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When Dolores got home from the pleasant lunch she'd had with some of her old NetIntel buddies, Arthur was already smooshed out. Looking at him as he lay back in the big, broken down recliner with his pants not quite buttoned at the waist and his gazed fixed on no part of the world around him, Dolores began to get righteously pissed.
Living with a rich stud had seemed like a good idea; being married to him, after he sprang that ceremony on her so unexpectedly, even better. Although the why of it still burned. Losing Jacqueline hadn't stopped hurting and maybe never would. Arthur would pay for that: just see if he didn't. It was his fault if she'd neglected her daughter. If she had; she wasn't admitting anything. For all Dolores knew, maybe Arthur had kept her doped on purpose, so she couldn't interfere with his moves. And she'd get Jacqueline back, some way she'd do that. But in the meantime....
In the meantime the stud spent most of his time petrified, and all too often when she really wanted him up and alive. Especially up. And rich didn't mean all that much when so damn little of it came her way.
Not for the first time, Eartha Dolores Deacon Sisko Vinson began rethinking her options.
It was wholly possible, she thought, that Arthur could just plain go piss up a rope. With a little help.....395Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdA2yYriIn
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Refreshed, Jacqueline put on smooth-soled loafers and took a stroll to the galley. It wasn't her regular mealtime yet, but the work and other exercise had her faunching for a snack, anyway.
One trouble with this starship was always needing two kinds of footwear, which meant returning to quarters to change shoes every time she left or entered the low-G belt. Well, she didn't exactly have to, coming in, but Velcro soles didn't feel right on a smooth deck, and wearing them here wasn't recommended if you wanted them to last.
Not for the first time Jacqueline wished the starship had some kind of light foldup shoes, of both types, in anything near her size. What she could use, she decided, was some kind of a small totebag to keep her spares in. Her travel kit was much too big to lug around all the time. Maybe supplies had something that would work; she'd have to ask Odessa.
Vangelos wasn't running the galley this shift. Kynon Nakada had that duty. In her usual cheerful way she returned her greeting and gave her a glass of milk to go with the little bowl of spicy stew she dished up. "Keeps the fire down," she said, and grinned.
As Jacqueline looked around, wondering where to sit, Nyota Uhura beckoned to her. Jacqueline knew the black woman hardly at all, but so far the DM commander/pilot seemed pleasant enough.
Oh-oh; how should she be addressed? Walking over, in her mind Jacqueline tried one version after another; nothing seemed to fit. Arriving, she said, "Shall I join you---uh, commander?"
Uhura laughed. "Commander's only a function; the official job title is DM specialist. But I like to keep things simple: last names on duty and first names in our free time. Even though both of mine are a little hard for Euros and Yankees to pronounce. Yes, do sit down, Jacqueline. I want to speak to you."
"Fine." Jacqueline did, and began eating. The stew was hot, all right, but barely a throat-scorcher. "About what?"
"Sleep. You've just done a stint with Paul Stamets so you're off duty for a while. I'd like you with me tomorrow, but not on the same shift. The one before it, about 10 hours from now. Can you fit your sleep in all right?"
"Sure." The small bowl was finished; Jacqueline did the same for the milk. "I mean, that's my assignment, right?"
"Yes. And with an adult I'd take it for granted. But...."
"Sure." Her answers were getting in a bad rut. "So long as I know ahead of time. It's just that I'm not on the roster, and sometimes nobody tells me soon enough."
"No." Uhura smiled. "So I'm glad you came in just now. I left word on your terminal, but people don't always check."
To the raised eyebrows Jacqueline had to admit she hadn't. Then her curiosity took over. "Nyota? Will we be going into the Deployment Module? I'd like to see it."
"That's the general idea. What with getting everything else in order, this'll be my own first chance to have a look. Well, since the last in-orbit lecture tour----and that was nearly two years before liftaway; quite a lot of the equipment wasn't installed yet."
"According to Chief Stamets, the full-G belt was working then. Was the DM behind schedule?"
