61 Ship of the Line by Diane Carey

Author:Diane Carey [Carey, Diane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Fiction, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Star Trek fiction, Space warfare, Outer space, Picard; Jean Luc (Fictitious character)
ISBN: 9780671009243
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 1997-10-14T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

"Captain Picard? I'm Chip Reynolds. Welcome aboard the Half Moon. Did you get squared away into a bunk?"

"Yes, thank you, Captain. Your watch leader showed me down to the--what was it? The Orlop Deck?"

"That's what we call it. Down there you have a chance of sleeping with your legs unbent."

"I hope the watch leader wasn't too put out by the sudden change of events. She was muttering about having totally lost control."

"Oh, no, she's always like that. I'm a little mystified about this--I mean, I'm willing to go into Cardassian space, but you do understand the difference in speed and armaments between this ship and just about any Starfleet ship . . ."

"Yes, I understand. In fact, it's preferable. I don't want a fighting vessel for this mission. My message is entirely different. Rather stronger, I think. As long as you keep to your top speed, we'll get to Cardassia Prime in adequate time."

Hoping to dispense with amenities before any got started, Jean-Luc Picard tried to retreat to his excuse for quarters aboard this strange old rattletrap of a private ship, but the ship's lanky captain stopped him again.

"By the way, for passing the time, I've got something for you," Captain Reynolds said. He reached into a black captain's case and pulled out several computer cartridges. "They were delivered to me just before we left Starbase 12."

"What are they?"

"They're holoprograms."

"Oh, Riker . . ." Picard shook his head at his first officer's persistence, then thought of something else and looked up from the cartridges. "This ship has a holodeck?"

"Well, we didn't before, but Mr. Riker had holoequipment installed in our cargo hold about forty minutes before we left. I never saw a team work so fast. He had a guy he said was an android going like some kind of rocket on the installation. Riker told me not to tell you until we were under way." Reynolds grinned sheepishly and seemed to enjoy the conspiracy, then added, "Hope that's all right."

"Mmm, it wouldn't be the first time he did something behind my back," Picard said. He turned the top cartridge to read the label. " 'Starship Logs, Enhanced, U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701, Captain James T. Kirk. Stardate 1709.2: Romulan Incursion at the Neutral Zone'."

"Sounds like a great show," Reynolds said. "Are they completely interactive?"

"I believe so . . . these are the ship's actual logs and recordings, enhanced with the cooperation of Captain Kirk. Or was he an admiral when he made these? Of course, then he regained his captaincy--well, I've lost track. Thank you, Captain. I'll try to stay out of your way."

Reynolds shrugged. "If we can do anything for you, just say so. Not that there's much more than you can actually see--"

"Are you completely provisioned?" Picard asked. "Your fuel and everything taken care of?"

"Starfleet took care of everything. I think my crew's in shock. We never had it so good. Starfleet even stocked up our cleaning supplies and recharged our replicators. They even made repairs on our hull.

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