Slings and Arrows 01_ Sea of Troubles - J. Steven York [5]
“The computer will guide you all to your assigned quarters where you can stow your personal gear. Report at 1400 hours and meet Mr. Hawk in the lounge for orientation and a tour of the ship. Keep in mind, Mr. Hawk is not your concierge. He’s one of my finest officers. Learn from him.”
Hawk raised an eyebrow in surprise, but said nothing.
“That is all. Dismissed.” He turned to Hawk. “Make it so, Mr. Hawk.”
“Yes, sir!” Hawk turned his attention to the new officers as they filed out the door. He stepped in front of Addison and, smiling, put out his hand. “Linda, it’s great to have you on board. How was the rock-climbing on Vulcan?”
Picard watched as she smiled wanly, hardly returning his enthusiasm. “It was…a lot more difficult and dangerous than I anticipated. I don’t plan to go back.” She stepped around him. “I’d really like to get settled. I’ll see you at the orientation.”
She turned and smiled at Picard. “Captain. It’s an honor to be back on the Enterprise, even if it’s a different one.” Addison started to walk away, then hesitated. “Sir, I was observing on the Samson’s bridge during the exercise. Captain Adrian asked me if I was aware of any minor flaws in the Enterprise-E design that he might exploit.”
Picard raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“I’m afraid I was less than useful.”
“You failed to mention there might be a minor weakness in our rear weapon spread?”
“I might have neglected that, yes, sir.”
“Interesting, since it was your analysis report at Starfleet Command that brought that weakness to my attention.”
She smiled. “Sorry, Captain. I must have completely forgotten in the heat of battle.”
Picard considered her answer. If she had simply forgotten, it indicated a potential problem, a lack of attention to detail. But perhaps she had deliberately misled Adrian, out of some sense of loyalty to Picard, a misguided attempt to help them win the mock battle.
“Well, don’t let it happen again, Lieutenant. By the way, you’ll be pleased to know that, based on your report, I’ve suggested that Starfleet make suitable upgrades to our rear torpedo tubes as part of the next major refit. Good work.”
“Thank you, Captain. I do my best.” With a barely polite nod to Hawk, she turned and left.
Hawk frowned as he watched her disappear through the transporter room doors, then shook his head in puzzlement.
“It appears,” said Picard, “that you have been out of touch too long, Lieutenant. Was your relationship romantic at some point? If this is somehow awkward, I can assign another- “
“Not at all, Captain. We were just friends. She’s, uh, not my type. Maybe I somehow offended her in my last message. I’ll deal with it.”
“Very well then.”
Hawk hesitated. “Captain, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about the lieutenant from anything you may have overheard in our conversation. I don’t know what happened on Vulcan, but I have never known Linda Addison to back down from any challenge, no matter how difficult. She’s no quitter.”
“I’m quite familiar with her abilities, Mr. Hawk. However, I appreciate your endorsement. Now, you’d best go prepare for your orientation.”
“Yes, sir.”
Picard stood in the transporter room, allowing Hawk to leave first. He had no particular reason to remain behind, but he’d once again found himself in the middle of his crew’s personal affairs, and he was reminded why he’d always kept a certain professional distance, even from his senior officers.
Change, he reflected, was good, but he had to decide if it was worth the price.
CHAPTER 2
Returning to the bridge, Picard directed Riker and Data to the observation lounge for a post-exercise briefing. They seated themselves at the long, curved table. Data sat facing the windows, and his eyes seemed drawn to the vista outside.
“Status report, gentlemen.”
“Astrophysics is complaining,” said Riker, a trace of