Unworthy - Kirsten Beyer [135]
“Captain?” Lasren asked from ops.
“Yes, Ensign?”
“ Hawking and Galen report ready to depart.”
“Very good.” Chakotay nodded.
“If I may, sir?”
“Yes, Lasren?”
“Are Commander Paris and Lieutenant Kim unwell?”
Though Lieutenant Maplethorpe had taken Harry’s place at tactical for this shift, Chakotay had refrained from assigning another officer to take Tom’s place.
“Are you worried I’m going to ask you to take command of the bridge?” Chakotay asked.
“No, sir,” Lasren replied, brightening at the thought.
“Both Commander Paris and Lieutenant Kim have been assigned to a special project and will not be needed on the bridge for the next several days.”
“I see, sir,” Lasren replied.
“Helm?” Chakotay asked, turning back to face the main viewscreen.
“Ready to engage warp engines on your order, sir,” Gwyn reported.
It had already been determined that the fleet vessels would clear the area of subspace instabilities between the Indign system and the site of the former Borg transwarp hub before moving into coordinated slipstream flight.
“Captain Eden to the bridge,” Chakotay called over the comm.
After a short pause, Eden replied, “Acknowledged.”
She exited the turbolift a few moments later and crossed immediately to Chakotay.
“Problem?” she asked.
“We’re ready to rejoin the fleet, Captain,” Chakotay said simply.
Eden gazed at him curiously. Moving gingerly to take the seat on his right she asked softly, “Didn’t I already give you clearance to depart at your discretion?”
“You did.”
“Then, what am I doing here?”
Chakotay did his best to hide a smile, though he was sure his eyes were giving him away. “I realize you’re terribly busy commanding the fleet and all. I just want to make sure that while you’re on Voyager, you don’t miss any of the fun stuff.”
Eden stifled a chuckle. “The fun stuff?”
Chakotay sat back and gazed toward the starfield adorning the viewscreen. “We’re heading out again into the vast unknown,” he replied. “Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
Eden matched his posture, settling herself into her chair.
“Now that you mention it, it really does,” she replied.
“Ensign Gwyn, are you ready to see what else is out there?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Bring the warp drive online,” Chakotay ordered. “Set course bearing one four six mark two. Warp five.”
“Planning on doing some sightseeing?” Eden asked.
“At warp five?” Chakotay asked.
Eden shrugged. “This ship does warp nine point nine without breaking a sweat.”
“I remember.”
“A slipstream velocity makes that look positively subdued.”
“I remember that too.”
“So?”
“We have two days until we regroup with the rest of the fleet. We could be there in minutes, but I thought the point was to explore. Our sensor readings will be more thorough if we take it a little slower.”
“True,” Eden agreed.
“Course laid in,” Gwyn advised.
“Any objections?” Chakotay asked.
“You’re the captain,” Eden replied.
Damn right, Chakotay thought, smiling inwardly.
With a wink to Eden, Chakotay ordered the helm to engage.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We’re adding some new names to the roundup of usual suspects who help make this work possible. First among them, Margaret Clark, who assumed editing duties halfway through this process under daunting circumstances. I know that in the private sector nobody gets a medal for showing up and doing their job every day but there are times when I think it should be done anyway and this is one of them.
The second is Kevin Dilmore. There are sometimes dark days in the creation of a story when the best of us finds it hard to trust our instincts. He patiently reminded me to do just that and it helped more than he can possibly know.
This novel is the end result of a process that began years ago; a re-imagining of the Voyager universe. During that time, my family, friends, and fellow authors have listened patiently as I thought through these stories out loud, and provided many important insights along the way. They also demonstrated admirable patience as I distanced myself from much more pleasant activities to complete this work. They have both my apologies and my