Taking Wing - Michael A. Martin [134]
Riker had just heard from Christine Vale that Dr. Ra-Havreii would also be staying aboard for the foreseeable future, taking over the duties of the late chief engineer Ledrah. Riker intended to contact Ledrah’s family tomorrow, to break the bad news to them himself; later that day, he would conduct a shipboard memorial service.
In the meantime, he sorely needed to hear whatever good news there was aboard this ship.
Riker saw Dr. Ree, and pointed toward the OB/GYN chamber. “Is Olivia awake yet?” he asked.
“Yes, Captain,” Ree said. “She is with the baby now. They’re both doing well.” He retracted his arms for a moment, bringing them in closer to his chest. “Well, small mammals make me hungry. Care to join me in the mess?”
Riker smiled at the doctor’s attempt at humor, remembering the bloody abattoir of a meal he’d recently seen Ree consume in the mess hall. After politely declining the invitation, he said, “Thank you for your excellent work today, Doctor.” He extended his hand.
Ree shook his hand and smiled a predatory smile. “Why, thank you, Captain. And allow me to thank you for keeping the ship in one piece.”
Disengaging with a nod, Riker turned and proceeded toward the birthing room. Stepping just inside the door, he saw Olivia Bolaji lying in the bed beside the incubator that housed her premature infant. The impossibly tiny-looking child was wrapped in a royal blue blanket, asleep. Axel Bolaji was sitting in the chair nearby, also sleeping, one arm up on the bed next to his wife.
“Hi,” Riker said quietly. “I just wanted to say hello to our newest crewman.”
“Come in, Captain,” Olivia said, smiling the radiant smile that Riker had seen nowhere else except on the faces of new mothers. “He’s beautiful. I can hardly wait to hold him.”
Riker looked down at the sleeping infant, its skin almost purplish brown, and as wrinkled as a raisin. The child wriggled a bit in its sleep, and Riker wondered how much the tiny creature weighed.
“Have you named him yet?”
“Yes,” the now-awake Axel Bolaji said, stretching and yawning. “His name is Totyarguil. In the Aranda language of the Australian Aborigines, it means ‘the eagle star.’ ”
“ ‘Totyarguil,’ ” Riker repeated. “May you bring us all luck, little eagle star.”
The child’s deep blue eyes opened briefly, momentarily reflecting the dim illumination of the room. But Riker saw that the darkness and light at play there in those eyes looked as deep, as infinite, and as mysterious as the universe itself.
Chapter Twenty-four
U.S.S. TITAN, STARDATE 57023.3
The meeting with Tal’Aura, Tomalak, Durjik, Donatra, and Xiomek had gone far more smoothly than Riker had expected. But it was the end of yet another extraordinarily long day, and the weary captain could tell that Deanna was as exhausted as he was even before they had finished materializing in transporter room four.
But Deanna also evidently shared his upbeat mood. “I think we’re really beginning to get through to them,” she said, walking arm-in-arm with him along the corridor that led to their quarters. “Tomalak is going to be a tough sell, and Donatra seems to hate him almost as much as she despises Tal’Aura. On the other hand, I’m sensing that Tal’Aura is beginning to trust us. As is Xiomek.”
“Meaning that they trust us more than they trust each other,” Riker said as they reached the door to their quarters. “Which isn’t all that much.”
“True enough. But it’s as good a place to start as any other,” Deanna said, placing her palm on the control pad mounted on the wall. The door obediently opened in response, and they entered.
Deanna dropped wearily onto the couch. “Once the permanent diplomatic team reaches Romulus, I think we’ll start seeing some real progress toward a permanent power-sharing agreement.”
“No doubt,” he said, settling down beside her. “Especially if Akaar turns out to be right about Spock being with the team when it arrives. Tal’Aura might not be thrilled about having a social dissident like Spock involved in the process, but it ought to make the Remans happy.”
“I sense that