"Are you sure that the information is correct, Ian?" Steadfast looked at McFadden. He had heard of the Cosmic Interrogator (who hadn't?) but he'd never read it.
"Well, sir, I'm not saying that they're perfect, but my wife swears by it. And she's usually right."
Steadfast turned to the intercom. "Lieutenant Hashimoto."
"Yes, sir?"
"Where is Amber's Pride headed for?" he demanded.
"Earth, sir."
It was fortunate that Steadfast chose to contact Stellarfleet and ask them to check their database for Amber's Pride. Within ten minutes, Steadfast knew that Amber and her ship had changed their destination and were now headed for the Moon's annual fashion show.
~o0o~
Once they arrived, Steadfast ordered most of the crew to form teams and visit the fashion show and search for Dashing, or failing him, Amber Monteroy. The majority of the bridge crew, himself included, went as well.
Steadfast had heard of the fashion shows, but he had never visited one. And considering what he saw that day, he never wanted to visit one again.
It was Ensign Kirenkov who found Amber first. Once he had managed to drag her attention away from the gravity free clothes being displayed, he had more of her attention than he wanted.
"Well," she said as she looked him up and down, "it's not often that I get accosted by a handsome Russian in uniform. And what do I owe you for the pleasure?" She smirked at him.
"Er...I was looking for Captain Dashing...It's very important." Kirenkov almost took two steps back - predatory females were not his style at all.
The smirk vanished. "Oh, him. He left." A note of outrage entered her voice. "He stole one of my shuttlecrafts. My favourite shuttlecraft."
"Could you tell me when he left?"
She shrugged impatiently. "What does it matter? He left. I don't care." She turned back to the catwalk, then glanced back at him. "But if it had been you who'd left, well, that would have bothered me." She fluttered her eyelashes at him and was pleased to see his eyes widen. If she'd known it was with fear she would not have been as pleased.
"Thank you, Miss. That's very kind of you." Kirenkov knew his duty and was determined to stand his ground until he'd got the information he needed. No matter what it cost him. "Could you tell me the name of the shuttlecraft?"
Amber frowned. This conversation was so boring. This guy might be cute but he obviously didn't know how to respond to a woman's advances. Briefly she considered teaching him how to flirt, but dismissed the idea. What was the point when she could have much more fun with some of the hunks she'd seen around here? "It's called the Beauty. Anything else?" she added sarcastically. What was she, an information bureau?
"Er...no, Miss. Thank you. You've been...very helpful." He backed away.
Amber watched him go then shrugged. He wouldn't have been worth the effort. A sudden thought struck her. Why was he looking for Peter? Dismissing the matter from her butterfly mind she turned back to the catwalk in search of new wings.
Kirenkov contacted Steadfast and told him what Amber had said. Steadfast considered going and questioning her, but decided not to. Stellarfleet didn't want to make it public that Dashing was fleeing from his advantageous marriage, besides, Amber's shuttlecraft should be easy to trace.
While Steadfast and most of the crew were on the Moon, McFadden had taken the opportunity to do some searching of his own. He had subscribed to the Cosmic Interrogator and downloaded it into the ship's computer. He had then told the computer to search the e-mag for any mention of Dashing. When Steadfast and the crew returned to the ship, they found that McFadden, (and the Cosmic Interrogator) could have saved them a viewing of the latest fashions. McFadden knew where Dashing was, or at least, where he had been when the Interrogator had been transmitted.
~o0o~
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
As soon as Dashing reached the nearest spaceport, on Jinara, he contacted his father.
"Son!" His father feigned surprise. Dashing had been borrowing money from his father for a couple of decades now and his father had known that sooner or later, he would be in touch. "Where have you been? I contacted the Endeavour and they said you'd taken some shore leave."
"Mmm...yeah. Unfortunately, erm...my bank has been having some problems. Their computer system has crashed and they can't give me any money. I was wondering...."
"Of course, Peter. Give me your location and I'll send some money through now." Kieron Dashing had never received a penny from his son to repay those loans, but he didn't mind this time. After all, when your only son is going to marry the ruler of a large planet, money is no object.
