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"B'God almighty!" Startled, Ben came to a halt. The woman approaching him, towing a bulky carryall bag, was a little under medium height, slender, with short curly, black-brown hair. As she came closer he saw she was older than he'd first thought, somewhere in her late forties. Smiling, too.
He stopped forward again, to reach the door to control before she did. "Excuse me? I don't..."
A mere few paces away, she paused. The smile vanished. "Oh, not expecting me, eh? I put word in the subspace message pouch. On Yamato. Didn't anybody read it?"
Damn you, Archer! "I thought the captain had. All right---Ben Sisko, First officer. Welcome to the Arrowprize."
He held out his hand; she reached to shake it, and the sight of hers, missing the forefinger, stirred his memory before she said, "D.C. Clarke. Sorry to be the bad penny, but...."
Finger or not, her grip was solid. "Not your fault. Here, let me take that bag for you. Come on into control; I'll get on intercom and twist the skipper's tail for you. He's been.... "
Preoccupied? Stewing over making a good impression with his greeting capsule? "....busy."
She laughed a light sound showing more good humor than real amusement. "Aren't they always? Lead on....Ben."365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXRWyHa0wg
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D.C. Clarke. 3-fingered D.C.---only don't ever call her that where she can hear you. This woman, long with her husband Gregg Popovich, had invented the Warp Drive! Face-to-face with one of her heroes, a true legend, Jacqueline ran more than a little short in the breath department. "Ms. Clarke? Jacqueline Sisko." And she too shook the maimed hand. "It's a pleasure---I never thought I'd meet you...."
"Nor I you. But I do share the pleasure." The tone of voice was dry, yet somehow Jacqueline didn't feel like she was being made fun of. Clarke raised one eyebrow. "A bit young for the ship's crew duty, aren't you? Or maybe I've been out longer than I thought."
Out? To space, yes. At a loss, Jacqueline sought for words. Ben saved her. "My daughter, Miss Clarke; no official status at this time." At this time? That sounded good---But, "Long story, I'm afraid. And now you'll be wanting to meet our captain."
After a few brief words at the control intercom, Sisko led the way to the transfer ring doors.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcPpFGEsNX
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Jonathan Archer, D.C. decided after less than 5 minutes, was earnest, self-conscious, insecure, and a tad stuffy; all in all, though, she liked him more than not. "....frightfully pleased you're aboard.....terribly sorry....been meaning to read through that lot; you know how it is.....utmost admiration----your contribution to star travel...."
And now long did you spend on Yamato? And how far out are they by now---or, rather, when you left? She had to say hardly anything at all, really, and after the hubbub of her going away party on Yamato, less than a subjective hour ago, she found the drone of Archer's tone of voice quite refreshing.
Then came a mealtime. Being out of sync for this starship, D.C. wasn't very hungry. What she did welcome was having the rest of her luggage brought downcraft via the belt and then being escorted along with it to her assigned billet. The VIP suite, she was told, and certainly it fit the label. Yamato boasted nothing like this!
At any rate, sleep was just what she needed.
The little Sisko girl had wanted to talk, D.C. could see that. But there'd be plenty of time for that later.
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Back in her quarters, Jacqueline had an hour or two to spare before reporting for a spell of K.P. duty. Ben was studying something in hard copy, so the computer was free; she sat down to catch up upon the math she'd been scanting these days.
Differential calculus made sense: y-plus-delta-y equaled a function of x-plus-delta-x; what you wanted, the derivative or rate of change, was the value of their quotient as delta-x approached 0. You could set it up onscreen and work it out---the simpler cases anyway---and seeing how your answers fit what the text said gave you confidence in the parts that were too hard to derive the hard way.
But integral calc? It was all there in the Table of the Integrals, except sometimes you had to fudge some fancy substitution to make it work---but how did anybody ever derive those tables in the first place? Just differentiate everything under the sun until you came up with just what you wanted?
Letting out a breath of exasperation, she put her mind on hold and searched through the tables for an example that applied.
The hour passed quickly; she closed out, stood, and stretched. "I gotta go, daddy; I'm due in the galley."
