Lyit sat on his bridge and felt proud. This was the third Stellarfleet Convention and it would be the first one to have a Stellarfleet officer as a guest. All round the bridge he could feel the excitement raging within his fellow Kians. Each of them enjoyed going to a Stellarfleet Convention and talking or reading about or even re-enacting some of the adventures of their heroes, plus of course, meeting other enthusiasts from other worlds. But this would be the greatest Stellarfleet Convention yet - for they would meet a real Captain, be able to ask him questions, maybe even find out how to get into Stellarfleet Academy! Lyit pitied the people on Ki Prime who lived their lives totally unaware of Stellarfleet. When he and his fellow enthusiasts had left Ki Prime to go and live on Ki III to avoid the ridicule and insults they had to face as followers of Stellarfleet, Lyit had known that they were doing the right thing. Now, he knew that they were again doing the right thing in bringing this Captain to meet them all.
It took three days to reach the Bi'al system, and a further day to reach Ceylusm. The excitement of the Kians was almost at fever pitch. Dashing was beginning to feel slightly uneasy. He enjoyed the admiration and respect offered but each time he left his quarters some of the Kians fainted. He used to feel rather concerned but now he was ignoring it, (having decided it was a genetic trait), and was getting quite annoyed at having to step over them in the corridor.
When the ship first landed, Lyit asked Dashing to remain on board for a little while before accompanying the rest of the Kians to the Museum. Dashing did not mind. He believed that they were going to some ceremony at the Museum and realised that Lyit wanted to go ahead to arrange for Dashing to be received properly.
Lyit left the spaceport hurriedly. He had already warned the Briams that he was bringing a special guest. The Kians did not organize the Conventions - the Conventions were always organized by the Briams, the inhabitants of Ceylusm, hence the Museum being on their planet, in their capital city. He only had an hour before the other Kians and their guest would follow and he wanted everything to be perfect. He rushed into the Museum and grabbed the arm of the first person he found. He was in luck. It was Mintoc, one of the organizers. Mintoc went wild when he saw who was holding his arm and gasping for breath.
"Lyit! Where is he? He is coming, isn't he?"
Lyit's head bobbed up and down. The Kians only had one shuttle on board their ship, so Lyit had left it for Dashing and run all the way. Mintoc realised this, steered him to a seat and fetched him a drink.
While Lyit was recovering, Mintoc reassured him that everything was ready, and congratulated him on being able to bring a Stellarfleet officer to a Convention. Lyit shook his head.
"Pure luck," he gasped. "Korgals threw him off...their ship." He took a gulp of the Prian brandy Mintoc had given him and choked. Kians did not tend to drink. "What are you trying to do? Poison me?"
"Sorry. I thought you needed it."
"Not that much." Lyit handed the glass back to Mintoc. "He needed a lift. He said he doesn't mind attending - but have you given him the best quarters? He's a Captain!"
"I know, you told me. Relax. We've given him the best quarters, everyone's been warned to be on their best behaviour. Everyone wants him to feel at home. If he has a good time, he might come back to the next Convention and maybe bring some of his friends!" Mintoc paused. "What was he doing on a Korgal ship?"
Lyit shrugged. "I don't know - but they threw him off!"
"The Korgals did? Off their ship? You'd think they'd be proud to have a Stellarfleet officer on board their ship. When will he get here?"
"Enor and Otiv are escorting him in the shuttle, with the rest of our group."
"You trusted Enor? He's a bit young." Mintoc frowned.
"He's my brother. He'll behave. Plus Otiv - she's reliable."
"I know. She makes a very good First Officer." Mintoc grinned, his dark eyes gleaming with laughter, "You'd better be careful. I know a few Captains who'd be glad to have her on board."
"She's not interested. Her loyalty is to the Kian Star and its crew."
"Maybe this Captain can offer her something more. Briams cannot live by career alone - and she'd make an excellent Captain's wife and First Officer."
"She loves her career too much!"
"I wouldn't be asking her to give up her career, just swap ships. And marry the Captain." He paused. "Either or. I'd still invite her to join my crew, no strings attached."
"Are you serious? You're going to ask her to marry you?" Lyit paused. He knew that Otiv liked Mintoc a lot, and he was happy for her, but where was he going to get another First Officer like her? "What am I supposed to do?"
Mintoc leaned forward. "If she doesn't want to give up her career - and she won't, my First Officer will have to transfer."
"And what does he think about that?"
"He doesn't mind. He was hoping to transfer to a Kian ship?" Mintoc paused. "Your ship."
"Oh! He's a good officer." Lyit grinned. "He'll be Captain of your ship if Otiv finds out you've been discussing this with all and sundry before you asked her."
