“That’s the spirit,” Bralik said, winking broadly and aiming her words in Keru’s direction. “He’ll definitelywake up then. It’s just a question of when.” She turned back to face Ogawa and said, “Rule Number Two-hundred and sixty-seven: If youbelieve it, theybelieve it.”
Noah returned with the glass of water he’d been sent to fetch. “Here, Aunt Bralik.”
“Thanks, grub,” Bralik said, taking it. “I’m gonna need it, since I’m going to read your Uncle Ranul a story.” With her free hand, she extracted a book from her tunic.
Noah grinned. “A pirate story?”
Bralik smiled. “Of a sort. Not for little boys, though.”
Ogawa looked at the spine of the book. She was only able to make out a few words of the title, but they were enough to tell her that it was definitelytoo steamy for young ears.
“Come on, Noah, we need to check in with Dr. Ree before we leave. Mommy’s had a long shift today.”
“Okay. ’Bye, Aunt Bralik. ’Bye, Uncle Ranul.” Noah left the room ahead of Ogawa.
“ ’Bye, grub,” Bralik said.
“Good night,” Ogawa said with a smile. As she exited, she heard Bralik behind her, talking to Keru.
“Now before I start this story, I’ve got to warn you that Kent will be by later, but I’ll make sure he doesn’t try to hold your hand or anything. Once you wake up, I’ll help you find a way to let him down gently. You know me. The soul of tact.”
As she walked away, Ogawa heard the sound of Bralik’s book falling to the floor, followed by the Ferengi’s soft, ragged, uncontrolled sobs.
“Are you sure you’re up to this?” Christine Vale asked.
Dr. Xin Ra-Havreii rubbed his temple. “Becoming your chief engineer? Well, some of my colleagues would undoubtedly think it beneath them. But they haven’t had quite the thrill-ride of a career that I’ve had.”
Vale sat on the edge of Ledrah’s desk. She still expected to see the Tiburon woman sitting there, her bluish hair spiked upward. In her place sat the middle-aged Efrosian male who had designed Titanand had overseen her construction.
“I heard about what happened aboard Luna,”she said quietly. “But I also know you were cleared of any culpability.”
Ra-Havreii offered her a wan smile. “Cleared of all culpability is very different from being found innocent, Commander. You may not blame me, and Starfleet may not blame me, but the men and women of Utopia Planitia don’t share that magnanimity. Nor do the families of Luna’s crew.”
Or yourself,Vale thought, as Ra-Havreii lapsed once again into woolgathering.
“I’m not sure this is a good idea at all,” Vale said. “Being a starship’s chief engineer isn’t quite the same as working at Utopia Planitia. Thanks for offering to take over in engineering, but—”
Ra-Havreii suddenly came out of his funk. “I think I needto do this job, Commander. At least until you find a permanent replacement.”
“But why?”
“Perhaps to maintain what I have helped to create,” he said. “And perhaps…to atone,” he said. Once again, he lapsed into pensive silence—though he was staring straight at her chest. Deanna, you just may have your work cut out for you,Vale thought. I hope I don’t regret this, but I need a good chief engineer.
She knocked on the desktop, then pointed to her eyes with forked fingers. “Hey, eyes here.”Once she had the engineer’s attention again, she continued. “Okay, so the first rule, now that I outrank you, is this: no pity parties on my watch. I’ve never worked in engineering, though I’ve helped the SCE on a few missions. But I come from a long line of peace officers, and let me tell you, they were none too happy when I left the family business to enroll in the Academy.
“It didn’t seem to matter to them that I went into security while in Starfleet. Or that I’ve gotten a whole pile of commendations over the years. Hell, I haven’t even told them that I’m the first officer of Titanyet. I may not be exactly living up to their expectations, but I’m damn well doing a good job at something I think is important.”
Ra-Havreii stared her straight in the eyes, almost defiantly. “Having your peers think you’re a dangerous failure is a bit different from disappointing your family.”
“Yes, it is,” Vale said. “But the biggest difference is how you react to it. So you’ve had two tragedies on your watch? This ship, yourship, held together today, and you’re a big part of the reason for that. And there’s no reasonable way you can blame yourself for Nidani’s death. You didn’t dump that hull debris on top of Titan,and it’s awfully hard creating a contingency plan that’ll be of any use when something like that happens. An earlier class of ship might not even have survivedtoday’s battle.”
She stood up and extended her hand. “I’m ecstatic that Titan’s designer will now be our chief engineer, for however long we are privileged to have you, Doctor Ra-Havreii. And I hope you’ll join me in tossing all the old ghosts right out the nearest airlock. I’m sure the journey ahead of us will be interesting enough without hauntings.”
Ra-Havreii stood and shook her hand, but Vale could see in his eyes that he still wasn’t quite ready to exorcise his demons.
Captain William Riker was glad that the most egregious of his chores was finally behind him. After consulting with Admiral Akaar and Ambassador Spock—the latter of whom had just departed for Earth aboard the Der Sonnenaufgang—Riker had made a complete report to Starfleet Command, informing them in detail about his delicate, improvisational Romulan-Reman peace plan. Admiral Ross hadn’t seemed displeased with the outcome of the mission, despite the unorthodox methodology, though Riker knew that all that really mattered in the long run was the Federation Council’s opinion, and that of President Bacco. Akaar assured him that when he returned to Earth after this mission, he would champion Riker’s peace plan with all the influence at his disposal.
But now, Riker had more pleasant matters to attend to before retiring for the evening with his lovely wife. He saw Nurse Ogawa exiting sickbay with her son, but they had moved down a branching corridor before he’d had a chance to speak with them. He entered the medical facilities, glad to see that things had calmed down considerably there. He’d been down here earlier, to speak to Tuvok.
Until Ranul Keru recovered, if ever, Riker knew he was badly in need of at least a temporary tactical officer and security chief. He had offered the combined job to Tuvok, citing both his assignment aboard Voyagerand the advanced tactical training classes the Vulcan had taught for many years at Starfleet Academy. Thankfully, Tuvok had been easier to persuade to take a posting on Titanthan had Vale. Tuvok had agreed to take over the position, at least until Keru recovered.
Riker had just heard from Christine Vale that Dr. Ra-Havreii would also be staying aboard for the foreseeable future, taking over the duties of the late chief engineer Ledrah. Riker intended to contact Ledrah’s family tomorrow, to break the bad news to them himself; later that day, he would conduct a shipboard memorial service.
In the meantime, he sorely needed to hear whatever good news there was aboard this ship.
Riker saw Dr. Ree, and pointed toward the OB/GYN chamber. “Is Olivia awake yet?” he asked.
“Yes, Captain,” Ree said. “She is with the baby now. They’re both doing well.” He retracted his arms for a moment, bringing them in closer to his chest. “Well, small mammals make me hungry. Care to join me in the mess?”