Captain's Table_ Dujonian's Hoard Part 6

Our captain smiled grimly. "A piece of information I thought you should have. Certainly, if our positions were reversed, I'd want to have it."

"I'll take that into account," said Jaiya. And without another word, his image vanished from the screen, to be replaced by the forbidding spectacle of the five mismatched fighters.

Astellanax looked at Red Abby, the muscles rippling in his temples. "What do you think they'll do?" he asked.

She shook her head. The bravado she'd displayed for the pirate seemed to melt away before my eyes, revealing the worried creature underneath.

"I don't know," Red Abby answered at last.

She was being honest, of course.

As you all know as any captain knows it's impossible to determine an adversary's intent without reading his or her mind. One can guess, perhaps even point that adversary toward a particular logical progression. But one can never say for sure.

For what seemed like an eternity, the pirates hung there in s.p.a.ce, neither attacking nor retreating. Sheel muttered something under her breath. Dunwoody drummed his fingers on his console.

And still the pirates didn't make a move.

Then, all of a sudden, Jaiya's ship peeled off. The other vessels followed him, one after another. And in seconds, they were gone.

Sturgis turned to Red Abby. "You did it, Captain."

She nodded. "He believed me when I said I wasn't going to give up without a fight. The only thing he was going to win was a cloud of s.p.a.ce debris, and it would have cost him a few ships to obtain it."

I glanced at Worf as we yielded our posts to Thadoc and the morning shift. The lieutenant was smiling. But then, he was a Klingon, and they appreciated bravado almost as much as a good battle.

"Resume course," Red Abby said. "Steady as she goes, Mr. Thadoc."

"Aye, Captain," the helmsman replied, working his controls.

I regarded Red Abby. Until that point, I had thought of her mainly as a means to an end, and not a particularly pleasant means at that. But after seeing her stand up to Jaiya and his pirates, I was forced to look at her in a new light.

I was also very much relieved. Had the pirates boarded the Daring as they had threatened to, Jaiya would almost certainly have recognized Worf and myself. And he wouldn't have hesitated for a moment to make the most of such valuable captives.

Worf and I entered the lift at the rear of the bridge and let its doors close behind us. As I programmed the mechanism for the deck where our quarters were located, my lieutenant turned to me and smiled. It was the same smile I had seen on his face a few moments earlier.

"She has the heart of a warrior," he said.

"Red Abby?" I responded, though I knew whom he meant.

"Yes," he said, his grin widening. "Red Abby."

I found myself forced to agree.

Worf and I went straight from the lift to our sleeping quarters. After all, we were rather weary by that time, not having slept since our departure from Mila.s.sos IV.

As captain of the Enterprise, I enjoyed an entire suite of private quarters. Not so on the Daring. Worf and I shared a single cabin with the same black metal bulkheads and green lighting globes that we had seen on the Daring's bridge. The place held six bunk beds and a replicator.

As it would turn out, the beds were never in use at the same time. At least half of our roommates were always on duty or about the ship at any given moment so though our accommodations were rather cramped, they never became crowded enough to seem intolerable.

That first morning, Worf and I had the place all to ourselves. We shared a bunk bed, I above and he below. I slept well, but not long five hours at most. And yet, my lieutenant was already awake when I opened my eyes.

We didn't discuss our mission, on the off chance we were being watched via some shipwide surveillance system. I didn't believe that was the case, but there was no reason to take chances.

Instead, we talked about breakfast. We didn't wish to draw any more attention to ourselves by getting involved in another brawl, but the thought of eating in our quarters was unappealing. In the end, we decided to revisit the mess hall.

Luck was with us. Corbis wasn't present, nor were his comrades, the Oord and the Thelurian. And though there were some other tough-looking crewmen seated here and there, they didn't make the slightest move to cross us. Perhaps word of our prowess had gotten around.

Or, more likely, word of the captain's wrath.

However, as we took our places in the replicator line, a voice cracked like a whip. "Hill," it snapped. "Mitoc."

It was Red Abby.

I looked up at the intercom grid. "Here, Captain."

"I want to see you," she said. "Both of you. In my quarters. Now."

Her tone spoke clearly of her impatience. Exchanging glances with my lieutenant, I wondered what had irked the woman.

"We're on our way," I a.s.sured her. Then Worf and I left the mess hall and took a lift to the appropriate deck.

The Klingon scowled as we emerged from the lift compartment. "I do not like this," he said under his breath. "Why would Red Abby have summoned us and no one else?"

"There's only one way to find out," I told him.

True enough.

Following the corridor, we came to the captain's quarters. A moment later, the door whispered open and we went inside.

The place was made of the same gray and black metals we had seen on the bridge and in our own quarters except here, there were no green globes to provide illumination. Instead, Red Abby had fitted the floor and ceiling with plain, white lighting strips.

The furnishings were simple as well, constructed of a hard, gray material with which I was not familiar. There was a bed, a desk, and a couple of chairs, nothing more.

Red Abby herself was standing in the center of the room but she wasn't alone. First Officer Astellanax was with her. So were Sturgis and Thadoc.

As the door closed behind us, I focused my attention on the captain. "Here we are," I said.

