STARFLEET ACADEMY: THE HAUNTED STARSHIP [065-ecomj]

By: BRAD AND KATHI FERGUSON

SYNOPSIS:

Geordi opened the access panel and looked around inside. his,‘allyes!-was, He withdrew a large, half-full package of fresh bread.

Geordi found a knife and two plates. He quickly made a couple of overstuffed sandwiches for himself and Hassan and set eveything on a tray. Hassan would be surprised, all right. Geordi left the galley and walked through officers” country, heading for the turbolift that would take him up to the bridge.

It was very quiet on Deck 2. His three off-duty shipmates were fast asleep. As he rounded a bend in the corridor, Geordi suddenly stopped cold.

Standing right in front of him was Captain Ikushima!

Geordi’s mouth opened in astonishment. The tray fell out of his nerveless hands with a crash.

Silently, the unsmiling Captain Ikushima slowly raised his arm and pointed straight at Geordi.

Star Trek: the Next Generation Star Trek: beep Space Nine STARFLEET ACADEMY 1 The Star (ihost 1 Worf’s First Adventure 2 Stowaways 2

Line of Fire 3 Prisoners of Peace 3 Survival bled The Pet bled Capture the Flag 5 Arcade 5 Atlantis Station 6 Field Trip 6 Mystery of the Missing Crew 7 Gypsy World 7 Secret of the Lizard People 8 Highest Score 8 Starfall 9 Cardassian Imps 9 Nova Command 10 Space Camp 10

Loyalties 11 Day of Honor: Honor 11 Crossfire Bound 12 Breakaway

The Haunted Starship Star Trek: Voyager

STARFLEET ACADEMY

Star Trek: STARFLEET ACADEMY 1 Lifeline 2 The Chance Factor 1 Crisis on Vulcan 3 Quarantine 2 Aftershock

3 Cadet Kirk Star Trek movie tie-ins

Star Trek Generations Star Trek First Contact

Available from MINSTREL Books

For orders other than by individual consumers, Pocket Books grants a discount on the purchase of 10 or more copies of single titles for special markets or premium use. For further details, please write to the Vice-President of Special Markets, Pocket Books, 1633 Broadway, New York, NY 10019-6785, 8th Floor.

For information on how individual consumers can place orders, please write to Mail Order Department, Simon and Schuster Inc 200 Old Tappan Road, Old Tappan, NJ 07675. at

The sale of this book without its cover is unauthorized. If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that it was reported to the publisher as “unsold and destroyed.” Neither the author nor the publisher has received payment for the sale of this “stripped book.”

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

A MINSTREL PAPERBACK Original

A Minstrel Book published by POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon and Schuster Inc. 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

Copyright at 1997 by Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved.

STAR TREK is a registered trademark of Paramount Pictures.

A IIACII IOIPINI

This book is published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon and Schuster Inc under exclusive license from Paramount Pictures.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY

ISBN: 0-671-01432-3

First Minstrel Books printing December

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I

A MINSTREL BOOK and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon and Schuster Inc. Cover art by Donato Giancola

Interior illustrations by Gordon Purcell

Printed in the U.s.a.

For Ann Crispin, who’s mostly responsible

CHAPTER

I

Bernardo O’Higgins Sanchez was in the main storage bay of the U.s.s.

Benjamin Franklin, carefully squeezing his way around the stacks of closely packed cargo modules. The small, powerfully built Sanchez had just finished checking the contents of the modules against the master list on his padd, and he hadn’t found a thing wrong. Starfleet Academy’s refitting crews had done their usual thorough job.

Inspecting the storage bay was the last item on Sanchez’s checklist.

Benjamin Franklin was ready to leave her berth at Spacedock. All she needed now was the members of her crew, and they’d be along shortly.

Sanchez left the storage bay and entered the ship’s turbolift.

“Transporter room,” he ordered, grabbing onto the handle that set the lift in motion. The short RI-DE gave hIm a chance to think. He had already been aboard for hours, busier than he’d ever been in his life, making sure that everything was in order. For the next couple of days, this was going to be his ship and his show, and he wasn’t going to let anything go wrong on this trip-not if he could help it. He smiled again.

No more simulations, no more practice runs with a Starfleet officer by his side. This was the real thing.

His first command!

The turbolift came to a halt, and its doors slid open onto Deck 3.

Ben’s transporter room was only a few meters down the corridor, and Sanchez’s communicator chirped for attention just as he entered the room.

“Benjamin Franklin here,” he said.

“Franklin, this isMcKenna,” came a young woman’s voice. “Ready to beam aboard.”

“Acknowledged. Stand by.” Sanchez turned to the compact transporter console. Ben might well be the oldest ship in Starfleet still on active duty, but her singleposition transporter, though small, was the very latest model. He touched the proper controls. “Energizing.”

SiobhanMcKenna appeared on the transporter pad.

The tall, blond cadet was carrying a small travel bag that contained her personal effects. “Reporting for duty, Captain Sanchez,” she said formally.

“Welcome aboard, CadetMcKenna,” Sanchez replied in the same serious tone. Then he grinned. “I’m glad you’re here, Siobhan,” he said, delighted to see his friend again.

“I wouldn’t have missed this little safari of yours for anything, Bernie,” she replied. “It’s getting harder and harder to squeeze in a few days spaceside, what

with the study schedule you and I have to maintain as seniors.”

“You’re not kidding,” Sanchez said. “To tell you the truth, I’ve been developing a good case of cabin fever. A little trip out to the asteroid belt might be just what the doctor ordered.”

“Anything I need to know right off?”

“No. I just finished eyeballing the supplies.” He handed Siobhan the padd. “Everything’s fine. We’re ready.”

“Good,” Siobhan said, looking at the display. After a moment, she said, “The manifest appears to be in order.”

“Spoken like a good first officer,” Sanchez said.

“I’m glad you concur. We’re ready to go, as soon as the others show up.”

“We’ll crowd “em aboard somehow,” Siobhan said dryly. She looked around. “I went over the specs, of course, but seeing things up close and personal is always different. This ship’s small” “I prefer to think of her as ‘snug,” was Sanchez said.

“These old Daedalus-class ships weren’t built very big, despite the fact that Ben was intended to carry a crew of more than two hundred.”

“That’s what it says in the specs, all right,” Siobhan said. “I still don’t believe it.”

“They didn’t waste a lot of space on creature comforts in those days.”

Sanchez patted a bulkhead.

“After all, these were the first starships ever built by Starfleet.

But there’s more than enough room for the five of us, even though eighty percent of the ship is shut down. Anyway, she’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

Slobhan grinned. “In love already, are we’!”

“I’ve waited a long time for this,” Sanchez said, suddenly very serious. “I want it to go right.”

“It will, Bernie. Don’t worry.”

The chirp came again. “Franklin here,” Sanchez answered.

“Trennek Sann to beam up.”

“Acknowledged. Energizing.”

A moment later, a blue-skinned Andorian cadet holding a rather large travel bag stood on the transporter pad. She glanced around and nodded. “Snug,” she said with quiet approval. “Reporting aboard, Captain Sanchez.”

“Welcome aboard, Cadet Sann,” Sanchez responded. “You can drop your bag over in that corner for now.”

“disThank you, sir.” The Andorian set her bag down on the deck with a heavy thump. “I may have overpacked.”

“I understand you’re at the top of your class in second-year premed, Cadet Sann,” Siobhan said.

“Congratulations.”

Trennek bowed her head in acknowledgment.

“Thank you, CadetMcKenna. For my part, I am pleased to make the acquaintance of one whose own standing among her fellow mathematics majors is so high.”

“000h, I think we’re bonding already.” Siobhan grinned. “For that, Sann, you may call me Siobhan.”

“Then, Shah-vahn, please call me Trennek.”

The communicator chirped again. “Ben Franklin here,” Sanchez called.

“Hassan elDallal here, requesting transport aboard.”

“Acknowledged,” Sanchez said. “Energizing.”

When he arrived, Hassan looked at the other three.

“I am pleased to meet you all,” he said, putting down his small bag and a compact tool kit. The third-year cadet from Earth spoke in precise, smooth tones. “It seems to have grown a tad crowded in here. Should I wait out in the corridor?”

“No need,” Sanchez said. “We’ll manage, but it’d probably be a good idea if you chucked your stuff outside. We’ve got one more warm body due aboard-was The communicator called for attention again. “Benjamin Franklin,” answered Sanchez.

“La Forge here, Franklin,” came a voice. “Ready to beam aboard.”

“Stand by, Cadet La Forge,” said Sanchez, fiddling with the transporter controls. “Just tweaking things here a bit.”

“La Forge?” Hassan asked. “I have not met him yet, but I am looking forward to it. I understand he shows great promise.”

“That’s why he’s here,” said Sanchez, nodding as he worked. “Commander Brown, no less, wants to see what La Forge can do in the field.”

Siobhan whistled. “The head of Academy command training himself,” she said. “Well, well. So that’s why we drew a plebe.”

“Right,” Sanchez said. “Special circumstances. Besides, like me, La Forge is a Starfleet brat. Knows his way around a ship and protocol.

Both his parents are still on active duty, as a matter of fact-ah, that’s got

it. Frtinklin here, Cadet La Forge. Sorry t’OF the delay.

Energizing now.”

Geordi materialized on the transporter pad. He smiled and said, “Hello, everyone. Glad to be aboard.”

“Glad you could make it, Cadet La Forge,” Sanchez said. “You can drop your bag and tool kit Just on the other side of that door-that’s right.

Everyone-this is Geordi La Forge, first-year cadet and assistant engineer for this mission. Geordi, meet SiobhanMcKenna.

She’s our first officer and navigator.”

“Pleased to meet you, Geordi,” she said, smiling.

“Likewise, Slobhan.”

Sanchez then indicated the Andorian. “Trennek Sann here is our communications officer and medical officer.”

“Greetings, Geordl,” Trennek said. “I look forward to serving with you.”

“Why, thank you, Trennek,” Geordi said. “I feel the same way.”

Sanchez indicated Hassan. “And this is Hassan elDallal, our chief engineer. You’ll be working for him.”

“With me,” Hassan said. “Welcome, Geordi.”

“Pleased to meet you, Hassan.”

Sanchez spoke up. “You’ve each been assigned separate quarters along officers” row. That’s Deck Two, forward, on this ship. Your names are on the doors.

Take five minutes to stow your gear and get settled, and then report to the officers’ galley for a short briefing. The galley is also on Deck Two. Just follow the signs.”

“A galley, of all things,” Trennek said. “Isn’t that

7

old-fashioned? I’ll miss having a replicator available, even if it’s only for a little while.”

“We’re going to be roughing it this trip, Sann,” Sanchez told her. “No creature comforts. Packaged rations, recirculated air, canned water.

Just like the pioneers. You’ll love it. Trust me.”

,.yes, sir,” Trennek said. She looked a little unhappy.

“Right, then,” Sanchez said briskly. “I want everyone in the galley in four and a half minutes.

Dismissed.”

a

CHAPTER

Geordi stood before a freshly painted door in officers’ country on Deck 2. There was a little sign with his name on it, just as promised:

2A-05

LA FORGE, G.

ASSISTANT ENGINEER U.s2.s. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN NCC-01 3

The sign made Geordi feel proud. He was officially part of the crew aboard a starship! Geordi was deter 9

nned to do as good a job as he could. to he better than he had ever been before. There were people who believed in him-his parents, his teachers, his frsand he wanted to Justify their belief.

“Better hurry, Geordi,” came a voice from up the corridor. “Only three minutes left until the briefing.”

“Eh?” Geordi turned, startled. It was Siobhan, standing at the door to her own quarters, which were closer to the bridge. She was about to go inside.

“Oh,” Geordi said. “Yeah. I was just thinking.”

“That’s a commendable trait in an assistant engineer,” she replied.

“However, so is punctuality.”

“I won’t be late,” Geordi assured her.

“Good,” Siobhan told him. Her tone softened.

“Your name does look pretty wonderful the first time you see it like that, doesn’t it? Better get a move on, though.”

Geordi smiled. “Yes, ma’am,” he said as the door slid aside for him.

The interior lights came on automatically as Geordi entered the room.

From the ship’s drawings he had studied, Geordi knew that, long ago, this small room had been shared by Benjamin Franklin’s chief weapons officer and its chief engineer. Geordi whistled softly. He thought it must have been pretty crowded in here back then. The second bunk had long since been removed, of course, but things still seemed tight.

Geordi dropped his effects just inside the door. He looked around.

Then he stood in the middle of the room and stretched his arms out to either side of him, as far as he could. He could almost touch the opposite walls. He grinned. Things are pretty cramped, but that “i 0

doesn’t matter. The.v’re o.flic-erv” qlitirters, (itid tlic-yea”re mine.

Geordi made a quick inspection of what would be his home for the next two days. There was a standard cadet study module, complete with a computer interface that would let him tap into Ben’s library banks, or into the much bigger banks back at the Academy.

A small storage area for personal effects was set into the bulkhead next to the bunk. Off to the side was a very small room with a sonic shower, sink, and toilet.

There were just two pieces of art on the flat gray walls: a rather impressive holograph of Benjamin Franklin in flight, and a small, dignified portrait of Benjamin Franklin, the American statesman and philosopher for whom the ship had been named. The picture of the ship had a single, bold word printed beneath it, in the margin: Outstanding!

Geordi wondered why someone had written that right on the holograph.

Time was growing short. Geordi placed his personal bag in the storage bay and, taking his engineer’s tool kit along, left his quarters and headed quickly down the corridor to the galley.

All five members of Ben’s complement seated themselves around the long table in the officers” galley.

The lights had been dimmed by about half. A small holoprojector had been placed in the center of the table, and its emitter was aimed at the smooth, gunmetal-gray ceiling. As Sanchez began working the holoproj jector controls, the four others looked up.

Suddenly the ceiling went dead black, and thousands of stars appeared.

It looked as if a giant hand

had peeled Ben’s hull like a banana, exposing the galley to raw space.

Even though Geordi knew better, the picture above him looked so real that he shivered, in spite of himself. It looks cold out there!

Geordi hoped no one else had noticed him shiver. He didn’t want to look foolish in front of his shipmates.

The stars above them began to move from left to right and then down, at first slowly and then more quickly. It was as if Ben were somehow doing a cartwheel, despite still being tied firmly to her berth in Spacedock. Siobhan gripped the edge of the table with her right hand, as if to keep from falling out of her chair.

“I feel a bit dizzy,” Hassan admitted.

Sanchez grinned. “So do I, a little-and I’m the one who’s running this thing. The holoprojector is skewing around to the part of space I want us to look at. I have to keep telling myself that the rolling of the ship is only an optical illusion, but it doesn’t do much good.

Ah, here we go.”

The picture above them stopped moving. Then it zoomed in to reveal a long, thick line of floating rocks and boulders of various sizes.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Sanchez announced, “I give you the asteroid belt-or, rather, a very small segment of it. The area you’re looking at is going to be our home over the next couple of days. Although there are some huge gaps around the Belt, much of our sector is relatively thick with asteroids, so we’ll have plenty of them to study.

CadetMcKenna, please continue.”

“As you already know,” Siobhan said, “we’ll be “l 2

doing a routine mapping survey of our assigned sector of the Belt. Our sensors will automatically gather data on every asteroi ‘d we encounter, and we can do special studies of any we find to be particularly interesting.

The ship will be put on autopilot, and we’ll fly a crisscrossing, looping pattern around and through our sector. This will give us maximum coverage.”

“Will anyone be going outside?” Trennek asked.

“Yes,” Siobhan replied. “We’ll be gathering mineral samples from the more interesting asteroids for analysis back at the Academy. We’ll also be placing navigational beacons on some of the bigger rocks out there so their orbits can be monitored by Starfleet.”

