93 Thin Air by Kristine Kathryn Rusch & Dean Wesley Smith

Author:Kristine Kathryn Rusch & Dean Wesley Smith [Rusch, Kristine Kathryn & Smith, Dean Wesley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Fiction, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Adventure, High Tech, Life on other planets, Kirk; James T. (Fictitious character), Radio and television novels
ISBN: 9780671785772
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2000-07-31T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

TEGAN WELCH turned out to be a much better dinner companion than Captain Bill Skaerbaek would have ever imagined. Just after Len Sterling died, he had stopped by the ward and asked her to join him for dinner. At first she had declined, saying she wouldn't be very good company at the moment.

But he had insisted. He knew it would be hard for her to say no to the captain of the ship she was about to steal a shuttle from. And he had been right. Finally she had smiled and nodded yes to his invitation.

The dinner was his way of trying to tell her he suspected what she was going to try. And maybe convince her, without ever tipping his hand, that she shouldn't try it.

It didn't work out that way exactly. In fact, it didn't work out even close to what he had in mind.

He had decided to have the dinner in his quarters, just the two of them. Since his wife had died, five years before, no woman had set foot in his quarters for anything social. He really wasn't thinking of this as social, either. More along the lines of duty, since there was no way he could let Tegan Welch steal a Starfleet shuttle.

He had become suspicious when she had made a walk-around of the shuttles during her first few hours on board. Then when she had gone back to the hallway near the shuttles four times, he had finally sent Ensign Harrow to see what she really wanted. Again, Tegan's interest had been the shuttles. And considering that her son was so sick, and she felt that getting him away from Belle Terre was his only hope, Skaerbaek didn't really blame her. He might have been thinking of doing the same thing in her position. He just couldn't let her do it from his ship.

When he opened the door to greet her, Tegan Welch looked beautiful, in a very clean, almost plain way. She was only a few years younger than he was, yet looked younger. And more tired. She had her long hair pulled back tight, accenting the perfect features of her face. She had on black dress slacks and a simple white blouse that gave her a very soft look.

"Thank you, Captain," she said as she entered, "for the wonderful invitation."

"My pleasure," he said, indicating she should make herself comfortable on the couch.

"Wow, what smells so good?" Instead of going to the couch, she turned instead toward the small kitchen. A real kitchen was a luxury, of course, but the captaincy had its privileges and he had his hobbies.

He had decided to try cooking lasagna, a dish he hadn't done in years. He figured if it came out bad, the worst it would taste like was plain tomato sauce and noodles.

"Used to be one of my specialties," he said, following her into the kitchen. "Deep-dish lasagna."

"Used to be?" she asked, glancing back at him with a smile. "From the smell of this, I'd say it still is.

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