Simply going into space by taking a shuttle to the space dock orbiting Mars, has me in a good mood. I'm piloting the shuttle, much to my accompanying ensign's chagrin, but it has been ages since I piloted anything at all, and to feel the small vessel obey my every command is almost embarrassingly rewarding.
"Perhaps I should dock it for you, sir?" the ensign says weakly.
I nearly say no to that when I realize it won't be a good look for her if someone imagines that I don't trust her to deliver me safely. It would be the same if I weren't, well, me, but since I'm famous, it's even a worse sentiment.
"You're right, Ensign Teller," I say lightly and move to the co-pilot seat. "It's been a while since I visited Planetia Utopia. More than seven years, in fact."
The ensign gives me a knowing look. "Thank you. I appreciate it. I'll get you to your gate, sir."
Of course, the young woman knows I could have easily piloted the rest of the way myself, and she is relieved that I don't press the matter.
When Teller rounds one of the outer docks, I see Annika's ship, the USS Apex, for the first time. Looking a lot like its smaller relative, the regular Defiant class ship, this one looks like someone has pulled on something elastic and made it much longer and also somewhat wider. I have studied the specs ever since Annika was whisked on an assignment that lasts for four days.
Bio-neural circuitry, like Voyager, but with all the upgrades that come with seven years of research, makes the response time even faster. The double warp cores, outfitted with a highly experimental and classified transwarp-slipstream feature that connects them, will take this ship wherever it needs to go—and very fast. It requires a skeleton crew of at least thirty individuals, but sixty will have her run smoothly and keep up maintenance correctly. Additional quarters, albeit simpler and smaller than on Voyager, can accommodate thirty-two more. Four in each space.
Phasers and photon torpedoes are standard on all Star Fleet military vessels, of course, but when I studied the specs, it was obvious that people in high places are sponsoring Annika's research and mission since some of the technology I brought home from the Delta Quadrant is present and combined with new Federation and Star Fleet features. I still try to wrap my brain around how they had managed to utilize the information I'd sent home via the Pathfinder arrays the last year Voyager spent in the Delta Quadrant.
Self-modulating chroniton-phaser arrays. Quantum laser space mines. Those were the two major weapons if the Apex was on the offence. Defensive weapons against the Borg, among them a nano-silica dampener and plasma shield enhancers.
As the shuttle docks with the gate, I thank Teller and disembark after shouldering my bag. I'm staying for four days to familiarize myself with the ship while it's still in space dock, and all I can hope is that Annika will join me soon.
I have yet to formally accept this mission. For all the brass knows, I'm still mulling things over, and that also means trying to figure out what the hell I'm supposed to tell Mother and Phoebe. My mother and sister only stopped hovering around me when I pleaded for them to go back to Bloomington, and Milano, respectively. Phoebe is working on her sculptures in Milano, and Mother is taking care of her large bee hives. If I decide to go on this mission, it will be a hard sell. They might disown me, once and for all.
I walk through the long gateway toward the Apex and the two crewmen salute me. They're backed up by two military police officers, and they salute no one but their immediate chain of command. Certainly not a mere admiral.
"Permission to come aboard." I merely stand there, keeping my eyes on the crewman closest to me while the MPs scan me.
"Yes, sir. Just put your hand on the tablet. It might sting for a moment." The crewman points toward a slate gray tablet sitting on a narrow podium to the right of the door. I press my palm against it, and quick, sharp needles sting my palm and fingers. I am prepared for it and hope I don't flinch too badly. Only now do I realize that this is one of the Federation's defenses against the shapeshifting Founders. At least until they develop the technology to mimic humanoid blood and other body fluids-and all the information that can be pulled from that.
The small perforations smart for a minute afterward, but I'm fully engrossed by the impressive ship now and walk over to a panel a few meters into the corridor. "Computer, locate Lt Commander DaToch." The proud young Klingon is the only among the soon-to-be-established senior crew that has been handpicked so far, and Ensign Teller informed me that he has been staying aboard the Apex since it arrived at Planitia Utopia. I have heard that the brilliant young man has a reputation—but if I am going to head up this mission with Annika, I have to make up my own mind regarding the crew. This is yet another reason for me to be here. If I am going to do this, I need to have a say in who will become part of the senior officers.
