“That
was a temporary thing.”
“I
hope this is just rumor but I heard Lorelei from the 602 was the reason.”
“Where’d
you hear that?”
“Jonathan,
spill it. We’ve been friends too long for this game. Commander Sato had to show
her ID.”
“That’s
unfortunate.” Archer drank his drink and
set the glass down harshly. Captain Mitchell offered Archer a refill with a
lift of the bottle, poured again, and waited. “It’s not what you think.”
“Cognitive,
memory, or physical?”
“None.”
He wasn’t sure what he could or should tell Mitchell.
“The
truth can’t hurt,” Mitchell encouraged. Archer thought it possibly could.
“Off
the record, Captain.” Mitchell nodded. “Two years ago we had a… an encounter.
Now she wants back in and when I didn’t take her bait she’s over at IME
claiming – well, making a false claim. Don't know her motivation but it could have been an ugly situation.”
“At IME." Mitchell paused. He was not ignorant of the games women would play to win a man. "My Chief Medical Officer doesn’t know about this, does she?”
“I
don’t think so. Who would have said anything? Phlox, you, Hoshi.”
“Hoshi!”
They said in unison.
“She
has no reason to say anything; nothing medical came up at the lift, just the waitress’
name. But it was damn suspicious, so I dug a little deeper. Not hard to get information out of people.”
“Someone
better make sure she doesn’t say anything. There’s no truth to it,
but why stir things up?”
“I’ll
take care of it,” Mitchell promised.
Eta
Carinae had yet to perform, so Discovery and dozens of other Starfleet ships
continued on their individual journeys to be as close as possible when it
finally did. Brannigaan busied himself in the Situation station on the bridge,
grateful for the break from regular school. His social skills, vanishing over
the last year, returned in the company of so many bright adults.
Ariannaa
stole every heart she touched. Crew members that knew Archer from Enterprise
fondly thought of her, in the most flattering way, as a new Porthos that spent
most of her time out of sight, more likely than not asleep, and then tagged
along behind the admiral during casual hours or a trip to sick bay. But for her
intriguing hazel eyes, she was a petite copy of her mother; her hair had become
long quickly with a slight wave. She seemed as at home on the ship as she was
on Earth, afraid of nothing, friendly to everyone.
“Oh,
that can’t be true!” Riaan said, laughing with her Physician’s Assistant, Lieutenant
Tanner. He was a full brother to an engineering ensign that had served on
Enterprise for many years. Theirs was a family dedicated to Starfleet in many
different ways over a number of years.
“I
wouldn’t think so, but keep it in mind,” he told the doctor. The sick bay doors
slid open and leading the way Ariannaa dashed in ahead of the admiral.
“Mama!”
she shouted and almost knocked her down with enthusiasm alone.
“Thank
you, Tanner,” she said wrapping up their conversation with her hand on his
shoulder. “It’s certainly entertaining to say the least. Oh seven hundred
tomorrow.”
“Yes,
Doctor. Admiral,” he said, looking down but nodding in respect as he left sick
bay. Riaan picked up her daughter then set her down again quickly.
“Gosh
she’s gotten so heavy I can barely lift her anymore! Ariannaa, are you eating
rocks?” She shook her head, furrowing her brow in imitation of her father.
“Are
you joining us for dinner tonight?” Jonathan asked. He wasn’t quite sure of
what he’d interrupted, but didn’t ask. Tanner had beaten a hasty retreat when
he’d walked in.
“I
was thinking more of a cup of coffee and some desert,” she teased. Ariannaa
decided to cling like a bear to Jonathan’s leg. Her innuendo eluded Jonathan.
“Coffee?
You hate coffee.”
“I’ve
come to like it the last few months here. Tanner brings me a cup from the mess
every morning. With enough sugar and heavy cream I think I can give it a positive
review now.”
“Coffee?
At night? That will keep you awake.” Riaan sighed and shot Jonathan a look of
exasperation. Being up all night was her plan. “Naomi does that, coffee all night.” An awkward silence fell
between them. “Tanner brings you coffee?”
