War Stories (Book 2) - Keith R. A. DeCandido [16]
With this crew, however, Gold just smiled and said, “We’ll get right on it. Gold out.” He turned to Salek. “Good work, Salek—and a big mazel tov to 110, 111, and the two new folks. Blue’s unique abilities got the relay fixed fast, and from the sounds of it, Stevens was a big help with Duffy.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
“Now let’s see what we can do about the Sloane.…”
Androssi Vessel Overseen by Biron
STARDATE 53679.3
Biron finished reading of the U.S.S. da Vinci’s retrieval and usage of the Dominion mobile weapon and was, despite himself, impressed. Once again, the crew of that ship had improvised and managed to defeat a demonstrably superior foe in the Jem’Hadar.
Just as they had twice defeated Biron, also a demonstrably superior foe.
He read the remainder of the log entries, including the account of the deaths of Commander Salek and Dr. Chan Okha. It had, he decided, been worth the expenditure of time to obtain these log entries. He had learned much about the crew of this vessel in his perusals: psychological susceptibility to the ravages of combat; inappropriate grieving over the deaths of lesser beings; relationships between workers and officers; all of these and more were vulnerabilities that Biron could exploit.
He made several notes as to courses of action he could take that would cripple the crew of the U.S.S. da Vinci and prevent them from interfering with his proper duties ever again.
The first thing he needed to do was ascertain the location of Dr. Tydoan. The former chief medical officer for the U.S.S. da Vinci had resigned from service in Starfleet after the cessation of hostilities with the Dominion. Biron did not possess any record of his activity following his resignation, since such records were beyond the purview of what he had originally requested from the now-deceased Yridian.
“Attention, Overseer. We have received a subspace communication from the sponsor. It requires your immediate attention.”
The voice was Sub-Overseer Howwi’s. All thoughts of petty revenge against the crew of the U.S.S. da Vinci fled Biron’s mind temporarily. His primary duty—indeed, his only duty—was to his Elite sponsor. A communication from him took precedence over anything else. Biron would locate Dr. Tydoan at a later date.
However, the time would eventually come when the opportunity to take revenge on Captain David Gold, Commander Sonya Gomez, Lt. Commander Kieran Duffy, and the rest of the crew of the U.S.S. da Vinci would present itself.
Biron found himself looking forward to that time with somewhat inappropriate, yet rather enjoyable anticipation.
About the Author
The codeveloper of Star Trek: S.C.E., KEITH R.A. DECANDIDO has written or cowritten five previous eBooks in the series, including the award-winning stories Fatal Error and Cold Fusion, as well as the two-book Invincible (with David Mack) and the Gateways tie-in Here There Be Monsters. He also wrote the Star Trek: The Next Generation novel Diplomatic Implausibility, the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novel Demons of Air and Darkness, the cross-series duology The Brave & the Bold, the TNG comic book Perchance to Dream, and the DS9 novella “Horn and Ivory.” The year 2003 will see the debut of Star Trek: I.K.S. Gorkon, a series that is the first to feature the Klingons in a starring role, as well as a contribution to the Star Trek: The Lost Era miniseries, and more S.C.E. eBooks. In addition to all of this, Keith has written novels, short stories, and nonfiction books in the universes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who, Farscape, Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda, Marvel Comics, Xena, and much more. He is the editor of the original science fiction anthology Imaginings and the author of the upcoming novel Dragon Precinct, which mixes high fantasy with police procedurals. Find out evil rumors about him by checking his official Web site at DeCandido.net, and start a few by joining his official fan club at www.kradfanclub.com.