The Farther Shore - Christie Golden [47]
To cover his embarrassment, the security lieutenant pulled out his phaser and barked, “You’re not a regular member of the security staff. State your name and purpose.”
Harry lifted his hands. “Whoa, whoa, Lieutenant. My name is Lieutenant Harry Kim. I’m here with Admiral Janeway to do some research for Starfleet on the Borg virus. Commander Watson didn’t notify you?”
[139] “No, he didn’t,” said the lieutenant. Still keeping the phaser trained on Harry, he stepped quickly to Ops. “Lieutenant Crais to Commander Watson. I have an unknown person on the bridge. Says he’s Harry Kim, and he claims he accompanied Admiral Janeway on board.”
“He’s with Janeway, but what the hell is he doing on the bridge?” came Watson’s voice.
“Commander,” said Kim, stepping over to his old post, “This is Lieutenant Kim. I’m here to do some research.”
“What do you need to be on the bridge for?”
What did he need to be on the bridge for? Other than his real purpose, of course.
“I need to do some work at Ops and the science station. It’s classified.”
There was a long silence, during which the lieutenants eyed each other. Finally Watson said, “You may proceed.”
Taking a tip from Janeway, Harry smiled and stuck out his hand. “Sorry to have given you a scare,” he said.
Crais hesitated, and then shook the proffered hand. He didn’t meet Harry’s eyes and there was a trace of a blush on his cheeks.
“I’m Leo Crais. Welcome aboard—or should I say, welcome back aboard, Mr. Kim.”
“You recognized me.” A few weeks ago, Harry would have been pleased, but now he was only worried. How many people would know him and the rest by sight?
“Took me a minute, but yeah. So,” Crais said almost hopefully, “what are you working on?”
Harry said a silent prayer to whatever deity might be listening: Save me from bored security guards. He smiled apologetically.
[140] “Sorry. Like I told Commander Watson, it’s classified. I’m sure you know all about stuff like this.”
Crais looked slightly disappointed, but the compliment appeased him.
“Oh, sure. Beta level clearance and all that. Well, let me know if you need anything.”
Harry heaved a sigh of relief as the lieutenant went back to sitting in the captain’s chair. He turned his attention to his appointed task. Not a minute too soon, either. Crais hadn’t taken two steps before a light started flashing on the console. Quickly Harry stepped in front of it in case Crais decided to come back for a second round of banter. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the panel had already been removed and the insides of the console lay open. He knelt and began working. This was going to be harder than he had anticipated. Everything was a mess in here, and he was having difficulty locating the—
“Hey, why is the light flashing?”
Adrenaline flooded Harry’s system. He fumbled with the wires, trying to sound nonchalant as he replied, “That’s just me, I was testing something.”
The light stopped flashing. Harry held his breath, waiting for Crais to contact Watson, to reveal that Harry wasn’t what he was pretending to be, to level a phaser at him. ...
“Oh. Okay.”
Harry let out his breath and closed his eyes. Sweat dappled his forehead.
“What does Ops have to do with researching a cure for the Borg virus?”
Damn. Harry rose and tried to look mysterious and commanding. He suspected he largely failed.
[141] “There was a point on our journey where we had Borg technology integrated with nearly every system,” he said airily. “How they cross-reference is classified.”
Crais looked at him with narrowed eyes. Harry suspected he was pushing his luck. Crais might be bored and inventing games to while away the time, but he wasn’t a fool. He felt the other’s gaze boring into his back as he knelt and began to fiddle again