“Naomi
drinks coffee all night?”
The
silence grew louder.
“I
guess that’s a no for dinner?” he
asked.
“I
keep hours until nineteen hundred.
“You’re
always here.”
“I’m
always on call, I’m not always here.” Ariannaa glommed onto to Riaan’s leg.
They
stood on the brink of an argument separated by a single citizen that danced
between them in a lavender dress and bright white shoes.
“Archer
to the bridge,” came over the com. Riaan looked back at Jonathan.
“Nineteen
thirty, captain’s mess,” Jonathan said calmly, and left sick bay for the
bridge.
“Admiral,
take a look,” the captain said. Archer looked at the view screen. “Minshara.”
“Habited?”
“It
appears to have a non-native humanoid population. You said you wanted to go on
the away missions. It’s totally voluntary. We’ll take a shuttle; oh eight
hundred, launch bay two,” said Mitchell.
Dinner
was quiet; nightfall was silent. The doctor took to bed as soon as Ariannaa was
asleep. The admiral paced back and forth in the adjoining room. Scrambled thoughts
bounced around in his head; everything from black coffee to the Eta Carinae
nebula, he wasn’t focused enough to sort them into something meaningful. He
knew he was going on an away mission in the morning. He knew Riaan was as angry
as he’d ever seen her before. The worst was he couldn’t go see the doctor on
board to deal with the confusion.
The
next morning, Riaan had already left and taken Ariannaa with her. Brannigaan
didn’t respond from his quarters either, but his roommate, Mitchell’s steward,
said he’d gone out early to look in case the star exploded. Jonathan
remembered, this morning, why Riaan wasn’t speaking to him. He’d accused her of
something that was the farthest thing from her mind. He’d questioned her
integrity over a damn cup of coffee. He didn’t even want to admit jealousy to
himself, and much less what might have driven him to that primitive emotion.
Oh
his way to the shuttle bays, he detoured to the mess. It was an off hour and
the only other people he ran into were the sous chef and Lieutenant Tanner. He
had two cups of coffee in his hands.
“Lieutenant,”
Archer greeted. Tanner almost dropped the coffee but came to the best posture
of parade rest he could. “Here, let me take one of those.” He looked in the
cup. “This one’s black, why don’t we trade?” Tanner held out the other cup.
“Yes,
sir.” They switched cups and Archer took a look at the second one which was
quite light. He sampled the brew.
“Ah,
perfect, just like I like it. Let’s take a walk, Lieutenant.” Archer had a
fleeting thought of knocking the man silly but that wasn’t very becoming of an
officer. He strolled out of the mess and Tanner followed him at an arm’s
length. “I know your brother, Tanner. Served on Enterprise in engineering
several years. Good man.”
“Yes,
Admiral,” he said. He scurried to keep up with Archer’s long stride.
“Your
whole family is part of Starfleet, aren’t they?”
“Yes,
sir.”
“Doesn’t
your mother work at HQ?”
“Yes,
sir, she’s civilian, the day shift in reception. My father is enlisted. He
works at the Oakland ship yard.”
“Now
I remember, yes, your mother works at HQ; very professional woman.” He stopped
at the turbo lift, pressed the call, finished about half of Riaan’s coffee, and
then handed it to the lieutenant. Archer stared at Tanner with the coldness of
a reptilian Xindi. He didn’t quite let go of the cup, making Tanner put a
little effort into his acceptance. “We have an understanding, don’t we Lieutenant?
I mean, you’ll give this to my wife and tell her I said ‘good morning’?”
“Absolutely,
Admiral, sir.” Tanner stared blankly, daring not to meet the admiral’s stare.
“Admiral
Archer, report to shuttle bay two,” came over the ship wide intercom. He took a step towards the closest com panel
and pressed the button with conviction.
“On
my way,” he answered. Then he turned to the lieutenant. “Dismissed.” Tanner
nodded, then beat another hasty retreat down the corridor and disappeared with
one and a half cups of coffee.
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