Three - Michael Jan Friedman [51]
She was so preoccupied with her inner turmoil, so focused on it, she didn’t notice most of the crewmen passing her in the corridor in groups of two and three. But as she passed a particular group, something caught her eye.
It was a look—a sliding of eyes in her direction. As she looked more closely, drawn forcibly from her private dialogue, she saw that the eyes belonged to Lieutenant Refsland.
And she remembered Idun’s comment about the transporter operator’s fantasies. Refsland is probably imagining what it would be like to have sex with us. ...
The next thing Gerda knew, she had the man pinned against the bulkhead, his tunic bunched in her fist.
“What are you doing?” Refsland asked.
“You were staring at me,” Gerda snarled, unable to control herself.
Refsland shook his head. “I wasn’t doing anything of the sort.”
“Yes, you were,” she insisted.
“Gerda,” said her sister, putting her hand on Gerda’s shoulder. “You can’t—”
[151] “I can,” said Gerda. “I’ve had enough of this.”
“Whoa,” said Joseph, trying to wedge himself between the navigator and Refsland. “Calm down, Lieutenant.”
But she didn’t want to calm down. She wanted to lash out at someone. She wanted to vent all the anger and resentment that had been building inside her.
“Calm down,” Joseph repeated earnestly, “or I swear, I’ll throw you in the brig!”
Suddenly, Gerda felt the deck buck under her feet, forcing her to clutch at a bulkhead for support. Her sister, Joseph, and Gerda Idun all did the same.
“What’s going on?” Gerda Idun asked.
“Battle stations!” came the captain’s voice. “All senior bridge officers, report on the double!”
Suddenly, Gerda’s anger cooled. It was as if she had been dipped in a glacial stream, all negative emotions leached out of her.
She didn’t give any more thought to Refsland or Gerda Idun, or any of her other sources of frustration. She just bolted for the nearest turbolift, absolutely certain that her sister was right behind her.
Chapter Twelve
PICARD GRABBED the armrests on his command chair as a second Balduk volley wracked the Stargazer.
“Shields down twenty-two percent,” Kochman reported from his post at the navigation console.
“No significant damage to the ship,” said Ulelo from the com station.
Fortunately, they had gotten their deflectors up before the Balduk vessel could land any serious blows. But with the enemy on their tail, they were still at a disadvantage.
Suddenly, the turbolift doors opened and Picard’s senior officers flooded the bridge. Finally, he thought. If he was going to get anywhere with the Balduk, he stood a better chance of it with his best people in place.
As he watched, Idun and Gerda took over at helm and [153] navigation. Paxton replaced the ensign at the com station, Kastiigan appeared at the science panel, and Simenon assumed control of the engineering console.
Only Vigo was missing, Ensign Nikolas serving in his place. But under the circumstances, that couldn’t be helped.
“Hail them,” the captain told Paxton.
“Aye, sir,” came the com officer’s reply.
As Picard watched, the Balduk vessel unleashed another bright red barrage. This time, Idun managed to skew the Stargazer past the worst of it, but the ship still shuddered miserably with the impact.
“Sir?” someone said.
The captain saw that Kastiigan had shown up at his side. “Yes, Lieutenant?”
“If you have a dangerous, perhaps life-threatening assignment in mind at this time ... I just wanted you to know that I’m ready to embark on it.”
Picard nodded, recalling what Ben Zoma and Wu had told him of the Kandilkari’s eagerness to place his life in jeopardy. “I assure you, I will consider you before anyone else.”
Kastiigan smiled. “Thank you, sir.” And he returned to his science station.
“Mr. Paxton?” Picard prompted.
The com officer shook his head. “Nothing, sir. They’re not responding.”
Again, the Balduk ship stabbed at them with directed energy fire. And again, Idun managed to keep the ship from taking too much of a beating.
“Try again,” said the captain.
[154] Paxton bent to the task. But after a few seconds, he had