Taking Wing - Michael A. Martin [24]
“But when I called you again a little later, you revised it to an ‘I need to think about it some more.’ Unfortunately, I really can’t wait any longer. So have you given my offer any more thought?”
She nodded. If she were to be completely candid, she would have to admit that she had found it difficult lately to think about much of anything else.
“Rimward through the Orion Arm, beyond where anyone’s been before,” she said before another conversational lacuna could develop. “The idea certainly sounds…exciting.” She knew she was keeping her reaction under restraint, hiding her cards, as it were. The job sounded even better than exciting—it sounded perfect. Pure exploration was the dream of virtually every officer in Starfleet, at least at some point in their careers. Even for someone who never really wanted to be anything other than a cop.
And another ship, a vessel with a wholly new mission, might allow her to put some distance between herself and the ghosts of Tezwa.
She watched as he shook his head gently, his expression taking on a somewhat wistful cast. “I’m afraid I’ve been forced to set aside the Orion Arm mission, at least temporarily. Instead, our maiden voyage will take us to the Romulan Neutral Zone, and probably to Romulus itself. We’ll be heading up a special task force. Extending an olive branch while helping the Romulans maintain order until they can get their government back up and running.”
Despite Riker’s evident disappointment over the delay in exploring the Orion Arm, Vale found her interest even more piqued than it had been before. That surprised her, since she had lost so many of her people trying to keep the people of Tezwa from plunging into the abyss of societal collapse and civil war. She knew that keeping the peace on post-Shinzon Romulus would be vital to the Federation’s security—and that it could end up making the Tezwa mission look easy. I guess I’ll always be more peace officer than explorer.
“Is your answer still at least a ‘maybe’?” Riker said, breaking into her reverie. He was leaning forward, his eyebrows raised in expectation, though the rest of his features remained poker-game neutral.
She rose. In spite of herself, she began to pace, her hands clasped behind her back, her bare toes flexing and grabbing at the carpet, a nervous habit she’d acquired as a little girl growing up on Izar, waiting for her mother to return home from night patrols. After another protracted silence, she stopped herself and faced Riker.
“I’ve told Captain Picard about your offer,” she said. She knew she was only stalling, and she hated herself for it.
Riker nodded, his hands pressed against his knees. “I know. I’ve already discussed this with him. I didn’t want him to be blindsided, or feel that I’m poaching. But what you still haven’t told either of us yet is whether or not you really want to take the job. So are you interested?”
She knew the time had come at last to display all her cards, face up. “I am interested…” She trailed off.
“Ah, I hear a ‘but’ coming.”
She favored him with a wan smile. “But I can’t. I’m sorry, Will. I’m afraid I have to turn it down.”
Riker seemed to deflate, at least a little. Vale knew he wanted very badly to add her to his senior staff. And she was flattered by his persistence. But why couldn’t he see what a terrible idea it was?
“Do you mind telling me why?” he said finally.
She sighed again, then plopped herself back down on the couch so she could look at him at eye level. Noticing that she had been playing idly with the newly awarded hollow third pip on her collar, she forced her hands down into her lap.
“Permission to speak freely, Captain?”
“Always. And it’s Will.”
“Will, you’re not going to like what I have to say.”
His lips turned upward in a wry smile. “I guessed that. I already don’t like the ‘no’ part.”
“I think you’ll like the rest even less. But I suppose I wouldn’t be a worthwhile first-officer candidate if I were ever to be anything less than perfectly honest with you.”
“That’s why I need you on my bridge, Christine,” he said. “What’s on