Unworthy - Kirsten Beyer [10]
Glenn tried to guess what he was getting at but found herself at a loss.
“Such as?” she asked.
“The ESHs,” Barclay said with a little more confidence.
“The Emergency Security Holograms?” Glenn asked.
“Yes, sir. Yes, that’s exactly, those are precisely …” Barclay said, losing a little steam.
“While we have tested these holograms extensively at Jupiter Station, this would be our first opportunity to test them under more stressful and realistic circumstances,” the Doctor added on Barclay’s behalf without missing a beat.
“Do either of you foresee any likelihood that we will be boarded by hostile aliens during our upcoming test flight?” Glenn asked, biting back a smile.
“Of course not, no,” Barclay said, deflating further.
“However,” the Doctor interrupted, clearly unwilling to be dissuaded by simple logic, “the few living and breathing officers aboard the Galen might be unaccustomed to several of the features of our holographic security contingent, including their appearance; the sooner they become accustomed to seeing the ESHs, the easier it will be for them to adapt to this capability of our magnificent little ship.”
The commander felt her brow wrinkling. “Their appearance?” she asked. “They’re security officers, aren’t they?”
“Yes. However, their matrices were based on templates of some of the more fearsome species Starfleet has encountered throughout the years. They are all, of course, programmed to respond as any Starfleet officer would, though their battle tactics are suited to the strengths of their particular species,” Barclay said. “The Gorn, for instance, might utilize their tail in …”
“I’m sorry, did you say Gorn?” Glenn asked, taken aback.
“Yes, sir,” the Doctor said, smiling proudly. “The ESG Mark-1 has proved to be quite fierce in hand-to-hand combat, though the Pahkwa-thanh and the Hirogen also possess unique capabilities that I’m sure you’ll find impressive.”
Until that moment, Glenn hadn’t really considered the appearance of her holographic security staff. Somehow she had assumed that like the Doctor and subsequent versions of the Emergency Medical Holograms developed throughout the years, the officers would have been based on humanoid templates. Glenn recognized this as an inappropriate ethnocentric bias the moment it occurred to her. The commander wondered if Ensign Lawry, Ensign Drur at ops, Lieutenant Velth at tactical, and Ensign Selah at science, all humanoids, might also be surprised to find themselves suddenly surrounded by alien officers.
“I see your point,” Glenn said. “Thank you for the suggestion, Lieutenant Barclay. Please proceed.”
“Thank you, sir,” Barclay said and nodded more confidently as the Doctor beamed beside him.
As they departed the bridge, Glenn found herself wondering exactly what she’d gotten herself into when she had accepted command.
Breathe, she reminded herself. Just breathe.
Voyager’s first officer, Lieutenant Commander Thomas Paris, usually tried to take things in stride. As a veteran of Voyager’s unprecedented excursion to the Delta quadrant, there weren’t many things that could shake his confidence or set his nerves on edge.
But as he followed the captain from her ready room to their seats, surveying the crew on the way, his gut tensed. Every one of Voyager’s alpha shift bridge posts were currently being manned by their assigned officers—Lasren at ops, Kim at tactical, Patel at science, and Conlon at engineering—with one glaring exception. The helm was still under the control of its gamma shift officer, Ensign Gleez.
Captain Afsarah Eden, an ebony-skinned, lithe woman who looked many years younger than the fifty-plus years Tom estimated her to be, seated herself gracefully in the center chair as Tom took the one to her left. After spending so much time on Voyager’s original bridge, Tom still found it a little weird to see the new, extra chair to Eden’s right, meant for a mission specialist or the Admiral of the Fleet, should the admiral