“Is there a watch schedule?” Hassan inquired.

“I’ll have one posted before lunch,” Siobhan replied. “Anything else?

No? All right. Thanks for your attention.”

“Thank you, Number One,” Sanchez said. “La Forge, why don’t you enlighten us a bit about the Belt?”

Geordi cleared his throat. He had studied up on this for the last week. “Sir,” he said, “the local asteroid belt is typical of similar structures found in a small number of other star systems. Most of the Belt lies in an orbit roughly four hundred million kilometers from the Sun, between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter.”

“How many asteroids are there?” asked Sanchez.

Geordi quoted his Academy textbook from memory. “There are an estimated one billion asteroids of significant size in the Belt,” he recited, “and fewer than one in ten thousand has been catalogued.

The

I 4

asteroids range in size from the biggest one, which is named Ceres and is more than a thousand kilometers in diameter, to big rocks just a meter across.” Geordi held his hands that far apart. “Anything smaller than this doesn’t really count.”

“You’d think it did, if one came crashing through your hull,” Siobhan observed. “Those puppies travel fast.”

“Nothing like that will happen to us,” Sanchez reassured them. “This ship is shielded.

Besides, the Belt just isn’t that dangerous. Those rocks out there aren’t stacked together like some big stone fence in space.

They’re sometimes hundreds of kilometers apart.

Even the twentieth-century Pioneer and Voyager probes made it through the Belt without harm, and they didn’t have any shields at all.”

“The Belt is very interesting to me,” Trennek said.

his, m glad to be going there. Asteroid belts are relatively rare, you know. We certainly have nothing like this back home in our local star group.”

“The Belt is so big that it’s largely unexplored”” Sanchez reminded him. “There was a time, years ago, when thousands of miners from Earth lived and worked in the Belt. It contains a vast amount of raw materials, especially metals, which were pretty easy to get to with old-fashioned methods. We don’t have to mine for those materials anymore, thanks to replicators, so no one lives in the Belt now. A few researchers stop by every so often. Once in a while, people like us do, too.”

“It does look pretty lonely out there,” Siobhan observed. “I’d like to have seen the Belt back in the

early days. They say Ceresville used to he quite a place before it became a ghost town. It was supposed to be a lot like the Ancient West.”

“I’m sorry,” Trennek interrupted, puzzled. “A “ghost town”? Do you mean a settlement actually inhabited by spirits of the dead? I find that a bit hard to believe.”

“So would I,” Siobhan replied. “It’s *j an Earth term for a deserted town, a place no one’s lived in for many years. Ceresville was the biggest settlement in the Belt when the miners were here. No one lives there now, though, and that’s all I meant. There’s no such things as ghosts.”

“There are a lot of stories, though,” Geordi said.

“For instance-was Sanchez held up a hand. “I’m as interested in this sort of thing as the next person,” he said, “but now’s not the time.

La Forge, use the study module in your quarters to brief yourself on the history of this ship and the history of the Belt, with special attention to the history of Ceresville. Following dinner tonight, you’ll give the rest of us a report summarizing your findings. Keep in mind that you may discover the two histories have something in common.”

“Aye, sir,” Geordi said. He didn’t mind the extra research. History, especially Starfleet history, fascinated him.

Hassan was gazing at the asteroids pictured above him. “Some say the asteroids are a planet that was never born,” he said.

“Excuse me, Hassan?” Sanchez asked.

“I beg your pardon, sir,” the engineer apologized.

“i 6

“was referring to the prevailing theory of how the Belt came to be.”

“Oh. Well, why not remind all of us about it”!”

“Of course, sir,” Hassan said. “Long ago, in the eighteenth century, Earth mathematicians calculated that there should be a planet located between Mars and Jupiter. Of course, everyone thought there was nothing there, but astronomers began to look more closely with their telescopes anyway, Just in case. That is when the largest asteroids were discovered. Later, scientists came to believe that the presence of Jupiter, the largest planet in Earth’s star system, actually kept a planet that was supposed to be there from forming.”

“And how might that have happened?” Sanchez prompted.

“The material that was supposed to gather together to build the planet kept getting dragged apart by Jupiter’s vast gravity field,” Hassan answered. “As a resuit, the Belt is just a lot of wreckage and trash that never managed to put itself together. The asteroids are little pieces of what might once have become a planet, but now can never be.”

“That is really quite poetic,” Trennek said. “Quite sad, as well. A stillborn planet.”

“There used to be other theories, too,” Siobhan chimed in. “All wrong, of course. One had it that a planet actually did form, but that it exploded for some unknown reason. Some people even believed the planet was blown apart during an attack by aliensbut just which aliens, nobody ever said. Silly.”

Sanchez nodded. “The Belt is an interesting enough place as it is. We could explore it for the next million “l 7

years and still not know all there is to know about it.”

Suddenly, he grinned. “As far as I’m concerned, that makes it the perfect place to spend the weekend.”

“Hear, hear,” chimed in Siobhan. “You’d never think that something so close to home could be so exotic, and remain so unknown.”

“The Belt is not very close to my home,” Trennek said softly, “but that should make it even more of an adventure, don’t you think?”

“That it should,” Sanchez agreed firmly. “All right, then. Attention to orders. Communications officer, you’ll handle getting our final clearance from Spacedock Control.”

“Aye, sir,” Trennek acknowledged.

“Engineering, I’m going to want three-quarter impulse from here all the way to the Belt.”

“Aye, sir,” Hassan answered for both him and Geordi. “We shall be ready.”

“Good. First officer, I’ll want a direct course to our assigned sector.”

Siobhan closed her eyes for a moment as she did a rough calculation of the course in her head. “The course and speed you’ve ordered will put us at our destination a bit more than twenty minutes after we leave Spacedock,” she said. “Is that acceptable, Captain?”

With that word, Sanchez seemed to stand a little taller. He nodded.

“That will do fine, Number One,” he said firmly. “All hands report to your stations.

Begin departure routine. I want to be ready to clear Spacedock not later than ten minutes from now.”

CHAPTER

Geordi and Hassan were standing together in front of the main console in Benjamin Franklin’s small engineering room. “Look at these controls,” Geordi marveled. “I never thought I’d see such modern equipment in this old a ship. These automatics are cutting-edge stuff.”

“It is all rather fine and fancy, is it not?” Hassan said, smiling.

“I have seen this equipment only in simulations. It will be a pleasure to work with it.” He tapped a rapid series of commands into his padd, which was linked into the main console. “Ah, the impulse engines are warming up nicely. We will be ready when the captain gives the word.”

Geordi took a moment to look around him. “How do you think they ever fit a chief engineer and a full ‘i 9

I ays”!” he asked Hilssan.

CF-EW n here, back *tion the o (i (i “There’s hardly enough room for just us two.”

“It was not nearly as crowded then as you might think,” the older cadet replied. “It must have been tight, yes, but there was a great deal less monitoring equipment installed in here originally. They did not have anything like the automatic systems we have today. Basically speaking, this ship will fly herself and take care of her own needs, with Just a little bit of help from the two of us. We could never manage to perform the duties of an entire engineering staff, of course, even on a small ship such as this-not even if both of us worked all three watches, every day.”

Geordi nodded. “I understand that, but I guess I was hoping for a little more of an engineering challenge during this trip.”

Hassan chuckled. “Oh. I have been fortunate enough to be taken along on missions that offer intensive training in many starship disciplines, including engineering. Such missions last for weeks, perhaps months, and they are led by Starfleet officers, not senior Academy cadets. No doubt you’ll be offered a berth on one of those before very long.

You’ll find a great deal of challenge there, let me assure you.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Of course.” Hassan nodded. He glanced again at his padd and nodded with satisfaction. Everything was fine so far. “t was going to say that Ben is an excellent vessel for short-duration missions such as these,” he continued. “Her top speed of warp two was impressive when she was built almost two hundred years ago, but it makes her impractical for long interstellar flights

20

today. She can’t be fitted with modern warp engines, either, as her frame was not designed for the stress of high-speed travel. She’s still useful, though, so we cadets get to use Ben for short-duration flights, for training purposes.”

“And the Academy doesn’t want to assign a couple of hundred cadets to a long-term training mission,” Geordi guessed, “so they load these old ships with automatic systems?”

“Precisely,” Hassan said, nodding. “These short missions are a good idea for another reason, too. They allow seniors to escape the Academy for a weekend.

Starfleet knows that there is no one quite so restless as a senior who is approaching graduation. These missions put all that energy to good, practical use. Have the warp core self-diagnostics finished running yet?”

Geordi took a quick look at his own padd. “Almost done,” he replied.

“I understood we wouldn’t be needing warp drive on this trip, though.”

Hassan pursed his lips. “True-but I think you can take it for granted that if Captain Sanchez desires to go to warp, he is going to want to do so at once. As we are staying well within the boundaries of the local star system, engaging the warp drive would be done only in case of an extreme emergency. Captain Sanchez is not going to want to wait for us to run the self-diagnostic routine then, oh no.”

Geordi nodded. “I see.”

“You must always be ready,” Hassan went on.

“Keeping everything on the ship running is only half the job, Geordi.

The main job of a starship’s chief engineer is to be as prepared as possible for anything 2 “l

that might happen. ‘That’s what a chiet” cliginceF’So captain wants most of all. Give your captain that, and you will have a job for life.” , Hassan consulted his padd’s display. “Everything’s set,” he said with satisfaction. “comWe are ready to go, and with more than two minutes to spare.” Hassan tapped his communicator.

“Engineering to Captain.”

“Sanchez here, Chief.”

“We are ready, sir.”

“Excellent, Hassan. Can you spare your assistant for a while?”

Hassan glanced at Geordi. “I believe so, sir.”

“Good. La Forge, please report to the bridge. I think you should be on deck to observe our departure.”

Geordi grinned. “I’m on my way, Captain.”

The bridge of the Benjamin Franklin was smaller in scale than those of more modern ships, but the three cadets on duty there hardly noticed.

Sanchez was sitting in the command chair, trying to look confident and assured. Trennek and Siobhan were seated at the navigation console, located directly in front of Sanchez. There was so little extra room that Sanchez’s knees were almost touching the backs of their chairs.

“Look at how we’re sitting, the three of us,” said Siobhan. “I feel like I’m on the Academy bobsiedding team.”

“That’s some mountain we’ve got here,” Sanchez observed.

“Communications, any word yet on our clearance?”

“No, sir,” replied Trennek. “Outgoing traffic is exceedingly heavy at the moment, but it’s moving.

22

Spacedock Control is not reporting any undue deltivs.

However, as we are a training mission, we have been assigned a low priority for departure.”

“It’s all this weekend traffic,” Siobhan said. “I hate rush hours.”

The turbolift doors to the bridge opened. “La Forge reporting as ordered, sir,” Geordi announced with great formality.

“Find a spot and stay there, Geordi,” Sanchez said.

‘Enjoy the show.”

“Thank you, sir.” Geordi found a place at the science officer’s station. There was no longer a seat there, so he leaned back against the console, trying to stay out of everyone’s way.

The forward view on the bridge screen showed the interior of Spacedock.

Hundreds of spacecraft of all sorts, large and small, dotted the interior surface of the huge orbiting structure. Every few seconds, a ship crossed their field of view. Sometimes it was only a far-off point of light, but occasionally one would sail by closely enough for them to read the writing on her hull.

“Beautiful,” breathed Geordi.

They watched as U.s.s. Independence drifted by on thrusters and suddenly swung about, positioning herself for departure. “Now there’s a starship!” Siobhan said enviously. “Ambassador-class. What a sight!”

“I would like to be on our way,” Trennek said, “but we really do have a marvelous view of things here.

I’ve never visited Spacedock before.”

“I have,” Sanchez said. “I’ve been here often, even before I entered the Academy. The first time was

when I was almost five years old. My mom brought me and my kid sister up here to see off the Enterprise, the one they usually call Enterprise-C. My dad had been assigned aboard. Starfleet invited the surviving personnel from the first Enterprise to the departure ceremony, and I got to meet some of them later, at the reception. I remember there was this old doctor, a real character-was “I’m sorry to interrupt,” Trennek said, ,b Spacedock Control is clearing us for departure-oh, my.”

“What is it?” Sanchez asked.

“Control is generously giving us a twelve-second window to be on our way. We’re to follow Independence out the hatch and peel away immediately thereafter. U.s.s. Ohio will be seconds behind us. ‘Stay out of the way of everybody else, kid,” is the way the controller phrased it. He didn’t sound very happy.”

Siobhan’s hands were already flying over her navigation controls. “Got it, Captain,” she said briskly. “I can eyeball the roll when the time comes. Laid in. All set. Awaiting your orders, sir.”

Sanchez took a breath. “Stand by. Bridge to engineering. Here we go, gentlemen.”

“Aye, sir,” came Hassan’s steady voice.

“Helm, cast off,” Sanchez continued. “Follow Independence out on thrusters. Maintain proper distance. Be ready to go to impulse as soon as we clear Spacedock.”

“Aye, sir.” Under pressure from her thrusters, Ben began floating gently away from her berth as Siobhan cut the tractor beams that had been holding her there.

As Ben came about, the huge stern of the Indepen

24

dence suddenly filled the screen. They began following her closely.

“She looks just like my dad’s ship did,” Sanchez said softly.

“It’s a good omen for us, Bernie,” Slobhan told him.

“Yes. Yes, it is,” Sanchez replied. “Put the aft view on screen, Sann,” he added briskly. “Let’s take a look at the Ohio.”

“Aft view on screen, sir.”

They watched as the Excelsior-class starship seemed to bear down on them. “She’s a big one, all right,” Siobhan said. “I’d hate to get bumped by a thing like that.”

“I trust you’ll make sure that won’t happen, MeKenna,” Sanchez said.

“I’ll do my best, sir,” Siobhan returned dryly.

“Incoming message from Ohio, Captain,” Trennek reported. “They know we’re busy. It’s short: “Take good care of her for me, Captain, and smooth sailing.

Outstanding! Signed, Manning, Class of “32, commanding Ohio.” Any reply?”

“Yes. Send: “Will do, Captain. May the wind be at your backs.

Signed, Sanchez, Class of “54, commanding Benjamin Franklin.” End message.” Sanchez grinned.

He suddenly felt ten meters tall. “Man, that made my day,” he said.

“Return the view forward, please, Sann.”

“We’re approaching the gate, Captain,” Siobhan reported. She consulted her board quickly. “Once we’ve left Spacedock, we’ll have a narrow clearance through traffic at 143 mark

7.”

“Fine. Lock that in and peel awely at my signal.”

All concentration, Sanchez leaned forward in his chair as Ben followed Independence through Spacedock’s main gate. Earth suddenly appeared below them, framing the larger starship in bright blue light.

“We’re clear, sir,” Siobhan said.

“Do it!” Sanchez commanded, and Siobhan had Ben make a quick, neat roll onto her departure course.

Geordi watched the screen as Ben slipped past dozens of ships of all sizes. Some of them seemed to come pretty close to Ben-perhaps a little too close. Geordi whistled softly as a big freighter lumbered out of their way just in time.

When the twelve seconds were up, the forward view skewed sharply away from Earth and slowly righted itself again as Siobhan established Ben’s outbound course to the Belt. The main screen showed only stars before them.

“On course at three-quarter impulse, Captain,” Siobhan reported.

“Everything nominal. We’ll arrive at our assigned sector in twenty-three minutes.”

Trennek gulped. “Your remark about bobsledding was not entirely misplaced, Shah-vahn,” she said.

“That was an interesting twelve seconds, to be sure.”

“Time to get down to business,” Sanchez announced. “Captain to engineering.”

“Engineering here, sir.”

“If everything down there is secure, Hassan, I’d like you to relieve me on the bridge.”

“Aye, Captain.”