"Not quite. On hold, really, for some late-blooming design changes. First it was waiting for the complete new specifications; then it took time to round up what wasn't included on the original specs' list of materials."
Uhura shrugged. "There was no hurry. All it meant was that I haven't seen the finished product yet."
"But we will tomorrow, right?"
"Right." The woman looked up, her expression showed pleasure. "Hello, Al. Watch over?"
Alfred Nightgazer smiled at them both. "Yes. And Mr. Sisko---your father himself, young lady----running through the accel-time sensor tapes, found us a brand new planet."
Fascinated, Jacqueline stayed to hear the details. Of course she'd get them straight from Ben later, too, but still....
She didn't fail to notice that the two of them held hands.395Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3l2RItcefQ
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Coming off watch, Ben Sisko took his first exercise stint on the full G belt. Odessa went with him, and at the doors they found Nick Leger just entering; all three put in a strenuous thirty minutes before they called it quits. When Ben returned to quarters, Jacqueline was absent.
He checked for messages: Uhura wanted the girl to accompany here---and probably an adult assistant---on a DM checkout two watch shifts from now. Kynon Nakada begged off from their meeting in the lounge, specifying no reason and requesting a raincheck. "Name a time or two that would be convenient for you, and I'll leave word. If we don't meet sooner." All right.
And Captain Archer wanted to speak with his first officer: the words indicated no hurry but the voice tones sounded anxious.
What the hell; Sisko munched some cheese and crackers to tide him over, then showered. When he came out of the bath booth, Jacqueline was home. "Hi, dad. Tell me about the new planet."
Well, so she'd already heard about it; he filled her in anyway. "You named it Nootaikok?" she asked. "Inuit mythology, right? One of the ice gods."
Not for the first time, Jacqueline's store of miscellaneous knowledge impressed her father. He laughed. "He'd freeze his ass on this one." Then he sobered. "Archer wants to see me. Keep your fingers crossed."
"It doesn't have to be---I mean, it could be anything."
"Let's hope so."
As he left the rooms, Sisko thought I still have an ace up my sleeve. Or thought he did, at any rate....395Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmvHcjcCjgu
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"Get me there, get me there, come on goddamn you Arthur, get me there!" Too stoned for good coordination, still Vinson wasn't holding her back from orgasm so much as Dolores herself was. Her goal now was strategic advantage, not physical satisfaction; savaging him with words she kept both Arthur and herself off-balance.
Until she outlasted his waning stamina and he lay panting, wilted, unable to continue. Then she pushed; he slumped off to one side and she wriggled free. Giving him no time to get any breath back, she leaned close and spat her words. "You're no good, Arthur. No good fucking and no fucking good. About as useful as tits on a boar. Why do I put up with you?"
He reared up; she was getting to him. "Whatsamatter, lardass? Maybe you're on the shit end of the stick. Why don't you find yourself a good stud to shoot some man into you?"
And that did it. Mouth gaped in a snarl he came at her, swung, missed, swung again, then fell over.
Hell, she'd need him to do better than that. Bare-toed, she kicked, catching him under the ribs where it hurt. He let out a strangled roar and scrambled to his feet again. One hand caught her hair, the other smashed at her face: clubbing blows to the cheek, eye, jaw, nose: then, as she tried frantically to pull free; a solid punch in the mouth.
She felt a tooth splinter free; pain almost blinded her.
Too much! She had to get loose; he'd kill her! Desperately Dolores jabbed fingers at his eyes; when he squinched them shut and turned his head away she braced herself to kick a double field goal but lost balance and brought them both down.
One arm was pinned under her; with the other she reached for his crotch. Even now she knew she mustn't injure him badly; it could wreck her case. One hard squeeze, one jerk; when she heard his blubbery roar she tore loose, stood up and staggered back.
Panting, she looked at her rich husband and wiped blood from torn-up lips. This should do it. She walked away.
Sitting in Arthur's study, facing the door just in case, on the phone she said, "Lucius? I be in your office in one hour. Have a notary there. And a camcorder; I need pics now." The missing tooth gave her sibilants an unnerving hiss.