She nodded. "I can see that."

Suddenly, all three of her officers pulled their phasers from their belts. In accordance with what had obviously been a prearranged command, they trained them on us.

Apparently, Worf's instincts had been accurate. Unfortunately, I had waited too long to heed them.

I eyed Red Abby. "What's all this about?"

"Who are you really?" she asked me. She glanced at my lieutenant. "And who's your friend?"

"What do you mean?" I inquired.

Red Abby frowned. "When I was speaking with those pirates, I noticed you two moving away from me ... as if you didn't want to be recognized. That's not the behavior of men who have no enemies."

The situation could have been much worse, I thought. It seemed I had a chance of salvaging it if I worked quickly.

"All right," I said reasonably. "You've got us. But it's no big deal. We were Maquis operatives for a while until we had a run-in with some of our comrades in the movement."

"A run-in," she echoed.

"That's right. It was purely a philosophical rift no treachery involved on either part. Still, the Maquis know we could give them away. They'd sleep better at night if they could do away with us."

Red Abby weighed my "confession." Then, without warning, she pulled out her phaser, took a step forward, and pressed its barrel to my forehead.

For a moment, I thought she would activate it. At that range, almost any setting would be a kill setting. I could see Worf out of the corner of my eye, restraining himself as best he could.

Then Red Abby lowered her weapon. A moment later, she signaled for her officers to do the same.

"Get out of my quarters," she told us. "And if I find out either of you has lied to me again about this or anything else I'll kill you just as quickly as the Maquis would."

I a.s.sured her she wouldn't have occasion to do that. And taking Worf by the sleeve, I escorted him out of the captain's quarters.

It had been a close call for us. Nor would it be the only one we would have to endure.

Madigoor BO'TEX CHUCKLED. "AND what would you have done if this Red Abby of yours had sniffed out the truth?"

Picard shrugged. "At that point, I suppose, there wouldn't be much I could do except, perhaps, accept my fate."

"And what would that have been?" asked Dravvin.

"Yes," said Flenarrh, "what indeed? Would Red Abby have shot you in the brain, as she threatened?"

Hompaq looked at him disdainfully. "You heard Worf's a.s.sessment of her. The woman had the heart of a warrior. How could she have done otherwise?"

Robinson eyed Picard with a sly grin. "Well, Captain? Care to resolve the matter for us? Would she have shot you or not?"

Picard smiled back at him. "You asked for a proper story, did you not? As I recall, that requires me to reveal everything in good time and nothing before that time."

Robinson laughed. "Touche, my friend. By all means, proceed, and rest a.s.sured we'll vex you no more."

Picard accepted the promise in the spirit it was offered a rather ironic one, he thought and moved on.

"For a time," he related, "the Daring proceeded through the void without obstacle or incident. However, Red Abby continued to keep the details of our destination to herself."

"No doubt, a frustrating situation," Bo'tex commented.

"As you say," said Picard. "However, Worf and I trusted we would soon have the information we required. All we would have to do is play our parts and the pieces would fall into place."

Robinson harrumphed. "The best-laid plans of mice and men."

Dravvin looked at him. "I beg your pardon?"

"They oft go astray," Robinson explained, completing the saying.

"How right you are," Picard told his fellow human.

"And what made them go astray on the Daring?" asked the Captain of the Kalliope.

Picard smiled a tight smile. "A Galor-cla.s.s warship."

"Galor-cla.s.s?" Hompaq repeated. Her eyes narrowed beneath her brow ridge. "You ran into the Carda.s.sians?"

Picard grunted. "Much to our chagrin."

The Tale THE DAY AFTER Red Abby's reprimand, I took charge of the helm again despite whatever suspicions our captain may still have harbored about me. Perhaps she just wanted me where she could see me.

In any case, the first task I set myself was to conduct a long-range sensor sweep. Mind you, I never thought it would turn up a Carda.s.sian warship. I only wanted to see if Jaiya and his pirates were still on our trail.

Imagine my surprise when I saw something bigger and a lot more dangerous than Jaiya. The vessel was at a considerable distance, but it was clearly keeping pace with us.

"Carda.s.sians," I announced. "One ship. Galor-cla.s.s."

Sturgis switched to long-range sensor capability and studied his monitor. "Hill's right," he confirmed.

Red Abby straightened in the captain's chair. "On screen."

Sturgis ran his fingers over his controls. A moment later, the viewscreen filled with the sight of the warship. It looked like some great, tawny predator savoring the prospect of a kill.

And the kill it was savoring, no doubt, was us.

Red Abby bit her lip, none too happy with the spectacle. "Hail them," she said at last.

At the tactical station, Worf complied with the order. The seconds ticked off slowly.

"No response," he told the captain.

"Keep trying," Red Abby insisted.

I didn't like the odds. The Daring was an able ship, but not a fighter. On the best of days, she was no match for a Galor-cla.s.s warship. If the Carda.s.sians decided to attack ...

And then, it was no longer a matter of if.

"Captain," Worf called out suddenly. "The Carda.s.sians are accelerating to warp eight."

For a moment, I imagined he was speaking to me. Then I remembered where I was and what station I held there.

"Full power to the shields," said Red Abby.