“Sir?” Geordi began. “May I ask a question?”

Sanchez swiveled in his seat to face Geordi. “Go ahead.”

“Captain, what’s the significance of the word outstanding? It seems to have something to do with Ben, but I don’t know what. Captain Manning used it in his message to you, and it’s written under a picture of the ship in my quarters.”

“Let’s talk about that later,” Sanchez said. “We have other business right now. Feel like taking a close look at some rocks, La Forge?”

“Yes, sir,” Geordi replied. “I certainly do.”

“Good. Report to the suit-up room on Deck Five.

I’ll be joining you there shortly.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Cadet Sann, you come along as well,” Sanchez added. “You’re going to go outside with us.”

“Yes, sir!” Trennek said enthusiastically.

CHAPTER

Sanchez, Geordi, and Trennek soared effortlessly around an asteroid, carefully threading their way through and around the gigantic crags in its sometimes jagged and always broken surface. The distance they kept from the surface of the flying mountain was a careful balance of their desire to inspect the asteroid closely and the need to proceed in safety. Benjamin Franklin sat in space just half a kilometer away, her white hull glowing brightly in raw sunlight.

Wearing and using a spacesuit correctly and efflciently was second nature to Geordi, who’d first put one on at the age of five. Geordi always felt a certain thrill in venturing through an airlock and going outside a ship, with nothing between him and the raw vacuum of space but an air recycler and a few thin

layers of spacesuit material. The canned air Geordi was breathing had a sharp, cold tang that his suit’s heaters could not quite conquer. He liked it, though.

The chill reminded him of the times he would go camping overnight on Earth with family or friends.

They’d all wake up with the sun on a brisk autumn morning, and someone would start a fire for breakfast.

“Careful there, La Forge.” It was Sanchez, over the communicator link.

“You’re getting a little too close to the surface.”

“Yes, sir,” Geordi replied, abashed. Quickly, he boosted the power to his personal thruster pack and increased his altitude over the asteroid by ten meters.

“Try not to get too bedazzled by all the wonder, La Forge,” Sanchez cautioned. “What can you tell me so far about our asteroid here?”

“and Captain,” Geordi began, “tricorder readings indicate-was “No, Geordi,” Sanchez interrupted. “Forget the tricorder for now. Instruments are fine, but I want you to tell me what you see.”

“Oh.” Geordi looked closely at the terrain as the three of them flew over it together. “I see a big, jagged rock the size of a small mountain on Earth. There are hills and valleys, and I can even see shallow caves.

My VISOR detects the color equivalents of mineral deposits-grays, mostly, but there’s also some brown and a kind of muddy yellow.

There’s a lot of iron and nickel contained in this one.”

“That’s right,” Sanchez said. “What else do you see?”

“It looks like someone’s hit the asteroid over and

over again with a gigantic sledgehammer,” Geordi said. “There are places where huge amounts of material have been broken off the asteroid in collisions.

The scars look like raw wounds. There are other places that look old, smooth, and worn.”

“That smoothness is caused by erosion,” Sanchez said. “There’s a lot of dust flying around in the Belt, and an asteroid is always getting hit by it. Our spacesuits are built to withstand the dust, of course.

Every so often, a cloud of dust will collide at high speed with an asteroid, and part of the asteroid gets sandblasted.”

“I see a crater,” Trennek said suddenly. “A big one.

There’s melted rock all around it. It must have been caused by a collision.”

“Right,” Sanchez said. “Collisions between asterol ‘ds can generate enormous amounts of heat, more than enough to melt rock. The asteroids involved might shatter into smaller ones, and their orbits can be changed significantly. Sometimes an asteroid is hurled right out of the Belt, and it takes up a new orbit that brings it much closer to the sun. Those are the asteroids Starfleet keeps a careful eye on, because it’s possible that one could collide with an inner planet-Mars, Earth, Venus, or Mercury.”

“Does this asteroid have a name?” Trennek asked.

“No,” Sanchez answered. “Like most asteroids, this one’s never been catalogued, so it’s never been assigned a number or a name. You were at the helm, Trennek, so you spotted it first. By tradition, the discoverer gets the honor of naming the asteroid. It’s all yours, if you want it.” He paused. “This rock’s big

enough to be worth a line in the catalog, that’s for sure.”

“Thank you, sir.” Trennek thought for a moment.

“Malakeh, then. For my mother.”

was Excellent. Now send the registration for this asteroid through our computer to Starfleet Records, and get it confirmed. For now, though .

. .” From the belt on his suit, Sanchez took out what looked like a large pistol, aimed it at the asteroid, and fired it squarely into the surface. A small projectile burrowed into the rock. Sanchez drifted backward with the recoil, but he used his personal thruster pack to resume his position near the other two cadets. “How was that, La Forge?” he asked.

Geordi looked at his tricorder. “Beacon functioning, sir. Orbital data coming in.”

Trennek spoke up. “Captain, Starfleet Records confirms this asteroid has been registered

Malakeh.”

“We just missed a round number,” Sanchez said.

“Darn it. I’d snap my fingers, if I could.”

“Captain?” Geordi broke in. “Tricorder readings indicate another, smaller asteroid close by, but the bearing …”

“Yes?”

“It seems to be tracking us, sir. That’s crazy. It must be a ghost reading.”

Geordi and Trennek heard Sanchez chuckle. “Oh, we’ve found a good old rock here, all right. La Forge, take another look at those readings, with an eye to the data you’ve already recorded on Malakeh here.”

“Hmmm,” Geordi said under his breath. “They

seem to be virtually the same-hey! Now this is interesting. Trennek, this asteroid of yours has a nlooli.”

“I’m reading it,” Trennek confirmed. “The moon is about one-hundredth the size of the big asteroid. It’s in a nearly circular orbit around Malakeh at a distance of about sixty-five kilometers. Malakeh’s moon is too small for us to see from here with the naked eye, but the tricorder picks it right up-mnce you know what to look for. Captain, I didn’t know asteroids could have moons.”

“They’re not uncommon,” Sanchez said. “These little moons tend not to last very long, though. They get pulled out of orbit by other, bigger asteroids, or they eventually collide with something and shatter.

We’re lucky to have found one.”

“Does Geordi get to name this moon, Captain?”

Trennek asked. “After all, he’s the one who found it.”

“I’m afraid not,” Sanchez replied. “Asteroid moons don’t get special names. They’re catalogued under the names of the asteroids they orbit, and they’re assigned a letter of the alphabet. Since the moon Geordi found is the only one Malakeh has, it’ll be called Malakeh-a.

They do the same thing for moons orbiting planets, too.

Big or small, moons are all the same to Starfleet-was Suddenly Trennek cried out, and then the other two cadets heard nothing but a rush of static over the communicator band.

“Trennek? Trennek!” called Sanchez, looking around him. “Where is she? She’s disappeared!”

“Walt a minute, Captain,” Geordi said, pointing away from the asteroid.

“There she is-heading out into open space at high speed. She’s tumbling out of control. There’s a large plume of gas coming from her

air recycler. It’s pushing her away from us like a little rocket.

Can’t you see it?”

“No. I can’t even spot Trennek. That VISOR of yours sure is handy.

Ben, are you listening?”

“Aye, sir. This isMcKenna. We’re tracking Trennek on sensors. She’s still alive, but she’s losing air fast.”

“Fine. Get a transporter lock on her and-was “Bernie, we can’t get a lock! There’s some sort of magnetic interference close by-probably from the metal in that asteroid you’ve been inspecting. If we try to beam Trennek aboard, we’ll probably kill her.

We’ll have to chase her and pick her up. Hassan is heading for the suit-up room now-was Geordi interrupted. “Begging your pardon, sir, but we can get to Trennek using our thruster packs faster than the ship can get under way. Trennek’s losing air too quickly for us to wait.”

“I agree. Siobhan, we’re going to pursue Trennek ourselves. Keep an eye on what we’re doing and be in position to pick us up when we’ve got her. Understand?”

“Aye, sir.”

“La Forge, you’re the one who can see her. I presume you’ve figured out some sort of a course?”

“Yes, sir,” Geordi replied. “If we point ourselves in that direction and head out on full thrusters, we’ll catch up with Trennek within a minute.”

“No time to waste. I’ll follow you closely. Let’s go.”

“Aye, sir.” Carefully, both cadets positioned themselves with quick, brief bursts from their thruster packs. “On my mark, Captain,” Geordi said. “Three, two, one, mark!” Geordi pulled back hard on the thruster unit handgrip and felt a kick in the small of

his back as the unit fired up. Instantly, Geordi felt himself go from weightlessness to his normal weight and more, as his acceleration increased. He looked ahead for Trennek, found her-and saw that the plume of air from her recycler was gone.

“I think she’s run out of air, Captain,” Geordi said.

“She’s passed out, Bernie,” Siobhan reported.

“Geordi’s right about the air. Sensors say her air recycler is empty.

Trennek’s living off the air that’s left in her suit, and there isn’t much of that left.”

Almost without thinking, Geordi made short, swift motions with his handgrip control. He increased his speed even more, feeling himself grow even heavier, but he kept himself on course and on target. Geordi was flying by instinct.

“Siobhan,” Geordi called, “I want us to match Trennek’s course and speed as closely as possible when we catch up with her. The captain and I need to know exactly when to fire our retros.”

“I’m way ahead of you, Geordi. It’ll be rough-a three-gee burst for eleven seconds. I’ll give you the cue.”

“Standing by, Siobhan.”

“On my count, then-three, two, one, fire!”

Geordi pushed his handgrip control full forward, and his stomach did a flip-flop as the thruster unit quickly turned him end over end. The blast that followed made the first one seem like the kiss of a spring wind. Geordi felt as if three people his own size had suddenly jumped on top of him and were trying to push him through a floor that was as hard as stone. It became very difficult to breathe. The entire universe turned red and seemed full of haze.

Now that Geordi had turned over and was facing the way he’d come, he could see Sanchez again, very close by. True to his word, the senior cadet had kept right up with him.

Throughout all this, Siobhan had been counting off the seconds.

“Eight, nine, ten, eleven, and shutdown!” she cried, and Geordi and Sanchez instantly cut their deceleration to zero.

The two cadets looked around quickly. Trennek was floating in space near them, drifting slowly away at a distance of about ten meters.

They caught up to her in seconds. Sanchez got a good grip on the utility belt of Trennek’s spacesuit and, with quick blasts of his own thrusters, stopped her tumbling. With him holding on tight, she wouldn’t drift away again.

“We’ve got her, Siobhan,” Sanchez called. “Is the transporter operational yet?”

“Negative, Captain. However, I’ll have Ben in position for pickup within sixty seconds.”

“Acknowledged.” Through her faceplate, Sanchez could see that Trennek was unconscious and breathing very shallowly. The Andorian’s normally blue face had turned a dark green due to a lack of oxygen. Sanchez realized that one of the air supply hoses on Trennek’s suit was no longer attached to her air recycler and was floating limply behind her.

The end of the hose was ragged, as if it had been torn out of the air recycler by an unseen hand. The fail-safes in the recycling unit had sealed it off from the vacuum of space, but not before Trennek had lost almost all of the air in her suit during that one explosive moment.

“We can’t wait for Ben to get here,” Sanchez told

Geordi. “We have to get some air to Trennek right away. How much do you have”?”

“I’ve got just over half my reserves left, sir.”

“That’s more than me. Turn around and let me at your air recycler.

I’m going to buddy you two up.”

Geordi blipped his thrusters rapidly on and off, spinning himself around so Sanchez could reach the emergency module at the base of the younger cadet’s air recycling unit. He thumbed a red triangular switch, and a small access door popped open. This exposed a control panel, into which was inset a shiny gold nozzle about the size of Sanchez’s thumb. Sanchez reached in carefully and drew out the nozzle, extending two meters of long, thin hose. He jammed the nozzle into the emergency port of Trennek’s air recycling unit, and Geordi’s unit automatically began feeding welcome air to Trennek. She would share Geordi’s air until they could all get back aboard Ben.

Sanchez and Geordi watched as Trennek’s color began changing back to blue. After a moment, her eyes fluttered open. They could see that Trennek was trying to say something, but her communicator was out.

Geordi held up a hand and gestured. Everything’s all right. Stay calm.

A few seconds later, Benjamin Franklin loomed up and glided to a halt right beside them. The outer airlock door to Deck 5 opened. With the still groggy Trennek braced between them, Geordi and Sanchez hit their thrusters and headed toward the hatch.

CHAPTER

“I’m fine, I tell you,” Trennek said. She was sitting up, her legs hanging over the side of one of the beds in Ben’s sickbay. Her shipmates were gathered around her. Trennek’s color was again a healthy blue, and she was cheerful and alert. “The tri-ox compound is working,” she continued. “I’ll give myself another dose before turning in tonight, and that’ll be that.”

“I’m still worried,” Sanchez said. “You had a bad time out there, and your eyes are still all bloodshot.”

“That’ll happen when your spacesuit’s air pressure suddenly drops by nine-tenths,” Trennek said, “but I can see fine. A little eye wash will take care of it. My eyes will be clear by the morning watch.”

She grinned so wi “dely that even her antennae wiggled. “I do look like I’ve been up all week cramming for finals, don’t I?”

They all laughed. “It figures that our medical officer would be the first one on sicklest,” Slobhan said.

“Doctors always make the worst patients.”

“That’s right,” Trennek announced, “and to prove it, I’m releasing myself from sickbay forthwith.”

Sanchez looked stern. “Only if you assign yourself to light duty.”

“That’s all right with me, sir,” Trennek said.

“There’s not a whole lot for me to do anyway, as long as all of you stay healthy.”

“And no more going outside this trip,” Sanchez went on. “Clear?”

Trennek nodded. “Clear, sir.”

“In fact,” Sanchez continued, “it seems to me we’re done with trips outside for the rest of the day. MeKenna, I want us to take up a mapping course through our assigned sector of the Belt. It’s time we logged some hours on behalf of Starfleet’s chartmakers. I’ll join you on the bridge for that. La Forge, I believe I gave you an assignment for tonight?”

“Yes, Captain,” Geordi replied. “After dinner, I’m to give an oral report on the history of this ship and the history of the Belt. Er, I haven’t gotten to the research yet, sir.”

Sanchez smiled slightly. “Understandable-but if elDallal can spare you from your engineering duties for the rest of your watch … ?”

Hassan nodded quickly. “Oh, indeed I can, sir.

Everything down below is going very well, very well indeed.”

The captain nodded. “Then get to it now, please, La Forge. You still have a couple of hours until din

ner. By the way, don’t forget to find out what otstanding means. It’s important.” Sanchez almost sighed. “I think the rest of us ought to go about our business now. It’s been quite a day so far.”

“You can say that again,” Siobhan muttered.

As they all filed out of sickbay, Geordi felt a tap on his shoulder.

He turned. It was Trennek. “I can’t thank you for what you did,” she said. “Thanking you would be inadequate.”

As Geordi opened his mouth to speak, Trennek held up a hand. “No,” she said. “Don’t say anything.

The only reason I’m still alive is because you spotted me and got help to me in the nick of time. The captain couldn’t see me, and the ship could never have gotten to me quickly enough. I’ve seen my own post-accident readouts, Geordi, and I was in bad shape. If you’d been even thirty seconds later, I wouldn’t be here now. So I won’t forget what you did for me. Not ever.”

Geordi didn’t know what to say.

“Well, then,” Trennek said briskly. “Did you manage to get a look at my broken air line?”

“Yes, I did,” Geordi replied. “I didn’t see anything wrong with its basic structure. Hassan will run a few tests on it later. He says it looks like the line was torn out, probably by a micro-meteorite strike.

I think the impact also caused a tiny magnetic pulse that fried your suit’s communicator link, which is why we couldn’t talk to you. That’s a lot of damage from just one pebble.”