"Mmm." He waved a hand but didn't look up. Concentration.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn6qJXMWtfZ
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Going into the galley, she met Bruno Eustice and Quela Rocheford coming out. Bruno said hello but Quela only nodded. She was a shy one. Tall, built straight up and down all the way, with her brown hair cut too short to comb. She and Eustice seemed really taken up with one another, so Jacqueline guessed the young lady must have more to her than showed on the surface.
Nobody else was inside at table, just Odessa and Nicholas on the job. Which was okay----Jacqueline liked both of them---except that when they shared duty they clowned around lovely-dovey and didn't get very much work done. And Odessa was twenty, for God's sake; you'd think she could act a little more grown up.
Right now they were huddled over the dishcleaner and it looked like Nicholas was teasing her, or maybe the other way around. Penny could play that game, too. Neither had seen her come in; she said rather loudly, "I expect that's right, captain!" When they jumped apart and whirled to look at her, she just grinned.
Maybe her prank had been a good idea; during the rest of her stint, until Odessa left early to catch a nap before standing watch in control, the pair stuck to business more than usual.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpNmt5nfHcT
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When she came back to her quarters, Ben was sleeping; after a quick shower Jacqueline went to bed too. Currently they were quite a bit off-sync; when he arose to go on watch she half woke, enough to mumble a greeting before dozing again.
When she did have her sleep out, Jacqeline got up feeling energetic; rather than taking time to hit the galley she made do with fruit and cereal and juice. No coffee; Ben let her have some on special occasions, but right now she felt no need of it.
With a vague sense of getting into a rut she put on one of the standard jumpsuits she was maybe wearing too often lately. At least they came in different colors; this one a light tan with pale blue trim, not matching her dark khaki totebag worth beans.
Outside she walked forward to the cross corridor and turned right just in time to see the transfer ring doors close behind someone. Oh well---In no hurry now she strolled over to the call button and waited a reasonable interval for someone to vacate the ring and someone else (maybe) to enter it. Then she pushed, and 20 seconds later the doors opened.
Once inside she punched the button for transfer. Standing first on one foot and then the other as deceleration gave its slight sidewise nudge and weight dropped to zilch, she changed shoes, stuffing the smooth-soled ones into her dangling totebag.
Gently the ring thunked to a stop; the doors opened and Jacqueline bounced out. Or began to---for only the second or 3rd time since she'd come aboard the forgot and stumbled over the slight ledge at the doors' side. One hand saved her from sprawling in air; the totebag jounced but she pulled it back safely and this time stepped out without mishap.
Embarrassed, she looked straight ahead and went to control. Behind her came the sound of a faint whoomp as the doors closed.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiux4cGXFQv
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Thus far, D.C. thought, this ship seemed fairly congenial. Yes, two of the current watch weren't what she'd call loquacious. The pilot Tucker, likely the oldest crewmember at something past 40, put in a good line now and then, but for the most part seemed content to listen. The tall, flat-figured young lady with the brush haircut largely made do with smiles or nods as she worked on the intercom; it had developed an annoying squeal, so to save everybody's ears she had it turned down while she tinkered.
But Sisko, the watch officer, made up for both of them. Over the two hours or more since she came into control, the first officer had shown her not only the current outside sensor indications but interpreted them, throwing expanded views of computer-corrected starscapes on the central telescreen and rotating them to display the ship's position with regard to known reference stars. No doubt about it, Arrowprize's equipment had more than a few sophisticated improvements over what she'd seen on Galileo.
Switching the screen back to normal view, Sisko said "Want to see Nootaikok?"
Her puzzlement must've shown; he said, "I'd have thought the news went out with the first pouch to Yamato, but maybe not. Well, it's a new planet we found---our sensors did, anyway, while the ship was still doing 5 Gs and nobody aboard----a long way out from Pluto and bigger than Jupiter. Mostly ice, I suspect, if you factor in methane and ammonia."
"All the makings for life," said Charles Tucker, "just waiting there in the cosmic deep freeze." Hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen---except for trace elements, the man was correct.
The young one, quiet up to now, licked her lips "It's scary. So big---and yet so dead."
