Section 31_ Rogue - Andy Mangels [15]
Standing beside one of the starboard science consoles, Lieutenant Commander Data watched the approaching ship with evident appreciation. “Actually, the starship’s nomenclature is an allusion to the imaginative literature of Earth’s late nineteenth century. In The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, the H.M.S. Thunderchild was one of the vessels the British navy sent to fend off an invasion by hostile Martians.”
Picard heard Hawk’s quiet chuckle. He recalled then that Hawk had grown up on Mars.
“And how did the Thunderchild’s crew fare against these… Martians?” Troi asked Data, her eyes brimming with restrained amusement.
“They were… not entirely successful. However, the literary genre in question was often prone to unfounded speculation, well into the twenty-first century. Many of these works contain an abundance of factual inaccuracies.”
“Such as the existence of bloodthirsty, tentacled Martians,” Riker deadpanned.
Data nodded. “Precisely, Commander.”
Picard remembered The War of the Worlds well, having savored the Victorian tale of alien invasion several times during his boyhood in Labarre, France. He had reread it during his Starfleet Academy days, and again years later aboard the Stargazer. He could only hope that this latter-day Thunderchild would never face a crisis like the one that had beset her literary namesake.
“We are now within transporter range,” Data said.
A tall, slender Skorr female, whose golden-feathered wings were closed unobtrusively behind her, swiveled from behind a communications console toward the bridge’s center. “They’re hailing us, Captain,” the avian said.
“Thank you, Ensign Rixa,” Picard said, rising to his feet. “Thunderchild, this is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise.”
The image on the viewer shifted, displaying the Thunderchild’s bridge, where a half-dozen Starfleet officers busied themselves at various tasks. A uniformed human female, fiftyish, occupied the captain’s chair. To her right sat a male humanoid of robust middle age, dressed in a high-collared, gray civilian suit. Picard could not recall ever having seen him before. Sitting at the captain’s other side was a slightly built, silver-haired human woman, wearing Starfleet regalia and an admiral’s pips.
Picard recognized her instantly. Had his heart not been artificial, it might have skipped a beat. He suddenly became aware of Troi watching him, her eyebrows slightly raised in an unspoken question.
“Captain Picard,” the Thunderchild’s commander said. “I am Captain Evelyn Hoffman. Please allow me to introduce the Federation’s special envoy, Ambassador Aubin Tabor.”
The civilian beside Hoffman smiled and nodded in Picard’s direction. He projected an air of authority that was just short of arrogance. When he spoke, his words were crisp and precisely measured.
“I am looking forward to working with you and your crew, Captain Picard.”
Picard noticed the gray mottling at the man’s temples, markings that identified him as a member of the telepathic Ullian species. He could now see a good reason for putting aside his initial umbrage at not having been selected to head up the Chiarosan diplomatic mission; having a true telepath in the thick of things might be a real boon to the coming negotiations.
“Likewise, Mr. Tabor,” Picard said, bowing his head slightly.
“And this is Vice-Admiral Marta Batanides,” Hoffman said as the silver-haired woman smiled and rose to her feet. Picard was struck by how little she had changed during the forty-odd years since they had exchanged their farewells at Starbase Earhart. Certainly, her hair color was different, her rank had advanced, and many small lines now framed her eyes. But those eyes and that winsome smile took him straight back to his hell-for-leather Academy days.
“Captain,” she said simply. Though her tone was businesslike, her smile struck him as mischievous.
Picard’s throat suddenly felt as dry as the desert on Lambda Paz. “Admiral. We’ll beam you and the ambassador aboard as soon as you’re ready.”
“We are ready now, Captain,” Tabor said, rising and taking a step toward