to the Federation Starship Stargazer. I’m Captain Ruhalter…and this is Commander Picard, my second officer.”
The Kelvan stared at Ruhalter for a full second before he answered. “Thank you, Captain.” He turned to Picard. “Commander.”
Jomar’s tone was flat and utterly devoid of enthusiasm. And his expression—or rather, his lack of one—would have been the envy of many a logical Vulcan.
“If you’ll follow us,” said the captain, “we’ll show you to your quarters. I think you’ll find them—”
“I have a great deal of work to do,” the Kelvan declared, unceremoniously interrupting Ruhalter’s invitation. “I would prefer to familiarize myself with your ship’s tactical systems and subsystems before I give any thought to sleeping accommodations.”
The captain appeared unoffended. “Of course,” he told Jomar. “We can start in engineering, if you like.”
“That would be satisfactory,” said the Kelvan.
Ruhalter tapped the Starfleet insignia on his chest. “Captain to bridge. Break orbit, Mr. Leach. We’ve got our passenger.”
“Acknowledged, sir,” said Leach.
The captain turned to Jomar. “Next stop, engineering.”
The Kelvan didn’t respond. He just waited for Ruhalter and Picard to lead the way, then fell in behind