“A pebble got me?”

Geordi nodded. “Probably a very small one,” he 4 ‘l

said. “They travel very fast, and they can do some real damage. The spacesuits we use are tough, but they’re not that tough. The odds against a person getting hit by a micro are pretty high, but it’s been known to happen.”

“Oh.” Trennek thought for a moment. “You know,” she said somberly, “If that little thing had zipped another centimeter or two closer, it would have gone right through my helmet.”

“And if were”t had zipped by a centimeter or two farther away, it would have been a clean miss,” Geordi reminded her. “You’d never even have known it had been there.”

“True enough,” Trennek admitted. She smiled a little. “I’m going to depend on you to keep me from obsessing about this.”

“That’s a deal,” Geordi agreed with a smile. “Sorry, but I really do have to go cram for that report now.”

“Oh, I’ll be fine. You go on ahead.” She waved Geordi out of sickbay.

“I’ve got to clean up around here anyway. You people made such a mess saving my life! was The bridge was darkened and very, very quiet. Even the little electronic noises that formed the constant happy chatter typical of a Starfleet bridge seemed muted. Sanchez was sitting in the command chair, quietly staring at the main screen. The view was forward at magnification one. He watched as Ben, her course fully preprogrammed, moved smoothly past asteroids of various sizes while her sensors drank in everything there was to know about them.

42

Slobhan was at the helm, but Be was on full automatic, so she had little to do. “So, do you think Hassan’s right?” she said into the silence. “I mean about Trennek’s air line having been clipped by a micro?”

“I guess he is,” Sanchez grunted. He sounded weary.

“It was a little spooky, wasn’t it?” Siobhan continued. “It’s like firing a shot at random down into the Grand Canyon and actually hitting somebody.”

“That’s an exaggeration.”

“Not by much.” Siobhan sighed. This was getting nowhere. “All right, Bernie,” she said. “So what’s on your mind?”

“You really want to know?”

Siobhan shrugged. “This ship is doing a good job of flying herself, so I figure you asked me up here for the company. I’ll listen if you want to talk, Bernie.”

“Okay.” Sanchez paused. “What’s on my mind is that I almost lost a person today. I never had that happen before. Not even close. This is a school mission, Siobhan, for heaven’s sake. Short and sweet.

Fun.

Easy. Nobody’s supposed to die.”

“Missions are always dangerous, Bernie, because space is dangerous.

Everybody knows that. Bad things can happen.”

“Not to my people.”

“No, not to your people,” Siobhan agreed. “Trennek’s alive and well, thanks to you.”

Sanchez waved a hand. “Thanks to Geordi La Forge, not me.”

Siobhan’s expression went blank. “Excuse me, boss?”

“La Forge did the job today, thanks to that VISOR of his. He spotted Trennek right away and went straight to her. He didn’t waste a second.

All I could do was follow along. Some boss, huh?”

“Really?” Siobhan said. “As Hassan and I saw it, you were right behind Geordi all the way. You’re the one who established the emergency air feed between his recycle unit and hers-and just in time.

It seemed to take forever for Hassan and me to get this old bucket moving and into position. With the transporter out, we could never have done all that and gotten Trennek back inside the ship in time to save her life, too. You two could move much more quickly-quickly enough to save our shipmate, thank goodness.”

“But I should have-was “No buts allowed, boss,” Siobhan said flatly. “I can think of an upperclassman or two who would never have permitted a plebe to take the lead on a rescue mission, even in an emergency. You did it instinctively, though, because you knew in your gut that Geordi was your one and only chance to save Trennek. Geordi got you to the spot, and then you took over. You saved Trennek’s life today because you were smart enough and good enough to let Geordi help you. Now that’s a captain who knows how to lead. If it matters to you, I think you did a superb job out there today.”

Sanchez was quiet for a moment. “Thanks, Siobhan,” he said at last.

“It does matter, very much.”

was Okay, then,” she replied, turning back to the navigation console.

“We’re about done with this pass through our assigned sector, Captain.

Do you want to

45

loop through it again right away, or would you prefer us to stand off and wait until the morning watch”?”

“Maintain present routine, Number One,” Sanchez told her. “We’re doing fine.”

Geordi was sitting at the study module in his quarters, reading quickly through Starfleet’s official history of the Benjamin Franklin. Like most official histories, Ben’s was a clipped and very dry list of facts. Geordi was willing to bet that the “unofficial” history of the ship was a lot more interesting than that-and a lot more fun. There was also this mysterious little bit of trivia about the word outstanding, and what it meant in terms of Ben’s history. It turned out to be no mystery at all.

As her low registry number suggested, Ben was a very old ship. In fact, as Geordi already knew, she was the oldest ship in Starfleet still on active duty.

Geordi had just finished reading the exciting story of Ben’s first captain, and how he’d saved the ship at the cost of his own life.

Geordi was now going through a condensed account of the exploration and settlement of the Belt, giving special attention to the mining towns that had thrived there until the middle of the twenty-third century.

Captain Sanchez had mentioned that Ceresville, the biggest settlement, was tied in somehow with the story of the Benjamin Franklin. It didn’t take very long for Geordi to find the cross-reference. He whistled as he read. Now this was a wild story! He hoped he could do it justice when he told it after dinner. Geordi downloaded several sets of associated graphics from

the study module to his padd. After a little thought, he quickly wrote a short routine that he thought might come in handy during his talk.

He tested the program and pronounced it good.

His work done, Geordi sat back in his chair and took a well-deserved break. For the first time all day, Geordi had absolutely nothing to do, and there was still a little time before he had to go to the galley for dinner. He sat quietly for a moment and thought about what had happened outside the ship, and how he and Sanchez had managed to rescue Trennek.

Geordi realized just how close a call it had been for the Andorian, and how lucky he and the captain had been to be able to get her out of danger.

We couldn’t have done it without my VISOR. Geordi always considered himself lucky to have it, but this was the first time that it had ever done anyone else some good.

Geordi sometimes wished that he had working eyes and normal vision like almost everyone else. He often thought he might like to see a sunset someday, because he’d heard they were beautiful. All he could see were varying bands of heat. However, today, normal vision would not have been enough to save Trennek.

Even a skilled and experienced person like Sanchez could not have used his tricorder quickly enough to pinpoint Trennek’s location. The VISOR had instantly allowed Geordi to pick out Trennek’s heat signature from the backdrop of stars and cold space, which had enabled Geordi and Sanchez to get to her in time.

Trennek was alive tonight only because of the VISOR,

and Geordi would never again think of the device in the same way.

Geordi almost laughed as he suddenly realized something he’d never thought of before. Not only had he never seen a sunset, he’d never even seen the VISOR, except in a mirror. The VISOR was the one thing, the only thing, he could never look at directly.

It was impossible. If he took it off to look at it, he’d be blind.

Geordi detached the VISOR from the pickups at his temples, and his world went suddenly and completely dark. With the tips of his fingers, Geordi carefully and thoughtfully stroked the cool metal of the device, “seeing” it in the only way he could. He took great care not to get finger marks on the sensory pickups under the front grid. After a moment or two, Geordi put his VISOR back on, got up, and left his quarters. It was dinnertime.

Time for his report.

4But

CHAPTER

Dinner was rations-standard ration packs, direct from Ben’s fully stocked larder. The four cadets seated around the big table in the galley ate hungrily. Siobhan was on the bridge keeping watch, but she was tied into the galley through an open communicator link. The others could talk to her as easily as if she were sitting there and eating with them.

“This is not bad,” Trennek said, chewing. “The taste vaguely reminds me of actual food.”

Hassan nodded. “I cannot decide whether it is the blue glop or the green glop that reminds me most of food,” he said. “Perhaps our assistant engineer right shed some light on this perplexing question.

Geordi nodded somberly and, holding his VISOR between thumb and forefinger, made a great show of

leaning forward and peering intently at the blue square of dinner ration on his plate. After several seconds, he said, “Hmmm.”

“Your report, Cadet?” Hassan ordered.

“It’s definitely blue, sir,” Geordi replied in a serious tone. “Very, very blue. End of report.”

“Good work, La Forge,” Hassan said approvingly.

“Thank you.” He looked proudly at the others. “My training made him what he is today, you know.”

“Well, I like it,” Sanchez said, scooping up the last of the green paste before him with a spork. “I used to eat this stuff all the time, when I was a kid. Tastes like chicken. Good, and good for you, too.”

“Kids will eat anything,” Siobhan said from the bridge. “Next time, I’m bringing along a dozen bags of chocolate chip cookies.”

“Now there’s a fine spaceside diet,” Sanchez said approvingly. “What do you think, Medical Officer?”

“Yes, Captain,” Trennek said agreeably. “The MeKenna Space Diet contains elements of all four major food groups-sugar, fat, grease, and calories. There might be a vitamin hiding in there somewhere, but we’ll yank it out by the roots if we find it. I approve, sir.”

“Actually,” Geordi said, finishing his ration, “I wish we did have some chocolate chip cookies aboard.”

“It’s just as well, Geordi,” Siobhan said. “We don’t have any milk aboard, either.”

Hassan sat back. “All this loose talk of cookies is beginning to bother me,” he said. “I believe that, when we return, I will place a chair in front of the

nearest replicator and remain seated there for a week.”

“All this complaining after less than a day,” Sanchez said, shaking his head in mock sadness. “Starfleet’s blood has grown mighty thin since the early days, let me tell you.” Then he seemed to brighten.

“Better yet, let Geordi tell you. We all seem to be finished with dinner-was “I’m not,” came a plaintive voice from the bridge.

“Out of sight, out of mind,” Sanchez said, and they heard Siobhan laugh. “But if you don’t mind, Number One-?”

“Not at all. I’m looking forward to hearing Geordi’s report.”

“So am I,” said Sanchez. “La Forge?”

“I’m ready, sir.”

“Then please begin.”

Geordi produced his padd and leaned forward.

“First, I need a moment to tie my padd into the holoprojector.” He rapidly hit a few keys and, suddenly, a small, neat stack of sticks piled about a foot high appeared in the middle of the table. Sanchez blinked, and then he chuckled.

“Computer, take the room lights down ninety percent,” Geordi ordered.

He hit another button on his padd, and a fire suddenly sprang up from the wood.

He could see the faces of the three others outlined in the golden firelight.

“What’s going on?” Siobhan called.

“La Forge just used the holoprojector to make a campfire on the table,” Sanchez replied. “Well done, Geordi. You sure know how to set up a story.”

Trennek held out a hand. “I can actually feel heat,” she said. She sounded surprised. “How did you manage it?”

Geordi grinned. “I’m having the holoprojector transmit a little infrared along with the visible light you’re seeing. You feel the infrared as heat. I’m not putting enough through to hurt the table, though.”

Hassan looked around. Because the light from the fire was so bright, the room around them appeared to have gone completely dark. It reminded him of cool desert nights, and the many campfires he’d sat around with his family and friends when he was younger.

“Siobhan,” Geordi called, “I’ve set this presentation up so you’ll be able to follow along if you tie one of the viewers on the bridge into the galley’s briefing circuit.”

“Done. Thanks for thinking of me, Geordi.”

Geordi cleared his throat. “Let’s go back one hundred and seventy-five years,” he began. “Our story begins on the very same day this ship went into service. The date is Saturday, February thirteen, 2179.”

He touched another button on his padd, and the holoprojector formed a figure above their heads. It was a man dressed in the very earliest version of a Starfleet captain’s uniform. He was a handsome Asian who looked to be in his midthirties.

Geordi began. “Meet Captain lwasaki Ikushima, everybody. He was the first captain of the Benjamin Franklin, and today-the thirteenth of February in the year 2179-is the day he took command of this newly built starship. Captain Ikushima is thirty-three years old. He’s married, and his wife and two children live

at the starfleet complex just outside Tokyo. fie’s a member of the Academy class of 2167, which was only the third class to graduate.

Starfleet is still a very, very new thing, and it’s still trying to find its way. Not everyone is sure it will last.”

That drew a small laugh from the others.

“The Federation is growing rapidly in the 2170’s,” Geordi continued.

“The Romulan Wars are finally over, and Starfleet is discovering its mission of peaceful exploration and scientific discovery. There’s always room for a talented officer to rise quickly through the ranks, and Ike Ikushima is one of those officers. He was promoted to captain just three weeks ago. The first thing he did was assign his personal motto to his new command. From the outset, Benjamin Franklin’s motto has always been the exclamation “Outstanding!”

was Geordi touched another padd control, and a figure appeared beside Ikushima. It was a tall, dark-haired Caucasian with a wiry beard and a big grin. “This is Commander Robert DePaima,” Geordi said. “He and Captain Ikushima met at the Academy, where they were in the same class.

They were assigned as roommates, and they soon became best friends.

Twelve years after graduation, in 2179, they still are. In fact, Bob DePalma is godfather to both Ikushima children.

When Ike Ikushima was given command of the Ben, there was only one man he wanted as his first officerand you’re looking at him.”

“He looks friendly,” Trennek observed.

“He’s also tough as nails,” Geordi pointed out.

“Did you ever hear of a book called Nine Days Behind the Line? It’s the story of how a senior Starfleet

admiral taken prisoner by a Klingo mtirship managed to escape. He also captured the warship, delivering it and its crew of fourteen to Starfleet Command.”

“He’s that DePalma?” Sanchez exclaimed. I had no idea. You learn something new about Starfleet every day. Uh, all that happened much later, though, didn’t it?”

Geordi nodded. “Yes, sir, it did-about forty years later. Right now, in 2179, Captain Ikushima and Commander DePalma are just about to take Ben out on her first mission, and it could be a nasty one.”

“Which star system are they going to, Geordi?” asked Trennek.

“They’re staying right here, in Earth’s star system,” Geordi answered.

“Ben is rushing to a domed settlement in the asteroid belt-Ceresville, the biggest town in the entire Belt.” He erased the projections of Ikushima and DePalma, and put up a picture of a very large, almost spherical, asteroid. The rugged, threedimensional globe hung over their heads. “This is Ceres, the largest asteroid and the first one ever discovered,” Geordi went on. “About three thousand people live on it at this time, most of them in Ceresville.”

“Why?” asked Hassan. “I mean to say, why would anyone want to live in the Belt? It seems so desolate.”

“It is, but there’s a good reason,” Geordi said. “At this time, there are no replicators. Earth is chronically short of metals and other raw materials because centuries of waste, abuse, and bad judgment have depleted the planet’s natural resources. The Belt has plenty of resources, though, and miners have been working

there steadily since the early 2100’s. Some of tile millers do quite well, and a few get very rich-but most of them are poor, and many lose their lives. Asteroid mining is very dangerous.”

“Even asteroid watching is dangerous,” said Trennek ruefully.

“You said it,” commented Siobhan.

“Most of the people living in Ceresville aren’t miners at all,” Geordi went on. “They’re merchants and traders. They buy raw ore from the miners and ship it to Earth for processing in huge orbiting refineries.

They also sell food, clothing, and supplies to the miners.”

“I remember reading about those refineries,” Sanchez said. “They were in orbit so they wouldn’t cause pollution on Earth. They’re all gone now, of course.”

“Right,” Geordi agreed. “They’re no longer needed-but in 2179 they’re part of a huge industry, and they’re very important to Earth’s economy.

And that’s why Captain Ikushima is taking the Benjamin Franklin to the Belt.”

Geordi issued another command with his padd, and the image of Ceres was replaced by another picture.

“Ugh!” exclaimed Trennek. “Who’s that?”

The picture showed an ugly, angry-looking man. He looked as if he were ready to spring at the camera in order to attack it. The man’s hair was blazing white, but his full beard was a deep, rich black. His face was lined with scars. His black, bushy eyebrows knitted themselves together above his nose, which appeared to have been broken many times.

