Three - Michael Jan Friedman [13]
“The other weapons officers won’t be arriving for another hour or so, but feel free to look around. You needn’t worry about stumbling onto anything you’re not supposed to—all the sensitive areas have been locked down.”
“Thank you,” said Vigo.
“If there’s nothing else,” the Dedderac told him, “I’ll see you at dinner.”
“Actually,” said Vigo, stopping Riyyen in his tracks, “there is something. Can you tell me where to find Ejanix?”
“Certainly,” said the engineer. “He’d be in his lab.” He tilted his head—an expression of curiosity in his species. “Have you and Ejanix met before?”
“We have,” the Pandrilite told him. “In fact, we were pretty close friends for a while.”
Riyyen’s brow raised. “That’s strange. He didn’t mention anything.” He shrugged. “In any case, just follow me. I’ll take you to him.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Vigo said.
[34] The engineer led him along a single long corridor, then turned down a second corridor. Ejanix’s laboratory was the first door on the right.
“I’ll leave you two to reminisce,” said Riyyen, who obviously had some work of his own to attend to. Then he retreated along the same corridor.
Vigo eyed the closed door of Ejanix’s lab. It seemed unlikely that his friend had failed to mention him. Maybe Riyyen just hadn’t received the information.
Yes, he thought, that must be it.
Touching the metal plate beside the door, Vigo waited for a response. It was slow in coming—so much so that he began to wonder if Riyyen hadn’t led him to an empty lab by mistake.
Then, just as Vigo was about to give up, the door slid open and revealed the room beyond it—a small, bright enclosure full of computer consoles and monitor screens. It wasn’t until the weapons officer stepped inside that he saw a large, black-garbed figure huddled over one of the consoles, staring at the screen on top of it.
There was no question that it was Ejanix. Even if it weren’t for the fact of the engineer’s size, Vigo would still have recognized him.
Either Ejanix hadn’t heard him come in or he was in the middle of some important calculation, because he didn’t so much as turn his head to acknowledge his friend’s presence. And Vigo, reluctant to interrupt Ejanix’s work, didn’t say anything either. He just stood there, waiting.
Finally, Ejanix spoke to him. But he didn’t turn away from his monitor screen. “You’re here,” he said.
Just that. Nothing more.
[35] “If you’re busy,” Vigo told him, “I can come back later.”
“I am busy,” said Ejanix. “Too busy to play host. But Starfleet Command insisted that I do so, and I never argue with Starfleet Command.”
He sounded ... bitter, Vigo thought. And as far as he could remember, Ejanix had never sounded bitter.
Then, unexpectedly, the engineer swiveled in his chair and faced the weapons officer. But he wasn’t the Ejanix whom Vigo had known back on Earth. This Ejanix was on edge, nervous-looking, bereft of all the considerable warmth and enthusiasm he had shown in the past.
“Is everything all right?” Vigo asked.
His mentor frowned. “Frankly, it’s far from all right. It’s too soon for me to be talking about the Type Nine. I haven’t finished testing it yet. I haven’t put it through its paces. And instead of doing that, I’ll be entertaining you and your counterparts from the Essex and the New Orleans.”
Vigo didn’t know what to say. What he finally settled for was “If I had known that a demonstration was premature, I would have turned down the invitation.”
Ejanix harrumphed. “You didn’t have a choice in the matter. Don’t you know that yet? When Starfleet Command tells you to go somewhere, you go.”
There was silence between them for a moment. It was an uncomfortable silence, too.
Vigo was the one who finally broke it. “I’m told the other weapons officers won’t be here for approximately an hour. Why don’t I leave you alone until then, so you can take some time to compose yourself?”
Ejanix looked away from him, as if even the sight of [36] him made the engineer uncomfortable. “That’s kind of you,” he said. “I’ll see you later.”
“At dinner,” Vigo suggested.
“Yes,” said