"Oh come on, Rand," the officer said. "It's just a big ice cube that's all. And not even suitable to put in a drink."
The woman blushed and said nothing else, as Sisko put a slowly moving view onscreen. "We're late in the 14th day of accel here," he said, "crowding 20% of it. I'm showing this speeded up a bit, and with brightness enhanced." He pointed. "Then it comes."
And so it did: first a dim splotch, then growing and at the same time brightening. After a few minutes he froze the image. "Closest approach, here. Nothing much to see; just a featureless ball, streaked by a few impurities with differing albedos."
She nodded; the object began moving again, inching to and then off the screen's edge. "And how far out is this planet?"
Sisko shrugged. "Something over twenty billion miles; that's as close as I've tried to figure. What you saw is all we know, except that no magnetic field was detected?"
"So?"
"So if anyone wanted to mine it for frozen gases, there's no radiation belt to worry about."
Having run out of questions, Clarke was more pleased than not to see Jacqueline Sisko, a little breathless, come in. "Hi." And directly to D.C., "Is----uh---Mr. Sisko giving you that deluxe tour? How do you like Arrowprize thus far?"
"Fine! The viewing controls are quite advanced."
Next the girl asked about Yamato, seeming especially interested in the two ship's differences. By the time that vein peered out, D.C. was starting to feel slightly beleaguered; as always at such times, she found herself rubbing her thumb against the missing finger's stub. When she saw Jacqueline's gaze fixed on the action, she stopped, but the intent expression didn't.
D.C. knew the question in the kid's mind. Dammit though, she never had talked about that incident. A foolish quirk, maybe. But that idiot reporter making a joke of it---and D.C. had a nickname she'd hated all her life.
Janice Rand, intent on fixing the intercom, suddenly turned the volume up; a raised, strained voice came. "....going on there? The damned transfer ring won't work; I push the button and nothing happens. It's been nearly 1 hour now and I'm overdue to relieve you there!"
Beverly Crusher sounded anxious. "I can't even use the backup route. Somebody's in the aux ring----exercising, I guess---and there's no way to reach 'em when it's all revved up."
"You stay here, Jan." Moving fast, Ben left control.
As soon as their reflexes registered, the others followed. 365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMNW7wBjwpy
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Never since she came on this ship had Jacqueline felt so small, ashamed---and dumb! There it was, right out there in front of God and everybody, compressed down to less than 1 inch at the center but still holding the transfer ring doors from closing: one of her smooth shoes, fallen from her totebag when she stumbled coming out.
Stooping, Ben pulled at it but it wouldn't come free; he had to punch the doors open first. Then as they closed again he straightened up, turned to meet her, and made a sarcastic bow as he handed it over. "Yours, I think."
"I'm sorry---I didn't know----I tripped but I didn't see it get loose---oh, daddy!" And that was worse; she wasn't supposed to call him that, not with other people around. "I---"
"Oh, for God's sake!" Putting an arm around Jacqueline's shoulders, D.C. Clarke raised her voice in protest. "Didn't anybody else drop something and not notice? You'd think..."
"Ben snorted out a deep breath. "You're absolutely right, Jacqueline. I'm sorry; this could have happened to anyone. We...."
By now the ring's car had visited the belt and returned: the doors opened and Beverly Crusher stepped out, hair and disposition equally ruffled, with Rand and Charles Tucker right behind her. "Will someone explain what just...."
"Something got dropped and blocked the doors open." Ben's voice came out flat, with no hint of explanation ore apology. "Janice had the intercom turned down so she could get the feedback squeal out 9of it without driving us all up the bulkheads. Or else we'd have heard you right now. 'Kay?"
Smoothing back her rebellious hair, Beverly visibly got her steam pressure down to safety levels. "Yes. All right. It was just not knowing, not being able to find out...."
"Sure," Sisko patted her shoulder. "Don't blame you one bit. But everything'll be all right now."
"Then we'll go take the watch. Charles? Janice?" Ben and Janice trailed the three; after all, Jacqueline realized, they hadn't been relieved yet.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1e8ik1bsIv
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The girl still looked a bit lost; stepping into the transfer car D.C. Clarke said, "Let's get down to the lounge and buy ourselves a treat."