Dashing frowned. In all the years that he had been borrowing money, it had never been so easy. "Dad, are you alone?"
"Of course I am," he lied, as half the Admiralty of Stellarfleet were just out of sight of the viewscreen. "You know your mother always goes shopping in the afternoons."
A sixth sense, the one that had kept him one leap ahead of many a woman's marriage plans, warned him that his father was lying. The sweat broke out on his forehead. If his father was in on it too, then he'd have to find some other way of raising money. He broke the connection, leaving his father facing a blank screen and turned to look at the shuttlecraft. True, it wasn't actually his, but...
Twenty minutes later he had sold the shuttlecraft to a Rimerian trader (anything that moves is their speciality) and was booking passage on a Korgal freighter. It would not have been his first choice of ship but, desperate cunning having sharpened his excessively thick mind, since Korgals were such egotists that they loathed carrying anyone except other Korgals, and only carried humans for an exorbitant price, who would look for him on their ship?
Steadfast would. The Endeavour arrived at the Jinaran spaceport only a day after he had left.
It did not take them long to find the Rimerian trader. It took them slightly longer to buy the shuttlecraft off him for only three times Dashing's price. While Steadfast was retrieving Amber's stolen property, Lieutenant Hashimoto was repeating his command performance and hacking into the Jinaran computer.
Unfortunately, the Jinarans tended to be rather strict about global security and they realised that someone was downloading several flight plans. They managed to track it to the Endeavour, but Steadfast refused to discuss the situation and left orbit rapidly, leaving the Jinarans to contact Stellarfleet and complain bitterly for an hour before being invited to join in some trade negotiations with the Urgonians, an invitation which they were pleased to accept.
~o0o~
Steadfast looked at the list with a sense of deja-vu. But this time he was trying to decide which of the eighteen ships listed would be likely to have Dashing on board. The only advantage, though it pained him to admit it, was that McFadden had subscribed to the Cosmic Interrogator and they might get a few hints as to where Dashing was from that. Steadfast looked through the list. He flicked past the details of the Korgal ship, the K'Nar, then slowly turned back. The Korgals always used fast ships (their egos would not allow them to use slow ones) and Dashing wanted to get away in a hurry. He'd sold Amber's shuttlecraft, so he had money to buy passage...
Steadfast chewed on his lip. Oh the other hand, the Korgals would never pander to Dashing's ego the way he needed. Would Dashing have the brains to think of that? He doubted it. Abruptly, Steadfast hit the intercom button and gave orders to chase the K'Nar.
~o0o~
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
On board the Korgal ship, Dashing had found himself in the company of three scientists who were on their way to a conference on genetic manipulation. As the four of them were the only non-Korgals aboard the ship, they tended to stay together as much as possible. The Korgals preferred it if their guests went around in one group, it saved time on tracking them down and insulting them. The Korgals included this service free of charge as they considered that they were doing their guests a great favour by pointing out how physically, mentally and in every other way inferior they were. Some Korgals wished to charge their guests for this, but the more conservative among them knew that sometimes you have to do your duty for free.
Dashing was beginning to wish that he had chosen another ship.
He entered the guests' sitting room (the sign on the door said so, the Korgals referred to it as "the genetic dumping ground" or "losers' lounge"). The three scientists were sitting near the biggest window gazing at the stars as they sped by. The company they worked for had booked them on the ship. It was the only vessel going to Darlin Prime, and it was slightly cheaper to pay for three cabins on the Korgal ship than to charter a whole ship just for them. The three scientists mentally thanked their employers for that consideration.
"Only two more days to go before we reach Darlin Prime," said the scientist closest to the door, Killian by name.
"Two more days...." said the one whose nose was pressed against the window.
"Seems like an eternity," said the third.
They were all slumped in their seats. Travelling on a Korgal ship was not recommended for those with low self esteem.
Dashing sat down. He knew how they feLieutenant The Korgals were even starting to get to him. Slightly.
