Reunion - Michael Jan Friedman [2]
Riker leaned back in his chair and, not for the first time, wondered what it had been like to serve under the
captain in those days-on a vessel like the Stargazer, whose mission carried her into uncharted space for years at a time. And beyond that, what it had meant to lose that ship, in the Federation’s first fateful brush with the Ferengi.
With all of Picard’s surviving officers scheduled to board the Enterprise over the next couple of days, the first officer would never have a better chance to find out.
Going to the top of the list this time, he called up another subfile.
Asmund, Idun …
Captain Mansfield of the U.s.s. Charleston sat on the edge of the s’naiah-wood desk. It was as. uncomfortable as it looked, what with all the savage iconography carved into it. He frowned. “Idun,” he said, “if you’d like to talk about it…” His first officer, who had been staring out the view-port, turned to face him. She was a handsome woman-he couldn’t help but notice that. Tall and slim and blond, with eyes the elusive color of glacial ice. Deep, dark … Enough of that, he told himself. She’s your exec, for godsakes. And even ifshe wasn’t, what would she see in an old warhorse like you?
For the four hundredth time, he put his libido aside. After all, there was something troubling her. If Asmund needed anyone, it wasn’t a lover. It was a friend.
“I am all right,” she told him evenly. But her eyes said that she was lying.
He sighed.
For six of the eleven years he’d been captain of this ship, Idun Asmund had been his second-in-command, and a damned good one at that. She’d never given him any reason to regret his having taken her aboard.
But he knew of the doubts people had had about her. After that terrible incident on the Stargazer … what was it? Two decades ago now? For a time, it had haunted her. Kept her from advancing through the ranks as quickly as she should have. And her manner didn’t help any. Brusque. Icy, even, some had said. But underneath, Mansfield had sensed a good officer. He’d taken a chance on her—and was glad of it ever since. “I know you,” he said. “You’re nervous. And I think we both know why.”
“No.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I am surprised.” “That Morgen would want you to be with him at a time like this?” “Yes. After what happened… I don’t think he said two words to me. Then came Maxia Zeta and … well, frankly, I thought I’d never see him again.”
“Maybe this is his way of making amends for all that. You and your sister were different people-vastly different, as it turns out. Can it be he’s finally figured that out?” Idun’s eyes blazed momentarily. “He is Daa’Vit. When it comes to blood feuds…”
“He might not be the same person you knew back then,” suggested Mansfield. He looked at her. “People can change a lot in thirteen years. Especially when they’ve spent half of them in a command chair.” He cleared his throat. “Take me, for instance. I wasn’t always an iron-willed dictator, you know.”
Idun scowled. “He is Daa’Vit. That will not have changed.” “At least try and go in with an open mind,” he
pleaded. “Remember—you’ll be seeing other familiar faces as well. Surely they didn’t all treat you as Morgen did.”
Idun thought about it. “No,” she conceded. “Suppose there are some I would like to see again.”
“There you go. That’s the Idun Asmund that I know.” He grunted. “And don’t worry about us. We’ll just go off and risk our lives somewhere while you take your grand paid vacation.”
Her brows knit. “Captain, I can still decline this. Here is where my priorities lie.”
“It was a joke, Idun. Just a joke.”
She relaxed again. “Of course it was,” she noted. He chided himself for joking about duty with her. When one had been raised by Klingons, one didn’t take such things lightly. Pug Joseph was just where Erwin expected to find him-sitting by himself in the corner of the lounge. He does too much of that lately, the Lexington’s first officer told himself. No wonder he’s getting