"Sure."
The ring did its stunt; changing shoes, the two stepped out and walked to the lounge room, finding it vacant. Jacqueline fixed herself a sundae of some kind, heavy on the syrup. With an inkling of what she was about to do, D.C. left her scotch on rocks at almost its original color. "Let's sit down."
Deliberately holding her glass on the finger stub faced Jacqueline, D.C. cleared her throat "About my hand. Your curious, and that's understandable. Well, it was a long time ago. Greg and I......" She took a sip, then continued.
As she spoke, for the first time in years she relieved it all. The chilly, poorly lit room hastily commandeered for their impromptu demonstration lab, the breadboard model of Warp Drive laid out on the bench, and Senator Berman sitting hunched on a folding chair as Greg brought up power to the exciter, the multipliers, finally the vector node.
Here and now she saw Sisko and his two watchmates come in, but she kept on talking anyway. "The dish flared. Not like the C-Gates, but running down the spectrum as it spread."
D.C. twisted her missing finger. "It caught my attention; I gasped, I guess, and gestured, something like this---and it reached out and got me."
"What----?"
"Suddenly the finger was several hundred years old, and it fell off." The girl's eyes went even wider. "The plane ride had jiggled adjustments on our demo model; its field components were out of sync. So, as it turned out, the drive pushed against time rather than space." D.C. shrugged. "Thank God the intensity drops off rapidly with distance: Warp Drive won't do for a death ray!"
Now it was Ben Sisko giving her an odd look. D.C. Clarke grinned at him. "All right; I've sat on that story long enough. Your daughter seemed like the proper audience, so now I've told it. But----I still don't want to hear the nickname that 3-V smartass tried to pin on me."
"You won't," said Ben Siskko. "Not from me, anyway." Then, "You okay, Jackie?"
"Yeah. I'm living the dream now."
And so, for some reason, was D.C. Clarke.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOLIvSowdBr
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Before bundling up the greetings packet for Yamato and Stargazer---a bit overdue by now, maybe, but better late than never----Captain Archer insisted that his officers critique his own videocap once more for possible last-minute improvements. In this version as in all the earlier ones, Johnathan was still too thrilled for his words. Ben had made one try at the phrase, suggesting revision of the passage on other grounds, but the cliche clung like a Sticky-Tite.
Ben himself had done the piece on Nootaikok; D.C. Clarke sent data on how the souped-up drive had performed bringing Arrowprize up to speed under a thrust of 5Gs; Odessa Vangelos reported on instrumentation changes that might be retrofitted, advantageously, to the earlier ships. "I've already sent these recommendations to Earth," she added, and of course all basic information was backed up in digital form. The other officers and specialty chefs, and then the rest of the crew, made briefer personal appearances on the vidcap portion and drew a certain amount of ribbing at the last showing.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNOc5NMDwPs
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D.C. Clarke made separate datacaps and copy bundles for each vessel, and did not offer to let anyone else see them. Curious, Ben couldn't find a tactful way to ask her why. It was Jacqueline who gave him the answer. After both bundles were duly C-Gated, he and she---nearly on the same sked for two days---headed for quarters. As they sat down for a bedtime snack, Jacqueline said, "I like D.C."
"Join the club."
"I'll be upset when she goes back to Earth. You know what?"
Ben didn't.
"She wanted to tell just one friend of hers, on Stargazer, someone she hasn't seen for a long time. Yukon Graydon I think he's name i, about that thing with my shoes and the ring doors. She said he'd appreciate it, and wouldn't laugh at me. But she asked me if she could. If I'd said no, she wouldn't have."
Jacqueline smiled. "And she told me, I didn't ask, she won't mention mention me on Earth until it's official I'm on here, one way or the other."
"I wonder how she picked up on that."
And there was another thing he didn't feel he could/should ask.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWQcESghLY
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Clarke spent just a week on Arrowprize. Jacqueline hated to see her go, for the first time in her life she'd met an outsider who felt like family. Beverly Crusher came close in that regard, but their situation was complicated; it was going to take longer.
