What's Past_ Many Splendors (Book 6) - Keith R.A. DeCandido [5]
“You sure it hasn’t been?” Duffy made a show of looking over at the warp core. “No, wait, there it is. Guess we’d better reset it, then.”
Sonya rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Lieutenant, I don’t.”
Now it was his turn to blink. “Don’t what?”
“Need help. I’m perfectly capable of doing this myself.”
“Maybe, but the ship’s falling apart at the seams, and you’ve been working for two straight shifts. I just got out of bed, so I’m a lot more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed than you.” He looked at the top of her head. “Okay, with that hair, maybe you’re more bushy-tailed, but you get the idea.”
“Lieutenant—”
“Look, Lieutenant La Forge ordered me to help you out, and he sorta kinda outranks both of us. For that matter, I technically outrank you. So let’s just assume that whole ‘need help?’ thing was rhetorical. What’s after the reset on that little list of yours?”
Sonya stared angrily at Duffy for a second, then finally looked back down at the display on her padd. “Make sure the flow regulators are still functioning.”
“Fine, I’ll do that.”
Where did La Forge find this idiot? “No, you can’t, because you need the computer for that, and I’ll be resetting it.”
Duffy frowned. “No, I won’t. I can just—”
Her voice rising, Sonya said, “Lieutenant, you can’t check the flow regulator systems if the computer’s being reset!”
“Uh, Ensign?” Duffy was staring at her with a concerned look.
“What?” she snapped.
“You didn’t say flow regulator systems, you said flow regulators, which I can check by opening up the antimatter housing and taking a gander.”
“The regulator’s completely okay,” Sonya said, “I just checked it—” She looked down at the padd again. “—half an hour ago. It’s the systems.”
“You didn’t say the systems.”
“Yes, I did.”
He walked closer to her. He was a lot taller than she, and he was now staring down at her. “Ensign, the word ‘systems’ never escaped your lips.”
“Fine, if you say so,” Sonya said, though she was sure, absolutely sure, that she had said “flow regulator systems.” “After that is a diagnostic on the containment unit.”
Sounding almost triumphant, Duffy said, “Which is a separate system, and which I can do while you reset the computer.”
Letting out a long breath, Sonya said, “Whatever you say, Lieutenant.” She walked over to the computer and started up the reset sequence. “It can’t be the flow regulators, anyhow. This is a computer problem, not a mechanical one.”
Duffy was now standing over at one of the wall consoles and calling up the diagnostic for the containment unit. “Or it’s a design flaw.”
Looking up sharply, Sonya said, “It’s not a design flaw.”
“How do you know? The Galaxy-class has only been out for a little over a year. Sure, they ran every test possible in Utopia Planitia, and the shakedown went okay, but a ship this size has about a thousand things that can go wrong.”
“This isn’t a design flaw. I’ve studied this ship from stem to stern, Lieutenant,” Sonya said angrily, “and there’s no way this is due to a design problem. For one thing, like I said, it’s the computer that’s having a malfunction. It could be an invasive program—a tribblecom.”
“Oh, come on.” Duffy turned away from the containment unit diagnostic to look at her with amusement. “The Enterprise is protected against that kind of thing. Besides, tribblecoms don’t do this kind of damage. I think you’re letting your imagination run away with you, Ensign.”
Sonya couldn’t believe she was listening to this. “I don’t have an imagination, Lieutenant,” she said before she realized what words were actually escaping her mouth.
Duffy burst out laughing. At her aggrieved look, he got control of himself. “I’m sorry, Ensign, that was just too good.”
“I miss something funny?”
Mortified, Sonya whirled around to see Clancy standing behind her.