"Otiv in a temper!" Mintoc laughed. "The spice of life!"
~o0o~
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
When Dashing arrived at the Museum, he was astounded to be greeted by a crowd consisting of several different species, with lots of them wearing Stellarfleet uniforms. He realised after a few minutes that they were replica uniforms, some of them home-made. His puzzlement grew when he noticed the name of the Museum. It was the Stellarfleet Museum.
He was escorted through the hall with by the organizers, the Briams. They were all extremely polite, treated him with great respect and showed him the exhibits on display in their Museum. There was a complete range of uniforms, from Stellarfleet's earliest days to the uniforms worn now, there were models of all the ships and a potted history of each one, including the Endeavour, and in the database was a complete list of Stellarfleet personnel with a picture of each one. The Briams hastened to assure Dashing that nothing was included that could possibly be an intrusion of privacy. In each case only information relating to the career of the officer was included. Dashing looked at each display, even admired some of them but his sense of total astonishment remained. He felt as though he had slipped into a dream; surely this could not be real?
The Briams also explained that they had considered sending invitations to Stellarfleet, but due to the amount of ridicule experienced by several of their attendees, they had assumed that Stellarfleet would not receive their admiration kindly, and might even be offended by it. Dashing heard the words, but their meaning escaped him. He was conscious only of his amazement at the dedication shown.
It wasn't until he was standing at the podium with two thousand eager faces watching him, that he reacted. He felt annoyed that the Kians had tricked him into attending such a debacle and his sense of outrage permeated his words.
"What you have done...is incredible. You have devoted a huge amount of time and resources to this. It's incredible." He leaned forward. "Why are you doing this? What is the point? You don't achieve anything by doing this. I mean, I mean...what is the point? It's pathetic! Don't you have anything better to do with your lives? If you haven't, then find something better!"
The hall was totally silent. The two thousand faces were now shocked instead of eager. Karna, the youngest Kian there was seated at the front. Her little face was furrowed with concentration. The man, Karna didn't actually realise who he was, seemed to be angry. Nobody was ever angry at the Conventions. Karna swung round in her seat and looked at Lyit, who was seated two rows behind her. She liked Lyit; he never teased her and had insisted that she had a right to be a part of this if she wanted. He'd made her the ship's mascot. Considering that Karna liked Lyit, Lyit looked very upset and Karna had a very bad temper, what happened next was almost inevitable. Karna turned back and looked at the angry man.
One of Karna's favourite possessions was her Stellarfleet lunchbox. Her father had made it for her and always packed her favourite fruits in there when they went to a Convention. Karna opened her lunchbox and grabbed the first fruit she found. It was a Rigglespar. Very soft and juicy and slightly over ripe. She had a good aim for such a small child.
Dashing's harangue was interrupted by a large, juicy Rigglespar (slightly over ripe) hitting him squarely on the forehead. It burst. Karna's voice rang out in the sudden silence. "Nasty man!" she said.
As the juice trickled down his face, Dashing could hear a few people attempting to stifle their urge to laugh. He turned and stalked from the podium, wiping juice from his face as he went. He was furious. He could not remember a time when he had been more furious. These pathetic Kians and whatever the rest were, who did they think they were? To demand recognition of their enormous waste of time? What a bunch of losers! As for that child. Dashing would have happily throttled her. Throwing fruit at him - hadn't her mother taught her any manners?
He reached the Kians' shuttle and climbed in, where before he had accepted and enjoyed their hospitality and admiration he now despised them for offering it and hated them for laying him open to such humiliation. The fact that he had brought it on himself did not occur to him. He flew back to the spaceport and bought passage on another ship.
Back at the Museum, there were howls of laughter. Karna was the hero of the hour. Only Lyit sat silent. The words Dashing had flung at them lingered in his ears and he knew that once their laughter had died down, all of his friends, everyone there, would feel that their enjoyment had been tarnished. Dashing was the first Stellarfleet officer to attend and he had hated them. Loathed them. Lyit doubted if there would ever be another Stellarfleet Convention. He wished that he had never met Captain Peter Dashing. For a few seconds he felt ashamed for admiring Stellarfleet, but then he stopped. Why should they be ashamed because of the ridicule offered by one man? He knew that they felt this way because that one man was part of the organization that they admired. If he despised them, wouldn't the others?
With all the noise made by the laughing and the discussion on exactly what Dashing had looked like as the Rigglespar flew towards him, the sound of the door opening was lost. Steadfast entered the room and once the crowd realised that there were more Stellarfleet officers among them, a guilty silence fell.