When the lawyer quit asking irrelevant questions long enough to agree, Dolores said, mumbling through rapidly swelling lips. "This divorce is going to skin Arthur Vinson. Handle it right, Lucius, and you can afford one of your own."395Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMLc7xu5Tp
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"Got your message, Captain."
Holding the door open, Archer smiled; it didn't cover his obvious tension as he said, "Johnathan, all right? We're off duty now, Ben. Come in, come in. Drink?"
Captain's digs weren't as flossy as Sisko expected. Bigger, yeah, but much the same decor and furnishings as his own. "Um, sure. A beer would be nice." And what's on your mind.
Shocking him, Archer offered the cold beer in a 0G plastic squeeze bulb. Ben laughed. "I didn't know they had beer in this packaging."
"How'd you do on Jupiter, then? The first one, wasn't it?"
"Without." Archer's brows raised. "We didn't have any."
"Oh. The man's lips pursed; sure enough, he was working to get down to it. Whatever it was. "Our first C-Gatings to the other ships. Stargazer and Yamato. What do you think, Ben? Should we just send our bare log: roster, sensor observations to date, all that? Or do some vidcap greetings, something more personal? I don't know what's customary you see, and..."
This was all? Sipping the cold, tangy brew, Sisko shifted a smile. "Well now, Johnathan..." Johnathan; it had a nice ring to it. "....seems to me there's no hurry either way. Stargazer for example, wasn't originally equipped with extra, intership C-Gates; that idea came later. So they may have theirs up and ready pretty soon or they may not. And so far as I know, ours won't send until there's are operationally prepared to receive."
"Yes, I know that. We have test samples in place and our Transmit switches on; when the samples go, we're in business."
"Well, then," said Ben. "There you go. And I still doubt there's any rush---not with us at 25 to 1, compared to their 10."
He sipped again; as he'd noticed in his own supplies, the agency was definitely stocking tasty stuff. "As to what you decide to include, yes I think the personal touch would be appropriate. You in particular onscreen with greetings, for instance. And if you wish, others may want to contribute."
Ben gestured. "I'd say decide at leisure, figure out the kind of presentations you really want to make, Johnathan."
After a moment, Archer nodded. "I think you're right. Thanks, Ben." He leaned forward. "Now tell me about the planet you spotted on the records. I want to look through that part myself soon, but I haven't time yet."
So while he nursed his beer to its inevitable end, Sisko filled his captain in on the newest addition to the solar system.
Back in quarters when he told Jacqueline about the visit, they both laughed. More, maybe, than the incident really warranted.395Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOn25EXMxr3
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Unlike Arrowprize itself, where all decks were the inner surfaces of cylinders, the Deployment Module's single control deck was a flat circular cross section, ten meters in diameter, sitting at the halfway point of the spacecraft's 30-meter nose cone. It made sense, Jacqueline knew; in operation all effective G-forces would push rearward, thus down, here. Now, in zero gee, she appreciated the Velcro surfacing.
She had remembered to ask Odessa Vangelos about a totebag, and sure enough, Odessa found her one. The strap fastener was a little loose, but mostly worked well enough. So now, going back and forth between 0G and the belt, she always had her spare shoes with her and was ready for either kind of footing.
After a fast breakfast Uhura led Jacqueline, along with Charles Tucker, the DM backup pilot, by the "quick'n'dirty" route. Not bothering with spiral ramps or even the fancy swingdown model in the clear space just behind the DM in the ship's central cylinder, by means of handlines and trapdoor ceiling panels she'd brought them directly incraft past the decks of control equipment and crew supplies, into the central cylinder itself. 20 meters was considerable inside diameter---yet somehow the lighter curvature, compared to outcraft, made it claustrophobic.
Only a thin forward slice---5 meters, maybe---was clear of structural members. Behind lay the central holds filled with destination cargo, the primary fuel tanks, and the Warp Drive itself. Near the hatchway where they emerged, a kind of tunnel led back towards the drive rooms. It wouldn't be the only one.
