Three - Michael Jan Friedman [10]
Meanwhile, Vigo managed to become one of Ejanix’s best students, thriving on his professor’s enthusiasm and innovative thinking. When honors were handed out in tactical engineering, Vigo was seldom very far down the list.
The last time he had seen Ejanix was at his graduation from the Academy. By that time, Vigo had already earned a berth on the Gibraltar patrolling the outskirts of Federation space in the vicinity of the Romulan Neutral Zone.
He and his mentor had sworn to keep in touch afterward, and for a while they had kept that promise via subspace packet. But in time, Vigo’s resolve had thinned and apparently so had Ejanix’s, and even their occasional correspondence was put off in favor of more pressing concerns.
For the last two years, Vigo and Ejanix hadn’t communicated at all. But the weapons chief had heard about his old instructor’s transfer to the facility on Wayland Prime and his subsequent work on the Type Nine project.
Despite the two-year lapse in their friendship, Vigo had no doubt that Ejanix would be glad to see him. They would pick up right where they had left off. Maybe Vigo would even have time to teach his mentor the game of sharash’di.
He recalled the look of joy and relief on Ejanix’s face [25] that first night at the Academy, and—despite himself—the weapons chief had to laugh again.
“Nothing again?” asked Idun, not even bothering to turn around this time.
“Nothing again,” Vigo confirmed.
Abruptly, the communications monitor came alive on the shuttle’s control console. The face that appeared on it belonged to a woman with a dark complexion and long, black hair drawn into a braid.
“This is Chief Echevarria,” she said, “of installation security. You’re cleared to land.”
“Acknowledged,” said Idun.
Moments later, she set the shuttle down on an open flat embraced by the U-shaped complex. “Enjoy your stay,” she told the Pandrilite as she triggered the mechanism that opened the hatch, letting in the eminently breathable air of Wayland Prime. “I’m sure it will be stimulating.”
“No doubt,” said Vigo. He smiled at her. “I’ll tell you all about it when you pick me up.”
“I look forward to it,” said the helm officer, without the slightest hint of irony in her voice.
Vigo wrested his garment container from the aft storage compartment. Then he ducked to avoid the upper threshold of the hatch and stepped out onto the native ground cover, which was short, wiry, and blue-green in color.
The sky overhead was pale blue in spots and cloud-covered in others, the temperature cool and the humidity high. It was like Vigo’s home on Pandril at the height of summer, the only season when temperatures were consistently above freezing.
As the weapons officer closed the hatch behind him, [26] he saw a door open in the middle of the U shape. A figure in a black jumpsuit emerged from it. It wasn’t Ejanix; his Pandrilite stature would have given him away.
Vigo’s welcomer, a slim, black-and-white-striped Dedderac, inclined his head as he approached. “Welcome to Wayland Prime,” he said in a slightly nasal voice. “I’m Riyyen, one of the engineers who labor here—and incidentally, the administrator of the place.”
“Lieutenant Vigo of the Stargazer.”
Riyyen smiled. “Yes, I know. You’re the only Pandrilite on the guest list.” He indicated the door he had come from with a tilt of his head. “Come on. I’ll show you your quarters.”
“Thank you,” said Vigo.
He was a bit disappointed that Ejanix hadn’t been able to meet him. But then, his mentor was probably busy elsewhere in the complex—perhaps with some refinement of the Type Nine.
With a wave to Idun, he let her know he was good to go. A moment later, she took the shuttle back up.
Vigo watched it go for a moment. Then he followed Riyyen into the development facility.
Chapter Two
CAPTAIN JEAN-LUC PICARD gazed at the Mara Zenaya system, a large red dot on the black-and-green grid of his desktop monitor screen. Then he looked back at his first officer, Gilaad Ben Zoma, who was peering over Picard