He was a powerfully

built man, too. Muscles bulged under his plain, 111fitting clothing like thick ropes.

He looked like very bad news.

“Meet the bad guy,” Geordi said. “His real name is unknown to this day. At the time of our story, in 2179, this man is about thirty-five years old. He probably used to be a miner but, not too long ago, he organized a gang of outlaws and began robbing and murdering other miners for their meager hordes of supplies and money. This man and his gang have killed perhaps hundreds of miners. There’s no way to know just how many victims there have been, since the miners live alone and keep to themselves most of the time. It’s hard to tell when one’s disappeared.”

“That’s shocking!” Hassan exclaimed. “Where are the local police?

They should be doing something about capturing these people!” He was so excited that he seemed to forget the whole thing had happened almost two centuries before.

“There are no police in the Belt,” Geordi said. “The Belt has no government at all. Finally, though, someone has decided that Starfleet should get involved. The situation has gotten so bad that ore shipments to Earth’s orbiting refineries have fallen off drastically.

Captain Ikushima’s mission is to capture this man and as many members of his gang as he can, and turn them over for trial before a Federation court in Geneva.”

“Wait a minute,” Siobhan said. “This story is ringing a faint bell with me. Isn’t the freaky guy with the hair and the beard actually the one and only-?”

“That’s right,” Geordi stated. For the benefit of the others, he pointed up at the figure floating above

them. “Meet Billy Devil, the biggest and baddestand ugliest-outlaw the Belt ever knew.”

“Ah,” Trennek said. “I’ve come across stories of Billy Devil in my reading. He had quite a reputation, didn’t he? Geordi, are you saying that Ikushima is the man who ended Billy Devil’s criminal career?”

“That’s right,” Geordi confirmed. “Ikushima took on Billy Devil himself. They used to say Billy was a hundred kilograms of bad hair and worse attitude.”

“He looks it,” Siobhan said.

“But I don’t remember reading anything about Billy Devil ever being captured,” Trennek recalled. “In fact, I don’t think he was.”

Geordi nodded in the firelight. “That’s right. He wasn’t. Benjamin Franklin, alone, faced down Billy Devil and more than thirty renegade ships in what was called the Battle of the Belt. Captain Ikushima and Ben smashed Billy Devil’s operation and captured more than a dozen renegade ships. The rest of Billy Devil’s forces were destroyed in the battle. Ikushima tried to capture Billy Devil, too, but Billy put his ship on self-destruct, killing himself and everyone else aboard.”

Geordi erased the figure of Billy Devil from over their heads.

“He blew himself up?” Hassan said. “Well, good riddance to bad rubbish, as they say.”

“For many years afterward,” Geordi continued, some people claimed that Billy Devil hadn’t really died.

There were reports of him being spotted here and there in the Belt, on Earth, and even in other Federation star systems. None of those reports was ever confirmed, and they’re very unlikely to have been true. Sometimes, people just make things up to suit themselves.”

SB

“And those weren’t the only tales about BIIIV, were they, La Forge?”

Sanchez prompted.

“No, Captain, they weren’t,” Geordi said. “There were also stories that the ghost of Billy Devil was haunting the Belt, causing all sorts of mischief aboard ships passing by. The stories said that Billy’s ghost could never find rest because it was condemned to float around inside the Belt, weightless and alone, for all eternity.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Hassan said with some heat.

“There are no such things as ghosts.”

“It’s just a story, Hassan,” Geordi replied. “That’s all.”

Trennek shrugged. “It must be tempting to blame your own incompetence or bad luck on the work of a mischievous ghost,” she said. “Just for the record, I don’t think Billy Devil snuck up behind me today and yanked out my air line.”

“Maybe it was one of Billy’s pirate pals,” joked Siobhan. “Booga booga!”

They all laughed.

“Geordi,” Trennek asked, “what happened to Captain Ikushima?”

“He died saving this ship,” Geordi answered. “Captain Ikushima was killed two years after the Battle of the Belt, while Ben was on patrol in another star system. It happened during an emergency in the engine room. Ben’s old-fashioned impulse engines were powered by nuclear reactors. One of those reactors suffered a massive mechanical failure that nearly caused it to melt down. If it had melted down, the ship would have been destroyed, and all hands would have been lost. Ben’s entire engineering staff had been disabled

by the initial release of radiation, so Captain Ikushima himself entered the contaminated engine room and manually shut down the reactor. The ship was saved.

However, the captain had been exposed to a deadly amount of radiation.

He died within an hour.”

“What a hero,” Trennek said, her eyes shining in the firelight.

“Yes,” Sanchez said. “He was truly a hero. The courage of someone like Ike Ikushima gives all of us something to live up to. With any luck, maybe they’ll say the same thing about one of us someday.”

“Respectfully, sir,” Hassan said, “with any luck, I shall live to be two hundred.”

Sanchez and the others burst out laughing. “And that’s as good a last word on the subject as any,” the captain said. “Computer, lights up full. Geordi, that was an excellent presentation-and the campfire was a very nice touch. Well done.”

“Thank you, Captain.” Geordi thumbed his padd, and the campfire disappeared from the table.

“Make sure you stir the ashes and douse them again,” Siobhan said.

Sanchez grimaced. “Hassan, you’d better relieve

McKenna on the bridge as soon as you can,” he said.

“Not only is her watch over, but her jokes are getting worse.”

“Aye, sir,” Hassan replied. “I will be up there right away.

Geordi?”

“Yes, Hassan?”

“The events of the day rather interfered with our normal routine. If you’re able, I would like you to stand a watch in engineering for several hours-let’s say, four

hours. You’ll be by yourself down there, but you don’t need me. I think all you really need are the engines and a few manuals. This will allow you to make up some of the study time you lost today. Look at everything down there, Geordi. Practice being an engineer.”

Geordi grinned. “Thanks, Hassan. I’d like that very much.”

A real engineer!

Geordi was as happy as he knew how to be. Here he was, in full charge of the engineering department aboard a starship! Granted, it was only a small shipbut it felt mighty good anyway. At the moment, Geordi was keeping an eye and an ear on the output of Ben’s impulse engines. He thought they were running a little roughly. Nothing showed on the instruments. It was just a feeling he had that things were a little out of whack. After a moment or two, Geordi reached out, touching a slider switch on the main console. He moved the switch ever so slightly forward and then listened carefully to the engines. After a moment, he smiled. The problem was gone.

Geordi dictated a short log entry, recording what he had done. That was proper procedure. After that, he continued his inspection, doing whatever maintenance checks were required. As he went, Geordi drank in everything he saw-every circuit, every engine part. Textbooks were fine, but there was no substitute for practical experienceand Ben was giving him plenty!

It took nearly four hours for Geordi to finish his careful, complete inspection. It showed that everything was working properly. Geordi sat at the main console 6 ‘l

and dictated a complete log entry that contained a full report on the status of the ship. When Geordi was finished, he got up, yawned, and stretched. Exciting as it had been, it had also been a very long day.

Ben’s automatic systems would take care of the ship and keep things running until he and Hassan reported for the morning watch in eight hours.

“La Forge to bridge,” Geordi said.

“Hello, Geordi,” Hassan answered. “I see it is now nearly 2300 hours.

Are you about ready to turn in?”

“I think so, Hassan. I was going to go to the galley and grab something to eat first. Can I bring you anything? was “Most thoughtful of you. Yes, please-but, I beg you, no more blue modeling compound. I had enough of that at dinner to last me for quite a while, thank you.

Something in pink or orange, perhaps.”

Geordi laughed. “I hope I can do better than that.

See you in a few minutes. La Forge out.”

Geordi arrived in the galley. Ben’s supply list said only standard-issue Starfleet rations had been stored aboard for the mission, but Geordi was sure that not every item aboard the ship would be on that list.

“Now if I were real food,” he wondered aloud, where would I be hiding?”

Geordi took it for granted that Starfleet cargo handlers had been working hard to restock Ben’s supplies for a day or two before the mission. Geordi also knew-having grown up in Starfleet and being wise to its ways-that no Starfleet cargo handler would eat standard rations while en duty at Spacedock. They liked their comfort, and they

took it where they could get it. The cargo handlers would eat breakfast and dinner where they lived, but they’d bring real food aboard with them for lunches and snacks so they could eat while they worked. The handlers usually brought extra food to share around, and they hardly ever bothered to take the leftovers with them when they finished a job.

Geordi ducked down behind the galley’s serving station.

Sure enough, he found a standard food storage compartment built into the bottom. It was a stasis unit. Any food stored inside would remain fresh for many years, even without refrigeration. Geordi opened the access panel and looked around inside. “Yes!” He withdrew a large, half-full package of fresh bread. There were also replicator-fresh cold cuts and cheese. Mustard! And pickIt’s! These people had treated themselves pretty well, all night. Pushing his luck, Geordi wondered if there was anything in there to drink, too, but there wasn’t.

Geordi found a knife and two plates. He quickly made a couple of overstuffed sandwiches for himself and Hassan. Coffee was always ready, so Geordi poured a couple of cups. He found a tray and set everything on it. He looked at it, feeling a little smug.

Hassan would be surprised, all right. Geordi left the galley and walked through officers” country, heading for the turbolift that would take him up to the bridge.

It was very quiet on Deck 2. His three off-duty shipmates were fast asleep.

As he rounded a bend in the corridor, Geordi suddenly stopped cold.

Standing right in front of him was Captain Ikushima!

CHAPTER

Geordi’s mouth opened in astonishment. The tray fell out of his nerveless hands with a crash. His heart began racing.

Silently, the unsmiling Captain Ikushima slowly raised his arm and pointed straight at Geordi. Geordi found himself frozen to the spot.

He could not move or speak.

Ikushima dropped his arm back to his side and continued looking at Geordi for a very long moment.

Then he disappeared, slowly, like mist over water.

For a moment, Geordi just stood there, confused and frightened. Then his instincts took over, and he tapped his communicator. “Intruder alert!” he barked.

“Deck Two!”

The lights up and down the corridor instantly went

red, and the alert signal began blaring throughout the ship.

“Geordi?” Hassan called. “What is it? I have activated all intruder-alert routines, but I would like to know why. Are you all right? What’s going on?”

“I’m fine, Hassan. As for what’s going on-was The doors to everyone’s quarters began sliding open, and Sanchez, Siobhan, and Trennek emerged into the corridor. They were all wearing sleeping gear.

“What’s going on, La Forge?” Sanchez asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes. “Report.”

“Captain, we have an intruder aboard. I just saw him.”

Sanchez blinked. He was fully awake now. “My communicator’s still on my uniform,” he said. “Let me use yours.” Geordi unclipped his communicator and handed it over. “Thank you. Computer, cancel audio alert. I can’t hear myself think. El-Dallal, this is Sanchez.

Report, please.”

“Captain, we are running all intruder-alert routines.

Nothing has been detected so far.”

Sanchez glanced at Geordi. “Nothing?” the captain asked. “Nothing at all?”

“Nothing, sir. Internal sensors show the five of us aboard, and that is all.”

“Anything strange?” Sanchez inquired. “Energy readings you can’t account for, anything of that sort?”

“No, sir. Nothing.”

“Stand by. Geordi, what did you see?”

Geordi hesitated. “Captain “Go on.”

Geordi took a deep breath. “I saw Captain Iku 66

shima, sir. He was standing right there in the corridor, just about where Trennek is standing now.”

“Right here?” Trennek asked, her eyes wide. She sidestepped half a meter to her left.

.” see,” Sanchez said, nodding. “Computer, cancel intruder alert.”

“But, sin” Geordi began. The red lights in the corridor turned back to white.

“Not now, Geordi,” Sanchez said, not unkindly. He returned Geordi’s communicator to him. “We’ll talk about this in the morning. Go get some sleep.”

“Am I dreaming, or is that an actual sandwich?”

Siobhan said, pointing at the coffee-soaked mess on the deck. “Did Geordi’s ghost bring it here with him?”

“I’ll clean this up right away, Captain,” Geordi said.

“Good night, everyone.”

The others said their good-nights and returned to their quarters.

Geordi heard Siobhan mumble something to herself as the door closed behind her.

Geordi went to the galley and found a broom and a dustpan. He returned to where he’d dropped the tray, and began sweeping. He knew it was silly, but he kept looking over his shoulder as he worked. When he was finished, he returned to the galley, dumped the trash into the recycler, and put the broom and dustpan away. Geordi knew there was enough food left to make another sandwich, so he did so. Tray in hand, he headed for the turbolift again. This time, nothing unusual happened on the way.

The “lift brought him quickly to the bridge. Hassan

turned in the command seat as the door opened.

“Geordi? What is it now?”

Geord) indicated the tray. “I still owe you a snack.”

“Ah. Thank you. I thought that, perhaps, in all the excitement-was “I didn’t forget.” Geordi handed the tray to Hassan.

“A sandwich? Where did you find this?” Hassan said, taking a bite.

“Turkey? Glorious! I wasn’t aware that anything like this was on the supply list.”

“It wasn’t. I just knew where to look.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you did.” Hassan paused.

“You’re not eating?”

“I’m not hungry anymore.”

Hassan nodded. “Geordi,” he asked, “what happened down on Deck Two?”

“I don’t know, Hassan. I saw Captain Ikushima standing in front of me, pointing at me-or at least I thought I did.”

Hassan nodded. “You understand that there are no such things as ghosts?”

“I know that, of course-but I saw him, Hassan. He looked real, too, right up to the time he faded away.”

“He faded away? As if he were being beamed off the ship? Perhaps it actually was an intruder of some sort, a real one-was “No,” Geordi said, shaking his head. “Captain Ikushima just slowly disappeared. I’ve never seen a trans porter do anything like that.”

“Nor have I,” Hassan admitted. He sighed. “Perhaps you should rest now, Geordi. It has been a long day. I will see you again at the morning watch.”

All right, Hassan. Good night.” Geord) turned and left.

Hassan watched as the turbolift door closed behind Geordi. He shook his head sadly. Geordi must’ve been seeing things-and “seeing things” would buy Geordi a one-way ticket out of Starfleet Academy. Geordi’s career would be over before it began. That would be a shame, but Hassan had seen other cadets washed out of the Academy for similar reasons.

Trennek’s close call earlier today must’ve rattled him more than we thought. Between that and all the Ikushima research he did today and standing watch in engineering by himself, it was too much for him.

Hassan shook his head. He felt bad for Geordi, but he knew there was nothing he could do for the first-year cadet.

Hassan put down the sandwich Geordi had made for him and turned his full attention back to his work.

He wasn’t hungry anymore, either.

CHAPTER

Geordi reported for the morning watch promptly at 0700 hours. It was easy to do since he hadn’t really slept. No sooner had Geordi seated himself in front of the assistant engineer’s console than Sanchez called for him. “Cadet La Forge, please come see me. I’m in my quarters.”

“Aye, sir,” Geordi replied. To Hassan, he said, “Well, I guess I already know what the captain wants to talk about.”

Hassan could not look at him. “I suppose so,” he replied, his eyes fixed on the console before him.

Geordi waited for a moment, as if he expected Hassan to say something else. When he didn’t, Geordi cleared his throat. “Well, I guess I’ll be on my way,” he said a little uncertainly. “Uh, see you later.”

T0

Hassan merely nodded, not knowing what to say. A little disappointed, Geordi left the room.

“Come in,” Sanchez called, and the door to his quarters slid aside.

Geordi found the senior cadet seated at his study module. He had accessed the overnight sensor logs and was going through them. “Good morning, Geordl,” Sanchez said. “Have a seat.”

“Good morning, Captain. Thank you. Have you found anything?”

Sanchez shook his head. “No,” he replied. “Not that I haven’t been trying. I can account for the whereabouts of everyone on the ship at all times since we set out from Spacedock yesterday. I’ve been through the logs three times, Geordi, and I can’t find anything wrong. Tell me again exactly what you saw, and when.”