Enough looking. Using handholds on the forward bulkhead, Nyota Uhura led the way towards its center; there she opened a small inset hatch, leaving the larger cargo doors closed. Once through, the three found themselves in a dimly lit space facing the DM's rear. Its own personnel entrance lay centered within the triangle of landing legs folded against the hull's stem, and opposite each leg protruded a drive node.
Here no line extended. Uhura pushed off across the gap, caught handholds on the DM, and opened its own outer door before motioning anyone to join her. Inside that door was another; the two formed an airlock. Beyond the second lay a long tunnel, wider than Jacqueline thought really necessary yet well stocked with handholds, all the way forward to the DM's bridge.
Near the safety-railed tunnel mouth sat fully instrumental acceleration couches for 2 pilots and a communicator, facing across the opening to the large forward viewing screen mounted directly opposite. Smaller, nearer peripheral screens covered side and rear views. "Rear's important," Uhura said, "because at destination, tail down is how we will land. It'll pay to be able to see what's out there to land on. So at that point we'll switch the main viewscreen to rear coverage."
She pointed out food facilities along the curving wall beyond the large screen and also, directly behind the operating positions, a pair of latrine cubicles with a little shower enclosure between them. "As far apart as possible, eating and elimination. For psychological reasons, no doubt." She gestured towards the bare, segmented wall arcs between. "Along there, each side, five double-deck fold-down accel couches for passengers. Plus one double each side of the johns. This little beast can crank up to three Gs in a pinch. Just one's our normal preferred push, though."
Charles Tucker cleared his throat. A short, chunky young man whose darkly whiskered chin and cheeks never looked clean-shaven even when they were, this morning he hadn't said much. "Are those johns 0G or regular?"
"Convertible. And the shower only operates under thrust, a half G or more." Having answered, Uhura said, "Let's strap in and run some tests." As Jacqueline looked a question the woman added, "Just follow instructions; it won't be hard. You sit copilot this time; Charlie, you take Comm."
Tucker nodded. As all three buckled down snugly to their couches, Nyota said, "To test our drive circuits safely, we go to Virtual Thrust mode. That's on your console, Sisko: the green knob, upper right. Turn it clockwise 'til it locks. The button in its center unlocks it, so don't until I tell you to."
"Locked?" said Jacqueline. And then, "Virtual Thrust? What's that?"
Pausing in the middle of what seemed to be an activation sequence, Uhura said, "We change the phase relationships between component fields. That way power can be applied and adjustments made without producing any real push, and still demonstrate that all systems are go."
"I see. Thanks."
In a few minutes Uhura was done. "Shutting down." And when the power drain meters dropped to zero, "Unlock Virtual."
Jacqueline did, and reported it done.
Next Uhura said, "Activate forward screen," and Charles Tucker did things at his own console. The big screen lit up. Uhura asked for various degrees of magnification, for the limited shift of view Tucker could obtain by swinging to add more sensor inputs at one side of the main array and dropping some at the other, for spectrum shifts in the displayed signal....
"Now we're seeing by long infrared; notice how some of the dim stars light up?" And evidently as an afterthought, "We don't have radio astronomy capability, like the rig in ship's bridge; an in-system Vehicle doesn't have any use for it." Then. "Okay, normal view," and she called up side and rear views.
Nothing much showed, of course; those sensors were looking at the surrounding cylinder of Arrowprize's main structure. But there were, facing each sensor, patterns outlined in small lights. "Just so we can make sure they're all functioning."
And they were. Then and throughout the testing, Jacqueline Sisko became more and more impressed. Especially when Nyota mentioned that although the DM lacked C-Gates, its tanks held enough fuel to from well past Pluto's orbit to Earth, land, take off, and return to its starting point. A little bucket like this? Well, relatively small....
"You don't suppose----I could learn how to fly the Module?"