The ship had never had occasion for a farewell party; D.C.'s was impromptu. Nick Leger broke out some hoarded frozen lobster and did the galley proud; afterward, in the lounge, the party straddled a way change so everyone could attend.
It wasn't anywhere near New Year's, but while D.C. stood at the Earthmouth just before it was activated, the group same some rather atrocious harmony on Auld Lang Syne.
It took 1 day, 2 days, then, before all hands settled back into their normal routines.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPTlEfGopRL
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When Vangelos brought the latest pouch of stuff from Earthass into control, Archer took a moment to sift through it. Some routine ship's business, no hurry; the usual scattering of personal mail, which he put in the pickup basket.
One envelope got his attention: for 1st officer Benjamin L. Sisko, with the official imprint of Senator Richard Berman. Now what.....?
Archer knew the senator and Sisko were on speaking terms, at the departure ceremony he'd seen them shaking hands and talking. Was something going on here that he should know about?
Insecurity battled caution and lost; he left that envelope unopened and put it with the rest. Another thought came. "Vangelos? This might be important Would you take it down to Sisko's quarters for me, please?"
If you're obviously cooperating, you must be one of the good guys.
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Pleasantly full of lunch but not overstuffed, Jacqueline showered. She heard the bong of the doorchime by the time she had a towel around her and got there, whoever it was had gone. On the deck, though, lay this envelope.
She picked it up. Senator Berman, huh? Right; the one her dad had called, from his room at Bolt Park. And the man had done something to help; Jacqueline wasn't quite sure what. But why was he writing now to daddy? It wasn't like they were old drinking buddies or anything. Maybe....
Jacqueline knew it was rude to open her father's mail and read it but she felt she had no choice.
What she read dismayed her. She couldn't lay this on daddy; he had enough already to worry about. But she obviously couldn't handle it on her own.
So who was there?
While she was still gathering her things together, because it couldn't hurt to confuse matters as much as possible, Jacqueline checked the roster to see who had the watch, and made her choice.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50elJcl3fn
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Until Colt read the message flimsy Al brought in from Earthass, he had grave doubts that he'd done the right thing. Yes, the girl (normally as level-headed as they come) had been bordering on the edge of panic. And maybe her story did make sense. "Don't tell daddy! Promise!" was hard to swallow, but finally, overcoming her reservations, Beverly agreed.
Now only minutes later, she read what Alfred Nightgazer handed her and decided the child had called it just about right.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXu6cCDcXd1
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Jacqueline wasn't in quarters when Ben got there, but that was all right; since the first few days she was getting around a lot more. He showered, donned a robe, debated whether to have a beer or soda and the beer won. He went to sit at the data terminal but stopped, frowning at the envelope and crumpled leaf of paper lying on the deck, and picked both up.
Senator Berman? Oh Jesus! Quickly he read:365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6qXtGBOF0f
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Ben: Your ex and her lawyer have a court order to go aboard Arrowprize accompanied by a UN badge and take custody of your daughter If she's there, which I suspect highly likely. I thought I had the bitch scared off, but she's dumped Vinson---stomped him, I heard---and is no longer concerned with protecting him. I can only give you this advance warning and advise Bolt Park to permit these people no shortcuts through standard procedure; from there it's up to you. Although if any hearings should result from your actions, I'll do my best to see that they take place under friendly auspices.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbFVe3N9c3m
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Good luck. Rick Berman.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw3LtVFfebC
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Well. Rick had done all he could---so now what? Looking around carefully for the first time, Ben saw no indication that Jacqueline was currently in residence. Her closet was half-empty and her travel bag was gone. A lot of her extra clothing remained, of course; the bag wouldn't hold a fraction of what he'd sent aboard for her. But since the whole crew had met her, then no matter where or how she'd gone into hiding, there was no point in trying to deny that she had been aboard.
Had been? Or was she still? Resisting the urge to go find out, Ben forced himself to sit. Think first, look later.
The intercom broke in. "Mr. Sisko? Officer Colt here. I think you'd better come up to the bridge. Now."