“Yes, sir. It was 2258 hours. I’d just finished my watch in engineering. Hassan was on the bridge. I checked in with him to say I was going off duty, and that I was stopping by the galley to get something to eat. I asked him if he wanted something, too, and he said yes. I told him I’d bring it to him.”

“So you went to the galley. Did anything happen in there?”

“No, sir. I found some food in the storage unit and made a couple of sandwiches.”

“I saw the remnants all over the deck. Turkey, weren’t they? I was surprised to find there was anything like that aboard.”

Geordi told him about the cargo handlers and their usual practice of bringing their own food and snacks

with them when they worked. Sanchez chuckled. “I’ll keep that dodge in mind for next time,” he said. “I’m not as big a fan of Starfleet rations as I claim to be.

All right, then. So you made the sandwiches and poured the coffee, put everything on a tray, left the galley, and headed for the turbolift.”

“That’s right,” Geordi said. “That’s when I saw Captain Ikushima. He was in the corridor, on the spot I showed you last night. He stood in front of me and pointed at me. He looked straight at me. He seemed sad and alone. Then he stopped pointing at me and disappeared. The rest you know.”

“What did you see to make you think he was a ghost?”

“Begging your pardon, sir, but I never said I saw a ghost,” Geordi replied. “I said I saw Captain Ikushima. Siobhan called it a ghost, not me.”

“Captain Ikushima’s been dead for more than a hundred and seventy years, Geordi.”

“I know that, sir. I can’t explain it.”

Sanchez gestured at the data screen on his study module. “Neither can I. The sensor logs don’t show a thing. Geordi, I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but have you checked your VISOR to see if anything’s gone wrong with it?”

Geordi nodded. “That’s the first thing I did when I returned to my quarters, sir. I ran all the self-tests.

Everything checked out fine.”

Sanchez nodded. “You know, Geordi,” he began slowly, “you had a pretty strenuous day yesterday. It was all pretty exciting, and you must have been very tired when you finally went off duty. Is there any pos 72

sibility, any at all, that you had a walking dream”! Very tired people do sometimes micro-sleep for only a second or two, even while they’re walking around. If you did that, you might have been likely to see anything.”

“No, sir,” Geordi replied firmly. “I was tired, but not that tired. I was fully awake and aware at all times.”

“You might not have realized you weren’t,” Sanchez continued “Think about it.”

Geordi did. “No, sir,” he repeated after a moment.

“There’s no possibility I was dreaming.”

Sanchez nodded. “Okay. I accept that.” He paused, looking uncomfortable. “I want to go off the record with you now.”

“Yes, sir,” Geordi said.

“There’s no way I can keep this matter out of the log, Geordi. There was an intruder alert declared. The computer has recorded it. There will have to be a report made about it when we get back to the Academy.”

“I understand that, sir.”

Sanchez sighed. “Look, Geordi, not only have you pulled more than your full weight on this trip, but you saved Trennek’s life yesterday.

We’ll all be in your debt forever-not just Trennek, but all of us.

Nobody, especially me, wants to see you hurt by whatever happened on Deck Two last night.”

“I understand, Captain,” Geordi said firmly. “The review board will say I was seeing things. I may be washed out of the Academy.” He did not add that he’d been up all night thinking about that.

Sanchez held up a hand. “The review board won’t

do anything of the sort if we log this matter as I see it-that you were exhausted after a very trying day, that you fell asleep briefly while you were waiting for the turbolift, and that you only dreamed you saw Captain Ikushima in the corridor. Startled and confused, you suddenly awakened and called the intruder alert.

The review board will understand completely. Some of the members may even laugh a little, but no harm done. Your Starfleet career won’t be affected at all.”

“You’d be willing to do that?” Geordi sounded surprised.

“Yes, I would, since I believe what I’m saying is the absolute truth.

I think everything happened just the way I said it did. I want to help you, Geordi. We all do. Let us.”

Geordi sat quietly for a moment. Could things have happened the way Sanchez thought they did? Did I really fall asleep for a second or two? Did I only dream that Captain Ikushima appeared before me? The answer was clear.

Geordi took a deep breath. “No. Thank you, sir, but no. I can’t lie-not to you, not to my other shipmates, and not to Starfleet. I’m certain that I saw Captain Ikushima in the corridor, and that I was fully awake when I did. I don’t know what it means, but I know what I saw.”

“This may get you thrown out of the Academy, Geordi.”

“I know, sir.”

Sanchez nodded. “Very well. I’ll log your report of the incident just the way you gave it to me, but I’ll have to add that no one else aboard can confirm the

sighting. That’s all, La Forge. Report back to engineering and finish your watch.”

“Aye, sir. Thank you, sir.”

“Don’t thank me, Geordi , Sanchez said, shaking his head. “I just bulldozed your career.”

Geordi left. A minute later, there was a soft knock on the door.

“Come in,” Sanchez called.

It was Siobhan. “He didn’t go for it,” she said flatly.

“I can see it in your face.”

“No,” Sanchez said. “No, he didn’t go for it. He insists that he saw what he saw. I’ll have to log his version of the incident just as he first stated it. Jeer! A ghost! That’ll go over real big with the review board.”

Siobhan nodded. “Just on a hunch, I took a look at the holoprojector in the galley,” she said. “I figure it’s the only gizmo aboard the ship capable of throwing an image that might fool someone into thinking he’d actually seen a ghost. After all, Geordi said he saw Ikushima last night right after he left the galley.”

“Oh? Find anything out?”

“Just that no one’s touched the projector since Geordi’s presentation yesterday, and in any case it’s not nearly powerful enough to cast an image outside the galley. I guess I thought that someone might be playing a practical joke on the rest of us.”

Sanchez almost laughed. “Who? Hassan? I don’t think it’s in him.

Trennek worships Geordi. And it sure wasn’t you or me.”

His friend shrugged. “I wasn’t being terribly logical,” Siobhan said.

“I just don’t believe Geordi’s the kind to make things up, or hallucinate. I also think he knows the difference between being asleep and being

76

awake. He’s from a family of starfleet officers. It’ he called an intruder alert, he had a good reason.”

“I wish I could believe that,” Sanchez said, “but I have to go by the facts as we know them.”

“We all understand that, Bernie,” Siobhan said.

“All of us do, including Geordi La Forge.”

“Yes. Geordi understands. He’d make a fine officer someday, but now he’ll probably never get the chance.

It’s a shame.”

“You tried to save him, Bernie.”

“It wasn’t enough.” Sanchez sounded very tired.

“Excuse me now, Siobhan. I’ve got a log entry to make.”

The rest of the morning watch went very slowly for Geordi. Hassan didn’t say a single word to him that was outside the line of duty. The situation made Geordi very uncomfortable. He felt as if he were an unwelcome guest. I’ll be glad to get back to Spacedock tomorrow.

Geordi had an hour free between the end of the morning watch and lunch.

Under other circumstances, he might have wandered through the ship and looked things over, but today all he wanted to do was go to his quarters. He thought he’d get some studying done, even if it didn’t really matter. He wondered just how long he would be permitted to remain at the Academy.

He’d been at his study module for almost the entire hour when there was a knock at the door. “Yes?”

Geordi called.

The door slid aside. It was Trennek. “Can I come in?”

“Sure. Have a seat. I was just reading, but nothing’s making a whole lot of sense.” He turned off the monitor and sat back, swiveling his seat so he was facing the Andorian cadet. “What’s up?”

She shrugged. “I just wanted to see how you were,” she said.

“Everybody’s worried about you.”

For a second, Geordi looked sad. “I know they are,” he told her, “and I appreciate it.”

was Siobhan says the captain offered to let you off the hook this morning.”

“He did,” Geordi said. “It was good of him, but I couldn’t accept. He thinks I was asleep and dreaming, and I know I wasn’t. I can’t lie, especially not on the ship’s log. It’s just not right.”

“No, it’s not,” Trennek said, nodding. “I understand, Geordi. Look, if you ever need someone to talk to, a friend, I’ll be there for you, whatever happens.”

She got up to go. “We’ll see you at lunch, won’t we?”

“Sure.” Geordi managed a smile. “Wouldn’t miss it. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Okay.” As the door to Geordi’s quarters rolled slid, Trennek suddenly turned back and said, “Geordi, if they throw you out of the Academy, they’re absolutely crazy!” She suddenly looked a little embarrassed and, turning, hurried away down the corridor toward the galley.

Geordi’s eyes widened with surprise. Then, despite everything, he smiled. He suddenly felt good for the first time all day.

Lunch consisted of rations that were colored red and white, which Captain Sanchez ate with every appearance of gusto. He told himself he was doing so

78

for the sake of ship’s morale. By common consent, since not enough of the real food Geordi had found in the stasis unit remained to share around, none of them took any of it. Trennek had the afternoon watch on the bridge, but had tied into the galley via the communicator link.

No one mentioned Geordi’s sighting of the night before but, clearly, it was on everyone’s mind. At one point, intending to ask Geordi to pass the salt, Hassan had said, “Geordi, please hand me the ghost.” After a shocked moment everyone had laughed, including Geordi. Hassan had looked very uncomfortable afterward, though.

Siobhan was talking about the changes she’d made that morning to their course. “I’ve tightened our search loop somewhat,” she said. “We’re no longer traveling our entire assigned sector end to end. Our automatic charting systems have finished doing the more thinly populated part of our sector, so I’m having us concentrate on this limited area, where most of the asteroids are. We’ll be looping in and out of this subsector until we head back to Spacedock tomorrow.

I’m sure we’ll get the entire job done in time.”

“Good,” Sanchez said. “Anything interesting you’d like to share with us?”

Siobhan nodded. “We’ve made a few interesting finds,” she said.

“We’ve located a couple of good-size asteroids containing large stores of heavy metals. The old-time miners would have gone nuts about them.

As it is, some scientist-types might want to take a closer look at some point. Oh, and we’ve placed a beacon on a big asteroid that we calculate has a six percent

chance of leaving the Belt and heading sunward sometime during the next thirty years. That one may turn out to be the most important find we make during this trip.”

Trennek spoke up on the communicator link. “Are we going outside again, sir?”

“You’re not,” Sanchez replied firmly. “Not this trip.

Sorry, Sann, but you suffered a nasty decompression accident just yesterday. You haven’t fully recovered yet.”

“Yes, I have, sir.”

“No, you haven’t.”

coneaBut I feel fine.”

“I know you do,” Sanchez said. “The tri-ox you took has been helping, but you still need a few days to recover fully. If you should have another accident outside, even one that’s not nearly as bad, you’ll suffer far worse physical damage because you’re in a weakened condition. I can’t allow you to take the risk. It’s just not necessary.”

“Yes, sir.” The disappointment was clear in her voice.

“I won’t be going outside, either. I’ll be helping

McKenna get the maps and charts we’ve made so far in order. La Forge, I’d like you to remain on watch with Hassan in engineering. There must still be a great deal for you to do down there.”

“Yes, sir,” Geordi said, glad to still be useful.

“There certainly is. There’s always a lot more to learn.”

Sanchez looked over at Hassan. “I trust that suits you?”

Hassan hesitated for a second, and then said. “Oi” course, Captain.”

“Very well.” Sanchez looked around the table. “I see we’ve finished our lunch,” he said. “Good, too, wasn’t it? Love the red and whites.

Now let’s get back to work.”

CHAPTER

Two hours of the afternoon watch had gone by, and Hassan still hadn’t said a thing to Geordi that wasn’t strictly related to their work.

Geordi realized there was a great deal of tension and that Hassan no longer wanted him to be there in engineering with him. He’d hoped that he and Hassan could become friends, but that seemed impossible now.

They were sitting together at the main engineering console, but Geordi felt as if there were thousands of kilometers of cold, empty space between them.

Geordi had been reluctant to bring up the subject with Hassan, but he could stand the silence no longer.

“I need to talk to you,” Geordi began.

“About what?” Hassan said, not looking at him.

“About what’s going on here between us. I’d like to know what’s bothering you.”

“Nothing is bothering me.” Hassan kept working.

“That’s not true,” Geordi said. “You’ve been acting as if if I’m not really here. You tell me to do something, you ask me for a status report. All you’re doing is pressing my buttons and getting me to do things for you. You’re treating me like a thing, just like that console of yours. You’re not dealing with me.”

“You’re here. You’re working with me. On any ship, that should be enough.”

,It’s not nearly enough. I thought we were becoming friends.”

Hassan sighed. He seemed to slouch in his chair.

He swiveled it so he could look directly at Geordi. “T thought so, too,” he said softly. “I would have liked to become your friend. You have been a good ship mate to us all, and I respect your considerable ability as an engineer.”

Geordi was puzzled. “Then what’s the problem?” he asked. “If it’s about what I saw last night, I’m the one who’s going to have to face the consequences, not you.”

Hassan paused in careful thought. He clasped his hands together and leaned forward in his chair. “Do you know where I’m from, Geordi?

What my back ground is?”

Geordi shrugged. “I know that you’re from Africa, on Earth. That’s all.”

“That’s right,” Hassan said. “I’m from Northern Af rica, though-the desert country. We still follow many of the old customs. The only society we’ve ever needed is each other. We’re wanderers by nature, Geordi. My people never settle down anywhere for

EL

very long. We prefer the freedom that constant movement gives us. Our elders say that nothing lasts, except for us. Empires and republics have come and gone in our part of the world. Now there is the Federation, and our elders say that when the Federation is gone as well, our people will endure only because we’ve chosen to remain apart.”

“But you’re here, Hassan. In Starfleet you haven’t remained apart.”

“No,” Hassan said. “I left my people. I chose to join the world.

When I was a boy, Geordi, I would look up into the sky on our cold, clear desert nights and study the stars. I would dream of going out there among them. I was so cut off from the world that I was eleven years old before I learned that journeying to the stars was actually possible. So I packed my things and left my family and friends, and I’ve never seen any of them again. I traveled alone by foot for several weeks to the nearest city and got in touch with a Federation welfare agency. I told my story and declared my intentions, and the agency took care of me.

Not very long after that, I applied for admission to the Academy and was accepted. And so here we are.”

Geordi looked thoughtful. “You’ve given up a lot to be here, haven’t you?”

Hassan nodded. “I’ve given up everything I was once. I miss my people. I miss my family.” Hassan gestured around the room. “But I would miss this even more, Geordi, if I were to lose it. I would never put my career at risk. It is everything I am, now. I’d be nothing without it.”

“And you think you’re putting your career at risk by even talking to me?”

Hassan held up a hand. “No,” he denied. “Not at all. That is not the problem.”

“Then what is it? If it’s something I’ve said or done …”

Hassan shook his head. “No, it is what I must do,” he said. “Geordi, I, too, hoped we could have become friends and serve together again someday, perhaps aboard a ship of the line. But the Academy review board is certain to ask me, as your supervisor, my opinion of your sighting of the late captain. I will have to tell them that I believe you were asleep, hallucinating, or suffering from some mental disorder, because whatever you saw could not possibly exist. My testimony will certainly help the review board justify separating you from the Academy. I cannot do a terrible thing like that to a friend, but I cannot lie to the review board, either.”

“I wouldn’t want you to lie to the review board, Hassan.”

“I know that. You are a person of character and integrity, Geordi. I truly wish things were different.”

“So do I. I don’t bear you any ill will.” Geordi put out a hand, and after a moment Hassan shook it.

Hassan turned back to his console. “Everything seems fine here,” he said, again not looking at Geordi.

“I believe I can handle both our responsibilities from here on out. If you desire, you may spend the rest of the watch in your quarters, catching up on your studying.”

“Thank you,” Geordi said. “I believe I’ll do that.

Uh, I guess I’ll see you later.”

“Yes,” Hassan said, keeping his eyes on his board.