Uhura considered, then nodded. "On simulations, yes, you could. There'll be plenty of time for that. But no chance to put those skills into true practice, as Charles and I did on the training vessel. Including actual landings and takeoffs."
Well, it was better than nothing. "Thanks. I'm looking forward to it. Then maybe at destination...."
"Emphasis on 'maybe.'"
They didn't get aboard the Module. By the time they reported in to the captain, who had the watch, and then got back to the low-G belt, Jacqueline's appetite verged on true hunger. 395Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhq53Mm0uwO
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Arthur couldn't believe it. First, still so zonked he wasn't sure any of it was real, he'd been hauled out of his own house in handcuffs and locked in a grungy cell. Then, when he'd come down enough for withdrawal pangs to hit, he was out rousted out to sit at a table facing Delores, Lucius Gotham (the lawyer she'd used to axe Ben Sisko) and a female judge.
"What the hell is this?"
"Shut up and listen," said the swollen-faced harpy Dolores. "When it's your turn to talk, we'll tell you."
Arthur wanted to get out of jail and stay out, so when the time came he said mostly. "Yes." Yes she could have the divorce unchallenged. Yes she could have the chalet. Yes she could have the beach house. Yes she could have----goddamit, Dolores!---40% of his net assets, down from 50 which was her first demand, and not over and above his previous stuff but including it; well that's all right then. And but still party of the 40, the Rolls-Royce Aura and all this and the that and the other.
And yes he promised never to go near Jacqueline Sisko ever again in his entire life, so help him 8 to 20 in the slammer because he'd got mixed up and signed what Dolores handed him to sign, which turned out to be a "confession" she wrote herself, in his name. Or maybe Jacqueline wrote it.
Arthur kept trying to say he was supposed to have a lawyer of his own here, but when they were finished with him there'd been no criminal charges pressed, only civil torts agreed to under threat of criminal prosecution. And it was his word against theirs, so he'd never prove anything even if he had the nerve.
Dolores's marred grin displayed perhaps the most expensive dental gap of modern times.395Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ201MFor5YV
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Quite inadvertently Ben put together a little more of the ship's social jigsaw. Having occasion to inform Hoshi Sato that she needed to unspam the ventral gluon capacitor cleaner, after watch he stopped by her quarters and found Johnathan Archer there as well. Ben thought nothing of it until he noticed Archer's obvious embarrassment, and that after a few moments his unease was rubbing off on Sato. "Well look, Hoshi," Sisko said, "it's nothing serious. I just want to let you know, so you can take a reading, next chance you get."
He turned to leave. "See you later, folks." Sato said something reasonable; the captain just mumbled. Outside, Ben wondered why the skipper acted so high school; surely he and the instrument technician had every right to pair up if they wanted to.
Kynon Nagada set him straight. In the lounge, lower-ceilinged than most of the belt, they finally sat down to talk; haltingly, between sips of an after-watch cooler, Ben spelled out his problem, what little he'd just run into at Sato's quarters. "Why d'ye suppose, the tight collars?"
Nagada shook her head; sleek black hair, tied back at the nape, shone in the dim lighting. "Breakups and realignments, always difficult, awkward, even. Couples mutating into new ones. What you walked into, Sisko, was the consolation round."
Oh boy! "You mean, they both got dumped?"
"Yes. Hans and Zetta, not that you know them, are the star-crossed ones."
Time for a headshake of his own. "Hard to figure."
"People often are; haven't you noticed? And really, Zetta's too young for our No. 2 Flag Officer; she's barely twenty."
"Good point." Though Jet Ducote had to be around 15 years older than Kynon Nagada. In his head he ran the list of what else he knew. Cawthorn-Eustace, Tucker-Uhura on the impression Jacqueline reported. And now, Archer-Sato and Nightgazer-Quallister. That left....
"Who else?"
"It's hard to know. I think Odessa Vangelos with Nicolas Leger and Paul Stamets with Virginia Ulam. But sometimes I feel it might finale the other way around."
"Leaving Beverly Crusher," said Ben.
