Jonathan looked up at
his mother, Sally, then back at his father in the hospice bed. The room was
faintly fragrant with mountains of fresh cut flowers, artificially happy with
yellow walls and linens, yet still void of any hope. Henry Archer seemed to be
sleeping, but was in fact heavily sedated to relieve the hallucinations and
pain. At 52 years old he was barely reaching the prime of his life.
Admiral Archer
was a skilled pilot, more so than either Samuels or Laskin could hope to be. Despite
his abrupt awakening on Riaan’s sofa, he pushed those thoughts of long ago down
where they wouldn’t be in his way and got to work. With his four passengers the
shuttle lifted up without a hitch, turned, and headed for the stratosphere as
quickly as possible. NX-07, Endeavor, had taken a geosynchronous orbit around
Akal, had notified the landing party, and was expecting to dock the shuttle
momentarily.
Brannigaan’s
eyes stared like marbles at the con in action. Lights blinked on and off, quiet
signals bleeped and rang, each one getting a little acknowledgement from
Archer. He focused on the task but kept his ears on the conversation behind
him.
“It was
confusing hearing you all call the admiral Jon. We had a hard time getting used
to calling him that,” Ensign Samuels whispered to Riaan. “But, we were still
under the impression that your society hadn’t made contact with aliens so we
didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves.”
“I can
understand that,” Riaan replied. “Do, uh, any of you really have temporal
ridges?”
“No, I’m
afraid these were part of our camouflage,” Laskin told her, touching his head
unconsciously. “I’m sure the doctor will remove them soon enough.”
“There she is,”
Archer announced, nodding at the fore window in front of him. Looking out into
the black speckled space the underside of the Endeavour looked no different
than the underside of Enterprise. Above
and behind the saucer the two great long nacelles jutted out on their frames;
red glow from the reactors clearly defined their status.
“Wow, I’ve
never even imagined anything like that,” Brannigaan declared, standing behind
the admiral’s chair, leaning towards the window. “I thought this was the ship.”
“Branni,
leave Jon, um, the admiral, alone. He has to fly the star ship,” Riaan reminded
her son.
“The
admiral can land a shuttle with his eyes shut,” the Ensign told her with a
chuckle, and Laskin joined in.
“That’s the
legend, right sir?”
“Don’t believe
everything you hear, crewman,” he called over his shoulder.
A
few minutes later the shuttle latched onto the docking arm of the Endeavour and
disappeared into the ship. The bay doors closed underneath them and the crew
sighed. They were home.
“Permission
to come aboard, Captain?”
“Welcome
Admiral Archer. Ensign Samuels, Crewman Laskin,” Captain Mitchell greeted with
an outstretched hand. “You know my first officer, don’t you,” he smiled.
“Hello
Admiral,” said Commander Hoshi Sato with a broad smile.
“Hoshi,
it’s so good to see you,” he said wrapping his arms around her in a huge bear
hug. “It’s been a couple years. Let me introduce you to a couple of space
virgins, this is Riaan, and Brannigaan; Captain Mitchell and Commander Sato.”
“Kota,” Hoshi
greeted. “Sellun suda rakam Endeavour.”
“You speak
Wolg,” Riaan said. “Do you all speak Wolg?”
“No, we
don’t,” Mitchell said. “So use the UT. I’ve quarters arranged for you all on E
deck. Sato has offered to escort you all, and I’ll see you all at Captain’s
table, Nineteen hundred, don’t be late. I have a ship to run.” He turned to go back
to the bridge.
“Captain,
maybe you could take our youngest guest up to the bridge later?”
“Yes,
Admiral, of course.”
“Come with
me, everyone,” Hoshi waved and started off down the corridor.
“I think I
can find my way to E deck.”
“Sorry,
sir, but as our guests-“
“I’m
kidding with you, Commander. I could stand a change of clothes, though. Is the
Quartermaster on the way?” They boarded the turbolift and began their slide
down to E deck.
“I took
care of it, sir. Ensign, these are your quarters. Laskin, you’re on D deck; you
and crewman Malta are sharing quarters next to the sick bay. Admiral, you’re
just up ahead. Captain told me to put you on port officer’s wing.”
“Thanks,
Commander.” He paused, wishing a few minutes to himself before entertaining his
guests.
“Riaan, Brannigaan, I think you
might like to come to the mess and get something to drink, or eat, or both?” Sato
glanced at Archer with a curious smile, and he nodded back. Laskin and the
other three headed back towards the turbolift all speaking Wolg.
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