"Do you think they spit in the food?" Leigh turned his head away from the window. His nose felt rather numb, but he was too depressed to care.
Harrison shook his head. "They'd get closed down by health and safety. They know just how far they can go and they stick to it. Their egos wouldn't let them do anything less."
"Big egos...." Leigh said.
"For such ugly geezers!" Killian added.
Harrison snickered suddenly. "I'll never forget the first time I saw a Korgal. I thought that the Yumeekans were ugly, but these guys take the biscuit."
Leigh smiled slightly. "Their females can't think so."
"No-one's ever met one, so no-one knows," Harrison said. "Nobody even knows what the females look like."
Leigh looked interested. "Are you sure? Surely visitors to the Korgal Homeworld...."
"Even then. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has ever seen a Korgal female." (That caught Dashing's interest).
"Maybe we ought to have a conference on the subject," Killian said. "It would add extra spice to the proceedings if every scientist had to arrive on the planet via a Korgal spaceship. Then you'd really get some bizarre theories flying round." He leaned back in his chair. "After all, a few days of putting up with these insults would mean, well, that scientists would be longing to discuss the subject!"
Harrison grinned at him. "You don't need a Korgal ship to get bizarre theories from scientists," he pointed out.
"Do you remember when Masterson swore he'd discovered how to alter your mass so you could fly?" Leigh said.
"Do you remember what happened when he tried it?" Harrison laughed. "He had to spend seven weeks in a medlab."
"And two of that was so they could scrape his face off the floor!" Killian quipped.
Leigh roared with laughter. The conversation veered from bizarre theory to even more bizarre theory, with each scientist egging each other on to add libellous comments on the probable mental state of the theorist at the time. Dashing did not actually know how to join in this conversation. He smiled at each quip, even laughed at a few of them, but the majority of what they were saying was beyond him.
After a while, the laughter quietened. Leigh wiped his eyes. "I feel better," he said.
"You'd better not let the Korgals hear that. It's probably not allowed," said Killian.
"Oh, yes," said Harrison. "Remember our place." He bowed his head with humility.
"Have you noticed that there's never any Korgal scientists at conferences?" Leigh asked suddenly.
"There's nothing in that," Killian said. "They don't believe in science. They think it's a total waste of time."
Harrison stared at him. "Are you sure?"
"Oh, yes. As scientists we are getting the cream of the crop, when it comes to insults. Well, with the exception of Mr. Dashing, here." Killian nodded towards Dashing, who had not mentioned the fact that he was Captain Peter Dashing, fiance of anyone in particular. He was learning. "They probably just insult you because they can't play favourites with humans. I've travelled on Korgal ships before and they're not usually this bad, unless there's a scientist on board. And now, they have three."
"But why?" Leigh asked.
"Well, they were one of the later species to develop space travel," Killian pointed out. "By the time they broke through their atmosphere, there were thousands of species already travelling through space. Think of their egos. It took them this long, and there's lots of species outstripping them in the field. This ship isn't designed by Korgals - they bought the blueprints. As scientists, they suck."
"So...because of their egos, they hate science," Leigh said.
"Of course. If they can't do it well, it's not worth doing and anyone who does it well is obviously a waste of space. It's a superiority thing."
"Well, well, well." Harrison leaned back in his chair and linked his hands behind his back. "I'd say our hosts' insults have just shrivelled in size."
The three scientists smirked at each other. Killian turned to Dashing. "What do you think?" he asked.
Dashing could not help himself. "Isn't this conversation deep?" he said.
There was silence.
"I beg your pardon?" Killian asked, very politely.
"Working out their superiority complex. It's very deep, isn't it?" Dashing nodded at the stunned scientists. He'd just wanted them to know that he recognized that fact.
Leigh coughed suddenly. His eyes seemed to be full of tears. "If you say so."
Dashing saw the tears and felt moved. He was only one or two years older than Leigh, but obviously had much better control of his emotions. He rose, slapped Leigh on the back and left.
Leigh choked on the laughter he had been holding inside. He bent forward and howled, "Isn't this conversation deep?"