Nagada said, "That's right, Sisko. Beverly is the only one yet unattached. Whether she remains so is your call."
"Not completely," Ben stood. "Thanks, Kynon. Coming in at the middle hasn't been too comfortable; I appreciate your help."
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All her life, nothing ever came easy for Eartha Dolores. Eartha she was first called, before her father left and then while her mother Willamette lived with a succession of men, some few of whom she married without regard to preexisting legal ties.
There were nearly as many cities as men; thinking back, Dolores was sure of 8 by name but knew there'd been more, spread from one coast to the other with stops between. The one she left all by herself, at 15, was Indianapolis. The man was Quade Munger who talked with his fists more than not, and the biggest stepbrother was Nate, who knocked her down and made his best try to hold her there and screw her, like it or not, but was lucky if he ever screwed anybody from then on.
After what she did to Nate she didn't stay around to face Quade. The other stepbrother, Leonard, was pretty much her size, Ada Dolores being skinny and all. So with Nate shoved into a closet and the door slammed shut she put on some of Leonard's clothes and in about 10 minutes gave herself near enough to a boy haircut, and from Nate's pants which he'd taken off she swiped his identicard which the picture looked like anybody with any face at all, and with it the wad of Nate's money from dealing misty down at the park, nights.
She looked hard for her mother's cashstash but hadn't found it when she heard somebody coming in and went out the back fire escape toting just the one shopping bag stuffed with some of her own clothes. Needing away in a hurry she cut through an alley and then over to the Avenue where she got lucky and caught a metallozoomer downtown.
An hour later she was on board AmZoom to the Coast and no real trail behind. A month later that she was working afternoon cocktail waitress at the Dough Oh Pizzeria, with bright black curly hair, shiny black skin and the best identicard money could by, under the name of Dolores Anderson. Anderson was risky, but Williamette hadn't used it for years and might have even forgotten.
Besides: what the hell? Indianapolis was a long way from here.
Always a fast learner, Dolores picked up fast on how to talk, how to act, what to stay away from. Dot on swing shift wanted to recruit her for a hooking partner but she knew bad odds when she saw them and declined without prejudice. Three years and two jobs later, when she met Benjamin Sisko. Dolores's experience with men consisted mostly of about 1 year lived with Abdul who pumped iron and kept canaries. Sweet guy, Abdul, even if his blood had to be at least half tahini.
She'd dated other men, of course, before and after Abdul---even during, sometimes. But Ben was different. A spaceman! And, Dolores realized quickly, her ticket out of the bustle. She married him and lived with him and maybe even loved him for a while, such as when she let herself stay pregnant and birthed Jacqueline. Overall, probably the most content period of her whole life. She even found a respectable and rewarding line of work to fill out the slow spots; at NetIntel she was considered a comer. And she liked it!
She had a bad scare 1 time when she went to do a background interview and the woman with the hot tip (which didn't pay off, after all) turned out to be her mom. 15 years or so hadn't treated Williamette too badly; she was married now to a construction boss named Russell, got along with with his rather large family, and didn't seem to be holding any grudges. Maybe she'd had enough trouble with the Pavans, herself, to figure that Nate deserved whatever he got.
With misgivings, Dolores accepted her mom's invitation for the Siskos to join her and her new family for Christmas dinner. Except for the tendency of all the Russells to take the role of surrogate parents when it came to bossing Jacqueline around, it went fairly well. Still, Dolores was relieved when Russell's next job was overseas. A few months later she recieved a plaintive note from the man: Williamette had left him, and he was wondering if Dolores knew where she was.
Dolores didn't; further, she didn't want to. Thankfully, she settled back into her comfortable routines.
But the trouble with spacemen is, they get sent places without their families. Living with Ben taught Dolores to like sex. She hadn't (true), much, before; maybe it was the garlic. So when he was gone she drifted into the habit of straying just a little; actually, when she thought straight about it, the term was slutting up a storm.
For the first time in her life Dolores felt guilty about something. Alone at nights she had imaginary arguments with Ben, defending herself on grounds she knew wouldn't hold up.