His official tone told him a lot; his indrawn breath came with a shudder. As he started to dress he thought, and so it begins.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtWI816dmb
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Steaming, for 2 days Dolores fussed and argued with WASA flunkies. But for all of it, nobody at Bolt Park would move paper one bit faster. They'd put her in a dusty room with broken air-conditioning, while Lucius Gotham roomed with UN Marshal Graham Gammon in the quarters building farthest away from her. "Bunk beds, for God's sake," Lucius fumed, "and one big latrine for each floor." Skinny and gaunt-faced a he was, the attorney's look of disgust qualified as an art form. "I expect the building began life as a BOQ. And not recently."
Visiting the room, which at least had cooling, Dolores decided she'd been too critical of Ben's accommodations.
The food was okay. If there'd been any way to feed their group separately, Dolores suspected, it would have been awful.
Her travails here she blamed on Rick Berman, and found nothing to do about them but hunker down and wait the system out.
On the 4th day the trio were given more shots than Ben believed were really necessary, their luggage was inspected, and they were taken out to the Cochrane Gate building where another pile of forms awaited signing. When these were completed, the woman who looked like the pictures of onetime president William H. Taft told them to walk into the C-Gate booth and stand still.
A young man began playing Chopsticks on a control panel. As he did so, Dolores heard him say to the woman, "You're sending her aboard in high heels?"
"Yep. 'Fraid so." Then a burst of colors curtained vision.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEA0m4w77XM
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Still blinking, trying to see where she was, Dolores felt her stomach lurch. She reached for something to hang onto and found merely Lucius's arm; her grab set the duo turning in different directions. Lucius caught hold of a Gammon, whose greater bulk stemmed their joint motion; still all three wheeled slowly in midair until a man stepped---stepped---forward and brought the odd dance nearly to a halt
She looked up to a brown face---some kind of Indian?----showing no expression. "Thanks."
"Somebody forgot to issue you your Velcros, looks like." The poker face, she decided, hid amusement. He put an arm around her waist. "Let's go now," and he had her. Not quite standing but not quite bundled under his arm either, she tried to relax as he began to move with an odd sliding gait along the corridor that stretched ahead.
Looking back she saw that a tall dark-haired woman was towing Lucius and the marshal with even less formality, one hand at each man's collar as legs and bodies trailed ineffectually.
Not quite an impressive entrance. Her stomach wasn't helping much, either.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkN1PvFkiPn
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Sisko knew he wouldn't like what he'd find in the control room, but thanks to Rick Berman he was braced for it. His gaze went past Colt and Kanada and Charles Tucker to the three who didn't belong here: belted into auxiliary observer seats were Dolores, the skeletal Lucius Gotham, and a large swarthy man, curly black hair greying around the temples and thinning on top who could only be the badge Berman had mentioned.
"I called you as soon as we got word they were coming," said J.M. Colt. "Not five minutes later, here they were."
Feeling not at all pleasant, Ben made no effort to fake it. "They should be. Thanks, anyway." Ignoring the UN officer, size and all, he glared at his ex-wife and Gotham. "If you brought a paper, let's see it."
It was the big man who proffered one. Ben glanced through it, yes, it ordered him to produce one Jacqueline Sisko, a minor, and turn custody over to Eartha Dolores Sisko (no Vinson? Was this some kind of a joke?) by authority of Marshal Graham Gammon, accompanying Eartha Dolores and so on.
As he reread it, searching for loopholes he knew weren't there, Dolores said, "All right, you've seen it. Now do it!"
Ben wondered where Jacqueline was. What could she have done? To his knowledge she couldn't have learned to operate a C-Gate, but who said he knew everything? She could hardly use the one on the bridge; the watch crew surely wouldn't let her. But the others---to Earth, or to Stargazer or Yamato---nobody sat guard over any of those.
More likely, though, she'd gone to ground somewhere on the ship. At this moment, what the hell did it matter? What mattered was, "I'm sorry. I don't know where she is."
"Don't try to give me...."
The marshal butted in "Mr. Sisko, you are ordered to cooperate."
"I will, sir. If you want to search the ship, I'll show you around."
"Oh, sure you will! Everywhere except where you're hiding her." Dolores's sneer hadn't lost its cutting edge as she said, "You probably bundled her off into another one of those damn C-Gates. Which one?"
