Relics - Michael Jan Friedman [31]
But had it not been for Scott, who found a way to return Christopher to his timeline minutes before he encountered the Enterprise, there would have been no Sean Jeffrey Christopher-and quite possibly, no United Federation of Planets. For if the expedition to Saturn’s satellite had failed, Earth’s space program may have never have developed into the organization known as Starfleet. And if Starfleet didn’t exist, how could there ever have been a Federation?
Hearing the shuffle of feet on the deck behind him, Scott turned-and saw a familiar face. It was the ensign who’d shown him to his quarters the day before. The one who’d been so polite.
What was his name? Crane? No, something else …
He snapped his fingers. “Kane.”
The ensign nodded, looking at him warily. “That’s right, sir.” He paused. “Uh, are you authorized to be here?”
Scott winked at him. “To tell the truth, laddie, I’m not authorized to scratch my nose on this ship. But the way I look at it, ye cannae sit in yer room and count the rivets in the bulkheads when there’s a whole new world right outside yer door. If ye catch my meaning.”
The ensign frowned. “Kane to security,” he said, never taking his eyes off the older man. “I’ve got an intruder in the main shuttlebay by the name of Captain Scott. I think he needs an escort back to his quarters.”
Scott felt as if he’d been stabbed in the back. “Now that,” he told the ensign, “was nae necessary. Nae necessary at all.”
Kane shrugged. “I’ve got enough problems of my own without going out on a limb for an unauthorized visitor.” His mouth quirked into something like a grin, if a bitter one! “If you catch my meaning.”
Before Scott could respond to the ensign’s impertinence, Lieutenant Worf had arrived with a couple of his security officers. The older man braced himself for some typical Klingon heavy-handedness.
But it never materialized. Worf’s manner was almost gentle as he said “Will you come with me, sir?”
Scott harrumphed. “Wel l,” he replied, casting a withering look back at Ensign Kane, “when ye ask so nicely, lad, it’s difficult to refuse.”
And surrounded by security officers, he made his way back to his big, empty suite. But he was already planning his next escapade. Now that he’d gotten a taste of what was out there, he wasn’t about to sit and stare at four walls, no matter what Dr. Crusher said.
For a couple of hours, he decided, he’d lie low. Then, when no one expected it, he’d take another little trip. And this time, it would be to the place he really wanted to visit.
Chapter Six
DOWN IN ENGINEERING, a handful of engineers were working at consoles and checking displays, each man and woman intent on carrying out the series of tests assigned to him or her. Geordi was all but oblivious to the activity, however. He’d been given a task of his own, for which he was laying the groundwork on his desktop monitor.
“Commander La Forge?”
He looked up and saw Kerry Bartel standing at the entrance to his office. “Come on in,” said Geordi. “Just don’t get too comfortable. I’ve got a job for you.”
“And that is?” asked Bartel, a tall, blond woman-and a real go-getter, in Geordi’s estimate.
The chief engineer swiveled his monitor around so Bartel could get a look at the graphic on it, “The bridge wants a complete spectrographic scan of the sphere and we’ll need all the sensors to be synchronized. Unfortunately, I can’t recalibrate the aft array with the warp engines in operation.”
The woman nodded. “I get it. You want me to shut them down.”
“That’s exactly what I want you to do.”
Bartel smiled. “Aye, sir. Consider it done.”
As he headed for the engine core, Geordi went back to work on his terminal. Truth to tell, he was eager to perform this spectrographic analysis. He was