This went on for a long time, while Jacqueline grew from infancy into childhood. It got especially bad when Ben went on Jupiter. She dreaded his return; surely someone would betray her to him.
When he did come back, and the tabloids printed the stuff about this woman writing a book telling how Ben and other men had her as a sexual slave, Dolores went apeshit and struck first. She went to this lawyer Lucius Gotham and took it from there. Lucius looked like a vulture and it fit.
She hadn't planned to take Ben for most of what he had, just keep him on defensive and herself safe from accusations. But it got out of hand. And there she was alone with Jacqueline and the child support payments she didn't really need, plus a job that suddenly wasn't so much fun anymore.
For some years, then, her life experience was on the marginal side; she'd tie up with someone for a while but it never took. When she fell for a guy ten years younger and he threw her over, she kind of came apart for a while there.
That was when Arthur showed up: a big rich ex-jock who could show you a good time out of any baggie in his briefcase. He was a distraction from her malaise and she accepted gratefully. She knew she was overdoing but somehow her brakes were shot.
Now it had all gone to hell. Arthur was history, Jacqueline had vanished. What Dolores did have was a lot of money and the freedom to act without anyone's permission.395Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD5Ex0LMxxq
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It had taken a long time for her and Lucius to penetrate the obstacle course of the government's legal maze and got what she needed, but now she was primed and ready.
So when Senator Berman insisted on seeing her about the court order she'd obtained, entitling her and her lawyer and a U.S. Marshal to board the starship Arrowprize and bring back Jacqueline Sisko, a minor, Dolores wasn't worried one goddamn bit.
She let him have his say, then answered, "Arthur Vinson is no concern of mine; I don't give a damn if you hang him. And I've got his deposition on file, stating that any offenses he committed were done without my knowledge. So if that's it, I'll be on my way to Bolt Park. For starters."
He waved her away; as she left she heard him saying on his intercom, "Get me C-Gate Center. I need to put through a message. I'll dictate a letter to follow."
And a fat lot of good it'll do you!395Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUI5Vu1vvwb
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The changed design of the Arrowprize, tapering to a 20-meter width of stern instead of maintaining a 50-meter diameter all the way back, eliminated the annular cargo space which held the earlier ships' C-macroGate components.
The big ring-shaped C-macroGates, placed in orbit at each destination to link up with their near-Earth counterparts, were built to C-Gate ships between star systems. Thus, second and third stage explorations could be mounted, losing the crews no subjective time in reaching the latest jumpoff point.
Arrowprize carried the makings; they were deployed differently, was all. Externally, in the form of 12 longitudinal fins, rounded slightly at the outer corners and faired smoothly to the hull's contours. Beginning near the forward rim of Arrowprize proper where it joined the DM's conical nose, these fins curved back 68 meters, past the cone-cylinder interface to roughly midway of the cylindrical section. At destination, first the forward ends would be levered free of the ship and swung to hinge together in pairs. Then, in precise sequence, adjacent pairs would be freed at the rear and joined to form what would unfold into a circular construct, each fin providing 30 degrees of arc, and big enough for even an ill-aimed ship to pass safely.
The finer points of assembly puzzled Ben, but he had faith that it'd all work as designed. Meanwhile the fins, piercing the interstellar gas at the speed Arrowprize's drive maintained against that gas's friction, helped to stabilize the ship's flight.
Why all this especially mattered to Sisko right now was that Captain Archer assigned him to accompany two of Arrowprize's C-Gate specialists on an inspection tour of one such fin. "We'll need to check them all eventually," Archer said, "but one at a time is sufficient work between regular watches."
So when Beverly Crusher had breakfast following her post-watch sleep, Ben and Bruno Eustice joined her for coffee. Then they went to a hatch marked HULL ACCESS, one of them on the bridge deck level. Each opened into a radial passageway, skirting the tapered forward water storage tank, before emerging into a short circumferential corridor just inside the hull, serving its own group of 4 adjacent fins.
