Star Trek: Challenger - Chainmail by Diane Carey

Author:Diane Carey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Published: 2001-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

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The officers' quarters on Challenger were spare enough to make even the deprivation-oriented Blood feel at home. In fact, the only exclusive amenity Keller and Shucorion got, as commander and executive officer, was privacy. Instead of two crewmen to a room, the senior officers had a little bitty wedge with a bunk and private shower and an outer office with a computer desk, separated by a retractable room divider. On ships where prestige wasn't a factor, saving of space certainly was. Challenger was decidedly one of those ships.

Keller buzzed at Shucorion's door, but it wasn't Shucorion who answered. Instead the man who came to the door was Milespark, a Blood magnetologist, timid and friendly, with a bad limp from a very old hip injury.

"Commander," Milespark said, rather uneasily.

"Hey," Keller greeted. "Shucorion in here?"

"Yes... will you be here now, Mr. Keller?"

"I guess." Whatever that meant. He stepped into the tiny office, dark except for a worklight at the desk. And that single light shone on a surprise. "Well, look at this!"

He pulled his hands out of his pockets and leaned over a startlingly accurate scale model of the Challenger. Over two feet long, the model was almost finished, complete with her "flying buttresses"—the Rover strakes, fanned stalks on each side that held the nacelles down and back—the charcoaly black hat, and every crease and line between the hull plates lovingly etched in. Even the bolts in the plates were there. Along with all the perfections were the many imperfections specific to this ship. Her mismatched parts, bargain-basement ports, windows, wales, and bracers were applied every which way to get the job done. The model fastidiously replicated every goofy establishment. From what he could tell, there was nothing left to be done to the model but the task Milespark had been doing just now—installing a tiny but impressive UFP standard on the khaki-colored dorsal neck section so those in this new sector could tell they were from out of town. The closer he looked, the more detail came out and the more infectious the effect.

A rush of affection softened his whole being. There it was, the metal hole in space that kept them all alive. Kinda looked like a starship that'd been through a laundry press.

"Isn't this sweet," he commented. "Liable to win the Ugly Ship contest... danged if she doesn't stand there proud as a chickenhawk... You do this on your own?"

"Mr. Bonifay ordered it," Milespark answered. "He was trying to explain to us about installing the optical cameras along the lower hull, but the schematics weren't detailed enough. He wished for us to have a very clear perception of the outer skin before he sent us outboard to work. Avedon Shucorion thought a scale representation would help us. You can see here and here where we installed the cameras."

He pointed to a row of triangular ports along each side of the engineering section.

"Kinda nice to have around too," Keller commented. "I can see myself inside this window. Polishin' m' boots.

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