“I will call you if I need you. Have a productive afternoon.” Hassan heard the door behind him whoosh open and shut as Geordi left the room.

When Geordi was gone, Hassan leaned forward and put his bead in his hands. He felt sad and miserable.

Hassan liked and respected Geordi. He did not want to be one of the people who would destroy his career, but he knew that was what would happen as soon as everyone got back to the Academy. He sighed heavily, and tried to lose himself in work. The next few hours blurred by as Hassan checked and rechecked every one of Ben’s internal systems, tweaking the automatic controls as necessary.

Hassan was so busy that he almost didn’t catch the reflection in the glossy black surface of the overhead engineering display.

But he did. Hassan whirled around in his seat and stood up abruptly, knocking over his chair.

Captain Ikushima was standing there, right in front of him, plain as day. The captain was unsmiling, almost glowering. The only sound in he room was Hassan’s sudden heavy breathing. His eyes wide in fear and shock, Hassan watched as Ikushima slowly and silently raised an arm and pointed at him. Hassan thought that Ikushima was trying to give some sort of order, or to tell him something important.

“What is it?” Hassan managed to say. “What is it you want from me-Captain?”

Ikushima said nothing. As Geord) had described the

8But

night before, Ikushima lowered his arm, stood silent and unmoving for a moment, and then faded away.

Hassan fell back against the console, his knees wobbly. He felt weak and shaky. He bent to pick up his chair and sat down heavily.

What just happened? Hassan had grown up on the legends of the desert, which frequently featured the sudden appearances of ghosts and demons.

But all those stories are fiction. They were created only to give a little scare to children … weren’t they?

Hassan began to perspire in the cool room. What do I do now? Should I report this? If he did, would he run the risk of being dismissed from the Academy, too, as Geordi was almost certain to be? What if they said Hassan had been influenced by Geordi? What if they decided Hassan was suffering from hallucinations, too? Should Hassan risk his career, which was everything to him? Should he just say nothing? It was certainly tempting to stay quiet.

A moment later, Hassan cursed himself for even considering doing anything like that. Geordi hadn’t hesitated for a moment. Geordi had acted instantly, and in the best interests of the ship. Hassan was ashamed of himself.

But he could still do the right thing, if he acted right away. Hassan stood and tapped his communicator.

“Computer, intruder alert!” he snapped. “Engineering!”

Again all the lights went red, and the alert signal began blaring throughout the ship.

Geordi was at his study console, trying to concentrate on the material before him. Warp dynamics in

an ion storm … He wasn’t doing very well, though.

He kept worrying about what would happen when he was called before the Academy review board to explain what had happened on Deck 2 the night before.

Geordi had looked forward to going along on this mission for so long, and now it was turning out to be one of the worst things that had ever happened to him. He had wanted to do the best he could, to be a credit to his ship and his shipmates. Instead, he’d become an embarrassment to them. He knew that all he could do now was tell the board what had happened, to the best of his knowledge and ability, and hope for the best. He knew he had a good record, including his performance under pressure when the Atlantis Station was damaged. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll only get an official reprimand in my file. Or some sort of probation … However, he was expecting the worst.

When the lights in his quarters suddenly went red and the alert began to blare, Geordi was startled.

After a second, he realized what it could mean, and he grew excited.

Someone else must have seen Captain Ikushima!

“Intruder alert,” Sanchez said over the communicator link. “This is not a drill. All hands to the bridge.”

After a pause, he added, “Especially you, La Forge.”

CHAPTER

All five members of Benjamin Franklin’s crew quickly gathered on the bridge.

“You’re sure of what you saw?” Sanchez was asking Hassan, as Geordi entered. “You’re absolutely sure?”

“Yes, sir,” Hassan replied forthrightly. “It was exactly as Geordi had described. It was Captain Ikushima. I recognized him from Geordi’s presentation yesterday. The captain appeared right behind me, while I was sitting at the main engineering console. I turned in my chair and then stood up. The captain pointed at me, then dropped his arm and, after a moment, disappeared into thin air.”

Sanchez nodded. “Did he say anything this time?”

“Nothing, sir,” said Hassan. “He didn’t make a sound.” so

Sanchez turned to Geordi. “Does any of this sound familiar to you, La Forge?”

“Yes, Captain,” Geordi replied excitedly. “From what Hassan is saying, exactly the same thing happened to me last night.”

“Why would the ghost do exactly the same thing twice?” Siobhan wondered. “It seems useless.”

“Is it even remotely possible that this ship could be haunted by the ghost of her first captain?” Hassan asked. “There are many strange things in space. We do not know everything there is to know.”

“Look here,” Sanchez said. “For one thing, let’s stop referring to whatever this is as a “ghost.” Whatever it is, it can’t be a ghost.

Ghosts don’t exist.”

“Perhaps it is an alien life-form trying to communicate with us,” Hassan said.

Siobhan shook her head. “If that’s so,” she said, “then the alien life-form is doing a terrible job of communicating. It says and does nothing except appear, point at somebody, and disappear. Not real effective.”

“As odd as this is,” Sanchez insisted, “it has to be a natural phenomenon. There’s no such things as ghosts.” Trennek’s face suddenly turned a shade of pale blue. “Uh, if there’s no such things as ghosts, sir, then what do you call that?” She pointed behind the four others, toward the engineering station.

They turned around.

Captain Ikushima was standing there.

Siobhan gasped.

“Quiet down, everyone,” Sanchez said, much more calmly than he felt.

He rushed to the science station

and quickly redirected all of Be is internal sensors to that portion of the bridge where Ikushima was standing. “If there’s anything at all to be read from this

…

thing … then the sensors will get it now,” he told the others. “And it’s definitely not a ghost. Guaranteed.”

“Oh?” Siobhan said. “How come you’re so sure”?”

She and the others watched as Captain Ikushima slowly raised his arm and pointed at them all.

” I’ll tell you in a moment,” Sanchez replied. “Ah.

It’s not a life-form. I’m getting a very slight, very natural, energy reading. Our ‘ghost” is actually a finely tuned transmission on a very narrow bandwidth. It’s originating from somewhere within the Belt.

There.

I’ve got it plotted.”

“This is a projection?” Siobhan asked. “Then who’s projecting it?”

was I’m sending the trajectory I’ve plotted to your nayigation console.

As for who’s responsible for this, I intend for us to find out.

Geordi, Hassan, is our friend here doing anything different from what he did before?”

“No, sir,” Geordi replied. “He’s acting exactly the same way.”

“It’s so, Captain,” Hassan added.

“All right,” Sanchez said. They all watched as Ikushima dropped his arm and, after a moment, faded away again.

“That’s all,” Geordi said. “It’s over … for now.”

“I hope it’s over for good,” Trennek added.

“It may be,” Sanchez said. “McKenna, put our chart of this section of the Belt on the main screen.

Overlay the coordinates I just sent to your console.”

“Yes, sir.” Slobhan worked quickly and, soon, their newly minted map of the Belt sprang up onto the screen. A slashing red line appeared over it, and a bright yellow dot blinked on and off in the upper-left corner of the screen. The blinking dot was sitting on the red line.

“The trajectory you plotted is the red line and it directly intersects an asteroid named 198763 Siva,” Siobhan reported. “That’s the blinker.

Siva’s a big mama, too-one of the very few in this sector that was on Starfleet’s charts before we got here. It was catalogued during a pretty sketchy NASA survey way back in the early twenty-first century.

Now look at this.”

Three bright green dots appeared along the red line Sanchez had plotted. “Notice those green dots, now,” Siobhan continued. “Ben has been crisscrossing this entire sector over and over again for almost two days, charting asteroids. Each green dot indicates the spot in space where Ben was when Captain Ikushima appeared, and each dot is sitting exactly on the red line.”

“Interesting,” Sanchez said as he returned to the command chair. “I take this as confirmation that this ,ghost’ has been a message transmission of some sort.

We’ll try to find out what’s going on when we arrive at Siva. McKenna, get us there. Half-impulse.”

“Aye, Captain. We’ll arrive off Siva in just under three minutes.”

“Very good,” Sanchez said. “Sann, you’ll take the science station.

El-Dallal, you can handle engineering from the bridge,” Sanchez continued. “I want everyone to remain up here together.”

“Of course, sir,” Hassan acknowledged. “Geordi, wil] you please J*oln me over here?”

Geordi grinned. “Yes, sir!”

“Ah,” Slobhan said. “We seem to be one big, happy family again.

Good.

You know, there’s nothing like seeing a ghost to reunite you with your loved ones.”

“It’s not a ghosteaMcKenna,” Sanchez reminded her.

“We’ve had more than enough talk of ghosts aboard this ship. What we’re looking for is a signaling device of some kind. The “ghost” is actually a beacon, intended to attract our attention.”

“If someone’s trying to send us a signal,” Geordi said, “then I guess we’ve finally gotten the message.”

“Okay, time to ask,” Siobhan said. “Captain, how come you were so sure before that the beacon wasn’t really a ghost? Logic can only take you so far, you know.”

Sanchez shrugged. “It took me far enough. We all saw the beacon appear the third time. Remember that Geordi and Hassan confirmed that it had acted exactly the same way during its first two appearances.

That might seem strange, unless you consider the obviousthat the “ghost” was actually a recording of some sort.

On a continuous loop.”

“Why was it Captain Ikushima, though?” Geordi asked. “Why Inot someone else?”

“Maybe the device that sent the beacon got the image of Ikushima from your mind, Geordi. We have records of alien computers that can scan certain synapses and respond accordingly. Remember the “shore leave” planet? You’d just worked very hard to put together a presentation on the history of this ship.

You’d been concentrating on the story ol’ Captain Ikushima in particular. You were the first person to see the beacon, and you saw it appear as Ikushima.

Afterward, everyone was talking about it nonstop.

That’s why everyone else saw the beacon as Ikushima, too. That’s exactly who they expected to see.”

“But why did we see a person at all’? Why not hall us? Send a warning buoy?” Geordi wondered. “All that did was confuse and upset us.”

“It got our attention, didn’t it?” Sanchez said, shrugging. “The gimmick did its job.”

“But there’s something else, isn’t there?” Siobhan prompted. “You were so sure of yourself, Captain.”

Sanchez nodded. “I really don’t believe in ghosts, Siobhan-but, yes, there was another reason I was so sure,” he said. “The beacon appeared to the rest of you as Captain Ikushima because that was the strongest image in your minds at the time. But, unlike the rest of you, I wasn’t seeing Ikushima.” He paused. “I was seeing my father.”

“Your father?” Hassan asked, puzzled.

“Oh, Bernie,” Siobhan said a little sadly. of course.”

Sanchez addressed the others. “As Siobhan already knows, my father was aboard the Enterprise-C when she was lost at Narendra I’ll ten years ago,” he told them quietly. “He’s the reason why I’ve chosen a career in Starfleet, and why I was so happy to get this command. My father has been the strongest image in my mind for the past two days, because I’ve been thinking of him quite often during this mission.”

“Of course, sir,” Hassan said.

ince we were seeing different people,” Sanchez continued, “it became clear to me that, somehow. our minds were being manipulated. That suggested we were being affected either by a living alien force or some kind of advanced technology. Since the beacon was repeating its actions exactly, I knew it had to be something like a recording that was being piped our way.” For a few moments there was silence on the bridge, while each cadet turned the situation over in his or her mind.

Which is worse? Geordi wondered. Seeing the longdead captain of this ship, or the image of your father?

Concerned as he’d been for his career, Geordi was sure things had been worse for Sanchez.

“We’ve just arrived off Siva, Captain,” Siobhan said. “I’ll put It on screen.”

The screen showed nothing but a big, gray, floating rock against the stars. It looked very much like all the other asteroids they’d seen over the past two days, only bigger.

“Sensor readings, Sann?” Sanchez asked.

“I’m getting them, sir,” Trennek replied from the science station.

“This asteroid is nothing but rock.

There’s no magnetic interference, so we’ll have the transporter available to us this time, if we need it.”

“Keep looking,” Sanchez prompted. “There might-was “I’ve found something else!” Trennek interrupted the captain. “Metal alloy, of a common type used by many different races. It’s strong and durable, and suitable for shipbuilding. It does seem to be a ship, sir.

It’s a very small one, but it’s apparently intact. It’s

located just beneath the surface of Siva-probably in a cave or similar structure, since I’m showing rock surrounding it on two sides. I’m showing minimal power readings, too.”

“That sounds like our baby,” Siobhan said.

“Any life-forms?” Sanchez asked.

“No, sir,” said Trennek. “Nothing.”

“Well?” Hassan said excitedly. “What are we waiting for?”

Sanchez laughed. “What, indeed. Geordi and Hassan, you’re with me.

Siobhan, bring us right up next to Siva and hold her steady. We won’t be using the transporter.”

“We won’t?” asked Geordi.

“No,” said Sanchez. “There’s no reason to wait around for each of us to use the single transporter pad we’ve got. We’ll just drift across a few meters from the suit-up room’s outside airlock and touch down on Siva’s surface with our own six feet. Okay, let’s go.”

9But

CHAPTER

The outer airlock door to the suit-up room on Deck 5 opened, and Sanchez, Geordi, and Hassan slowly drifted across fifteen meters or so of empty space toward the surface of Siva. Siobhan was keeping Ben a fixed distance away from the asteroid with the tractor beams the ship normally used to tie up at facilities such as Spacedock. It was the smart choice to make.

With her shipmates outside, Siobhan didn’t want to use the ship’s thrusters to maintain station. Someone might get hurt by the sudden ignition of one of Ben’s thruster units.

Using their thruster packs, Geordi and the two other cadets oriented themselves so their feet were aimed toward the surface of Siva. They touched down gently, taking the slight “ar of their landings in their

99

knees and ankles. “Move very carefully,” Sanchez warned over their communications link. “This rock’s much too small to have any real gravity. You want to walk with a sort of shuffle. Try to keep your weight balanced so you don’t go flying off into the great beyond.

Pretend you’re walking on ice.” He set off in the direction of the signal, the others following in a line.

“I don’t seem to weigh anything at all,” Hassan mused. “I feel as if I could jump off this rock and not come back down.”

“You just might manage it,” Sanchez told him.

“The gravity of an asteroid this size is extremely weak.

Humans have fallen right off rocks like these and been lost forever.”

Geordi looked at Siva’s horizon, which was only a few dozen meters away. There was nothing to be seen but cracked, broken rock. The bright sunlight threw black shadows, making it hard for Geordi to see where to put his feet. Siva was as desolate and lifeless a place as there could possibly be. No one could expect there’d ever be anything worth looking at in a place like this.

But here they were.

Geordi looked up. Ben filled the sky. She hovered only fifteen meters or so above his head. He felt as if he could reach out and touch her.

Sanchez consulted his tricorder. “This way,” he ordered, pointing.

“Siobhan, we’re heading approximately sixty meters on a bearing of one seventy-five point three from grid north.”

“Back home, we call that ‘south,” was Siobhan replied.

“Watch your step, boys.”

Carefully, Geordi and the others slid and picked their way across the shattered surface of Siva. Once in a while, when the light was adequate, Geordi saw what looked like phaser burns marking the fronts and sides of the surfaces around them. “What are these, Captain?” he asked, pointing. “It looks like someone’s been shooting at each other out here.”

“Those are the impact trails of micro-meteorites,” Sanchez told him.

“Little rocks are hitting these big ones all the time. The micros that made these marks are probably similar to the one that took out Trennek’s air line yesterday.”

“You’re absolutely sure that wasn’t the work of Billy Devil?” Siobhan joked.

“Siva looks like it could serve as Billy Devil’s current headquarters,” Geordi said. “It’s dry, airless, and downright unfrly.”