"Commander DaToch is in the ready room."
Oh, really?
I stop another crewman and give him my bag. "Take this to one of the guest quarters, Crewman."
"Aye, Admiral," the young woman says and doesn't even break stride as she swings my bag over her shoulder and keeps walking with a stack of data PADDs under her other arm.
I know the ship well from the three-dimensional specs and make my way to a turbo lift, which is jarringly orange, which whisks me upward two decks and then sideways to the center of the Apex. Unlike Voyager and other ships, this vessel is constructed with the bridge at the very center of it's girth. Looking like an amphitheater, able to shift its screens to accommodate the senior crew and the others working on the bridge, it's an entirely new concept for Starfleet—and it intrigues me.
I walk over to the door leading to the ready room and press the sensor to the right of it.
"Enter," a dark, gruff voice calls out, and I step through the door that opens in an eerily quiet way. Behind the desk, working on a floating screen computer, an impressive figure sits engrossed in something that makes him scowl. I correct myself. Of course, he scowls. All Klingons do, 99% of the time.
"Commander DaToch," I say evenly.
"I will be with you shortly." Emitting a low growl, DaToch lets his dark eyes fly across the screen, and he seems displeased.
"Good to see that you've made yourself at home, Commander," I continue, unperturbed by his annoyed expression when I keep talking.
"I said I'd—" His face when he sees me is priceless. Standing up so fast, he nearly gets stuck in the narrow chair, Lt Commander DaToch looks as embarrassed as it is possible for a Klingon.
"My apologies, sir. I was unaware you had already arrived. Nobody informed me."
Not about to get any poor crewman scared to death by this formidable, two-meter-tall Klingon, I hold up both hands toward DaToch. "At ease. And I prefer Cap—Admiral, rather than 'sir.'"
"Yes, Admiral. Of course." DaToch shifts and offers me the chair he just vacated. "Please."
"Not at all. You're senior crew. I'm a visitor, as of yet." I pull up a visitor's chair and sit down across the desk from him as he pushes the screen aside. "As you know, I'm here for a visit, and before I return to Earth, I will have made up my mind if I'm going on this mission or not."
"I see." DaToch makes it clear that he doesn't. He probably wonders why I hesitate in the first place, or, since I do, what reason I can possibly have to do so. Even Klingons are curious and can be prone to gossip. Now he looks uncomfortable and clears his throat. "Do you wish for me to take you on a guided tour?"
I barely stifle a laugh. His attempt at polite niceties are so obviously a trait he barely has mastered, but he does his best. "I'll be fine, thank you, Commander. If I have questions, I will ask someone, or save them for later."
His relief is palpable when I get up and head for the door. As it opens for me, I turn around and gaze firmly at him. "Any ETA for Cadet Hansen, yet?"
"No, Admiral."
Disappointed, but also a tiny bit relieved to have more time to think and to explore, I nod briefly. "As you were."
#
"Coffee. Black." I wait while the replicator gets it's molecules in order and produces a mug of my favorite beverage. Walking over to the view port overlooking part of Utopia Planetia, and behind it, Mars, I sip it, needing the buzz after doing a much more in-depth tour of the Apex than I planned.
It is a fine ship, no, that's an understatement. It's a brilliant, efficient ship, and even if it isn't as beautiful as Voyager with her streamlined form, it's a ship that the engineers can be proud of.
And my crew onboard Voyager, I realize. So much of the technology and solutions we came up with to get us past the Borg, Hirogens, Kazons, species 8472, Krenims, and the Vidiian…just to name a few. We brought all that back with us and shared it already en route to the Alpha Quadrant. The Doctor's achievements alone will save lives as far as the Federation can reach…and beyond.
"You're here."
My door chime pings, and I place the mug on the shelf just below the viewport. "Enter."
The door opens, and there she is.
"You're here," Annika says and I can see how exhausted she is, even if her eyes shine their usual brilliant blue. Her hair is up in her usual austere twist when she's in uniform. Wait…I walk toward her as she meets me halfway, the door closing behind her. While my strides are energetic, hers are nearly unsteady, which is alarming.