She pushed against the restraining harness. "Who's running this show? Here, I mean. Here and now!"
"I'm the watch officer," said J.M. Colt. "The captain's off duty, probably sleeping." Overriding Kynon's rejoinder, "I'd advise you to wait, rather than disturbing him. I can...."
"You can tell me where my kid is, that's what!"
"To the contrary, as I have no information whatsoever on that."
Thank God! Because sure as Ben knew anything at all, J.M. was lying through his teeth. He said. "The C-Gates, you mentioned. Well, we can put queries through the intercraft units; the 4-year round-trip is only about 60 days, ship time, if you don't mind the wait. Or of course Jacqueline might have doubled back to Earth." She wouldn't, but.....
Lucius Gotham spoke up. "Don't get childish, Sisko. It could get you a contempt citation. I will...."
Flat-paced, Ben strode to stand over the lawyer. "You will slip and fall hard on your ass if you keep opening your mouth. Six years ago---actually eight, counting C-Gatelag---I had more than enough of you. I still have. You...."
"Enough!" Gammon's voice called a halt. "Lincoln, Ms. Sisko, you're out of your territory. Me, when I go into new terrain I study it first. Now then, Benjamin....." The man had a really evil smirk. "You forgot to mention your in-and-out C-Gate format right here. Maybe you just stashed the little bitch away in that one. Temporarily, for convenience. Did you?"
"What?!" Dolores demanded an explanation; Gammon gave it, and she said, "Well, if that's all! I'll just go in after her!"
Ben choked back a laugh. "I've half a mind to let you. It doesn't work that way, Dolores. Think back; what did you 3 do together on the way out here?"
"Why....." She blinked, then said, "All right, damn you! Where is she?"
"I don't know. I already told you that."
"Then you." She swung to face down J.M. Colt. "You're in charge, you said, so you'd have to know."
Colt shrugged. "I don't."
"Then we'll search this bastard from asshole to teapot. Come on, Lucius, Marshal Gammon. Find us some of those trick shoes, and we'll get started."
Ben did laugh. "Why sure, Dolores; it's a big ship, but go right ahead. One thing you might keep in mind, though."
"What?"
"Arthur Vinson." She didn't get it; he said, "You did him a really enormous dirty, they tell me." Now don't stretch Berman's words out too far! "But you're off Earth now and he'll know it. Four years minimum---plus 25 days for each one you stay aboard here. Do you really think that scumbag isn't moving heaven and earth to get even, and you not there to cover your own ass?"
It shook her; he could tell. But Dolores, tossing her hair back, raised her chin defiantly and said, "The four years is committed, no matter what I do now. A little extra, here on the ship, won't make that much difference."
Again she turned to Gammon. "Are you going to get us those damn shoes, or not?"
The marshal looked baffled. J.M. Colt said, "Al? Bring these people 3 pairs of all-size Velcros, would you please?"
As the man left, Dolores said, "Who's going to play tour guide? You don't expect me to trust that conniving ex-husband of mine, do you?"
As she unbuckled her harness, her movements sent her floating free. Her face changed; she grabbed at the chair arm. "Oh shit! This is getting to me! Take me where there's some gravity, before I throw up!"365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLg4ugLXC8
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When all settled down, Ben and J.M. had the bridge to themselves. He'd assigned 2 spare rooms to the unwanted guests. No question of VIP lodgings for this brood; they drew ordinary crew accommodations and well away from major facilities.
Nightgazer helped the men with the luggage of all three while Kynon shepherded Dolores, who wasn't doing too well with the Velcros, toward the transfer ring. Once the new arrivals settled in, Al and Kynon were stuck with chaperoning them on the first stage of their inspection tour.
So in the control room, peace and quiet made a comeback.
"Nearly 2 hours left on this watch," said Colt. "I'd getter call Odessa or Bruno to fill in. Or both, unless you're staying. Regs say it takes three on duty."
As he reached for the intercom, Ben's hand caught his. "Don't just yet. Tell me about Jacqueline." He started to shake his head; Ben added, "You bluff fine, but I could tell."