"I wonder if you can help me," he said, addressing himself to the ones closest to him. "I'm Commander Steadfast of the Starship Endeavour. I'm looking for Captain Peter Dashing." Steadfast felt bemused. These people looked almost embarrassed.
Mintoc stepped forward, Otiv at his side. "He left," he said. "Just now," he added wondering what Stellarfleet would do if they found out that Dashing had been hit by a large, juicy, overripe Rigglespar.
"I see." Steadfast wondered what exactly had happened but since Stellarfleet rules stated that you had to be polite to all unknown aliens unless they demonstrated that they were not going to be polite in return, he did not feel that he could question them over it. "Erm.. did he say where he was going?"
"No. He just left. Just now," Mintoc said.
"I hit the nasty man with my Rigglespar," Karna declared, proudly.
"Your Rigglespar?"
Karna nodded her head importantly. "It ran down his face and he stopped shouting and went away."
Mintoc could not interpret the gleam in Steadfast's eye but he hastened to defend Karna. "She's very young. She didn't realise that it's wrong to throw fruit at people."
Steadfast had the entire picture now. He knew that Dashing disliked Stellarfleet and the sight of all this admiration for Stellarfleet must have been very hard for him to bear. He felt quite grateful to Karna and smiled down at her, trying very hard to hide his glee. Dashing must have been having a very bad week. "I think that some people just ask to have fruit thrown at them." He looked back at Mintoc. "He didn't like the displays?"
"Er no. He erm...said they were a waste of time."
"A waste of time? Oh no, I disagree. I think they're wonderful! Did you make them?"
"We all did." Mintoc was puzzled. "You like them?"
"They're fantastic!" Steadfast allowed his enthusiasm to bubble over. "I've never seen half of those uniforms before, well, I've seen the designs in our database but I've never seen them for real. We should have a museum like this. We have a few small displays at the Academy but nothing on this scale. Would you mind if a few of my crew came and had a look? They'd be thrilled."
"Er.. no. Not at all. Maybe you could...." Mintoc indicated the podium.
"I'd be delighted, just give me one moment." Steadfast turned to McFadden and within a few minutes there was a security team searching for Dashing and several crew members heading down to the planet.
Once he was at the podium, Steadfast held them enthralled for over an hour. He answered questions and cracked jokes. The audience loved him. Lyit slipped out of the room. He was glad that Steadfast had arrived and that everyone was enjoying listening to him, but he felt so angry with himself for having wasted so much admiration on Dashing, and for having brought him to the Museum only to receive such contempt from him. Outside the main hall he ran straight into Kirenkov who was admiring several of the uniforms.
He tried to excuse himself and slip away but Kirenkov grabbed his arm. "Are you alright?" he asked the concern in his voice making it even harder for Lyit to retain his composure.
"I'm fine. I must go." He tried to pull his arm free but Kirenkov held on.
"You don't look fine." Kirenkov frowned. "I heard about what Captain Dashing said. If it's that...he was expressing his opinion, but there are lots of people who would totally disagree with him. Look!" He turned and pointed to several of his colleagues who were raving over the displays. "Do you really think that they're all wrong?"
Lyit looked around. "He said we were wasting our lives."
Kirenkov felt quite glad that they were tracking Dashing down and he sincerely hoped that Bak'ton would rule him with a rod of iron. "Look at what you've achieved. This Museum is wonderful. How can you believe that something which gives so much pleasure is a waste of time?"
Lyit sighed, "I suppose you're right."
"I know I am."
~o0o~
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
By the time Steadfast returned to the ship over two hours had passed. He sighed. His sense of deja-vu was getting stronger - there was another list of ships for him to look at. He gave orders to follow the fastest one and then went to see the doctor.
Bill looked up as he entered his office. "You look tired."
"I've just spent over an hour persuading a group of very insulted people (and one tiny tot armed with fruit) that Stellarfleet is worthy of their admiration. I've left two teams there and I was told by a very enthusiastic admirer that this will be the best Convention ever."
"Convention?" Bill poured Steadfast a drink. "What sort of Convention?"
"Every year they get together, talk about Stellarfleet and re-enact famous battles. It's incredible. I mean, they wear our uniforms (from different eras) and they all have their own particular heroes. They have so much fun. They really do love Stellarfleet - and Dashing had to go and pour scorn on them! But he won't do it again. The tiny tot pelted him with her lunch and he left to retrieve his dignity."
"Is that what had happened?" Bill laughed. "I heard some rumours." He took a gulp of his own drink. "Why did he pour scorn on them?"
"He doesn't actually like Stellarfleet, does he? To him it's a job and that's all. So, to meet a bunch of people who love it...."
