Chapter 17: Change of Command
The recreation deck had been turned into a reception hall. All the starship's officers had gathered there. A podium and lectern stood on the stage at one end; tables along one wall held trays of delicacies, ranks of champagne bottles, rows of sparkling glasses.
Commodore Pike led Admiral Noguchi and Captain Kirk to the stage. Noguchi invited the audience to be seated, paused for them to settle, and launched into a speech. When he was done everyone applauded.
Noguchi surrendered the lectern. Pike stepped forward, paused, and spoke with great deliberation.
"... And I know," Pike said, "that Captain Kirk will find the Enterprise and its crew as faithful as I did." His eyes filled with tears as he turned to look at Kirk. "Captain, the starship Enterprise is yours." He shook Jim's hand.
After more polite applause, the audience fell silent. They looked at Jim.
"I ... I'll do my best to follow the tradition Commodore Pike has begun, for the starship Enterprise and for its officers and crew." Kirk blurted out.
"Congratulations, captain." Noguchi smiled mischievously. "I have a surprise for you. No, don't quiz me. It's nearly ready, just be patient."
Buffy stepped up on the stage and nodded toward Noguchi. "Admiral."
"Commander," Noguchi replied. He knew why Buffy and Dawn's files were classified of course. What he didn't understand was why both of them were still after a hundred years Commanders instead of Captains, Commodores or even Admirals.
"Hey, Jim—"
They all turned at the sound of the voice to find Jim Kirk's brother, Sam, and Jim's father and mother standing there. Sam's arm fell across Jim's shoulders.
Sam grinned. "Great speech," he said.
"I agree completely," their mother said, smiling.
"Thank you, thank you." Jim gave mock bows to the points of the compass.
"Winona," Admiral Noguchi said to Jim's mother. "It's a pleasure to see you again. Especially now."
"It's been a long time, Kimitake, hasn't it?"
"Yes. A long time." Noguchi said as he turned to face Jim's father, George, "Well. George you must be very proud, I think."
"I am," George Kirk replied.
"We mustn't offend the chefs by ignoring their day's work," Noguchi said. "I understand they've created quite a spread for us."
"Absolutely true," Jim said, then, quickly, "I mean ... I heard the same thing."
"I was told that the chocolate cake is to die for," Dawn said.
They walked away, leaving Jim speechless.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
The lift doors opened and Buffy and Dawn stepped out. They had wanted time to themselves and figured the empty shuttle bay might work till the festivities were over.
"Why does it smell like a horse farm?" Dawn wondered as she glanced at Buffy.
The evocative scent of drying hay wafted through the deck.
"I don't know," Buffy replied. She led the way from the turbolift. The horse-barn odor grew more intense. Unless the ventilation system had broken down, the only possible source was the shuttle bay, their original destination.
The double doors slid aside and they found Kirk with his mother and brother standing before them looking down at the main deck of the shuttle bay below. They stepped up beside them to see that the shuttles had been moved to one side, crammed close together and walled off with portable partitions, leaving most of the deck space open.
A makeshift pen stood in the center of the deck. Straw littered its floor. An iridescent creature snorted and stood on its feet, spraddle-legged and challenging, its small head up, ears pricked, nostrils flared. Its coat shone in shades of black and purple and green.
"Is that a Pegasus?" Dawn wondered as she looked at its great black wings.
Winona looked toward Dawn and Buffy. "So its not just me who's dreaming this."
"That's fantastic," Sam said. "I had no idea anyone had gone so far with restructured recombinants! It is Terran, isn't it? Not an offworld species?"
"None of us is going to know," Buffy said before anyone else could respond. In all her years as the Slayer she had seen some truly amazing things, but this topped the cake.
"I'm afraid it's going to hurt itself," Winona said. "I'll try to calm it down."
The creature beat its wings and screamed again.
"Mom—that thing is dangerous!" Sam said.
"What do you people think you're doing?" Jim, Buffy and Dawn hardly had time to turn toward the new voice. A small black-clad figure ran past Winona and plunged headlong down the companion way, barely touching the treads. Her iridescent black hair streamed behind her. She ran across the deck toward the terrified horse—horse? She dropped the boots she carried and slid under the corral rail. Afraid she would be trampled, afraid the creature might even take off and attack her with its hooves, Jim and Buffy rushed after her.
The horse snorted and quieted. Its wings still fluttered, outstretched, as if it were an eagle keeping its balance on the gloved hand of a falconer. Its shoulders gleamed with nervous sweat. It put its head down and buried its nose beneath the arm of the stranger.
