Rise of the Federation by Christopher L. Bennett

Author:Christopher L. Bennett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Books

9

San Francisco

“I STILL SAY we should put transporters back into regular personnel use,” Kivei Tizahr said to the other Pioneer personnel seated with her at the restaurant table. “I mean, nobody’s actually died from a few minor assembly errors, and most people aren’t affected at all. Anyone who shows signs of damage could just be advised to reduce their transporter use from then on. And how can we redesign the system for greater accuracy if we can’t gather enough data on the specific effects it has on the body?”

Travis Mayweather sighed. He’d managed to convince the intense young Rigelian to try taking a break from her work and getting better acquainted with some of her crewmates, and he’d managed to rope two other members of the command crew, Rey Sangupta and Regina Tallarico, into joining them at one of his favorite restaurant-bars in the Bay Area. But so far, Tizahr had only discussed engineering matters. And her views on those could be a bit callous, it seemed.

“I don’t know about Rigelians,” Sangupta said, “but humans get a bit touchy on the subject of experimenting on actual people.”

“Nonsense. Just flying starships into unknown space is a dangerous experiment,” she told the science officer. “And we face more risk of genetic damage from ordinary cosmic radiation than from transporter use. It’s a manageable risk; the only thing making people unwilling to use it is irrational fear. Boldness is what gets things done, people.”

“So how exactly would you get people to be so bold with risking their bodily integrity in transporters?” Tallarico asked.

“Easy,” Tizahr said to the blond flight controller. “Just tell them the system’s been fixed. Say it’s safe now. It’s not that far from the truth, and with the new data we gathered, we could make it true soon enough.”

Tallarico shook her head, a shocked grin on her face. “You are unbelievable!”

“I’m just practical. And you’ll be glad of it when the ship’s under Orion or Nausicaan attack and you find out just how fast you can dodge and how well the shields will hold up, thanks to me.”

Mayweather chuckled. The fact that her confident proclamations were made in such a matter-of-fact, casual tone, with no affectation or bombast, helped soften them. She wasn’t boasting, just making an honest assessment of her ability, as unfiltered as anything else she said. “Okay, I think that’s enough engineering talk for tonight. We hardly know anything else about you, Kivei. What do you like to do when you’re not on duty?”

Her response was a bit less animated than usual. “You mean social stuff? Personal life, that sort of thing? Never been too good at that, honestly. I was always years ahead of my classmates, my peers couldn’t follow my interests, my family didn’t know what to do with me besides shipping me off to trade school. At least when I’m working, I’m with people who love the same things I do. Who share my need for things to make sense.” She shrugged. “And being the boss means I can yell at people without them taking it personally.

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