Bill nodded his understanding. "Well, what do we do now to find him?"
Steadfast waved his list in the air.
"That looks familiar," Bill murmured.
"Doesn't it? Maybe I'm caught in a time loop and no-one's noticed yet!"
"Which one are we chasing now?" Bill took the list and glanced at it. "Ooh, two Korgal ships. I don't think he'll be on those."
Steadfast suddenly laughed. "Did you know that they actually kicked him off the Korgal shuttle?"
"What?"
"The Korgal officer wanted to tell me but I didn't have time to listen. I think I'll regret never hearing the full story."
"Once Dashing's safely married maybe you could go back and persuade him to tell it again."
"Or I could get a recording of it as a wedding present for the happy pair," Steadfast suggested.
"Definitely one of your better ideas - have another drink!"
~o0o~
Dashing, meanwhile, was still feeling rather ruffled about the entire Stellarfleet Convention. Even ignoring that badly behaved child armed with fruit, he considered it presumptuous for those ordinary people to dream that they could aspire to the heights of Stellarfleet - not that he liked Stellarfleet, but it was still far above them! And to waste all that time on making those uniforms and displays. He shook his head in disbelief. If he lived to be a thousand, he would never understand the devotion shown to Stellarfleet - he knew of lots of officers (Steadfast included) who considered it an honour to be a Stellarfleet officer instead of seeing it as the career that it was. He snorted in disgust. It was a job, that was all. That was the one simple thing that those losers (Stellarfleet Convention attendees included) could not understand. Dashing decided that he would not waste another second on thinking about them and dismissed them from his mind with a shrug of his shoulders, although he found the image of Karna and her fruit filled lunch box harder to dismiss.
He had booked passage on an ordinary freighter. The Captain had been rather astonished when Dashing had boarded the ship. Christopher Billington (Captain and owner of the Irena, the ship they were on) knew that there was a Stellarfleet vessel in orbit and he had told Dashing this, expecting him to go and travel on that ship for free. Dashing had insisted on booking in as Mr., (he said he'd been attending a fancy dress ball as an officer) and as a further precaution had claimed to be called Steadfast. He hadn't been able to think of any other name when asked. This led to a slight complication as each time someone spoke to him, he kept looking around expecting to see his First Officer scowling at him.
~o0o~
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Steadfast was furious. Dashing seemed to have disappeared off the face of the universe. They'd chased after almost every ship and so far they'd drawn a blank. No Dashing anywhere. Even the Cosmic Interrogator had let them down. The tension on the ship was terrible. Each and every crewmember wanted to find Dashing, drag him back to Urgonia and up the aisle and get Steadfast as their Captain.
Steadfast lay back on his bed, trying to relax. The only reason he was on his bed instead of in the Captain's chair was because Doctor Lipton had threatened to sedate him for a week if he didn't get some sleep. Steadfast willed his body to relax. They had another seven hours to go before they reached the freighter ship Irena, and he knew that he needed sleep.
He turned over restlessly. Even thinking of Judith and her beautiful face and amazing mind did nothing to relax him. How long had it been since he'd held her hand, been close to her instead of a billion miles away chasing an arrogant, insensitive, selfish sod who didn't deserve a second of Madame Bak'ton's attention, let alone her love? He sighed. Did he really deserve Judith's love? He loved her, he knew that without a doubt. Every day of his life, he'd try to deserve her love, try to make her happy. Finding Dashing was just the first step to that life. And he would. He swore it. He turned over again. If only he could just contact the ships! But Stellarfleet insisted that this had to be done discreetly. Well, as discreetly as possible. Putting out an intersteller APB was not an option.
He sighed. He didn't think he'd ever be able to get to sleep.
~o0o~
The intercom beeped loudly. Steadfast's eyes flew open. Had he slept? What time was it? What was that noise? Oh, the intercom.
Hashimoto's voice informed him that they had almost reached the Irena. Would Commander Steadfast be coming to the bridge?
Steadfast leapt from the bed and hurriedly scrubbed his face with water. He felt more awake. He headed towards the door, only to be brought up short by the door opening and Doctor Lipton walking in with a tray.
"Hi. I used the medical override. Breakfast," Lipton said.
"I don't have time." Steadfast tried to brush past the Doctor, who blocked the doorway quite easily.
"Yes you do. Breakfast."
"I'm not hungry," Steadfast lied.
"Yes you are. Sit." Lipton looked Steadfast in the eye. "Do I have to make that a medical order?"
Steadfast sat on the bed. He knew Doctor Lipton was only trying to help, but at the moment...