She whispered to the creature, scratched its ears and cradled its head and blew in its nostrils. It sighed back, a soft and quiet sound. She stroked its neck and tangled her fingers in its mane. The straw crackled as the creature shifted its weight to sidle closer to her. It placed its hooves only a handsbreadth from her bare feet.
"For gods' sakes, be careful," Jim said.
"Be quiet," she said in a low and soothing voice, without turning to face Jim or Buffy.
"You're going to get stepped on!"
"No, I'm not, don't worry. Besides, she's not even shod—and she's very light on her feet." She smiled at her own joke, then sobered again when she saw Jim's expression.
"What did you do? You scared her to death."
"I turned on the lights," Jim said, his irritation increasing. "I wanted to know who rearranged my shuttlecraft deck."
"Are you the deck officer? Admiral Noguchi said you were on leave till this evening, and then you'd be busy—he said she'd be safe here, and nobody would bother her."
"Admiral Noguchi—?" Buffy asked.
"This is the only place she can stay for a long trip."
"What long trip?!" Jim said.
She fed the creature a piece of carrot. "She won't hurt your deck, especially if you don't scare her again."
"We're not the deck officers," Buffy said.
"Oh. What's the big deal, then?"
"I'm the captain," Jim said.
"And I am his executive officer," Buffy sadded.
Jim took the steps of the companionway three at a time and headed toward the turbolift. As he reached it, the doors slid open. Admiral Noguchi hurried out, so intent on the transmission flimsy in his hand that Jim had to step back quickly to keep the older officer from running into him.
"Sir! Admiral Noguchi!"
"Buffy," Dawn said from the catwalk. She had been following Jim with her eyes as her empathic abilities told her how angry he was.
Buffy rushed up the companionway and to the turbolift.
"Jim! Buffy!" Noguchi sounded disappointed. "What are you two doing here? You've discovered my surprise, I suppose—did you two meet Ms. Lukarian? We can make the announcement together."
"But I thought—Who is Ms. Lukarian?" Jim said. "You mean that—that Amazon down on my landing deck trying to keep her flying horse from destroying the place?"
"Captain," Dawn said as she came up beside her sister and lover. "You're a tad bit hysterical, you need to calm down."
"Have you had too much to drink?" Noguchi wondered.
"No, sir. At least, I didn't think so. Admiral, there is a creature obstructing my shuttlecraft deck."
"As Dawn said, calm down, Jim," Noguchi said. "You're not going where you'll need a shuttlecraft. Not this mission."
"What exactly…" Buffy asked as she glanced at Dawn. They had pulled strings with Noguchi to get on the Enterprise so they could get away from Earth for awhile. "…is the mission?"
Noguchi handed Jim the transmission flimsy. "An elegant solution to the traveling salesman problem, wouldn't you say?"
Jim looked at it and then handed the flimsy to Buffy who looked at it also. Noguchi had cut orders for the Enterprise for the next three months, during which the ship would spend a day at each of thirty different starbases, starting with Starbase 13.
"The Phalanx?" Jim said. "Starbase 13? Starbase 13 is a waste of time and resources. It ought to be shut down!"
"Starbase 13 is of tremendous strategic importance. I'm afraid I gave the mathematicians some problems when I insisted your route begin there." Noguchi chuckled.
"I ... I don't understand," Buffy said. "What's the mission?"
"I had three major factors to consider," Noguchi said. "First, to give Jim here a chance to regain his strength—"
"There's nothing wrong with me!" Jim snapped. "I'm perfectly healthy."
"Second," Noguchi said, ignoring Jim's protest, "to give you and Buffy time to acquaint yourselves with ship and crew."
"That's why I've been looking forward to a challenging mission, sir—" Jim said.
"And why Dawn and I wanted time away from Earth," Buffy said.
"And third, to deal with the results of the starbase survey. You both did see them, didn't you?"
"No, sir, I didn't," Jim said as he glanced at Buffy who sighed and nodded. If she was to be his exec against his recommendation of Gary Mitchell, he was going to have to confer with her on a few things. "I was out of touch—I'm completely recovered now!—but I was out of touch for a few months."
"The results were a shock, Jim. On every starbase we surveyed, morale is terrible. Especially," he said, "at Starbase 13. We take people and send them off to the corners of the universe, away from their homes and families, and we completely ignore their needs. I'm going to change that. I've chosen you both to help me."
They reached the catwalk and Noguchi climbed down the
companionway. Jim, Buffy and even Dawn followed. Sam and Winona remained at the corral, where Ms. Lukarian toweled her creature's sweaty shoulders. Winona rubbed the creature behind the ears, while Sam inspected the complex joint of wing to body.
"Ms. Lukarian," Admiral Noguchi said.