“And here I thought I might actually be missing something,” said Trennek. The Andorian cadet was stationed at the transporter controls, just in case another situation arose where a cadet needed emergency beam-up.

The three cadets finally reached the spot indicated by Sanchez’s tricorder. They were at the edge of a big crater in the rock. “This open area covers almost one hundred square kilometers,” Sanchez reported, “but there’s not a lot of flat area. It has a lot of deeper canyons and ridges across the bottom. We’ll have to scramble a bit as we go. Get your lights ready.”

Threading his way between ridges, Geordi thumbed his flashlight on and pointed it here and there. He saw nothing but rock and more rock.

There was a sharp

10eaI

bend about five meters ahead. Geordi couldn’t see past that. “How much farther do we have to go, Captain?” he asked.

“The tricorder says twenty meters, give or take. I wonder what we’ll find. The mass I’m reading is pretty small for a ship.”

“Perhaps it was built by a race of smaller beings,” Hassan guessed.

“We’ll soon find out,” Sanchez said as they rounded the bend. He pointed his flashlight forward, and all of them saw a telltale glint of metal.

“There she is,” Hassan said. “Even from here I can tell that I have never seen anything like it before.”

They hurried to the spot as quickly as the light grayity permitted.

Geordi was the first to speak. “This isn’t a ship, Captain,” he said.

“This is an escape pod. It’s just a lifeboat and nothing more. See?

It has chemically powered engines.” He pointed toward the stern of the little spacecraft. “You can’t go very far or very fast with those.”

“Does anyone recognize this style of construction?”

Hassan asked, walking around the part of the ship that was not embedded in the rocky asteroid.

“Not me,” Geordi said. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Sanchez frowned. “The tricorder’s not telling me very much about these engines,” he complained. “I gather there’s nothing to tell. Do you see anything about them I should know, Geordi?”

Geordi’ looked them over carefully. “All I can see is that they seem to be intact, sir. I believe this craft “I 02

simply ran out of fuel, and that its pilot was forced to land here.

There’s no visible damage and it appears-was “Wow!” Sanchez exclaimed.

“This is incredible.”

“What is it, Bernie?” Siobhan called.

“I’ve just tapped into the tricorder readings of the age of the rock around this thing,” Sanchez said. He paused. “This craft has been sitting here, undisturbed, for more than six hundred thousand years, based on the surrounding formations. It’s still in perfect condition, too. It’s been protected from dust and microimpacts all this time because it was embedded in this pocket of rock.”

“Are there any remains aboard, Captain?” Trennek asked. “I think we’d all like to know what kind of people built this thing.”

“There are no bodies in plain view, Sann.” Sanchez approached the little spacecraft and aimed his flashlight through a nearly transparent dome and onto a padded seat where the pilot would have sat. “This craft appears to be a one-seater for a being about the same size and shape as one of us, but there’s no body inside.”

“Could whoever it was have wandered away and died elsewhere?” Siobhan wondered.

“Perhaps. This is all rock here and no dust, so there’s no footprints showing for us to follow. If he’s still on Siva to find, though, then we’ll find him.” Sanchez carefully aimed the tricorder here and there for several long minutes. “There’s no trace anywhere on Siva of any sort of organic material, except for us three,” Sanchez finally reported. “If anyone was ever aboard this craft, he’s not on Siva now.”

‘l 03

“Ship’s sensors indicate the same,” Trennek added.

“Perhaps he was rescued by his counterparts,” Geordi said.

“I don’t think so,” Sanchez replied, and there was regret in his voice.

“If he’d been saved, he’d have turned off the beacon, or his rescuers would have.

They’d probably have retrieved the escape pod, too.

No, I think our friend accidentally fell off Siva somehow and never managed to climb back on. If he died outside of the cockpit, he could’ve just drifted away.”

“I wonder what happened?” Hassan said. “Did this lifeboat come from a large starship, such as we have 4 in Starfleet? Or was this person piloting a merchant ship all by himself? What happened to that bigger ship? And what was it doing here in this star system that long ago, anyway?”

“We may never know the answers to any of those questions,” Sanchez said. “Believe me, I don’t have a clue about how to find out, either.”

“I wonder if some of the old legends concerning ghosts in the Belt were caused by this beacongenerating device,” Hassan said.

“Good question,” said Sanchez. “If there was ever an excuse for a legend to arise, we’ve seen it here.”

“I wonder why we’re not being visited by the so called ghost anymore,” Geordi said. “After all, we’re standing right on top of the beacon device.”

“Perhaps that is why it isn’t doing anything,” Hassan guessed. “Maybe our transporter beam or life-signs indicated a presence, and so it has stopped transmitting. Are we going to try to move the pod now, Cap 104

tain”? We could certainly tractor it out of this rock easily in this very low gravity.”

“Not on your life!” Sanchez told him. “We’re not going to try to get inside the pod, either. No, we’re handing this over to the experts just as soon as we can. This is too important. For one thing, I think Starfleet might like to find out how to build a battery that can hold a charge for six hundred thousand years.

Siobhan, does Siva have a beacon placed on it-one of ours, I mean?”

“No, Captain, it doesn’t.”

“Fire one into it, then. Right over this spot. I want this site marked for the follow-up survey team.”

“Right away, Bernie.” A moment later, they saw a flash and felt a slight thump through their boots as one of their own beacons plowed into the rock beside them.

“Nice shot,” Sanchez said.

“Call me Deadeye.”

“Hey,” said Geordi suddenly, looking toward the nearest wall of rock.

“What about all this writing over here, Captain?”

“Writing?” Sanchez asked, aiming his own flashlight at the wall.

“What writing? I don’t see anything.”

“It’s right there,” Geordi insisted. He swept his flashlight over the wall. “The writing looks like it was etched into the rock with something like a phaser focused to emit a very narrow beam,” he continued.

“The style of the alphabet doesn’t look at all familiar to me, but whoever wrote this had a bunch to say.

There’s an awful lot here.”

“I’m the last one to cast doubt on anything you see 11 05 from now on, La Forge,” Sanchez said. His,-There must be some explanation, though.

Let me fool with the tricorder a little-ah. Here we go.” Sanchez studied the readout on the device closely. “You’re right, Geordi,” he said after a moment. “It looks like writing-very neat writing-and there’s a great deal of it.

It’s visible only in a spectrum we can’t see-well, most of us, anyway.

Your VISOR picked it up without trouble, though. I’m making a video record of it now.”

“Whatever race built the pod must have had eyes that were vastly different from ours,” Geordi guessed.

“I think you must be right,” Sanchez said. “We may never know for sure, but this writing could be a personal log kept by the occupant of the pod during the time he was marooned here. Who knows? It might be a last will and testament. Starfleet’s translators will take a good, solid whack at it, anyway. Good job, Geordi. This evidence might have been damaged somehow, either by us or the follow-up team, if you hadn’t been around to warn us.”

“My word!” Hassan exclaimed. “Have we found something really good here, or what?”

“This is much better than good, Hassan,” Sanchez told him, grinning.

“Not only have we located this ancient lifeboat, but Geordi’s discovered the only written record left by a previously unknown race that visited the solar system more than half a million years ago.

We’ve rewritten history without even breaking a sweat. That’s a pretty full day’s work for a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears asteroid counters, if you ask me.”

He paused. “You might even say it’s outstanding.”

CHAPTER

It was Sunday afternoon, and all five of them had come to the bridge for these last few minutes together.

“Approaching Spacedock,” Slobhan reported.

“We have our clearance to dock, Captain,” Trennek reported from the communications station. She smiled.

“Strange, but they didn’t stall us off this time. We’re been placed at the head of the incoming line.” Her smile broadened. “Gee, I wonder why.”

“Take us on ineaMcKenna,” Sanchez said quietly.

He glanced over his left shoulder at the engineering station. “How are we doing, you two?”

“Everything is fine, Captain,” Hassan reported.

“We are go for docking. Geordi has just finished running the end-of-mission diagnostics. All systems nominal.”

The Benjamin Franklin, the oldest ship ol” them all, moved easily through Spacedock’s massive main gate and on inside.

“Captain?” Trennek said. “Incoming message traffic …” she trailed off.

Sanchez swiveled around in his seat, looking concerned. “What is it, Sann?”

Trennek was shaking her head. “I have, urn, something on the order of two hundred messages from other ships in Spacedock greeting us on our arrival, sir. Uh, make that three hundred. M.”

“I guess Starfleet got your report, Bernie,” said Siobhan.

The captain remained quiet for a moment. Then he said, “Send this to each individual ship, Sann: “Thank you. Sanchez, commanding Benjamin Franklin.” End message.”

“Aye, sir.”

Ben moved farther into Spacedock, heading for her assigned berth on the side opposite the main gate.

“Whoa!” Siobhan said. “Look out there, guys. Look what’s happening.”

They all looked. Geordi saw that at first one, and then another, and then another and another and another of the ships in Spacedock began flashing their running lights in a pattern of tribute as Ben passed by them. Soon they were all doing it, every one of the more than three hundred ships present, from Starfleet’s finest top-of-the-line cruiser to the humblest Spacedock drone. It was all for Ben, and for the five of them, for a job well done.

dis”…My,” said Hassan. “must adinit that tills is most affecting.”

“I’m recording this for my old age,” said Slobhan.

Her eyes were wet.

“Don’t miss our bertheaMcKenna,” Sanchez said with quiet humor. “It’d be kind of embarrassing, after all this fuss.”

“Not a chance, Captain.” Smoothly, Ben spun ninety degrees on her middle axis and coasted sideways toward the Spacedock wall. Siobhan put the port view on screen. They saw that Ben’s berth was lighted and waiting to receive her. They could see people watching them from behind the pressure doors.

“Dead stop, Captain,” Siobhan reported. “Tractor beams on. We are docked and locked, sir.” She sat back in her chair and stretched.

“It’s been quite a weekend,” she said tiredly. “Bernie, find yourself another starship driver next time. I quit.”

Sanchez laughed. “Come to think of it, so do Iuntil the next mission comes along, anyway. Come on, everyone. We’ve got a ship to shut down, and then we’ve got to get back to the Academy.”

It took about half an hour to shut down Ben’s systems and put the ship in parking mode. After the job was done, the five cadets gathered for a final time in Ben’s tiny transporter room, where it had all begun just two days before. It was time now to say goodbye. Each of them knew they’d be seeing the others here and there around school for at least the rest of the term, but it wouldn’t be the same. This was the end of a very short but very important time.

“I hope we get to do this again, everyone.” Hassan told them all as he stepped onto the transporter platform with his bag. “I have learned much during my time with you. Thank you, Captain, Slobhan, Geordi, Trennek. May we meet again, and often.”

“Thank you, Hassan,” Sanchez said. “Energizing.

Hassan disappeared.

Trennek sighed. “I guess it is over,” she said.

“Me next,” Siobhan said. She seemed a little upset as she stepped onto the platform. “Look, everyone, I really hate goodbyes. Let’s just take them for granted, okay? Captain Bernie, I’m glad you invited me along.

It’s been a pleasure, and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Now please beam me off this bucket.”

Sanchez smiled. “We’re still having lunch on Monday, though, right?

Energizing.”

“As long as you’re buying,” Siobhan said, her voice and smile fading as she beamed out.

“You’re next, Trennek,” Sanchez said. “Step on up.”

Trennek was lugging the big, overpacked bag she’d brought aboard. “I never used more than a handful of this stuff,” she said as she set it down next to her on the platform. “I’ll know better next time. Thank you for the ride, Captain.”

“My pleasure,” Sanchez said. “And it’s just ‘Bernie” now, by the way.

We’re home again.”

“Bernie, then.” She smiled. “Geordi, I just don’t know what to say.”

Geordi shrugged, and then he grinned. “Then don’t say anything. I’m glad we served together, Trennek.

I “l 2

I’ll see you around.” And lln gltici to ktio , I’ll still be around!

“Count on it. Captain? I’m ready.”

“Energizing.”

When Trennek was gone, Sanchez turned to Geordi.

“It’s my turn to thank you, Geordi. You already know for what. Before we left, though, I also wanted to apologize.”

“Apologize?” Geordi was puzzled. “For what?”

“For doubting your initial report. I was wrong to do so.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, Captain …

ah, Bernie. It was an extremely unusual situation, and you were in a bad position. I realized that at the time.”

“Regardless,” Sanchez said, “you were sure of your story, and you stuck by it, even when it seemed likely you’d be cashiered for it. That’s a rare kind of confidence, but I think it’s the best kind-when it’s justified, as yours was. I envy you that kind of selfassurance, Geordi. Never lose it.”

Geordi didn’t know what to say.

“Now tell me something,” Sanchez said. “Just between us, now. Didn’t you, even for just a moment, think the ship was really being haunted by Captain Ikushima when you first saw him?”

Geordi tried hard, but he couldn’t hide a broad smi ‘re. “You better believe I did!”

They both laughed heartily. “So did I, but only after Hassan made his report,” Sanchez confessed. “T guess there’s that tendency in all of us to fall back on superstition, even when we know better. We still tell kids

I I 3

ghost stories, and I guess a lot of” thilt kind ol’ thing stays with us even after we grow up. It’s comforting to think that someone like Captain Ikushima might be watching over us, silly as that is. I guess we’ll always need our dreams.” He looked at the chrono on the console.

“Well, it’s long past time to go, I guess,” he finished. “I’ll beam you out and follow you directly.

Oh, I almost forgot.”

“What?” Geordi asked.

“You didn’t remember to take this with you.” Sanchez produced a small, white square of plastic. It was the nameplate from the door to Geordi’s quarters.

“Your first commission, Geordi. Keep it as a souvenir.”

Geordi smiled as he accepted the plate. “Thanks.

Thanks very much.” He stepped up to the platform.

“Okay. I’m ready.”

“See you again soon, Geordi. Energizing.”

Sanchez was alone now. He set the transporter for automatic beam-out, and entered a countdown of ten seconds. He strode up to the platform and, patting a bulkhead affectionately, said softly, “Thanks, old girl.

Thanks for the ride. Thanks for everything. Thanks for taking care of us. Take care of yourself, now.”

The transporter energized, and then there were none.

I I 4

EPILOGUE

Benjamin Franklin was empty now, silent and dark throughout, waiting to be made ready for its next complement of cadets.

If anyone had been in the transporter room with eyes to see, they would have noticed that, right after Bernie Sanchez beamed off the ship, a short circuit suddenly hissed and spit its way to life somewhere deep within the innards of the transporter room console. The accident immediately took out the automatic systems designed to shut off power to the console in case of an emergency such as this. With the safeties gone, the console was bound to suffer significant damage, because no one was there to activate the emergency manual shutoff.

However, if anyone had been there watching, they would have seen the control knob for the emergency manual shutoff begin to turn slowly, slowly, ever so slowly, as if by itself. They would have seen the short circuit sputter and die before it could do any real damage.

And if anyone had been present, and they had histened very, very carefully in the utter quiet and the deepest dark, they might have heard the breathy utterance of a single word: Outstanding!

I I 5

About the Authors

Brad Ferguson is the author of five books, including the Star Trek novels Crisis on Centaurus and The Last Stand. He has also written and published half a dozen short stories. In the past, Brad has been a newspaper editor, a clerk in an intensive care unit, a toy salesman, a typesetter, a switchboard operator, and a magazine writer. Most recently, he was a writer and editor at CBS Radio News in New York, but he’s finally getting over that.

Kathi Ferguson makes her debut with The Haunted Starship. She holds a Ph.d. in forest soils from Iowa State University. Kathi is a senior staff scientist at a company that helps the U.s. government protect the environment. She is also a masterful gardener who specializes in daylilies, with a sideline in daffodils and irises.

Brad and Kathi met at a Star Trek convention in the summer of 1990 and got married the following February. They live in Maryland, in a house where the cats haven’t quite taken over-yet.