"I see you earned a commission." I take her by the shoulder and study her. Of course, I see her pips.
"A provisional commission of lieutenant," Annika says, and runs a hand along her face. "I apologize, Kathryn. I'm a bit tired."
"A bit? You look like you can fall asleep standing up. What on earth have you been up to? Can you share?" I nudge her toward the couch. "Sit."
She falls rather than sits, letting her head fall back. "I can share. It was a mission to an asteroid field to mine for more of the metal ore we need for the chroniton phaser arrays. I'm sure you have seen the specs. They require special metal lining to prevent them from repolarizing their energy bursts—" Shaking her head, Annika smiles wanly. "Too technical for either of us right now."
I take a seat next to her and not even thinking to ask, I start pulling the pins from her hair. She doesn't seem to mind. "And then what? You got back from your missing to the asteroid belt, and Paris slapped the insignia on you and told you to report here?" It doesn't sit well with me if this is how they did it. Anyone who receives a rank, provisional or not, deserves at least some fanfare.
"That was an adequate description." Annika moves closer and presses her face against my neck. "Don't be upset. I wasn't. I don't care. All I wanted was to finish the mission, get back in one piece, and go on the next transport to the Apex—since I knew you might still be here."
Her lips moves against my skin when she talks, and it sends tremors down my back. "Might still be here? Annika. You're the only reason I'm here exploring in the first place. I wasn't going to return to Earth without seeing you first." I tip her head back with two fingertips under her chin. Kissing her lightly—it's all I dare to do, and all she can manage when she's this worn out—I then brush my thumbs along the dark circles under her eyes. "When you've eaten and slept, we have a lot to talk about."
"Yes. Yes to all of that."
I sit with her in my arms for a bit longer, as she seems to need it. Perhaps she too, has to find her bearings as we haven't seen each other since her presentation for the brass. I push the fingers of my right hand into her hair and gently massage her scalp.
"Oh, Kathryn…" Arching against me, Annika moans. "If I weren't so tired, or in such dire need of a sonic shower, I would want you to do that all over my body."
I gasp at the vision her words create in my mind. Annika, naked on a bed. I, exploring her even more thoroughly than I did her ship today. Fingers. Lips. My tongue. I echo her moan, but in a much more lustful way, which I hope she doesn't notice.
"Yes, like that too," Annika murmurs and wraps her arms around me. "I need to get out of this uniform. I didn't bother to change before I jumped on a transport."
"You can choose if you want me to assist you with that—or replicate some food for you." I press my lips to her temple.
"Are you being facetious?" Annika murmurs.
"Not at all. Your choice." I know I should make the choice for her and be polite about it.
"Come help me. I can eat anything later, but I don't want to miss a second with you." Annika gets up and looks around until she sees the door to the ensuite.
"Come on, darling." I take her by the hand and guide her through it. In the modest bathroom, outfitted with a sonic shower, as an efficient warship such as this and its predecessor wouldn't boast luxury like aqua showers.
We remain quiet as I peel her uniform off, and regard the teal color that show she's a science officer. I have already removed my jacket, and now I do the same with my tunic, leaving me in pants and tank top.
When I have Annika down to her tank top and briefs, I stop and frame her beautiful, pale face with my hands. "Should I stop?"
She shakes her head. "Please."
Swallowing against the sudden dryness of my throat, I pull the tank top over her head, and I can't help but look as her full breasts rocking before me. Flawless, alabaster skin, dark pink nipples, makes my hands itch to touch her, but I don't. Not that way. Instead, I push her briefs down her hips, and then they slide down her slender legs by themselves. Annika steps out of them and stands here, her eyes half closed.
"There you go," I say, and stand back. "In you go." I cringe at sounding too cheerful, but if I don't, I'll rip my own clothes off and get in there with you just to get my hands all over her.
"Will you wait for me?" Annika frowns.
"Of course. I have to make sure you eat." I hesitate. "Do you want to stay here with me tonight?"
Annika looks over her shoulder as she walks into the sonic shower. "Yes."
When I hear that pinging sound that always seems to make me grind my teeth, I know I have about five minutes before she's back in all her naked glory.
Continued in part 8