Then he reconsidered. "Not where she is. Because then I'd have to lie and I've never been---I'm no good at it. Just, is she safe!"
"Definitely. And I'm the only one who knows where."
"Good. For now, let's keep it that way. And thanks, J.M." He tensed, forcing himself to say more. "I---there's a favor I'd like you to do for me, if you can."365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pq9W6XvNu
"Why not?"365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeV8LOFnyd4
"Well.....I--I want you to find something for me. Something I need."
"What do you need?"365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8W1qhoe9Py
"I need---a woman."
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Ben had never thought of himself as a shy guy. No superstud, maybe, like Myles his best buddy down the block all through high school. But while Myles was shaggin'n'braggin' as the saying went, Ben went through more than one sad sweet love affair. When, rarely, the path of romance found its way to bed, that part began with a kind of timid joy and ran its course to an ending filled with tender regret. Later it struck him that all parties might have been overly influenced by his holodrama, but at the time the pangs and heartaches felt gratifyingly vital.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdM1tGr2Q3E
College was different; there wasn't the time to play those oh-so-sincere games that sometimes led where both wanted to go but neither one cared to admit. Young Benjamin had two very arid school years before taking the fancy of Gwen Hames, a severe-looking physics lab instructor you wouldn't believe how-different-she-was-at-home-just-the-two-of-you. They couldn't move in together; the school's view of such matters was dire to say the least. But one way and another his room got looking dustier and less occupied than a person would ordinarily expect.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlAHrwO03sH
When graduation wrenched him from Gwen, a platoon of violins couldn't have expressed his anguish. 1 month after WASA accepted him for astronaut training, he wrote her a final farewell and mailed the 5th rewrite.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoYDvPvtIjH
His next 2 years ran from hectic to grueling and romance played very little part. On his first real leave, given in honor of earning his Pilot/Nav First certificate, he wound up staying in this bar all evening and eventually picked up the cocktail waitress, Dolores Deacon. Or vice-versa.
She was different from the drama queens he'd known, and he never quite understood how they wound up getting married, but he wasn't complaining. While he was off on assignment, she waited, when he got home she was there, and then Jacqueline was, too.
Ben had it made!
Until Jupiter, and Tasha's stupid book which never hit print after all, and Lucius Gotham who could peel a rock and get juice. From then on, Ben found himself living mostly lonesome. Not wholly celibate, but close enough to qualify.
Any time the drought finally did break, it was more or less by serendipity; he'd meet up with a woman he liked and---well, half the time he wasn't even sure who made the first move. And somehow, with all the travel and different assignments, nothing ever lasted long.
But in a situation with this kind of sharp, clear-cut edges; his problem wasn't shyness, it was being totally out of practice.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMxiQtoSRp
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"Why can't you make up your mind?!" As she smiled, 2nd Lieutenant Marlena Moreau's eyes narrowed, catlike. Her voice and expression, both cool and dispassionate, belied the context. Her dark hair, skimmed back to a smooth roll, wasn't adding a sensual touch to the overall impression.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡymtFHGg7Nd
These weren't factors Ben could cite. He knew he wouldn't be able to when J.M. Colt first introduced him to the beautiful young lieutenant. Why couldn't he just admit that he was alone with a new woman and either he stayed that way or give her a try or wait around for someone else to break up? Was this really a good place to start?365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKtlsVCx6Y
Well, all he could say right now was, "I'd like to start out by first getting acquainted." 365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1UdldHez5
"Aren't we as of now? Well, obviously not-----but it's not my fault. J.M. said he didn't think you'd get too interested in me." She stared at him. "Well, have you gotten interested now?"
"Um, I think I have." Idiot! "I mean yes, sure I have." And that was the understatement of the year; here and now, up close, suddenly, hew knew how much and how fully he wanted this lady before his eyes. "Yes, I have," he said again.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPp2HcNTE6
"All right then. Are you free after the next watch?"
He had to think. "Yes."365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlRuGHHi1kh
"Then would you like to come to my quarters, half an hour after I'm relieved? I'll call Benson Chang to cover the rest of the shift with me. So you can go get yourself relaxed.
Fat chance. But he went anyway.365Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJgqEVSTtho
