Caffeine and Constellations

            “So what now? We are on our way to a new planet, the injuries are being treated, the engines are under repair.”

            “Yes, so now I prepare for a negotiation between Andorians and Vulcans. Must find something they have in common and go from there. Border dispute.” He spoke absentmindedly, looking at Riaan, wishing the table was not covered in plates and food that separated them. “In the meantime, it’s just a matter of recreation and ship repairs, maintenance – movies, games, reading. The crew will take us where we need to go at the best speed they can.”

            The two ate in silence for a short time. Archer thought about the border dispute. Vulcans and Andorians squabbling again over something they should be able to resolve without him having to spend his time playing parent to these children yet again. They wanted a neutral, demilitarized zone, but an Andorian space station was in the zone the Vulcans wanted. Five light years from Vulcan, a white dwarf supported a single comet with a 60 AU orbit. An ice world, the Andorians had some unfathomable interest in it that Archer didn’t understand.

            “We can’t go to Andoria,” Archer said aloud to himself. “We can’t go to Andoria,” he repeated, to Riaan this time. He stood up and tapped the intercom to the bridge.

            “Archer to the bridge.”

            “Bridge, Admiral,” Sato answered.

            “All stop. Locate the nearest star with planets and set a course. I’m on my way.”

            “Well, actually, after you left Akal I found myself intrigued by the stars, and space. I wanted to study it, but there just wasn’t much to learn in our library, or even at the University. I am just a scientist of geology, biology, astronomy; I can’t stop learning. ”

            “Since I was younger than Brannigaan the only thing I ever thought about was going to deep space. My father was the engineer at Earth’s Warp Five complex. My family was very close with the man who developed transporting, and his whole family. It was the only choice for me.”

            Riaan and Jonathan talked over their dinner in the captain’s dining room. Brannigaan had become quite fond of Commander Sato’s daughter, Mai. The eight-year old was precocious, and quite a fixture on the ship. Until Brannigaan arrived, she was the only child on Endeavour.

            “I cataloged all the things I could map in the sky. Once I started looking, it was almost as if I couldn’t stop looking!”

            “The sky looks different on Earth than it does on Akal. All kinds of myths and stories are told about the patterns the stars make in the sky. People believed that the stars showing when you were born determined your personality. They used to think that the planet was the center of the universe. But people kept looking, and started to figure it out. It’s a big galaxy; it takes a lot of time to figure it all out.”

            The steward brought a pot of coffee into the dining room and cleared away the remaining dishes.

            “I’m not so fond of this drink, even though it smells as if it should taste good. Why do so many of you like it?” she asked Jonathan.

            “It’s an acquired taste. More of a social beverage, I think” He tapped a button on the intercom behind him. “Would you bring in a pot of black tea, please?” He gave Riaan a wink from across the table, and poured a coffee anyway for himself. “It has a chemical that raises the blood pressure, helps keep people awake when their body would rather sleep.”

            “Caffeine. I’ve read about it.” The steward brought in a pot of steaming hot water and several assorted black teas in a basket. “I can see why it might be helpful. It’s addicting, though.”

            “Yes, and there’s caffeine in black tea, as well, but not as much,” Jonathan told her. He leaned over the table a little closer to Riaan. A faint smile appeared on her face.

            “’Bridge to Admiral Archer,” came a voice from the intercom. He leaned back and opened the channel.

            “Go ahead.”

            “We’re coming up on that K star system.”

            “Drop out of warp, find an M class and put us in orbit. I’m on my way,” he answered. Archer arrived on the bridge in three minutes. “Mr. French?”

            “Not much choice, sir, but the second planet is M class. Can’t confirm the atmosphere just yet, but temps should be about 20 at one AU.”

            “Life signs?”

            “Yes, sir,” the second shift science officer reported. “Plants, higher animals, nothing that appears technologically advanced. It actually appears as if there might have been a mass extinction in the last century as the variety of life seems limited. About half the planet is water. I can confirm an ambient temperature of 18, nitrogen, oxygen about 22%.”

            “Any humanoid life?”

            “Scanning.”  Archer waited for the answer. “There are primitive, unnatural geometric stone structures. But the scanners don’t’ find humanoid life signs.”

            “Sounds like a winner. Mr. French, put us in a low orbit. ”

            “Aye, sir.”

            “Archer to Commander Sato,” he said into the intercom.

            “Sato, sir.”

            “Report to the bridge. I have a message for Starfleet and I want it on a secure channel.”