Crusher and Eustice, Sisko saw, each wore belt-slung toolkits. Was he supposed to have one? Evidently not; "I guess we're ready to go" and Beverly punched buttons to open the hatch.
Once through it, Ben was relieved to find that the designers hadn't skimped on handholds; with all the inevitable charges of orientation, this was no job for Velcro.
Crusher led; Ben held back, granting Eustice 2nd place in line as they emerged into a structure roughly 10 meters square in overall cross-section, curving nearly 23 meters sternward and at least twice that forward. A meter or so in from the segment's outer bulkhead lay the completed main deck; aided by handlines, the three went to it.
The overall layout wasn't immediately apparent; the lighting, when Crusher found the switches, left much to be desired, and a skeleton of structural members crisscrossed the interior. All in all, Ben's first impressions were more confused than not.
Bruno Eustice laughed. "You give some people an Erector set and they go crazy."
"The compartment dividers go in later," said Crusher. "Now let's see where this segment's C-Gate generator units are. That's mainly what we're here to check."
As you say, boss. Thankful that here at least there was Velcro, Ben followed her in dutiful fashion to a wall-mounted equipment console, then watched the 2 run a checklist he did not understand at all. They seemed satisfied, though, and he figured they knew his business. Next the 2nd officer directed Eustice to go in turn to the various equipment positions spaced along the fin's arc, and from each to transmit test signals and verify receipt of those she sent in return.
That routine and variations on it continued for several hours. Standing around with little or nothing to do bored the hell out of Ben, but he did his best to look both interested and cheerful. When Eustice wrapped up his last checkpoint, Beverly said, "That's all we need here, for this time. I have a few more notes to take, but you can go on inship if you like, Bruno."
"I like. Thanks."
As the man monkeyed his way back along the line to the open hatch, Sisko fought his own version of stage fright. Sooner or later he had to talk with Beverly Crusher. But was now the right time? And what, and how much, should he try to say?
It didn't happen. By the time he worked up his nerve to try an opening, they were on their way back inship and she was nearly due to go on watch.395Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCpckbrMBfZ
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While nobody was paying any mind, the intership C-Gates came active, Yamato's first, according to the indicators, but Stargazer's not much later. In each case a packet appeared in the respective Ass: both ships sent capsuled logs plus some miscellaneous material: greetings, commentary, and the like.
So one day, following Ben into the lounge, Jacqueline was in time to see and hear Johnathan Archer recording his own greetings. "....old lines to you people by now, I guess, but still new to us. Sometimes, looking out there, I'm too thrilled for words. Why, just seeing that new planet...."
Anyone too thrilled for words, Jacqueline thought, always had the option of shutting up and maybe should. As if she'd spoken out loud, Archer looked at her and Ben, then cut off recording. "That's my 5th try, Sisko; I still can't get it right." Self-consciously he said, "You want to see my latest?"
Ben nodded. "Sure. Take it from the top."
So the captain punched up the screen and there he stood, stiff smile and all. "Greetings to you who have gone before us." It began creaky and took a time to ease off, but after a few minutes Johnathan Archer was well into showing his goshwowboyoboy side, culminating in his confession of excess thrill and the abrupt cutoff. "What do you think? So far, I mean."
Soberly Ben nodded. "Works for me. Why don't you tell 'em a little about Nootaikok, wish 'em well, and wrap it up?"
"But they'd know, wouldn't they? I mean...."
"Both those ships' courses are at wide angles from ours; neither of them went any closer to that big rock than Earth does. Not a chance they could have spotted it."
"Well, then...." Seemingly heartened, Archer began to turn on his rig, then paused. "Look, Ben; why don't you do the description? You noted it all down, and I haven't really familiarized myself thoroughly."
"Okay. I'll get my notes from control. You go ahead and do your windup; we can dub my part in where it fits."
With nothing better to do, Jacqueline followed her dad down to 0G. As they neared the control room, a woman emerged from the cross corridor at the rear and came walking toward her.
A stranger.
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