A little while later, Killian finally managed to bring his laughter under control. He glanced at his gradually recovering friends and suddenly asked, "Who was that masked man, anyway?"
The howls of laughter burst forth again.
~o0o~
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
When Dashing reached his room, one of the Korgals was there cleaning it. The rooms were cleaned, atom by atom, every single day. The Korgals did not want to run the risk of catching anything.
Dashing decided to try to talk to him. Unfortunately, the Korgal, Ist'gar, totally agreed with his Captain's opinion that non-Korgals were scum, and that humans were the scummiest scum it was possible to find. Unless you went and searched under the rocks of the fifteenth planet in the Glior system, which was reputed to be very mucky indeed. Dashing did not get far in striking up a decent conversation. However, since Dashing was not very good at decent conversation, he failed to notice that this one was not actually a conversation - Ist'gar had not said a word, just stared at Dashing with his vaguely reptilian eyes, his inner eyelids blinking - but a series of statements by himself. Ist'gar did not respond to anything Dashing said, until he mentioned Korgal woman. (Let's face it, we all knew that was where he was headed).
Once Ist'gar realized what Dashing talking about, he acted quickly. Talking about Korgal females, except to other Korgal males, was expressly forbidden, as all Korgals knew that once any aliens saw the ravishing beauty of their females, they would try and get them for themselves. Korgal males considered themselves to be the best looking species in the universe (of course), and their females were very worthy of being called Korgal. With that in mind, Ist'gar grabbed Dashing by one shoulder and dragged him to the Captain's office.
Once his Captain had heard exactly what Dashing had said (which was not actually too bad, considering it was Dashing, just a query as to where the females happened to be, and were any of them in space) he approved of Ist'gar's prompt action, and rewarded him with the task of escorting their ex-passenger to a shuttle, taking him to the nearest planet and kicking him off the said shuttle. Ist'gar faced his allotted task with anticipation.
Dashing, once he understood that he was being asked (with no possibility of saying no) to leave the ship, was astounded. He pointed out that he had paid an extortionate amount for his cabin and it was his until they reached Darlin Prime, but all of his bawlings failed to impress the Korgals and Ist'gar got to kick Dashing's backside soundly as he helped him to leave the shuttle.
Dashing lay with his face in the dirt as he considered how much his backside was hurting. Korgals liked big boots, and Ist'gar had very big feet. After a few moments, Dashing pulled himself together, got to his feet and looked around at the planet on which he had been, so summarily, dumped.
He had absolutely no idea where he was.
~o0o~
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
When Dashing first found himself surrounded by several Kians of varying ages, he was slightly concerned. Most of the younger ones looked at him sullenly, while the older ones seemed rather puzzled. Then one of the eldest, and tallest, stepped forward.
"What are you doing here?" His greenish skin shone in the bright sunlight. "No-one ever comes here."
"I, erm...had a disagreement with the Captain of the ship I was on," Dashing said reluctantly. "He abandoned me here." He paused. He might as well try and enlist their help. "Do you have a ship I can rent, or know where I can buy passage?"
One of the younger ones got rather excited. "We have a ship - a great big one!"
"Ssh." The tall one turned back to Dashing. "We need our ship. But we can give you passage. Explain. Were you on a Stellarfleet ship?"
"No. It was a Korgal ship. What does it matter?" He sighed. "I'm a Stellarfleet officer, it was a Korgal ship, they took a dislike to me (for some unknown reason) and here I am."
The tall Kian gazed at him with awe. "You're a Stellarfleet officer?" Then, "Prove it!"
Dashing was not impressed. Who did this pipsqueak think he was? Nevertheless, he pulled out his wallet from the pocket of his tunic (he was wearing some of the clothes Amber had given him) and showed the group his identification, including rank.
"He's a Captain!" The Kian turned to the others. "He's a Captain!"
They all gathered round Dashing's wallet, staring intently at that magical word. Those behind craned their necks to see, so, sighing impatiently, Dashing held up his wallet.