Lipton smiled at him as he uncovered the tray. "I promised Judith that I wouldn't let you kill yourself. That includes making sure you eat and sleep. And I always keep my promises." Lipton turned to leave. "Don't try to leave until you've eaten everything on that tray but the dishes and the cutlery," he added over his shoulder, and then was gone.
Steadfast smiled to himself. Just hearing her name made him feel better.
~o0o~
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
"This is Commander Steadfast of the Starship Endeavour," Steadfast announced then frowned as the face on the viewscreen showed a great deal of surprise.
"Steadfast? That's a...er...what a coincidence. Er...I'm Captain Billington of the freighter ship Irena. What can I do for you, Commander Steadfast?" the owner of the face asked.
"A coincidence?" Steadfast echoed.
"Yes. Just recently...I've never met anyone called Steadfast before and I've just had a passenger called Steadfast...wearing a Stellarfleet uniform - but he'd been to a fancy dress ball."
Steadfast's thumbs pricked. "A fancy dress ball. I see." He paused, while his fingers flew over the buttons on the console at his side, accessing Dashing's record and transmitting a picture of him to the Irena. "Would this be your passenger?"
"Yes, that's him!" Billington frowned at the screen. "You know him?"
"My brother," Steadfast lied smoothly, although he felt nauseous at the thought of being related to Dashing. "When did he leave your ship?"
"Oh, only six days ago. I collected some cargo from the Garla Homeworld. Mr. Steadfast chose to remain behind."
"I see." Steadfast glanced at Hashimoto, who was already ahead of his acting Captain and was accessing everything they knew about the Garlans and their worlds. "Well, thank you very much, Captain Billington, you've been very helpful."
"Not at all. I'm glad I could help."
The viewscreen went dark and Billington ordered his crew to resume course and left the bridge. It wasn't until he was halfway to his cabin that he suddenly realised he had no idea why they'd contacted him in the first place.
~o0o~
"The Garlans?" Doctor Lipton was surprised that Dashing (or Steadfast as he was now calling himself) had stayed on their Homeworld.
"I know. They're obsessed with being honourable at all times, and Dashing...well...." Steadfast paused.
"I know." Lipton nodded. "He wouldn't know honour if it came up and bit him on the butt."
"If he's still there, he's been there for six days." Steadfast rubbed his forehead absently, trying to ward off the impending headache, unaware of Lipton's eagle eyes catching every move. "Heaven knows how many arguments he's got himself into. Luckily, he's such a coward he'll eat crow sooner than face a duel." He sighed. "How would I face Madame Bak'ton with that one?"
"Headache?" Lipton asked casually.
Steadfast realised that he was still rubbing his head and hurriedly dropped his hand to his side.
"Don't even try to deny it," Lipton said caustically. "How long before we reach the Homeworld?"
"22 hours," Steadfast said resignedly.
"Good. You can go to your quarters for an hour...read a book...listen to music...relax. Then meet me for lunch in the mess hall."
"I should -"
"What? Drive yourself into an early grave by swotting up on every known fact about the Garlans? Let Hanson read up on them, then he can brief you on the basics tomorrow morning before we get there. Now go!"
Steadfast opened his mouth to argue.
"That or the hypospray!"
Steadfast shut his mouth and meekly left the Doctor's office. "See you in an hour," was the only comment he offered.
Lipton smiled. He loved having the last word.
~o0o~
An hour later, Steadfast made his way to the mess hall. He pushed open the door, spotted Doctor Lipton sitting at a table, and headed his way. Three feet from the table, he stopped. Astonished.
Judith stood up. "Pleased to see me?" she asked.
He surged forward and grabbed at her hands to reassure himself that she was real. "Judith...." he stopped, then threw his arms around her and hugged her tightly.
When he finally let go of her, he realised that the mess hall was completely empty, even Doctor Lipton had gone.
"He couldn't stay for lunch. He had work to do, so he asked me to take his place," Judith explained, smiling. "You don't mind, do you?"
His smile gave her her answer.
"How did you get here?"
"Bak'ton lent me a ship. You're not that far from Urgonia you know. It only took me two hours to get here. And you are in trouble!"
Steadfast looked at her enquiringly. What had he done now?
"Doctor Lipton told me about you driving yourself crazy." Judith touched his face lightly. "Bak'ton trusts you, she knows you're doing your best to find Peter and she knows you won't fail. But if you don't take better care of yourself, she'll insist that Stellarfleet send someone else to bring him back! Jason...please don't kill yourself trying to get hold of him. Bak'ton doesn't want that - and neither do I!"
"I know." He smiled at her. "I'll keep that in mind," he promised.
"See that you do," she said, smiling in spite of herself.
~o0o~