Chapter One
«
Amazing… » Alan Kline smiled; he missed missions like this one. Simple
exploration, one of the easiest and most rewarding things you could accomplish
in Starfleet. Kline wondered if he had made the right choice by joining
Starfleet Intelligence, a question he had asked himself hundreds of times. And
he came to the same answer he had come to for the hundredth time: No.
«
Pretty. » Sutter said with a nod.
«
You can say that again. » said Stevenson. « I've never seen anything like it. »
«
You'll get to see it a bit closer, lieutenant. » Kline said. « Miss Burnel, set
a course, straight ahead. Warp five. Engage. »
The
Valiant's engines glowed for an instant, and then it was thrown across
space faster than the speed of light.
«
The Hydra nebula, » Eskina frowned. « Sounds like somewhere you wouldn't want
to spend vacation. »
«
You can handle it, lieutenant. » Stevenson smiled. « After all, Hercules got
past the creature itself. »
Mantion
suddenly said: « Captain, I'm reading subspace resonation patterns in the area.
A ship must've been here recently. »
«
Check with Starfleet Headquarters if a Starfleet ship has been in the area. »
said Kline. « It'd be nice to study this nebula together if there is any. »
«
Captain... » Sutter frowned.
Kline
opened his mouth to interrupt her, to tell her that he wasn't a captain but in
fact a commander. Then he remembered that rear-admiral Patrickson, the head of
Starfleet Intelligence, had just promoted him to the field rank of captain. So
he closed his mouth.
Sutter
continued: « I'm curious. Why are we studying this nebula? We're part of
Starfleet Intelligence. Shouldn't we be occupying ourselves with Intelligence
matters? »
He
nodded: « I understand that you’re confused, commander. We are part of
SI, but only as soon as Patrickson, or another member of Intelligence, contacts
us. Until then, we're supposed to be like any old ship in the fleet. »
She
nodded: « Understood. »
«
Since we were near sector 291, I decided we head for the nebula. I've heard
dozens of stories and seen hundreds more pictures. But I needed to see it with
my own eyes. » He smiled. « This is a dream come true. »
Eskina
cut into the conversation with an apologetic tone: « Sorry, sir. But it's
twenty-hundred hours. »
«
Ah! » Kline stood from his command chair. « The beginning of Gamma shift. »
The
turbolift doors opened and the members of Gamma shift walked onto the bridge.
Mantion, Burnel, Stevenson, Sutter and Kline were replaced. Only Eskina stayed
on the bridge, he was taking an extra shift. And being the highest-ranking
officer he took command. Yasmin Reeves, the cryptologist, was taking the conn
station, today.
«
I'll be back for Delta shift. » Kline told Eskina. « I want to take the first
look at the nebula. »
«
Aye, sir… » Eskina nodded.
Chapter Two
Sutter
walked to her computer screen. She took a deep breath and said to the computer:
« Open subspace channel to the USS-Clemens, tell them I want to speak
with mission specialist Clara Sutter. »
The
computer beeped in acknowledgement. But a few moments later, it beeped again,
and a feminine voice said: « Unable to comply. The USS-Clemens is
actually inside the FGC-47 nebula. Communications are not possible. »
Sutter
slammed her computer shut. It had been two weeks since she had last
communicated with her daughter...She was already sick that she couldn't get
back to Earth and meet Clara for the new year. But it sickened her much more
that she needed to lie to her to excuse herself.
The
door chimed, she said: « Enter! »
The
doors separated and Captain Kline was standing there: « Commander. » He curtly
nodded. « I was just passing by on my way to the mess hall, I was wondering if
you were hungry. I was about to have a late dinner with Lieutenant Stevenson
and Miss Burnel. »
Sutter
gave him a tired smile: « Sure. I'll join you in a few minutes. I need to get
out of this uniform. »
He
nodded: « Okay, see you then. »
He
stepped back and the doors closed, she sighed and pulled off her uniform. She
picked a beige set of comfortable clothes and then went to the mess hall which
was a dozen meters away from the quarters she shared with Burnel and Reeves.
The
three crewmembers she was supposed to join were sitting at a table at the far
end of the hall. Near the windows, Kline was still in uniform, Burnel also, she
had been given a uniform even though she was a civilian. Stevenson had taken
off the top of his uniform and put on a green turtleneck.
She walked to them and
said: « I'm here. Sorry for the delay. »
« No problem. » Kline said.
« You're just in time, looks like we're just about to order. »
Sutter
sat down, as a computer screen rose from the table: « Good evening. »
said a digital voice. « Please state what you wish. »
The
screen was pointing at Stevenson who ordered a simple tuna fish sandwich with a
glass of beer. Kline, who obviously was hungrier than the engineer, ordered a
dish of grilled Orion fish with some salad and a mug of coffee. Burnel and
Sutter decided to share a Bolian fondue.
They
chatted about everything and nothing for about an hour and a half while the pot
of fondue emptied itself and more rounds of drink were ordered. A bit later,
Stevenson needed to leave to check on a test he had left running in
engineering. Kline excused himself ten minutes later, and soon enough, the two
women had returned to their quarters.
It
was twenty-two hundred hours, Burnel laid down on her bed to read the novel she
had downloaded from the computer's database that morning. Sutter sat down and
opened a large album she had taken from her closet.
Burnel
looked at the book, intrigued: « Is that your family album. »
Sutter
nodded. « I have twenty year old holo-pictures in
here. »
Burnel
stood up and sat next to the commander, she pointed at the picture of a young
girl: « Is that your daughter? »
Sutter
smiled: « Yeah... When she was ten... »
«
How old is she now? » asked Burnel.
«
Eighteen. She's a civilian specialist on the FGC-47 nebula. »
Burnel
nodded: « That's good. Becoming a specialist at eighteen is not exactly easy. »
Sutter
sighed: « I was planning on meeting with her in one week on Earth. We would see
her father, my husband, and we'd spend New Year’s Eve together... »
Sutter
paused, looking sadly at a picture of her with a tall, dark-haired man and the
same little girl: « We won't...Because I need to be on board the Valiant.
»
Burnel
frowned: « Why don't you just leave? »
Sutter
shook her head: « I wish I could, but that would raise suspicion and I'd
probably have fifteen Intelligence operatives stalking me at all times. »
Burnel
shrugged: « So what? As long as you're with them. »
Sutter
looked up at the other woman, and then she smiled: « Maybe you're right. »
Burnel
smiled back: « Glad to have been of service. » She went back to her bed and
picked her novel back up. Sutter put the album back in her closet.