A sigh came from all the Kians. Dashing shoved his wallet back into his pocket. "Well, can I have passage on your ship?"
"Oh, er, we'd be honoured," the tall Kian nodded enthusiastically. All of the others joined in, nodding along as well, their green heads and black hair bobbing up and down rapidly.
"Fine." Dashing looked round. "Well, when do we leave?"
"In an hour's time, sir." The tall Kian waved his hand towards some buildings. The very ones Dashing had been heading for when they had met up with him. "Would you like some refreshment before we go?"
"Thank you, yes." Dashing strode towards the buildings, the Kians clustered around him. The tall Kian walked at his side, carrying Dashing's luggage, and introduced himself and his companions, although Dashing did not bother to feign an interest.
"I am Lyit. This is Enor, Parel, Tany, Otiv," as he continued to introduce his friends, the owner of the name bobbed his or her head anxiously at Dashing. He nodded back without taking the slightest notice of the face or its owner.
Once they reached the buildings, Dashing made haste to have a bath and some food. His ego, which had been slightly (but only slightly) dented by the Korgals, was restored to its former glory by the Kians' obvious delight in seeing him. He had been slightly surprised to find his Stellarfleet uniform laid out for him when he had finished bathing, but he made no objection and put it on.
When he left his room he was greeted by the sound of several Kians exclaiming in admiration. His ego swelled. After the disgraceful treatment he had received at the hands of the Korgals, (over which he intended to make a protest, and hopefully persuade Stellarfleet to wage war upon the savages), this was balm to his feelings. He threw his shoulders back and gazed at them all, inviting them all to look their fill. One, a very young Kian, rushed forward and stroked the sleeve of Dashing's uniform. Dashing smirked. This was how he was supposed to be treated.
Lyit stepped forward and bowed. "Captain, we are honoured by your presence." He swallowed twice, obviously rather overwhelmed. "If you would like to come this way, we will show you to your quarters on board our ship - not a Stellarfleet ship, but it is a good ship... Then we will get under way."
Dashing strode forward. These people were really impressed by the simplest of things, but then, Stellarfleet ships were the best in the universe, Stellarfleet officers were among the best of the population (except Steadfast, of course), and he, Peter Dashing, if he said it himself, was one of the best of the officers. Which explained why several of the other officers were jealous of him.
It was not until the ship had left Ki III that Dashing thought to ask where they were going. The information offered - Ceylusm, in the Bi'al system - only assured Dashing that they were headed for a rather remote part of the galaxy. He settled into his quarters smugly, knowing that it would be difficult for Stellarfleet to find him there.
~o0o~
CHAPTER NINETEEN
It was almost twenty hours after Dashing had left the Korgal ship, that Steadfast and his crew caught up with it. When Steadfast discovered that they had passed the planet that Dashing was marooned on, he bade the Captain a hasty and grateful goodbye and promptly headed back. Ist'gar had been very specific about exactly where Dashing had left the ship, and what speed he had been travelling when he left it. Steadfast would have liked to hear more, as Ist'gar was prepared to explain (at great length) exactly how much dirt had flown into the air when Dashing's face hit the ground, but Steadfast regretted that he did not have time to stay and listen. Instead, Ist'gar described the scene again to his Captain, who thoroughly enjoyed the description of Dashing's trip through the air.
Killian, Leigh and Harrison had been informed of Dashing's departure, but they had not seemed particularly concerned.
~o0o~
The Endeavour reached Dashing's planet, Ki III, only eleven hours later. Steadfast ordered Kirenkov to scan the planet for humans.
Kirenkov looked at his console in dismay. There were no humans on this planet. There were very few humanoids too. But he did not want to have to tell Steadfast that they had lost Dashing, again.
"Ensign." Kirenkov turned and looked at Steadfast. "Giving bad news is sometimes part of being an officer."
Kirenkov straightened in his chair. "Aye, sir. I cannot detect any human lifesigns, sir."