She turned, smiling. When she saw Jim her expression
clouded. "Admiral," she said, and, warily, "Captain, Commander."
"Jim, Buffy, Dawn, I want you three to meet Amelinda Lukarian, general manager of the Warp-Speed Classic Vaudeville Company. Ms. Lukarian, Captain James T. Kirk. Commander Buffy Anne Summers and her wife Commander Dawn Marie Summers."
"How do you do, Captain, Commanders."
"Vaudeville? What's vaudeville?" Jim tried, and failed, to place the word in the realm of high-energy physics, as warp-speed seemed to indicate, or in the realm of commercial applications of faster-than-light travel, as the company hinted. And where did the flying horse fit in? A trademark? An advertising gimmick? If it were either of those, how had Starfleet become involved?
Dawn sensed Jim's puzzlement. "Vaudeville is an old Earth term. It's a form of entertainment that was popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries," she said.
"We're a modern interpretation of those old shows," Lukarian said.
"You'll be at the company's disposal during its tour," Noguchi said.
Speechless with shock, Jim stared at Noguchi.
"This animal is incredible, Jim," Sam said. "The anatomical problem of the wings—"
"Admiral, you can't mean Starfleet has assigned the Enterprise—" Jim said.
"Shh, Athene, easy," Winona said, trying to calm the creature, which started at Jim's raised voice. "Jim—"
"—that Starfleet has assigned a Constitution-class starship with a crew of four hundred thirty to ferry around a—a mutant horse and its trainer?" Jim felt as if even his mother had taken sides against him.
"Don't shout," Lukarian said. "She's mostly Arabian—she's very high-strung. You'll frighten her again."
"I mean to tell you," the admiral said calmly, "that I have given you the task of getting the vaudeville company to the starbases to perform for Starfleet personnel, safely, on schedule—and without argument. I also have given you command of this ship as well agreeing to both Commander Summers requests of being assigned to the Enterprise over your own and Commodore Pike's requests for your respective first officers. None of these are carved in stone. Is that understood?"
His last three words brought a sharp tone to his voice.
"Any further questions?"
"No, sir," Jim, Buffy and Dawn all said before Admiral Noguchi spoke again.
The admiral turned his back on the three of them. "Ms. Lukarian, are your people comfortable? Do you have everything you need?"
"Some of them are a little shaken up," she said. "Most of us have never been in a transporter before. Athene and I came up in a courier ship, so she's a little nervous. We're used to traveling by train."
"I'm sure, once you get your space legs, you'll find it quite tolerable. It's extraordinarily beautiful in space." He chuckled. "And you'll find that you have more room to move around in than you would on a train." Noguchi clasped Lukarian's small hand. "I'm grateful for your willingness to assist Starfleet on such short notice. And I'm looking forward to making the announcement. Are you ready?"
"As soon as one of the riggers gets here to stay with Athene. Are you sure you don't want us to perform?"
"That is a very generous offer," Admiral Noguchi said. "But I planned for you to be guests tonight. I don't think guests should have to sing for their supper."
"Okay. I'll bring the company upstairs in a minute."
"Good. Please don't hesitate to call on me at any time. My office will always know how to reach me."
Admiral Noguchi climbed the companionway to the catwalk and disappeared, leaving Jim, Buffy and Dawn facing Lukarian.
"This is impossible," Jim said. "Simply impossible."
"I can't afford to lose this commission," Lukarian said. "We're not leaving—there's no way you can make us."
"Would you like to bet on that?"
"Captain," Dawn said, using the influence that was given her all those years ago when she had been assigned to Archer's Enterprise. "As ship's counselor. You are dangerously close to being relieved."
"You don't …" Jim started.
"Actually," Buffy said, "Dawn does. She and your Chief Medical Officer are the only ones assigned to this ship that do. That regulation was set up during her grandmother's stint in the same position on Admiral Archer's Enterprise."
"Jim," Winona said. "Surrender gracefully." She touched Jim's arm and gestured toward the exit.
"Try to keep that beast under control, Ms. Lukarian," Jim said.
Buffy and Dawn watched as Sam, Jim and Winona left. They turned back to Lukarian and smiled.
"You two gave quite the performance," Lukarian said. "Great great great grandma Willow would very likely be proud."
Buffy and Dawn laughed and smiled. "She would have been," Buffy said. "How is your family, Amelinda?"
"They send their regards," Lukarian replied. "Your goddaughter would love to know when you two are coming to visit."
"Probably not for a while," Dawn said. "We agreed to a full tour on the Enterprise. There is just so much of the world's emotions I can take before I have to get offworld. But you tell little Willow when you get back to Earth after this tour that we miss her."
"I will, promise."