Unworthy - Kirsten Beyer [9]
“Breathe,” Glenn said intently.
It sounded like an order, so he complied. His attempt was shallower than Glenn would have wished, but it did manage to relax his shoulders a little.
“Is there anything else, sir?” he asked, clearly wondering if he was missing something.
“Again,” Glenn commanded, “a little deeper.”
Lawry breathed deeply and his face finally lost the aspect of a trapped animal.
“What’s our status?” Glenn asked.
“We’re awaiting clearance from Voyager to begin the first test run, sir.”
“Then let us await what will surely come without fear of unforeseen consequences,” Glenn said, repeating a personal mantra that often sustained her when she faced daunting situations.
“Yes, sir.” Lawry nodded with clear and firmly set eyes as he turned back to his post.
Glenn heard the faint swish of the bridge doors opening but refrained from directing her attention there. It was difficult at times to remember that one could choose which stimuli to respond to and which to ignore, but she approached her command decisions the same way she had been trained to approach her medical ones. Awareness of potential distractions was helpful until it limited your ability to focus on the task at hand. Right now, her task was to make sure all the officers on alpha shift were performing their assigned duties efficiently and with composure. If her attention was required elsewhere, she’d wait until someone requested it.
“Good morning, Captain,” the smooth and confident voice of her chief medical officer said congenially.
“Good morning,” Glenn replied, turning to address the Doctor. Standing a pace behind him was her engineering and holographic specialist, Lieutenant Reginald Barclay. “To you both,” she added quickly.
“Lieutenant Barclay has a request he would like to make, Captain,” the Doctor said.
She hadn’t known the Doctor or Lieutenant Barclay for very long. Her first impression of the Doctor had been positive. She found it refreshing that his creator had selected to use his own image as a framework for the hologram rather than some idealized physical template. Thus, the incredibly advanced hologram, who contained within his program the medical knowledge of thousands of individual physicians, stood before her in the guise of a medium-height, balding, middle-age human male. The Doctor was a highly skilled physician and his obvious enthusiasm for his current assignment was contagious. Glenn looked forward to having him on board for their upcoming mission, given his previous experience in the Delta quadrant.
Lieutenant Barclay was a little harder to wrap one’s mind around. His record was a testament to years of solid service. He had distinguished himself repeatedly aboard Enterprise, and he had gone on to do seminal work at Project Pathfinder
with the eminent holographic designer Lewis Zimmerman. But Barclay’s timid nature belied his accomplishments. Glenn wanted to sit Barclay down and gently assure him that there was less to fear in the universe than he clearly believed there to be. The lieutenant was definitely the oddest confluence of character traits she had ever encountered in a fellow officer.
“And is there some reason the lieutenant isn’t making that request himself?” Glenn asked.
She regretted her words as soon as they left her lips. Lieutenant Barclay responded by studiously examining the base of her chair.
“Lieutenant Barclay is more than capable of making the request himself, Captain,” the Doctor replied in a way that suggested he hoped rather than believed this to be true. “However, I wanted you to be aware that he has my full support in his request.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Glenn replied. “You may consider me so apprised. Lieutenant?”
“Yes, sir, ma’am, I’m sorry, Commander … er, Captain,” Barclay stammered.
“‘Sir’ is fine,” Glenn said encouragingly.
Barclay took a deep and restorative breath before continuing: “It occurred to me that this test run presents us with an excellent opportunity to evaluate