Steadfast leaned back in the Captain's chair. He had realised from the droop in Kirenkov's shoulders that Dashing had escaped. He had also realised that Kirenkov had not wanted to tell him that. When he spoke, his tone was brisk.
"Ensign, scan for any traces of propulsion systems. He must have left the planet somehow."
"Yes, sir."
"Lieutenant Hashimoto, contact Ki Prime and ask them if they can give us any information about Ki III."
Steadfast pressed the intercom button. "Mr. McFadden."
"Aye, sir?"
"Check the Interrogator."
Briefly, Steadfast considered the idea that the Korgals might have lied, but why? They would not have killed Dashing, he was not worth the effort, and Steadfast could see no reason for lying about where they had left him.
"Commander," Hashimoto's voice interrupted his musings. "I have Senator Jarl of Ki Prime. He wishes to speak to you."
Steadfast gazed at the elderly man on the viewscreen. "Senator, this is Commander Steadfast of the Stellarfleet ship Endeavour."
"I am Senator Jarl. I understand you are interested in Ki III."
"We are, Senator. A crewman accidentally landed on that planet and we can find no trace of him."
"Stellarfleet? Oh, dear. Oh, dear. That's very bad, of course." The Senator tutted. "Well, they will do it. Oh, they do do it."
"Senator?"
"What? Oh, yes. Your crewman. Mmm. How much was he worth?"
"Worth?" Steadfast pondered the question. As himself, very little. As Bak'ton's fiance, quite a lot. "Er...could you explain your reason for asking?"
"So we know how much to recompense you."
Steadfast's eyebrows raised. Hashimoto frowned down at the communication panel, as though to check he had heard correctly. Kirenkov's jaw dropped.
"We would sooner have him back," Steadfast explained.
"Oh, you'll have to fetch him yourself," Jarl warned, shaking his head. "We can't go."
"Go where?"
"To Mariuk, of course"
Steadfast sighed. Would he ever find out where Dashing was? And what happened to him? "What's on Mariuk?"
"You mean you haven't heard of it? Oh, that's bad. Very bad." Jarl tutted to himself for a few minutes more, while Steadfast resisted the urge to bury his head in his hands. "I'm transmitting the coordinates to you now. Mariuk is on Ceylusm, in the Bi'al system."
"Senator Jarl, what exactly is at Mariuk?" Steadfast asked, wearily.
"Why, the Convention of course. Mm, yes. They should have asked, they should have asked."
"Asked what?"
"Why, if they could put your crewman in the museum. Youngsters today. No manners, no manners," Jarl continued to tut.
"Senator, please," Steadfast looked at Kirenkov's back. He could see his shoulders were shaking with laughter. He stretched his foot forward and poked at the back of Kirenkov's chair. The Ensign stopped laughing and sat up very straight. "What museum? What Convention?"
"Haven't you been listening? The Stellarfleet Convention, of course. They hold one every year at the Stellarfleet museum."
"Stellarfleet museum?" Steadfast's voice rose in astonishment.
"Yes, yes. The museum. In Mariuk." Jarl paused, then continued, "On Ceylusm...Were you listening to anything I said?"
Steadfast brought his attention back to the Senator with a start. "Yes, Senator. I and my crew thank you. One more question, if you please."
"Mm, questions. Always questions." Jarl sighed. Youngsters today. "What is your question?"
"Will your youngsters hurt my crewman?"
"Oh, no, oh, no. They might be enthusiastic, but they won't hurt him. Oh, no."
"Thank you for your time, Senator," Steadfast said.
"Not at all, not at all. In Mariuk. You can't miss it. Goodbye, then. Goodbye."
Jarl's viewscreen shut down, and Steadfast turned to Hashimoto. "Did you receive the coordinates?"
"Yes, sir," Hashimoto nodded enthusiastically, his eyes gleaming.
Steadfast turned back and regarded Kirenkov's back. He coughed. "Ensign Kirenkov."
"Sir?" Kirenkov said, innocently.
"Set course for Ceylusm."
"Yes, sir."
"And behave yourself."
"Yes, sir," Kirenkov said in a small voice.
~o0o~