Security - Keith R. A. DeCandido [6]
Chuckling, Vance gave Carol a quick kiss good-bye, then headed toward the turbolift, while she made a beeline for sickbay.
Chapter
4
U.S.S. da Vinci
in transit between Coroticus III
and Station Kel-Artis
NOW
R ennan Konya walked into the security office alongside Makk Vinx. An unfamiliar mind was inside, and when he looked around he pegged it as the very young human male sitting alone on the port side of the room. He recognized the minds sitting on the starboard side: T’Mandra’s orderly thought patterns and Andrew Angelopoulos’s somewhat more chaotic ones. Rennan wasn’t a strong enough telepath to detect a non-Betazoid’s actual thoughts, but he was able to get general impressions, and he certainly knew when he was around the people he worked with without ever having to see their faces.
“Looks like we’re early,” he said to the Iotian.
“That must be the new mug. C’mon, let’s roll out the welcome mat.”
The “new mug” was sitting ramrod straight, and he seemed eager to please in the way that only recent recruits could be.
Makk walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “You nervous, kid?”
Smiling, he said, “A little, yeah.”
“Nothin’ here to be scared of. You signed yourself up for the best security detail in the quadrant.”
“Oh, I already know that, sir.”
Rennan chuckled; Makk winced. “Can the ‘sir’ hogwash, kid. Ain’t no officers in this room—exceptin’ the commander, of course, but she’s a good broad for an officer, so she don’t really count.”
Unable to resist, Rennan asked, “Why do I get the feeling you’d never say that to her face?”
Grinning, Makk said, “’Cause I ain’t got a death wish is why.” He offered his hand to the new recruit. “They call me—”
“Makk Vinx,” he said, returning the handshake. “And you’re Rennan Konya. I’m Tomozuka Kim.”
Rennan frowned. “Funny, you don’t look telepathic.”
Grinning, Kim said, “I’m not, I just know the crew roster. I’ve followed Commander Corsi’s career pretty thoroughly, and I’ve kept track of the security personnel on the da Vinci since she reported.”
“Why you got the hots for the commander?” Makk asked with a wink.
“Got the—” Kim seemed confused at first. That was hardly surprising. Since reporting to the da Vinci on Earth months ago, Rennan had wondered how a non-telepath could possibly understand a single word Makk said, since without his ability to read the Iotian’s perspectives, Rennan himself would have found his colleague to be incomprehensible.
When Kim finally did get it, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “Oh, nothing like that. God, no, the whole idea’s crazy.”
“Good thing—she got the hots for Stevens.”
Rennan gave a half-smile. “Well, he has the hots for her, anyhow.”
“Yeah, jury’s still out on that one. So what’s the story, kid, why you go around memorizin’ Corsi’s duty rosters?”
“I’m from Izar. My mother’s a peace officer there. A while back, Commander Corsi helped one of our people stop a killer. I was just a kid when it happened—it was ten years ago—”
“You’re still a kid, kid,” Makk said with a wink.
“—but I’ll never forget it. She’s a big hero on Izar. One of my mother’s coworkers, Christine Vale, she quit the force and joined Starfleet.”
Makk frowned. “I know that moniker.”
“Security chief on the Enterprise,” Rennan said. “Remember, Phantas 61?”
Realization spread over Makk’s face. “Oh, yeah. Not a bad-lookin’ broad.”
That, Rennan thought, is a perfect example. How does the word “broad” come to mean a female?
“Anyhow,” Kim said, “when I was old enough, I signed up to join security, too, just like Commander Corsi and Officer—or, uh, Lieutenant Vale. I was hoping for the da Vinci or the Enterprise, but I’d have taken anything. It was just luck that this opening came when it did.”
While he appreciated Kim’s enthusiasm, that last line hit a bit too close to home. In a quiet voice, Rennan said, “I think Ken Caitano might disagree with the notion that luck had anything to do with it.